I think of my top 8 Anime might look something like this:
Samurai Champloo (great fight sequences and memorable characters)
Death Note
Avatar the Last Air Bender (once you let the childish humor wash over you a bit, it becomes one of the greatest anime's ever made in my opinion)
Full Metal Alchemist
Gurren Lagaan (innocent, light hearted, with a great message)
Kino's Journey
Trigun
Samurai X
I agree with Death Note and Trigun those were great. Tried Avatar couldn't make it past a few episodes. Full Metal Alchemist I gave longer but for some reason I just couldn't care about any of the characters.
If you like Death Note you should check out Code Geass.
Started watching Kill la Kill I feel dirty but the show is pretty damn addicting.