Here's a list compiled by the staff of The Michigan Daily on the 4th December 2004.

http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/12/03/41b05f9387d46

Kid A, despite getting very mixed reviews upon release, continues to dominate these half-decade lists. It is also interesting to see that "Elephant" and "Speakerboxx/The Love Below", 2003's most hyped releases, were yet again left out in favor of "White Blood Cells" and "Stankonia". In retrospect it seems that year pretty much sucked.

1. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Radiohead - Kid A
3. Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights
4. Modest Mouse - Moon and Antarctica
5. The Strokes - Is This It?
6. Madvillain - Madvillainy
7. Brian Wilson - Smile
8. The Shins - Oh Inverted World
9. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
10. The Outcast - Stanconia
11. Jay-Z - The Black Album
12. Eminem - The Marshall Mothers LP
13. Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
14. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
15. Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan
16. Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
17. Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
18. Liars - They Threw Us in a Trench
19. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
20. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
21. The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
22. Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher
23. Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
24. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags and Codes
25. The White Stripes - De Stijl
26. D'Angelo - Voodoo
27. The Streets - Original Pirate Material
28. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
29. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
30. Sonic Youth - Murray Street
31. Kanye West - The College Dropout
32. Blur - Think Tank
33. Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain
34. Bob Dylan - Love and Theft
35. Cat Power - You Are Free
36. The Books - Lemon of Pink
37. The Roots - Phrenology
38. The Constntines - Shine a Light
39. Ghostface Killah - The Pretty Toney Album
40. Fugazi - The Argument
41. Coldplay - Parachutes
42. The Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera
43. Johnny Cash - American IV
44. Bjork - Medulla
45. Talib Kweli - Quality
46. The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutthroats
47. Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus
48. Manitoba - Up in Flames
49. Elliot Smith - Figure 8
50. Postal Service - Give Up

It's quite a nice list, with all the obvious bands, but not-so-obvious albums. I agree with the Stripes' White Blood Cells and DeStijl over Elephant and Sufjan's Michigan (criminally excluded from the AM top 2000) over Seven Swans, but I disagree with Elliott Smith's Figure 8, The Shins' Oh Inverted World and Johnny Cash's American IV over III.

Thanks Jacek!

The album that is really shot to new heights in all the 00-04 lists is The Moon and Antarctica. It has to be the next record I buy.

I love that D'Angelo's VOODOO made the cut! I wish he'd come out with something new.

As for Outkast, I like AQUEMINI best.

I'm kind of annoyed by the the list a little bit. I know that some people try to be cool and say they like a bands older work better but 3 albums on this list stand out to me.

The Shins - Oh, Inverted World. Good album but nowhere near the classic that Chutes Too Narrow is. I don't care if it was played on the O.C., etc. It's just a better album chocked full of great songs.

Coldplay - Parachutes. Same thing here, good album, but doesn't come close to A Rush of Blood to the Head. Yeah wasn't overplayed as much but nowhere near as good.

Finally the White Stripes. I mean c'mon alrleady!!! Forget about airplay for singles and videos, etc. Elephant is thus far the career defining album for the White Stripes. A definite step up from any of their previous albums.

It's obvious that there's no perfect list and subjectivity reigns supreme in listmaking. But let me tell you, Interpol's "Turn On The Bright Lights" scoring 3rd is like Celine Dion recording an album better than Pet Sounds... Interpol are just a nice band doing some pleasant songs, but it ain't no feast for the soul!!! Well, not my soul anyway... If you really want someone pretending to be a post-punk brit band, you've got Franz Ferdinand doing it better (it's not all hype). I wonder if these journalists have ever heard of Joy Division... (I know that they have, it's just one of those things you say...)

There's plenty more that I don't agree with but as I said it's all pretty subjective. Except for one thing: there was no year zero, so this millenium doesn't include the year 2000.
This means records like "Kid A" must be kept out of this list. And also because being near "Turn On The Bright Lights" is bad influence

The Michigan lists are the less definitive of all the best of lists. Some reasons are, first, the editors are college students that dont know a cuak about music, secondly, their best of lists are usually made based on the opinions of the editors themeselves and no one elses opinion, and last, there lists are bad in general.

hahah. full marks to buddy baker :p i 100% agree. i really can't see interpol as top 5 material. It always amazes me how many people love them to death. I can't deny that turn on the bright lights is a fantastic album, but top 5? nah. i would expect it... around 20