Originally posted by ladyroc

Albums from a million-in-a-week selling rapper, a pair of U.K. soul singers and three New York rock bands are just some of the projects the Billboard staff singled out as the 10 best of 2008. Our critics were all invited to submit a list of their 2008 favorites. Rankings were then determined by assigning points on an inverse system -- where 10 points were given to a title listed at No. 1, and one point given to a No. 10 entry. In tallying the top 10 lists, only albums were counted for this overall critics' choice poll (singles and live shows appear in some lists, but weren't used to tabulate the final results).



10. TIE:
Lil Wayne - "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal)
MGMT - "Oracular Spectacular" (Columbia)
Critics' Tally: 29 Points

Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III," which sold more than 1 million copies in its debut week, and Brooklyn rock band MGMT's aptly titled "Oracular Spectacular" both drew raves from the Billboard staff. Correspondent Diane Coetzer calls Lil Wayne's set "irresistible melodic hip-hop from the genre's most intriguing act," while writer Alexandra Cahill says MGMT's opus is filled with "progressive, highly addictive tunes."

"THA CARTER III" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
He's the self-proclaimed "best rapper alive," has made more than 40 guest appearances since 1999 and has been the most hyped hip-hop artist in recent time. But with help from A-list guest stars (T-Pain, Robin Thicke) and producers (Kanye West, Swizz Beatz), Lil Wayne backs up the boasts on the oft-delayed "Tha Carter III." In case you were on the fence, he reminds how "ill" his skills are on "A Milli" ("I'm a venereal disease/like a menstrual I bleed"), and he drafts fellow Carter Jay-Z to dismiss the haters atop piano and horns on "Mr. Carter." And while tracks like the played-out-themed "Got Money" and the elementary-sounding "La La" fall short of the mark, others like the "E.T."-inspired "Phone Home" and "Dr. Carter," on which Wayne literally attempts to resuscitate hip-hop, further secure his spot in said genre's pantheon.

"ORACULAR SPECTACULAR" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
Joining fellow hotly tipped Brooklyn bands Vampire Weekend and Yeasayer, MGMT (pronounced "management") merits just as much attention for its psychedelic experimentation as it does for its melodies and hooks. As produced by Dave Fridmann, the group's major-label debut never takes itself too seriously. Case in point is the electro-gram single "Time to Pretend," which mocks the excessive rock star lifestyle with tales of models, heroin and cars. Elsewhere, "Electric Feel" works a limber, funky bassline, and "Kids" is a call to the dancefloor driven by syrup-thick synths. Fridmann's style is put to the best use on the tempo-shifting "The Handshake," which bounces from psych-folk to blippy, Flaming Lips-style weird-outs and ends with a foot-stomping chant. Kudos to MGMT for maintaining its hipster cred, even on a major.

9. TIE:
Adele - "19" (XL/Columbia)
Duffy - "Rockferry" (A&M/Polydor)
Critics' Tally: 31 Points

Wales native Duffy and soulful Brit teenager Adele were the second of three ties on Billboard's critics' choice list this year. Single reviews editor Chuck Taylor praises Adele's "jaw-dropping intensity" and notes that "among so many trendy old-soul vocalists, hers is a talent for all time." Chart Beat columnist Fred Bronson puts Duffy's "gritty and soulful" album at No. 1 on his personal top 10 list, adding, "I was hooked as soon as I heard 'Mercy'."


"ROCKFERRY" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
"Rockferry" hits the major notes: "Warwick Avenue" is a string-smooched jazz number, the title cut is a towering wall of piano-powered sound with moody lyrics, and first single "Mercy" is about as summery as summery gets.


8. Metallica - "Death Magnetic" (Warner Bros.)
Critics' Tally: 30 Points

"The kings of metal return," proclaims contributor Gary Graff, who included "Death Magnetic" high on his personal list. The album, he says, "achieves the expected 'tallica standard that 'St. Anger' missed." German bureau chief Wolfgang Spahr calls the album "a tempest of pure rock."

"DEATH MAGNETIC" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
The bountiful 80 minutes are packed with titanic multipart epics that feature scary-looking song titles. They're all marked by Lars Ulrich's all-but-perfected stomp and the eyebrow-scorching virtuosity of James Hetfield, who roars about anger and self-flagellation, and Kirk Hammett, who conducts proton-collision experiments.


7. Nick Cave - "Dig, Lazarus, Dig !!!" (Mute/Anti-)
Critics' Tally: 34 Points

Billboard.com contributor Ron Hart was one of many of our critics who listed Nick Cave's latest. "After 30 years of shape-shifting theatrics and guttural gothic blues," Hart says, "Nick Cave unleashes the boogie out of his Bad Seeds and releases the finest album of his longtime bandÕs legendary career."

6. TIE:
TV On The Radio - "Dear Science" (Interscope)
Coldplay - "Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol)
Critics' Tally: 35 Points

The mega-selling British rockers and much-praised Brooklyn buzz band landed with equal force on Billboard's critics' lists this year. TV On The Radio's latest made a whopping eight lists, while Chris Martin and co.'s "Viva La Vida..." drew praise from Executive Director of Content and Programming for Touring Ray Waddell for its "moments of transcendent, melodic beauty and subtle power."

"DEAR SCIENCE" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
On "Dear Science," TV on the Radio utilizes the same recipe that helped it cook up indie cred with its critically acclaimed albums "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes" and "Return to Cookie Mountain." Take Tunde Adebimpe's gritty, eerie vocals; add skidding industrial beats; and top with the heavy orchestrations of producer David Sitek. It's all well and good, but we've mostly heard it before. There are cool sounds to explore, like the choir of reedy voices on "Golden Age," the '70s exploitation movie guitars of "Red Dress" and the dramatic piano ballad "Family Tree." Yet without any true progression from previous work, "Dear Science" seems destined to be the wallflower in TV on the Radio's catalog.

"VIVA LA VIDA..." BILLBOARD REVIEW:
They've got the commercial clout, but now they want the cred. On their fourth album, the members of Coldplay refract their gazillion-selling pop/rock through a more nuanced lens, drafting producers Brian Eno and Markus Dravs to help them craft more diverse, experimental music. Radiohead they ain't; "42" sounds like three different songs awkwardly stitched together in ProTools, and often the layers of production seem to come at the expense of memorable melodies. Two of the best songs are instrumentals: opener "Life in Technicolor" is a propulsive heart-melter that deftly straddles the acoustic/electro divide, and the effects-drenched "Chinese Sleep Chant" finds Coldplay discovering its inner My Bloody Valentine. The rest is closer to the Coldplay we know: a competent blend of heavily orchestrated redemption songs ("Viva La Vida," already the biggest hit of the band's career), swirly arena rock ("Lovers in Japan") and life-stinks-without-you ballads ("Strawberry Swing") likely to resonate despite the new bells and whistles.


5. Elbow - "The Seldom Seen Kid" (Fiction/Geffen)
Critics' Tally: 43 Points

Many of Billboard's European contributors included the latest from U.K. rock band Elbow on their lists. Among them was Billboard deputy global editor Tom Ferguson, who calls the band "worthy Mercury Prize winners with a song of the year contender in 'One Day Like This'."


4. Vampire Weekend - "Vampire Weekend" (XL Recordings)
Critics' Tally: 47 Points

Senior copy editor Wayne Robins calls the debut album from the blog-lauded New York group "winsome" and full of "collegiate rock/Afro-pop buoyed by its blend of sincerity and irony." Billboard.com contributor Ron Hart says, "somewhere Peter Gabriel and Lil' Jon are smiling at this sunny debut that brought the highlife to the Lower East Side."

"VAMPIRE WEEKEND" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
The fever-pitch buzz about Vampire Weekend is not unwarranted. The New York troupe doesn't pretend to be anything more than a quad of friends with a penchant for sunny melodies and whip-smart lyrics about girls and college and other young people stuff. The end result is 11 singalong party songs that are little stories unto themselves. Many share tropical and African influences, from the bouncy congas on the Peter Gabriel name-checking "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" to the borderline clubby four-on-the-floor beat that kicks off "Campus." The twee "One (Blake's Got a New Face)" would be a perfect fit for just about any Wes Anderson film, while tracks like "Mansard Roof" and "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" highlight singer Ezra Koenig's dreamy pipes. Listeners are only too lucky to get a hot breath of summer fun in these cold winter months.


3. Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago" (Jagjaguwar)
Critics' Tally: 56 Points

"The name refers to someone in my past, and it's not her real name," Justin Veron aka Bon Iver told Billboard about the title of his well-received album. "The dedication is not just to her, it's about the end of an entire era. The entire context of my life at that time was tied to this person, and this record is a way for me to flee from this thing." The resulting album is saturated with what correspondent Diane Coetzer calls "achingly beautiful, at times eerily strange, ambient folk."

2. Santogold - "Santogold" (Downtown)
Critics' Tally: 60 Points

"Santi White delivered quite possibly one of the most successful independent hipster albums of this year," says Billboard.com associate editor Mariel Concepcion, one of the many staff members who included the self-titled album on her list. "The songs are full of energy and production that actually makes you pay attention. Plus, she's got the flyest background dancers ever."

"SANTOGOLD" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
Blog-browsing hipsters have been hearing about this 32-year-old New Yorker since her single "Creator," with its post-M.I.A. electro-pop vibe, began burning up the Internet last year. Listeners with longer memories might remember Santi White (who records as Santogold) from her stint fronting Stiffed, a short-lived East Coast soul-punk band, or from her writing/producing gig on "How I Do," the sadly slept-on debut by Philly-based R&B singer Res. On her self-titled solo bow—which features collaborations with Diplo, Spank Rock and Switch—Santogold pours all that experience into a bracingly eclectic set full of fuzzy New Wave synths, sticky avant-soul melodies, busted-laptop beats and sing-song vocal chants inherited from the likes of Neneh Cherry and Björk. If you've managed to avoid her until now, you won't be able to for much longer.


1. Fleet Foxes - "Fleet Foxes" (Sub Pop)
Critics' Tally: 66 Points

Besting Santogold, this year's No. 2, by six points, Seattle newcomers Fleet Foxes take top prize on the 2008 Billboard critics' survey. The self-titled Sub Pop debut from the band, which received its first national press in Billboard in 2006, drew effusive comments like "sublime," "glorious" and "ambitious, otherworldly" on the many individual critics' lists on which it landed. Billboard contributor Lavinia Jones Wright sums up the sentiment, saying, "this shockingly gorgeous debut ... unlocked a subconscious desire in us for more vocal harmonies."

"FLEET FOXES" BILLBOARD REVIEW:
One of the most valuable qualities of good music is its ability to transport you to a moment in your past, a place you'll never see or somewhere that doesn't even exist. Thanks to their gloriously retro (and occasionally eerie) three-part harmonies, Seattle's Fleet Foxes accomplish all the above with their self-titled debut. Led by vocalist Robin Pecknold, those harmonies usher in a remote, parallel-universe America that lies far from the interstate—maybe somewhere in Appalachia—where contemporary music sounds a lot like a doped-up daydream at church. Pecknold conjures the sedate, acoustic side of My Morning Jacket's Jim James, and the band traverses the same scenic waters as the "Lee Shore" side of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young with great effect. And on songs like "Oliver James," where Pecknold's voice dances on top of and glides along with the melody, the band makes it sound much easier than it is.


Thoughts?