Eighteen albums from 20 years ago that you should not have missed

When assessing albums released during a certain year it does require a bit of time to assess their true worth and whether they deserve to find their place (or remain) in your collection, whether you are a professional critic or just a regular fan.

Twenty years ago, back in 2004, the internet was in full swing and streaming was reaching a new height so in a growing situation when practically everybody has a relatively easy access to recorded music, there is a glut of choices, and it is easy to miss or disregard certain releases.

Yet, is twenty years time enough to give some albums a status of all-time classics? There is no definite answer there, but there were certainly quite enough albums that never (or almost) reached the status of those by Kane West, Destiny’s Child, Green Day, Eminem, Norah Jones, and other big sellers and fan favorites that should have made it. Some were disregarded, others were shunned by the critics or fell into the shadows.

18 albums from 2004 that you should still be listening to

Here are 18 of such albums that have the quality to find their place in the collection of any discerning music fan.

January

Espers - Espers

You really have to be a big fan of traditional music forms to be able to transform them into something new with a vision to transform that ‘old’ into something new.

That is what Espers and its three core members (Greg Weeks, Meg Baird, and Brooke Sietinsons), who were also developing solo careers did with this, their self-titled debut album. They funnel the sound of traditional instruments through some strange psych views along the way.

Califone- Heron King Blues

Chicago’s Califone rose from the ashes of rootsy, bluesy Red Red Meat into a strange mutation of roots, blues and everything else adding serious touches of noise and cacophony that sounded brilliant and quite fitting.

Under the guiding hand of Tim Rutilli, Califone has created music that hardly anybody makes these days, and this album is one of their standouts.

Air - Talkie Walkie

By this album, French electro-pop duo Air has already created quite a solid fan base, who seemed to be a bit disappointed with this one,

Yet, when you dig deep into this album you discover some intricate arrangements with Dunckel and Godin making their music more complex and detailed. Some would call this background music, yet it goes quite beyond some electro wallpaper.