The A Lists: 1997 (101)

• Arto Lindsay: Mundo Civilizado (Bar/None)
• Anthology of American Folk Music (Smithsonian Folkways)
• ESPN Presents Slam Jams Vol. 1 (Tommy Boy)
• Sleater-Kinney: Dig Me Out (Kill Rock Stars)
• Pavement: Brighten the Corners (Matador)
• Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (Matador)
• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: Fit To Be Tied: Great Hits by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (Blackheart/Mercury)
• Township Jazz 'n' Jive (Music Club)
• Spring Heel Jack: Busy Curious Thirsty (Island)
• The Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death (Bad Boy)
• Sinéad O'Connor: So Far . . . The Best of Sinéad O'Connor (Chrysalis/EMI-Capitol)
• Closer Than a Kiss: Crooner Classics (Rhino)
• Tiger: Shining in the Wood (Bar/None)
• Cornershop: When I Was Born for the 7th Time (Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.)
• This Is Ska! (Music Club)
• Miles Davis: Dark Magus (Columbia/Legacy)
• The Beautiful South: Blue Is the Colour (Ark 21)
• Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton: Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton (Verve)
• The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers--A Tribute (Columbia/Egyptian)
• The Klezmatics: Possessed (Xenophile)
• Toots and the Maytals: Time Tough: The Anthology (Island Jamaica '96)
• Jazz Passengers Featuring Deborah Harry: Individually Twisted (32)
• Spring Heel Jack: 68 Million Shades . . . (Island)
• Badar Ali Khan: Lost in Qawwali (Worldly/Triloka)
• Belle and Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister (The Enclave)
• Oumou Sangare: Worotan (World Circuit)
• Iggy and the Stooges: Raw Power (Columbia/Legacy)
• Wyclef Jean: Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival Featuring Refugee Allstars (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
• Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind (Columbia)
• Jeb Loy Nichols: Lovers Knot (Capitol)
• Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott: Supa Dupa Fly (The Gold Mind, Inc./EastWest)
• Amp (Astralwerks)
• The Waco Brothers: Cowboy in Flames (Bloodshot)
• Mary J. Blige: Share My World (MCA)
• That Dog: Retreat From the Sun (DGC)
• Luna: Pup Tent (Elektra)
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Shanachie)
• Timbaland and Magoo: Welcome to Our World (Blackground/Atlantic)
• Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West (Up)
• Rubén González: Introducing . . . Rubén González (World Circuit)
• Shania Twain: Come On Over (Mercury)
• Mase: Harlem World (Bad Boy)
• Smash Mouth: Fush Yu Mang (Interscope)
• John Anderson: Takin' the Country Back (Mercury)
• Corey Harris: Fish Ain't Bitin' (Alligator)
• Jazz Satellites--Volume 1: Electrification (Virgin import)
• Freedy Johnston: Never Home (Elektra)
• Kinleys: Just Between You and Me (Epic)
• Thompson & Thompson: Industry (Rykodisc)
• Bergville Stories (Columbia import)
• Arcana: Arc of the Testimony (Axiom/Island)
• David Murray: Fo deuk Revue (Justin Time import)
• Mystikal: Unpredictable (Jive/No Limit)
• Bis: The New Transistor Heroes (Grand Royal)
• The Bottle Rockets: 24 Hours a Day (Atlantic)
• Janet Jackson: The Velvet Rope (Virgin)
• Muggs Presents . . . The Soul Assassins Chapter 1 (Columbia)
• Cesaria Evora: Cabo Verde (Nonesuch)
• Tony Toni Toné: Hits (Mercury)
• Wayne Kramer: Citizen Wayne (Epitaph)
• Chemical Brothers: Dig Your Own Hole (Astralwerks)
• Soundbombing (Rawkus)
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Rapture (Music Club)
• Dan Bern: Dan Bern (Work)
• The Murmurs: Pristine Smut (MCA)
• Apples in Stereo: Tone Soul Evolution (SpinArt/Sire)
• Oruç Güvenc and Tümata: Rivers of One (Interworld)
• Big Rock'n Beats (Wax Trax!/TVT)
• Kings of African Music (Music Club)
• Los Van Van: Best of Los Van Van (Milan Latino)
• Mandela (Mango)
• Beats & Rhymes: Hip Hop of the '90s, Part II (Rhino)
• Frank Sinatra and the Red Norvo Quintet: Live in Australia, 1959 (Blue Note)
• Ani DiFranco: Living in Clip (Righteous Babe)
• Patsy Cline: Live at the Cimarron Ballroom (MCA)
• Willie Nelson: I Let My Mind Wander (Kingfisher)
• History of House Music Vol. 2: New York Garage Style (Cold Front)
• Blondie: Essential Blondie: Picture This Live (EMI/Capitol)
• Ornette + Joachim Kühn: Colors (Harmolodic/Verve)
• Steve Earle: El Corazón (Warner Bros.)
• L7: The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum (Slash/Reprise)
• Spearhead: Chocolate Supa Highway (Capitol)
• Bobby Brown, Bell Biv Devoe, Ralph Tresvant: New Edition Solo Hits (MCA)
• Backstreet Boys: Backstreet Boys (Jive)
• Buju Banton: Inna Heights (VP)
• The Dismemberment Plan: The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified (DeSoto)
• Pavement: Shady Lane (Matador)
• Strip Jointz (Robbins Music)
• Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments: Straight to Video (Anyway)
• Replacements: All for Nothing/Nothing for All (Reprise)
• Yuri Yunakov Ensemble: New Colors in Bulgarian Wedding Music (Traditional Crossroads)
• Miles Davis: Black Beauty (Columbia/Legacy)
• Beats & Rhymes: Hip Hop of the '90s, Part III (Rhino)
• All the King's Men (Sweetfish)
• The Neckbones: Souls on Fire (Fat Possum/Epitaph)
• Forest for the Trees: Forest for the Trees (DreamWorks)
• Sally Timms: Cowboy Sally (Bloodshot)
• Foo Fighters: The Colour and the Shape (Roswell)
• Warda: Lebanon/Algeria (Metro Blue)
• We: As Is (Asphodel)
• Moby: Animal Rights (Elektra)

Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s, 2000

The A Lists: 1996

The A Lists: 1998