FT50: Albums of the ’00s
What? You still listen to THAT album? That record is so 2004! Well, that’s okay, because we really like that one too, which is why we decided to come up with a list of our favorite albums of the last decade (2000-2009). Sure, these might not be YOUR favorite records, or the most critically acclaimed, but we sat down and really thought out every record from the past ten years that we keep coming back to in our collections. You’re likely to disagree with some of these, and we won’t tell you we’re absolutely right we just know that these happen to be OUR favorites. If you think we totally blew it here, feel free to tell us so, but be nice, as our egos are kind of fragile. Follow the jump for more.
50. Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf – I don’t smoke pot, so stoner rock makes me feel connected
49. The Dutchess and the Duke – Th e Dutchess and the Duke – Destined to haunt your spellcheck forever.
48. New Pornographers – Electric Version – What wasn’t good about this album?
47. Magnetic Fields – I – While not their best, it made me realize how sad it could be to walk around town, alone, as a circus clown.
46. Ted Leo and the Rx– Hearts of Oak – Consistently awesome, consistently Ted. I’d do him.
45. Of Montreal – Sunlandic Twins – This is when things got weird, and we loved it.
44. Antony and the Johnsons – I am a Bird Now – Antony made it cool to be transgendered and beautiful.
43. Rilo Kiley – Execution of All Things – The most solid album for the group, though not one of their better known.
42. Band of Horses – Everything All the Time – I still listen to Funeral at least once a month.
41. The Killers – Hot Fuss – Don’t lie, not only do you own this, but you know all the words.
40. Bright Eyes – Lifted, or the Story is in the Soil – Back when he cried on stage, Conor Oberst wrote this gem. It was also part of the Christm -akuh starter package.
39. Q and Not U – No Kill No Beep Beep – They made it okay to use handclaps in post-punk.
38. Beck – Sea Change – Beck goes acoustic? Yep, and he’ll make you cry.
37. Les Savy Fav – Go Forth – Dear Tim, you can sweat on me anytime.
36. Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone – Their break-up spawned a hydra-head of indie bands, most of which we love.
35. Nada Surf – Let Go – This convinced us that indie rock was “Popular”.
34. Postal Service – Give Up – The UPS went to war with this band, and we haven’t heard of them since.
33. Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots – Brilliant album until Wayne decided to walk in a big rubber ball at every show the rest of the decade.
32. Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights – Remember when Carlos D thought he was some sort of soldier? I still wear my holster, but thats it.
31. The Knife – Silent Shout – This is the album to convince your friends you are not normal.
30. Belle and Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress – Everyone hated on this record, until they realized that it totally ruled.
29. The Decemberists – Crane Wife – Japanese folk tales? Yes please.
28. Death Cab for Cutie – Transatlanticism – You bought this as soon as Seth gave it to Summer for Christm-akuh.
27. My Morning Jacket – Z – Jim James rock opera prepares them for an appearance in Elizabethtown.
26. The Walkmen – Bows and Arrows – This record booked them a tour with Incubus, it was that good.
25. Iron and Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days – Does this guy still live in Dripping Springs? Can I stop by sometime?
24. At the Drive-In – Relationship of Command – The next Rage Against the Machine imploded and made records for people in a coma.
23. Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy – The band grew up here, “For Real”.
22. Camera Obscura – Lets Get Out of This Country – “Lloyd I’m Ready to be Heart Broken” is still kicking in my head.
21. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary – Our apologies to Wolf Parade for not making this higher.
20. Sun Kill Moon – Ghosts of the Great Highway – Don’t listen to this if you’re a cutter; you’ll die.
19. TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes -Everyone prefers Return to Cookie Mountain but they are wrong.
18. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand – We danced to this all year, still do.
17. Grizzly Bear – Yellow House – Better than Veckatimest, solid all the way through.
16. New Amsterdams – Worse for the Wear – This is Emo for grown ups.
15. Trail of Dead – Source Tags and Codes -Pitchfork gave this a 10, so we had to put it on here.
14. White Stripes – White Blood Cells – Pleased to meet you Mr. White. Is that your sister/wife behind the drums?
13. Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place – Not just for those Friday Night Lights.
12. Modest Mouse- Moon and Antarctica – The last album before they got shiny and clean.
11. The Wrens – Meadowlands – Start to finish, this record wins on every song.
10. Bloc Party – Silent Alarm – Back in the day, they used instruments and made you dance.
9. The Shins – Oh Inverted World – Did they “Change your life?”
8. Radiohead – Kid A – I hear this band puts out decent albums, but I never heard of em’.
7. The National – Boxer – Mid-life crisis indie rock certified awesome by NPR.
6. Spoon – Kill the Moonlight – Four records could make this list, but this one works.
5. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker – Brilliant Americana by a guy that decided to suck later.
4. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot it In People – It was nice to meet Feist, Amy Milan, and Kevin Drew for the first time.
3. Arcade Fire – Funeral – How many times did you freak out when you first listened to this?
2. The Strokes – Is This it – These guys brought back rock n’ roll, or at least Rolling Stone told us they did.
1. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – This is the right answer.
Agreed. Minus Queens of the Stone Age.
Mama said never argue on the internet…
@Kristin… So what’s #50?
@ Michael… as a new member of ATH, we expect you to argue.
Ya, damn it. Michael get mad! My favorite quote from the article: “These guys brought back rock n’ roll, or at least Rolling Stone told us they did.”
Keep in mind that this list is free of re-releases, compilations, best of and Animal Collective.
Sorry Ma…
1.Say what you will about Noble Beast, but Andrew Bird’s Armchair Apocrypha more than deserves a place on this list.
2. Fugazi’s The Arguement, while less than stellar by Fugazi standards, outshines a great deal of the trash that has come out in the past ten years. Listen to ‘Cash Out’ or ‘Full Disclosure’ and tell me otherwise.
3.While I love Explosions in the Sky as much as the next greasy haired anglo, their epic bombast comes off as twee-pop compared to Godspeed You(!)Black Emperor(!)’s Yanqui UXO.
4.And don’t even get me started about A Silver Mount-Whatever-They-Are-Calling-Themselves-These-Days. In this reporters honest opinion ‘Horses in the Sky’ is the best record of the past decade.
5.I am also contractually obligated to mention the much welcomed return of Coalesce. If you listen to one heavy record this decade. This is the one.
I refuse to scroll through my iPod to find more…
OX being the Coalesce record you should listen to…this is what happens when I get flustered.
Dear ATH,
What a crock of shit. Who wrote this diarrhea crap of a list? Reveal yourself. No Mastodon? No Ghostface? No Joanna Newsom? YHF is just pointless, noisey drivel disguised as “Dad Rock” and Is This It sounded better when the Rolling Stones did it back in ’64. The only album worth mentioning in this list is Songs for the Deaf, a record with balls. I like balls.
Dear Kurt Russell,
This was written by me and the post author Nathan Lankford.
So you like records with balls and you like Joanna Newsom? I would say that is the exact opposite of “balls” and quite on the other end of the spectrum.
As far as Ghostface… I will use your description of YHFT… Ghostface is noisey drivel disguised as “dad rap”. I could maybe take one song but I can only take so much barking and “rapping”.
I could maybe see your point with Mastodon, but if you’re trying to say The Strokes ripped off The Rolling Stones, Mastodon is ripping off tons of less popular metal bands that have been around a lot longer than Mastodon.
Oh and Michael. You bring up good points. This is why I am glad you are now a part of the team!!!
Weakerthans’ Reconstruction Site seems to be missing. I know why it’s not on here. Because the Weakerthans has their heyday in the 90s. BUT. i’d gladly trade all the records on this list for that one.
also, no Mates of State!
also, no Kanye.
… i need to stop myself…
Insert Dylan’s Love & Theft, please.
Spot on for Wilco and Kid-A.
Your omittance of “Fishscale,” “Leviathan,” & “Milk-Eyed Mender” proves YOU are the one who is ignorant. The first tracks alone on these records are better than half of your list.
Newsom had the “balls” to release a 5-song LP of just her and her f**ckin harp. I don’t know about you Ray but that sounds pretty ballsy to me.
@kurtrussell: ballsy for someone with a vagina. It effectively cancels itself out.
Full disclosure: I enjoy all bands being argued here.
No that sounds stupid and not like something I’d want to listen to.
Tweedy had the balls to tell a record company to go f*ck themselves when they didn’t like his record. Newsom may have had balls to try something new and different but that doesn’t mean the music is any good. YHFT is a masterpiece that will be talked about for years to come.
Your favorite record of last year was what Death Magnetic or Chinese Democracy? Your opinion is now invalid.
The rebuttal award of the decade goes to Michael Rice.
We voted. It was unanimous.
Love it. It’s August and we can chalk this DECADE up to a *lunch hour* of greatest hits. Just a few thoughts, if I may…
I have to say I totally agree 100% with No. 1. Wilco has been a hometown favorite and amazing band/influence to listen to for years now. (Yes, even “Sky Blue Sky” would have to be included in a top 50)
However, The Strokes (who I compare to The Sex Pistols and The Spice Girls in that they were manufactured and incapable of producing their music if they were left to fend for themselves) could not have been a worse runner-up selection(and I’ll make my nomination shortly). I would leave off list entirely. Sorry Rolling Stone magazine.
Also “De Stijl” is the best White Stripes album and should replace “White Blood Cells” (which became a cookie cutter album), and would be slotted much closer to the top 10.
And I cannot help but wonder why Johnny Cash’s American Recordings (IV: “The Man Comes Around”) was not included? Produced to the “t” and forever exalted in infamy following his death.
But I would have to strongly defend The Dutchess and The Duke as the runner-up to this list. The Arcade Fire sure make that difficult and so does “Heartbreaker”. Jesse and Kimberly have done what Jack White and others have been hinting at for a while. Compelling instrumental canvases completed with absolute harmony and meaning.
Perhaps some honorable mentions: Cake – “Prolonging The Magic”, Kings of Leon – “Youth and Young Manhood”, Louis XIV – “The Best Little Secrets Are Kept” and Muse – “Black Holes And Revelations”.
Thanks so much for sharing. Love the site.
OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Darkness – Permission To Land
Nelly – Country Grammar
Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
To name a few…
@ Rayx2 on “Ys”: Writing and recording a record built of medieval imagery, impossible lyrics full of dead vernacular, and complex arrangements composed by “Smile” mastermind Van Dyke Parks, then putting it out on a notable rock label (Drag City) to critical acclaim, impressive sales, and a world tour just to take the stage night after night with little less than a harp, a 100 lb of skin and bones, and the most inhumanly versatile voice heard in pop culture since Billy Holiday. I’d say, hands down, Joanna Newsome has some huge balls. Fuckin Massive.
SInce I’m the country music guy around here, I’ll add:
Johnny Cash – American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash – American V: A Hundred Highways
I second raygunz cash albums.
Wow! How did I know this list was going to spark such foul-mouthed-laced controversy? “Fishscale” is classic, but “Supreme Clientele” is well…supreme. I agree w/ Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. When I first heard this record, I hated it. Fast-forward five years down the road and it manages to hit all the emotional bases (Tweedy’s songwriting, Jay’s fantastic soundscapes and the band’s loose-production) I still have not heard a record quite like this one. One that hits all the right notes (even when some are flat). The same can be said for Kid A & Funeral.
Records I would have included:
Outkast – Stankonia (I know ATH does not cover hip-hop, but Sweet Jesus, if this isn’t a universally appealing record! Three letters. B.O.B)
Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (Snot-nosed Sheffield kids made a perfect record)
…and of course Jay-Z’s The Blueprint & Mastodon’s Leviathan:)
~RamJam
@Kyle. Okay whatever guys. She has “balls”. I’ll give it to ya, the woman has huge balls. I’ll even give her some credit for trying something new and being brave enough to do that. However, her album “Ys” has no place on this list because it is not good.
@Greg. The Strokes unable to produce their own music? Have you not checked out all the side projects that have come from that group? As much as I used to love the Kings of Leon, but I think maybe that’s the group you’re thinking of…
Oh and I agree, I think D&D will move up this list as time goes on.
@RayRay. I try but just cannot let the side projects that both stemmed from and fueled The Strokes justify “Is This It?”. As for KOL, I understand the disappointment with their evolution, but again, they are developing into their own by not duplicating an album over and over. U2 is a prime example of what can happen if you disregard your own sound and take a serious and bold next step (Although so was Ryan Adams and you said it best when he “decided to suck later”). Not saying KOL is U2, but The Strokes, like so many (and completely aside from other projects) have just not done that.
Again, nothing but love for you guys and this site. Keep it up.
Very nice list.
10 years seems like a long time ago
in 2000…
Saves the Day – Stay What You Are
Deltron 3030
2001…
Weezer – Green Album
a decade of meh… I can’t really put the releases of the last five years or so in enough perspective to make a coherent list. Either that, or I need more new music in my life.
at or near the top for me:
Beck – sea change
Nada surf – Let Go
MMJ – Z
on the list somewhere…
Spoon – like you said, pick one
Mates of State – similar problem..
Hold Steady – boys and girls in america
every other MMJ album
Gnarls Barkley – St Elsewhere
decemberists’ – crane wife
Problems:
I think you have the wrong Grizzly Bear album up there. I fall asleep in a yellow house.
I prefer in Rainbows to Kid A, but would probably slap myself 10 years ago for that sentiment.
I prefer the strokes 2nd album, room on fire. But you may have a point about the significance, at least from a popularity standpoint.
well done gentlemen.
Deltron 3030. Brain fart.
Shit, good call Brett. Top 5 for me.
Yeah no shit man. Deltron 3030. That’s my bad. No that’s a fucking hip hop/rap album. Can I change the list?
I just want to throw in a quick note here….The Strokes for me, brought me back out of emo. Sure, they have some slick production, but I won’t even deny that I love their last album, adore the side-projects, etc. I can see how they might not have evolved like KOL, but I don’t want them too. KOL lost 1800 lbs of hair, and every ball shared between the band. KOL rode the shirttails of The Strokes, and got their break as being friends…I remember the exact article.
As for Joanna Newsom…I love that girl, have seen her twice, and admittedly await something new, but it’s not something I see as a longstanding album, either one. It’s something completely involved in whatever mood Im in that encourages me to listen to her…the rest of these albums can go on anytime.
It was all up for debate anyways, but I think we did the best we could with our mixed tastes, and I apologize for my lack of knowledge in the hip-hop arena, but it was never my bag.
Wow!!! Great list………..oh wait, no outkast, no Jay Z, no ghostface. The only thing i can say is RACIST!!!!!!
Maybe I can bring a little color to these proceedings?
Heartbreaker isn’t even close to being Ryan Adams best album–that would be Love is Hell or Cold Roses, and he didn’t decide to suck, people decided that he’d strayed a little too far from Americana.
nice list RR…
of course I agree on most–great call on Modest Mouse and Sun Kil Moon too…but gimmie more:
Devendra Banhart “Rejoicing in the Hands”
Bjork “Vestpertine”
Bonnie Prince Billy “Superwolf”
Sigur Ros “Aegis Bjurnum”
And the #1 album of the decade, released unfortunately on 9/11 as well:
LOVE AND THEFT
Dylan’s modern masterpiece, untouchable, the baddest tough-guy songs you’ll ever hear…
rc
Pitchfork gets a line…dont we hate them??
I suddenly realize the 00’s kind of suck.
Good list, I do however feel their are some crucial women missing. Wait,are you guys afraid of girls?
Norah Jones-Come Away With Me (2002)
Feist- The Reminder (2007)
Amy Winehouse- Back to Black (2007)
Bjork – Medulla (2004)
Fiona Apple – Extraaordinary Machine (2005)
@ Corey- You said it man. I was thinking about this list and how my Top 25 albums of the 90’s would trump everything here.
Where are Sex Clark Five?
@raygun & Corey – You have turned into your parents. “back in my day…”
Wasn’t Amy Millan in Stars before BSS?
or… “Back when music meant something”
not to sound like old man Raygun or anything…
but point to something truly groundbreaking that came out in the oughts…
I can’t.
I guess you could make the argument that (since Rollingstone said it would happen,) that the Strokes release was one of those turning point albums that dragged us out of the boy band era… but how big of a change is that?
Instead of a late 90’s style boy band, we had the jonas bros., a boy band with guitars…
Justin Timberlake, bringing sexy back…
Tweeny bob in general, the Disneyfication or American Idolized version of pop music…
How different are we from 10 years ago? What have we learned?
compare that to the three or four years after 89, when everything popular seemed to change… New Wave and Punk in the early 80’s… rock music in 1968/69 compared to the late 50s…
Either everything is so fragmented that there won’t be any mass shifts in popular music, or we’ve been taking our time coming up with the next big thing since about 1995.
But Brett….tell me anything from the 90s that was of substance that showed someone moving into new musical territory? If you day Nirvana, you clearly haven’t read up on the various band Kurt admitted to ripping off…just because it blew up doesn’t mean it had some sort of significance.
I think a lot of the bands on this list combined multiple pieces from back in the day, and moved them in new directions. Wilco, using O’ Rourke pushed Americana into a more experimental direction, if only for an album. And how do people hate on the Strokes so much, when every one loved them. Sure, they ripped a lot of people off, but they did it well. Honestly, if you look at the first Beatles singles, pre-British Invasion, they’re just ripping off Little Richard…so let’s take away their originality.
The point is this….there are a lot of solid records on this list, and until someone comes up with an ultimately unique form of music, we’re all going to be re-hashing the past, but that’s what great artists do; they build upon the past and make it feel new.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is the most unique, creative and groundbreaking piece of music to come out in a REALLY long time. That includes the 90s. What Tweedy and co. did on that record can never be imitated or recreated. As Nathan said, what was “groundbreaking” from the 90s? Nevermind? OK Computer (that would be my pick)? 2pac? The 90s had some great records that I love, but YHFT is on a whole different level.
On the Strokes: That album came out in fucking 2001! I know all you 90s die hards will get pissed by this, but they are the Nirvana of our era. Just like Nirvana, they’ve had many imitators (Kings of Leon) and created a new genre of music by pulling in elements of old school bands and putting their own unique take on it. Honestly sit down and think about the similarities between the two bands. Here’s a funny question to ponder…. If Nirvana eventually led to Nickelback, did The Strokes lead to the new Kings of Leon album? OUCH!
But seriously folks…. If I made a list of groundbreaking material from the last 20 years, OK Computer and YHFT would be 1,2.
And Brett, don’t act like you don’t love bringing the sexy back.
What was groundbreaking from the 90s?
Um… the grunge movement, maybe?
Grunge completely changed the nation-wide music culture, regardless of who started what or who ripped of who. Nothing in the past 10 years has rivaled the grunge movement’s overall impact on the popular music landscape.
Nirvana is the poster-child because they brought it to the mainstream, but a lot of artists contributed to it’s overall success. No one will argue that. Exactly what kind of nation-wide movement… a shift in popular music culture have we seen in the last 10 years that rivals the grunge movement? What exactly is the groundbreaking movement that Wilco is a part of that comes close to rivaling it’s impact on popular music?
I’m also glad you brought up 2Pac, because that’s another groundbreaking movement of the 90’s: Gangster Rap. Remember the national headlines that Ice T’s “Cop Killer” made? How about the East Coast vs. West Coast battle? Death Row Records? It was quite possibly the most groundbreaking development in the history of the genre.
Other movements from the 90’s include Nine Inch Nails and the Industrial Rock scene, Green Day and Pop-Punk, Oasis and the Brit-Pop revitalization, Metallica and Metal, RHCP and RATM and Funk-Metal (that may or may not be made up), to name a few
Radiohead pretty much changed the musical landscape in Britain. Coldplay, TV on the Radio, Bloc Party, Muse, etc.. they all try to sound like OK Computer.
Again, my question is… exactly what kind of groundbreaking movement has there been in the past 10 years? Something that’s changed our musical landscape?
All those things Reagan had been around for a long time, just bubbling under. If anything, the popularization of those things seemed to diminish the relevance of the music, and the 90s brought about mass commercialization of underground rock and hip-hop. In my opinion, we’re worse off for the Pearl Jam/Nirvana/Dr. Dre emergence, as those genres of music have led to a mundane corporate music scene. Sure, I like some of those groups, but they weren’t artistically challenging, like say something from Radiohead’s Kid A or the baroque pop of Magnetic Fields. Just saying.
I think we’re basically in agreement. Since nevermind, … and 2pac?… there hasn’t been a big unifying artist or “sound” that pretty much invalidates everything that came before it, at least from a mass consumption point of view…
the Magnetic Fields, YHF, or even Ys… may be ground breaking and life altering for those that hear it, but compared to Nirvana, 2pac, the beatles, whoever… nobody listened to those albums.
That isn’t necessarily a critique on these artists or what has come out in the past 10 years, but more of an indication of how we are listening these days. I think the rules are different now, and it doesn’t have to be a big selling pop/rap/rock album to be “important.”
I don’t think we’ll come across that type of mass cultural shift again, at least not with the stuff we’ve been given since…
I think as an ATH staff member I am bowing out of the 90s vs 00s argument and voting that we somehow make a post or something similar on the site.
Arguing about which decade is better is a self-defeating act. We were influenced by the nineties and we created the aughts. So to say the nineties was better is admitting that we produce inferior product.
What hope does the next generation have if they emulate us?
Have we become so cynical a society that we want to inspire mediocrity to fuel endless fountains of snark?
Maybe I am looking way too much into this, but there is music coming out today (and it still pertains to the argument since we have three months left) that excites me just as much, if not more than, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain or the Blue Album.
Geez, someone got serious in the middle of the night.