JJ Ramone's Top 25 Albums of 2009 #'s 5-1

5. Tegan And Sara - Sainthood

Tegan And Sara can do no wrong. Every album they release is always different enough from their prior release and this one is no exception. After the generally mellow, keyboard heavy The Con, Sainthood cranks up the guitars and beats for a dancier, punkier feel. One thing that does not change is their incredibly catchy, yet quirky melodies. Highlights include "Hell," "The Cure" and "Northshore."

4. Metric - Fantasies

Emily Haines and company have come out with their strongest album to date, the self-released Fantasies. As in the past, Metric keep this album to a slim and trim 10 tracks and 40 minutes, which keeps the focus on their killer hooks. The guitars are less prominent than they have been on their last couple albums but it is easily their most uptempo and fun album to date. "Gimme Sympathy" is definitely a contender for single of the year.

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

Largely ditching their punked out guitars in favour of more textured and dance-oriented synths paid off handsomely for these New York art punks. Karen O's distinctive spastic Banshee-esque yelps are transcendent over dance floor ready songs like "Zero" and "Heads Will Roll," as well as over subdued tracks like "Little Shadow." The 4 alternate acoustic bonus tracks prove that great songs exist beneath the fancy electronic embellishments.

2. U2 - No Line On The Horizon

U2 are on the hottest streak of their career, pulling off quite the artistic hat trick with All That You Can't Leave Behind, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, and now this undisputed classic. This album requires a little more patience than some of U2's prior releases, which is probably why it's been somewhat of a commercial flop, but it definitely rewards the listener with repeated listens. "Magnificent" and "Breathe" are classic U2 stadium-ready songs while "Moment Of Surrender" and "White As Snow" give the album a contemplative, meditative feel.

1. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Green Day have come a long way from singing about jerking off and smoking pot. Billie Joe Armstrong and company have officially joined the upper echelon of classic "important" bands with American Idiot and now 21st Century Breakdown. The 18 songs collected here flow better than any album I've listed to this year, while the band combines the melodies of the Ramones, the politics of The Clash, the power and grandiose of The Who and a few hints of The Beatles for good measure. Fittingly, the band covers Social Distortion and The Who as iTunes bonus tracks.