The Listomania I make the lists, you shoot them down. Quid Pro Quo.

30. Elliott Smith – Son of Sam

I firmly believe that at any given time, there is one outright Best Singer-Songwriter in the World. Bob Dylan from 1963-67. Nick Drake from 1969-72. Bob Dylan again from 1975-76. Tom Waits from 1983-87. Jeff Buckley in 1994. Johhny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young. Sufjan Stevens from 2003-06. Probably Justin "Bon Iver" Vernon most recently.

And from, say, 1997-2000, Either/Or to Figure 8, Elliott Smith was the Best Singer-Songwriter in the World. "Son of Sam" is the Beatles-rollick swan-song of his pre-humous career, a Lennon/McCartney jaunt 35 years too late. Was it his strongest work? No. But it was the best we got in the '00s, and anything Elliott Smith released while breathing in this decade was a gift.