ED SIEGEL

In a year in which most of the new music – Coldplay, John Mayer – sounded a lot like the old, why not listen to those who did it better in the first place?

THE OLD

Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime" (Sire/Rhino)
A spectacular job of remastering music that sounded pretty great to begin with. The long, narrow coffee-table package is as unique, and as hard to shelve, as the group itself.

Johnny Cash, "Cash Unearthed" (American Recordings)
This series of stripped-down CDs capture Cash’s personal, generous perspectives on music and family, life and death. In covers and in duets, he makes fools (Cat Stevens) sound like wise men and wise men (Leonard Cohen) sound like prophets.

Bruce Springsteen, "The Essential Bruce Springsteen" (Columbia)
The Cult of Brooce along with the man himself often leaves me cold, but this three-CD set (two of the famous recordings, one of rarities like "Viva Las Vegas") attests to a remarkable career.

Underworld, "1992-2002" (JBO) and The Chemical Brothers, "Singles 93-03" (Virgin/Astralwerks)
Ten years of the best dance music. Both pump up the energy with techno that could get Donald Rumsfeld on the floor.

The Beatles, "Let It Be . . . Naked" (Capitol/Apple)
Paul McCartney decided to un-produce what producer Phil Spector did to the tapes on the original album. Spector’s version is better, but there’s an underrated soulfulness to this one.

THE NEW

OutKast, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Arista)
Smart, sexy, sassy music from Big Boi and Andre 3000, the John and Paul of hip-hop. What’s not to like from artists who fuse hip-hop, soul, jazz, and just about everything else?

The White Stripes, "Elephant" (V2)
If the Martin Scorsese series on the blues did nothing else it showed that behind almost every great white rock singer there’s a strong indebtedness to the blues. Jack White makes that obvious here. "Elephant" is the year’s most exciting rock record.

The Strokes, "Room on Fire" (RCA)
More derivative than the White Stripes, but the grooves are solid, as is most everything else from this band.

THE CLASSICAL

Hector Berlioz, Pierre Boulez, Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, "Romeo et Juliette" (Deutsche)
Boulez disproves that he’s an icy conductor with a translucid performance of his 19th-century hero’s dramatic symphony.

Andre Previn and Anne-Sophie Mutter, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, "Previn Violin Concerto" (Deutsche Grammophon)
There’s nothing particularly new in Previn’s violin concerto; it just reminds us that beauty and artistry always trump newness.