Actually, due to some ties it's more like the top 104 of 2006 . There were quite a lot of ties in the lower 50, so it may look kinda weird but it was the best solution i could think of. The original thread containing people's year end lists can be found here.

Points were accumulated based on the rank an album was given in a persons list (ie: 20pts for #1, 19pts for #2, etc). In the case of a tie, the amount of individual votes an album recieved were then taken into account. In addition to showing the final rank an album recieved, and to give the final list some transparency, i've also included the amount of votes and points (shown in red and green respectively).

This list was tallied from 46 individual entries and resulted in 258 unique albums being nominated. Once the top 100 have been posted, i will post the full list. I will try to include album art, reviews, etc if i can find them. If anybody has any supplementary info or "legal" downloads they'd like to provide to promote an album please do.


So without further adieu, let's get rolling:



98 (tie). Stefon Harris - African Tarantella 1/19
98 (tie). Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope 1/19
98 (tie). Psychic Ills - Dins 1/19
98 (tie). OSI - Free 1/19
98 (tie). Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore East 1/19
98 (tie). Jim Noir - Tower of Love 1/19
98 (tie). Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir 1/19
96 (tie). The Black Angels - Passover 2/19
96 (tie). Les Claypool - Of Whales and Woe 2/19
93 (tie). The Flower Kings - Paradox Hotel 1/20
93 (tie). The Devin Townsed Band - Synchestra1/20
93 (tie). Josh Ritter - The Animal Years 1/20
92. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go 2/20
91. Russian Circles - Enter 2/21

90. Witch - Witch 2/22
88 (tie). William Elliott Whitmore - Song of the Blackbird 2/23
88 (tie). Richard Ashcroft - Keys to the World 2/23
87. Primal Scream - Riot City Blues 2/24
86. Eagles of Death Metal - Death by Sexy 3/24
85. White Whale - WWI 2/25
84. Tom Petty - Highway Companion 3/25
82 (tie). Ghostface Killah - Fishscale 2/26
82 (tie). Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds 2/26
80 (tie). Ray LaMontagne - Till' The Sun Turns Black 2/27
80 (tie). Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side 2/27

78 (tie). Peeping Tom - Peeping Tom 3/27
78 (tie). Califone - Roots & Crowns 3/27
74 (tie). Weird Al - Straight Outta Lynwood 2/28
74 (tie). Roddy Woomble - My Secret Is My Silence 2/28
74 (tie). Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance 2/28
74 (tie). Boris - Pink 2/28
73. Guillemots - Through the Windowpane 3/28
71 (tie). The Brother Kite - Waiting for the Time to be Right 2/29
71 (tie). Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire 2/29

70. Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun 4/29
67 (tie). The Sword - Age of Winters 2/30
67 (tie). Slowlands - Never Was There A Town 2/30
67 (tie). Islands - Return To The Sea 2/30
66. Zero 7 - The Garden 2/33
65. Neil Young - Living With War 5/33
63 (tie). …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - So Divided 3/34
63 (tie). Beirut - Gulag Orkestar 3/34
61 (tie). The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely 3/35
61 (tie). Red Sparowes - Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun 3/35

60. Agalloch – Ashes Against the Grain 3/36
59. Cat Power – The Greatest 4/36
57 (tie). New York Dolls – One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This 3/39
57 (tie). My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade 3/39
56. Drive-by Truckers – A Blessing and a Curse 4/40
55. Jesu – Silver EP 4/43
54. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones 5/44
53. Liars – Drum’s Not Dead 4/45
51 (tie). The Tragically Hip – World Container 3/46
51 (tie). Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther 3/46

50. Johnny Cash – American V: A Hundred Highways 4/46
49. Six Organs of Admittance – Sun Awakens 4/47
48. Yndi Halda – Enjoy Eternal Bliss EP 3/48
47. Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up, I Am Dreaming 4/48
46. My Morning Jacket – Okonokos (Live) 4/49
45. John Mayer - Continuum 5/49
43 (tie). The Beatles - Love 3/50
43 (tie). Strapping Young Lad – The New Black 3/50
42. The Frames – The Cost 5/50
41. Gomez – How We Operate 5/51

40. Incubus - Light Grenades 5/52
39. Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions 6/54
38. The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth 6/56
37. Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain 7/58
36. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere 6/59
35. Wolfmother - Wolfmother 7/59
34. Mark Lanegan/Isobelle Campbell - Ballad of Broken Seas 4/61
33. The Black Keys - Magic Potion 6/64
32. Mono - You Are There 7/68
31. Isis - In the Absence of Truth 5/69

30. Joanna Newsom - Ys 4/72
29. Tom Waits - Orphans 5/76
28. Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit 5/83
27. Damien Rice - 9 8/83
26. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood 7/84
25. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas 7/85
24. The Flaming Lips – At War With the Mystics 8/90
23. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium 6/91
22. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass 9/92
21. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America 7/94

20. Comets on Fire - Avatar 7/96
19. Mogwai – Mr. Beast 9/109
18. Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped 11/115
16 (tie). M. Ward – Post-War 8/119
16 (tie). Deftones – Saturday Night Wrist 8/119
15. Built To Spill – You In Reverse 9/123
14. The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers 12/133
13. Band Of Horses – Everything All The Time 9/138
12. Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies 9/148
11. Thom Yorke – The Eraser 11/150

10. Mars Volta - Amputecture 12/150
9. Mastodon - Blood Mountain 9/151
8. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 10/156
7. Beck - The Information 12/161
6. Bob Dylan - Modern Times 11/170
5. Tool - 10,000 Days 13/195
4. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations 15/221
3. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 15/227
2. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain 22/328
1. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam 30/445

91. Russian Circles - Enter 2/21

Allmusic rating:

Russian Circles are a heavy rock instrumental trio from Chicago, and Enter is their debut long-player. Comparisons to Pelican and Isis have been tiresome at best — and inaccurate at worst — as RC differ in key ways. The construction of their tunes is more intricate, not reliant as much on the heavy riff and the elegant phrase — though it's not quite as delicate as Explosions in the Sky or Growing, either. On the opener, "Carpe," it's easy to hear that there's a lot happening. Guitarist Mike Sullivan and bassist Colin DeKuiper engage in musical counterpoint, which is not knotty math rock, either — dynamic ranges are not built as much as employed in each section of the tune. Repetition between three-note vamps is present, but only as a grounding point. Drummer Dave Turncrantz has both great responsibility and great freedom. The tune crunches, folds back on itself, and then comes out on the other side with an entirely new musical statement to make, carrying just a hint of its origin. more review




92. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go 2/20

Allmusic rating:

Will Oldham has usually preached the gospel of less-is-more, but after an own-covers record that emanated from the belly of Nashville itself (Bonnie Prince Billy Sings Greatest Palace Songs), followed by a collaboration with guitarist Matt Sweeney (Superwolf) and a churning live record (Summer in the Southeast), his work began to seem positively indulgent. The Letting Go is not quite as far a stretch, but it is yet another intriguing departure. Granted, its approach would strike most bands as skeletal, but compared to his last solo album of originals, 2003's Master and Everyone, it sounds downright gaudy. It was recorded in Iceland with a producer, Valgeir Sigurosson, who gets more out of Oldham's voice and songs than has ever been heard on record. Oldham's harmony companion, Dawn McCarthy from Faun Fables, takes a much larger role than her predecessor on Master and Everyone, and her credit for harmony arrangements tells you everything you need to know about how important she is to the success of this album. Oldham's songwriting is breathtaking, close to the best of his career, although little changed from the norm — his surreal, fatalistic take on Americana Gothic. "Cursed Sleep" is especially wonderful, with a string arrangement that harks back to Nick Drake's "Way to Blue," haunted vocals from McCarthy the chanteuse far in the background, and a set of lyrics that build up to a tragic peak ("Cursed love is never ended, cursed eyes are never closing, cursed arms are never closing, cursed children never rising, cursed me never despising"). To the other extreme is "Cold & Wet," a downright jaunty (despite the lyrics), fingerpicked blues of the type that Mississippi John Hurt would have recorded for Vanguard in the mid-'60s, and percussion from Dirty Three drummer Jim White that could be confused with electric drums or the worst recorded organic drum set ever heard. Truth to tell, since the quality of Oldham's songwriting has rarely wavered, the excellent arrangements and McCarthy's contributions make The Letting Go the best of his career to this point.




93 (tie). Josh Ritter - The Animal Years 1/20

Allmusic rating:

Idaho-bred singer/songwriter Josh Ritter's V2 Records debut follows in the footsteps of 2003's Hello Starling only in instrumentation. While he retains his literate tongue and expressive voice, there is far less humor on Animal Years than on his previous two outings. Producer Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse) keeps Animal Years intimate but transient, like a circus train crawling through a small town on a busy Saturday afternoon. Essentially built around two startlingly affecting diatribes on the war in Iraq, Ritter utilizes the voices of Peter and Paul, as well as Laurel & Hardy, to eke some kind of explanation from both the Administration and the Creator. The first, the deceptively sweet-sounding "Girl in the War," threatens "The angels fly around in there, but we can't see them/I got a girl in the war, Paul I know that they can hear me yell/If they can't find a way to help her they can go to Hell." The second, "Thin Blue Flame," is a nearly ten-minute rant that follows the Velvet Underground "Heroin" arc of tinder to spark to full-on blaze in a way that hasn't worked for anyone in a long time, but most certainly does here. The other cuts never reach the same heights, but standouts such as "Wolves," with its sunrise gallop and "Whole of the Moon"-era Waterboys piano, and the languid "Monster Ballads" soar only inches beneath them.




93 (tie). The Devin Townsed Band - Synchestra 1/20

Allmusic rating:

Although the two aren't musically alike, Neil Young and Devin Townsend follow a similar approach to making music. Young uses his hard-rocking band Crazy Horse to recharge his batteries, so that he can go off and pursue other musical areas of interest as a solo artist. And Townsend has the same setup — returning time and time again back to "the band thing" (heavy metallists Strapping Young Lad) before tackling other styles as a solo artist. While Townsend's 2006 solo outing Synchestra does let quite a few headbanging elements slip through the metal detectors, Townsend's quirkiness continues to bubble to the surface throughout. Since Townsend first broke on the scene as a member of Steve Vai's band (1993's Sex & Religion), it's understandable that a few obviously Vai-ish bits should be detected, such as the track "Babysong." But Townsend is certainly not a one-trick pony, as evidenced by the Faith No More-ish instrumental "Vampolka" and a quartet of prog metal epics stacked side by side: "Gaia," "Pixillate," "Judgement," and "A Simple Lullaby." As evidenced by Synchestra, Townsend seems to be getting more musically daring with each subsequent release, unlike some other veteran rockers who start to play it safe as the years roll on.




93 (tie). The Flower Kings - Paradox Hotel 1/20

Allmusic rating:

The ever prolific Roine Stolt brings his Swedish prog-rock monolith the Flower Kings back into the studio for a double-disc outing created around the notion of existence. Light stuff, eh? It is, actually. For those who are wrapped tight in prog rock's knotty, twist-and-turn melodies, quick-change tempos, harmonic extensions, eloquent, guitar pathways that are only topped by keyboard excesses that display acumen and prowess, and glistening production — and production where it takes eight hours to get a guitar solo right in the studio — Paradox Hotel will seem a tad foreign, and perhaps even strange. While it certainly has many of prog's long-expected tropes — from eloquent expansive melodies that are more like suites than songs — and rhythmic variation, it also does something very different. The songs are simpler, long to be sure, but full of gorgeous melodies, with a more hook-oriented manner of playing, and other than vocal harmonies and some sound effects, the set was recorded live the studio. It's looseness, gregariousness, and even, dare one say, tenderness is the kind of thing that may leave some — if they could ever find this record — curious but frightened by prog rock, to move toward it for a bit of a listen. And you'd be surprised. Paradox Hotel has the adventurous vision of Peter Gabriel-era of Genesis, the musicality of Yes, the playfulness of Gentle Giant, and the slippery, mercurial side of Pink Floyd. more review




96 (tie). Les Claypool - Of Whales and Woe 2/19

Allmusic rating:

By this stage of the game, you definitely know what you're in for when you plunk down your hard-earned clams for a new Les Claypool-related disc. whether it is Primus, Oysterhead, Sausage, or his solo outings. On the fifth release to be solely credited to Claypool, 2006's Of Whales and Woe, all the expected elements are in place — slippery funk bass, both conventional and unconventional percussion, and whackoid lyrics sung in a narrator-esque style. While Claypool is usually the driving force behind his projects, on Of Whales and Woe, he's thrust even more into the spotlight — very little six-string guitar is featured and when it does, it's Claypool supplying it. As a result, bass is king throughout. Anyone who doubts that Claypool is one of rock's all-time great bassists should check out his playing on such funk-heavy cuts as "One Better" and "Rumble of the Diesel," while Claypool's quirkiness is spotlighted on such tracks as "Back Off Turkey" and "Iowan Girl." Perhaps Claypool summed it up best in the accompanying album press release — "It's almost like Morphine meets old Isley Brothers with some bastardized version of Woody Guthrie." Longtime fans wouldn't have it any other way.



96 (tie). The Black Angels - Passover 2/19

Allmusic rating:




98 (tie). Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir 1/19





98 (tie). Jim Noir - Tower of Love 1/19

Allmusic rating:

On his debut album, Tower of Love, Jim Noir proves himself to be a first-class mix-and-match master, blending the cheesy drum machines and bubbling synths of indie electronic, the lo-fi guitars and adult-child vocals of indie pop, and the full-bodied and harmony-drenched arrangements of chamber pop into a swirling, soothing, and truly lovely Technicolor pop confection. Noir also proves himself to be an able student of great outsider pop of the '60s, '70s, and 2000s. There are echoes of British eccentrics like XTC, Kevin Ayers, and ELO to be found in the grooves of Tower. There is the pronounced influence of those renowned American nutters, the mid-'70s edition of the Beach Boys and their Love You album. There are comparisons to be made to the anything-goes spirit and sound of contemporary explorers like Super Furry Animals and the Beta Band. Best of all, if you happen to have never heard of any of those bands and just love a good melody played and sung sweetly by a likeable singer, you will love the record just as much as someone who can train-spot all the influences. There really isn't a weak song to be had, and the album flows past like a gentle stream winding its way through a summer meadow. more review


98 (tie). Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore East 1/19

Allmusic rating:

Ever since he started rumbling about releasing his archives some 20, 30 years ago — it's been so long, it's hard to keep track of the specifics — Neil Young talked about it as a mammoth box set, or perhaps a series of box sets each chronicling a different era in his career, comprised entirely of unreleased recordings, some live, some studio. It was an eagerly anticipated set, since everybody knew that he had scores of unreleased recordings in his vaults. Not just songs, but full albums that were scrapped at the last minute. He regularly tested out new songs on tour, sometimes rewriting them later, sometimes never releasing them on album. Some of his peers had similar habits — Bob Dylan had a similar treasure trove of unreleased recordings — but unlike Dylan, Young took an active interest in archiving this material himself. Given the amount of unreleased tapes, some patience was in order, but as the years stretched into decades, with Neil tinkering away, changing his mind, waiting for digital sound to get out of the dark ages, it was easy to wonder if the set would ever come out. When it did, it was not with a splash, as was the official Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, which was inaugurated as a triple-disc box in 1991. No, Young eased his way into the series by releasing a single disc called Live at the Fillmore East late in 2006. more review




98 (tie). OSI - Free 1/19

Allmusic rating:

Prog metal supergroup O.S.I. return with their second album, which finds the duo of singer and keyboardist Kevin Moore and guitarist Jim Matheos moving away from the fairly standard-issue epic metal of 2003's Office of Strategic Influence into something that sounds more like Evanescence's gothy metal-pop crossed with late-era Radiohead's fondness for electronic interference. Moore, formerly of Dream Theater (his ex-bandmate Mike Portnoy plays the album's few non-electronic drums), and Fates Warning leader Matheos are venturing into relatively new territory here: Free is downright commercial in a way that none of the duo's previous projects have been. Moore sings with a new, less aggressive voice that's unfortunately reminiscent of any number of faceless alternative rock singers, and Matheos' guitar is downplayed in favor of keyboards and sequencers. Even on "All Gone Now," which has the most overtly metallic riffs on the album, the guitar is overpowered by layers of twitchy electronic cut-up rhythms and twinkling keyboards. The songs are catchy enough that it's not unthinkable that unadventurous rock radio programmers could take a shine to the title track or "Go," but Fates Warning and Dream Theater fans might be less impressed.



98 (tie). Psychic Ills - Dins 1/19

Allmusic rating:

Dins is the full-length debut of New York City's Psychic Ills; a band known for their squalling live shows that combine post-punk sonics, deafening drones, psychedelic weirdness, rhythmic tribalism, and loose, shambolic, improvisational jams that have everything to do with chaos and intensity and nothing whatsoever to do with Widespread Panic, Phish, or whatever other "uber-musician" gang you can come up with. These cats may not be able to play as well, but they are more musical for all their craziness. With Charles Burst behind the board (Gang Gang Dance and Black Dice), the band get the opportunity to rein in some of the live excesses and channel new energy toward some previously unknown inner space via the dimensions and textures of the recording studio. After the discovery, they bust out of it, of course, and that's what makes this such an impressive record. They have obvious influences of course — who doesn't? — Spacemen 3, early Sonic Youth, La Monte Young, Terry Riley, the Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators, Pere Ubu when they were dangerous; these are obvious ones, but so are bands like Section 25 and Joy Division. more review




98 (tie). Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope 1/19

Allmusic rating:

On Begin to Hope, Regina Spektor treads a delicate balance between her anti-folk past and her present home on Sire Records. Though the label re-released Soviet Kitsch in 2004, Begin to Hope is Spektor's first original material for Sire, and it feels more like a major-label debut than Soviet Kitsch ever did. The album's big, glossy production and preponderance of drum machines and keyboards inches Spektor toward territory that isn't exactly mainstream, but is closer to a more conventional adult alternative singer/songwriter sound. Her songwriting mirrors this, too: "Field Below," which finds her wishing for the countryside while living in the city, has a mellow, appealingly rambling vibe that grows from the traditional singer/songwriter roots of Joni and Carole; "Better" takes the breathy, literate, pretty side of Spektor's music and tailors it into a radio-friendly single. "On the Radio" takes it a step further and becomes a smart, funny, and sad meta-single, with lyrics like "We listened to it twice/Because the DJ was asleep" backed by poppy synths and beats. But even though Begin to Hope's first few songs might suggest otherwise, Spektor is much too freewheeling and quirky a talent to stick to the straight and narrow for the entirety. Show tunes, classic soul, the Bible, and the backs of cereal boxes are all inspirations for the album. And whether she quotes the melody from Doris Payne's "Just One Look" and pairs it with lyrics about orca whales on "Hotel Song," or begins the lovely, confessional closing track, "Summer in the City," with the line "summer in the city means cleavage," Spektor uses them in unexpected ways. She also places some truly surreal, heady tracks toward Begin to Hope's end: "Lady" is a torchy number arranged for piano, saxophone, and typewriter, while "20 Years of Snow" is buoyed along by impressionistic keyboards that twinkle and tumble like a just-shaken snow globe. "Apres Moi," one of the album's most impressive tracks, showcases her classical piano training, her Russian heritage, and those biblical influences to ominous, paranoid effect. Leaving the more unique, quintessentially Regina Spektor-esque tracks at the end of Begin to Hope isn't so much a bait-and-switch as is a clever way to lure in and loosen the inhibitions of new fans. The album feels like getting to really know someone: at first, it's polite and a little restrained, but then its real personality, with all of its charming idiosyncrasies, finally reveals itself.



98 (tie). Stefon Harris - African Tarantella 1/19

Allmusic rating:

On this unusual project, vibraphonist Stefon Harris performs three excerpts apiece from Duke Ellington's "New Orleans Suite" and his lesser-known "The Gardner Meditations" plus two pieces from the Duke's "The Queen's Suite." The sensitive "Single Petal of a Rose" is the best known of these selections. Rather than use a big band, Harris is joined by viola, cello, flute, clarinet, trombonist Steve Turre (who is wonderful on "Portrait of Wellman Braud"), and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section. The arrangements are colorful and inventive, with Harris (who doubles on marimba) usually being heard as the lead voice. African Tarantella serves as further proof that Duke Ellington's music, in addition to being enormous in quantity, can be interpreted in an infinite number of colorful ways. Well worth several listens.

Cool man! I'm surprised Russian Circles has an AMG entry. Cool that it's at 91 too.

PS: I've heard 2 of those. Russian Circles and Flower Kings.

I heard 2 of these.

I'll try to give the others a listen as well.

Hmm...very interesting. Haven't heard many of these.

Good to see Regina Spektor in the list.

My girlfriend likes her quite a bit, but i can't say i'm a huge fan. The only albums i've spent much time with out of these are the Claypool disc and the Black Angels. Listening to Claypool right now, actually

only 2 votes for black angels?
i thought they were a bit more popular... guess that's only in the indie circles i run in...

2 top 20 votes. they were in my list, but didn't crack the top 20. it was a good album but i wasn't particularly blown away by it

ah right. 2 top 20 votes.
still, i've heard a lot of people who like it alot.
denver music critic put it at 2 or 3 on his list...

I haven't heard a single album so far. I have heard songs from some, just not the whole deal, though I've been meaning to pick up the Black Angels and that Josh Ritter albums.


PS. Shouldn't it be this thread that's stickied and not the other one?

Yeah, i PM'd stip this morning asking him to sticky it, but he stickied the wrong one...and then the bastard left

where's GoS? doesn't he run this place?

I gotta check out that Neil Young at Fillmore album.

that jim noir album is very good.

I really thought that Bonnie Prince Billy would of done better. Oh well. Can't wait to see what else is on the list.

High Five on Claypool! I think that was on my list, but I can't remember for sure.

It didn't get nearly as much praise as it deserved.

Was it just us that voted for it?

i don't remember if anybody put in their list higher than 20, but it would seem that it was only us