Uncovering the Next Generation's Hall of Fame
| ⇦ 2003 | 2005 ⇨ |
The Best Music of 2004
Here is a selection of the best albums and songs from 2004. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.
For a list of the top artists who made their debut recording in 2004, check out this list.
| Albums (?) | Wikipedia | |
| Arcade Fire | Funeral | ☆ |
| Avril Lavigne | Under My Skin | ☆ |
| Beastie Boys | To the Five Boroughs | ☆ |
| Björk | Medulla | ☆ |
| Brian Wilson | SMiLE | ☆ |
| Daddy Yankee | Barrio fino | ☆ |
| Danger Mouse | The Grey Album | ☆ |
| Drive-By Truckers | The Dirty South | ☆ |
| Feist | Let It Die | ☆ |
| Franz Ferdinand | Franz Ferdinand | ☆ |
| Green Day | American Idiot | ☆ |
| Gwen Stefani | Love Angel Music Baby | ☆ |
| Interpol | Antics | ☆ |
| Jill Scott | Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds, Vol. 2 | ☆ |
| Kanye West | The College Dropout | ☆ |
| Kelly Clarkson | Breakaway | ☆ |
| Lil Wayne | Tha Carter | ☆ |
| Loretta Lynn | Van Lear Rose | ☆ |
| Madvillain | Madvillainy | ☆ |
| Mastodon | Leviathan | ☆ |
| Max Richter | The Blue Notebooks | ☆ |
| MF Doom | MM… FOOD | ☆ |
| Modest Mouse | Good News For People Who Love Bad News | ☆ |
| Motörhead | Inferno | ☆ |
| My Chemical Romance | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | ☆ |
| Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus | ☆ |
| Nightwish | Once | ☆ |
| Norah Jones | Feels Like Home | ☆ |
| of Montreal | Satanic Panic in the Attic | ☆ |
| Original Broadway Cast | Spamalot: Original Cast Recording | ☆ |
| PJ Harvey | Uh Huh Her | ☆ |
| Ray Charles | Genius Loves Company | ☆ |
| Scissor Sisters | Scissor Sisters | ☆ |
| Sonic Youth | Sonic Nurse | ☆ |
| Steve Earle | The Revolution Starts Now | ☆ |
| The Black Keys | Rubber Factory | ☆ |
| The Killers | Hot Fuss | ☆ |
| The Libertines | The Libertines | ☆ |
| The Roots | The Tipping Point | ☆ |
| The Von Bondies | Pawn Shoppe Heart | ☆ |
| Tom Waits | Real Gone | ☆ |
| Trans-Siberian Orchestra | The Lost Christmas Eve | ☆ |
| TV on the Radio | Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes | ☆ |
| U2 | How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb | ☆ |
| Usher | Confessions | ☆ |
| Velvet Revolver | Contraband | ☆ |
| Ween | Quebec | ☆ |
| Wilco | A Ghost is Born | ☆ |
| Songs (?) | Wikipedia | |
| 50 Cent | Disco Inferno | ☆ |
| Alison Krauss & Union Station | Restless | ☆ |
| Arcade Fire | Rebellion (Lies) | ☆ |
| Arcade Fire | Wake Up | ☆ |
| Arcade Fire | Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) | ☆ |
| Arcade Fire | Neighborhood #2 (Laika) | ☆ |
| Ashlee Simpson | Pieces of Me | ☆ |
| Ashlee Simpson | La La | ☆ |
| Avril Lavigne | My Happy Ending | ☆ |
| Bark Psychosis | Shapeshifting | ☆ |
| Beastie Boys | Ch-Check It Out | ☆ |
| Belle & Sebastian | Your Cover's Blown | ☆ |
| Bowling For Soup | 1985 | ☆ |
| Ciara featuring Missy Elliott | 1, 2 Step | ☆ |
| Ciara featuring Petey Pablo | Goodies | ☆ |
| Counting Crows | Accidentally in Love | ☆ |
| Daddy Yankee | Gasolina | ☆ |
| Dresden Dolls | Coin-Operated Boy | ☆ |
| Elis | Der Lutzke Tag | ☆ |
| Franz Ferdinand | Take Me Out | ☆ |
| Green Day | American Idiot | ☆ |
| Green Day | Boulevard of Broken Dreams | ☆ |
| Green Day | Wake Me Up When September Ends | ☆ |
| Green Day | Holiday | ☆ |
| Green Day | Jesus of Suburbia | ☆ |
| Gretchen Wilson | Redneck Woman | ☆ |
| Gwen Stefani | Hollaback Girl | ☆ |
| Gwen Stefani | Cool | ☆ |
| Gwen Stefani | What You Waiting For? | ☆ |
| Joanna Newsom | Peach, Plum, Pear | ☆ |
| Kaiser Chiefs | I Predict a Riot | ☆ |
| Kano | P's And Q's | ☆ |
| Kanye West | Jesus Walks | ☆ |
| Kasabian | Club Foot | ☆ |
| Keane | Somewhere Only We Know | ☆ |
| Kelly Clarkson | Since U Been Gone | ☆ |
| Kelly Clarkson | Breakaway | ☆ |
| Kelly Clarkson | Because of You | ☆ |
| Kelly Clarkson | Behind These Hazel Eyes | ☆ |
| KT Tunstall | Black Horse and The Cherry Tree | ☆ |
| Kylie Minogue | I Believe in You | ☆ |
| Lenny Kravitz | Where Are We Runnin'? | ☆ |
| Loretta Lynn & Jack White | Portland, Oregon | ☆ |
| Los Lonely Boys | Heaven | ☆ |
| Mario | Let Me Love You | ☆ |
| Mastodon | Blood & Thunder | ☆ |
| Modest Mouse | Float On | ☆ |
| Modest Mouse | Ocean Breathes Salty | ☆ |
| Morrissey | The First of the Gang to Die | ☆ |
| My Chemical Romance | I'm Not Okay (I Promise) | ☆ |
| My Chemical Romance | Helena | ☆ |
| Natasha Bedingfield | Unwritten | ☆ |
| Nightwish | Nemo | ☆ |
| Nightwish | Wish I Had an Angel | ☆ |
| Old Crow Medicine Show | Wagon Wheel | ☆ |
| Peter Gabriel | The Book of Love | ☆ |
| Ryan Cabrera | On The Way Down | ☆ |
| Scissor Sisters | Take Your Mama | ☆ |
| Sia | Breathe Me | ☆ |
| Simple Plan | Welcome to My Life | ☆ |
| Slipknot | Before I Forget | ☆ |
| Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell Williams | Drop It Like It's Hot | ☆ |
| T.I. | Bring Em Out | ☆ |
| Tegan & Sara | Walking with a Ghost | ☆ |
| The Chemical Brothers | Galvanize | ☆ |
| The Hives | Walk Idiot Walk | ☆ |
| The Killers | Mr. Brightside | ☆ |
| The Killers | Somebody Told Me | ☆ |
| The Killers | All These Things That I've Done | ☆ |
| The Killers | Smile Like You Mean It | ☆ |
| The Killers | On Top | ☆ |
| The Libertines | Can't Stand Me Now | ☆ |
| The Von Bondies | C'mon C'mon | ☆ |
| Tim McGraw | Live Like You Were Dying | ☆ |
| TV On The Radio | Staring at the Sun | ☆ |
| U2 | Vertigo | ☆ |
| U2 | Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own | ☆ |
| Usher | Burn | ☆ |
| Usher | Confessions, Pt. II | ☆ |
| Usher (feat. Alicia Keys) | My Boo | ☆ |
| Usher/Lil Jon/Ludacris | Yeah! | ☆ |
| Velvet Revolver | Slither | ☆ |
| Velvet Revolver | Fall to Pieces | ☆ |
| Wolfmother | Woman | ☆ |
| ⇦ 2003 | 2005 ⇨ |