100 Greatest Albums of 2005

2005 record album covers for Late Registration, The Emancipation Of Mimi, X&Y, and Demon Days
Criteria: These music albums from the year 2005 were chosen for their initial and lasting popularity and their influence and impact on rock music in general. Also considered is critical acclaim. The list includes rock and roll and related genres that were influential on rock music.

Note: Yearly album lists go by earliest 'release date'.
Not necessarily the year an album peaked in the U.S. charts.
  1. Late Registration - Kanye West
  2. The Emancipation Of Mimi - Mariah Carey
  3. X&Y - Coldplay
  4. Demon Days - Gorillaz
  5. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
  6. Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
  7. Mezmerize - System of a Down
  8. Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
  9. Arular - M.I.A.
10. Be - Common
11. The Breakthrough - Mary J. Blige
12. Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes
13. From Under the Cork Tree - Fall Out Boy
14. In Your Honour - Foo Fighters
15. Frances the Mute - The Mars Volta
16. Hypnotize - System of a Down
17. Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
18. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
19. City of Evil - Avenged Sevenfold
20. Guero - Beck
21. The Woods - Sleater-Kinney
22. I Am a Bird Now - Antony and the Johnsons
23. The Minstrel Show - Little Brother
24. With Teeth - Nine Inch Nails
25. Picaresque - The Decemberists
26. Aerial - Kate Bush
27. Gimme Fiction - Spoon
28. The Cookbook - Missy Elliott
29. Apologies to the Queen Mary - Wolf Parade
30. A Piece of Strange - CunninLynguists
31. The Sunset Tree - The Mountain Goats
32. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
33. Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady
34. Robyn - Robyn
35. Feels - Animal Collective
36. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning - Bright Eyes
37. Lullabies to Paralyze - Queens of the Stone Age
38. Twin Cinema - The New Pornographers
39. Z - My Morning Jacket
40. Takk... - Sigur Ros
41. Mighty ReArranger - Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation
42. Bang Bang Rock & Roll - Art Brut
43. Devil & Dust - Bruce Springsteen
44. The Great Destroyer - Low
45. Plans - Death Cab for Cutie
46. How to Save a Life - The Fray
47. Bleed Like Me - Garbage
48. Chaos and Creation in the Backyard - Paul McCartney
49. The Beekeeper - Tori Amos
50. Black Sheep Boy - Okkervil River
51. Confessions on a Dance Floor - Madonna
52. You Could Have It So Much Better - Franz Ferdinand
53. Employment - Kaiser Chiefs
54. Some Cities - Doves
55. A Time to Love - Stevie Wonder
56. Playing the Angel - Depeche Mode
57. Tender Buttons - Broadcast
58. Searching for a Former Clarity - Against Me!
59. Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs - Andrew Bird
60. Alligator - The National
61. And the Glass Handed Kites - Mew
62. Oh No - OK Go
63. The Documentary - The Game
64. Dark Light - HiM
65. Touch - Amerie
66. Live it Out - Metric
67. Transistor Radio - M. Ward
68. A Fever You Can't Sweat Out - Panic! at the Disco
69. Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness - Coheed & Cambria
70. Out of Exile - Audioslave
71. In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
72. Taller in More Ways - Sugababes
73. A Beautiful Lie - 30 Seconds to Mars
74. Stars of CCTV - Hard-Fi
75. Move Along - The All-American Rejects
76. Make Believe - Weezer
77. Black Dialogue - The Perceptionists
78. The Loneliest Punk - Fatlip
79. Fall Heads Roll - The Fall
80. The Rising Tied - Fort Minor
81. Welcome to Jamrock - Damien Marley
82. Everything in Transit - Jack's Mannequin
83. The Warrior's Code - Dropkick Murphys
84. Cansei de Ser Sexy - CSS
85. The Sunlandic Twins - of Montreal
86. Ruby Blue - Róisín Murphy
87. The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
88. Don't Believe the Truth - Oasis
89. Front Parlour Ballads - Richard Thompson
90. Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
91. Oceans Apart - The Go-Betweens
92. The Back Room - Editors
93. A Certain Trigger - Maximo Park
94. Digital Ash in a Digital Urn - Bright Eyes
95. The Alternative to Love - Brendan Benson
96. What the Game's Been Missing! - Juelz Santana
97. Chemistry - Girls Aloud
98. Mafia - Black Label Society
99. The Massacre - 50 Cent
100. A Healthy Distrust - Sage Francis
Late Registration Kanye West album cover
The Emancipation Of Mimi Mariah Carey album cover
X and Y Coldplay album cover
Demon Days Gorillaz album cover
LCD Soundsystem album cover
Illinois Sufjan Stevens album cover
Mezmerize System of a Down album cover
 DigitalDreamDoor Editor Picks for 2005
  Ryan's choice - An unheralded great album from 2005
 •  Elephant Eyelash - WHY?
  Lew's choice:
 •  ...Something to Be - Rob Thomas


Top 100 Albums by Year: