Country music has never been this huge. In 2005 in Pittsburgh, mainstream country had more radio presence and sold more CDs than ever. And under the mainstream radar, country continued to thrive. Artistically, there were a lot of high-profile misses and some groundbreaking hits.

1. BRAD PAISLEY, 'TIME WELL WASTED' (Arista)
Brad Paisley didn't forget his Panhandle roots when he went south to Nashville. "Time Well Wasted" showcases an open-minded, contemporary artist with a healthy respect for tradition. "Alcohol" is the perfect country concert ballad, and "She's Everything" is the perfect country album cut. Paisley writes, sings and picks like a session pro and looks good to boot. At its best, country music asks us to ponder the humanity of everyday life. "Time Well Wasted" is as good as country gets.

2. BUDDY MILLER, 'UNIVERSAL UNITED HOUSE OF PRAYER' (NEW WEST)
Comfortable working just under the mainstream radar, producer and singer-songwriter Buddy Miller doesn't chase the cash register. His new CD is packed with scorching country rockers and contemplative story songs that ponder eternal questions.

3. ROBBIE FULKS, 'GEORGIA HARD' (YEPROC)
Country radio says he's not country enough, but Robbie Fulks is the real deal: witty songwriting, versatile voice, solid picking, country instrumentation, professional production values and a knack for being poignant and funny on the same CD. Check out his hilarious anti-purist anthem, "Countrier Than Thou."

4. KENNY CHESNEY, 'BE AS YOU ARE: SONGS FROM AN OLD BLUE CHAIR' (BNA)
For most of the past decade, I've been ambivalent about Kenny Chesney's predictable covers of other people's songs, which made him seem like just another shallow, mainstream country crooner. But Chesney broke through to another level with "Be As You Are," a self-written collection of story songs exposing aspects of his life off stage and off camera. For the first time in a financially successful career, Chesney's music stopped being commerce and became communication.

5. DOLLY PARTON, 'THOSE WERE THE DAYS' (SUGAR HILL)
Martina McBride scored a No. 1 hit with her note-for-note covers of classic songs, but Dolly Parton took a dozen non-country classics, from The Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" to John Lennon's "Imagine," and reinvented them in her unique style and distinctively country image. It's what they call "art," and Dolly is as much of an artist today as she ever was.

6. LITTLE BIG TOWN, 'THE ROAD TO HERE' (EQUITY)
On first listen, Little Big Town's crystalline harmonies resurrect memories of Starland Vocal Band (remember "Afternoon Delight"?). But they're far more revolutionary than that, bringing to country radio four-part vocals instead of a single lead singer, '70s pop-style arrangements instead of mainstream Nashville, and nonstandard instrumentation including unconventional percussion. Plus, "The Road to Here" was released on the maverick country indie, Equity Records.

7. DWIGHT YOAKAM, 'BLAME THE VAIN' (NEW WEST)
It's the modern music conundrum: Do what it takes to sell a lot of CDs or use the tool of music to make an artistic expression. Dwight Yoakam is among the best at doing both. "Blame the Vain" is free-range country at its best -- blurring genres without losing touch with the roots.

8. DIERKS BENTLEY, 'MODERN DAY DRIFTER' (LIBERTY)
Second time out of the chute, Dierks Bentley returned with more of the witty songwriting and unvarnished country sensibilities that made his first CD a hit. Instead of pushing the genre's limits, Bentley pushed all the right buttons with traditional, confessional, proudly country songs.

9. LEE ANN WOMACK, 'THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM' (MCA NASHVILLE)
As country music explodes in every direction at once, Lee Ann Womack went all retro with a warm tube-amp ambience, front-and-center vocals, and twangy arrangements reminiscent of country's lyin', cryin', cheatin' and losin' era. She even released some vinyl LPs stamped with MCA's classic cloud and rainbow label.

10. BIG & RICH, 'COMING TO THE CITY' (WARNER BROS.)
The single stinks, merely banking on Big & Rich's freak-show image and trying to sell a few summer concert seats. But on most of the rest of their second shot at "country music without prejudice," Big Kenny and John Rich continue to hone the cutting edge of the progressive country movement with smart ballads, funky rockers and production that breaks the mold.