I think some screams of ecstasy will be heard once the absence of White Stripes is noted on Pareles' list....(Note, I will post the individual critics "best" lists seperately).
The Albums and Songs of the Year
By JON PARELES
1. YEAH YEAH YEAHS: `FEVER TO TELL' (Interscope) New York rock finds its arty party spirit in the hard-headed, amorous, banshee voice of Karen O. Behind her, a drummer and guitarist chop and splice together everything from rockabilly to grunge, turning jagged shards of riffs into rock that swaggers and jumps.
2. OUTKAST: `SPEAKERBOXXX/THE LOVE BELOW' (Arista) Lust rules all for Andre 3000 and Big Boi, whose split double album wraps ambition in irrepressible music. Andre veers toward pop with songs that go bounding from style to style ?? fun even when they're half finished ?? while Big Boi's raps are fast, smart and newly far-reaching. These guys ought to work together sometime.
3. RADIOHEAD: `HAIL TO THE THIEF' (Capitol) Raising the stakes again after two albums of introspection, Radiohead stirs its sonic experiments into new ravaged anthems, engaging the outside world again with perplexity and rage.
4. ANNIE LENNOX: `BARE' (J) There hasn't been a plush, bitter and furious breakup album like this since Annie Lennox made "Diva," and this album could be its match, wrapping elegant arrangements around a wounded voice.
5. WARREN ZEVON: `THE WIND' (Artemis) Made by a dying man, "The Wind" cracks jokes, rocks awhile, quietly stares down death and makes fond farewells, modestly asking, "Keep me in your heart for a while." Its sound is unadorned and twangy, but its effect is haunting.
6. CABAS: `CONTACTO' (Virgin/EMI Music USA Latin) Salsa, brass bands, rock, funk, cumbia, Afro-Caribbean drums ?? Andres Cabas sets his love songs in music that criss-crosses his native Colombia and leaps beyond its borders with well-earned confidence.
7. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: `WELCOME INTERSTATE MANAGERS' (S-Curve/Virgin) Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood knock out catchy songs in styles from power pop to ballad to folk-rock, sketching a dead-end suburban life in a verse or two. For all their craftsmanship, there's sympathy just under the surface.
8. ALICIA KEYS: `THE DIARY OF ALICIA KEYS' (J) Full-fledged soul songs that hark back to the 1970's, with verses, choruses and bridges rather than the singsong vamps of current rhythm-and-blues, give Alicia Keys something to dig into as she once again contemplates the tensions between love and independence.
9. MARS VOLTA: `DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM' (GSL/Strummer/Universal) On a concept album about deathbed delirium, here comes progressive rock again, with songs full of whipsaw tempo changes, sudden interludes, untrammeled momentum and a passion that spills out of every structure.
10. MISSY ELLIOTT: `THIS IS NOT A TEST!' (Elektra) The beats are minimal, as Timbaland makes bodies move with just blips, thuds and perfectly placed spaces. And the aspirations are maximal, as Ms. Elliott sets out to wake up hip-hop, show men their place and get her satisfaction, both sexual and analytical.
SINGLES Black Dice: "Cone Toaster" (DFA); Lumidee: "Never Leave You" (Universal); Anthony Hamilton: "Comin' From Where I'm From" (Arista); Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z: "Crazy in Love" (Columbia); the Strokes: "Reptilia" (RCA)