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Top Music Releases of 2004

Okay, I admit my pop music tastes have not developed much since 1990, but for better or worse, here's what earned my top ratings for the past calendar year:

7. The acoustic versions of Seal's songs on Best: 1991-2004, especially "Kiss From A Rose."

6. Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits. A great collection of Mellencamp's work over the course of twenty-five years.

5. Five For Fighting, "100 Years." I really like this song.

4. Scissor Sisters, Scissor Sisters. Because I'm a sucker for a group that channels early 1970s Elton John in such a captivating fashion (check out "Take Your Mama"). The strange cover of "Comfortably Numb"--hands down, one of my favorite songs of all time--is beguilingly catchy.

3. Elton John, Peachtree Road. Sir Elton still has a knack for melody and this collection of tracks picks up where Songs From the West Coast left off--a fine assemblage of tunes worthy of comparison to the singer's early 1970s work.

2. The Complete U2. This exclusive iTunes release was significant for me less because of the music it included--I had the majority of the material on CD already, though there were some nice unreleased, rare, and live performance cuts included in the mix--than because of the ground-breaking concept of a digital box set. I can think of a dozen artists for whom I'd part with money to get something similar.

1. U2, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The Irish quartet prove they are still the most important band in the world. 'Nuff said.

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