We all have albums that have hit us in that musical and emotional sweet spot.
And like an addiction, we can’t stop listening, until we’ve practically beaten them into the ground.
There is nothing like the initial thrill of discovering such an album. We may not ever return to them with that same intensity again, but there is no denying that they have indelibly imprinted themselves on us. If we do revisit them in later years, more than likely a special feeling washes over us like no other
More so than any other decade, the 00’s were a time when I got hooked on albums that just floored me – from top to bottom.
It greatly helped that about halfway into the decade, I had logged on to streaming with Rhapsody. I was now availing myself to much more music than I ever had, though I hadn’t stopped buying CDs altogether.
Albums that were a core part of my musical formation in my younger years were likely to have quite a few songs that I would wait patiently to finish, so I could get to the three or four songs I really loved. I would have still probably called these albums “great.”
Conversely, by the 00s, my definition as an adult of what constituted a “great album” was:
It had songs that just really hit me hard, one after another, with no more than one or two skips. And it was more than just a collection of great songs.
Those songs conspired together to set a distinctive mood, and take me to a place where I would not want to leave anytime soon.
Here is my list of 10 Great Albums of the ‘00s, ranked in order.
This is not a “greatest albums of the decade” list. I have not listened to enough music to ever presume to be qualified to make such a list. And it would still be my opinion anyway.
No, these are simply albums that personally grabbed a hold of me and worked their magic, making me want to keep listening endlessly. In some cases, I was never the same after the experience.
Out of curiosity, I did look at Rolling Stone’s list of Best 100 Albums of the 2000s, and saw that four out of my ten were on the list, though none were in their top 20.
I also saw many albums, particularly higher up, by artists that try as I might, I most likely will never get. I’m at peace with that.
Perhaps: we share a love for one or more of the albums on my list.
It would be fun to hear about that.
If there is something here that you haven’t heard before or only know marginally, I invite you to listen to it and see if it does anything for you. And if you have any favorite albums of the ‘00s that you would like
to share with the class, please, by all means, have at it!
One:
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
(2004)
(#71 Rolling Stone)
It’s as if the band prepared for this moment by spending their entire lives listening to nothing but high-octane punk and disco records. (Is there any other kind?) Then they just got together and came up with banger upon banger, for a debut that explodes with a non-stop, uncontainable energy and oozes cool and sweat from every pore.
I’m still listening, and it knocks me to the ground to this day, unlike anything I’ve ever heard. I’m not sure if anything will ever eject it out of the top spot. If something eventually does, I can’t wait to hear it.
Two:
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
(2002)
(#27 Rolling Stone)
Shook me to the core by altering the way I hear music and getting me to see life through a different lens. It showed me the great power in something that could be eccentric and unconventional, and at the same time, sincere, heartfelt, and vulnerable. It truly blew my mind and encouraged me to dig deeper to find my own voice.
Three:
Three Flights From Alto Nido
Greg Laswell
(2008)
A wistful song cycle about relationships lost or hoped for, and about the songwriting process itself, wrapped in irresistible melodies and deft production that gives it an attractive sheen but keeps it earthy and raw. Laswell’s voice gently compels you to listen and is like a drug that doesn’t get you high, yet you still can’t get enough.
Four:
Triple Distilled
Graham Day and the Gaolers
(2008)
A snarling take on 60s rock with gobs of hooky melodies, harmonies and grooves. Day writes strictly about what he knows, like smoking, drinking, writing songs, playing gigs, and telling it like it is. So many killer songs. Barely anyone has heard it – and that is criminal.
Five:
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
(2009)
(#56 Rolling Stone)
A crown jewel of its era, heavily influenced by Afropop, with touches of classical. There were many albums that were highly touted at the time, but personally didn’t do much for me. This one walked the walk with irresistible songs, exquisite arrangements, and an Ivy League vibe that makes upper- crust sound fun. Kind of like watching Rory Gilmore go off to Yale, before things got ugly.
Six:
Love, Save The Empty
Erin McCarley
(2009)
Love her voice, her songwriting, the arrangements and overall vibe of this thing. It’s somehow big and intimate, lush and raw, perky and sad, at the same time. Every song hits.
Seven:
Odyssey
Fischerspooner
(2005)
A collage of spacy electronic sounds and infectious beats with enough hooks and vague spiritual messaging that kept me coming back for more ad infinitum. Made me want to dance and contemplate at the same time.
Eight:
The Trials of Van Occupanther
Midlake
(2006)
Thematically rooted in the farmlands of the late 1800s, and musically rooted in laid back 70s California rock a-la Fleetwood Mac. It is both alluringly strange – and oddly familiar.
Nine:
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
(2008)
(#47 Rolling Stone)
Not sure what to say that hasn’t already been said about this mesmerizing, dreamy indie-folk masterpiece. The pure sonic beauty emanating from songs like “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” stopped me in my tracks and whisked me off to a place I couldn’t quite describe, but to where I knew I must return.
Ten:
Rockin’ the Suburbs
Ben Folds
(2001)
As a piano player, no one in the rock world has made me feel like quitting the instrument more than this guy has.
His chops are out of this world phenomenal, but more than that, he found a way to unleash raw power from the instrument unlike possibly any other rock piano player I’ve ever heard.
That said, his playing never overpowers, but works in tandem with enticing melodies and chord structures, crystalline vocals and engaging observations, both wry and earnest, to just crank out one great song after another like it’s nothing.
Is this his best? I have no idea.
But it’s sickeningly good enough to send me plummeting into a spiral of self-doubt. And it has never felt better
Honorable Mention:
Has Been
William Shatner
(2004)
No, it’s not a joke. This is truly and unironically a great album.
Here are all the albums on one playlist. Sorry, it’s not in the above order. I didn’t feel like fixing it. Lazy…
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Rhapsody was LEGENDARY back in the day.
I remember when they wrote articles tying each big new release of the week to a viral video or news story. So wonderfully inventive.
Then they gutted all of their writing staff around Xmas 2014.
Yes. I really loved it more than any other streaming experience I’ve had.
Some great albums here, for sure. I’ll have to check out the ones listed that I don’t know.
The 00s had some phenomenal new music come out. As for solid albums, here are some that wowed me:
Antony & the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now
Animal Collective: Sung Tongs (and also Feels)
Radiohead: Kid A (and also In Rainbows)
Devendra Banhart: Rejoicing in the Hands
Bjork: Vespertine (and also Medulla)
Xiu Xiu: Fabulous Muscles
M.I.A.: Kala
Plenty more that I could list, but I’ll leave it there. I’ve got some listening to do!
I really tried with Kid A, but it lost me in too many spots to stick as an album.
That said, Optimistic nailed me to the wall like no other song had in quite a long time.
“How to Disappear Completely” remains one of the greatest things they’ve ever done.
Between the two of you, you’ve nailed the two Kid A songs I’d pick out. How To Disappear Completely is stunning and Optimistic is unusually, well, sort of optimistic for Radiohead. Though in the most Radiohead way possible. I always loved the line; “You can try the best you can, the best you can is good enough”. That’s the British way, not too much pressure to be great but just to be good enough.
Ditto on the William Shatner album, excellently produced by Ben Folds. For anyone who hasn’t heard it, it’s non-stop greatness.
Also ditto on Rockin’ The Suburbs and Phylum’s suggestion of Verspertine.
The two albums that came to mind first were Green Day’s American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. The little band who could, did.
I’ll also add Queens Of The Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf, Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, and possibly Nine Inch Nails’ [WITH_TEETH].
I’d never been a big Green Day fan until American Idiot came along. Interesting to see you bracket it together with 21st Century Breakdown. For me it felt like a not quite as good attempt at recreating American Idiot, which was in line with much of the critical opinion here as well. I still listen to AI but it’s been a long time since 21CB got a play. Maybe time for a re-evaluation.
I’m sure they were hoping for lightning to strike twice. It did, but the second flash wasn’t as brilliant. If they had come out in the opposite order, they’d both be revered.
The radio songs from American Idiot are all great. Holiday is one of my favorite Green Day songs. I have never listened to the whole album. That needs to be rectified, stat. Your other suggestions I need to check out as well. I like the tracks that I know from those albums.
Ok, so I just listened to American Idiot in its entirety. I really wish I had been listening all along; it would have had a great chance of making my list. What a powerful record from an amazing band that was already one of the greatest of the 90s, but this 00s version? Off the charts.
I can’t explain why new music doesn’t excite me. I have to force myself to be interested in it. Maybe it’s because my passion is always to learn more about music further back in time. Maybe it’s because there’s so much music already released that I still haven’t gotten to. Maybe it’s because it takes a lot of mental effort to appreciate a new album, and I lazily am not wanting to make the investment. Maybe it’s because new music is difficult to find anyone I know that can discuss it with me. Discussing music with someone else really helps me digest music that I’m just learning.
It reminds me of being an introverted kid and being encouraged to participate in new activities with the encouragement of “You can make new friends!” I would think to myself “Why would I want to do that? I’m cool with the friends that I have.”
That being said, I’m happy when I do find new music. And I hope that I can find the time to skim through some of your suggestions, rollerboogie, because I’ll bet that even I could find some music there that I love. Thanks for the list!
You got it, Link!
Fully with you on Franz Ferdinand, Flaming Lips, Fleet Foxes, Ben Folds and Vampire Weekend. Fischerspooner passed me by and Erin McCarley, Greg Laswell and Graham Day I haven’t heard before – which gives me some to dig into.
Midlake are a blind spot for me. They’ve always seemed a band that should be right up my street but for whatever reason they don’t elicit anything more than a response of ‘it’s OK I guess’.
As for Has Been; the album doesn’t quite hold me in its grip the whole way through but his version of Common People is a thing of wonder. Back when I had my ipod and could see number of plays it was way ahead of anything else.
A few of my favourite things from the 00s (which over here is generally known as the noughties rather than the aughts):
2 Many DJs – As Heard On Radio Soulwax, Pt 2
British Sea Power – The Decline Of British Sea Power
Robyn – Robyn
The Delgados – The Great Eastern
PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
Beck – Sea Change
Super Furry Animals – Rings Around The World
Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
Brakes – Give Blood
King Creosote – KC Rules OK
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
The Hold Steady – Boys And Girls In America
Maximo Park – A Certain Trigger
Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Neon Neon – Stainless Style
Madness – The Liberty Of Norton Folgate
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
Johnny Flynn – A Larum
Very cool, JJ. I don’t know most of these you posted. I will need to get into it. The Life Pursuit never seems to come up when people talk about Belle and Sebastian on the gum or here. That one I do know and listened to frequently. I did think about it when making my list. “The Acts of the Apostle” (both parts) checks off literally every box of what I love about music and I still give it a spin.
Believe it or not, I heard the Shatner version of Common People before I heard the original and I was like “this is so amazing!” That is such a powerful song, whatever version one prefers.
The one I played til the CD wore down is 2 Many DJs. It’s a Belgian band Soulwax who as their day job started off in alternative rock and have moved into electronic music. On the side they were doing a lot of remixes, some official and some unofficial. They did live shows in their remix / DJ guise and the album came as a result of them. Across 65 minutes it mixes and mashes up 45 tracks. There’s everything from the Peter Gun Theme to Velvet Underground, Dolly Parton, Royksopp, Peaches, The Breeders, The Cramps, 10CC, Destiny’s Child, Nena and a whole lot of more obscure tracks.
It’s not available on streaming and on YouTube there’s a number of versions of varying lengths so I can’t tell if any are the full version or what bits are missing. Well worth seeking out though if you can find the complete version.
Full trackless here; https://www.discogs.com/master/11811-2-Many-DJs-As-Heard-On-Radio-Soulwax-Pt-2
I can vouch for a number of these bands, but only Camera Obscura’s album would make my top albums list.
Thanks Roller!
We must have the same sweet spot as Franz, Flaming, Fleet, and Vampire are four of my favorite bands and those are four of my favorite albums!
Since I am only kinda (or not at all) familiar with the others, thank you for the great suggestions – they will be new music for me to try out. (Let’s start with Graham Day as that sounds right up one of my musical alleys.)
Awesome. Let me know what you think of the Graham Day.
Roller,
Man, this got me thinking…I’ll have to come up with a list of 10 myself, but first:
Yes! A fellow fan of Fischerspooner’s Odyssey comes forward. I think you’re the first in this comment section.
We all have bands that we’re “supposed” to like but that doesn’t really work that way, does it? We like what we like. No explanation needed.
That Vampire Weekend story is awesome. A couple of decades ago, there was a local Knights of Columbus hall that would allow some folks to host all-ages shows in its basement. Tons of young local bands would play at it. A bunch of teens from my choirs would go to it. One of the bands that played there frequently was Fall Out Boy.
The closest story I have to yours, and it’s not quite the same, is when I saw John Mayer at the House of Blues, when his debut single “No Such Thing” was starting to break. It was such a cool, intimate show. Seeing him in an arena a couple of years later was not as great, not going to lie. Too many screaming little girls, with Mayer deliberately pandering to them at times. I just wanted to hear the music and it was clear that it wasn’t about that as much anymore.
I spent the last hour going thru my playlists since 2003; these are the albums for which I’ve included every song of the album (that’s a big deal for me). Asterisks are the ones that are just a bit ahead of the others.
Strokes: The Modern Age*
Broken Social Scene: Broken Social Scene
The Stills: Logic Will Break Your Heart*
The National: Boxer*
Amy Winehouse: Back to Black*
Tennis: Cape Dory
Tokyo Police Club: Elephant Shell*
Pete Yorn: Musicforthemorningafter*
Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory*
Editors: The Back Room
Death Cab: Narrow Stairs
Interpol: Turn on the Bright Lights*
Interpol: Antics*
LCD Soundsystem: This is Happening*
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not
Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career*
Cold War Kids: Robbers & Cowards
Travis: The Invisible Band
Freelance Whales: Weathervanes
Yuck: Yuck*
Rifles: No Love Lost
Vaccines: What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?*
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs*
Pains of Being Pure at Heart: self-titled
Grimes: Art Angels
Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory*
Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes
Wow, that’s a lot! Way more than I availed myself to at the time. I will need to check some of these out. What are your top 5 would you say?
Oof!
I’ll give you a Top 10, and try to put them in some type of order:
I have to get back to class!
Wow, thanks for taking the time to do that. I love the stories here. I am listening to The Stills album now. The first song knocks it out of the park, and it has over a million plays on Spotify, so maybe word has spread?
I’m fairly certain 30% of those listens are me.
Fair enough, but “Still in Love Song” has close to 4 mil.
I just listened to the whole album and, honestly, it was a great listen; it’s really strong from start to finish. Why this didn’t get more love is beyond me.
roller, are you Facebook? If so, look me up using my last name.
I am not. Sorry. I jumped ship about a decade ago.
This reminds me. Linkin Park’s A Thousand Suns sounds unlike most of their stuff and I think it’s their best. Truly a great album.
I like a lot of their hits, but haven’t dug deeper. I will need to check that out.
Wow. It is a different sound for them. Listened up to “Robot Boy”, which is a really good song. Love the groove and the harmonies.
And it works as a concept album, too. Good stuff.
Three Flights From Alto Nido is an inspired choice. I have that CD. “How the Day Sounds” rules. Greg Laswell is the other guy who covered Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work”. Arguably, it’s the better version. I also bought The Trials of Van Occupanther. The band chose the right song as the lead track. It really draws you in. I got lost in “Roscoe”.
Nice to know I’m in good company on both of those. Roscoe is amazing and really does set the tone for what the band is going for. The song that really sucked me in was “Head Home,” which has a similar feel. I think those two songs are what mainly triggered the Fleetwood Mac comparisons.
I have not heard the Laswell take on Kate Bush. I think he has done a bunch of covers. I was surprised to hear his voice on my daughter’s playlist, singing “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”.
I’m late to this post, but oh man is this my decade. Started college in 1999. Worked in a record store 2002 to 2005. Owned a store 2006 to 2008. When that “top 42” albums thing went around on Facebook, my list only had 6 albums that weren’t from the aughts. I’ll give you five.
The Notwist – Neon Golden (2002)
Sublime glitch-pop (that’s a genre, right?) from some former German metallers.
Placebo – Meds (2006)
Their best album, in my opinion. Great energy in a dynamic group of songs.
Frank Turner – Love, Ire & Song (2008)
Former-punk-turned-troubadour is a crowded field, but this one trumps them all. Something just really works for me here.
Cursive – Domestica (2000)
Perfect. Whatever genre you might call it. When I first got this, I just let it play on repeat. Perfect then. Still perfect now.
The Postman Syndrome – Terraforming (2002)
This is a little more out there. Heavy music is entirely dependent on the vocals for me, and there is plenty I just can’t get into. This is my sweet spot though. I always have trouble explaining why I like things, so just check it out if you enjoy stuff on the heavier side.