2004 had a lot of high points for bands that have become near and dear to many people.
With such a strong roster of releases, this might be the greatest year in music.
First off, The Killers catapulted into our ears with Hot Fuss, while Arcade Fire’s debut Funeral was neck and neck with Radiohead’s Kid A in the year-end lists. The Walkmen took a big step forward with their second record Bows + Arrows, earning a 9.2 from Pitchfork and being named one of the best records of the year. Norah Jones had the second-best selling album of the year with Feels Like Home, and Joanna Newsom had a big debut with Milk-Eyed Mender. Franz Ferdinand put the eponymous band on the map, as did Matt Pond PA’s Emblems.
Chances are you go back and listen to several of the records on the following list pretty regularly. So is 2004 the greatest year in music? Let us know what you think!
Albums
Phantom Planet – Phantom Planet
Talkie Walkie – Air
Bows + Arrows – The Walkmen
We Shall All Be Healed – The Mountain Goats
Feels Like Home – Norah Jones
Get Away From Me – Nellie McKay
Desperate Youths, Bloodthirsty Babes – TV On the Radio
Almost Killed Me – The Hold Steady
The Milk-Eyed Mender – Joanna Newsom
Our Endless Numbered Days – Iron & Wine
Good News for People Who Love Bad News – Modest Mouse
Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
Sung Tongs – Animal Collective
C’Mon Miracle – Mirah
Emblems – Matt Pond PA
I – The Magnetic Fields
Hopes and Fears – Keane
Let it Die – Feist
Uh Huh Her – PJ Harvey
Happenstance – Rachel Yamagata
Hot Fuss – The Killers
A Ghost Is Born – Wilco
The Cure – The Cure
The Tipping Point – The Roots
Together We’re Heavy – The Polyphonic Spree
Drag It Up – Old 97s
More Adventurous – Rilo Kiley
Soviet Kitsch – Regina Spektor
She Loves You – The Twilight Singers
Medulla – Bjork
Rubber Factory – The Black Keys
Funeral – Arcade Fire
The Clarence Greenwood Recording – Citizen Cope
So Jealous – Tegan and Sara
American Idiot – Green Day
Antics – Interpol
As/Is – John Mayer
From a Basement on a Hill – Elliot Smith
Shake the Sheets – Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Want Two – Rufus Wainwright
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2
