Television Personalities

Privilege sounds like an emotional rebound after The Painted Word, one of pop's most harrowing albums. But that's just the sparkling Brit-pop production talking. First off, it took main man Dan Treacy four years to make this record. Second, song titles like "All of My Dreams Are Dead" and "This Time There's No Happy Ending" tell you Treacy had only fallen deeper into despair. That said, nobody has made cynicism and disillusionment sound so gorgeous. Privilege is a masterpiece.