Honorable Mentions
#25-#21
#20-#16
#15-#11
#10-#6
#5-#2
#1
Back
#14: You Stand Watching by Ryan Cabrera-This guy can write a love song with the best of them. Cabrera's sophomore release, a disc released not even a year after his sudden and big debut in the music scene, shows maturity and growth both vocally and lyrically. The combination of these vocals and lyrics with some pretty catchy pop music makes for one of the year's most solid and complete discs. Tracks like Shine On and Photo were destined for radio success from the start, while tracks like It's You, Hit Me With Your Light and Fall Baby Fall become some of the discs best tracks. You Stand Watching as a whole is simply excellent.
#13: Nothing Is Sound by Switchfoot-The follow-up disc to Switchfoot's massively successful 2003 release The Beautiful Letdown, did not disappoint. The lead single, Stars, grew to pretty heavy popularity, and it was far from the best track on the disc. Tracks like Lonely Nation and Easier Than Love showcase solid music, while The Blues, Daisy and Happy Is A Yuppie Word, showcase excellent lyrics. The disc is capped off by some solid (and clearly growing) vocals from lead singer Jon Foreman. Nothing Is Sound shows exactly why Switchfoot has become so popular: They create solid, infectious music that is difficult not to enjoy.
#12: Move Along by The All-American Rejects-Swing Swing is no longer that only song that most people will The All-American Rejects by. As this sophomore release proves, these guys deserve recognition for some quality music. The lead single, Dirty Little Secret blew up much like Swing Swing did. But this disc should not fall into obscurity after one single. Every track on this disc was worthwhile in it's creation. The title track is an excellent track that has a different vibe musically that just works. Tracks like It Ends Tonight, Straightjacket Feeling and Dance Inside take this disc to great levels not reached by the group on the previous disc. All-around, it is one of the year's most pleasing to the ears, and it doesn't just sound good. It's a very well-done disc.
#11: Retaliation by Dane Cook-No, it's not music. But it is an album, and this is the Top 25 Albums Of 2005. And there's a reason that this 2 CD and DVD set of comedy went to #4 on Billboard's Hot 200 in it's debut week (The highest comedic debut since 1979)...Dane Cook is hilarious. Plain and simple. You can't help but laugh when you listen to his stuff. He is an active comic, which makes some people complain that just listening to his routine doesn't do it justice...and this is true. But what you do get in the CDs is an impressive offering of comedy that doesn't always have to be dirty to be funny, something that hasn't been heard in a long time. Dane is still a 20-year old clueless guy at heart. And that's what makes his comedy so funny. And that's what easily makes this set one of the year's best offerings.