BrowseCustomers' FavoritesTimeless Classics: Best Jazz of 2005 Every year in jazz sees a crop of newly found gems, but rarely are fans treated to anything as special as the two mid-century recordings that top this year's picks. At Carnegie Hall was recorded by Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane in 1957; Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945, by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker 12 years earlier. Both are staggering finds; both are required listening. ›The 10 best jazz CDs of 2005 Never Too Late: Best Rap & Hip-Hop of 2005 For haters eager to see Kanye West hit a sophomore slump--no such luck. Late Registration easily tops our list of the best rap and hip-hop of 2005. Not far behind is The Mouse and the Mask, the debut collaboration between Danger Mouse and MF Doom. Inspired by the Cartoon Network's late-night animation series Adult Swim, it's more fun than Gorillaz and Space Jam combined. ›The 10 best rap & hip-hop CDs of 2005 |
Best of 2005: Top 100 Editors' Picks The votes are in, and Amazon.com's music staff has made its selection of the very best CDs of 2005.
Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, an earnest and whimsical young man who aims to record an album based on every state in the union, tops the list with his latest venture, Illinois. Lavish praise has been heaped upon this precocious twentysomething, who weaves personal recollections, historical narratives, and strange facts together to create lush portraits of Midwestern life. More top picks:
›Top 100 editors' picks of 2005 Best of 2005: Top 100 Customers' Favorites Amazon.com's music customers just couldn't get enough of Coldplay's X&Y this year, which heads the list of top sellers for 2005. More favorites:
›Top 100 customers' favorites of 2005 Ripe Pickings: Best Pop of 2005 
In our here-today-gone-tomorrow world we tend to forget that pop music can be rife with honesty, creativity, and talent. Leave it to Fiona Apple to remind us with Extraordinary Machine. Meanwhile, Laura Veirs gives us another fine example of what happens when subtlety and smarts run together.
›The 10 best pop CDs of 2005 Those '70s Albums: Best Country of 2005 
A listen to our top two country picks might have you wondering if it isn't 1973 instead of 2005. Gram-and-Emmylou harmonies suffuse Exploration, the studio debut of husband-and-wife team Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion. Meanwhile, Lee Ann Womack proves the enduring appeal of sweet and sad ballads sung from the heart on There's More Where that Came From, whose soft-focus cover recalls the days when Tammy Wynette and Lynn Anderson ruled the charts.
›The 10 best country CDs of 2005 |
Reawakening: Best R&B/Soul of 2005 Soul singer-songwriter Lizz Wright's deep, rich alto, matched by a similarly incredible depth of emotion, makes for a beautiful, timeless record in Dreaming Wide Awake. Emotions run at least as deep on Bettye LaVette's comeback album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, on which she doesn't so much cover songs by the likes of Lucinda Williams and Sinéad O'Connor as reinvent them from the inside out. ›The 10 best R&B/soul CDs of 2005 The Mighty Orishas: Best Latin of 2005 El Kilo crackles with passion and urgency from beginning to end, and the album transforms Orishas into a wholly unclassifiable, strikingly original music machine, putting them at the top of our list, followed by Milton Nascimento's return with his best album since the mid-'80s, Pieta. ›The 10 best Latin CDs of 2005 Ambient Masters: Best New Age of 2005 Brian Eno's
Another Day on Earth is a recording of rare and meticulous maturity from the ambient master. And though one of the few other musicians to merit that title--Harold Budd--has announced that Avalon Sutra marks the beginning of his retirement, it's no mere swan song, but a minor-key career zenith. Carve out some time to become immersed in these subtly transformative worlds and you will be rewarded. ›The 10 best new age CDs of 2005 |
