Best Albums of the Decade

[sir clinksalot]

With the Decade winding down, I figured we could start our "Best of" lists.

This decade was a little weird for music. There was no new "It" genre as there was in the 90's (Grunge). No "It" bands that simply exploded on the scene and disappeared as quickly (Nirvana). There were some really great albums, but unfortunately for most of society, they weren't to be found in the mainstream.

Sure, certain new artists came around that I think made it big and should have such as Jack Johnson, John Mayer, TV on the Radio, Coldplay, etc. But for everyone of those you have 5 J-Lo's, Christina Aguilera's or Britney Spears.

My favorites in no particular order:

Radiohead - Kid A
No Doubt - Rock Steady
Tool - Lateralus
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Rush - Vapor Trails
Linkin Park - Meteora
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
The White Stripes - Elephant
Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First
The Cure - Bloodflowers
Green Day - American Idiot
The Killers - Hot Fuss
The Secret Machines - Now Here is Nowhere
The All American Rejects - Move Along
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
NIN - With Teeth
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
System of a Down - Hypnotize/Mezmerize
30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie
The Beatles - Love Soundtrack
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Tool - 10,000 days
The Levellers - Levelling the Land
NIN - Year Zero
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Rush - Snakes and Arrows
They Might Be Giants - The Else
B52's - Funplex
The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns are not the future
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
TV On the Radio - Dear Science
Weezer - Red Album
The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
Morrissey - Years of Refusal
Porcupine Tree - The Incident

I'm sure I'll think of some more before the decade is over.

[aimster]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

Oooohh I'm with you on several of those. Here are some of my picks:

Muse - The Resistance
U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
NIN - With Teeth
NIN - The Slip
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Duran Duran - Astronaut
Rock Kills Kid - Are You Nervous?
Pet Shop Boys - Yes
Orson - Culture Vultures
Moving Units - Hexes for Exes
VHS or BETA - Night on Fire
Keane - Perfect Symmetry
Acceptance - Phantoms
Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah!
We the Kings - We the Kings
Partie Traumatic - Black Kids

And my pick for best album of the decade that never was:

Protocol - Rules of Engagement (the band broke up before the album could be released)

[Indiana_James]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

No Doubt - Rock Steady

I know that they are back together and playing but when will they release any new music?

[DarthDucky]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

The White Album remaster!

[CostaFreak]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)



This is not your normal rock album. Instead, it plays out like a symphony with movements instead of songs. A blend of ambient pop, orchestral rock, space rock, and lush string arrangements, each movement builds slowly until eventually hitting a crecendo. Yes, there are worded parts, but they're all spoken. It's a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Storm, Static, Antennas To Heaven


Ayreon: The Dream Sequencer (2000)



A concept album about a person who happens to be the last man alive after Mars was drained of it's recources during a war and ends up spending his life in a dream sequencer showing periods of time to make up for being alone. It sounds campy, and it is, but with its textural soundscapes enhanced by sweet-tempered vocals, layered synths, and seductive melodies that skirt the fringes of ambient electronica and classic progressive rock, it's hard to deny it's a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: My House On Mars, The Shooting Company Of Captain Frans B. Cocq, Carried By The Wind


Muse: Origin Of Symmetry (2001)



A feast of alternative rock mixed with neo-prog and electronic effects giving the album it's spacy ambience, it is definatly their masterpiece, and is a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: New Born, Bliss, Citizen Erased


Opeth: Blackwater Park (2001)



A blend of death/doom metal mixed with jazz and classical influences, this is a very dark and gloomy album, yet at the same time one of the most accessible of its genre, and a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: The Leper Affinity, Harvest, The Drapery Falls


Tool: Lateralus (2001)



There are two words that come to mind with this album; pretentious and self-indulgent, with time signatures changing no longer than seconds or a minute at most. Their songwriting has matured greatly in their absence, coming back stronger than ever. Yet for such a complex album, it has been praised with great success, and is a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Schism, Parabola, Reflection


Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory (2001)



Although this band has enjoyed mainstream success, it is one of the few modern bands that have hit the top 40 to have the creativity to forge an all original sound, blending nu-metal, rap, and industrial together seamlessly. This is their best work, and a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Papercut, One Step Closer, Crawling


Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)



A refreshing sound harkening to the days of late 70's post-punk with modern alternative and up to date keyboard effects, these four Brits have really come to their own with an original sound. Although many copy-cat bands were to form after this release, none of them could ever top one of the masterpieces of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Politik, God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, Clocks


Spock's Beard: Snow (2002)



What would happen if The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was recorded today? It would probably end up sounding similar to this. A concept album based on a teenage albino kid's journey in New York City (hmm...sounds familiar), this album goes through intense moments from hard riff-driven songs, instrumental workouts, and soft acoustic passages. An overall satisfying musical journey, it's a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Made Alive/Overture, Long Time Suffering, Devil's Got My Throat


Pain Of Salvation: Remedy Lane (2002)



A raw emotional powerhouse, this album has a concept about life, loss, grief, death, and the fine line between love and sex. The music is never self-indulgent, with the perfect mix of prog and pop sensibilities, making this a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: A Trace Of Blood, Undertow, Beyond The Pale


The Mars Volta: Frances The Mute (2005)



At first listen, one can tell that their sound has evolved. Shedding most of their punk influences, they now sound like a fusion of Santana and King Crimson. They have also hired a large number of musicians and have included the use of bi-lingual lyrics to help drive the story and the music into higher places. So high, it is a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus, The Widow, L'Via L'Viaquez


Riverside: Second Life Syndrome (2005)



Ambience, feeling, and emotion...with a kick. Ethereal keys with slow, ghostly guitars to hard hitting metallic climaxes, the songs don't sway and swoon...they bob, weave and explode with action while still retaining a mysterious broody mystique to them. A fine release, and a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Volte-Face, Second Life Syndrome, Reality Dream III


Kamelot: The Black Halo (2005)



A concept album based on Faust, this album shatters the stereotype that all European influenced power metal is cheesy. It is in reality a beautiful and epic work of art. All the musicians are top notch, and the vocalist is one of the best of our time. This is truly a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: March Of Mephisto, When The Lights Are Down, Memento Mori


Dream Theater: Octavarium (2005)



Bashed by both critics and fans for not being heavy enough, this is in reality some of their best material. Although they are a bit lighter this time around, they combine their already successful formula with 70's prog rock and post-punk influences, driving this to become their best work of the decade, and a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: The Root Of All Evil, Panic Attack, Octavarium


Between The Buried And Me: Colors (2007)



What would happen if one were to fuse Pink Floyd, Yes, and Genesis with Death, Cynic, and Atheist? The answer would be Colors. As unorthodox as a mix as it may seem, it works well...really well...so well that Colors blends them into each other as its own sound as a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Informal Gluttony, Ants Of The Sky, White Walls


Porcupine Tree: Fear Of A Blank Planet/Nil Recurring (2007)



The concept...an adolecent kid sucked into drugs, sex, violence, boredom, and apathy. Along with the strong concept, the cerebral, atmospheric sound on this album remains enormously compelling from almost the first moment. It's one of the strongest releases they've done, and it's a
masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Fear Of A Blank Planet, Anesthetize, What Happens Now?


Radiohead: In Rainbows (2007)



From a band that has revolutionized alternative rock, one thing they have done here is made a very accessible album while still retaining the ambient electronic layers and disjointedness that makes them who they are. It's a very stimulating synthesis of song-oriented material and abstract sounds, making this a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: 15 Step, The Reckoner, Jigsaw Falling Into Place


The Decemberists: The Crane Wife (2007)



Loosely based on a Japanese folk tale that concerns a crane, an arrow, a beautiful woman, and a whole lot of clandestine weaving, the album starts off building slowly off a simple folk melody before exploding into some serious power chords. The music builds with scottish melodies and sepia-toned imagery, ending up to be a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: The Crane Wife 3, The Island, The Perfect Crime #2


Faunts: M4 (2007)



Full of emotion and grandeur, weather it be soft or loud, this band knows how to write and take one on a journey. A sonic blend of Radiohead, Sigur Ros, and Tool, this is a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: M4 Pt. II, M4 Pt. I, Of Nature


Black Mountain: In The Future (2008)



There is no sophomore slump here. It's loaded with trippy neo-psych folk and rock tropes, but these are counterweighted with a drenched-in-prog-and-Sabbath-like riffery and knotty, multi-part structures entwined with acid-laced folk. It's a piece of work that sounds stuck in the 70's, yet sounds like it's appropriate for today too, and is a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Tyrants, Wucan, Bright Lights


White Lies: To Lose My Life (2009)



The debut album by the dark, almost gothic alternative rockers, the album hints at old post-punk and new wave such as Magazine, Psychedelic Furs, and Depeche Mode. The music itself is morbid, but has a light ethereal feel to it, thus it is a masterpiece of the new millenium.

Top Songs: Death, To Lose My Life, From The Stars

[Retrocool]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

No time right now to compile my list, but I must admit I'm annoyed by the dearth of inclusion of other musical genres like hip hop, country, world, R&B, blues, jazz, folk, and classical, so far at least.

Off the top of my head, I'd have to include The Roots' Phrenology, Jay-Z's The Black Album, Talib Kweli's Quality, Kanye West's The College Dropout and Late Registration, Common's Be, Outkast's Stankonia, Missy Elliott's Under Construction, Jill Scott's Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 and Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, Mary J. Blige's The Breakthrough, and Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor and The Diary of Alicia Keys.

[brand42]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
The Arcade Fire - Funeral
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven
The New Pornographers - Electric Version, Twin Cinema
Radiohead - Kid A, Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows, Amnesiac
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Cat Power - You are Free
PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Neko Case - Blacklisted
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois, Greetings from Michigan
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Calexico - Feast of Wire
Portishead - Third
The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

more to come once I think of them...


not that anyone asked but my favorites of '09 were:

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Up soundtrack
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

[MonstersGoBoo!]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

I don't have much, but here's my list:

AFI - Sing The Sorrow
AFI - The Art of Drowning
The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim
Modest Mouse- Good News For People Who Like Bad News
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
Murder By Death - In Bocca Al Lupo
Tiger Army - Music From Regions Beyond

That's it for now. I know there's more, but I'm le tired.

[Ginarella]

Re: Best Albums of the Decade

Radiohead - Kid A

I've wondered if this whole whole album was really good. I love Optimistic.

I have to go back a decade?

My favorites

Silversun Pickups-Swoon
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Show your bones and It's Blitzed.
Mutemath-Armistice
Spinnerette-Spinnerette
No Doubt-Rock Steady
Ludo-You're awful, I love you
Shiny Toy Guns-Season of Poison