What is the best indie album — band or solo artist?

Whether it's a full band or a solitary artist with a four-track recorder, indie music thrives on creative independence. Which album — band or solo — is the genre's finest?

1. 1
   Funeral — Arcade Fire

   Arcade Fire's 2004 debut band album, a communal orchestral indie rock achievement about loss and community.
2. 2
   Either/Or — Elliott Smith

   Elliott Smith's 1997 solo record, intimate acoustic folk of extraordinary personal depth.
3. 3
   Boxer — The National

   The National's 2007 band album, a collective literary indie rock statement of melancholic brilliance.
4. 4
   Illinois — Sufjan Stevens

   Sufjan Stevens' 2005 solo orchestral folk vision, one man's sprawling 50-state concept.
5. 5
   Is This It — The Strokes

   The Strokes' 2001 band debut, five New Yorkers reinventing rock cool for a new century.
6. 6
   For Emma, Forever Ago — Bon Iver

   Bon Iver's 2007 solo debut, Justin Vernon alone in a cabin creating something miraculous.
7. 7
   Yankee Hotel Foxtrot — Wilco

   Wilco's 2002 band album, a collaborative experimental rock deconstruction of Americana.
8. 8
   Punisher — Phoebe Bridgers

   Phoebe Bridgers' 2020 solo album, a singular indie folk vision of quiet devastation.
9. 9
   In the Aeroplane Over the Sea — Neutral Milk Hotel

   Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 album — technically a band but driven entirely by Jeff Mangum's singular vision.
10. 10
    Merriweather Post Pavilion — Animal Collective

    Animal Collective's 2009 band album, a collective psychedelic pop experiment yielding euphoric results.
11. 11
    Carrie & Lowell — Sufjan Stevens

    Sufjan Stevens' 2015 solo grief album, voice and guitar stripped to their most vulnerable.
12. 12
    The Record — boygenius

    boygenius' 2023 band debut, three indie solo stars becoming greater than the sum of their parts.
13. 13
    Sound of Silver — LCD Soundsystem

    LCD Soundsystem's 2007 band album, James Murphy leading a dance-punk collective to a career peak.
14. 14
    Puberty 2 — Mitski

    Mitski's 2016 solo album, one artist's raw and urgent indie rock statement.