Top 10 Albums of the 2000’s

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. Back To Black
2. Rehab
3. Me & Mr Jones

One of the great tragedies of 21st Century music is that Amy Winehouse was gone from us far too soon. Her most popular album “Back To Black” is one of the best of the decade.

I don’t think it’s an unpopular opinion to say this is the album with all her best songs. I’m always down for “Tears Dry On Their Own”, “He Can Only Hold Her” and “Me & Mr Jones”, but the two main attractions are clearly “Rehab” and the title track. Both of those are some of the most iconic tracks to come out of the 2000’s.

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. Parabola
2. Schism
3. Lateralus

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
2. A Certain Romance
3. When The Sun Goes Down

I will always maintain that Arctic Monkeys are one of our finest British bands – especially of the modern era. Their debut album “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” is absolutely electric from start to finish.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a weak song, and the highs get the blood pumping. The slower tracks like “Mardy Bum” and “Riot Van” have their place, but I’ve always been more of a fan of the faster-paced tracks.

“When The Sun Goes Down” is an underrated British classic, “A Certain Romance” is an amazing final song, and “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” can get anyone out of their chair.

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. Dirty Harry
2. Feel Good Inc.
3. Kids with Guns

I always flip-flop back and forth as to whether “Plastic Beach” or “Demon Days” is my favourite Gorillaz album. All I know for sure is that both of them are awesome.

“Demon Days” has one of the best first halves of an album ever – “Kids with Guns”, “O Green World”, “Feel Good Inc.” and “Dirty Harry” are all bangers.

The second half isn’t necessarily as strong but it does still have cracking songs like “Every Planet We Reach Is Dead”, “November Has Come” and “DARE”. All in all, this album is such a bop.

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. All My Friends
2. Someone Great
3. New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. Idioteque
2. How to Disappear Completely
3. Everything In Its Right Place

Coming off of the Alt Rock masterpiece that was “OK Computer”, I imagine many Radiohead fans and general critics were expecting the band to release another kooky, philosophical Rock album. I’m sure nobody had “Kid A”, an electronic fever dream, on the cards.

“Everything In Its Right Place” is an immediately unsettling tone-setter, and it’s quickly followed by masterpieces like “The National Anthem” and especially “How to Disappear Completely” – one of the most gorgeous songs ever recorded.

My pick for the best on the album, however, has to be “Idioteque”. I fell in love with those hefty, artificial thumps as a teenager and that love has never faded. It’s a masterclass in electronica and perturbed lyricism – trends which Radiohead would carry on in the new millenium.

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. My Girls
2. In The Flowers
3. Bluish

It took me far too long in my life to get into “Merriweather Post Pavilion”. I was a fan of “My Girls”, but it was only when I finally listened to the album in full for 2009‘s retrospective that I completely fell in love. I can’t believe I’d been missing out on Animal Collective for so many years!

The first half of this album is one of the strongest runs of six tracks I’ve ever heard. “In The Flowers” is a jaw-dropping opener, “Summertime Clothes” and “Bluish” are songs I play on repeat, “Also Frightened” and “Daily Routine” are criminally underrated, and “My Girls” is one of the best, most heart-felt songs of all time.

The second half dips in quality, however, but there’s still joy to be had with songs like “Taste” and the closer “Brother Sport”. In the least year or so this is the album I’ve replayed more than any other, bar none.

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
2. Bodysnatchers
3. 15 Step

If you said “OK Computer” or “Kid A” were the best Radiohead albums, I wouldn’t disagree with you … but I’ve always been an “In Rainbows” fanboy.

The only song I’m lukewarm towards is “Faust Arp”. That’s it. The rest of the album is a series of magnum opuses (magnum opi?) in a row – my favourites like “15 Step”, “Bodysnatchers” and “Weird Fishes / Arpeggi” are just as exciting on the thousandth listen as they were on the first.

I think one of the stand-out aspects of Radiohead in hindsight was how good their production was and still is. Every song here sounds so crisp and purposeful – Nigel Godrich and the band are magicians.

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. Knights of Cydonia
2. Supermassive Black Hole
3. Starlight

I had a big call to make when compiling this top ten – do I put “Black Holes And Revelations” above “In Rainbows”, even if that angers every musical hipster in the world? In the end, I had to listen to my heart and go for my favourite Muse album.

Those opening four songs – “Take A Bow”, “Starlight”, “Supermassive Black Hole” and “Map of the Problematique” – are quite possibly my favourite opening run of songs on any album. In essence, this album got off to a red-hot start.

While the rest of the album doesn’t have the same celestial quality, I still really enjoy tracks like “Assassin”, “Invincible”, “City of Delusion” and “Exo-Politics”.

But the real kicker of the album is the final track, “Knights of Cydonia”. It’s Bohemian Rhapsody-esque with its composition and is just as awesome. No song better exemplifies Muse’s Space Rock style, and few album closers have ever been so mesmeric.

TOP THREE SONGS:

1. One More Time
2. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
3. Digital Love

When compiling this list, I knew “Discovery” would make the top ten but I wasn’t sure where it would place. After analyzing every other album on this list and every song on said albums … yeah. Daft Punk absolutely cooked with this one – more than should be humanly possible.

This is a perfect album. Even the songs I’m not 100% on like “Superheroes” or “High Life” still have a place, and when this album hits its stride it’s majestic.

“One More Time” could not be a better opening statement if it tried, and it’s quickly followed up by all-timers like “Digital Love” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”.

It’s not just about the hits, though – the sheer number of underrated songs on here is breath-taking. “Veridis Quo”, “Face to Face”, “Voyager” and “Nightvision” are all songs which transport me to another plane of electronic existence.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that “Discovery” is one of the greatest albums ever recorded.