Green Day [ tickets ]'s punk-rock opera "American Idiot" turns up on five of liveDaily's 11 critics' lists--topping four of them--making the Northern California group's latest album the clear favorite among liveDaily's writers in 2004.

Four critics single out Modest Mouse [ tickets ]'s breakthrough set, "Good News for People Who Love Bad News," as one of the year's top releases. U2 [ tickets ]'s "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" and Wilco [ tickets ]'s "A Ghost is Born" are also cited on four lists.

Loretta Lynn [ tickets ]'s "Van Lear Rose," which was produced by The White Stripes' Jack White, appears on three lists.

The final six albums on liveDaily's overall critics' list appear on two ballots 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 2004

1. Green Day, "American Idiot" (Reprise)
2. Modest Mouse, "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" (Sony)
3. U2, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" (Interscope)
4. Wilco, "A Ghost is Born" (Nonesuch)
5. Loretta Lynn, "Van Lear Rose" (Interscope)
6. Eminem, "Encore" (Interscope)
7. Kanye West, "The College Dropout" (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam)
8. Mos Def, "The New Danger (Geffen)
9. The Killers, "Hot Fuss" (Island)
10. (TIE) Snoop Dogg, "R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece" (Geffen)
10. (TIE) Franz Ferdinand, "Franz Ferdinand" (Domino/Epic)

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