Best Records of 2005: #3 Aimee Mann - 'The Forgotten Arm'

Collaborating with producer Joe Henry, Aimee Mann delivered the album of her career with The Forgotten Arm. Abandoning the artpop touches of previous albums, Mann delivers a classic-sounding concept album that owes a good deal to vintage Elton John and The Band. Some will complain that the songs tend not to distinguish themselves, but that is actually the album’s primary strength – it flows together perfectly as a front-to-back listen, each song building on the last. Mann has never been more romantic (despite the underlying tale of substance addiction and doomed love), and she makes sure that her characters inhabit a refreshingly irony-free zone.