The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
March Music Madness

March Music Madness: Best Albums of 2005

March Music Madness: Best Albums of 2005
March Music Madness: Best Albums of 2005MPR

Like this?

Log in to share your opinion with The Current and add it to your profile.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this song! We have added it to a personal playlist for you.

March 17, 2025

The Current’s March Music Madness is here. This year, we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary, so the bracket features matchups of amazing albums released in 2005.

We’ve identified 64 of the best albums of 2005 to go head-to-head to determine the top record of the year. Between Monday, March 24, and Thursday, March 27, we’re playing songs on-air as part of each daily matchup.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we’ll open a new matchup for voting every 30 minutes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Thursday, the 30-minute matchups will continue until 3 p.m. Then, from 3-4 p.m. we’ll extend the third-place voting period, and do the same for the final matchup at 4 p.m. At 5 p.m., we’ll announce the top album of 2005, as voted by The Current’s listeners.

To download the March Music Madness bracket below, login to your user profile with The Current.

DOWNLOAD:

Welcome

Heads up! You need an account with The Current to access this. Your account is free and easy to set up! Login or click "Create Account" below to get started.

Create a Free Account with The Current
  • Like and save music to a playlist
  • Get recommendations for new music you'll love
  • Save stories, podcasts, and more for later
Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol
Already have an account?

Reset Password

Check your email for the confirmation code

March Music Madness 2025 participants are invited to enter for a chance to win a pair of pit tickets to see Kendrick Lamar and SZA at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on April 19.

March Music Madness 2025

Monday, March 24

Round 1 Day 1 (Monday, March 24) 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

  • Matchup 1 (8 a.m.-8:30 a.m.): The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan vs. Broadcast - Tender Buttons

  • Matchup 2 (8:30 a.m.-9 a.m.): Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn vs. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

  • Matchup 3 (9 a.m.-9:30 a.m.): Common - Be vs. Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers

  • Matchup 4 (9:30 a.m.-10 a.m.): Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm vs. Nickel Creek - Why Should The Fire Die?

  • Matchup 5 (10 a.m.-10:30 a.m.): Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine vs. Kate Bush - Aerial

  • Matchup 6 (10:30 a.m.-11 a.m.): Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better vs. OK GO - Oh No

  • Matchup 7 (11 a.m.-11:30 a.m.): Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah vs. Laura Veirs - Year of Meteors

  • Matchup 8 (11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.): Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Naturally vs. Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic

  • Matchup 9 (12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.): Gorillaz - Demon Days vs. Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike

  • Matchup 10 (12:30 p.m.-1 p.m.): Sigur Ros - Takk... vs. Halloween, Alaska - Too Tall To Hide

  • Matchup 11 (1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.): M.I.A. - Arular vs. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute

  • Matchup 12 (1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.): Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself vs. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

  • Matchup 13 (2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.): The Decemberists - Picaresque vs. Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman

  • Matchup 14 (2:30 p.m.-3 p.m.): Bloc Party - Silent Alarm vs. Antony (Ahnoni) and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now

  • Matchup 15 (3 p.m.-3:30 p.m.): Weezer - Make Believe vs. The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree

  • Matchup 16 (3:30 p.m.-4 p.m.): LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem vs. Jamie Lidell - Multiply

Tuesday, March 25

Round 1 Day 2 (Tuesday, March 25) 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

  • Matchup 17 (8 a.m.-8:30 a.m.): Death Cab for Cutie - Plans vs. Brandi Carlile - Brandi Carlile

  • Matchup 18 (8:30 a.m.-9 a.m.): M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us vs. Ladytron - Witching Hour

  • Matchup 19 (9 a.m.-9:30 a.m.): The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday vs. Goldfrapp - Supernature

  • Matchup 20 (9:30 a.m.-10 a.m.): Animal Collective - Feels vs. Nada Surf - The Weight Is a Gift

  • Matchup 21 (10 a.m.-10:30 a.m.): Beck - Guero vs. Bob Mould - Body of Song

  • Matchup 22 (10:30 a.m.-11 a.m.): Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having vs. The Fiery Furnaces - EP

  • Matchup 23 (11 a.m.-11:30 a.m.): Sleater-Kinney - The Woods vs. Metric - Live It Out

  • Matchup 24 (11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.): Low - The Great Destroyer vs. The Kills - No Wow

  • Matchup 25 (12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.): Spoon - Gimme Fiction vs. Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This to Memory

  • Matchup 26 (12:30 p.m.-1 p.m.): Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth vs. Cloud Cult - Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus

  • Matchup 27 (1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.): Coldplay - X&Y vs. Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs

  • Matchup 28 (1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.): The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema vs. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon

  • Matchup 29 (2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.): Sufjan Stevens - Illinois vs. Kathleen Edwards - Back to Me

  • Matchup 30 (2:30 p.m.-3 p.m.): Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene vs. Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins

  • Matchup 31 (3 p.m.-3:30 p.m.): My Morning Jacket - Z vs. Doves - Some Cities

  • Matchup 32 (3:30 p.m.-4 p.m.): The National - Alligator vs. British Sea Power - Open Season

Wednesday, March 26

Round 2 (Wednesday, March 26) 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

  • Matchup 33 (8 a.m.-8:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 34 (8:30 a.m.-9 a.m.):

  • Matchup 35 (9 a.m.-9:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 36 (9:30 a.m.-10 a.m.):

  • Matchup 37 (10 a.m.-10:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 38 (10:30 a.m.-11 a.m.):

  • Matchup 39 (11 a.m.-11:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 40 (11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.):

  • Matchup 41 (12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.):

  • Matchup 42 (12:30 p.m.-1 p.m.):

  • Matchup 43 (1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.):

  • Matchup 44 (1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.):

  • Matchup 45 (2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.):

  • Matchup 46 (2:30 p.m.-3 p.m.):

  • Matchup 47 (3 p.m.-3:30 p.m.):

  • Matchup 48 (3:30 p.m.-4 p.m.):

Thursday, March 27

Round 3 (Thursday, March 27) 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

  • Matchup 49 (8 a.m.-8:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 50 (8:30 a.m.-9 a.m.):

  • Matchup 51 (9 a.m.-9:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 52 (9:30 a.m.-10 a.m.):

  • Matchup 53 (10 a.m.-10:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 54 (10:30 a.m.-11 a.m.):

  • Matchup 55 (11 a.m.-11:30 a.m.):

  • Matchup 56 (11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.):

Round 4 (Thursday, March 27) 12 p.m.-2 p.m.

  • Matchup 57 (12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.):

  • Matchup 58 (12:30 p.m.-1 p.m.):

  • Matchup 59 (1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.):

  • Matchup 60 (1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.):

Final Four (Thursday, March 27) 2 p.m.-3 p.m.

  • Matchup 61 (2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.):

  • Matchup 62 (2:30 p.m.-3 p.m.):

3rd Place (Thursday, March 27) 3 p.m.- 4 p.m.

  • Matchup 63 (3rd Place):

Final (Thursday, March 27) 4 p.m.- 5 p.m.

  • Matchup 64 (Championship):