hey, i think it’s spelled “mastOdon” … not “mastadon” …

good top 10 tho.

No complaints here.

but for the hell of it, here’s my top ten:

10.”Modern Times” – Bob Dylan
9.”Revelations” – Audioslave
8.”Til the Sun Turns Black” -Ray Lamontagne
7.”Orphans, Brawlers, and Bastards” – Tom Waits
6.”I’m Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass” – Yo La Tengo
5.”Show Your Bones” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4.”Pearl Jam” – Pearl Jam
3.”The Crane Wife” – The Decemberists
2.”The Greatest” – Cat Power
1.”The Eraser” -Thom Yorke

hahahaha RS is such a kiss a corporate machine, lets give any bob dylan 5 stars and call it the best album of the year whenever he has a new album??? how about no… how about Pearl Jam, the people had spoken in the American artist of the year, they also released the best album of the year… go figure…

Shit everyone knows Justin Timberlake can make a better album than Pete Townshend, and Roger Daltrey.
I mean he sings a song about bringing Sexy Back!
DEEP MAAAANNNNN, REALLY DEEP!!!
Maybe Pete should have asked Justin to write for Endless Wire and then it might have been better.

where is Gnarles Barkley? That is a great album

1.) Subtle, “For Hero: For Fool”
2.) Clipse, “Hell Hath No Fury”
3.) Neko Case, “Fox Confessor Brings The Flood”
4.) Ghostface Killah, “Fishscale/More Fish”
5.) Matthew Herbert, “Scale”
6.) Fiery Furnaces, “Bitter Tea”
7.) Justin Timberlake, “FutureSex/LoveSounds”
8.) Mastodon, “Blood Mountain”
9.) Lupe Fiasco, “Food And Liquor”
10.) P.O.S., “Audition”

Hey, I love #1 and 2 on the list. If you don’t like either Bob Dylan or RHCP, then sorry. Both are great records that folks will be listening to for years. They are both good front-to-back. You aren’t entitled to your own opinion if you disagree with me.

in no particular order,,,
THE BLACK PARADE-MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
THE CAPTAIN AND THE KID-ELTON JOHN
IT JUST COMES NATURAL-GEORGE STRAIT
HOW TO SAVE A LIFE-THE FRAY
MODERN TIMES DYLAN
THESES DAYS VINCE GILL
CONFESSIONS ON THE DANCE FLOOR-MADONNA
LOOSE -NELLY FUTARDO
TAKING THE LONG WAY HOME-DIXIE CHICKS
TILL THE SUN TURNS BLACK-RAY LAMONTAGNE
CORINNE BAILEY RAE-CORINNE BAILEY RAE
THE BREAKTHROUGH-MARY J BLIGHE
INTO THE SUN-SEAN LENNON
STADIUM ARCADIA-RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

just saw rolling stones top 50 which is fine but how did we forget elton johns captain and the kid?..mmmmmmmmmmmm u guys gave it over glowing review when it was released and now no where to be seen..interesting..

“Modern Times,” Bob Dylan
“Post War,” M. Ward
“A Hundred Miles Off,” the Walkmen
“We Shall Overcome,” Bruce Springsteen
“Orphans,” Tom Waits
“Bottoms of Barrels,” Tilly & the Wall
“The Greatest,” Cat Power
“Rabbit Fur Coat,” Jenny Lewis
“The Trials of Van Occupanther,” Midlake

Rolling Stone is so out-of-touch, it’s scary.

ive listened to most of the list and while there are some excellent choices…i’m really disappointed that the most righteous , joyous , footstomping album of the year is not listed! robert randolph and the family band’s “colorblind” this is incredible music by an amazing group of musicians who even with a variety of guests clearly outshine them. soulful, funky fun a incredible trip. Shame on rolling stone for not even reviewing this cd.

Most of my top ten has already been mentioned, with Pearl Jam as my #1. But also on my list is Ferry Corsten -L.E.F. DJ Corsten proves that electronica
is not only for pulse pounding club beats and dizzying trance, but also can create some beautiful, complex, and tightly constucted songs.

10) Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
9) Rosanne Cash – Black Cadillac
Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam
7) Bob Dylan – Modern Times
6) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
5) Cold War Kids -Robbers & Cowards
4) Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
3) Yo La Tengo -I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
2) Bruce Springsteen – We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
1) TV on the Radio -Return to Cookie Mountain

Amy Winehouse ‘Back to Black’

Are you kidding me? Where the hell is Gnarles Barkley? That is a great album.

Pearl Jam is easily the best album of the last few years.

Theirs alot of good picks but too many of the best are closer to the end. Under the Skin was surprisingly fantastic, it should be higher, as should Beck, The Decemberists, Yeah Yeahs Yeahs and Neko Case. Final Fantasy should be there also. Not a terrible list but not perfect either. Stadium Arcadium is anything but diverse. Does not deserve #2. Bob Dylans #1 pick is debatable but he’s Dylan so I’m not gonna really say he shouldnt be #1…He is pretty awesome.

The Who should have been in there. Got a 4 star review in RS. But, that aside, Endless Wire is a very ambitious album with so many different musical styles – hard rock, classic Who, mini-opera, soft acoustic, even Broadway. Challenging and rewarding. Some great songs too. They didn’t mail it in.

Like a lot of people, apparently, I have a tough time understanding why Pearl Jam is only at #13. I agree that Dylan, Cat Power, RHCP, and TV on the Radio should be up there. But what about Jenny Lewis…The Flaming Lips…Rhett Miller…Paul Simon?? And have you people ever even heard of Ron Sexsmith?

…and Sean Lennon’s “Friendly Fire” does not belong on here…

Everything on that list is a great album. However, leaving out St. Elsewhere (Gnarls Barkley), Sam’s Town (The Killers), The Captain and The Kid (Elton John and Bernie Taupin), and the greatly under appreciated Endless Wire (The Who) just seems like blasphemy. Even the greatest hits collection U218 could beat some of those albums. (Though I understand why it might be exempt.) Well, here’s to hoping that the American Idiot movie soundtrack comes out in time to make next years list.

much better than the song list the only ones i might add are
The Mars Volta – Amputechture
Deftones – Saturday Night Wrist
Gym Class Heroes – As Cruel as School Children

Christ, Rolling Stone just continues it’s fall into irrelevancy …

this list is AWFUL.

no love for mars volta or mogwai?

the flaming lips

Where the hell are First Impressions of Earth and Ten Silver Drops

I just remembered “Highway Companion” by Tom Petty. Where was that?

Where the hell is Tom Petty’s Highway Companion? And yes St. Elsewhere is a glaring omission too. The new Jerry Lee Lewis album should have been there too.

My Morning Jacket- Okonokos(best live album of all time)
Willie Nelson- Songbird

where is Kfed and Clay Aikins on this list!!! They got robbed!!!!

And where, may I ask, is Gnarls Barkley? Shouldn’t that be at the top of the list, or at least very very near to the top? Maybe above Stadium Arcadium? Maybe even above Modern Times? I can’t believe Rolling Stone is being snobby about Gnarls Barkley. You people make me sick. Every other publication knows Gnarls is great. Do you want to be punk rock or something? You put fucking Fergie on the cover. FERGIE! What the fuck is the matter with you people? That’s just not cool.

Solid list…Pearl Jam and The Raconteurs could have been a tad higher, but I’ll live.

Here’s a question, Rolling Stone…if Bob Dylan put out an album of him burping and farting…would it still get 5 stars?

Sorry to be crude…I’m just not a fan. Anything this guy puts out is instantly deemed a classic. Bugs me.

I love the fact that Bob Dylan is number one, he is and has always been one of my fav musicians. The new record is really good too. However, the Killers Sam’s Town should be on this list. I didn’t expect it to since RS didn’t rate it well, but it’s proven itself to be a slow burner, and has made the top 20 lists of the major music mags in the UK. The Killers get smak talked about them but that doesn’t change the fact that the record is fantastic. Either way, I’m happy that RS redeems itself a bit by not forgetting Bob.

I’m shocked to not even see The Strokes or Built To Spill on the list. Both bands put out two of the best albums of the year… Yeah Yeah Yeahs should have been in the top 10 (and it’s “Show Your Bones”, not “Show Us Your Bones”), along with Pearl Jam..

Other than that, I’m happy to see Sonic Youth so high on the list. “Rather Ripped” is a great album.

1. “First Impressions of Earth” -Strokes
2. “Show Your Bones” -YYY
3. “You In Reverse” -Built To Spill
4. “Return To Cookie Mountain” -TV..Radio
5. “Pearl Jam”
6. “Broken Boy Soldier” -Raconteurs
7. “Stadium Aracadium” -RHCP
8. “Rather Ripped” -Sonic Youth
9. “The Life Pursuit” -Belle & Sebastian
10. “Boys and Girls in America” -Hold Steady

I really dig the fact that Mastodon and Ghostface are in the same top 10. Two of my favorite artists over the past several years.

But, you guys talking about Mars Volta and such…this is a top 50 list. It doesn’t make those records any worse, but I think it’s a fair assumption that Mars Volta is not a very accessible band on a wide scale. It’s really niched. And I was a HUGE at the drive-in fan.

The Strokes record is really great. That probably should’ve been here, too.

Yeah, Mike. I hear you. I posed the exact same question when the album first came out and was gang raped by Dylan fans.

Rolling Stone and everyone over 50 has their sacred cows and no matter how bad the output they can do no wrong. The Rolling Stones come to mind. Go ahead. I dare you to tell me wth a straight face that they’ve put out anything relevant in the last 20 years.

yeah where the HELL is Gnarls Barkley the best album of the year is Stadium Arcadium for sure though.

There is no way Red Hot Chili Peppers should be #2. They’ve released some great albums in the past, but this was not one of them. Dani California is an incredibly generic song. Glad to see you put Rhymefest in there, even though Rolling Stone, along with most other mags, didn’t even review it. I still agreed with many of the picks.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs at 44????? I don’t think so. Top 5, easy. I mean, you guys put the Yeahs’ first album in the top 5 when it came out, and you and everyone else agree that this album is even better. So how does this happen? I think David Fricke deserves more power in this process. You also underrated Pearl Jam, overrated the Decembrists & John Mayer & the Chili Peppers. And I like all three of those acts, but…I mean, “Waiting on the World to Change” is a nice song and all, but it’s not half as good as the worst track off of “Show Your Bones” or “Pearl Jam.” Best tracks from those two: “Way Out” and “Gone,” respectively. And I know it came out last year, but “The Fallen” by Franz Ferdinand is still rocking my world.

Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Cat Power…yes, yes, yes. Well done for making sure those artists and their 2006 albums made it to the list. But John Mayer at No. 11? Neko Case buried at No. 45? What is happening? Is this list for real? And where is Trail of Dead’s So Divided? What about Feist’s Open Season? When Rolling Stone’s editors finally laid the chips on the table, this list is about as significant as when Premiere Magazine named Tom Cruise the third best movie star of all time.

Certainly much better than the songs list, but still a far cry from the best albums of the year. I do agree with Modern Times as #1 wholeheartedly, though.

BUT WHERE IS ELTON JOHN’S THE CAPTAIN AND THE KID?

I love the Arctic Monkeys, but they don’t deserve a spot that high. I’ll admit that as a fan. Your lack of Keane disappoints me again.

RACONTEURS so low? any rap album so high? what the fuck…

oh, and RHCP suck. a lot. most of this list is blasphemy.

How come nobody is complaining about tool being rated so poorly….easy top 5

no wonder your magazine has taken a back seat to all the others what about deftones?

list is good. dylan rules. rhcp still suck. pearl jam should have been higher though. and john mayer is so cool, i dont know how anyone can put him down.

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Show Your Bones
2. TV On The Radio- Return To Cookie Mountain
3. Gnarls Barkley- St. Elsewhere
4. Boris- Pink
5. Mogwai- Mr. Beast

No Ben Harper? You gave Both Sides Of the Gun four stars but now EOY love?

I meant “no” EOY love

It was good to see some rock albums on the list, especially seeing Mastodon’s amazing BLOOD MOUNTAIN in the top ten, but you guys could have included Lamb of God’s SACRAMENT,Slayer’s CHRIST ILLUSION, and Trivium’s THE CRUSADE

Not a bad list. Some bad entries (the obligatory #1 to Bob Dylan?) but overall pretty good. My number 1 is Band of Horses but it didn’t even crack the list. For shame.

I love the peppers but i can honestly say this is a disapointing album, Should be top 50 but not #2. I am surpised though rolling stone did a not bad job. My top 10.
9.”Modern Times” – Bob Dylan
8.”Revelations” – Audioslave
7.”Orphans, Brawlers, and
6 Bastards” – Tom Waits
5.”The Eraser” -Thom Yorke
4. “First Impressions of Earth” -Strokes
3 “Return To Cookie Mountain” -TV..Radio
2. “Pearl Jam”
2. “Broken Boy Soldier” -Raconteurs
1 “Rather Ripped” -Sonic Youth

I thought Stadium Arcadium should have been number one. Whoever said it is not diverse is nuts. Other than that the list is pretty good

pointless packaging on 10,000 days. at least they’re trying to give something back to those of us who still buy whole c.d.s. the fucking elitist douchbags at RS probably dont see this though

where’s kasabian, razorlight, muse, hot chip, killers?

a very safe, conservative list for a safe conervative magazine

HA HA you Americans are hilarious! John fuckin’ Mayer at no. 11, what s joke. And the RHCP are so 1991. Get over ‘em, come on already… Where’s the Danish bands? Mew, Figurines, moi Caprice. WAKE UP USA!

No Drive By Truckers, no Califone, no Ray Lamontagne, Neko at 45(!) .. Boo-urns RS.

You give it four stars and a rave review, it is by one of a handful of truly legendary rock bands in history, its recorded 24 years after the last studio album and it is bested by sean lennon. Snubbing the Who’s Endless Wire shows that not even the people at Rolling Stone read Rolling Stone.

How can you leave out Pete and Roger’s “Endless Wire”? Although not spectacular, a competent Who album after 20+ years beats 3/4 of the others on the list. Also EC’s and JJ Cale’s “Road to Escondido” is like a cold drink on a hot day. Come on–give the old guys a break.

no strokes, thats totally insane.

No At War With the Mystics by the Flaming Lips? Other than that i can’t complain about the list

Pretty good list…I obviously disagree with a few, but not one list is ever gonna be the same really, so it’s all good. I think RS does a good job considering they really incorporate quite a lot of various genres, it’s impossible to put everything in there. My main concerns with this list…where is the Strokes “First Impressions?”… and what makes everything with Bob Dylan’s name on it so great? If it wasn’t him, nobody would care…it’s not THAT good people. It’s just the man and the legend. Here’s my fav’s:
10.)Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldier
9.)RHCP: Stadium Arcadium
8.)Mogwai: Acid Food
7.)Sufjan Stevens: Avalanche
6.)TIE
Asobi Seksu: Citrus
Serena Maneesh:Self-titled(U.S. release in 06)
5.)Beck: The Information
4.)Thom Yorke: The Eraser
3.)Secret Machines: Ten Silver Drops
2.)The Ditty Bops: Moon Over the Freeway
1.)The Strokes: First Impressions of Earth

hahaha. i get it; you purposely made the list all screwy to get people to leave their comments. kudos. rolling stone, you’re amazing, amazingly clever. you would be amazingly deluded if you actually believed that the timberlake album is better than the raconteurs’ debut by two spots.

Whoops, I accidently put Mogwai’s album as “Acid Food” (the best song on there…) I meant Mr. Beast. Oops.

I have a few nitpicks with the list. Modern Times is overrated. The Crane Wife and Pearl Jam are underrated.

But, kuddos to RS for putting Todd Snider on the list. The Devil You Know is probably the best album that most people that read these forums have not heard.

what a shocker, bob dylan with the top album of the year, and the true #1 (the black parade) stuck at #20. rs wake me up when you get ur ass out of the past.

yeah i agree. it’s a conspiracy.

by the way, emo sucks. yes andrew, i’m talking to you.

no kidding… where is ‘endless wire’ and ‘highway companion’…. and what about Bob Segar’s ‘Face the Promise’…. thats some good stuff

i can sing real ashy and point out the obvious plus im angry with all the opression surronding people who are held back by the man so im just gonna yell real loud and tell people the obvsious ROCK AND ROLL

where did music go wrong gotta love it

too much tale of two cities and not enough led zeppelin

Rolling Stone I hate to say, but you are losing some of your credibility. I understand that Bob Dylan is respectable especially when considering how long he has been great, but the fact of the matter is Modern Times is not the best album of 2006. Return to Cookie Mountain is the best, and not because of David Bowie’s participation, so please refrain from using that as the main reason why this album is so impeccable. However, Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not is the most important album of the year. That album did so much for not only British fans and music, but for the indie scene internationally.

Well, not too shabby, obviously took sales into account. i think you guys did pretty well considering all the different styles presented. but i do have a few complaints. My Crapical Romace?
seriously? what musicality have they ever displayed? and Sean Lennon shouldn’t be up there just because he’s a Lennon, i mean if the list went to 10,000 Paris Hilton’s album should be before that. I was happy to see Thunderbirds Are Now! (unexpected) and the Rapture. RHCP #2, nice. Worst complaint though: Mars Volta’s Amputechture, where? It was just short of being as incredible as their debut.
Even better for you pop crouds.
Pretty good overall, not that good though.

That last sentence referring to Rolling Stone.

the new deftones album is a gem that has slipped under the radar. there catchiest, darkest , greatest album yet, and not included. the list is very predictable and is trying to reach a certain demographic, bad list but good to see the best microphone controller in the top 5, ghostface

okay last thing before i leave this alone.
1) It’s funny that everyone who disses the chili peppers also lists mediocre bands as top 50, band that wouldn’t know a good riff if it rocked their faces off.
2) I’m happy to see people list Mogwai, Flaming Lips and the Clapton/Cale albums as missing.
3) Mastadon is good but extremely overrated. you want some great metal? Dragonforce’s Inhuman Rampage. In Flames’ Come Clarity.
and for maybe ’softer’ metal fans Black Label Society’s new one.

done this time, really.

Yeah, Shaneman is right, where is Under the Iron Sea? Decemberunderground should be on there too.

gnarls barkley???? hello? why isnt it on the list at all? RHCP suck

Hmm… did anybody who posted these actually “listen” to every album? That’s a lot of money. You know what I think? WHO CARES! Enjoy music, and just because some list exists that ranks music, just use it as a reference and if it doesn’t satifisfy you completely, that’s fine, it’s their opinion not yours.

Anyhow the one album I thought was pretty good was The Return To Cookie Mountain, but I haven’t heard all of Bob Dylan’s Modern Times, so I can’t make any judgement.

public enemy/paris – rebirth of a nation
the mars volta – amputechture
p.o.s. – audition
xiu xiu – air force
the rapture – pieces of the people we know
morrissey – ringleader of the tormentors
dr. octagon – the return of dr. octagon
mr. nogatco – nogatco rd.
E40 – my ghetto report card

oh well

i cant think of a better list to prove how out of of touch with everything rolling stone is. sucking off bob dylan just because of his past and the fact he made two good albums in the last 10 years. i got news for you bob dylan is an asshole that doesnt know what the fuck hes doing. secondly, i can’t imagine people actually listening to half of these mediocre shitty bands no one’s ever heard of. they’re only here because rolling stone is leading the pack for douchebags who supposedly are into obscure bands that suck merely to demonstrate how ‘hip’ they are. well i got news for you rs you’re not hip you’re a magazine made by douchebags for douchebags and i can’t get enough of it. make me proud.

not bad at the list…i think the clipse album is way too high and the arctic monkeys low…but dude…wtf??…gnarls barkley…i mean u guys are practically raining them with praise…and then u guys forgot….OOOPPS!!!??

Bob Dylan could take a dump and record it, release it and Rolling Stone would say it’s genius.

Pathetic. When are you finally going to stop proclaiming him the greatest?

Oh yeah, never.

Oh man!!! Here we go again…Rolling Stone has it all wrong. I seriously need to get a job there and show these airheads about music in AMERICA! Okay, you had some alright choices but you forgot some key albums:

1. Beyonce- BDAY
2. Gnarls Barkley-
3. Nelly Furtado- Loose
4. Jay-Z- Kingdom Come
5. Christina Aguilera- Back To Basics
6. Fergie- The Dutchess
7. Kelis- Kelis Was Here
8. Ne-Yo- In My Words
9. Rihanna- A Girl Like Me
10. T.I.- King
11. The Fray- How To Save A Life
12. The Killers- Sam’s Town
13. Ciara- The Evolution
14. Shakira- Oral Fixation Vol. 2
15. The All American Rejects- Move Along

Those are just a few…I don’t knwo why Lady Sovereign is included in this list…it’s a conspiracy…she got a crappy rating…but RS does nothing but promote this dumb@ss!!! C’mon RS get it together…I hope by 2007 you will get it right. And by the way John Legend should be #3 after Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers!!!

Come On! I alaways respect your ideas and take a look at them… But in this chart I think that a lot of albums are missing or in wrong positions!
Justin Timberlake’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds” should’ve been in the top 5… And where are Nelly Furtado’s “Loose”, Christina Aguilera’s “Back To Basics”?

a) First Impressions From Earth is an outstanding album. Great vocal melodies, great song parts, great textures. Great feel.

b) Razorlight’s album, and Audioslave’s Revelations are good enough to rank.

c) Stadium Arcadium is an incredible album (not as good as By the Way artistically), but overwhelms with its magnitude, diversity and uplifting/surfing spirit (however #2 may be too much..)

d) PEARL JAM SHOULD BE IN THE TOP FIVE, AND EVERYBODY NOWS IT.

Agree with the Dylan choice, but #1A has to be Straight To Hell by Hank III.

okay this list is great. dylan is numba one, chilis at two. I agree with the top ten, but instead of putting ghostface at number 5, why didn’t you just wait until dec. 19th when hip hop died to put nasir jones at at least #3?!?!?!

Jay Z-”Kingdom Come”

Mary J. Blige-”The Breakthrough”(2005 comeback,but 2006 pure addiction)

Nelly Furtado-”Loose”

Beyonce-”B’ Day”

Snoo Dogg-”The Blue Carpet Treament”

John Legend-”Once Again”

Pharell-”In My Mind”

PATD-”A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out”

Gossip-”Standing In The Way Of Control”

Why the hell isn’t Gnarls Barkley even in the Top 50?!?! Y’all had it on the “Must Have” forever in your album review section. And also… The Strokes, wtf?! Why are y’all so stupid sometimes… haha. Y’all simply amaze me at how retarded y’all can get over in the editing department of this magazine.

WTF!?! Y’all don’t even put Gnarls Barkley on the Top 50!!! They have the best song of the YEAR and y’all don’t put the album up. It’s so diverse and good… but y’all are so STUPID in the editing of these lists… always. The Strokes too, don’t eve touch the top 50, wtf!? Everyone talking about Pearl Jam… pish, PJ sold out because they’re going with the whole trend of being “political” now, JUST like everyone else. Old PJ is the only thing worth listening to. Pretty descent Top 10 though. And if anyone trully thinks that Bob Dylan didn’t make the Best of the Year, than you’re a fing idiot that knows nothing about rock.

Rolling Stone has officially lost it’s mind.

The following should be added:

Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
Benoit Pioulard – Precis
Liars – Drums Not Dead
Tapes ‘N Tapes – The Loon
The Games – Doctor’s Advocate
T.I. – King

Chili peppers were gonna be a controversial pick. Just listen to their album…trust me, you’ll agree that they’re meant for the top 10, and that the number 2 slot isn’t a stretch. It’s really that good.

Mars Volta=Amputechture was really good and didnt leave my stereo for a long while.

WHAT THE FUCK????? I just called an canceled my subscription…fuck rolling stone, you KNOW they should have cracked the top 50 (even though it should have been top 5). You guys even named Crazy the #1 song!!! WTF?! Rolling Stone is officially the man. Fuck you guys

Where in the Hell is Willie Nile’s “Streets of New York “?
It’s my pick for the best of the year hands down !!

1) tv on the radio-return to cookie mountain
2) raconteurs-broken boy soldiers
3) thom yorke- the eraser
4) gnarles barkley- st. elsewhere
5) flaming lips- at war with the mystics
6) strokes- first impressions of earth

couldn’t believe the last three weren’t on there. RS is slippin

Sean Lennon’s piece of crap album makes the list — because RS HAS to kiss Yoko’s butt, right? — but they leave off Paul Simon’s spectacular “Surprise”, the best work he’s done in 15 years.

OMG Rolling Stone your list is so bad. I feel so sorry for the people who work over there who have to act like the Red Hot Chili Peppers album is the second best album of the year. Talk about weird corporate brain washing cults!! that’s crazy!!!

Its like 1994 at RS all the time, it seems. RHCP No. 2? Pearl Jam in the top 20? No Roots in the top 10?

Plus, you compare The Rapture’s new album to Talking Heads’ Remain in Light? Please…the latter is arguably the best post-punk record ever while the former is just a bad cover version…and, unlike Byrne’s paens to PoMo culture and terrorism, the Rapture pack no lyrics at all…
Unless you consider “Don’t be funny/children’s money” to be a lyric.

And…where’s Liars?

For the most part, the top 50 list seems accurate as a whole, however, not necessarily in the order given. Notable but forgivable omission includes Elton John’s Captain and the Kid. Unforgivable, Gnarls Barkley’s St Elsewhere, hate or love it, it’s was one of the more innovative records of the year.

You know what I hate? People who will put shit on a pedestal, then badmouth people who have actually had a profound impact on the music industry. Its just great.

Anyone who thinks Stadium Arcadium being at #2 is a stretch has their head up their ass.

And I just love *sarcasm* how RS will diss an album or band on their review pages then somehow place that album and its singles on best of the year lists. WTF?

And Pearl Jam got ripped. So did Gnarls. They should be in the top ten easy.

I think the list is pretty complete. I completely agree with number one. As for omissions, where is St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley, Highway Companion by Tom Petty and The River in Reverse by Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint?

I’m finally cancelling my subscription and maybe Rolling Stone will finally stop pretending to be magazine about music. Jann Wenner has gone off the deep end.

Finally official, RHCP (once great, now themselves corporate sellouts) at 2 proves it. may have nice riffs, but where’s t artistic intention. THATS what sets part good music apart from the crap. Like so many ther aging hippies, it now comes out that RS is sill a tool of Corporate America. STOP THE REALITY SHOW, STOP TRYING TO BE MTV,GET BACK TO MUSIC, REAL MUSIC.

Sadly lacking ‘Rodrigo y Gabriela’.

What a committee driven, corporate, craptacular list.

How does freaking Goldfrapp beat out Thom Yorke, Neko Case and Yo La Tengo?

Crane’s Wife should have been in the top ten – period.

Why no Jenny Lewis, Flamming Lips?

oh how irrelevance stalks the halls of RS

ONE PLACE:

ST. ELSEWHERE!!!!

How on earth could you put “Crazy” as the top song of the year without even mentioning St Elsewhere in your top albums! The Title track, Smiley faces, Crazy, Feng Shui… i couldlist off the first ten tracks as chart toppers if radio stations bothered to play them! The sad part is, “St. Elsewhere” and “Smiley Faces” are better then “Crazy”!!!!

My Top 10:
1. Annuals “Be He Me”
2. Pearl Jam “Pearl Jam”
3. Yo La Tengo “I Am Not Afraid..”
4. Neil Young “Living With War”
5. Bob Dylan “Modern Times”
6. Band of Horses “Everything…”
7. M. Ward “Post-War”
8. Thom Yorke “The Eraser
9. The Walkmen ” Hundred Miles…”
10. Sonic Youth “Rather Ripped”

rolling stone you sons of bitches, what were you on when you made this list. now i will say you’ve made a few fine selections here. a few. Yes dylan kicks ass but TOOL are a bunch of fuckin gothic tools they need to go back to the undertaker, where they were previously employed and fill out their w-2’s. and Fats Domino, I mean God love him but how the fuck did he get into 2006’s best albums of the year. First Impressions of Earth will endure. The Strokes put their head in the lion’s mouth and came back out alive by god.

Mastodon is the only one that belongs in the top 10. Where is TOOL huh? How about Glass Casket huh? RHCP,My Chemical Romance, and Gnarls Barkley SUCK ASS!!!!

HIP-HOP IS NOT MUSIC!!

chris is an douchemonkey with the anti-hip hop comment.

but where are the drive by truckers? their album will be a classic on RS’s best of the ‘aughts!

I am honestly surprised by the hip-hop slbums that made the top 50. I was beginning to think that RS has lost all credibility when it came to hip-hop, given that they usually give underground hip-hop albums low ratings. Yet, that folks at RS recognized the genious of Rhymefest, Lupe Fiasco(though he did have a hit song in “kick, push”), and the Roots. They did deserve to be ranked higher, at least higher than the Clipse album, even though I usually hate ranking albums. The Grammy voters also recognized the genious of Lupe and the Roots. Let’s hope they still do come Grammy night.

How is Pearl Jam not in the top 3?! That is just crazy…

1. “Pearl Jam”, Pearl Jam
2. “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”, Arctic Monkeys
3. “First Impressions of Earth”, The Strokes

Look at all of these comments, I read about half of them and they are all displeased with your terriblely uncreative, corporate list of shit. Perhaps these are the true music lovers whom you should be appealing to. Do us a favor and either stop Rolling Stone entirely or try and change it. Its the only way to redeem your soul your corporate sellout. You can’t appeal to EVERY subculture out there simultaneously and do so effectivly. Perhaps you have found the perfect combination of material to make the mag sell the best. But let me tell you something, rolling stone looks like an F’ing copy of Star magazine mixed with Maxim.

I cannot believe that Muse did not make the top 50! Black Holes and Revelations was by far one of the best and most imaginative albums of 2006. It’s sad to see that Muse is forgotten, while totally mediocre, overrated bands such as Artic Monkey and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are able to make the list.The Artic Monkeys are pretty good, but are nothing special. They’re just average. They Yeah Yeah Yeahs are horrible. Their songs are super bland! Karen O’s vocals are poor, and the bend has absolutely no stage prescence! GAH! Muse should be in the top 10, but they ren’t on the list at all! Disgraceful!

However, I am psyched to see Sonic Youth in the Top 3. They deserve it.

oh yeah, just to make sure…

everyone does know pearl jam sucks right? as in they’re right up there with u2 for making half-baked pretentious bullshit and we’re supposed to care because of their political views? good albums probably until binaural. you people need to give it up. pearl jam. that shit will rot your mind.

furthermore if gnarls barkley is the pinnacle of music you all think they are…i’m even more afraid of the future then i was before.

i didn’t think there was anything wrong with speaking out and saying that pearl jam make bad garage rock with shitty politics and we’re supposed to suck them off for their said politics. pearl jam is rot.

Ok, now everybody, now listen to a word of advise and truth: NO BODY CAN PLEASE EVERYBODY!! ok??? The Rolling Stone has their opinions and so does everybody else! They cannot hand out indivisually wrapped up RS’s for each person and their tastes! Its just not possible!!!!

Tool’s ‘10,000 Days’ is way too far down the list, it’s pure genious. And what’s up with the dis on the packaging? Doesn’t creativity and originality far above and beyond the norm count for anything these days? Muse’s ‘Black Holes and Revalations’ should definitely have made the list as well. Duh.

ok, this list is so-so
tool don’t deserve to be on there
Stadium Arcadium? you have got to be kidding me
Decemberists and Hold Steady should have been higher
electronic music not well represented
oh shit, where is St. Elsewhere?
i liked that one
missing:
Tilly and The Wall
Beirut
Junior Boys
and people, dont even ask about the mars volta
or muse
but whatever

So great Mastodon was recognized along w/ Sonic Youth, good job.

clearly the people who came up with this list never listen to anything off the mainstream. “Dog Problems” by The Format should have been at least in the top 20. Ever heard of them Rolling Stone? nah, didn’t think so.

Women are seriously underrepresented. Out of the top 10, only one was made by a woman. In fact, many of the top picks just seem like boring modern rock albums made by members of the industry old guard. The Chili Peppers? Pearl Jam? Buh. I’m not denying that they’re good bands, and Bob Dylan deserves any praise he’s given, but overall, these picks just seem incredibly safe.

Ha, is that a joke, Jake? You’re trying to claim some indie-cred over Rolling Stone magazine by talking about The Format? They’re one of the most popular indie bands around (or at least before they got dropped from their major label before Dog Problems). Please, EVERYONE knows who the Format is.

For the record, Tom Waits should have been #1. Orphans is a sprawling, spectacular album. Modern Times should be down somewhere in the Top 4, maybe replacing Stadium Arcadium, which is the biggest joke of a record there is. What the hell is it even doing on the top 50 list at all?

Oh, and yeah, we all know that Sonic Youth was only put at #3 just because they’re, well, Sonic Youth. Sure, it was a good album, but not the 4th Best. Top 10, but not in the top 5 of the year. Put Cat Power in their place or something, She sure as hell deserves it for that record.
My list would be:
1) Orphans – Tom Waits
2) Return to Cookie Mountain – TV on the Radio
3) Modern Times – Bob Dylan
4) The Greatest – Cat Power
5) Fishscale – Ghostkillah

I’m a little disturbed that Tom Petty’s ‘Highway Companion’ wasn’t on the list. But I’m really disgusted that the Tragically Hip’s ‘World Container’ isn’t on the list. Has this album not been released in the US yet? It is hands down the best Hip album ever and it needs to be top 10.

i love how one person complained that the Chilis were ONCE GREAT! haha, they are better now than EVER! and that they have no artistic intentions…can’t they just play music? who sits down and says, “wait til the world hears my artistic intentions..”

STYLES P – TIME IS MONEY and NAS – HIP HOPIS DEAD…both classics

1) raconteurs- broken boy soldiers
2) tv on the radio- return to cookie mountain
3) thom yorke- the eraser
4) flaming lips- at war with the mystics
5) beck- the information
6) strokes- first impressions of earth
7) gnarls barkley- st. elsewhere
bob dylan- modern times
9) arctic monkeys- whatever people…
10) art brut- bang bang rock & roll

what’s the deal with all the crappy rap on the list. RS is consistently bad about sucking the dick of mainstream rap and largely ignoring the underground scene, and this list proves it…maybe time for me to start looking at other publications for my money to go to

I now hate rolling stone. How the FUCK is that piece of shit Red Hot Chili Peppers “album” #2? The album is flat, the song sequencing terrible, WAY too long, and the lyrics lack depth OR cleverness. Plus Rick Rubin had a rare blunder of colorless production. Considering the song sequencing, which was obviously meant to plays as a playlist, not an album. A great album can not only play as great songs, but AS A GREAT ALBUM. If one can’t even make it through the thing because the RHCP show NO restraint, how can it be 2? The only solution I can come up with is RS is MTV.

Lastly, marco sorte, you’re a fucking moron. Yeah, its fine to “just play music”. What’s NOT fine is watering down your sound to become more commercially successful. John Frunsciante needs to lock himself back in his bedroom with a shitload of heroin because the band has SUCKED since he went sober. The blood of countless RHCP fans boiled when we bought this shit, yet sworms of morons bought it hook-line-and sinker.

I hope the band enjoys the success at the cost of TRUE greatness.

the dylan album is so damn overrated, some of the faster songs are ok, but the rest sounds as if he´s singin johnny cash b-sides.

album of the year:
“the blood the body the machine” – the thermals
hell yeah!

I’m just trying to figure out where is Gnarls Barkley. There album was BEYOND good. And Mary J.’s “The Breakthrough”? That was her best album. But most of what’s up I agree with. Yall just should of had the top 100.

1. The Hold Stead – Boys and Girls in America.

It’s all about sex, drugs, and some kick-*$$ rock-n-roll.

2. Todd Snider – The Devil You Know

In his second straight classic, Todd relates stories of the down-and-out with his usual dry wit and keen observations.

3. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife

About as good as an album with 10 minute three song suites about rape, murder, and Japanese folk tales can be.

4. Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam

An excellent return to form for one of the best American rock bands of the last decade, if not ever.

5. Muse – Black Holes and Revelations

A very timely post-apocalyptic space travel that rocks.

6. My Morning Jacket – Okonokos

I was kinda luke warm on Z, but the band puts much more energy into this live album which sounds almost like it was studio recorded.

7. Paul Simon – Surprise

This is a surprising album, especially in the way that Brian Eno’s electronic flourishes blend so well with Simon’s brand of folk-rock.

8. Bob Dylan – Modern Times

I good album, but certainly not the best of the year. Dylan doesn’t do anything on this album that he didn’t do better on Love and Theft.

9. Elton John – The Captain and the Kid

Okay, I’m a shameless Elton John fan. And, this is not an attempt to rekindle some of the magic of his classic Capatin Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (after all, the title track does say “You can’t go back, and if you try you fail”). But, no one else has made such a self-reflective and melodic album in recent memory.

10. The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth

Many people forget that this album came out in 2006 (I think it was released January 3). Although the album contains a misstep or two, it shows the band growing beyond their lo-fi garage rock beginnings.

Well, since we are talking about “albums,” the list should be shortened to just three- TOOL’s ‘10,000 Days’, The Mars Volta’s ‘Amputechture’, and Deftones ‘Saturday Night Wrist.’ These are the only bands in 2006 that have actually released an “album” consisting of good song after good song, an “album” in which the listener can just plug the cd in and go for a truly rewarding journey.

You know, I don’t hate the Chilli Peppers album as much as some, but I did find it to be a little disappointing. I mean, #2??? Come on!!! That’s too much. The new Pearl Jam album kicks it’s ass up and down, so if you’re gonna go with someone who was “it” 15 years ago, Pearl Jam should definitely have been in the top 5. However, i agree that leaving off the Gnarls Barley album is ridiculous. And Tool fans should be happy they were included at all.

matt good point
the thermals kick ass
and sakibomb
youre a fucking meathead go eat a horse
or something
big
giraffe?
oh and mates of state- bring it back

The biggest snub on the list is easily “St. Elsewhere”. A great original album with alot of genuine soul. Having said that, I would put it at number 2 behind Dixie Chicks’ “Taking The Long Way”. A brilliant, emotionally-packed album.

Other snubs: Nellie McKay – Pretty Little Head
The Little Willies
Neil Young – Living With War
Rosanne Cash – Black Cadillac
Matisyahu – Youth (I know I’m going to get crap for this pick.)
P!nk – I’m Not Dead

yeah i can’t believe rollingstone has the nerve to give stadium arcadium the number 2 album of the year spot, its complete crap. If the Chili Peppers would of taken the 12 best songs they’ve recorded since By The Way and put them on a tight disc, it maybe would of broke my top 12, but they put every piece of crap they’ve recorded over the last 2 years on a bloated 2 disc piece of trash. Double albums are fucking bold statements, and this one, like most of them fell flat on its face, what were you thinking rollingstone?

My Morning Jacket: Okonokos
PJ: Pearl Jam
RHCP:Stadium Arcadium
Ben Harper: Both Sides of the Gun
Guster: Ganging up on the Sun
Roots: Game Theory
Beck:the Information
Flaming Lips- at War with…
Band of Horses: Everything
Incubus: Light Greades

10. Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
9. Pearl Jam – Self-titled
8. Bob Dylan – Modern Times
7. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
5. The Roots – Game Theory
4. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
3. Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
2. Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
1. Flaming Lips – At War With the Mystics

Dredging the bottom of the barrel for this list! No Killers, no Flaming Lips, and speaking of the best music in the world (Oz rock) no Eskimo Joe (”Black Fingernails Red Wine”), or Augie March (”Moo you Bloody Choir”) Moo you Bloody Choir is hands-down the BEST album of 2006! Yet you include those (Oz)idiots Wolfmother (who are nothing more than a Deep Purple cover band!) Shame on you RS!!!

Wow!!! Who ever wrote the 50 Best Albums of 2006 definitely has a big ego to over compensate for their exceptionally SMALL penis. Without a doubt someone who wants to appear artistic by giving rave reviews to shitty over rated albums(Waits), while at the same time dogging good albums (that had sold out tours, TOOL), just because they cant stand the fact that someone other than them is prospering. I know you want to look ANTI-MAINSTREAM, but the fact is this selection was pure biased.

And to you dear readers, if you think the list of top 50 Albums was bad. You should look at RS’s “Top 50 Guitarist of All Time.” Who knows what 15 year old intern they got to write up that one… I wouldn’t even wipe my ass with that garbage. Nough said.

I really have no comment on this list besides the fact that the only two albums that I own are Masodon’s and Tool’s albums. I can not say i have heard a ton of stuff from these albums, but what I have heard I thinks sucks. Personally I think the music industry needs a big collonic to clean it out and start all over again. Let’s focus on talented musicians and not pretty faces with no talent!!!

Correction:
can not say i have heard a ton of stuff from these albums, but what I have heard I thinks sucks.

Should have read:
“I can not say I have heard a ton of stuff from most of the albums on this list, but what I have heard I thinks sucks.

In my opinion, Panic At The Disco! should have made this list easily. After all, they did make the top 100 songs list. However, the album as a whole is amazing. Each song is just as catchy as the next. Most of the albums on this list have maybe one good song that makes the album. Panic At The Disco!’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” so much more than satisfies the qualifications for the Top 50 albums of the year.

In my opinion, Panic At The Disco! should have made this list easily. After all, they did make the top 100 songs list. However, the album as a whole is amazing. Each song is just as catchy as the next. Most of the albums on this list have maybe one good song that makes the album. Panic At The Disco!’s “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” so much more than satisfies the qualifications for the Top 50 albums of the year.

umm the people posting on this page have much worst taste than the Rolling Stone editors
here, this will piss you off even more if you are that narrow-minded: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/ article/feature/40007/Staff_Li st_Top_50_Albums_of_2006

i agree with scott, i can’t believe Panic! At The Disco’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out didn’t make the list, every song is gold.
heh now i guess i can expect a million people to tell me to get fucked.

Decent list, but it missed by fave: “Under the Iron Sea” by Keane

Thank you for giving props to the best band in Detroit. I’ve seen Thunderbirds are Now several times and have a couple of their albums. Why this band isn’t hitting the big time is a mystery to me.

No Gnarls Barkley?! I thought they would make the top 10, considering that “Crazy” was #1 on your songs list. I’m confused…what happened?

lisa you are so fucking dumb.”heh now i guess i can expect a million people to tell me to get fucked.”

You display the typical emo attitude that is wrong with our generation …the world doesn’t revolve around you.
I hate anyone who bitches about their life and thinks they have it SO tough. We live in the greatest country on the history of this planet, in the healthiest, most productive time in man’s history, and these emo bitches will still complain. My Chemical Romance sucks balls and the only reason RS pander to this shit is they care about selling some subsciptions to morons like lisa. Life is not that bad pussies. Try growing up in the middle ages, or as a women at almost any point in history. Quit your fucking bitching.

I am glad to see that many of you also are disturbed that Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere didn’t even make it on the albums list. I am going to guess that RS’s reasons for this were three-fold: 1.They got two songs on the songs list and Crazy was #1(which I happen to whole-heartedly agree with). 2.Though the rest of the album is great, no other songs really compare to Crazy. 3.It’s just too weird for people who actually still find Bob Dylan listenable. And, of course, all three are bullshit! It is without doubt the best album released in 2006 and here’s why: St. Elsewhere couldn’t have come out any other year. It’s the ultimate modern music. It combines so many genres as to create it’s own. No other album on the list can claim that.

Also, I find it ironic that so much attention is being given to Sonic Youths decent-but-not-great Rather Ripped when their far superior Sonic Nurse was overlooked 2 years ago.

I applaud RS for placing TV On The Radio, Girl Talk, & Beck, so high. Sean Lennon and Lady Sovereign should have been higher. However, My Chemical Romance, Pearl Jam, & John Mayer shouldn’t have even made the list. Come on, RS! Stop encouraging people to make music like this! It’s a fucking disgrace! Grow some taste for God’s sake!

1.Gnarles Barkley-St. Elsewhere
2.The Blow-Paper Television
3.The Strokes-First Impressions of Earth
4.TV On The Radio-Return To Cookie Mountain
5.Beck-The Information
6.Arctic Monkeys-Whatever People Say..
7.Spank Rock-yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyo
8. Hot Chip-The Warning
9.Sean Lennon-Friendly Fire
10.Lady Sovereign-Public Warning
11.Girl Talk-Night Ripper
12.Elefant-The Black Magic Show

1 I’m Not Dead – Pink
The best album of 2006 was also the gutsiest, hardest rocking pop album of the year. How to understand that, despite its critical kudos, it did not become the commercial success it deserved to be? Perhaps it was because the teens toward whom she is marketed don’t know what to make of a woman this self-assured, this brutally honest. Maybe her music is too complex for current pop radio (it is!). Sure, the CD carries a Parental Advisory, but so did Justin Timberlake’s CD, which sold like a gazillion more copies. Yes, she cusses on several songs here. Maybe, teen girls and their parents are not comfortable with that. I don’t know. But Paris Hilton help us all, if a CD this good is ignored. I have always admired Pink’s grrrrrrrl attitude, but until now her albums showed her to be an artist who, with a few exceptions, was still seeking songs that could match her personality. Not anymore. This CD is the best of the year because no other studio album in 2006 was this consistently great track-for-track. My fave track: Dear Mr. President.

2 Stadium Arcadium – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Yes, this would probably have been stronger as one album instead of two. But here’s the deal: when you are listening to Stadium Arcadium, every track seems essential. There is nary a track worth skipping over. “Dani California”, the first single, ranks as one of the very best of the year. Starting with Californication, the Peppers seem to be on a creative roll that just won’t stop. Their music since that pivotal album is the best advertisement for living drug-free and the creative freedom that comes with it.

3 Surprise – Paul Simon
Brian Eno, the go-to producer for ambient rock, does not at first blush seem like the most likely collaborator for Paul Simon. But then again, Paul Simon hasn’t exactly played by the rules in the last twenty years. He released a groundbreaking album, Graceland, recorded with African artists. He followed that album with a CD recorded with Brazilian musicians. Then he released the masterful soundtrack for his failed Broadway musical, The Capeman. I wasn’t exactly a fan of his last album, You’re The One: no memorable melodies. So this CD was definitely a pleasant surprise. Brain Eno’s contribution on some of these tracks seems to spill over to even those tracks he didn’t touch to create an album of beautiful sonic soundscapes. Perhaps more than any other CD this year, this album provided the perfect soundtrack for the political landscape we find ourselves in. Amazingly Simon has somehow survived into the new century with new melodies and compelling lyrics as well as hope for the future. That is not to say that he doesn’t see the ugliness around us; it’s all here: wars and hurricanes, but also the miracle of fathers and daughters, and God. At a time when his peers (Rod Stewart, are you listening?) are content to release album after album of mediocre cover songs or just bland music (Elton John, can you hear me?), that’s got to be worth something.

4 The Eraser – Thom Yorke
The king of Radiohead has how released his first solo CD and it sounds about like you might expect. Fewer guitars than with his band, lots of weird soundscapes, sometimes obscure lyrics. A lot of weird, dark groove-driven fun. Hard to describe and do it justice, just check it out!

5 The Black Parade – My Chemical Romance
One of the pleasures of being an audiophile and compiling this list is discovering a great CD by a group you haven’t experienced before. Sure, The Black Parade borrows from every rock concept album from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to American Idiot. (In fact, it is hard to imagine this album existing without Green Day’s opus.) Part Goth, part Broadway theatrics (it even features a Liza Minelli cameo!), and thoroughly entertaining. A concept album of sorts about death, it features perhaps the best song of the year: Welcome to the Black Parade indeed!

6 FutureSex/LoveSou nds – Justin Timberlake
I was unaware that sexy was on hiatus and in need of rescue, but if JT says he is bringing sexy back, who am I to disagree? The cover art of him destroying a disco ball can be read two different ways. It can be taken as a metaphor for Justin’s attempts to shatter any connections between his pretty boy band past and his current self. Or it can be taken as an ironic statement, given that this was the grooviest, most makes-you-wanna-get-out-of-you r-chair-and-shake-your-ass CD by any male performer this year. Prepare yourself to hear plenty more tracks and see lots more videos from this album. The first half in particular is just immaculate pop music.

7 I’m Going To Tell You A Secret – Madonna
The main selling point is supposed to be the DVD, which covers her Reinvention Tour. And it is a fascinating portrayal of Madonna and how she has changed since Truth and Dare (Blonde Ambition Tour): more introspective and spiritually minded. But the real treasure here is the accompanying live CD from the same tour. Sure, some of the songs feature pre-recorded music that played while she was off changing costumes. Still, girlfriend proves she can sing live and sing compellingly. It is one of the few live CDs that actually gives you the taste of being there. For all the so- called divas that are ruling the airwaves with their first or second generic melody-free CDs now, listen up: this is the voice of someone who has survived in this business for more than 20 years! Now top that!

8 Back To Basics – Christina Aguilera
Aquilera has proven since her debut that she is a capable vocalist, but whether she could be an artist with staying power has been in doubt. She began to erase those doubts with her last album and now with this double CD, she has proven that she is an artist for the ages. The first CD deals with her own modern take on the music that inspired her while the second CD is largely devoted to more old-school stylings. In short, it’s the bee’s knees. One of the few things that is right (when they play her songs) with the current sorry plight of pop radio.

9 Morph The Cat – Donald Fagen
For several reasons, I never would have guessed that I would dig a Donald Fagen disc this much: I bought a Steely Dan CD a few years back and resold it soon after; his cool vocal remove in his music makes it hard for a listener to warm up to his CDs. But somehow after repeated listens this disc’s subtle melodies grow into your brain. This is even more amazing when you consider that the title track deals with a feline phantom that presides over Manhattan. Then there’s “What I Do”, a tribute to Ray Charles as well as “Security Joan”, which involves falling in love with an airport security guard. Perhaps, more than any other disc (Paul Simon’s disc may rival it), Morph The Cat proved the perfect comment on these post-9/11 times.

10 The Open Door – Evanescence

Amy Lee is more than a pretty face as this disc, her band’s second, ably shows. She has her share of boyfriend issues, as songs like “Call Me When You’re Sober” reveal. That song in particular, like other pissed-off breakup songs this year (Madonna’s fantastic “Sorry” is another shining example) takes on an added dimension if you imagine she is addressing not an ex-boyfriend, but instead our current Commander-In-Thief. Beautifully dark Goth lullabies.

Neil Young’s Living with War should of made the top ten.

I want some of the drugs your staff is doing… How could you NOT have; Under The Influence Of Giants, Secret Machines, Cheap Trick, Plain White T’s, Keane or The Beatles on your list? And you wonder why your readership sinks year after year? I’d review for you for a third of the price Fricke gets and do it out of LOVE FOR THE MUSIC, not putting my opinion over the content for christs sake…
Losing Respect,
TheTunefreak

1. Brand New-The Devil & God are Raging inside me
2. Dresden Dolls – Yes, Virginia
3. My Chemical Romance – Black Parade
4. RHCP – Stadium

At least you got two of them right. Sorry Rolling Stone has sucked for years.

It looks to me like they were listing the top 50 over played album of the year. thats why Chilli peppers were number 2. This list was made by yuppie beat knicks who think they know music but dont have a shred of tallent. Just because you can sell a magazine doesn’t mean you know music. The guy who sells Ice cream at 31 flavors doesn’t know how to raise cattle. The best album of the year is STOMACHER BY: IN REVERENT FEAR. They won best album of the year at the LA MUSIC AWARDS. It is by far the best album I have heard since OK Computer. If only there were more people making music like IN REVERENT FEAR it would preserve music as we know it or whatever shred of it is left. I Have to agree with a few of the ones on the top 50. Like Thom York, Cold War Kids, Mastodon, and Justin Timberlake to name a few. Lets face it Timberlake put out a great Album. Get over it. Open your eyes people just because they sell a ton of records doesnt make it good music. It does take tallent not just a great producer.

Pretty decent list. Would’ve liked to have seen the Strokes and Kasabian in there as well. But what can ya do? Oh……be like every other person on here and bitch, because this list matters so much.

Oh, and in response to people saying Panic! At the Disco should be on the list……..what the fuck are you thinking? The songs are moderately catchy, but that doesn’t make them “good” or one of the “best” albums of the year. There’s a difference between “catchy” and “good”

Stadium Arcadium is the best album of the year, period. Of the few 2006 albums I listended to (music is in the shitter, it all sucks right now. Lots of piece of shit, one-year-wonder artists)it’s so much better than all of it. Please, enough with the Dylan worship. Just because of his name and legacy he gets all this treatment, especially from your publication. No more ass kissing.

dfjkl;sdf

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are #2? What the hell is wrong with our world when a shit ass album like the new Chilli Peppers can beat out Tom Waits’ Orphans? Oh ya, I forgot Rolling Stone magazine is complete fucking bullshit, a bunch of morons that jump on the musical band wagon. I feel sorry for you Rolling Stone, real sorry for you.

I’m a Springsteen fan but how in the hell do you have the Seeger Sessions on your top 50 of the year? Besides being Springsteen’s worst album, it’s nothing more than an unlistenable vanity project. The only thing more painful is the live show, which unfortuantely I’ve sat through.

Lastly stop praising Sean Lennon’s material. He’s a talentless hack who needs to come to the realization that he’s not his father. It’s obvious his musical “talent” comes from his mother not his father. His constant attempts to dress like and present himself as his father over the years has just become unbearable. Please stop ripping off your father’s memory. You can start by getting some contacts and a new wardrobe Sean.

I just scrolled through to see if TOOL made it.If you’re not a fan or an inactive one,listen to 10,000 days in your room alone like PF’s Darkside of the Moon.It has been described as a “movie soundtrack” in the way it flows.It will haunt you.There is a reason they take 5 years to make an album,it must last that long in relistens.They build classics you’re kids will buy.Thank You RS!

Gnarls Barkley SUCKS!!

Endless Wire should have been added your top 50 albums. The Who get no respect from your rag of a magazine. So says the loon!

What about Muse’s “Black Holes and Revelations”?

One of the biggest bands and biggest albums worldwide, but why is it that America just can’t latch on? It’s like Queen all over again – a fantastic british band that for some reason cannot seem to hit the american radar properly…

no muse? wats the deal?

Welcome to The Black Parade bt My Chemical Romance is by far the best album of the year!!!

i think you guys have been hitting the eggnog early and often.save me some.i think you should reverse RHCP and Tool!!!!And where is iron maiden a matter of life and death(top 10)?

i have never posted a comment on a website , but after not seeing gnarls barkley in the top 50 albums i had to speak up. What the F? It was fresh, innovative, packed with soul and great production. as we say in maine – “I ain’t to fuckin’ impressed!”

“The Captain and the Kid” by Elton John. It received 4 stars from RS, but was left off the list. Are there 50 other recordings that received 4 or more stars during 2006? If so, then the rating system is way too generous.

I like the new Who record but I don’t pretend it belongs on the list.
Same with the new Dylan and Sonic Youth.
However I do think Neil Young’s Living With War belonged high up there.
Also KT Tunstall’s Eye To The Telescope.
Instead you put Justin Timberlake?
And the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers album was awful.

As i watched the list i wondered…do people really like this crap or is it just RS? Good music is under rated, i mean “Pearl Jam” is the best album of the year !

Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Scissor Sisters, KT Tunstall – hell, even Beyonce, put out albums that shifted the face of pop. It may be that RS is thinking itself a bit too highbrown for the genre, but millions of fans are not.

You stick with Dylan, I’ll continue to evolve. (Hint: You can do that – as all of these artisits have – while honoring the past.)

I gave up on radio. But glad to see that Rolling Stone has NOT bowed down to ignoring the Dixie Chicks. Taking the Long Way is an amazing cd. It is great from beginning to end. They grew as artists and activists since their last and it shows. Thank you for having the balls to say so.

It’s fun to imagine Rolling Stone staffers listening to the new Bob Dylan and Red Hot Chili Peppers and thinking these are the best albums of the year!

The Red Hot Chili Peppers make bad music. Have always done so. They have never been capable of making any of the music they pretend to: rock and roll, rhythm and blues, non-nauseous pop music. They are insipid and fall into the same pedestrian class as George Thorogood and Stevie Ray Vaughn, making ersatz noise that apes its sources.

It is perfect irony that this list should set the last several decade’s best interpreter of traditional American music next to the lords of the musical manure wagon.

I am just curious if The Killers’ “Sam’s Town” made the Rolling Stone list. I looked for it, but I couldn’t find it. I would have thought that it would have at least made the top 50.

Does anyone remember Rolling Stone’s Women Of Rock issue where they forgot to mention Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders?
Well, this is almost as bad.
Where is Neil Young’s Living With War?

In this age of over the top right wing christians, how can Cursive’s Happy Hollow not be on everyone’s list? Am I the only Cursive fan?? Brilliant album with songwriting better than anything Kiedis has ever done.

Hi!I like that red hot is number two and that you have included my chemical romance but I think, maybe the killers,strokes and placebo should be there too….

Five years later, the Strokes finally release an album that’s worthy of the hype. Too bad RS has such a short memory, you gave the album a great review when it was released in January. Glad to see so many others noticed its absence on the list. Album of the year.

Ugh. I was a bit disapointed in this list. Where was the Flaming Lips’ At War With the Mystics or Muse’s Black Holes and Revelations? Sorry that Muse isn’t too mainstrem in the US yet, but I’d say they are one of the best bands of the millenium, and Black Holes and Revelations is no exception. However, I think your Top 50 Albums was a bit more on the dot than your hideous Top 100 Singles. I threw up in my mouth a bit at the inclusion of Yung Joc’s terrible song “It’s Goin Down” (Errybody luv me, I’m so fly) and the high ranking of TI’s What You Know. I guess it was wishful thinking that RS would look at the artistic content of a song versus how many spins the video got on MTV. I’d say The 100 “Best” Songs of the Year was a misnomer. Best implies how good the song was, if that was the case, every song on Black Holes and Revelations would have been included over a single song by that absolute hack Yung Joc.

I forgot to add, addressing the people inquirng the exclusion of Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere, that I do agree with this decision. While there were some great songs on the album, which you noted in your 100 Best Songs, it was weak as a whole, and really fell down in the deeper tracks. But I am confident that they will continue to improve in their next few albums and I am pretty syked for them.

as a native minnesotan and bob dylan fan, even i am getting sick of the dylan love. Stadium Arcadium was THE album of the year. in a business where downloading overpowers record sales, RHCP had the guts to release a DOUBLE ALBUM, which went to #1. Also not too happy about not seeing crane wife or orphans on your list. as a hardcore RS fan, i am not too impressed.

In a lackluster year, you can’t find room in a list of FIFTY for Tom Petty’s best solo effort ever? Or Mark Knopfler’s most touching, beautiful collection of songs since “Making Movies”? And just to show you I’m not THAT old…I would have put Evanescence on the list, too.

Damnit this list makes me sick!! The 100 best songs list is way worse though. How could anyone possibly enjoy listening to some DUMBASS RAPPER destroying the english language and getting paid millions for it? Rap is the most uninspired, idiotic shit ever and requires absolutely no talent. I hate every rapper that has ever lived and every one who will. Wake up, stop giving these idiots your money!! Real musicians who study music like I have for 9 years know that 85% of the music on this list is complete BULLSHIT!! Gnarls Barkley sucks, ALL RAP IS SHIT, Metal will always reign supreme, Rolling Stone, you suck.

For what its worth, I was disappointed that Josh Ritter’s new album, The Animal Years, wasn’t included on the Top 50 list. And Post War, by M. Ward, is also very good.

YEAH DYLAN IS #1~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right on RS you got it right this time.
xyq

M. Ward’s “Post War” and The Flaming Lips “At War With The Mystics” should have been in the top ten. You lame-o’s didnt even put them in the top 50. Everyone at rollingstone is fired. Just let Fricke do the talking he has a musical ear and mind. ARGGGGG!!!!

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rollingstone.com/50albums

the strokes’ First Impressions of Earth should have been included on the countdown. For one thing their son “you only live once” was 16th best song of the year. Also the strokes are evolving theri sound. .They used heavy guitars on this album and its really good. They have some songs rememncint of the old days like”Read Light” or “juicebox” but there are some other really good songss, like “ize of the world” so the strokes need to be recgnized, because there music is good and theis is a great albume, they are grouwong as a badn.

I think y’all were “crazy” to leave off Gnarls Barkley’s “St. Elsewhere.”
After constantly telling readers to pick up the album and throwing their names around in your magazine, you’re basically hypocrites for not even including them. You gave them the top spot for singles. I’m lost.

RS missed the boat on THE debut of 2006, ‘We are the Pipettes’. Fourteen shots of Wall of Sound/Shangri-Las/punk in a little over half an hour. All the songs are under 3 minutes, and half of them are under TWO. no time is wasted; they say what they have to and make damn sure you can dance to it. They do not make ‘em like this anymore.
The Pipettes: Gwenno, RiotBecki, and Rosay, wrote all the songs and split vocal duties, and their band the Cassettes provide inspired dare-you-to-stay-in-your-seat support.
The centerpiece of this album is the thrilling “Pull Shapes”, which glories in the pure joy of just being on the dance floor: “I just wanna move, don’t care what the song’s about.”
Some songs are just pure attitude such as “Your Kisses are Wasted on Me” (absolutely withering vocals by RiotBecki) and the brutal “One Night Stand”.
This album is import only (so far) but it’s worth whatever you have to pay to get it. It restored my faith in rock and roll

Rolling Stone has done it again. Granted this year in music has left much do be desired but you have searched and found the worst and most talentless music out there. From A.F.I to Chamillonare, the music you selected has shown how little it takes to make a hit and be recognized for it. Bob Dylan is a good but quit kissing his ass.

I think that if you people want to know what real music is listen to Wolfmother’s self-titled debut. They are the real deal. I’m glad to see this album on the list as it is the best Aussie album of the decade and probably the best Aussie band since AD/DC. I’m stoked to see them on the list. RS got this one right.

Are you people insane? With all these comments, I CAN’T BELIEVE that no one mentioned the Twilight Singers’ “Powder Burns”. Anyone here heard of Greg Dulli or the Afghan Whigs? Dulli’s Twilight Singers put out one of the top 10 albums of the year, if not one of the top 3 (along w/ The Hold Steady’s “Boys and Girls In America” and Sparklehorse’s “Dreamt For Light Years In the Belly of a Mountain”).

Dulli’s usually rampant hypersexuality is slightly supressed here, in favor of his fight against the demons of drugs and heartache.

The album was recorded in New Orleans in the weeks before Katrina (they actually had to evade NOPD post-Katrina to rescue the master tapes). Foreshadowing the impending disaster, you can almost hear the desparate screams as the water rises.

I own over 1700 CDs and it’s probably the most impassioned one in my collection.

After this list I realized all I do with my subscription to RS is look at the cover and the top 40 albums on the back page. What a waste! What happened to music that DIDN’T make you think your daughter would be a whore with no self worth? I am ashamed of what we call music in this day and age. If it has a good beat, its good music? I don’t think so!
KT Tunstall and Jack Johnson. That’s all I have to say.

I couldn’t stop myself and had to do a top 25…

1.The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
2.Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
3.Malajube – Trompe l’Oeil
4.TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
5.Islands – Return to the Sea
6.Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies
7.Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson in Crime
8.The Mars Volta – Amputechture
9.Regina Spektor – Begin to Hope
10.Cat Power – The Greatest
11.Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
12.Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
13.Xiu Xiu – The Air Force
14.Thom Yorke – The Eraser
15.Emily Haines and the Soft Skeletons – Knives Won’t Have Your Back
16.The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics
17.The Dears – Gang of Losers
18.The Most Serene Republic – Phages
19.Patrick Watson – Close to Paradise
20.Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
21.CSS – Cansei De Ser Sexy
22.The Lovely Feathers – Hind Hind Legs
23.Asobi Seksu – Citrus
24.The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
25.Beck – The Information

After going of the list of your top 50 albums I realized it was the best the best list of year. Others tried but this list made the most sense to me. However there was one album that was not on list that I was hoping would be and that was First Impressions of Earth by The Strokes. Lyrically it may not have been the best, but the overall sound, especially from the guitar solos were amazing. And overall it deserved further recognition.

1. RHCP – “Stadium Arcadium”
2. Bob Dylan – “Modern Times”
3. The Strokes – “First Impressions of Earth”
4. John Mayer – “Continuum”
5. Pearl Jam – “Pearl Jam”
6. Audioslave – “Revelations”
7. The Decemberists – “The Crane Wife”
8. Cat Power – “The Greatest”
9. Rhymefest – “Blue Collar”
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Show Your Bones”

The amazing MUSE, who put out one of the best albums of the year in “Black Holes & Revelations” was left off both the 50 Best Albums and 100 Best Songs lists.

Someone has some ’splaining to do.

Honestly, I really feel the list is close to being accurate in my mind as being the “Top 50.” It is missing something quite vital. It’s something that kind of disturbed me, made me sick to my stomach. The list makers FORGOT Mr. Ben Harper! HOW IN Ben Harper’s Holy friggen name do you forget BEN HARPER?!?! I apologize in seeming like an obessed fan, but come on, MAN! “Both Sides of the Gun” came out in March of 06′ sir. And with songs like “Black Rain” and “The Way You Found Me” and “please don’t talk about murder while i’m eating.” Oh and lets not forget the fact that it was a two disc set with songs about Katrina, our “wonderful” president and songs that reach in your soul and make you, feel. How he and the Innocent Criminals slow it down and do songs like “Morning Yearning,” “More Than Sorry” and the very beautiful “Happily Ever After In Your Eyes.” Amazing doesn’t do ben harper any justice, because amazing is to small of a word. To me and many he is a lyricist that actually gets our or my generations attitudes towards real issues like violence, racism, politics, legalization, freedom and his specialty, heart break. How there are a lot of straight people who don’t care about gay people being gay. How many good, strong, smart, professional people understand moderation to “burning one down” and maybe a little tired of being called a “drug addict.” Ben Harper’s music can in the same song give you an endless supply of interpretations. It can apply to everyone. Everyone can find a way to relate. Which is beautiful and something that Rolling Stone of all avenues should encourage. And Mr. or Mrs. list makers, I do believe the most important argument that I have in my case against the missing spot of ben harps, is that every artist/band headlining every month in your music section over the course of the year should be in the top 50 albums list; it only makes sense.

Thanks to anyone who cares.
Also, Bob Dylan, Sean Lennon, Johnny Cash, The Roots, Ghostface Killah, John Legend, Willie Nelson and Lady Sovereign are the gravy of the list. On a completely different note, i’d like to see an article or two about Michael Franti and Spearhead.

Thanks to Darren for the tip about the Twilight Singers. I just bought Powder Burns off iTunes. I also agree with Cory about Ben Harper’s Both Side of the Gun – great album. I really enjoy end-of-the-year best album lists. I have discovered so many albums these last few weeks based on these lists. Sean Lennon’s Friendly Fire is amazing.

I truly think that Panic! At The Disco’s ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ should have been on the list. Those guys are soooo talented, and I don’t know any other rock band that uses an accordion to make this super rock riff. Come on, with songs like “Build God, Then We’ll Talk” and “Time To Dance”, they should have been number one on this list!

No point complaining about what was listed, but here’s the biggest sins of omission on this list :
Gnarls Barkley, Joanna Newsom, Flaming Lips, David Gilmour, Matmos.

Top five albums.
1. RHCP
2. TV On The Radio
3. Pearl Jam
4. Hinder
5. NAS

Actually I take that back…Cat Power should replace NAS.

well i dont really agree with andrew (whom i know) cause hinder is not good and who the fuck is cat power. but rhcp is the best ive heard. there are better but not from this year so yeah any way peace

dont fuckin delete my shit. bob dylan sucks my balls…quit defending him

tool is by far the best band to put out album this year. i wish rolling stone would quit watching mtv or E!

I think it’s pathetic that the leading magazing on music would leave two albums like The Derek Trucks Band “Songlines” and the Black Keys “Magic Potion” off the list. Instead such albums as Wolfmother and My Chemical Romance on there. Those are some glaring omissions RS, hope you take into account more than just mainstream next year.

And for the record…Panic at The Disco sucks…we’ll see if they’re even still around in 5 years.

i fyou’re talking about metal, the best album of the year was As Daylight Dies by Killswitch Engage. Should have made the top 50.

and panic at the disco is amazingly bad

and what about Blue October’s Foiled??

My Chemical Romance is Blink 182 scratching the surface of an entire world that has been inhabited by the Mars Volta for years.
Amputechture by Mars Volta should be on this list in their place

What about Bob Pollard (Guided by Voices)’s amazing “From a Compound Eye”?

just wanted to sound off about the CAT POWER album I bought(after I saw it at #6 on list) and how much it SUCKS. Boring, slow, little melody, and musically lame. You owe me $13.00.
ps: My Chemical Romance had the #1 album.

AS DAYLIGHT DIES BY KILLSWITCH ENGAGE IS AMAZING

I really don’t understand the omission of Gnarls Barkley’s “St. Elsewhere.” Apparently, having the Rolling Stone #1 song of the year (that would be “Crazy”) and the #29 song of the year (”Smiley Faces,” for the record) does not entitle you to have one of the 50 best albums of the year. What gives?

first off my chemcal romance shouldn’t be in the top 50 or any where near this list were are the strokes and derek trucks band

Where is Hip-hop is Dead by Nas?

This list is such a mess, I don’t even know where to start. “St. Elsewhere” from Gnarls Barkley, “Black Holes and Revelations” from Muse, and “Endless Wire” from The Who didn’t even crack the list? Pearl Jam’s lazy self-titled album is #13?!? Are you kidding me?

It just goes to show you how much Rolling Stone has lost its edge when they so quickly put the uninspired “The Black Parade” in the top twenty and go with such a safe choice for the top spot. Unbelievable.

At least you showed proper respect to Mastodon. Maybe you guys don’t have your heads COMPLETELY up your asses, after all.

yea that mastodon album is amazing

TITS McGEE

WHOEVER said Clay Aiken should be on this list should be flogged.