2014 was filled with music feuds: Jack White vs. The Black Keys, Jay Z vs. Solange, Iggy Azalea Banks, Billy Corgan’s ego vs. dwindling relevance, U2 vs. the anger of receiving free music that you didn’t pirate...

However, the quarrel between Sun Kil Moon and The War On Drugs stood out from the rest of the pack. While providing a near endless supply of music blog fodder, it became increasingly difficult to separate the important thing the two contributed on the year: music

The Rock Genius albums of the year war room was split on which was better. As some picked a side and others maintained their enjoyment of both, lines were crossed, friendships were ended, things were thrown, and no consensus was reached. In the end, we decided to stick them side by side and let you decide for yourself
After the release of The War On Drugs’ 2011 album Slave Ambient, and a tough breakup, frontman Adam Granduciel was lost. The "depression and paranoia” that he felt at the time is strewn across the sixty minutes of Lost In The Dream in a way that is accessible to anyone

With song titles like “Suffering” and “Burning”, it has become a release for those who have been doing a lot of that these days. It’s a soundtrack for lives in limbo, more about searching for direction than actually finding it. Take standout track “An Ocean In Between The Waves”, for example:I'm at the darkened hillside
And there's a haze right between the trees
And I can barely see you
You're like an ocean in between the wavesIt can be seen as no surprise then, that Granduciel’s lyrics are largely ambiguous and improvised, allowing him to focus on the song’s structure first and foremost

In that structure, much has been made of the influences from 1980’s rock, Springsteen, and Dylan, but one of the most telling signs of its throwback ideals is Lost In The Dream’s cohesiveness as an album. In the technological age of short attention spans, artists often pander to their audiences with shorter songs and albums full of possible singles

However, Granduciel stretches these boundaries on Lost In The Dream. Songs average six minutes, with “The Haunting Idle”, an instrumental, being the only one under four minutes long. This length only enhances the dreamlike experience that is not without its standout tracks - beginning with two of the year's best - and doesn't contain a skippable track/moment throughout

This isn't your uncle's "beer commercial guitar" record, it's a fine-tuned indie rock experience that knocks the socks off of nearly anything else released this year

- Brock Chenier also wonders sometimes if, in his finest hour, he can be more than just a fool
After the first round of end-of-year lists appeared and ranked Sun Kil Moon’s Benji significantly lower than their initials ratings would suggest, I immediately sought out why

Walking into a Qdoba, “Carissa” lulling in my head, I nearly teared up. Save for a Joanna Newsom song, no music had ever even come close to the tear-inducing feeling that lingers even as I write this. It came to me. Benji is not an album that you’ll ever want to listen to. Doing what Kanye’s sample proclaimed even more than Yeezus did, my fellow Ohioan created an album that may not be what we want at any given moment, but one that, unexpectedly, we will discover is what we need

Discussing the songs themselves is a detraction from the wholeness of his opus. There is not a situation you will face that Kozelek doesn’t give us a remedy for. One day, you will lose a family member. World events will terrify you. You’ll feel cheated, marginalized, paranoid. You’ll find yourself wading in a pool of tar that tightens unnoticeably, until you remember where you are and find your situation even worse off than before

As I wrote in my mid-year write-up on Benji, our friend Mark’s been through it all, and he’s turned out quite alright. Months later, embroiled in a pseudo-feud with The War on Drugs, I can’t help but think he’s not sure how to deal with being fine, needing some sort of conflict to always ensure normalcy. And this is why Benji will last where so many other albums from this year will not. Because if these eleven songs could be a panacea for the creator, imagine what it will do for you

- Brian Duricy more than likely walked by Mark Kozelek on the street last year when he was in Ohio dealing with the real-life events that came to be immortalized in Benji, and hopes to pass him by again one day, open a door for him, smile, and nod. Ohio thanksLeave your comments below on which album you think should be #6, or if you think they're both deserving of a spot!
Come back tomorrow for the start of our top 5, and while you wait be sure to catch up on the rest of the list so far