For an industry that is constantly and prematurely declaring their own demise, the music business in 2008 was looking pretty swell. While you still had your ring tone one-hit wonders like Flo-Rida’s “Low,” (a song made 1000x better in Tropic Thunder), and some more prefabricated pop by the likes of Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls, 2008 was a pretty awesome year for music-lovers, and a soothing antidote to the madness of an election year.

Some great things, as always, had to come to an end: legendary guitarist and rock ‘n roll pioneer Bo Diddley died, as did funk founder Isaac Hayes a.k.a. “Shaft,” while bands such as the Long Blondes, Ministry, Junior Senior, and (no!) the Spice Girls called it quits. 2008 also showed that all hope was not lost in the music world: Hootie and the Blowfish disbanded, Scott Weiland continued his band-disrupting ways, Apple’s iTunes finally topped Wal-Mart’s global music sales, and Flea enrolled at USC. Up-and-coming bands like Vampire Weekend, MGMT, and Ra Ra Riot proved that it was possible for groups lacking major label muscle to put themselves out there and let their music speak for themselves, garnering untold numbers of fans through the Internet and becoming blog sensations practically overnight. Old rock standbys like AC/DC, Metallica, the Offspring, and the Verve finally got around to releasing new material, with even Guns ‘N Roses (minus, uh, everyone except Axl Rose) finally releasing their long-awaited Chinese Democracy, a milestone most expected to arrive after actual Chinese democracy.

While a number of bands released music that was above and beyond the standard fare of the mainstream, the below best albums and songs and a few honorable mentions that I couldn’t stand to leave out are those that deserve to be mentioned not only for their artistic merit, but also for their likelihood to withstand the test of time and be looked back on as defining moments in each band’s history, as well as of 2008 in music. So without further ado…

20.

The Hold Steady – Stay Positive

Vagrant

Released: July 15

Hold Steady vocalist Craig Finn says the band’s fourth is about “aging gracefully,” but the righteous racket and vibrant storytelling these bar band rockers serve up seem as suggest that growing up is overrated. Slicker and better produced than their previous albums, it nevertheless retains the Springsteenian classic rock feel of their earlier work and Finn’s lyrics are as sharp and relatable as ever.

19.

Coldplay – Viva La Vida

Capitol

Released: June 17

Chris Martin and company were in danger of treading into soft-rock and piano drudgery on 2005’s X&Y, but Viva La Vida proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Coldplay weren’t content to sit on their laurels for their fourth record. Incorporating world music styles, multi-movement epics, and some of Martin’s best lyrics yet, Viva might be Coldplay’s best album yet, and is certainly their most original and experimental.

18.

The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride

4AD

Released: February 19

Indie troubadour John Darnielle’s continues an amazing streak of folk-rock successes with this, his 16th record. Heretic Pride is a delicately produced work of gentle orchestration, acoustic finger picking, and Darnielle’s consistently insightful and evocative lyrics. His vocals have always taken a bit to get used to, and when he’s feeling particularly distressed they tend to grate, but Heretic Pride is another masterfully arranged work, and Darnielle’s expressive tales continue to elevate him to a level beyond most of his peers.

17.

Taylor Swift – Fearless

Big Machine Records

Released: November 11

My guilty pleasure of 2008, country-pop prodigy Taylor Swift’s sophomore effort is a well-written group of songs that deal with what Swift knows best: teenage heartache and high school life. Nostalgic, romantic, and endlessly catchy, Swift never indulges into (too much) power balladry and the earnest songwriting goes well with the assured, always-in-the-right-place production. Mainstream and commercialized to the extreme, but give her a chance; Swift is a talent that can’t be ignored.

16.

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

Jagjaguwar

Released: February 19

If there was such a thing, singer-songwriter Justin Vernon alias Bon Iver’s debut record would surely win Most Depressing Record of the Year. Almost entirely recorded in an isolated cabin in rural Wisconsin, For Emma, Forever Ago is a cathartic expression of break-up and recovery in the bleakest terms. The minimalist instrumentation, lo-fi recording, and Vernon’s haunting vocals all paint a picture of forlorn grief and regret in the frozen north. Forget rainy-day music; this is music to listen to while snowed in by the biggest blizzard of the year.

15.

T.I. – Paper Trail

Grand Hustle/Atlantic

Released: September 30

Everyone knew house arrest couldn’t stop T.I. Going back to old-fashioned pen and paper to write down lyrics and finishing with around 50 songs for the album, Paper Trail’s 16 final cuts are some of mainstream rap’s best of the year. Hard-hitting beats combine with T.I.’s inimitable vocal dexterity and lyrics that fairly drip with venom to make an album of surefire commercial hits as well as a few that stand up to any cerebral rapper’s catalogue. And, of course, that Numa Numa sampling on “Live Your Life” was true producing genius.

14.

Thrice – The Alchemy Index, Vol. 3 & 4: Air and Earth

Vagrant

Released: April 15

Former hardcore punks Thrice have come a long way from their screamo days, and the promise shown in their early albums comes to full fruition on the second half of their Alchemy Index project, a two-disc magnum opus that takes Thrice out of post-hardcore territory and firmly establishes them as art-rock auteurs. Air is some of Thrice’s most uplifting, musically accomplished work, and vocalist Dustin Kensrue’s voice has never sounded finer. Earth, meanwhile, is an out-of-left-field experiment into acoustic folk that sounds almost like an entirely different band. Both, however, show the best of a band that is progressing well beyond the abilities of many of their peers.

13.

British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?

Rough Trade

Released: February 12

A simple question that British Sea Power answer in a suitably grand twelve tracks and fifty-five minutes. Intensely atmospheric art-rock that sounds more like the work of an orchestra than a band, Do You Like Rock Music? travels from guitar heroics to Britpop to U2-esque anthems to punk rave-ups to oddball instrumental works. The synchrony between the album’s beginning and ending tracks, meanwhile, is simply beautiful.

12.

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

XL Recordings

Released: January 29

I always try really hard to ignore blogosphere hype that seems way too blown out of proportion, and after hearing the somewhat underwhelming opener “Mansard Roof” I thought I could safely file Vampire Weekend under “over-hyped Internet sensations.” But this is a record that grows on you, and while initially I found it amateur-ish, I can safely say that this is one of the great debuts of the year. Ivy League pedigree be damned; Vampire Weekend is a record that can be enjoyed by anyone with an appreciation for simple, catchy chamber-pop tunes.

11.

M83 – Saturdays=Youth

Mute U.S.

Released: April 15

Anthony Gonzalez, the brainchild behind electronica group M83, has always had a fetish for taking discarded, old sounds and turning them into something new. The group’s shoegaze approach to electronica, soothing sounds built atop waves and waves of sound and layers of production, are twisted into M83’s most accessible outing on Saturdays=Youth, a record that hearkens back to that cultural touchstone everyone wants to forget: the ‘80s! Lyrically focused on teen love and emo angst, the music is a blend of synthtastic new-wave pop and frothy, bubbling techno all buoying Gonzalez’s wispy voice. It would’ve made a hell of a soundtrack to the Breakfast Club.

Top 20 Albums: #10-1

More Best of 2008:

Honorable Mentions

Klap4Music’s Thirty Best Songs of 2008