Blondie

Take "The Red Shoes," where nearly comical whirls, buzzes, and shrieks set up lilting synths and bopping rhythms that are equally melodic. The two mixes of "Cool My Fire" add further continuity; in the first version, Ada's in woozy dancefloor mode, while the version that ends the album leaves the club for a moonlit drive directed by David Lynch and scored by Angelo Badalamenti. Blondie deserves as much attention as Superpitcher's Here Comes Love and Michael Mayer's Touch, two other techno-rooted style-shifting albums that were released in 2004. It wipes the floor with both of them. The only downside is that it doesn't include "Lovelace," a spectacular A-side released earlier in the year. But that can be forgiven, thanks to an unexpected, dreamy pop-house cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps." In some parallel universe, it's a popular prom theme.