Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2005…

#2 – Extraordinary Machine – Fiona Apple

Here’s an album that could have been on this list twice.

Fiona Apple’s long-awaited follow-up to 1999’s When the Pawn… was initially recorded with producer Jon Brion before being shelved (either by the record label, the artist herself, or some combination of the two, depending on which version of events you choose to believe).

That “bootleg” version was later leaked in full to rapturous reviews, causing fans to lobby for an official release that never happened.

Instead, more than a year later, a re-recorded version of the album — this time with producer Mike Elizondo — hit record stores. Just two of the Brion-produced tracks remained intact.

Apple insisted that the decision to scrap the first version was hers alone and the new release reflected her vision of the material. But the fact that the finished product was more commercially accessible led many to believe she was pressured by her label.

Nearly two decades later, all that drama feels superfluous. The official release is simply one of the greatest albums of its era, and the bootleg version is just as good. I prefer the treatment of some songs on one over the other, while other songs sound equally great on both.

Extraordinary Machine kicks off with its baroque title track, an anthem of self-reliance. The rest of the album is a tour through some painful relationships — particularly (and allegedly) her split from director Paul Thomas Anderson. In typical Fiona Apple fashion, she is unsparing in her criticism of both her partners and herself.

Musically it’s a work of art, with offbeat percussion and dissonant chords buoying her expressive vocals. Lyrically, her playful use of language leavens the deep fissures of emotion she’s mining.

And, in today’s SOTD, she explores the double meaning of “get him back” two decades before Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift had the same idea.

Apple’s next two albums were equally brilliant and well-received, but less accessible. This one is a perfect blend of art pop and radio pop — an extraordinary machine, indeed.