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Everybody loves a list. Here are ours. The best albums of the year, according to our writers:

Greg Yost

1. If It Was You - Tegan and Sara Losing their DiFranco tendencies and rocking out was a good thing for this Canadian-identical twin duo. These sisters are adept at writing catchy hooks that stay in your head. 2. Don't Give Up on Me - Solomon Burke A soul legend returns with an amazing collection of songs written by other rock greats just for him. Take the songwriting of Dylan, Costello, Waits and Wilson and add the irrepressible talent of the King of Soul, and you have the makings of a classic. 3. Century Spring - Mason Jennings Whiteboy-acoustic-country-soul-folk at its finest. 4. Wood/Water - The Promise Ring What a swan song from these indie giants. Too bad we may never see where they would go from here. 5. Barricades & Brickwalls - Kasey Chambers Although an amazing collection of songs, it is kind of sad that it takes an Aussie to show Americans how real country music is played. 6. American IV: The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash A country singer covering Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and other artists, sounds like a recipe for disaster. But that's not the case when the Man in Black and Rick Rubin are behind it. 7. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips Catchy melodies with all the bells and whistles you expect from these guys. Picking up where they left-off after The Soft Bulletin, The Flaming Lips deliver another solid set of futuristic pop. 8. Demolition - Ryan Adams Even though it's a collection of demos and songs that didn't quite make the cut, Adams once again proves that he is one of the better songwriters out there. 9. Round Room - Phish The boys from Vermont return with a new set of studio recordings. Though not known for their studio work, this album has a very loose feel to it that will lend itself well to the live experience. 10. Sarah Shannon - Sarah Shannon The voice of Velocity Girl returns, but not the way you remember it. Shannon's solo debut takes the Bacharach sound and adds a twist all its own. Other Albums of Note: Counting Crows - Hard Candy, Ben Kweller - Sha Sha, Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses, Kay Hanley - Cherry Marmalade, Rhett Miller - The Instigator, Mason Jennings - Simple Life

Mike Sheaffer

1. Sea Change - Beck The quiet, acoustic Beck is much more enjoyable, and believable, than the James Brown wannabe that released Midnight Vultures in 1999. This album was a surprise to me. A good one. 2. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco For nearly the entire year, I didn't think this album could be topped. It's that good. 3. Make Up The Breakdown - Hot Hot Heat I fell in love with this record late in the year, but it made me want to dance, and that says a lot. 4. A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay These overly-confident snots had said this could be their last album, because they're not sure they could do it any better than this. They might be right. 5. Woodwater - The Promise Ring All the pretentious indie kids were ragging on this record because the sound was a big departure from what they were used to from the band. Sure, it's a departure, and it's better. Unfortunately, it's their last. 6. Almost Happy - K's Choice It's smart, beautiful and compelling. You can feel these songs. 7. Under Cold Blue Stars - Josh Rouse With a couple male singer-songwriters sucking up all the attention, this album nearly slipped away before I got around to hearing it. Thankfully it didn't. 8. The Future That Was - Josh Joplin Group Sure, he's smart and well-read and other things I'm not, but he dropped a line about Atticus Finch on the record, and 'To Kill A Mockingbird' just so happens to be the last book I read. 9. When I Was Cruel - Elvis Costello Hey, look who's still around and releasing a pretty damn fine record. 10. Riot Act - Pearl Jam Hey, look who else is still around and releasing a pretty damn fine record. Honorable Mention: Filmmaker - An Invitation To An Accident, Ours - Precious, David Cross - Shut Up You Fucking Baby, Spoon - Kill The Moonlight, Jets To Brazil - Perfecting Loneliness, New Found Glory - Sticks and Stones, Phantom Planet - The Guest Looking Forward To New Albums in 2003: Matthew Good, Remy Zero, Pete Yorn, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Rufus Wainwright

Sunil Doshi

1. The Eminem Show - Eminem Before it came out, they said this album would reveal a more mature Eminem. It was hard to believe that he could truly grow up without losing some of the absurdness that made him so compelling. But he did mature, and he did it by choosing bigger targets... the government, the record industry, Mariah Carey. Eminem has become the most skilled MC in hip-hop. The crown will be hard to take away from him. 2. One Beat - Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney may very well be the best rock band in America. They rock harder than most of their male counterparts, and they've grown their three-piece band into a classic rock-size monolith. 3. In Search of... - N.E.R.D. This was on my list last year, before the US version of the album came out. It is worth mentioning again. Nobody can take a fascination with Steely Dan, infuse it with insane beats, and put out something as thrilling as the Neptunes boys. 4. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco This was also on last year's list, when the album was circulating on MP3. It's so amazing because it's hard to pin down. As Wilco steps farther and farther from their alt-country roots, we get to be the enamored spectators of their weird and interesting path. 5. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips have done what others have mostly failed at. They've followed up a masterpiece with a work that is even better. 6. Scarlet's Walk - Tori Amos I saw Tori a few years ago, when she was touring with just her piano. The pretension left an unpleasant taste in my mouth that stuck. But after I heard Scarlet's Walk, the sourness washed away. It's sprawling, beautiful, and perhaps her best work. 7. Quality - Talib Kweli Talib Kweli did what seemed impossible for "alternative" hip-hop... he made it mainstream. Kweli hasn't lost any of his conscience. He's just backed up his words with compelling and accessible beats. Quality is what Jay-Z would sound like if he rapped about something besides bling. 8. Phrenology - The Roots Like Talib Kweli, The Roots are testing the bounds of their citizenship to the alternative hip-hop scene. As they sound more accessible, they become a better band. They can be smart while still getting a track dropped alongside Nelly on the radio. Phrenology just tightens their grip on being one of the best rap groups around. 9. Home - The Dixie Chicks Scoff if you must, but I have two ways to judge my personal worth of an album. One is if it engages me intellectually (which this album hardly did). The other is equally important... does it make me want to sing out loud with the windows down, careening down a two-lane country road? This one did just that. 10. Original Pirate Material - The Streets There were a lot of weak comparisons made between The Streets and Eminem. The only thing that the two share is an unabashed open-book attitude about their lives. But The Streets (aka Mike Skinner) are a completely different bird. Built on garage, jungle, and reggae beats, layered with a cocky British accent, The Streets signal a dawn for respectable British hip-hop.