1. Arcade Fire-Funeral

2. Brian Wilson-Smile

3. Muse-Absolution

4. Bjork-Medulla

5. Drive By Truckers-The Dirty South

6. Loretta Lynn-Van Lear Rose

7. Elbow -Cast of Thousands

8. Mark Lanegan Band-Bubblegum

9. Jamie Cullum-Twentysomething

10. Wilco-A Ghost is Born

11. Kanye West-College Dropout

12. Norah Jones-Feels Like Home

13. Powderfinger-Vulture Street

14. Phantom Planet-Phantom Planet

15. The Hives-Tyrannosaurus Hives

16. Rufus Wainwright-Want Two

17. Polyphonic Spree-Together We're Heavy

18. Magnetic Fields-I

19. The Killers-Hot Fuss

20. Division of Laura Lee-Das Not Compute

21. Gomez-Split the Difference

22. Van Hunt-Van Hunt

23. The Format-Interventions and Lullabies

24. Sleep Station-After the War

25. Tom Waits-Real Gone

26. Augie March-Strange Bird

27. Bad Religion-The Empire Strikes First

28. Rilo Kiley-More Adventurous

29. Sonic Youth-Sonic Nurse

30. Starsailor-Silence is Easy

31. The Walkmen-Bows and Arrows

32. Steve Earle-Revolution Starts Now

33. The Roots-Tipping Point

34. P.J. Harvey-Uh Huh Her

35. Dios-Dios

36. Kings of Convenience-Riot on an Empty Street

37. Jimmy Eat World-Futures

38. Hope of the States-Lost Riots

39. Black Keys-Rubber Factory-

40. Eminem-Encore

41. Pinback-Summer in Abaddon

42. Elliot Smith-From a Basement on the Hill

43. Iron and Wine-Our Endless Numbered Days

44. Cee-Lo-Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine

45. Snow Patrol-Final Straw

46. Madvillain-Madvillainy

47. Good Life-Album of the Year

48. T.V. on the Radio-Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

49. Paul Westerberg-Folker

50. Pedro the Lion-Achilles' Heal

Readers of Zboneman.com and people who know my personal tastes, will probably be quick to point out that there are two titles suspiciously absent from my best of list; U2's How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, and R.E.M.'s Around the Sun. No, your eyes do not deceive you. You don't see these particular titles because they aren't there. And in fact, this will mark the first time since I've been involved in writing that a U2 album hasn't made my top 20 (yes, even 1997's notoriously panned Pop made my list). The truth is, I like HTDAB, but somehow, it lacks the magic of U2's past records, therefore, I just didn't see how I could justifiably include it on the list. R.E.M.'s latest is a flat out disappointing effort from one of my very favorite bands.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's celebrate some truly remarkable albums from 2004. After careful consideration and continuous listening, my number one pick is something I only heard for the first time around a month ago. Actually, Kyle played it for me and I haven't been able to take it out of my CD player since. It's the debut album Funeral from an outstanding Montreal band called Arcade Fire. I've been hearing buzz about this group since the album's release back in September, but for whatever reason, I never got around to hearing it until just recently. What can I say? This record is absolutely masterful. It's diverse, raw, energetic, gloomy, depressing and uplifting all at once. And what's more, it serves as a sort of cathartic release for the band members, who were inspired to write the album after losing various loved ones in their lives. Thus the title Funeral. Drawing musical inspiration from everyone from The Pixies to the Talking Heads to more recent garage style bands (think The Strokes and The White Stripes), Arcade Fire is one of those rare debut albums that just makes you completely envious and reminds you how powerful music can be. In fact, just the other day, Kyle was telling me how unfair it is that these guys could come right out of the gates with such a strong effort. They're that good. What's more, Funeral isn't flashy or over produced. It doesn't need to be. It's so well written and performed that any extra studio tampering would just defeat the purpose. 2004 was a great year for music, but even with a masterpiece like Brian Wilson's Smile bringing joy to the ear, I couldn't think of a more ambitious, heartfelt record than Arcade Fire's heartbreaking Funeral. These guys are the real deal