The Old Acclaimed Music Forum
Go to the NEW FORUM
Use this forum to promote and celebrate the best music of this decade. I know it's not finished yet, but it will be soon.
List and explain an album you feel strongly about, and hope to see on many of the Decade end lists.
I'll start!
Wilco - A Ghost is Born 10/10
Easily one of my favourite albums of the decade. Wilco stripped almost all of their pop sensibilities found on "Yankee Foxtrot" and opted for a more alternative rock style.
Smashing guitars and deeply personal lyrics make "Ghost" a standout out.
Standout Track
Late Greats
Muzzle of Bees
I hope "Ghost" gets the mentions it deserves. I doubt it'll see high numbers due to "Yankees" critical acclaim. However I have and will remain strong on my stance that Ghost is the suerior work. Who knows, maybe wilco will release their masterpiece this year.
Following my new principle (or requirement), that I have to like all songs on an album before even thinking of giving 5 stars (or 10/10), A Ghost Is Born is (like Sky Blue Sky) not gonna make it. I don't like the track 'Less Than You Think', could live without that ...
But it is a great album, for sure 4.5 stars (or 9/10).
Which 'noughties' albums do apply and do get the 5 stars from me? Well, only three albums I can think of:
From 2001 - The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
From 2004 - Arcade Fire - Funeral
From 2008 - Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
And close to this perfect status is as well:
From 2006 - The Rifles - No Love Lost
These 4 albums are zum Kotzen walgelijk awesome!
The only 9.5/10 of this decade so far is The National - Boxer for me. Then again, in total the 1990s had only 3 9.5's and no 10's either (and Boxer is higher than 2 of those 9.5's). Chronologically, the last 10/10 (I only have 7) is 1971's Who's Next. Automatic for The People got very, very close though.
By Andre's standards, I have only 2 10/10 albums: "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" and "Who's Next"
That sounds about right to me. For this decade, I've found some really great albums: The National's Boxer and Alligator, both Arcade Fire albums, this year's "Hold On Now, Youngster..." by Los Campesinos! and "Everything Goes Numb" by Streetlight Manifesto (there's really no reason why I actually like this album so much; for a musical standpoint, it's pretty juvenile and terrible) are all at least 9.5's for me.
Good call on A Ghost Is Born. I've always thought it was underrated.
One of the few albums this decade that I would call absolutely perfect (enjoyed every track; cohesive; something extra) would have to be M83's Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. Pure, pure bliss.
Though it isn't my favorite album of the decade, I'm really hoping to see The Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" on many best of the decade lists.
The album itself is incredible, and in my opinion is even better than "The Soft Bulletin". Wayne Coyne is a genius songwriter and songs such as "Fight Test" and "Do You Realize??" and overflowing with lushness.
Nixon by Lambchop
). Even Curtis Mayfield(!) is featuring in one song.
Nixon is somehow only Lambchop album that I love (or even have listened to more than few times).
It's almost same with Wilco (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is only album that I care about. Maybe I need to check Ghost is Born again.)
wtf
That big font ate almost whole of my message. Maybe I must have used br or something.
Maybe is better this way. You don't have to read my rambling comments in bad English.
All you must know is that Nixon is a masterpiece.
and I meant the whole message.
I like Ghost Is Born, but it doesn't resonate for me the way Yankee Hotel Foxtrot does.
The only things I would give 10/10 are the top few of all time. I haven't heard any of those this decade, but there are lots of 9s and 9.5s.
Kid A
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
White Blood Cells
Elephant
Boxer
Illinois
Funeral
Third
I have a feeling that my definition of what would be a 10, or five stars, or whatever, is much looser than the rest of the forum. I can think of maybe more than a dozen ***** from this decade.
Be
Funeral
Illnois
Is This It?
Come Away With Me
Sea Change
College Dropout
Vampire Weekend
Yoshimi
Rush of Blood to the Head
Discovery
Castaways & Cutouts
Unclassified
Fleet Foxes
Elephant
Stankonia
Since I Left You
Tom Waits - Orphans / Real Gone / Alice
I know Tom Waits hasnt gotten alot of respect around here lately, but I stand by my ruling that he is the greatest songwriter of this decade. even though Dylan, Young, and McCartney still write amazing songs. I feel Tom Waits was the standout.
Orphans 10/10
Real Gone 9.5/10
Alice 9.5/10
One listen to "Poor Edward" and there is no denying his genious.
Orphans is a classic and will probably be noticed when the deacde end lists come pooring in. It might not be number 1, but I firmly believe it'll rank high.
i'm with penguin on Hold On Now, Youngster...by los campesinos. it's such a fun album. i think i'd place it up there in the pack with the obvious ones: Kid A, Funeral, Illinois, Yoshimi, In Rainbows, Neon Bible, Franz Ferdinand, etc.
but that's me. :)
Hmmmmmm, greatest songwriter of this decade. That would be quite a thread.
Waits has made a good case for himself, but then you have to remember that the majority of Orphans was written before the 2000s. And while Real Gone has one of the greatest anti-war songs ever, I'm not too crazy about the album has a whole. That leaves Real Gone and Alice as prime Waits this decade.
I think some of the younger artists, such as Andrew Bird and Okkervil River's Will Sheff, haven't been too shabby either.
But this is a completely different topic so that's all I'll say about it here.
Correction: at the end of the second paragraph in that last post, I meant to say "Blood Money and Alice."
It would be an interesting thread.
As for Orphans. there were 30 new songs on that album. Thats no walk in the park. I think its his best this decade.
Mule Variations and Rain Dogs are my favs. Swordfishtrombones is awesome as well.
My 10 (in no order)
N.E.R.D. "In Search Of.."
Coldplay "A Rush of Blood to the Head"
Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"
Johnny Cash "American IV: The Man Comes Around"
The Postal Service "Give Up"
Fountains of Wayne "Dear Interstate Managers"
Brian Wilson "SMiLE"
The White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan"
Justin Timberlake "FutureSex/LoveSounds"
Muse "Black Holes and Revelations"
So, you guys that can rate an album a 9.5--do you have a 100 point scale, i.e. 9.3,9.4; or just a 20 point scale, i.e. move only in .5 increments up to ten? I just don't see how you can rate to that degree of precision.
Which version of In Search Of, Greg?
"So, you guys that can rate an album a 9.5--do you have a 100 point scale, i.e. 9.3,9.4; or just a 20 point scale, i.e. move only in .5 increments up to ten? I just don't see how you can rate to that degree of precision."
This is a music forum based around a website that rates music from 1 to 3000. This place reminds me of a baseball sabermetrician forum.
Its not that hard.
I've noticed recently that alot of people dont through the perfect 10/10 alot. I would say I roughly have about 30 albums from this decade that I'd give 10/10 too. when I feel that something has completely satisfied my hopes, and or has completely renewed my faith in music; I'll give it high praise.
It's not too say I don't think more highly of some 10/10 records then others. But thats when It comes down to genre preference to me. I'm more of an alternate rock/ Jazz guy myself. So albums like KidA, Yellow House, Person Pitch appeal to me on a more personal level.
I'd have a hard time saying that there are any flaws in Abby Road, Blonde On Blonde, VU&N; But I'll still like KidA more becasue of the way it makes me feel when I listen to it.
I like giving 10/10 reviews to thinks I realy really enjoy. I would never wanna say"You may be th best of the year, but I'm only gunna give you 8/10. Some people would look at that and say "Well I guess he thought the year sucked!" -It wouldnt be true, some people are just more critical with there rating systems. If I didnt have at least 2-3 perfect 10/10 albums a year, then personally my rating system would feel very unsatisfying.
Now for my next entry
PJ HARVEY - Stories from the city, stories from the sea 10/10
I love the energy of this album. It feels more womanly than her previous records, but still remains tough and raw. Her voice sounds both sexy and powerful compared to the often nasty and dirty voice on Rid of Me or Too Bring You my love.
The song writing is top notch and the balls out pure rock approach here is something rarely seen in the music business.
"Stories" reminds me of alot of great raw rock records. (The Stooges - Raw Power, Patti Smith - Horses, Ramones, and the Recent GRINDERMAN album)
Im confident that whatever PJ does, I'll love it. But hopfully she'll make another one like this.
I like listing, but not rating albums, if that makes any sense. I don't know how to distiguish between an 8.5 and a 9.0 album... but I do know when I like one album better than another.
As for my criteria for liking one album better than another... I reserve the right to be inconsistent in my criteria. Take my top-10 albums of the decade. (Need a few more listens to decide whether In Rainbows, Sound of Silver (is the songwriting up to snuff?) or possibly Beck's Modern Guilt (is the mood too monochromatic?) breaks in)
1. Gimme Fiction - Spoon
2. Rings Around the World - Super Furry Animals
3. Funeral - Arcade Fire
4. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey
5. The College Dropout - Kanye West
6. Discovery - Daft Punk
7. White Blood Cells - The White Stripes
8. Is This It? - The Strokes
9. Kala - M.I.A.
10. The Grey Album - Danger Mouse
Of those, I'd only say that Gimme Fiction gets my vote for being entirely consistent... I love every song. (As an aside, I am consistently surprised that Kill the Moonlight and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga are more acclaimed Spoon albums. They're both good, but front to back not as good as Gimme Fiction. In fact, I should probably rank those two albums higher, but they are hurt in comparison to GF, so I give them less leeway because that band has done better. In a similar way, I have to figure out if KidA's absence from this list is more of a function of my love for OK Computer)
Funeral, Stories from the City..., and Is This It? are all pretty consistent albums in my book though. I rate Rings Around the World higher, however, even though I feel it flags in the middle, because of the heights it reaches at the outset and, particularly in the three song stretch of "Juxtaposed With U," "Presidential Suite," and "Run! Christian, Run!" (Similar considerations lead me to rank Sgt. Pepper as my #2 album of all time. I acknowledge that there are some not as great songs on that album.)
Similarly, Discovery is not as strong in the second half of the album. For some reason that does not bother me as much as it did with, say, the Vampire Weekend album where the first half was very strong and the second half was not.
So, this is my longwinded way of saying I reserve the right to be inconsistent about how important consistency should be.
Yeah, you look at an album like The College Dropout, it may be the definition of inconsistent. Those skits are TERRIBLE. But I still consider it a classic.
Well, with rap albums I almost feel like you always have to ignore the skits, or no rap album would ever make a list. Stankonia's skits are even worse. (Stankonia is a good example of an album where the inconsistency -- including the actual songs -- was too much to allow a top-10 listing.)
Mull Historical Society- Us
Camera Obscura- Underachievers Please Try Harder and Let's Get Out of this Country
Belle and Sebastian- the Life Pursuit and Dear Catastrophe Waitress
British Sea Power- Do You Like Rock Music?
Doves- the Last Broadcast
Dressy Bessy-s/t (I guess critics can't stand cute)
the Long Blondes- Someone to Drive You Home
the Go! Team- Thunder Lightning Strike
Tilly and the Wall- o
Curve- Gift
Sleater Kinney- the Woods and One Beat
Gomez- Split the Difference
Supergrass- Life on Other Planets
Sigur Ros- Takk
the Pipettes- We Are the Pipettes
Robyn-s/t
Trashcan Sinatras- Weightlifting
Fountains of Wayne- Welcome Interstate Managers
Modest Mouse- Good News For People Who Love Bad News
the Frames- Set List
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan- Ballad of the Broken Seas
Orphans is awesome, but I couldn't get into Alice. Haven't heard Real Gone.
Some more I forgot that I would add to my 9/9.5 list:
Yoshime
Love And Theft
Sound Of Silver
The Woods
Ys
I agree with the poster who said it's way easier to list than to rate. You want each level to make meaningful distinctions between levels of quality, but there's way more than 10-20 meaningful distinctions.
So you can say the 13 albums I listed are the ones I would put as '10' if you ignore the existence of music made in other decades.
Los Campesinos are a band I might be able to get into, except I can't stand the male vocalist's refusal to even attempt to hit actual notes.
VanillaFire, ranking is different from rating. Rolling Stone and AMG essentially rate albums on a scale of 1 to 10; Pitchfork rates albums on a scale of 1 to 100. I just think it's silly to rate an album on a scale of 1 to 100.
Here is perhaps an odd choice for this thread.
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House - 10/10
By my ranking "Yellow House" is the 6th best album of this decade. I fell in love with its beautiful harmonies, intricate layers, and its holy obvious jazz influence. I watched them perform live in Montreal while they opened for radiohead. It as amazing. ed droste as a ghostly similar voice to the magnificant Roy Orbison (Check out TWO WEEKS). Every member is so in touch with each other. Grizzly bear are like a perfect cross between Velvet Undergournd and the Beach Boys with a hint of Animal Collective.
There new album, to me, is perhaps the most anticipated album of my life. The quality of music these guys make is extrodinary. It may take a few listens to truely understand where it is that I'm coming from, but once you've given it time, it'll blossom into an irreplacible album.
I wish I could be original like Kevin but I'm not. Here are my T10 albums of the decade
Kid A
Elephant
Is This It
In Rainbows
Funeral
Franz Ferdinand
Speakerboxxx/Love Below
White Blood Cells
Yankee Foxtrot Hotel
Merriwrather Post Pavillion (maybe we'll see in a year, either this or sound of silver)
I'd give all these albums 9.5s, with Kid A, Elephant, and Is This It earning the elusive 10. The number of albums I'd give a ten too is less than 50, so this is quite an exclusive club.
Some off the top of my head, not yet mentioned...
PH Harvey - White Chalk
Edan - Beauty and The Beat
Nomo - New Tones
Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place
The Roots - Game Theory
Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
Jay-Z - The Blueprint
Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun*
*may be technically a 1999 release
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting atm.
And nice calls on N.E.R.D. (the 2002 slicked-up version, of course!) and Sleater-Kinney.
here are my top fifteen for the decade.
15. SMiLE
14. Neon Bible
13. The Blueprint
12. Sound of Silver
11. Illinois
10. Franz Ferdinand
9. A Rush of Blood to the Head
8. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
7. In Rainbows
6. White Blood Cells
5. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
4. Funeral
3. Kid A
2. Elephant
1. Is This It
Looking over this it seems me and SR have rather similar taste in music.
Right now
1)Kid A
2)In Rainbows
3)Funeral
4)Return To Cookie Mountain
5)Illinios
6)Person Pitch
7)Yellow House
8)Amnesiac
9)Merriweather Post Pavillion
10)Abbitior Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus
Here is my top 20 (with the overall rank)
Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf : 2002 (2)
Kanye West - The College Dropout : 2004 (4)
Architecture in Helsinki - In case we die : 2005 (6)
Puppetmastaz - Creature Funk : 2003 (7)
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver : 2007 (9)
Sufjan Stevens - Come on feel the Illinoise : 2005 (11)
The Knife - Silent Shout : 2006 (13)
Arcade Fire - Funeral : 2004 (15)
Vitalic - OK Cowboy : 2005 (19)
Lost Prophets - The fake sound of progress : 2000 (20)
Millencolin - Pennybridge pioneers : 2000 (21)
At the Drive-in - Relationship of command : 2000 (22)
Gorillaz - Demon Days : 2005 (23)
Outkast - Speakerboxx/the love below : 2003 (24)
Thrice - Illusion of Safety : 2002 (26)
The Dodos - Visitor : 2008 (27)
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not : 2006 (28)
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R : 2000 (29)
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain : 2006 (34)
Animal Collective - Feels : 2005 (35)
Songs for the Deaf and College Dropout are 2 of my 4 10/10 albums.
Then I would put 9.5 from Architecture in Helsinki to Funeral and 9 or 8.5 to the others
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood -9/10
Absolutely loved this album. Neko has such an amazing voice, and her lyrics are very well rounded here. It was a very strong year for Females, so time will tell if she was one of the standouts. She has a great body of work which will help.
On a side note. Ive already heard Middle Cyclone (Her Newest) and although I'm not at a stage to review it, I must say it is terrific, and may possible beat out Fox as her best. My only problem thus far is the lenght of the songs, there doesnt seem to be any songs over 3 minutes except Prison girls. I'm sure I'll get over it though.
Any discussion of the best of the 2000s should include Mars Volta's Frances The Mute. Some, like me, think it's one of the great albums of its generation. Others think it's absolutely unlistenable. Certainly, the album is controversial. And that's exactly why no discussion should be without it. It will spark debate, but it IS an important record.
I find Mars Volta's music a bit masturbatory.
One I forgot to mention in earlier posts: Primal Scream - XTRMNTR.
It's high ranked on AM, but a lot of the time mention of it gets eclipsed by Screamadelica.
That's funny, because Primal Scream's music is a bit flatulentory
Kevin,
Your remark made me get Yellow House off the shelf and play it again. I purchased it two years ago, prior to the Grizzly's show at the Roskilde Festival, and I'd sort of forgotten about it. It IS indeed a terrific album. How could I have let it gather dust like that ... ?
My favourites would be Harvey's Stories (the vastly different, eerie White Chalk too) and The National's Boxer. I admit to having a seriously soft spot for Steve Earle's Jerusalem as well.
On my Scandinavian home turf: the Kaizers Orchestra debut "Ompa til du dør".
I assume we're talking music created in this decade. If "look what we found in the vaults" issues count, then of course Dylan's Live 1975 collection would be top of my list. And Warren Zevon's posthumous "Preludes" would merit inclusion too.
Sean:
I got my copy as a promo while working at a record store. Wasn't aware there WERE two versions of "In Search Of"...is it a U.S. vs. import type of thing with different tracks?
The first version is done with electronic production ala the Neptunes, the second was re-done with live instruments. As it was a promo cd, you most likely heard the one with live instruments. That was the official world-wide release. The original, digital-beats version was only released in Europe, but can easily be downloaded. It has a slightly different track listing and, unlike the second version, contains skits.
They sound so different that they're basically different albums. Maybe 'cause I'm a Neptunes fan but I prefer the digital version. The second edition, though, is the one generally preferred.
Here are two albums that have gotten a lot of acclaim
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Kala
and two that haven't, but I think they're good anyways
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me by Brand New
Everything in Transit by Jack's Mannequin
nice to see someone who agrees that "is this it?" should stay at the top. i wouldn't be sad if it moved into the top 50. i love the album.
i'm not confident enough to make up a top 10 list, but my top two would probably be "is this it?" and "speakerboxxx/the love below". "hey ya!" certainly deserves its spot as no#2 song of the decade. it's certainly not the only good track on the album either. "she lives in my lap" in particular is almost equally good. franz ferdinand, wilco, and arcade fire would probably come next. maybe even in that order. just noticed that i chose 5 of the am top 6 with the white stripes missing out... was never a fan.
I have 8 5-star albums from the 2000s. They are as follows, in order:
1. Sigur Ros - ( )
2. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
3. Radiohead - Kid A
4. Deerhoof - Apple O'
5. The Cure - Bloodflowers
6. Portishead - Third
7. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
8. Animal Collective - Feels
So any of those. I know you said to list one and explain, but that's all you're getting from me right now.