I'm not feeling too good about this category. There are several pretty good albums that are nominated, but each seems to be compromised in a way that last year's winner was not.

As I think about this category, I realize that there is a problem. If I had to choose the best album of my year, it would probably be Teenager Of The Year by Frank Black, which came out in 1994, but I only really listened to this year. And for a month or so, I listened incessantly. But surely I can't consider this the "Best Album Of 2004".

Then there are some albums I didn't really get into, or didn't get at all. I bought REM's new album but I only listened to it once, and that was in the car, with a crying baby. I didn't get The Beta Band's latest album, which I think would win this category, if I had actually heard it. U2's new album is supposed to be hot shit, but I can't imagine thinking that a U2 album in 2004 would be the best album OF 2004. And what about Ghostface's album "The Pretty Toney Album"? I only listened a couple times, and it didn't make an impact.

Anyway, on with the nominees...

It had been years since I have Morrissey much thought. But when this album came out, and got good reviews, I decided to bite. And it tasted gooood. Yep, Morrissey made a damn good record. And not only that, but this album prompted me to revisit the entire Smiths and Morrissey catalog (what I had, anyway), and plunged me into a Smiths phase for a couple months.

"Smile" in 2004? Amazing. But how can it be the Best Album of 2004 when it was originally recorded in 1967, and its main songs were released on subsequent Beach Boys albums, and bootlegs have been around for years? Still, its Smile, and it has been completed by its created, and the music is great, and it came out in 2004. Of course, Brian also put out a completely new album of "new" compositions called "Gettin In Over My Head". But most of the songs there were 10+ years old, and not as good as the old bootleg versions. And the totally new songs made me worry.

Masta Killa's "No Said Date" was a pleasant surprise. The album featuring production by RZA, Mathematics, and True Master, and featured all of the Wu-Tang Clan. And it was almost uniformly excellent. I never gave much thought to Masta Killa. I wasn't even sure he was actually in the Wu-Tang Clan. Still, this was a great album. But was it up to the quality of the classic Wu albums? No way.

Todd Rundren's "Liars" was a grower. At first I didn't get it at all. Why the hell did he make an album of 80s synth songs, which were all recorded in ProTools? I gave it more time because it was Todd. Then I realized that it all hung together quite nicely, synths and all. Still, I can't help but think that a more organic production would've been nicer.

The new Eminem album, Encore, was just that, an Encore. Mostly, more of the same, but with a little more pizzazz. The standout tracks are brilliant. But some of the themes get tiresome, and the cartoonish element weighs it down a bit too. Still among the best, but not as good as before.

And the winner is....

Smile. While none of this years current nominees had the same impact on me as last year's winner, I'm going to have to go with "Smile". Yes, "Smile". I have to go with "Smile" because even with the caveats I mentioned above, its still fucking "Smile", and its done, and it sounds great. Given the ridiculously high quality of the music, and the fact that none of the other nominees were consistently anywhere NEAR as good as "Smile", the winner has to be "Smile".