As Thomas Jefferson once said, “Democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51 percent of the people may take away the rights of the other 49.” So if you have She & Him’s Volume One as your album of the year, I’d like to offer you an advance apology: You won’t find that album here. What you will find is the Top 50 albums of the year as voted by registered Prefix users (including staff), through our Best Albums of 2008 list feature.

A certain band from Brooklyn, with their opus about the world going down the tubes, captured the most attention, and the other comeback album from a band representing a far-gone musical movement caught your adoration as well. A guy’s personal break-up album that he recorded in a shack in Wisconsin in 2006 is here, as well as an idiosyncratic hip-hop masterpiece that asks the philosophical question, “What’s a goon to a goblin?”

So here it is, the Top 50 Albums of 2008 as voted by you, the Prefix community. It might not be the perfect list for everyone, but it is certainly the most democratic. Jefferson, be damned. ~Andrew Winistorfer

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50. The Roots view album] Rising Down Def Jam April 29, 2008

49. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks view album] Real Emotional Trash Matador Records March 4, 2008

48. Gang Gang Dance view album] Saint Dymphna The Social Registry October 21, 2008

47. Metallica view album] Death Magnetic September 12, 2008

46. Sun Kil Moon view album] April Caldo Verde April 1, 2008

45. Torche view album] Meanderthal Hydra Head April 8, 2008

44. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds view album] Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! Anti April 8, 2008

43. Mogwai view album] The Hawk Is Howling September 23, 2008

42. Foals view album] Antidotes Sub Pop April 8, 2008