| 1 | 2003 | The College Dropout | Kanye West | Album | 4.2 | 18 |
| 2 | 2004 | American Idiot | Green Day | Album | 3.9 | 28 |
| 3 | 2004 | Franz Ferdinand | Franz Ferdinand | Album | 4.2 | 21 |
| 4 | 2004 | Good News for People Who Love Bad News | Modest Mouse | Album | 4.15 | 14 |
| 5 | 2004 | The Grey Album | Danger Mouse | Album + Remix | 4.5 | 5 |
| 6 | 2004 | From a Basement on the Hill | Elliott Smith | Album | 4 | 5 |
| 7 | 2004 | A Grand Don't Come for Free | The Streets | Album | 3.65 | 9 |
| 8 | 2004 | Van Lear Rose | Loretta Lynn | Album | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | 2004 | Antics | Interpol | Album | 4.45 | 24 |
| 10 | 2004 | SMiLE | Brian Wilson | Album | 4.15 | 8 |
| 11 | 2004 | Showtime | Dizzee Rascal | Album | | 4 |
| 12 | 2004 | Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes | TV on the Radio | Album | 2.5 | 8 |
| 13 | 2004 | Tyrannosaurus Hives | The Hives | Album | 4 | 8 |
| 14 | 2004 | DFA Compilation #2 | Various Artists | Album + Compilation | | 4 |
| 15 | 2004 | America’s Sweetheart | Courtney Love | Album | | 5 |
| 16 | 2004 | Hot Fuss | The Killers | Album | 3.8 | 27 |
| 17 | 2004 | Madvillainy | Madvillain | Album | 4.4 | 17 |
| 18 | 2004 | Musicology | Prince | Album | 3 | 16 |
| 19 | 2004 | Medúlla | Björk | Album | 3.9 | 23 |
| 20 | 2004 | Shake the Sheets | Ted Leo + Pharmacists | Album | | 1 |
| 21 | 2004 | Futures | Jimmy Eat World | Album | 4.25 | 21 |
| 22 | 2004 | This Island | Le Tigre | Album | 3.5 | 4 |
| 23 | 2003 | Final Straw | Snow Patrol | Album | 3.5 | 17 |
| 24 | 2004 | You Are the Quarry | Morrissey | Album | 2.75 | 11 |
| 25 | 2004 | Now Here Is Nowhere | Secret Machines | Album | | 6 |
| 26 | 2004 | Encore | Eminem | Album | 3.15 | 12 |
| 27 | 2004 | Real Gone | Tom Waits | Album | 4.35 | 9 |
| 28 | 2004 | Kompakt 100 | Various Artists | Album + Compilation | | 1 |
| 29 | 2004 | How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb | U2 | Album | 3.95 | 32 |
| 30 | 2004 | The Libertines | The Libertines | Album | 3 | 13 |
| 31 | 2004 | Uh Huh Her | PJ Harvey | Album | 4 | 10 |
| 32 | 2004 | Wet From Birth | The Faint | Album | 4 | 6 |
| 33 | 2004 | Blue Cathedral | Comets on Fire | Album | | 3 |
| 34 | 2004 | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | My Chemical Romance | Album | 3.75 | 12 |
| 35 | 2004 | Talkie Walkie | Air | Album | 4 | 7 |
| 36 | 2004 | More Adventurous | Rilo Kiley | Album | 5 | 5 |
| 37 | 2004 | Since We Last Spoke | RJD2 | Album | 4.25 | 7 |
| 38 | 2004 | A Ghost Is Born | Wilco | Album | 4 | 9 |
| 39 | 2004 | The Pretty Toney Album | Ghostface Killah | Album | | 2 |
| 40 | 2004 | The Milk‐Eyed Mender | Joanna Newsom | Album | 4.2 | 4 |
