Best Latin Music Albums of 2005 - 2008

2008 was a poor year for Latin pop with few releases (and fewer still that were really good). It was much better for rock and alternative music, so I've put the albums I liked in these 3 categories into this list.

Top 10 Latin Pop / Rock Albums

Going through 2007's crop of mainstream merengue and bachata albums, I was surprised to find more exceptional bachata than merengue albums. This was a surprise; merengue has been the most popular staple of not just the Dominican Republic, but the western, tropical dancehalls for years. On the other hand, bachata was looked down upon until it was embrac…

2007 was a big year for Latin pop/rock with some big albums from perpetual favorites Juanes, Gloria Estefan and Manu Chao. Rock en Espagnol has also seen some significant new artists and really deserves its own list, but this year I'm still going to merge the two categories, because in the world of pop/rock, it's often difficult to tell where one genre starts and the other begins.

This has been an interesting year for salsa, who's popularity continues to waver (well, not to my taste). Here's a list of the albums I've enjoyed the most this year and that kept me awake and dancing through 2007.

Top ten Latin pop albums for 2006.

Looking at my picks for 2007's best rap/hip hop albums, 8 out of the 10 artists are from Puerto Rico, home of reggaeton. Half of the albums are pure reggaeton - from old-school classic to some interesting new developments. There's also a nod to Cuba with the Orishas and to the Dominican Republic with Fulanito.

A merengue and bachata top picks list that includes Olga Tanon, Andy Andy, Domenic M, Elvis Crespo, Grupo Mania, Grupo Fuego, Tono Rosario,Aventura, Juan Luis Guerra and Monchy y Alexandra.

Top 10 Salsa albums

These are the salsa albums that I liked best in 2008; there are albums from artists in Puerto Rico and Colombian as well as the U.S., both salsa dura and romantica.

But here's the thing: salsa is evolving. Just as the original mambo, son and other Caribbean rhythms evolved into what we call salsa in the 1960s, today's salsa artist are experimenting with the new and different rhythms and instr…