The 50 Best Albums of 2008

39

Taylor Swift FEARLESS Big Machine

Even in a recession, the formula for a bestselling pop hit is simple: All you need is the perfect chorus and the poet laureate of 10th grade to sing the damn thing. With indelible guitar chords and teenybopper charm, Swift proves no one can match her ninjalike professionalism. She should have called it Peerless.

40

Jonas Brothers A LITTLE BIT LONGER Hollywood

Can a teen band save power-pop? Kevin, Joe and Nick proved that they are more than Disney Industrial Complex toy-boys here, writing and playing nearly every note. And even skeptical grown-ups succumbed to the charms of "Burnin' Up" and other fuzzed-up pop-rock nuggets.

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