Rolling Stone Top 100 Albums of the 00s listening thread

I don't think "Brian Wilson Presents Smile" belongs on a list of albums of the '00s: yes, it was recorded in the '00s, and it was released in the '00s, but it is not of the '00s. It's a restoration of an unreleased album of the '60s, and the restoration involved re-recording everything.

Had this been completed and released in 1967, "Smile" would be one of the classics, and "Pet Sounds"/"Smile"/"Wild Honey" would be considered one of the great three-album runs.

But it was released in 2004, and I think the importance of this album really depends on your context. It's probably the case that most people picked up this album, played it a few times, enjoyed it, and quickly forgot about it. It's because "Smile" is a place in the past that's already been revisited over and over again; most of the songs are either officially on other Beach Boys albums or unofficially on the cobbled-together versions of "Smile" floating around out there. I rarely play it; I'm more likely to play one of the official albums instead.

I remember what a revelation it was, however, when I first heard one of those cobbled-together versions of "Smile", before I had heard anything of the Beach Boys other than the surfin' hits and "Pet Sounds". So I suspect that there are some people who heard "Smile" for the first time on this recording, and that they really got something great out of it.

 

When it came out I was over your side of the pond and managed to go back home with 2 versions of Smile - a boot CD bought in NYC and the BWPS bought in Montreal. I'd never previously heard anything other than what had been officially released and the snippets on the BB box so hearing it all together was an experience.

I'd also been at one of the BWPS gigs in London and can honestly say it was one of the greatest gigs I've ever seen - simply overwhelming.

Can't remember the last time I played it - maybe a year ago but it's a fun listen. I can see why some might think "yeah? So what" and as you say it's quirky.

 

This is a fantastic album. Manu Chao´s production allowed this Mali couple to sound global. You can feel Bamako like any other third world city. I´m sure this will become an obscure classic. Actually, one of the weaknesses of this RS lists is that they neglect non english speaking countries, so I´m surprised it is here.

 

Separation Sunday is a song cycle with a story about three characters, Hallelujah (Holly), Gideon and Charlemagne. It will take quite a few listeinings to work out the story (although you could probably google it as well) although well worth it as SS is arguably their best album (although Boys and Girls in America just edges it out as my favorite). Those characters first appear in Almost Killed Me and then reappear in Boys and Girls (as well as a bonus track on Stay Positive).

I like Stay Positive and think it is better than Heaven is Whatever, their latest.

 

#87: St. Elsewhere- Gnarls Barkley

My new music snob thing: reminding or informing people that the 2nd greatest southern rap group of all time, Goodie Mob, is where Cee-Lo came from and as much as I like Gnarls and his solo output, that's still the best thing he's ever done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwh02qMxGUQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dzwWOSwNY8&feature=related

Ok anyway, so this thing… well, you know the song Crazy? Yeah, 'cause we all heard it zillion times everywhere. But it is indeed a killer track and when I found it was the guy the made the Grey Album and the fat dude from Goodie Mob the Soul Machine, I grabbed the record a while after it came out thinking it would be some kind of novelty act with hopefully one or two other good songs besides the big hit.

Folks, this is a genuinely fantastic album. I don't just mean it has a lot of good songs, though it does, but on re-visiting it for this thread, I was impressed by the how well it plays as an album. The sequencing flows between moods and paces itself so well (and is helped by how short it is, about the length of an old-school 33 1/3 rpm record).

So you got your catchy hit, your crazy ear candy (like Transform which speeds up the beat and voice and everything is higher and yells the title of the song at you which you think would be annoying but it works here), and most surprisingly the introspective emotional stuff like Just A Thought, which proves you don't need guitars or piano to create a gorgeous sonic template for serious lyrics.

For some reason everyone forgot about them by the time their 2nd record came out but I think it's pretty good, too.

 

Listening to Boys & Girls in the car today I'm pretty sure he mentions "Charlemagne" again so it looks like these characters pop up beyond that record.

Spun Stay Positive yesterday and I like it, but I think I'm actually lucky to come to them late because I could see how the cleaner singing and larger production and varied instrumentation might upset long-time fans who were already into their sound. Also I did recognize the song that goes "sequestered in Memphis subpoenad in Phoenix," so I go to do that thing where you go "oh, that's who did that song."

 

What a crazy awesome song "Crazy" is! I would have bought in on cassette single, if there were still such a thing... Of course, I knew a one-hit wonder album would turn up cheap used in a few months, and it did. Not a bad album. Think I like the Broken Bells album better.

 

#86: Give Up- The Postal Service

You know those UPS commercials where the guy is writing on a white board, and there's a that quirky music bed playing, that's like a beat and it sounds like scratching or scraping? It's from this album!

It has those kind of quirky cute little beats and the singer from Death Cab for Cutie, who always sounds like he needs a hug and a cookie when he sings, with his precious little voice. This record is just completely adorable and I want to hug it.

Though I can't imagine actually playing it ever again.

 

#85: Viva La Vida- Coldplay

*yawn*
Oh, pardon me, I was just listening to Coldplay.

Ok, I know I know, sorry, it's too easy to pick on Coldplay, but come on, I can't help it.

They are the Eagles of this generation: huge, very talented, slick, professional, safe, pretty to hear, annoying to listen to. Rock without the roll. It's the kind of band that would marry Gwyneth Paltrow, win a butt-load of Grammys, and make me ache to hear some Dead Kennedys.

But at least this record is less dull and whiny than their earlier ones. Some of the songs actually sort of move somewhere, and the production is richer (Brian Eno did this one I think), so more ear candy.

 

LOVE this album! Got on board the Coldplay bandwagon with "X & Y". Don't know why that album isn't on this list, I don't think it is. I don't like "Rush Of Blood To The Head"- that album, to me, does sound whiney and the songs seem very low key and precious. "X & Y" is where they got U2-ish, in a good way.

I remember you don't like the Eagles. I love 'em, but it doesn't detract from your opinions to me. A fun ride and a good read. I at least appreciate ya!

Annette

 

I'll agree that goodie mob tops gnarls barkley, but second best southern group? I'd put ugk and the ghetto boys ahead of goodie mob. Soul food is a classic but the rest of the catalog is spotty. Can't argue with what i presume is outkast at number one.

 

You sum up coldplay nicely but man did i think this record was a bore. The eno electronic sound scapes don't seem to lend to their style in my eyes

 

Reviewing that list may have been the most painful thing I have ever done, since I had to go through a list of the best disco albums.
Jay Z..come on !!!!!!!!!!
I never could get the Radiohead album, and it is number one!!!!
Another example that I am too old.
I would have to pick Norah Jones, followed by Dyan's Modern Times.
There are probably a few others, but life is too short to go through all 100 titles.
Glen

 

I've just been investigating how that list compares with the RYM one, in order of average score (the position in the original RS list is given in brackets, and the last column is the number of RYM ratings):

1. Johnny Cash – Unearthed (93) 2003 4.39 364
2. Radiohead – Kid A (1) 2000 4.17 15802
3. Arcade Fire – Funeral (6) 2004 4.12 12588
4. Sigur Rós – Ágætis Byrjun (29) 1999 4.11 8878
5. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (3) 2002 4.01 7135
6. Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (59) 2002 3.99 8232
7. Sigur Rós – ( ) (76) 2002 3.98 7051
8. Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise (78) 2005 3.98 6833
9. Johnny Cash – American III: Solitary May (62) 2000 3.98 1681
10. Radiohead – In Rainbows (30) 2007 3.95 11342
11. Björk – Vespertine (67) 2001 3.89 4448
12. Jay-Z – The Blueprint (4) 2001 3.89 2250
13. Gillian Welch – Time The Revelator (64) 2001 3.89 657
14. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (27) 2002 3.88 7158
15. Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (77) 2000 3.88 2289
16. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker (38) 2000 3.88 1837
17. The Strokes – Is This It (2) 2001 3.87 8402
18. PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (35) 2000 3.87 3856
19. Radiohead – Amnesiac (25) 2001 3.86 11790
20. Queens Of The Stone Age – Rated R (82) 2000 3.86 4463
21. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (92) 2007 3.84 3920
22. Brian Wilson – Smile (88) 2004 3.84 2771
23. D’Angelo – Voodoo (23) 2000 3.84 781
24. The White Stripes – Elephant (5) 2003 3.81 7633
25. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (20) 2001 3.81 5572
26. Elliott Smith – Figure 8 (42) 2000 3.81 3062
27. Sleater-Kinney – The Woods (70) 2005 3.81 1671
28. OutKast – Stankonia (16) 2000 3.8 2748
29. Spoon – Kill The Moonlight (51) 2002 3.8 2089
30. Beck – Sea Change (17) 2002 3.79 4909
31. Daft Punk – Discovery (33) 2001 3.79 4567
32. LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver (12) 2007 3.77 3945
33. The Shins – Oh, Inverted World (61) 2001 3.77 3895
34. Kanye West – The College Dropout (10) 2004 3.77 3224
35. Jay-Z – The Black Album (14) 2003 3.77 1905
36. Bob Dylan – Love And Theft (11) 2001 3.76 2171
37. Radiohead – Hail To The Thief (89) 2003 3.75 11724
38. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (47) 2008 3.75 5435
39. My Morning Jacket – Z (31) 2005 3.75 2425
40. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (75) 2007 3.74 8588
41. Amadou & Miriam – Dimanche A Bamako (90) 2005 3.74 389
42. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raising Sand (55) 2007 3.73 1162
43. TV On The Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain (98) 2006 3.72 4085
44. Antony & The Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now (66) 2005 3.71 3380
45. Kanye West – Late Registration (40) 2005 3.71 3029
46. The Streets – Original Pirate Material (96) 2002 3.71 2102
47. Ryan Adams – Gold (81) 2001 3.71 1756
48. Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism (57) 2003 3.7 3732
49. The New Pornographers – Electric Version (79) 2003 3.69 1481
50. System Of A Down – Toxicity (44) 2001 3.68 6597
51. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (7) 2000 3.68 3876
52. The Postal Service – Give Up (86) 2003 3.67 3194
53. Bright Eyes – Lifted Of The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground (71) 2002 3.67 2321
54. Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (15) 2002 3.67 1508
55. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (50) 2005 3.65 3488
56. TV On The Radio – Dear Science (48) 2008 3.64 3622
57. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell (28) 2003 3.64 3580
58. Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine (49) 2005 3.64 1393
59. The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me (99) 2004 3.64 505
60. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black (19) 2006 3.63 2795
61. Bob Dylan – Modern Times (8) 2006 3.63 2512
62. The Libertines – Up The Brackett (94) 2002 3.63 2429
63. M.I.A. – Kala (9) 2007 3.61 2751
64. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (72) 2004 3.6 6533
65. Coldplay – Parachutes (73) 2000 3.59 6999
66. Bruce Springsteen – Magic (24) 2007 3.59 1226
67. OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (34) 2003 3.58 2829
68. The Black Keys – Attack & Release (83) 2008 3.57 1365
69. Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head (21) 2002 3.54 7183
70. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky (97) 2007 3.54 2628
71. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (60) 2009 3.53 2765
72. Cat Power – The Greatest (26) 2006 3.53 2365
73. M.I.A. – Arular (52) 2005 3.51 2070
74. Kings Of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak (39) 2004 3.49 2303
75. Kings Of Leon – Youth And Young Manhood (80) 2003 3.48 2131
76. The Hives – Veni Vidi Vicious (91) 2000 3.46 1626
77. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (56) 2008 3.45 4132
78. Norah Jones – Come Away With Me (54) 2002 3.44 1660
79. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere (87) 2006 3.43 2281
80. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (18) 2008 3.42 4282
81. Danger Mouse – The Grey Album (58) 2004 3.41 846
82. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (41) 2006 3.4 5583
83. The Killers – Hot Fuss (43) 2004 3.39 4985
84. Kanye West – Graduation (45) 2007 3.38 2548
85. Manu Chao – Próxima Estación Esperanza (65) 2001 3.38 682
86. Leonard Cohen – 10 New Songs (100) 2001 3.34 744
87. Coldplay – Viva La Vida (85) 2008 3.33 4128
88. Alicia Keys – Songs In A Minor (95) 2001 3.3 808
89. Eminem – The Eminem Show (84) 2002 3.27 2947
90. Justin Timberlake – FutureSex/LoveSounds (46) 2006 3.24 1383
91. Missy Elliott – Under Construction (69) 2002 3.24 407
92. Green Day – American Idiot (22) 2004 3.19 5186
93. Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night (53) 2008 3.19 2330
94. U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind (13) 2000 3.15 3241
95. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium (74) 2006 3.03 3968
96. Kanye West – 808s And Heartbreak (63) 2008 2.99 1905
97. U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (68) 2004 2.88 2996
98. U2 – No Line On The Horizon (36) 2009 2.86 1799
99. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III (32) 2008 2.8 1277
100. 50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ (37) 2003 2.6 1519


Quite amusing to see all three U2 albums near the bottom, BTW.

 

I actually like this list quite a bit more than the RS list.

 

Uhhhh...it's the same list just in a different order.

 

Many mentions of other lists, and it is interesting, so I guess I should explain why I'm going with Rolling Stone.

It's precisely because it's a combination of super-mainstream while trying to be cool. It's a good mix. Pitchfork is gonna leave heavily towards obscurities (and, quite frankly, a lot of stuff I don't care for). Many other media outlets are too niche to make this fun, at least for me. And other mainstream lists are gonna look similar enough to not matter.

And, if nothing else, their site is nice and easy to follow. It's as good a place to any to see a bunch of music that is at least worth knowing about.

 

#84: The Eminem Show- Eminem

WHITE AMERICAAAA!..

wait, didn't I do this one already? oh yeah..

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=5820523&postcount=623

Boy did I criticize it a lot. And make a lot of typos.
Well on this go-'round, I enjoyed it a lot more. Had crazy fun rapping the chorus "Let's get down to business, I don't go not time to play around what is this." Solid record.

Also finally got around to checking out his new one, and it's pretty strong and tight.

 

Y'know, I appreciate Eminem because he enunciates very clearly, and it can't be easy to rhyme that fast.
I just can't listen to rap albums at all anymore. I can't stand the "N Word" and it seems like all rap albums are drenched in it. I guess Eminem's wouldn't be, but his stuff it just not my thing.

 

I liked Viva la Vida, and I like Coldplay in general. I'll agree that Coldplay generally play things too safe. I think that's the reason that Viva's predecessor, X&Y, is the only Coldplay album that failed to make the list; it is a competent and enjoyable record, but it never really manages to thrill. But Viva, on the other hand, has enough unusual things on it to distinguish it, like the strings and downer lyrics on the title track, or the "Unforgettable Fire"-era U2 homage "Lovers in Japan".

I am a little concerned that there is something to your comparison of Coldplay to the (blech!) Eagles; I don't think it's right, but we'll only know that one with time.

 

For this board, I think the Rolling Stone list is absolutely the right one. Being super-mainstream and having a tendency to lean on older acts means that more people on this board will have heard the albums listed on it, which will make the RS list a better discussion starter.

 

#83: Attack & Release- The Black Keys

A band I can't fathom anyone passionately hating or loving. They make very good with the rock 'n' roll music. But they certainly merit the "revivalist" tag in my eyes, so let me address that whole thing:

We all love us some rock 'n' roll, right? So on the one hand it's good that there are new bands that play the old style and even become successful and popular doing it. On the other hand, the fact that it's a deliberately old style prevents such acts from being great in my esteem. Cream were great because they did this 45 years ago. The Black Keys are good.

I only think about this sort of thing when writing my little internet posts about it though because while it's playing, it sure is fun. Love the drummer, even though he leans on one accent, or fill, or whatever you wanna call it, where he goes DA DA DUM at the end of vocal lines. Something about the tone of the drum (does that word even apply to percussion?). Anyway, between that and the singer's vocal style, a Black Keys record sounds like it's so cool it's gonna steal my girlfriend.

Why did Rolling Stone pick this record, though? Thickfreakness and Rubber Factory are way badder. Maybe because this a bit more experimental, varied? Because it's not just a 70s Aerosmith sound-alike, but also a Small Faces sound-alike and Yardbirds sound-alike? You know, variety.

There's even a song that kinda sounds like Jethro Tull. Yes it's the one with the flute, but not just 'cause it has a flute, but also the feel and the riff remind me of something off Benefit. But, ok, mostly 'cause of the flute.

Two things that kinda bug me about this group:
1. The singer's black man blues singer affectation is frighteningly convincing. It's a bit scary that this guy looks like my college freshman roommate.
2. What, are they too good for a bass player?

This is also the 2nd Danger Mouse produces record so far, for those keeping score.

 

Got to admit, I used to hate rap and Eminem in particular. I sat down and forced myself to listen to his music and have turned into a semi-fan. Much of his music doesn't appeal to me, but the music that does is excellent. My wife doesn't agree and will leave the room if I play it.....

 

The Black Keys are good, but there are a LOT of bands with that production style and sound right now isn't there? I like "Brothers" more than this one, but it's good.

 

#82: Rated R- Queens of the Stone Age

Every written reference to this record talks about drugs. That bothers me, because I don't like the implication that one needs to be into drugs to enjoy music- it means the music is weak.

But this music isn't weak, so whatever.

You know how in popular culture, a decade doesn't start until a few years into it. Like people in movies from 1981 are wearing bell-bottoms and awful sideburns. Rated R came out in 2000 but it sounds like The Pixies or Pavement to me- thick, deliberately difficult layers of fuzz with sometimes hooks or snappy bass lines crawling out from under it.

Cool album cover, too.