The Best Albums of 2005

This page last updated on December 15, 2005.

The Top Albums of 2005

1) Neil Young - Prairie Wind

2) The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang

3) Cowboy Junkies - Early 21st Century Blues

4) Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs

5) Beck - Guero

6) Robert Plant - Mighty Rearranger

7) Van Morrison - Magic Time

8) John Doe - Forever Hasn't Happened Yet

9) Rodney Crowell - The Outsider

10) Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses

Significant Box Sets, Reissues, Live Albums, and other Specialty Packages

1) Grateful Dead - Fillmore West 1969

2) Miles Davis - The Cellar Door Sessions 1970

3) Bob Dylan - No Direction Home: The Soundtrack - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7

4) Grateful Dead - The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack

5) Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Volume 34

6) Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Volume 36

7) Grateful Dead - Truckin' Up to Buffalo

8) Janis Joplin - Pearl: Legacy Edition

9) Donovan - Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan

10) Peter Gabriel - Play: The Videos

Notable Enhanced Audio Releases

With the advent of DVD-Audio, SACD, and DualDisc technology, music
making — both past and present — has taken on a whole new dimension.
Classic efforts are being re-mixed and newer outings are being recorded
from an entirely different perspective. These are some of the most notable
reissues and releases of 2005.

Jackson Browne - Running on Empty [DVD-Audio]

R.E.M. - Green [DVD-Audio]

R.E.M. - Out of Time [DVD-Audio]

R.E.M. - New Adventures in Hi-Fi [DVD-Audio]

Nina Simone - The Soul of Nina Simone [DualDisc]

Bill Withers - Just As I Am [DualDisc]

The Best of the Rest

These releases may not be the cream of the crop for 2005, but each
is remarkable in its own right — be they intriguing debuts,
welcome returns, fond farewells, brilliant tributes, stunning leaps
forward, or just good efforts from consistently creative artists.

The Blue Van - The Art of Rolling

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

Solomon Burke - Make Do with What You Got

Ray Charles - The Dick Cavett Show: Ray Charles Collection

Johnny Cash - The Complete Sun Recordings: 1955-1958

Johnny Cash - The Legend of Johnny Cash

Chicago - Chicago IV: At Carnegie Hall, Volumes I, II, III, and IV

Eric Clapton - Back Home

Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight: Legacy Edition

Del McCoury Band - The Company We Keep

Dexter Gordon Quartet - Manhattan Symphonie

Francis Dunnery - The Gulley Flats Boys

Eagles - Farewell I Tour: Live from Melbourne

Jerry Garcia - Garcia Plays Dylan

Jerry Garcia - The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 1: Legion of Mary

Eliza Gilkyson - Paradise Hotel

Jose Gonzalez - Veneer

Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks. Volume 35

David Gray - Life in Slow Motion

Chris Hillman - The Other Side

Jerry Garcia Band - Pure Jerry, Volume 5: Merriweather Post Pavilion, September 1-2, 1989

Jerry Garcia Band - Pure Jerry, Volume 6: Warner Theatre - March 18, 1978

Jerry Garcia Band - Live at Shoreline

Robert Earl Keen - What I Really Mean

Amos Lee - Amos Lee

Phil Lesh - Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead

The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible: 10th Anniversary Edition

James McMurtry - Childish Things

Morrissey - Live at Earls Court

My Morning Jacket - Z

Nickel Creek - Why Should the Fire Die?

Brad Paisley - Time Well Wasted

Graham Parker - Songs of No Consequence

Phish - New Year's Eve 1995: Live at Madison Square Garden

John Prine - Fair & Square

Public Enemy - Power to the People and the Beats: Public Enemy's Greatest Hits

Bonnie Raitt - Souls Alike

Jon Randall - Walking among the Living

The Robert Cray Band - Twenty

Marty Stuart - Souls' Chapel

Alexis P. Suter - Shuga Fix

Otis Taylor - Below the Fold

Various Artists - For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records

Various Artists - I Believe to My Soul

Various Artists - Jamie Oldaker's Mad Dogs & Okies

Various Artists - The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons

Waco Brothers - Freedom and Weep

The Wallflowers - Rebel, Sweetheart

The Who - Tommy and Quadrophenia Live with Special Guests

Dar Williams - My Better Self

Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE [DVD]

Winterpills - Winterpills

Adrienne Young & Little Sadie - The Art of Virtue

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