AllMusic's Favorite Albums of 2008
Dec. 5, 2008
Pop New Releases
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Black Milk - Tronic
Brian Blade Fellowship - Season of Changes
Anthony Braxton - Beyond Quantum
Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws
Buena Vista Social Club - At Carnegie Hall
Calexico - Carried to Dust
Los Campesinos - Hold on Now, Youngster...
James Carter - Present Tense
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Elvis Costello & the Imposters - Momofuku
Rodney Crowell - Sex and Gasoline
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Raheem DeVaughn - Love Behind the Melody
Lila Downs - Shake Away/Ojo de Culebra
Duffy - Rockferry
The Fireman - Electric Arguments
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Jazzanova - Of All the Things
Kelley Polar - I Need You to Hold on While the Sky Is Falling
The Kills - Midnight Boom
B.B. King - One Kind Favor
Solange Knowles - Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
Femi Kuti - Day by Day
Leila - Blood, Looms and Blooms
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Shelby Lynne - Just a Little Lovin'
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Madlib - WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis - Two Men with the Blues
The New Year - The New Year
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
No Age - Nouns
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Osborne - Osborne
Portishead - Third
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Steve Reid Ensemble - Daxaar
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Robyn - Robyn (US Bonus Track)
Santogold - Santogold
Stereolab - Chemical Chords
George Strait - Troubadour
Jazmine Sullivan - Fearless
Taylor Swift - Fearless
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
Pop Reissues
Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits
Kevin Ayers - Songs for Insane Times: Anthology 1969-1980
Bobby Bare - Bare/Sleeper Wherever I Fall
Belle & Sebastian - The BBC Sessions
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings
Big Dipper - Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology
Blue Ash - No More No Less
David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica '72
Anthony Braxton - The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton
James Brown - Singles, Vol. 5: 1967-1969
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (Legacy Edition 2CD/DVD)
The Coasters - There's a Riot Goin' On: The Coasters on Atco
Bo Diddley - Road Runner: The Chess Masters 1959-1960
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
The Flamin' Groovies - This Band Is Red Hot 1969-1979
Jim Ford - Point of No Return
Dallas Frazier - The R&B Sessions: Elvira/Tell It Like It Is!
Gas - Nah und Fern
Genesis - Genesis 1970-1975
Merle Haggard - Hag: Concepts, Live & the Strangers -- The Capitol Recordings 1968-1976
Happy Mondays - Bummed (Deluxe Edition)
Bobbi Humphrey - Fancy Dancer
Jan & Dean - The Complete Liberty Singles
The Jesus and Mary Chain - The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities
Billy Joel - The Stranger (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition)
Kid Creole - Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1976-1983
The Lines - Flood Bank
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Bonus Tracks)
Manfred Mann - Hit Mann! The Essential Singles 1963-1969
Martha & the Muffins - Danseparc (Bonus Tracks)
Mott the Hoople - Old Records Never Die: The Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter Anthology
The Move - Anthology 1966-1972
Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff (Deluxe Edition)
Willie Nelson - One Hell of a Ride (Box Set)
Roy Orbison - The Soul of Rock and Roll
Buck Owens - Act Naturally: The Buck Owens Recordings 1953-1964
Pavement - Brighten the Corners (Nicene Creedence Edition)
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (Deluxe Edition)
Portastatic - Some Small History
Tito Puente - The Complete 78s, Vol. 1
Otis Redding - Live in London and Paris
R.E.M. - Murmur (Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition)
The Replacements - Hootenanny (Deluxe Edition)
The Replacements - Let It Be (Deluxe Edition)
The Replacements - Tim (Expanded Edition)
Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
The Smiths - The Sound of the Smiths (Deluxe Edition)
Squeeze - The Complete BBC Sessions
Steinski - What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
Victor Uwaifo - Guitar Boy Superstar 1970-1976
Hank Williams - The Unreleased Recordings
Al Wilson - Searching for the Dolphins (Kent Soul)
Neil Young - Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968
Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon (Collector's Edition)
Various Artists - A-Square (Of Course): The Story of Michigan's Legendary A-Square Records
Various Artists - The Bert Berns Story, Vol. 1: Twist and Shout 1960-1964
Various Artists - Black Orpheus (2008 Verve Bonus Tracks)
Various Artists - Break-A-Way: The Songs of Jackie DeShannon
Various Artists - The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 10: 1970
Various Artists - Don't Stop: Recording Tap
Various Artists - Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story 1980-1986
Various Artists - The House That Al Built: The Alegre Records Story 1957-1977
Various Artists - Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia
Various Artists - On Vine Street: The Early Songs of Randy Newman
Various Artists - Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story
Various Artists - Titan: It's All Pop!
Classical
John Adams - Adams: A Flowering Tree
The Azure Ensemble - The Azure Ensemble: Invisible Curve
Bertrand de Billy - Puccini: La Boheme (Villazon, Netrebko)
Julia Breuer - Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston
John Butt - Bach: Matthew Passion
Cantillation - Fauré: Requiem; La Naissance de Vénus; Cantique de Jean Racine
Gloria Cheng - Gloria Cheng: Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky & Lutoslawski
Harry Christophers - Handel: Messiah (Includes Bonus CD)
Kristina Reiko Cooper - Kristina Reiko Cooper: Stone and Steel
Ensemble Belladonna - Ensemble Belladonna: Melodious Melancholye
Isabelle Faust - Brahms Horn Trio
Valery Gergiev - Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (Hybrid SACD)
Valery Gergiev - Mahler: Symphony No. 7 (Hybrid SACD)
Hilary Hahn - Schoenberg, Sibelius: Violin Concertos
Kristjan Järvi - Franz Schmidt: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (Hybrid SACD)
Paavo Järvi - Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Hybrid SACD)
Alan Johnson - Cuomo: Arjuna's Dilemma
Jennifer Koh - String Poetic
Anne-Marie McDermott - Gershwin: Complete Music for Piano & Orchestra
moderntimes_1800 - Sinfonias from the Enlightenment
NOW Ensemble - Now Ensemble
Ursula Oppens - Oppens Plays Carter
Anne Sofie von Otter - Boldemann, Gefors, Hillborg: Orchestral Songs
Prazák Quartet / Beethoven String Quartet of London - Schubert: String Quartet D 887; String Trios D 471, D 581 (Hybrid SACD)
Quatuor Ebène - Quatuor Ebène performs Ravel Debussy Fauré String Quartets
Andrew Russo - Mixtape
John Salmon - Nikolai Kapustin: Piano Sonata No. 15; Preludes; Etudes; Bagatelles
Christine Schäfer - Apparition: Henry Purcell and George Crumb
Matthew Schellhorn - Messiaen: Chamber Works
Howard Shelley - Clementi: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Arturo Tamayo - Xenakis: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5
Various Artists - Lully: Psyche
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Black Milk - Tronic
Brian Blade Fellowship - Season of Changes
Anthony Braxton - Beyond Quantum
Lindsey Buckingham - Gift of Screws
Buena Vista Social Club - At Carnegie Hall
Calexico - Carried to Dust
Los Campesinos - Hold on Now, Youngster...
James Carter - Present Tense
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Elvis Costello & the Imposters - Momofuku
Rodney Crowell - Sex and Gasoline
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Raheem DeVaughn - Love Behind the Melody
Lila Downs - Shake Away/Ojo de Culebra
Duffy - Rockferry
The Fireman - Electric Arguments
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
The Foreign Exchange - Leave It All Behind
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Jazzanova - Of All the Things
Kelley Polar - I Need You to Hold on While the Sky Is Falling
The Kills - Midnight Boom
B.B. King - One Kind Favor
Solange Knowles - Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams
Femi Kuti - Day by Day
Leila - Blood, Looms and Blooms
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Shelby Lynne - Just a Little Lovin'
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Madlib - WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis - Two Men with the Blues
The New Year - The New Year
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
No Age - Nouns
Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
Osborne - Osborne
Portishead - Third
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Steve Reid Ensemble - Daxaar
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Robyn - Robyn (US Bonus Track)
Santogold - Santogold
Stereolab - Chemical Chords
George Strait - Troubadour
Jazmine Sullivan - Fearless
Taylor Swift - Fearless
Times New Viking - Rip It Off
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Weezer - Weezer (Red Album)
Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
Pop Reissues
Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits
Kevin Ayers - Songs for Insane Times: Anthology 1969-1980
Bobby Bare - Bare/Sleeper Wherever I Fall
Belle & Sebastian - The BBC Sessions
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings
Big Dipper - Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology
Blue Ash - No More No Less
David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica '72
Anthony Braxton - The Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton
James Brown - Singles, Vol. 5: 1967-1969
Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (Legacy Edition 2CD/DVD)
The Coasters - There's a Riot Goin' On: The Coasters on Atco
Bo Diddley - Road Runner: The Chess Masters 1959-1960
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006
The Flamin' Groovies - This Band Is Red Hot 1969-1979
Jim Ford - Point of No Return
Dallas Frazier - The R&B Sessions: Elvira/Tell It Like It Is!
Gas - Nah und Fern
Genesis - Genesis 1970-1975
Merle Haggard - Hag: Concepts, Live & the Strangers -- The Capitol Recordings 1968-1976
Happy Mondays - Bummed (Deluxe Edition)
Bobbi Humphrey - Fancy Dancer
Jan & Dean - The Complete Liberty Singles
The Jesus and Mary Chain - The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities
Billy Joel - The Stranger (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition)
Kid Creole - Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1976-1983
The Lines - Flood Bank
Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Bonus Tracks)
Manfred Mann - Hit Mann! The Essential Singles 1963-1969
Martha & the Muffins - Danseparc (Bonus Tracks)
Mott the Hoople - Old Records Never Die: The Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter Anthology
The Move - Anthology 1966-1972
Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff (Deluxe Edition)
Willie Nelson - One Hell of a Ride (Box Set)
Roy Orbison - The Soul of Rock and Roll
Buck Owens - Act Naturally: The Buck Owens Recordings 1953-1964
Pavement - Brighten the Corners (Nicene Creedence Edition)
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (Deluxe Edition)
Portastatic - Some Small History
Tito Puente - The Complete 78s, Vol. 1
Otis Redding - Live in London and Paris
R.E.M. - Murmur (Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition)
The Replacements - Hootenanny (Deluxe Edition)
The Replacements - Let It Be (Deluxe Edition)
The Replacements - Tim (Expanded Edition)
Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
The Smiths - The Sound of the Smiths (Deluxe Edition)
Squeeze - The Complete BBC Sessions
Steinski - What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
Victor Uwaifo - Guitar Boy Superstar 1970-1976
Hank Williams - The Unreleased Recordings
Al Wilson - Searching for the Dolphins (Kent Soul)
Neil Young - Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968
Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon (Collector's Edition)
Various Artists - A-Square (Of Course): The Story of Michigan's Legendary A-Square Records
Various Artists - The Bert Berns Story, Vol. 1: Twist and Shout 1960-1964
Various Artists - Black Orpheus (2008 Verve Bonus Tracks)
Various Artists - Break-A-Way: The Songs of Jackie DeShannon
Various Artists - The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 10: 1970
Various Artists - Don't Stop: Recording Tap
Various Artists - Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story 1980-1986
Various Artists - The House That Al Built: The Alegre Records Story 1957-1977
Various Artists - Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia
Various Artists - On Vine Street: The Early Songs of Randy Newman
Various Artists - Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story
Various Artists - Titan: It's All Pop!
Classical
John Adams - Adams: A Flowering Tree
The Azure Ensemble - The Azure Ensemble: Invisible Curve
Bertrand de Billy - Puccini: La Boheme (Villazon, Netrebko)
Julia Breuer - Morton Feldman: For Philip Guston
John Butt - Bach: Matthew Passion
Cantillation - Fauré: Requiem; La Naissance de Vénus; Cantique de Jean Racine
Gloria Cheng - Gloria Cheng: Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky & Lutoslawski
Harry Christophers - Handel: Messiah (Includes Bonus CD)
Kristina Reiko Cooper - Kristina Reiko Cooper: Stone and Steel
Ensemble Belladonna - Ensemble Belladonna: Melodious Melancholye
Isabelle Faust - Brahms Horn Trio
Valery Gergiev - Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (Hybrid SACD)
Valery Gergiev - Mahler: Symphony No. 7 (Hybrid SACD)
Hilary Hahn - Schoenberg, Sibelius: Violin Concertos
Kristjan Järvi - Franz Schmidt: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (Hybrid SACD)
Paavo Järvi - Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Hybrid SACD)
Alan Johnson - Cuomo: Arjuna's Dilemma
Jennifer Koh - String Poetic
Anne-Marie McDermott - Gershwin: Complete Music for Piano & Orchestra
moderntimes_1800 - Sinfonias from the Enlightenment
NOW Ensemble - Now Ensemble
Ursula Oppens - Oppens Plays Carter
Anne Sofie von Otter - Boldemann, Gefors, Hillborg: Orchestral Songs
Prazák Quartet / Beethoven String Quartet of London - Schubert: String Quartet D 887; String Trios D 471, D 581 (Hybrid SACD)
Quatuor Ebène - Quatuor Ebène performs Ravel Debussy Fauré String Quartets
Andrew Russo - Mixtape
John Salmon - Nikolai Kapustin: Piano Sonata No. 15; Preludes; Etudes; Bagatelles
Christine Schäfer - Apparition: Henry Purcell and George Crumb
Matthew Schellhorn - Messiaen: Chamber Works
Howard Shelley - Clementi: The Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1
Arturo Tamayo - Xenakis: Orchestral Works, Vol. 5
Various Artists - Lully: Psyche