 | The Rising Tide by Sunny Day Real Estate
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $1.82 the most gorgeous record in my collection. introspective and lush post-rock that's truly from somewhere else. The zenith of singer enigk's spiritual awaking, obviously, and the pinnacle of his career. an album of immense weight and depth.
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 | Night Is the New Day by Katatonia
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $5.99 perhaps the only band i know that gets better with each release. i was flabbergasted to find this superior to the _great cold distance_ record. an immense album that combines darkness, heaviness, atmosphere and beauty all balled into one.
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 | Clarity by Jimmy Eat World
Buy used from: $1.34 a band that- if you're not careful- can be cast into the shuffle of characterless, radio-ready pop acts. my problem with that is: you'd miss out on this materpiece. the undisputed champion of the JEW catalog. rich and urbane AOR with indie sensibilities.
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 | Emotion Is Dead by Juliana Theory
Buy new: $10.07 / Used from: $0.74 a tough call, though i'd give it a slight edge over the debut. a period in singer/songwriter detar's life when he could do no wrong. poppy, perfectly-written indie glam that makes you wanna think about girls and past & present crushes.
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 | Parachutes by Coldplay
Buy new: $9.00 / Used from: $1.42 an album that could be wrongly despised should you lump it in with everything after. the ONLY coldplay album that makes sense to me. deeply pensive and honest music from the band that went on to define a subgenre.
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 | Judgement by Anathema
Buy new: $17.10 / Used from: $3.34 the quintessential release by the masters of british sad rock. the band's last album before severing its ties to metal entirely. i've always said it, no one plays sad, atmospheric rock better than a band of guys who used to play metal.
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 | Hagnesta Hill by Kent
Buy new: $13.77 / Used from: $2.19 one of two kent albums written for the english-speaking masses; and gratefully, these are the masterpieces. stylish and intelligent post-rock that draws comparisons to radiohead and early coldplay.
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 | Catch Without Arms by Dredg
Buy new: $9.77 / Used from: $1.48 again, a tough call, though i'd edge it over _el cielo_ only slightly. the world obviously wasn't ready for this, or it would've been a slam dunk. a tight, highly accessible slab of high-energy "art" rock.
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 | Out of Myself by Riverside
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $9.99 the debut offering from a band that went on to mesmorize the progressive underground. recognized now as an equal to peer group PORCUPINE TREE, RIVERSIDE plays a similar blend of dark, progressive rock that's more metallic than metal.
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 | Seasons End by Marillion
Buy used from: $24.98 with such an enormous catalog that's often seen in halves, it's hard to pinpoint their greatest. though their greatest moments are perhaps sprinkled over their catalog, _season's end_ is consistently great. beware, however, this is from 1989.
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 | In Absentia by Porcupine Tree
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $5.94 picking the greatest PORCUPINE TREE record is an exericse in futility i think. today it's _in absentia_, a collection of music that captures the ebb and flow of a great musical "experience," yet touts several sturdy standouts. song "trains" is magical.
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 | & The Glass Handed Kites (Dig) by Mew
Buy new: $14.73 / Used from: $2.76 outstanding follow-up to _frengers_. a band that captured me with it's colossal pulses of sound and androgenous vocals. an album of rainbow instrumentation and tasteful bombast, but that manages to reach the listener on a personal level.
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 | Core by Stone Temple Pilots
Buy new: $8.73 / Used from: $0.01 the first compact disc i ever bought. hearing this for the first time was my awakening to the power of good distortion and, of course, the riff. an album of great power and shameless attitude. set the tone for all purchases to come.
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 | Aenima by Tool
Buy new: $14.81 / Used from: $6.34 twisted, hypnotic alt rock that churns out deep, dark rhythms; that's highly original, experimental and complex yet personal and accessible; that's angry yet soothing, played and sung at the highest level.
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