MICHAEL PAOLETTA
Billboard senior correspondent
1. Dixie Chicks, "Taking the Long Way" (Open Wide/Columbia).
2. Candi Staton, "His Hands" (Honest Jon's/Astralwerks).
3. Nellie McKay, "Pretty Little Head" (Hungry Mouse/spinART).
4. Hot Chip, "The Warning" (Astralwerks).
5. Amy Winehouse, "Back to Black" (Island U.K.).
6. The Pipettes, "We Are the Pipettes" (Memphis International U.K.).
7. Gnarls Barkley, "St. Elsewhere" (Downtown/Atlantic).
8. Venus Hum, "The Colors in the Wheel" (Mono-fi/Nettwerk).
9. Skye, "Mind How You Go" (Cordless Recordings).
10. Pink, "I'm Not Dead" (LaFace/Zomba).
SVEN PHILIPP
Billboard contributor
1. Rodrigo y Gabriela, "Rodrigo y Gabriela" (ATO).
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Stadium Arcadium" (Warner Bros.).
3. My Morning Jacket, "Okonokos" (ATO).
4. Bob Dylan, "Modern Times" (Columbia).
5. Damien Rice, "9" (Heffa/Vector/Warner Bros.).
6. Bruce Springsteen, "We Shall Overcome -- The Seeger Sessions" (Columbia).
7. Ray LaMontagne, "Till the Sun Turns Black" (RCA).
8. Gov't Mule, "High & Mighty" (ATO).
9. Feist, "Open Season" (Arts & Crafts).
10. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, "Hammersmith Odeon, London '75" (Columbia).
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PAUL POMFRET
Billboard international charts manager
1. Tool, "10,000 Days" (Tool Dissectional/Volcano). An outstanding album welding stomping drums, crunching bass and twisted guitar riffs to Maynard James Keenan's lyrics of poetic justice.
2. Hellwood, "Chainsaw of Life" (Munich). Jim White and Johnny Dowd's bittersweet take on American culture.
3. Dan Sartain, "Join Dan Sartain" (One Little Indian). Second album, first class material -- punching out ranchera, calypso and rockabilly.
4. Bonnie "Prince" Billy, "The Letting Go" (Domino). A warm winter experience, soaked in lush strings, haunting guitar and the vocals of Dawn McCarthy.
5. Tom Waits, "Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards" (Anti-). A tremendous collection of songs from a living legend -- simply a "must have."
6. Cat Power, "The Greatest" (Matador). Alt-country singer/songwriter Chan Marshall serves up 12 honest, heartfelt and beautiful rounds.
7. Hot Chip, "The Warning" (Astralwerks). Electro-pop never sounded so good.
8. Clinic, "Visitations" (Domino). Psychedelic strangeness and spookily distorted guitars.
9. Handsome Family, "Last Days Of Wonder" (Loose). Wondrous country tales.
10. Johnny Cash, "Personal File" (Sony BMG). The Man In Black's private gems.
GREG PRATO
Billboard.com contributor
1. Peeping Tom, "Peeping Tom" (Ipecac).
2. Nick Oliveri & the Mondo Generator, "Dead Planet: Sonic Slow Motion Trails" (Mother Tongue).
3. Eagles Of Death Metal, "Death By Sexy" (Downtown/Atlantic).
4. APB, "Something To Believe In: 20th Anniversary Release" (Young American).
5. Zombi, "Surface to Air" (Relapse).
6. Blind Melon, "Live at the Palace" (Capitol).
7. Bad Brains, "Live at CBGB 1982: The Audio Recordings" (MVD Audio).
8. New York Dolls, "One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This" (Roadrunner).
9. Melvins, "Houdini Live 2005: A Live History of Gluttony and Lust" (Ipecac).
10. Alice Donut, "Fuzz" (Howler).
DEBORAH EVANS PRICE
Billboard contributor
1. Kenny Bishop, "Kenny Bishop" (Daywind Music Group). A compelling collection of songs about grace and mercy from an artist who has lived every line.
2. Tracy Byrd, "Different Things" (Blind Mule Records/A2M Distribution). One of country's finest voices on an outstanding bunch of songs. LOVED IT!!!!
3. Bob Seger, "Face the Promise" (HideOut Records/Capitol). The comeback of the year! Well worth the wait.
4. Oak Ridge Boys, "Front Row Seats" (Spring Hill Music Group). They continue to make music that moves me.
5. (tie) Skillet, "Comatose" (SRE Recordings/Lava/Atlantic) and December Radio, "December Radio" (Slanted).
6. Tie: Need To Breathe, "Daylight" (Atlantic), MercyMe "Coming Up to Breathe" (INO Records) and Newsboys, "Go" (inpop Records).
7. Alan Jackson, "Like Red on a Rose" (Arista Nashville).
8. Brian Littrell, "Welcome Home" (Reunion Records).
9. Bowling For Soup, "The Great Burrito Extortion Case? (Jive).
10. (tie) Alabama, "Songs of Inspiration" (RCA), Rockie Lynne "Rockie Lynne" (Universal South) and Mark Schultz, "Broken & Beautiful" (Word).
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WAYNE ROBINS
Billboard copy editor
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Stadium Arcadium" (Warner Bros.). Broad, deep and often thrilling.
2. Arctic Monkeys, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" (Domino). Snapshots of urban post-adolescent Brit youth culture, delivered in a fresh, street-wise, club-smart vernacular.
3. Bruce Springsteen, "We Shall Overcome -- The Seeger Sessions" (Columbia). A celebration of American roots music, emphasizing the spirit of resistance and renewal.
4. Bob Dylan, "Modern Times" (Columbia). His funniest album since half of "Bringing It All Back Home."
5. Johnny Dowd, "Cruel Words" (Bongo Beat). Deep-fried fatalism and progressive Pentecostalism from the backwoods.
6. Gnarls Barkley, "St. Elsewhere" (Downtown/Atlantic). Exultant singing, fungible sounds; how can shallow be so deep?
7. Thea Gilmore, "Harpo's Ghost" (Sanctuary). A stealth release? No, it's just Sanctuary hiding the best under-30 singer/songwriter of Britain and the world.
8. New York Dolls, "One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This" (Roadrunner). Proving rock'n'roll never forgets.
9. Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners, "Sev7en" (Nitro). At 50, still raising fine-tuned punkabilly heck.
10. Brazil, "The Philosophy of Velocity" (Immortal). Smart prog for a new century.
PAUL SEXTON
Billboard international contributor
1. Mindy Smith, "Long Island Shore" (Vanguard). 2004's "One Moment More" was full of promises; this delivers every one. Americana of crystalline beauty.
2. James Hunter, "People Gonna Talk" (Go/Rounder). The best all-new retro-soul in years, tailored in Essex, England.
3. Paul Simon, "Surprise" (Warner Bros.). Edge and elan that it was perfectly unreasonable to expect.
4. Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris, "All the Roadrunning" (Mercury/Universal). A perfect creative affair that simmered gently for seven years.
5. Anne McCue, "Koala Motel" (Cooking Vinyl). California-honed Australiana that even outdoes her previous "Roll."
6. The Beatles, "Love" (Apple Corps Ltd./Parlophone/EMI). If handled insensitively, "Stars on 45." Via the masterly Martins, a vivid, moving collage.
7. Yusuf, "An Other Cup" (Ya/Polydor/Universal). Oh, what we've missed since the years of the Cat.
8. Drive-By Truckers, "A Blessing and a Curse" (New West). A window on the wild times and wistful leanings of some committed southern rock survivors.
9. Candi Staton, "His Hands" (Honest Jon's/Astralwerks). Wondrously intact voice retraces soul roots to sweet home Alabama.
10. Midlake, "The Trials of Van Occupanther" (Bella Union). A marriage of the eccentric and melodic to inspire even Flaming Lips.
WOLFGANG SPAHR
Billboard German bureau chief
1. Sting, "Songs From the Labyrinth" (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal). Songs from the Renaissance reveal a new Sting.
2. Robbie Williams, "Rudebox" (Chrysalis/EMI). Robbie remains the greatest.
3. Anna Netrebko, "Russian Album" (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal). The soprano delivers intense songs from her home country.
4. Chris Rea, "Blue Guitars" (Edel). A mighty achievement -- 11 CDs of new material, a DVD and 30 self-painted pictures.
5. Bushido, "Von der Skyline zum Bordstein" (Urban-UDD/Universal). Germany's hardest-hitting rapper.
6. Chris de Burgh, "The Storyman" (Edel). The Irish singer/songwriter back to his old form.
7. Yvonne Catterfeld, "Aura" (Epic/Sony BMG). This German pop vocalist is now hitting international standards.
8. Roger Cicero, "M?nnersachen" (Starwatch/Warner). Cicero sings, Cicero swings -- in German.
9. Ina Muller, "Weiblich. Ledig. 40." (105 Music/Sony BMG). Frankly brazen lyrics from the 40 year-old M?ller.
10. Tokio Hotel, "Schrei" (Island-UDD/Universal). Germany's teen idols are growing up into a genuinely European act.
MARK SUTHERLAND
Billboard London bureau chief
1. Arctic Monkeys, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" (Domino). Telling cultural archaeologists all they need to know about U.K. life in 2006.
2. The Spinto Band, "Nice and Nicely Done" (Virgin). Superlative indie rock to fill the Weezer-shaped void.
3. Camera Obscura, "Let's Get Out of This Country" (Elefant). Jangly pop the way your Mum used to bake it.
4. The Pipettes, "We Are the Pipettes" (Memphis Industries). Polka dot pop from the most fun live band of the year.
5. The Fratellis, "Costello Music" (Universal Island). Retooling that Britpop sound/swagger for 2006.
6. Lily Allen, "Alright, Still" (Regal/Parlophone). Streetwise sass for the MySpace generation.
7. The Divine Comedy, "Victory for the Comic Muse" (Parlophone). Wonderful lyrics and a real return to form.
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Stadium Arcadium" (Warner Bros). Double album for once means twice as nice.
9. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, "Rabbit Fur Coat" (Rough Trade). Heartache never sounded so good.
10. Belle & Sebastian, "The Life Pursuit" (Rough Trade). Their pop renaissance continues.
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Jay-Z, Beck, Carrie Underwood, Josh Groban, members of Def Leppard and more share their faves of 2006.
The personal picks of the year's best from the Billboard staff and our worldwide freelance contributors.
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