Top 13 Albums of 2006

2006 was a really strong year for music, although as far as I’m concerned there weren’t any truly great records released. None of these albums will break my top 30 or maybe even top 50 all-time, but they’re still solid through and through.

I can’t listen to everything that was released in 2006, so at the bottom you’ll find the complete list of eligible albums. We start though, with the ten runners-up, listed from 14 to 23: Duper Sessions — Sondre Lerche & the Faces Down, Rabbit Fur Coat — Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins, How We Operate — Gomez, At War With the Mystics — The Flaming Lips, The Garden — Zero 7, Everything All the Time — Band of Horses, We the Vehicles — Maritime, Time Without Consequence — Alexi Murdoch, Half the Time — Pablo, Putting the Days to Bed — The Long Winters

13. Game Theory — The Roots
The best Roots album ever? Quite possibly.

12. Pearl Jam — Pearl Jam
Start to finish this might be the strongest album since Vs., though I still enjoy the highly underrated No Code.

11. Comfort of Strangers — Beth Orton

10. The Information — Beck
Stepping in where Guero left off, the album finds Beck straddling the line between folkie and electro popper. To quote Borat, “I like.”

9. Ben Kweller — Ben Kweller

8. Both Sides of the Gun — Ben Harper
Ben’s best album in years. It took me a while to give it a good listen, but when I did I was rewarded with every tune.

7. The Crane Wife — The Decemberists
I didn’t expect much from this record, and in fact I still don’t own it yet, but man is it a great listen from start to finish.

6. Free to Stay — Smoosh
Your eyes do not deceive you: Smoosh is my number six album of the year. I admired their debut more than I liked it, but this is a huge step forward for the preteen indie queens.

5. Ganging Up on the Sun — Guster

4. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood — Neko Case

3. Reiter In — Chris Whitley & the Bastard Club
Whitley’s final album—a fitting, wildly diverse collection of originals and covers—proves once again he is one of the most original voices in American music of the past 20 years.

2. The Greatest — Cat Power
No other album on this list has such a distinct character as this indie-meets-southern soul masterwork.

1. St. Elsewhere — Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls takes the top spot on the strength of all the great songs beyond “Crazy.” Other favorites include “Smiley Faces” and “Just a Thought.”

Eligible Albums

  1. St. Elsewhere — Gnarls Barkley
  2. The Greatest — Cat Power
  3. Reiter In — Chris Whitley & the Bastard Club
  4. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood — Neko Case
  5. Ganging Up on the Sun — Guster
  6. Free to Stay — Smoosh
  7. The Crane Wife — The Decemberists
  8. Both Sides of the Gun — Ben Harper
  9. Ben Kweller — Ben Kweller
  10. The Information — Beck
  11. Comfort of Strangers — Beth Orton
  12. Pearl Jam — Pearl Jam
  13. Game Theory — The Roots
  14. Duper Sessions — Sondre Lerche & the Faces Down
  15. Rabbit Fur Coat — Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins
  16. How We Operate — Gomez
  17. At War with the Mystics — The Flaming Lips
  18. The Garden — Zero 7
  19. Everything All the Time — Band of Horses
  20. We the Vehicles — Maritime
  21. Time Without Consequence — Alexi Murdoch
  22. Half the Time — Pablo
  23. Putting the Days to Bed — The Long Winters
  24. Makers — Rocky Votolato
  25. Subtitulo — Josh Rouse
  26. World Waits — Jeremy Enigk
  27. 9 — Damien Rice
  28. Meek Warrior — Akron/Family
  29. Yell Fire! — Michael Franti & Spearhead
  30. Seeger Sessions — Bruce Springsteen
  31. The Eraser — Thom Yorke
  32. Friendly Fire — Sean Lennon
  33. Modern Times — Bob Dylan
  34. Stadium Arcadium — Red Hot Chili Peppers
  35. American V: A Hundred Highways — Johnny Cash
  36. Post-War — M. Ward
  37. Rather Ripped — Sonic Youth
  38. Return to Cookie Mountain — TV on the Radio
  39. Nuclear Daydream — Joseph Arthur
  40. Taking the Long Way — The Dixie Chicks
  41. Till the Sun Turns Black — Ray LaMontagne
  42. Animal Years — Josh Ritter
  43. The Lemonheads — The Lemonheads
  44. Gulag Orkestar — Beirut
  45. Hip Hop is Dead — Nas
  46. Loose — Nelly Furtado
  47. Garden Ruin — Calexico
  48. Light Grenades — Incubus
  49. The Tragic Treasury — The Gothic Archies
  50. Broken Boy Soldiers — The Raconteurs
  51. The Captain and the Kid — Elton John
  52. The Warning — Hot Chip
  53. FutureSex/LoveSounds — Justin Timberlake
  54. The Believer — Rhett Miller
  55. Highway Companion — Tom Petty
  56. The Letting Go — Bonnie "Prince" Billy
  57. You in Reverse — Built to Spill
  58. Carnavas — Silversun Pickups
  59. Nightcrawler — Pete Yorn
  60. Back to Basics — Christina Aguilera
  61. Once Again — John Legend
  62. The Gun Album — The Minus Five
  63. nineteeneighties — Grant Lee Phillips
  64. Supernature — Goldfrapp
  65. So This Is Goodbye — Junior Boys
  66. Passover — The Black Angels
  67. Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of the Mountain — Sparklehorse
  68. Songs We Sing — Matt Costa
  69. Let's Get Out of the Country — Camera Obscura
  70. Hell Hath No Fury — Clipse
  71. Living With War — Neil Young
  72. YoYoYoYoYoYo — Spank Rock
  73. Release Therapy — Ludacris
  74. The Avalanche — Sufjan Stevens
  75. Continuum — John Mayer
  76. Food & Liquor — Lupe Fiasco
  77. Whatever People Say, That's What I'm Not &mdash Arctic Monkeys
  78. Another Fine Day — Golden Smog
  79. I am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass — Yo La Tengo
  80. Personality — The Sleepy Jackson
  81. Supply and Demand — Amos Lee
  82. The Trials of Van Occupanther — Midlake
  83. Robbers & Cowards — Cold War Kids
  84. Kingdom Come — Jay-Z
  85. Destroyer's Rubies — Destroyer
  86. The Red Carpet Treatment — Snoop Dogg
  87. Ta-Dah — Scissor Sisters
  88. First Impressions of Earth — The Strokes
  89. Crazy Itch Radio — Basement Jaxx
  90. idlewild — Outkast
  91. Fishscale — Ghostface Killah
  92. Decemberunderground — AFI
  93. Saturday Wrist — Deftones