Best of Decade (2000s) Album Lists

i got it mixed up with love and theft (#11)

Comparing RS top 10 and P4k rankings (in parentheses):

1 | Radiohead: Kid A (#1)
2 | The Strokes: Is This It (#7)
3 | Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (#4)
4 | Jay-Z: The Blueprint (#5)
5 | The White Stripes: Elephant (#74, White Blood Cells at #12)
6 | Arcade Fire: Funeral (#2)
7 | Eminem: The Marshal Mathers LP
8 | Bob Dylan: Modern Times
9 | M.I.A.: Kala (#22)
10 | Kanye West: The College Dropout (#28, Late Registration at #18)

Seems like a lot of consensus, with the main exceptions being Eminem and Dylan.

Kanye's 4 for 4 in RS, impressive.

from what I can tell, the RS list has one album from 2009 (may have missed some):

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

eminem was on the p4k list too

You could poll any time period in virtually any magazine and you'd get exactly the same trend. A pile of madrigals from 1211 and just the one from 1219.

I would like to lodge a formal complaint about the great Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? not making many best-of decade lists.

eminem was on the p4k list too

I only looked through the top 100 - I didn't see it there, but maybe it placed lower or I missed it.

duly noted! (xp)

complaint seconded, tho it made the p4k list iirc

lol at actual of montreal fan k3vin k.

eminem was on the p4k list too

I only looked through the top 100 - I didn't see it there, but maybe it placed lower or I missed it.

― o. nate, Wednesday, December 9, 2009 3:38 PM

The Marshall Mathers LP clocked in at #119 on the P4K list.

I don't know if this is getting printed anywhere but I feel it is so important that you know what Lars and Kirk from Metallica's top 25s are that I am just gonna ignore that rule

Lars:
01. ARCTIC MONKEYS - "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not"
02. SYSTEM OF A DOWN - "Toxicity"
03. THE SWORD - "Age Of Winters"
04. KINGS OF LEON - "Aha Shake Heartbreak"
05. THE WHITE STRIPES - "Elephant"
06. GREEN DAY - "American Idiot"
07. SLIPKNOT - "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses"
08. EMINEM - "The Eminem Show"
09. WOLFMOTHER - "Wolfmother"
10. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - "Renegades"
11. U2 - "No Line On The Horizon"
12. KASABIAN - "Kasabian"
13. THE MARS VOLTA - "De-Loused in the Comatorium"
14. OASIS - "Don't Believe The Truth"
15. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - "Rated R"
16. SYSTEM OF A DOWN - "Mezmerize"
17. ARCTIC MONKEYS - "Favorite Worst Nightmare"
18. ALICE IN CHAINS - "Black Gives Way To Blue"
19. THE BLACK KEYS - "Attack & Release"
20. AUDIOSLAVE - "Audioslave"
21. MASTODON - "Crack The Skye"
22. MOTÖRHEAD - "Inferno"
23. GUNS N' ROSES - "Chinese Democracy"
24. THE DATSUNS - "The Datsuns"
25. THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS - "The Age Of The Understatement"

Kirk:
01. RADIOHEAD - "Kid A"
02. THE MARS VOLTA - "De-Loused in the Comatorium"
03. SIGUR ROS - ()
04. MUSE - "Absolution"
05. LAMB OF GOD - "Ashes Of The Wake"
06. DAMIAN MARLEY - "Welcome To Jamrock"
07. MASTODON - "Crack The Skye"
08. OUTKAST - "Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below"
09. INTERPOL - "Turn On The Bright Lights"
10. SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
11. SYSTEM OF A DOWN - "Mezmerize"
12. THE BLACK KEYS - "Magic Potion"
13. PJ HARVEY - "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea"
14. SINÉAD O'CONNOR - "Faith And Courage"
15. GOJIRA - "The Way Of All Flesh"
16. MACHINE HEAD - "The Blackening"
17. RY COODER & MANUEL GALBAN - "Mambo Sinuendo"
18. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - "Rated R"
19. TOOL - "Lateralus"
20. TOM WAITS - "Alice"
21. MY MORNING JACKET - "It Still Moves"
22. ALICE IN CHAINS - "Black Gives Way To Blue"
23. THE SWORD - "Age Of Winters"
24. PINK MARTINI - "Hey Eugene!"
25. ALL SHALL PERISH - "Awaken The Dreamers"

dear lars, what the fuck, luv moi

kirk's isn't bad in a kinda lol indie way

06. DAMIAN MARLEY - "Welcome To Jamrock"

!!!! <3 that album

basically agree with lj's assessment of the two lists

In case anyone's interested, I compared the Pitchfork, NME, and Rolling Stone top 100 songs lists, and there were 58 songs that appeared on at least two of the three lists.

Hm. METACRITICS Best Artists Of The Decade. Interesting, tho predictable, results.

Not sure if this is appropriate for the Best of Decade Album Lists thread (it sort of fits, since METACRITICS' rating is based on METACRITIC album scores). Couldn't think of a more appropriate existing thread tho.

58 songs that appeared on at least two of the three lists

I've heard all but about 10 of these. I don't feel so completely out of it now.

That MetaCritics list is just odd. It's a strange universe in which those particular artists would be measured as best of the decade. I guess their methodology is pretty transparent, but it doesn't seem to work. I think they end up making a list of critical darlings who slogged through the decade making lots of generally well-reviewed albums that never really broke through.

Here's the Metacritic Best Albums of the Decade, I don't think anyone's posted it yet:

1 SMiLE by Brian Wilson 2004 97 7.9
2 Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn 2004 97 9.0
3 Stankonia by OutKast 2000 95 8.4
4 Savane by Ali Farka Toure 2006 94 8.2
5 Madvillainy by Madvillainy 2004 93 8.7
6 Love And Theft by Bob Dylan 2001 93 8.8
7 Boy In Da Corner by Dizzee Rascal 2004 92 9.0
8 Elephant by The White Stripes 2003 92 8.2
9 A Grand Don’t Come For Free by The Streets 2004 91 7.7
10 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by OutKast 2003 91 9.1
11 Canto by Los Super Seven 2001 91 8.0
12 From Here We Go Sublime by The Field 2007 90 6.5
13 Illinois by Sufjan Stevens 2005 90 8.8
14 Original Pirate Material by The Streets 2002 90 8.9
15 Alice by Tom Waits 2002 90 9.5
16 Is This It? by The Strokes 2001 90 8.6
17 Funeral by Arcade Fire 2004 90 9.4
18 London Zoo by The Bug 2008 90 6.0
19 Untrue by Burial 2007 90 7.4
20 XTRMNTR by Primal Scream 2000 90 8.7
21 Z by My Morning Jacket 2005 90 8.2
22 Since I Left You by The Avalanches 2001 89 9.3
23 Rounds by Four Tet 2003 89 8.9
24 Neon Golden by The Notwist 2003 89 9.0
25 Modern Times by Bob Dylan 2006 89 8.4
26 Miss E… So Addictive by Missy Elliott 2001 89 7.9
27 HoboSapiens by John Cale 2004 89 9.5
28 Bachelor No. 2 (or, the last remains of the dodo) by Aimee Mann 2000 89 9.4
29 Fed by Plush 2008 89 7.6
30 Last Exit by Junior Boys 2004 89 8.2
31 Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective 2009 89 8.5
32 Songs For The Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age 2002 89 9.2
33 Wearemonster by Isolée 2005 89 8.3
34 Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse 2006 89 8.0
35 Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins 2003 88 9.2
36 Yours, Mine & Ours by Pernice Brothers 2003 88 9.2
37 Hypermagic Mountain by Lightning Bolt 2005 88 6.2
38 Ta Det Lugnt by Dungen 2004 88 9.3
39 Dear Science, by TV on the Radio 2008 88 9.1
40 Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II by Raekwon 2009 88 9.0

I guess their methodology is pretty transparent

It may be transparent, but it's convoluted. Sometimes a METASCORE will be, say, 83 on 10 reviews, but only one of the reviews scores the disc at 83 or higher. Put differently, METACRITIC's special formula includes some strange weighting of scores. I still find it an invaluable website.

xp I got some publicity email saying Kirk from Metallica named some Dengue Fever song his #2 or 3 track of the decade, but I haven't seen the rest of that list.

The other problem is that a lot of albums get such a high rating because only 3-4 publications (in Metacritic's active list) that rated it. Whereas albums that are more widely reviewed generally get a lower average because there's more chance of dissenting opinions. Still, it makes the list plenty different from all the others.

As an aside, see how many of these you can recognise - http://www.flickr.com/photos/njsouthall/4190387283/

I'm going to break my own rule and post my Best of 00s individual list: Top 200 Albums of the 00s. Also: Top 60 Artists | 00s Breakdown: Top 13 Genre Lists | Top 100 Movies | Top 60 Shows | Top 13 Books - Fiction; Music & Rock 'n' Roll Fiction; Graphic Novels & Comics

There are 11 days left in the decade. This is not like you to jump the gun.

i don't know how anyone ever really comes up with a "best of decade" list

even within this decade my tastes have swerved around so wildly that things that meant a huge amount to me 5 years ago mean nothing now. and the things i love now, how will i know if i'll feel the same way, looking back in another 10 years?

how do people actually make these decisions?

well if you're gonna post yours...i finished mine that Beatrix referred to at the top of the thread:http://narrowcast.blogspot.com/2009/12/narrowcasts-top-100-albums-of-decade_04.html

xpost -- i made mine by going back and re-doing my best-of lists for each year of the decade, and then just kinda keeping and eliminating stuff from there based on gut instinct. it's not an exact science, but if you're committed to making a list then at the end you've got one.

Yeah, I did pretty much the same thing. I tried to only keep stuff that I still feel passionate about, but I also threw in a few albums I've since softened on, just out of recognition for how much they meant to me at the time. Like, if I ever considered an album my #1 of its year, then it deserved to be on the list, regardless of how much I play it now.

Obviously, any method or criterion is debatable, though.

do you have these "best of each year" lists just sitting around, or do you compile them from scratch

i've been freelancing for a few years and was making OCD end-of-year lists for a few years before that (sometimes just for singles, not albums), so i had lists for most years and did new ones more recently for years i didn't make a list at the time.

jaymc is your list posted anywhere yet?

I had to finish earlier because I had to use time off now, as I gotta cover for someone else who will be gone from work between Xmas and NY's.

<q>i don't know how anyone ever really comes up with a "best of decade" list

even within this decade my tastes have swerved around so wildly that things that meant a huge amount to me 5 years ago mean nothing now. and the things i love now, how will i know if i'll feel the same way, looking back in another 10 years?

how do people actually make these decisions?</q>

I certainly changed my mind on some albums as the decade progressed, but not that radically. I was in my 30s, and my tastes haven't changed that much. Nevertheless, making such lists does take time, and is not for the weak. If you're afraid to confront your true feelings about your favorite albums, perhaps some mushrooms or peyote will help. Or perhaps it's best you not attempt it.

jaymc is your list posted anywhere yet?

Not ... yet.

do you have these "best of each year" lists just sitting around, or do you compile them from scratch

I posted my lists from 2002 to 2007 online, so I was able to easily refer to them. 2000-01 involved some reconstructing (though I remembered what my favorite album of each year was), and I threw together lists for 2008-09 on the fly.

I'll be honest: I spent the majority of September listening to about 120 albums from this decade so I could narrow them down to a top 50.

best thing abt these lists is when they throw up some band u haven't thought about in years (e.g. cex, enon on SD's list)

doing 5 top 100s of tunes as youtube playlists now:

1. Instrumentals
2. Remixes
3. Non-Singles

between now and the 31st
4. Top 40 Singles
5. Non-Hit Singles (ie didn't make top 40)

I'm doing a thing at BSCReview.com in installments. My list is predictably weird.

I've been watching it. I like your lists, even if I don't usually like a lot of stuff that appears on them. But you definitely come up with some of the most independent-looking and most international lists (the latter especially for a non- "world music" best of list). You should check out Bannakumbi's Un Nuevo Dia, I think you would like it. (Yes, I am really hyping it hard. I think it's great.)

Acclaimed Music's Top 100 Artists of the Decade:

1 The White Stripes
2 Radiohead
3 OutKast
4 LCD Soundsystem
5 Arcade Fire
6 Kanye West
7 The Strokes
8 Franz Ferdinand
9 Eminem
10 TV on the Radio
11 Jay-Z
12 M.I.A.
13 Coldplay
14 Missy Elliott
15 Wilco
16 The Streets
17 Queens of the Stone Age
18 The Libertines
19 Sufjan Stevens
20 Arctic Monkeys
21 Nick Cave
22 Gorillaz
23 Justin Timberlake
24 Gnarls Barkley
25 Modest Mouse
26 Interpol
27 Hot Chip
28 Dizzee Rascal
29 Johnny Cash
30 Bob Dylan
31 Spoon
32 PJ Harvey
33 Amy Winehouse
34 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
35 The Flaming Lips
36 Madonna
37 Ryan Adams
38 Cat Power
39 Antony and The Johnsons
40 The Avalanches
41 The Shins
42 Justice
43 Sigur Rós
44 Daft Punk
45 Animal Collective
46 The Rapture
47 The National
48 Björk
49 Tom Waits
50 Joanna Newsom
51 Ghostface Killah
52 50 Cent
53 U2
54 Portishead
55 Bright Eyes
56 Fleet Foxes
57 Beyoncé
58 The Killers
59 The Hold Steady
60 Battles
61 The Knife
62 System of a Down
63 Morrissey
64 Bloc Party
65 Blur
66 My Morning Jacket
67 Primal Scream
68 Feist
69 The Raconteurs
70 Burial
71 The New Pornographers
72 The Roots
73 Rufus Wainwright
74 Scissor Sisters
75 Yo La Tengo
76 Sleater-Kinney
77 Devendra Banhart
78 At the Drive-In
79 Broken Social Scene
80 Panda Bear
81 The Postal Service
82 Bon Iver
83 Bruce Springsteen
84 Vampire Weekend
85 Brian Wilson
86 Basement Jaxx
87 Junior Boys
88 Kylie Minogue
89 Elliott Smith
90 Peter Bjorn and John
91 The Hives
92 Common
93 Sonic Youth
94 Britney Spears
95 Clipse
96 Beck
97 Kings of Leon
98 N.E.R.D.
99 M83
100 Amerie

Lists that don't have Underworld's Everything Everything and Daft Punk's Alive 2007 hate fun.

That list, the artists list, is the only way I can look back at the decade, because it became so difficult to establish yourself and burn-in as a recording artist after about 2004/5. I would love to see one that whittled away bands who were already established pre-Internet/media changeup. I think you'd have about 20 left.

xpost, to further that thought, these 22 also made the top 100 of the 90's:

Bob Dylan #43
Radiohead #2
U2 #17
Johnny Cash #99
Madonna #28
Beck #5
Sonic Youth #41
Blur #7
PJ Harvey #10
Tom Waits #72
Bjork #8
Eminem #61
Nick Cave #21
Primal Scream #15
Wilco #64
Portishead #18
The Flaming Lips #48
Daft Punk #53
Elliot Smith #52
Sigur Ros #79
Yo La Tengo #67
Basement Jaxx #84

these 4 also made the top 100 of the 80s:

3 U2
9 Madonna
13 Sonic Youth
18 Tom Waits

Xgau:

http://robertchristgau.com/xg/list/rs00.php

interesting x'gau list - i wonder why he picked that GoB's, which is great, but not as great as Oceans Apart. and Wussy two times (!!!)

Horrible list. Double Dylan. Moldy Peaches? DJ Shadow? I'm not into a lot of the more radio-friendly stuff either, but I'm more willing to write that off as my own limitations. (I don't like Kanye West or M.I.A. that much, but I can at least understand the enthusiasm more than for some of the other stuff.)

Kanye and Dylan two times in the top ten. And two Gogols and Youssous. And his least compelling singles list ever. And say children, what does it all mean?

that dj shadow album is awesome fwiw