At the end of every year, every entertainment news source believes it has an obligation to produce a “best music of the year” list. Unfortunately, musical taste and opinion is entirely subjective. If it were objective, Katy Perry wouldn’t have broken any Billboard records with “I Kissed a Girl.” Unfortunately, we’re all tied to our tastes.

5. Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger

Andrew McMahon is a musical genius. The tracks “Crashin'” and “The Resolution” are just a taste of the musical goodie-grab-bag called “The Glass Passenger.” The only weakness on “The Glass Passenger” is that McMahon is no longer working with John Partington from Something Corporate.

4. Alkaline Trio – Agony and Irony

I never thought the day would come when Dan Andriano’s songs would beat out Matt Skiba’s songs. Skiba’s excellent performance on “Calling All Skeletons” and “Help Me” are shadowed by Andriano’s performance on “Do You Wanna Know?” and “Love Love, Kiss Kiss.”

3. Senses Fail – Life is Not a Waiting Room

Yep. Senses Fail actually released one of the best albums of the year. I can’t believe it either. Like “Still Searching,” the album has an obscene amount of depth to it that you really have to be open to in order to understand. Also, the track “Map the Streets” might be the best song I’ve heard all year.

2. Funeral for a Friend – Memory and Humanity

FFAF’s career is in between a rock and a hard place. The public expects the world of them after releasing the breath-taking albums “Casually Dressed” and “Hours.” The band’s fan base was very split over “Tales Don’t Tell Themselves,” as many didn’t like the new sound. However, those who did enjoy “Tales” were afraid the backlash would lead FFAF’s style to regress to the band’s early works. Instead, FFAF moved forward yet again with their sound and did the unthinkable: fans on both sides of the “Tales” debate loved it.

1. Story of the Year – The Black Swan

Story of the Year left a major label deal to reinvent themselves on Epitaph Records. Instead of writing heavy poppy songs for a major label, SOTY produced a far superior product by simply being themselves. From the hardcore masterpiece “Choose Your Fate,” to the catchy “Wake Up” and “The Antidote,” “The Black Swan” is everything a good rock album should be. The tracks “Message to the World” and “We’re Not Gonna Make It” explore lyrical topics beyond any of the band’s previous work. “The Black Swan” is the 2008 masterpiece everyone missed.