R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant (I.R.S., 1986) I came to R.E.M. late, long after they had hit the mainstream, but better late than never. This collection of odd pop songs, with Michael Stipe's off-kilter melodies, stood out from the rest.

Steely Dan A Decade of Steely Dan (MCA,1985) "Five names that I could hardly stand to hear / Including yours and mine and one more chick who isn't here" -- isn't that reason enough?

Superchunk On the Mouth (Matador, 1992) Superchunk has been accused -- rightly -- of releasing the same album over and over. But Mac McCaughan's whining vocals and their hyperkinetic, pogo-inducing, frenzied goofball punk ballads are all over this record in glorious excess.

Matthew Sweet Girlfriend (Zoo, 1990) Sounding like an even more hurt Neil Young, Matthew Sweet writes the catchiest songs of self-pity, bitterness and longing you'll ever hear.

Talking Heads Remain in Light (Sire, 1980) Limber, creepy funk jams and David Byrne's relentless paranoia helped make this their best album ever. "All I want is to breathe," says Byrne. "Won't you breathe with me?"

10,000 Maniacs In My Tribe (Elektra, 1987) The music world will not see anything like this for a long time: eccentric narratives about being lost in America, captured by Natalie Merchant's gorgeous, lilting voice.

U2 The Unforgettable Fire (Island, 1984) Awash in guitar-laden psychedelia from the Edge and soaring vocals from Bono, U2 at its most enigmatic and lyrical. The terrible thing is that they will never make anything like this again.

Yo La Tengo Fakebook (Bar/None, 1990) Another difficult pick: why choose an album of nothing but cover versions? Why miss out on the band's early folk-rock and later guitar-and-organ freakouts? Yo La Tengo, certainly the finest band in America today, dug into their record collection and found sixteen shining gems. Drummer Georgia Hubley's voice has never been so beautiful as on "What Comes Next."

John Zorn Naked City (Elektra Nonesuch, 1989) The finest example of hardcore-avantgarde-lounge-New Orleans-cartoon soundtrack-thrash jazz to date.

All album art is the property of the respective artists.

Runners-Up

• Anita Baker: Rapture
• The Beatles: The Beatles
• The Beatles: Beatles for Sale
• The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night
• The Beatles: Help!
• The Beatles: Let It Be
• The Beatles: Rubber Soul
• Bettie Serveert: Palomine
• Alex Chilton: High Priest
• Cowboy Junkies: The Trinity Session
• Miles Davis: In a Silent Way
• Eraserheads: Circus
• Guided By Voices: Bee Thousand
• Luna: Lunapark
• Sarah McLachlan: Fumbling towards Ecstasy
• Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
• Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
• The Pixies: Surfer Rosa
• The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow
• Superchunk: Incidental Music (1991-1995)
• Tom Waits: Franks Wild Years
• Yo La Tengo: Electr-o-Pura
• Yo La Tengo: Painful

The best albums I heard in 1996:

• Aphex Twin : Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1994)
• Bettie Serveert: Palomine (1992)
• The Chemical Brothers: Exit Planet Dust (1995)
• Dub Narcotic Sound System: Boot Party (1996)
• Galaxie 500: Today (1991)
• Oasis: What's The Story (Morning Glory)? (1995)
• Palace: Mountain EP (1995)
• Underworld: Second Toughest in the Infants (1996)

And the best albums I heard in 1997:

• Aphex Twin: Richard D. James Album (1997)
• Bettie Serveert: Dust Bunnies (1997)
• Coil: Unnatural History (1990)
• Lustmord: The Place Where The Black Stars Hang (1994)
• Curtis Mayfield: Superfly (1972)
• Modest Mouse: This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About (1996)
• Oval: 94 Diskont (1994)
• Suede: Coming Up (1996)
• Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (1996)
• Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One (1997)

The best albums I heard in 1998:

• Aube: Pages from the Book (1998)
• Coil: Time Machines (1998)
• Current 93: All the Pretty Little Horses (1996)
• Miles Davis: In a Silent Way (1969)
• Bill Evans Trio: Waltz for Debby (1961)
• Ghost: Lamarabirabi (1996)
• Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)
• Nurse With Wound: Soliloquy for Lilith (1993)
• Portishead: PNYC (1998)
• Louis Prima: Capitol Collectors Series (1991)
• Scorpion Wind: Heaven Sent (1998)
• David S. Ware: Go See The World (1998)
• John Zorn: Bar Kokhba (1996)
• John Zorn's Masada: Gimel (1994)

And the best albums I heard in 1999:

• Beck: Midnite Vultures (1999)
• Built To Spill: Perfect from Now On (1997)
• Boards of Canada: Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
• Haino Keiji with Greg Cohen and Joey Baron: An Unclear Trial: More Than This (1998)
• Diana Krall: All For You (A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio) (1996)
• Low: The Curtain Hits The Cast (1996)
• Morte Macabre: Symphonic Holocaust (1998)
• Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane over the Sea (1997)
• v/a: Americana Volume 1 - Vox Populi (1999)
• Tom Waits: Mule Variations (1999)

The best albums I heard in 2000:

• The Cardigans: Life (1995)
• The Caretaker: Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom (1999)
• Cryptopsy: Whisper Supremacy (1998)
• Girlfrendo: Surprise! Surprise! It's Girlfrendo (1998)
• Gorguts: Obscura (1998)
• Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs (1999)
• Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo (1999)
• Louis Prima / Keely Smith / Sam Butera: The Capitol Recordings (1994)
• Purple Trap: Soul's True Love (1995)
• v/a: The Love Songs of Burt Bacharach (1999)
• v/a: Sombrero: La Tercera Coleccion de Canciones de Siesta (1999)
• Stereolab: The First of the Microbe Hunters (2000)

The best albums I heard in 2001:

• Bird: Bird (1999)
• Bjork: Vespertine (2001)
• Bjork and Trio Gudmundar Ingolfssonar: Gling-Glo (1990)
• Deltron 3030: Deltron 3030 (2000)
• "In the Mood for Love" soundtrack (2000)
• Lazy Dog: Lazy Dog (2000)
• "O, Brother Where Art Thou?" soundtrack (2000)
• Trees: On the Shore (1970)
• v/a: Tougher than Tough: The Story of Jamaican Music (1999)

The best albums I heard in 2002:

• Guided By Voices: Universal Truths and Cycles (2002)
• Diana Krall: Live in Paris (2002)
• Jacques Louissier Trio: Bach's Goldberg Variations (2000)
• Puffy: AmiYumi Jet Fever (2000)
• Swans: Soundtracks for the Blind (1996)

Now Hear This, The First Part.