Some bands have a fully-formed sound right from the start, but the truth about a lot of very popular artists is that they didn't really find their unique style until they had a few albums under their belts. In time, I think people will see Belle and Sebastian as one of those bands. Like R.E.M., Depeche Mode and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Belle and Sebastian didn't find its best music, the music for which they'll be remembered, until they grew out of an early period of experimentation. By 2001 the band was ready to make the best music of their careers, though it would happen to be without Stuart David or Isobel Campbell.

• Fiction

• Fuck This Shit
• Night Walk
• Storytelling
• Consuelo Leaving
• Wandering Alone
• Big John Shaft

Todd Solondz put together a little-seen but much-lauded film called Storytelling in 2001, asking Belle and Sebastian to compose an original soundtrack for it. The album of the same name is as good a transition piece as the band could want. Many of the tracks are instrumental, so they got to play around with different ideas than the omnipresent vocals of Stuart Murdoch would otherwise allow. There are a surprising number of plum selections from Storytelling, especially "Big John Shaft" because it's a sign of the more fun sound Belle and Sebastian would adopt in subsequent albums.

• Step into My Office, Baby
• If She Wants Me
• I'm a Cuckoo
• Wrapped Up
• Lord Anthony
• Roy Walker
• Stay Loose

Dear Catastrophe Waitress is Belle and Sebastian's first album with Rough Trade Records and it's a significant departure from their early work. For one it's produced by someone who isn't in the band, radio star killing Trevor Horn of The Buggles. The album sounds clean and well-produced, but not over-produced, and it wanders away from the doldrums of the band's 90's material. Frequently funny and just as frequently catchy, songs like "Step into My Office, Baby" and "Roy Walker" saw Belle and Sebastian stretching into new territory after so many years of making good but ultimately comfortable music.

• Act of the Apostle
• White Collar Boy
• The Blues Are Still Blue
• Sukie in the Graveyard
• We Are The Sleepyheads
• Song for Sunshine
• For the Price of a Cup of Tea

Released in 2006, The Life Pursuit is Belle and Sebastian's most recent album. It's the most rock-centered album they've ever recorded but it still has the endearingly ramshackle feel that made the band popular in the first place. "We Are The Sleepyheads" is a real standout track, mixing ironic funk with some really beautiful studio tricks and acrobatic percussion. The Life Pursuit is upbeat, a term no one back in 1999 would have believed would be associated with Belle and Sebastian.

Belle and Sebastian have been quiet for the past few years, but they have an album slated for a release later this year. Given their near-constant touring and recording since the mid 90's, it's no surprise that they would want to take a break now that they're firmly embedded in the public consciousness. In the meantime, Stuart Murdoch has taken the helm of a new musical film called God Help the Girl that is currently in pre-production and the band contributed to a charity album of children's songs called Colours Are Brighter. Given Belle and Sebastian's impressive output over the past decade, I'd say they have at least a few good albums left in them, especially since they've shown a willingness to embrace new sounds.