what are the most predictable best albums of the 00's?

[joe27]

the ones that will be staples of end of decade best of lists?
for the 90's it's stuff like nevermind, ok computer, loveless, achtung baby, homogenic. you can usually count on them making an appearance

i'm too out of touch to know what the obvious ones are for this decade. i'm curious to know what people think.

[friginator]

American Idiot. One of the best, easily.

[RachelEvil]

If The Woods and Show Your Bones don't end up on a lot of lists, I'll be pretty surprised.

[Pink Bat Maxine]

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

....what? I bought a copy in this decade.....

[escapegoat]

Dang...that's a tough one to call. I agree with American Idiot... I wasn't a huge Green Day fan, but when I heard that whole album, I was hugely impressed. It helps that it was a concept album - I'm a sucker for those.

In my choices, I'm trying to pick out the most commercial of the bunch.

ColdPlay - "A Rush of Blood to the Head" for sure, if not "Parachutes"....

Eminem - "The Marshall Mathers LP"

The White Stripes - "Elephant"

I would say maybe "In Rainbows" or "Kid A" from Radiohead.

[RachelEvil]

The Reminder and Chutes Too Narrow seem like pretty obvious choices, too.

[Shades0077]

I would say By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers and One by One by the Foo Fighters.

[stealthwise]

I would say By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers and One by One by the Foo Fighters.

You mean Stadium Arcadium and In Your Honor, right? Double-albums were SO in.

Also, System of a Down's Toxicity and Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the Deaf.

[Infra-Man]

For the indie rock set, some of the biggies would be:
Funeral by The Arcade Fire
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
You Forgot It In People by Broken Social Scene
Illinois by Sufjan Stevens

[Alex L]

I'm gonna go with Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory, one or more of the Coldplay albums, No Doubt's Rocksteady as an outside chance. I think more than half of the songs on that album were played to death.

[Spackling Compound]

Outkast : "The Love Below/Speakerboxx"

Friendship Schola: "When the Past Participates"

In and of: "Sensors"

Process: untitled

Of the 3: "Ovens and Toasters"

Olan Solsktagg and the New Liberals: "Justice and Blood"

Ok, I made every one up except Outkast. Just wanted to sound hip.

[Calvin Government]

I really wish that The Crane Wife by The Decemberists would make it, though it didn't really make a big enough splash.

... it was voted best album of 2006 by NPR listeners, though...

[Astonishing X-Fan]

I'd say The Eminem Show, which is by far Em's best work, IMO.

Also, did Jay-Z's Blueprint(the first one) come out after 99? Cause if so, that one.

[friginator]

Reality Vs. the Optimist, an album I doubt many people have heard, is in my opinion one of the best albums of the past few years. Also, System of a Down's Hypnotize would make my list, as would My Chemical Romance's rock opera The Black Parade.

[section 8]

Lateralus

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[Paul McEnery]

By definition, anything predictable isn't a best album.

This decade hasn't been about the overground at all, it's about nichey things that only subcommunities know about.

Off the top of my head, here's three:

The Throbbing Gristle reunion
Laura Cantrell's first
Joanna Newsom's Ys.

[rick]

The Throbbing Gristle reunion
.

The reunion was awsome, but I suspect the you, me and about six other people were the only ones in the US to buy copies.

Have you seen the beautiful and sad documentary about P-Orridge attempts to transform himself into a replica of his late wife, Lady Jaye?

It's up on YouTube and it was just lovely.

[rick]

I will say that my favorite "Pop" album of the last decade is a pretty good toss-up between...

Dandy Warhols - Odditorium or Warlords of Mars

Frank Black - Honeycomb

and Sufjan Stevens - Jacksonville

Honestly though I've found this decade to be pretty excellent for music overall. It's certainly much better then what was going on in the 90's and right up there with the best of the 70's and 80's.

[stealthwise]

By definition, anything predictable isn't a best album.

This decade hasn't been about the overground at all, it's about nichey things that only subcommunities know about.

Off the top of my head, here's three:

The Throbbing Gristle reunion
Laura Cantrell's first
Joanna Newsom's Ys.

By that criteria,

The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema
Modest Mouse's Good News for People who love bad news
The Mars Volta's Deloused in the Comatorium
Franz Ferdinand's self-titled

all four took their respective bands from indie to mainstream

[Agent Helix]

American Idiot. One of the best, easily.

Please. It's baby's first protest album, at best. If you want an anti-Bush administration punk album from the same year that's both better and doesn't shy away from actually making a point besides "things are baaad, whoa oh oh things are kinda laaaame", both Bad Religion's "The Empire Strikes First" and Anti-Flag's "The Terror State" leave this disc full of pablum in the dust.

[stealthwise]

Please. It's baby's first protest album, at best. If you want an anti-Bush administration punk album from the same year that's both better and doesn't shy away from actually making a point besides "things are baaad, whoa oh oh things are kinda laaaame", both Bad Religion's "The Empire Strikes First" and Anti-Flag's "The Terror State" leave this disc full of pablum in the dust.

The difference being that American Idiot is actually listenable.

[Agent Helix]

It's dull, pop-punk shit.

[NathanBethell]

I really wish that The Crane Wife by The Decemberists would make it, though it didn't really make a big enough splash.

... it was voted best album of 2006 by NPR listeners, though...

I was actually about to post "Her Majesty the Decemberists," but if their major label release is too small, one of their indies surely is.

[Agent Helix]

I'd say Her Majesty is their best, too.

If TV on the Radio's Dear Science isn't in some decade's top 20 lists, I'll be very surprised.

[stealthwise]

It's dull, pop-punk shit.

Yet it's easier to digest than the bands you named. All personal preference, of course, just as I doubt you (or most people, anyways) would enjoy the new Testament very much. Maybe.

[Agent Helix]

Of course it's easier to digest, that's why I specifically termed it "pablum".

But pablum is never, ever going to be the best of anything.

[Infra-Man]

I'd say Her Majesty is their best, too.

If TV on the Radio's Dear Science isn't in some decade's top 20 lists, I'll be very surprised.

If TV on the Radio makes a bad album, the terrorists have won. Those guys rule.

[stealthwise]

Of course it's easier to digest, that's why I specifically termed it "pablum".

But pablum is never, ever going to be the best of anything.

From the title and original post in this thread, we're obviously supposed to be looking at the definitive albums of this past decade. Someone mentioned Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory" album, which is a perfect example of a seminal 00s album. It's boring, repetitive, and simplistic, but has a bit of a distinct sound in the mainstream, and became a massive hit that the majority of people will always identify with the zeitgeist of the decade. It's not that it's good, it's that it serves a purpose to link people with a specific time period and setting.

Green Day's American Idiot does much the same thing, as do many of the other albums people have listed on here. But there's no way that the two albums you named will ever be recognized as such in that same way, at least, not outside a small subset of fans or music critics. Hell, I love the aforementioned Testament album and the last two Machine Heads, as well as Sevendust's 00s output, but they don't fit the mold either. The closest compromise I could find were the indie band breakout albums I named above.

Sadly, none of them will be as distinctly remembered or recognized several years from now more than the abhorrent "Silver Side Up" by Nickelback, or by whatever Creed has crapped out in the past 9 years.

[Agent Helix]

Never compromise. Not even in the face of boring musical armageddon.

[escapegoat]

It's dull, pop-punk shit.

The thing is...American Idiot's not really a punk album. It's more rock than punk, so you really can't compare it to other true punk albums.

[escapegoat]

I'd say Her Majesty is their best, too.

If TV on the Radio's Dear Science isn't in some decade's top 20 lists, I'll be very surprised.

Agreed.....I finally checked this one out the other week after seeing it listed #1 on some of the various best of '08 lists. I wasn't even aware it was out til I saw the lists and went "They've got a new one out? Me's gotta check it out"....

[Agent Helix]

The thing is...American Idiot's not really a punk album. It's more rock than punk, so you really can't compare it to other true punk albums.

It's still trite and mediocre.

[Lester C.]

Disturbed keeps releasing the same album over and over again and I love it. There is nothing better to work out to than Disturbed nothing.

[escapegoat]

It's still trite and mediocre.

We'll just haveta agree to disagree. The reason I enjoyed it a lot was because it wasn't one of those albums where all of the songs sounded the same. Each song felt distinct and held together well in regards to the theme of the album. I'm not a top40 kind of music lover, so it's not like I'm even a big fan of these guys.

[NathanBethell]

By definition, anything predictable isn't a best album.

While that's almost certainly true, I think it's possible to guess what will be on "10 Best Albums of the '00s" lists by mainstream critics, provided that we recognize the contents of such lists, while mostly containing good albums, bear little resemblance to the platonic form of the "10 Best Albums of the 00s."

The debate about American Idiot

I have a feeling that this album will show up on some Best lists. Whether it remotely deserves to be is another question.

[pauwoo]

The Rising - Bruce Springsteen

[friginator]

Please. It's baby's first protest album, at best. If you want an anti-Bush administration punk album from the same year that's both better and doesn't shy away from actually making a point besides "things are baaad, whoa oh oh things are kinda laaaame", both Bad Religion's "The Empire Strikes First" and Anti-Flag's "The Terror State" leave this disc full of pablum in the dust.

Have you listened to it? The political side of the material is all done through allegory. And there's not really too much specifically about the Bush Administration. Even ignoring the political meaningf, it still works as one of the better rock operas, which, as a lover of concept albums and rock operas, scores big points with me.

[Shades0077]

You mean Stadium Arcadium and In Your Honor, right? Double-albums were SO in.

Also, System of a Down's Toxicity and Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the Deaf.

I stand by my original picks. I don't think there is a bad song on either of those two albums. I think they're both really well constructed and planned out, too.

[Dr Ray Palmer]

I expect Amy Winehouse's Back to Black will make most critics' best-of lists come the end of the decade. Probably Home or Taking The Long Way by the Dixie Chicks, too.

[Adam C]

Albums I've heard of the top of my head that would probably be obvious choices on some Best Albums of the Aughts list (probably Pitchfork's, but it probably says more about my own proclivities)....

Feed the Animals by Girl Talk
St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley, though there's probably room for The Odd Couple as well
The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox
Kid A
In Rainbowsby Radiohead
Feast of Wire by Calexico
Demon Days by Gorillaz
Untrue by Burial
Up the Bracket by the Libertines
Memories of the Future by Kode9 and the Spaceape
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes by TV on the Radio
The Tyranny of Distance by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Alright, Still by Lily Allen
Elephant by the White Stripes
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
Stankonia by Outkast, as well as Spearboxxx/The Love Below
The College Dropout
808s & Heartbreak by Kanye West

Stuff I haven't heard, but seems to have enough cultural cache to end up on Best of Album lists...

Tha Carter III by Lil Wayne
Funeral by the Arcade Fire
The Blue Print by Jay Z. Also possibly The Black Album and even The Gray Album
The Tipping Point by the Roots
This Is It by the Strokes

And that's all I got...

[Adam C]

The thing is...American Idiot's not really a punk album. It's more rock than punk, so you really can't compare it to other true punk albums.

Okay. Can we compare it to the work of Ted Leo who aims at roughly the same goal as Green Day (take punk energy & idealism and marry it to classic pop/rock songwriting in the vein of the Who or the Beatles)? Because for my money, he not only does it much better, but has a maturity and hard-won optimism that's sorely lacking in a lot of modern rock music (Green Day included).

[escapegoat]

Okay. Can we compare it to the work of Ted Leo who aims at roughly the same goal as Green Day (take punk energy & idealism and marry it to classic pop/rock songwriting in the vein of the Who or the Beatles)? Because for my money, he not only does it much better, but has a maturity and hard-won optimism that's sorely lacking in a lot of modern rock music (Green Day included).

Well sure, you can compare it to that and say that, but then most of the people are gonna say "Who's Ted Leo?"

The idea of this thread (or so I thought) was the most predictable - which alludes to mainstream. It's not about knocking off someone's talent in this question, it's figuring out what albums will probably rank as defining to the mainstream media. Now you don't haveta be uber-big to qualify, but you do need to be recognizable. Green Day is predictable and mainstream in such an instance. Ted Leo isn't.

Otherwise, I'd be throwing in a ton of less mainstream artists that I like in my initial post...I considered The Arcade Fire, but I'm really not sure how well they hit that mainstream thread in music to qualify as a iconic artist/album for this decade. I listed the Marshall Mathers LP as a possibility, but the Eminem Show is probably the better album. In the end, all we can do is guess. :smile:

[EdContradictory]

Late Registration, Neon Bible, St. Elsewhere, musicforthemorningafter, Souljacker, Discovery

[Adam C]

Otherwise, I'd be throwing in a ton of less mainstream artists that I like in my initial post...I considered The Arcade Fire, but I'm really not sure how well they hit that mainstream thread in music to qualify as a iconic artist/album for this decade.

Oddly enough the Arcade Fire are probably among the more likely indie-rock bands of the decade to get on a mainstream list. Funeral was widely acclaimed across the all corners of the press and actually got the band a large audience, so much that Neon Bible (the band's second record) peaked at number 2 on the U.S. hot billboard 200. I wouldn't be surprised if it does show up on Rolling Stone's best of list for the 2000s.

Granted we can debate what "iconic" is for the aughts. While I think Paul oversimplifies things by too far (certainly Kanye, Outkast, and Radiohead would beg another question regarding that) but aughts has seen an increasing fracturing of tastes. Its harder to get to a widespread mainstream audience, and increasingly we have things that play to respective niches be it mainstream arena rock, indie rock (where some of the decades most vital rock bands have come from), hip-hop, or electronica. So whatever "mainstream" list might exist could vary completely between Rolling Stone and the Source, or Spin and Pitchfork. (And that's never minding England which has its own separate indie guitar scene, a home-grown form of hip-hop called Grime, and is more exposed to musical developments from Africa.)

Anyways, I made my Ted Leo comments in the context of a side discussion on the relative artistic merits of Green Day's American Idiot. You should all go out and buy The Tyranny of Distance and/or Hearts of Oak right now.

[shrike]

I am so out of touch with current musical trends anymore I have no idea.

[Infra-Man]

You should all go out and buy The Tyranny of Distance and/or Hearts of Oak right now.

I second this. Ted Leo is at the forefront of politically aware, socially conscious rock, with songwriting skills comparable to Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, and Paul Weller; all stamped with an edge a la Ian McKaye or The Clash.

[escapegoat]

Oddly enough the Arcade Fire are probably among the more likely indie-rock bands of the decade to get on a mainstream list. Funeral was widely acclaimed across the all corners of the press and actually got the band a large audience, so much that Neon Bible (the band's second record) peaked at number 2 on the U.S. hot billboard 200. I wouldn't be surprised if it does show up on Rolling Stone's best of list for the 2000s.

Anyways, I made my Ted Leo comments in the context of a side discussion on the relative artistic merits of Green Day's American Idiot. You should all go out and buy The Tyranny of Distance and/or Hearts of Oak right now.

Yeah, I would probably expect Arcade Fire to make in, knowing those stats now. I remember seeing/hearing/loving their song "Rebellion (Lies) song 5 months on Muchmusic before it actually became a hit, and being surprised to see it on the charts that long afterwards. I find that the only intersting videos worth checking out these days are the alternative ones that appear on The Wedge (Muchmusic's weekly hour alt-rock program). So many of the mainstream videos do tend to be quite boring.

I will definitely check out Ted Leo. I always love checking out new things and he sounds like he may be right up my alley.

[Adam C]

I will definitely check out Ted Leo. I always love checking out new things and he sounds like he may be right up my alley.

He's basically early 80's power-pop filtered through a punk edge, with some elements of classic rock (Ted Leo does very nice guitar solos) and song-writing drawing heavily from the traditions of the guys Infra-Man mentioned above. Plus he's got one of the best singing voices of anyone I've recently heard in indie rock. Just look at his solo cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Keep on Pushing" (http://www.spinner.com/2007/02/06/ted-leo-visits-the-interface-covers-curtis-mayfield/).