Forever Hasn't Happened Yet, by John Doe. John Doe made the music go bang as front man and co-lead singer of the definitive L.A. punk band X. These days, Doe has gone alt-country with this, his second solo album. Most of the album sounds nothing at all like X. ("Highway 5," a duet with Neko Case, is the exception. Have a listen. Neko doesn't exactly sound like Doe's ex-X co-singer, Exene, but it's a close enough match to evoke the old days.) But Forever... has many great qualities: a raw, edgy, minimalistic sound that conjures up honky tonks and dingy nightclubs, and beat-poet lyrics about the gritty life. This album also shows that Doe has talents beyond the three-chord tedium of punk rock. And it is well produced, to boot, and features Dave Alvin and Grant-Lee Phillips. But if you're looking for a punk or X-ish sound, you won't find it here.
American Idiot, by Green Day. A few years ago, everybody thought Green Day was washed up. When the three brats of suburban punk released International Superhits, most of us figured their career was over. Then last fall they unleash an amazing punk-rock opera, American Idiot, and it is the best punk album of the new millennium. This record is absolutely amazing -- the tenor of it, the writing, the story line. In 20 years, Idiot will probably be remembered as the album that brought political punk -- not just aesthetic sensibilities -- back to the mainstream of rock'n'roll. This could be this generation's London Calling.
Franz Ferdinand, the self-titled album from Franz Ferdinand. I tried to discount this album as the work of yet another faux-garage band, a la the Hives, the Strokes, the White Stripes, etc. But it's infectious. It gets inside your head -- the riffs, the pop. I can't stop listening to it.