Beck [ tickets ] came across to many as a novelty act when he was lifted to stardom by his mid-'90s hit "Loser," but it soon became clear that there's more to the artist than his nonsensical raps and retro dance moves.

On "The Information," Beck managed to pull all of his disparate muses in the same direction in a way he hadn't managed to do since 1996's "Odelay," and LiveDaily's critics took notice.

Twelve LiveDaily critics were asked to list their 10 favorite albums of 2005, and five placed "The Information" among their selections. No other album appeared on more than four lists.

Albums that picked up four votes were TV on the Radio [ tickets ]'s "Return to Cookie Mountain," Bob Dylan [ tickets ]'s "Modern Times," Cat Power [ tickets ]'s "The Greatest" and The Raconteurs [ tickets ]' "Broken Boy Soldiers." The Decemberists' "The Crane Wife" and Sonic Youth's "Rather Ripped" appear on three lists.

Tool, John Mayer and The Roots managed to squeak onto the Top 10 list with just two votes each.

Overall rankings were determined by first grouping albums by the number of ballots on which they appeared. Ties were then broken by weighting votes based on where albums ranked on individual lists.

Critics Picks: LiveDaily's top albums of 2006

1. Beck, "The Information" (Geffen)
2. TV on the Radio, "Return to Cookie Mountain" (Interscope)
3. Bob Dylan, "Modern Times" (Columbia)
4. Cat Power, "The Greatest" (Matador)
5. The Raconteurs, "Broken Boy Soldiers" (V2)
6. The Decemberists, "The Crane Wife" (Capitol)
7. Sonic Youth, "Rather Ripped" (Geffen)
8. Tool, "10,000 Days" (Volcano)
9. John Mayer, "Continuum" (Aware/Columbia)
10. The Roots, "Game Theory" (Def Jam)