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Celeb News: The Times Online: The 100 Best Pop Albums Of The Decade
Member Since: 3/15/2008
Posts: 1,516
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The Times Online: The 100 Best Pop Albums Of The Decade
I'm only posting the top 50 because the post would be too long otherwise. Plus it won' t allow me to post the whole thing anyway.
But still, from the pretty CREDIBLE UK news paper The Times:
Quote:
50. Out of Season - Beth Gibbons & Rustin’ Man (Universal/Island, 2002)
As Portishead lay fallow, their enigmatic vocalist teamed up with a former member of Talk Talk and quietly released an album that channels the spirits of Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Nick Drake into searing torch songs and haunting folk ballads.
49. Up the Bracket - The Libertines (Rough Trade, 2002)
Picking up the baton from the Clash (whose Mick Jones produced), this epoch-making debut is full of great tunes and stroppy braveheart energy. It’s all about The Good Old Days and Time for Heroes. Too bad they eventually blew it.
48. The Information - Beck (Polydor, 2006)
If you approach every Beck album cautiously hoping it’s an Odelay, then this, a decade on, finally is. Smoothed-down hip-hop weaving through perfect pop makes every track a classic, whirring drum machines, robotic backing and all.
47. Demon Days - Gorillaz (Parlophone, 2005)
The addition of Danger Mouse to the cartoon supergroup was a masterstroke by the Gorilla-in-chief Damon Albarn — together they ingeniously blend proper hip-hop and joyous pop hooks with a deftness of touch not heard since the golden Daisy Age of De La Soul.
46. Reality - David Bowie (Columbia, 2003)
A melancholy, unvarnished collection of simply fine songs in which the pop chameleon reveals something of his true colours at last. This perfectly distils the formidable songwriting wisdom of a great artist in the autumn of his career.
45. Panic Prevention - Jamie T (Virgin, 2007)
Private school boy from Wimbledon records album in his bedroom and ends up somewhere between Billy Bragg and the Beastie Boys, his tottering wordplay veering from criminally vulgar to closing-time sentimentality. The aural equivalent of that third-pint buzz.
44. The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem (Polydor, 2000)
Sealing his graduation from ear-catching rookie to mould-breaking superstar, Eminem’s sophomore album makes a grisly subject of fame itself, from his savage atomisation of the pop song in The Real Slim Shady to the epic stalker anthem Stan.
43. Tender Buttons - Broadcast (Warp, 2005)
Timeless pop songs, Trish Keenan’s fragile, evocative vocals and a riot of groovy synthesizer effects, Broadcast’s debut album is an expert demonstration of how to make arty pop music with mainstream appeal.
42. Smile - Brian Wilson (Nonesuch, 2004)
In many respects Wilson’s comeback is the pop story of the decade. It remained principally a live phenonemon apart from the completion of the record that first sent him into three decades of mental turmoil.
41. Thunder, Lightning, Strike - The Go! Team (Memphis Industries, 2005) Billed as an unlikely fling between Sonic Youth and the Jackson Five, the debut by the Brighton-based collective combines walls of guitar with harmonicas, TV theme tunes and chirruping raps from the ebullient Ninja.
40. Run Come Save Me - Roots Manuva (Big Dada, 2001)
The South Londoner’s twisted, mordantly humorous take on hip-hop came of age with a longplayer that contains at least two stone-cold classics in the cavernous, synth-heavy anthem Witness and the woozy hymn to narcotic romance Dreamy Days.
39. Field Music - Field Music (Memphis Industries, 2005)
The Sunderland brothers David and Peter Brewis undoubtedly have pop masterpieces in them, and their eponymous debut is inches from being one. Self-produced, it channels kitchen-sink existentialism into odd but irresistible melodies that fill you with quiet wonder.
38. Love and Theft - Bob Dylan (Columbia, 2001)
The album that confirmed Dylan’s creative renaissance, its title sums up his relationship with America’s musical past, which he has subsequently plundered so effectively on his Theme Time Radio Hour.
37. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not - Arctic Monkeys (Domino, 2006)
An internet phenomenon that became an everything phenomenon, this audacious, Mercury Prize-winning debut introduced us to a sublime bunch of indie-rock songs with full northern attitude. Perfectly of the moment.
36. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips (Warner, 2002)
Band member Steven Drozd’s real-life struggle with heroin addiction helped to inspire an album in which his frazzled brethren alchemised mortality into the kind of lush, carpe diem psychedelia that is best delivered from inside a giant hamster ball.
35. Funeral - Arcade Fire (Rough Trade, 2005)
Proof that there is more to anthemic indie rock than Snow Patrol, the Montreal collective’s debut is a glorious multi-instrumental cacophony, a meditation on mortality and community performed with religious zeal.
34. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - P. J. Harvey (Universal, 2000)
In which Polly Harvey loosens up, embraces slick melody and big elemental rock. Result: a deserved Mercury Prize. Honourable mention, too, to the spectral White Chalk (2008).
33. Nixon - Lambchop (City Slang, 2000)
Shedding their alt-country tag, the Nashville collective construct a stately, soulful sphinx of an album. Nudging it along magically is Kurt Wagner’s voice , and lyrics at once ambiguous, beguiling and confounding.
32. Justified - Justin Timberlake (Zomba, 2001)
The former Mousketeer came of age on his debut, thanks mainly to working with the likes of Timbaland and the Neptunes, producers who gave Britney’s ex a full-on funk injection and instant street cred, leading to comparisons with Jacko.
31. White Blood Cells - The White Stripes (XL, 2001)
Jack and Meg White struck commercial gold at the third attempt without really deviating from their signature stripped-back sound. The beauty is in the simplicity of their vision, though a bit of intrigue surrounding the relationship between the duo helped to hasten the legend.
30 The Ecstatic - Mos Def (Downtown, 2009) Having spent as much of the Noughties starring in movies as he did making music, the charismatic New Yorker finished the decade with a kaleidoscopic bang, a record whose combination of doom-laden fractionalism, rosy nostalgia and prismatic optimism perfectly crystalises its times.
29. Confessions on a Dancefloor - Madonna (Maverick, 2005)
Anointing Stuart “Les Rythmes Digitales” Price as her voguish producer du jour, Madge approaches her sixth decade with the slinky chutzpah of a 19-year-old club kitten. From the Abba-sampling Hung Up to the turbo-charged feminist floorfiller Jump, this is her best album since True Blue.
28. The Greatest - Cat Power (Matador, 2006)
Chan Marshall hooks up with a crack squad of Southern soul session greats and husks her way to greatness. Sounding as if it was recorded just around closing time, this is gorgeous, barfly balladry at its most moving and wistful. An instant, unexpected modern soul classic.
27. Maths + English - Dizzee Rascal (XL, 2007)
While Dizzee’s latest album may have spawned three No 1 singles, his third opus, Maths + English, hinted at the burgeoning pop credentials of the former UK grime heavyweight. Ignore the big-name guest turns and instead marvel at his knack for a massive hook and thrilling vocal dexterity.
26. Ys - Joanna Newsom (Drag City, 2006) Any suspicions that the American harpist is just a new folk curio are here vanquished utterly, the sprawling arrangements and gorgeous orchestration framing a fantastical journey through Newsom’s lyrical looking glass. A thing of wonder.
25. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (WEA, 2002) Heralded as an austere masterpiece of alt-Americana, it’s easy to forget what a joy it is to listen to. Between the album’s pop sensibilities and fractured fever dreams lies a sort of magic.
24. Untrue - Burial (Hyperdub, 2007) Dubstep finally found its way into the mainstream in this sophomore album by the mysterious London producer, a murky masterpiece of feather-lite beats, moody sonic textures and fractured urban vocals.
23. Alright, Still - Lily Allen (Capitol, 2006) Allen’s first album overflows with the charisma of its creator — a sonic Saturday-morning stroll through the Portobello of her mind, alchemising the highs and lows of a young Londoner’s world into great pop. The genius of that Tesco/al fresco rhyme remains undiminished.
22. Magic - Bruce Springsteen (Columbia, 2007)
Railing against the rollback in civil liberties and twisted truths of the Bush era, Springsteen reconvenes the E Street Band to make his toughest rock’n’roll record of the decade. A stirring, post-9/11 protest with many extraordinary renditions of its own.
21. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (DFA, 2005)
James Murphy’s post-punk, post-funk new-wavers were the coolest kids in the punk-funk revival class. Among the many gems included on the 2005 debut, Losing My Edge is one of the songs of the decade.
20. The Good the Bad & the Queen - The Good the Bad & the Queen (Parlophone, 2007)
In a decade of Gorillaz and other magical monkey tours, Damon Albarn’s Dickensian, supergroup elegy to London is the wistful and — in tracks like Herculean — hauntingly beautiful outcome of his creative restlessness. A shadowy flipside to Parklife’s cockney phantasmagoria.
19. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (Bella Union, 2008)
The Jesus beards suit a rich, multiharmony sound that evokes some hey-nonny-nonny gathering as much as it does Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. But the timeless folk vistas conjured around Robin Pecknold’s resounding tenor transcend such comparisons. An extraordinary debut.
18. Kala - M.I.A. (XL, 2007)
The second album from Maya Arulpragasam, the British-based daughter of Sri Lankan refugees, redefined the meaning of world music. The jumble of Bollywood melodies, 8-bit dancehall beats and collaborations with authentic street singers was unpredictable and mind-bendingly good.
17. Viva la Vida or Death & All His Friends - Coldplay (Parlophone, 2008)
Scandalously, only on their fourth album did Coldplay discover the joys of writing and playing in a room together. Under the direction of Brian Eno, though, they sound reborn — Chris Martin’s death-fixated meditations countered at all times by the restless, rhythmic undertow of a band who many of us didn’t think had it in them to sound so life-affirming.
16. Felt Mountain - Goldfrapp (Mute, 2000)
The ice-cool voice of Alison Goldfrapp and the lustrous arrangements of Will Gregory produce alchemy on this Olympian debut. The ethereal sound is shaped as much by the duo’s love of orchestral soundtracks and European cabaret traditions as their electronica beginnings.
15. The Letting Go - Bonnie Prince Billy (Domino, 2006)
The pick of Will Oldham’s Noughties output, Dawn McCarthy’s ethereal vocals and a spare atmosphere make it as eerie as it is tender, playful as it is tragic. The Kentuckian will rarely equal the quiet chill of the title track.
14. Made in the Dark - Hot Chip (EMI, 2008)
After the breakthrough success of The Warning in 2006, Hot Chip refused to sit on their Oxbridge-educated laurels, conjuring up a more coherent set of wry electro-pop compositions that joins the dots between New Order, Derek May and Scritti Politti.
13. The College Dropout - Kanye West (Mercury, 2004)
Before his ego consumed him, Kanye West’s debut was a musical masterpiece. Already a sought-after producer, his aspirations to become a hip-hop star in his own right are stunningly realised on this innovative collection of old-school jams shot through with thought-provoking lyricism.
12. Original Pirate Material - The Streets (Locked On, 2002)
Mike Skinner became the Poet Laureate for the ASBO generation when this debut was released. Lyrically fearless and an incredible storyteller, Skinner paints an authentic picture of the grimy realities of street life, set to the lo-fi rattle of UK garage beats.
11. Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys (Domino, 2007)
Stuffed with songs that are even more punchy, catchy and giddy than their award-winning debut, this album transcends parochial beginnings to reveal the outrageous extent of their talent.
10. The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow (Polydor, 2008)
Grumpy northern indie underachievers — the adjectives were all lined up for Elbow’s career obituary when from nowhere they served up a masterpiece. Guy Garvey’s grown-up lyrics and delivery give a whole new meaning to the word tender.
9. Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Decca, 2007)
Few could have expected a collaboration between a grizzled golden god and a God-fearing bluegrass icon to go interstellar — nor be quite so gently spellbinding.
8. Elephant - The White Stripes (2003, XL)
The whey-faced duo at the peak of their minimalist brilliance — from the punk-blues Seven Nation Army to the Bacharach/David melodramatics of I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself. He shreds and sings. She bangs the drum. No bass required.
7. Coles Corner - Richard Hawley (Mute, 2005)
Britpop survivor knocking on middle age delivers stunning album of orchestral, reverb-soaked romanticism that manages to evoke an age of smoking in cinemas and afternoon pub closing. The transformation from local hero to national treasure started here.
6. Is This It - The Strokes (Rough Trade, 2001)
They failed to sustain the momentum, but for a couple of years Julian Casablancas and his elegantly dishevelled cohorts were the most exciting rock band on the planet, thanks to the bleary-eyed swagger and rabble-rousing garage rock of their breakneck debut.
5. Blackout - Britney Spears (SonyBMG, 2007)
The title was pertinent enough — Spears had shaved her head and was in and out of rehab when this vocally scrunched, harshly metallic album appeared. No one expected it to be this good.
4. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Outkast (Arista, 2003)
The coolest hip-hop album of the decade. A sprawling, madcap collection of jazz, funk, rock, rap, dance and Southern soul music performed with impeccable wit by the polar opposites Andre 3000 and Big Boi. Hey Ya! indeed.
3. In Rainbows - Radiohead (XL, 2007)
Bereft (at least initially) of the artwork and packaging that comes with physical releases, all we had to appraise were the songs — and what songs they were. Febrile magic hour reveries such as Faust Arp and Reckoner were startling snapshots of a band delighted to discover that each hitherto undiscovered chamber in rock’s Gothic pile contains an entrance to yet another.
2. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (Island, 2006)
“I told you I was trouble” — and so it proved — but Winehouse’s second album is as close to an instant classic as any this decade. The true magic of this record is in the rich melodies, and lyrics full of busted love and dark humour.
1. Kid A - Radiohead (Parlophone, 2000)
Almost a decade after its release, it’s easy to forget just how much of a leap into the unknown Radiohead’s fourth album presented. With OK Computer hailed by fans and critics as one of the greatest albums of all time, the group’s next challenge was to keep an audience without turning into their own tribute band. In doing so, they came famously close to dissolving completely. Tales of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood — the laptop-prodding axis of the group — sitting in one room while the others wondered if they would even be needed that day have become legion. However, what they emerged with effectively redrew the parameters of the rock album for the new century. The padded-cell ambience of Everything in its Right Place and Morning Bell seem custom-built for these obsessive-compulsive times — as does the fin de siècle night terrors of The National Anthem and Idioteque. And throughout it all — most notably on How To Disappear Completely and Optimistic — Radiohead still found time to remind us that, when the fancy took them, their electrifying live synergy was still intact. Anyone seeking to establish the last time a mainstream rock goup released such an experimental record and maintained their commercial stock would have to go all the way back to 1968 and The White Album. Therein lies the scale of Kid A’s achievement.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle6922991.ece
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Member Since: 10/14/2008
Posts: 9,686
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Radiohead and Monkeys run this ****. :heart: Elbow + Arcade Fire = LIFE.  What the hell with last years Hot Chip making list? I should've listened to that album and not judging by its single.  Blackout, M.I.A., West and LCD also bow worthy. 
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Member Since: 6/20/2007
Posts: 37,153
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5. Blackout - Britney Spears (SonyBMG, 2007)  
The title was pertinent enough — Spears had shaved her head and was in and out of rehab when this vocally scrunched, harshly metallic album appeared. No one expected it to be this good.
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Member Since: 10/18/2009
Posts: 129
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13. The College Dropout - Kanye West (Mercury, 2004)
WELL DESERVED!
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Member Since: 4/22/2009
Posts: 11,768
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In The Zone>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Member Since: 5/11/2007
Posts: 9,742
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Great list - especially Amy being at #2! But I cannot believe Blackout got to #5.
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Member Since: 2/9/2008
Posts: 32,819
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17. Viva la Vida or Death & All His Friends - Coldplay (Parlophone, 2008)
Scandalously, only on their fourth album did Coldplay discover the joys of writing and playing in a room together. Under the direction of Brian Eno, though, they sound reborn — Chris Martin’s death-fixated meditations countered at all times by the restless, rhythmic undertow of a band who many of us didn’t think had it in them to sound so life-affirming.
NO
I just don't see how they could put Blackout above albums like Alright, Still and Kala. It's good but it's not the best. I guess these people go to ATRL.
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Member Since: 8/8/2009
Posts: 5,072
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Quote:
Originally posted by stevensaurusrex
In The Zone>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Blackout >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
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Member Since: 9/3/2006
Posts: 27,884
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49. Up the Bracket - The Libertines (Rough Trade, 2002)
37. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not - Arctic Monkeys (Domino, 2006)
29. Confessions on a Dancefloor - Madonna (Maverick, 2005)
23. Alright, Still - Lily Allen
17. Viva la Vida or Death & All His Friends - Coldplay
11. Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
3. In Rainbows - Radiohead (XL, 2007)
2. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (Island, 2006)
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Member Since: 4/22/2009
Posts: 11,768
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Quote:
Originally posted by eli's_rhythm
17. Viva la Vida or Death & All His Friends - Coldplay (Parlophone, 2008)
Scandalously, only on their fourth album did Coldplay discover the joys of writing and playing in a room together. Under the direction of Brian Eno, though, they sound reborn — Chris Martin’s death-fixated meditations countered at all times by the restless, rhythmic undertow of a band who many of us didn’t think had it in them to sound so life-affirming.
NO
I just don't see how they could put Blackout above albums like Alright, Still and Kala. It's good but it's not the best. I guess these people go to ATRL.
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Lol Exactly.  It's like when Entertainment Weekly put Britney as her best album. 
These lists usually never put an artist's best album. 
I hope Rolling Stone pulls through for us.
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Member Since: 10/30/2008
Posts: 15,385
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 >>>>>>
Amazing! 
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Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
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Quote:
29. Confessions on a Dancefloor - Madonna (Maverick, 2005)
Anointing Stuart “Les Rythmes Digitales” Price as her voguish producer du jour, Madge approaches her sixth decade with the slinky chutzpah of a 19-year-old club kitten. From the Abba-sampling Hung Up to the turbo-charged feminist floorfiller Jump, this is her best album since True Blue.
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Oh dear...
Anyway... American Life and Music are way better than Confessions on a dance floor (and i love this album).
Quote:
Originally posted by eli's_rhythm
I just don't see how they could put Blackout above albums like Alright, Still and Kala. It's good but it's not the best. I guess these people go to ATRL.
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And that's actually obvious because... there's no Christina on the list. 
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Member Since: 7/17/2009
Posts: 8,833
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Blackout ****ing amazing album.
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Member Since: 7/17/2009
Posts: 8,833
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although, in the zone should be on there as well.
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Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
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Wait a minute... where's THE FAME?
And STRIPPED?
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Member Since: 7/28/2007
Posts: 10,691
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WTF? some of those aren't even POP
and Circus & In The Zone are better than Blackout 
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Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
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Radiohead pop?
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Member Since: 10/30/2008
Posts: 15,385
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This is a list from UK
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Member Since: 3/25/2009
Posts: 13,550
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Quote:
Originally posted by rickjay1990
This is a list from UK |
Yes that's what it says in the first post, now what's your point?
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Member Since: 10/30/2008
Posts: 15,385
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^
That's why a lot of artists are from UK
and Radiohead is dominating.
I didn't say it was bad, but let's wait for Rolling Stone, Blender, Billboard, Top 40 About, etc. to release their lists
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