#20: Smile...It Confuses People by Sandi Thom: In a year where KT Tunstall took America by storm, many Americans missed out on this British sensation. Sandi Thom got her start, simply enough, by recording a concert in her basement and posting it on the Internet. And people payed attention, not just because it was something they'd never seen before, but because Thom was clearly talented. Soon after that, I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) hit as a single, and the disc was released. Smile...It Confuses People fuses together some typical pop sounds with a completely different flare. When Horsepower Meant What It Said is one of the highlights of the disc and an absolutely perfect choice to lead the disc off, setting the tone for the rest of it. Tracks like Lonely Girl, Sunset Borderline and Superman show off Thom's vocals, while tracks like What If I'm Right? and Human Jukebox bring some more up-tempo flavors to the table. Overall, the disc becomes truly infectious and is a great piece of music that may by 2006's most overlooked and underrated disc (At least in the USA).
#19: Lights Out by Sugarcult: "Infectious" is a word that fits perfectly when talking about Lights Out. Sugarcult is a band that, prior to this disc, really had only managed a few solid hits, creating discs that had a lot more filler than good music. That changed on Lights Out. It was clear right from the opening of the disc that the band had put much more effort and time into creating this disc than the previous offerings. Tracks like Do It Alone and Los Angeles took a somewhat simpler approach to things, which payed off with two pretty solid tracks. And on tracks like Hiatus, Shaking and The Investigation, the band managed to show off their talents perfectly, making some incredible tracks. Lights Out proved that Sugarcult could do much more than just create a couple of radio singles. This disc showed that the band actually has quite a bit of talent, and they put it to good use in 2006.
#18: Nothing Left To Lose by Mat Kearney: Mat Kearney quickly became one of 2006's biggest breakouts. After Bullet released in 2005, Kearney did a not-so-typical re-release: He re-released about half of Bullet's material and added in another half of new stuff. The combination made for quite a potent disc. Nothing Left To Lose began to showcase to the masses Kearney's talents. The title track and lead single was getting played everywhere, and rightfully so. It showcased Kearney's lyrical and vocal talents pretty well. But what may shock most people is that Kearney is not simply a pop vocalist. Quite the contrary, much of Kearney's disc would actually fall under the "hip hop" category. Kearney managed to fuse together elements of hip hop, pop and folk music together to create an incredible disc. Tracks like In The Middle, Bullet and Girl America all show off Kearney's ability to do a little rapping, while tracks like Crashing Down and Can't Break Her Fall show off the fact that he refuses to be placed in a box that defines him as merely one thing. He is a rapper, he is a singer, he is a songwriter, he is an all-around talent in the music world. And Nothing Left To Lose introduced the music world to that talent.
#17: Albatross by The Classic Crime: Albatross showcases another one of 2006's top new acts. The Classic Crime is pretty simple to describe. They are an alternative band with typically alternative music. This comes as no shock if you know that they're signed to Tooth & Nail Records. That same fact should make it no surprsie that The Classic Crime is an impressive new band. Albatross is probably the least surprising disc on this list. There's nothing out of the ordinary about it, nothing that makes it jump out at you and grab you by the throat. And yet, it still managed to be one of the year's best discs. It had infectious tracks that are solid all the way around. Tracks like The Fight and The Coldest Heart show off the edgier stylings of the band. While Headlights, one of the disc's highlights, closes the disc with a toned-down, thought-provoking track that carries a lot of emotion with it. Most of the tracks are your typical, everyday alternative songs, but they are done so well that you can't help but enjoy them. That's what made Albatross the #17 disc of the year.
#16: Glory by Manafest: In what may be the guilty pleasure of the list, Manafest's Glory comes in at #16 on this year's list. Now, some of the hip hop-inistas (To borrow from Stephen Colbert his ability to add -inistas or something like that to the end of a word...) out there will claim that this disc is not deserving of a spot on this list. I have to disagree and argue that this Canadian is doing quite well. If you give Glory a listen, you may very well find yourself really feeling Manafest's music. Bounce and Retro Love brings some heavy up-tempo music to the table and, though not every track is masterfully handled in the lyrical department, Manafest is able to show off some variety, especially with Runaway, which tones the music down a bit and does do pretty well on the lyrical level (Aside from the relatively simplistic chorus). Glory certainly is worthy enough to get a spot on the Top 25.
#25-#21
#20-#16
#15-#11
#10-#6
#5-#2
#1