6 Dixie Chicks
Taking the Long Way Open Wide/Columbia
The Texans co-wrote every impassioned track on their fourth major-label studio album, and producer Rick Rubin brings the rock without losing that front-porch feel. At every turn, the ladies proclaim their independence, a sweeping theme that turns the dark, soaring defiance of ''Not Ready to Make Nice'' into the centerpiece of a record with nothing at all to apologize for. In ''The Long Way Around,'' Natalie Maines sings, ''Guess I could have made it easier on myself/But I could never follow.'' Let's hope the Chicks never do.
7 Bob Dylan
Modern Times Columbia
Modern Times adds another glorious chapter to Dylan's late-career renaissance inaugurated by 1997's Time Out of Mind and continued with 2001's Love and Theft. From puckish opener (the Alicia Keys-name-checking ''Thunder on the Mountain'') to jazzy shuffle (''Beyond the Horizon'') to hummable homicidal closer (the nine-minute ''Ain't Talkin'''), this collection, produced by Dylan under his nom de knob twiddler ''Jack Frost,'' thoroughly deserved to become a No. 1 album (Bob's first in 30 years). That it knocked reality TV creation Danity Kane off pole position also says something about these modern musical times — although we're not entirely sure what.
8 Lily Allen
Alright, Still Regal
The most delicious thing to come out of England since Toffee Crisp? Lily Allen. The 21-year-old's debut is that rare commodity: a collection of irresistible pop songs imbued with both smarts and street cred. Though her vocals are all cheeky Cockney patois, Alright, Still draws from an inspired international stew of styles: sun-blasted Jamaican riddims, giddy Ibiza beats, and tongue-twisting American hip-hop. Alright is only available as an import; her official American release is due this January. But we couldn't wait until next year to put it on our list.
9 Cat Power
The Greatest Matador
Chan Marshall has been spinning mysterious folk-blues laments for over a decade. But her lush seventh album, recorded with former Al Green sidemen in Memphis, is a coming-out party of sorts. It's easy to imagine the songstress in evening gloves as she coos about diamonds, pearls, and holding hands. Where her parched-sounding voice once cut through droning guitars, it now glides confidently over the jaunty horn charts and warm blankets of organ that coat her bewitching songs of innocence and experience. Scratch the surface and Marshall's thornier images (''swords and arches, bones and cement'') emerge, coalescing with the polished soundscapes to create a conflicted, haunting masterpiece.
10 M. Ward
Post-War Merge
This collection of Americana hymns and rustic ballads is M. Ward's most gorgeous release yet. Gone is the lo-fi fuzz that hampered his first four albums; Ward's drowsy vocals and acoustic fingerpicking now ring clear as a mountaintop stream. It's also the Oregon resident's first outing with a full band, so there's a sense of big-sky grandeur, from the galloping ''To Go Home'' (a Daniel Johnston cover) to the twangy fable ''Chinese Translation.'' Post-War isn't the most revolutionary album of '06 but it's one of the most satisfying.
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