Top 50 Music Albums of the 2000s by ForegroundNoise
The 2000s is the only decade at the moment where I feel I've reviewed enough records to make a half decent list, but will amend and add as I listen to more stuff. I've also decided to limit it to one album per artist to ensure that everyone who deserves it gets their time in the limelight. Other notable releases (ONR), solo records, or projects by related artists that I think are worth checking out are mentioned in each entry's notes.
Please feel free to look through my public ratings and leave your suggestions in the comments below! Never someone to turn down the recommendation of a passionate music fan.
Also if you're interested, I've made a chart for my favourite underrated albums of this decade which you can check out via this address: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=58986
Below are my favourite short releases of the decade, and below that any stand-out albums that do not qualify as contemporary (retrospective compilations, live albums etc.). As for the term 'short release' this refers to anything that falls under less than half an hour in length, a distinction I prefer to the outdated classifiers of traditional LP/EP boundaries (also makes for more exciting individual lists).
Best Short Releases of the 2000s
1. Jay Reatard - Blood Visions (2006) [US]
garage punk (In The Red, 29:09) - 9/10
2. Jeromes Dream / Orchid - Jeromes Dream / Orchid (2000) [US]
emoviolence (Witching Hour, 11:43) - 9/10
3.Brave Little Abacus - Demo? (2008) [US]
emo • experimental rock (n/a, 21:16) - 8.5/10
4. Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom & the Ys Street Band E.P. (2007) [US]
chamber folk • progressive folk (Drag City, 24:06) - 8/10
5. Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron & Fred Squire - Lost Wisdom (2008) [CA/US]
indie folk (P.W. Elverum & Sun, 24:41) - 8/10
________________________________________________________________
Retrospective/Archival
Bang on a Can - In C (2001) [US]
minimalism • indeterminacy • chamber music (Cantaloupe Music, 45:30) - 9/10
Julius Eastman - Unjust Malaise (2005) [US]
modern classical • minimalism (New World, 192:54) - 8/10
Modest Mouse - Building Nothing Out of Something (2000) [US]
indie rock • lo-fi/slacker rock • Midwest emo (Up, 55:15) - 8/10
- Chart updated: 03/24/2024 14:15
- (Created: 02/07/2018 17:07).
- Chart size: 50 albums.
There are 9 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 50 Music Albums of the 2000s has an average rating of 91 out of 100 (from 19 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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art rock • experimental rock • electronic
(Capitol, 49:55)
10/10
"Stop sending letters
Letters always get burned
It's not like the movies
They fed us on little white lies"
I know what you're thinking. Another 2000s chart. Another Kid A in the top spot. Cue groan. Cue eye roll. Cue clicking away to another tab.
There is a dirty secret to universal acclaim: it has a threshold. Once crossed, it does more harm than good. All of a sudden, to like that which was once a marker of your own refined taste, seems now so pedestrian, so unimaginative.
Kid A, and Radiohead more generally, are acute sufferers from this over-saturation of acclaim. That is not to say all criticisms of the band aren't untrue, the most common one I see thrown their way is they are derivative, and certainly I agree that only rarely does the band cut a path through their experimentation that is entirely unique. We must not forget, however, that experimentation is a means, not an end; a fine line exists between innovation for new modes of appeal and creating something obnoxiously inaccessible for its own sake (and this is coming from someone who thinks Trout Mask Replica is the best rock album of the 60s). Radiohead bear the brunt of elitist criticism because the embellishment of their relatively mainstream sound with elements of the experimental underground is seen as an infringement on more boundary-pushing artists.
Yet I'd argue, it's in this very act that the strength of the band lies. Radiohead have never been at the front lines of the avant-garde, but they instead use their fame to incorporate seemingly disparate underground influences into mainstream rock; the IDM, folk and jazz that twist and writhe through this album are in no small part responsible for turning many, myself included, to the most interesting recesses of those genres, all whilst maintaining the band's undeniably visceral impact. "The National Anthem"'s infectious bass line and clattering drums holds together a track that disintegrates with every passing second, demanding your own throbbing response; the title track's first refrain of 'standing in the shadows at the end of my bed' lets slip a moment of forlorn human pain in an otherwise icy robotic landscape.
OK Computer might do conventional 'songwriting' better (beautiful verse/beautiful chorus/beautiful verse/beautiful chorus) but rather than rest on their laurels, Radiohead took deliberate steps away from a tried and tested formula and in committing what they thought to be commercial suicide, created what turned out to be one of their most beloved albums. Unlike so many records from my teen years that have fallen by the wayside, Kid A still endures.
ONR: In Rainbows is rightly celebrated as another of the band's high points, whilst Amnesiac has got its own dedicated cult following. What I'd offer as an alternative take is Hail to the Thief being the dark horse of the band's absurdly strong discography. Criminally underrated and overshadowed by its neighbours; in my book it should be right up there with the best of them.
Amnesiac (2001)
art rock • experimental rock (Parlophone, 43:50) - 7.5/10
Hail to the Thief (2003)
alternative rock • art rock (Parlophone, 56:33) - 8.5/10
In Rainbows (2007)
art rock • alternative rock (Xurbia Xendless, 42:38) - 9.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 02/07/2018]
electronic • experimental rock
(Island, 50:11)
9.5/10
"What more can I say?
For I am guilty
For the voice that I obey
Too scared to sacrifice a choice
Chosen for me"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 02/07/2018]
future garage • dubstep
(Hyperdub, 50:28)
9/10
"Cause once upon a time
It was you who I adored ...
You look different"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/11/2018]
neofolk • avant-folk • drone
(Durtro, 63:02)
8.5/10
"There is no cock to crow the day
Neither beast which might noise make upon the hill
But all around there is growing on the ground
Poppy which bears the seed of sleep"
ONR:
Black Ships Ate the Sky (2006)
neofolk (Durtro, 75:19) - 8/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 03/08/2022]
indietronica • dream pop
(Warp, 40:32)
8/10
"Under the x-ray
I'm just a vertebrate"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 11/07/2018]
modern classical • chamber jazz
(EMI, 53:36)
8/10
"I said 'Your daddy loves you'
I said 'Your daddy loves you very much
He just doesn't want to live with us anymore'"
___________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 12/23/2023]
chamber folk
(DiCristina Stair Builders, 35:31)
8/10
"If I were to go away
Would you follow me to the ends of the earth
To show me what your love is worth
Or would you go and buy a car
Shrug your shoulders, say, 'There you are
She didn't love me anyway
If she had, she would have stayed'"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 10/10/2020]
post-rock
(Fire, 50:18)
8/10
"Curled up like a vine, trying to find it
A load of old joy lifting me
I'm worse for wear down at heel
All you people make me ill"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 12/02/2021]
electronic • post-industrial • experimental
(Threshold House, 50:26)
7.5/10
"Sun Ra was here in his element
He invited me back for a ride
He said, 'I will be all right if you kiss me
And I will be all right if you hold me'"
ONR:
The Ape of Naples (2005)
post-industrial • electronic • experimental (Threshold House, 65:32) - 7.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 07/12/2021]
folktronica • IDM
(Domino, 44:55)
7.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 06/27/2018]
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Top 50 Music Albums of the 2000s composition
Year | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | 6 | 12% | |
2001 | 7 | 14% | |
2002 | 4 | 8% | |
2003 | 8 | 16% | |
2004 | 5 | 10% | |
2005 | 3 | 6% | |
2006 | 5 | 10% | |
2007 | 4 | 8% | |
2008 | 5 | 10% | |
2009 | 3 | 6% |
Artist | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
A Silver Mt. Zion | 1 | 2% | |
The Microphones | 1 | 2% | |
Vashti Bunyan | 1 | 2% | |
Arcade Fire | 1 | 2% | |
Coil | 1 | 2% | |
Have A Nice Life | 1 | 2% | |
Modest Mouse | 1 | 2% | |
Show all |
Country | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
25 | 50% | ||
10 | 20% | ||
5 | 10% | ||
4 | 8% | ||
1 | 2% | ||
1 | 2% | ||
1 | 2% | ||
Show all |
Top 50 Music Albums of the 2000s chart changes
Biggest climbers |
---|
Up 6 from 18th to 12th Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor |
Up 5 from 23rd to 18th De-Loused In The Comatorium by The Mars Volta |
Biggest fallers |
---|
Down 2 from 17th to 19th Untrue by Burial |
Down 1 from 12th to 13th The Tired Sounds Of Stars Of The Lid by Stars Of The Lid |
Down 1 from 13th to 14th The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox |
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Other decade charts by ForegroundNoise
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Top 50 Music Albums of the 2000s ratings
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 19 ratings for this chart.
Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
03/31/2024 14:51 | Larcx13 | 1,092 | 86/100 | |
06/07/2023 05:06 | leniad | 686 | 85/100 | |
06/06/2023 11:15 | Johnnyo | 2,014 | 80/100 | |
08/22/2022 13:42 | replacementlevel | 50 | 95/100 | |
08/22/2022 13:14 | Rm12398 | 99 | 89/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
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This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 91.3/100, a mean average of 94.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 94.2/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 5.7.
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Top 50 Music Albums of the 2000s comments
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Great picks, want to see this At 100 albums
Really good chart and interesting comments. Like it a lot
I am not familiar with most of these albums. I am giving you 5 stars for your knowledge!
Great chart! The ones that stick out that I love are Portishead Third and Four Tet Rounds, both wonderful albums. You have awesome taste in music.
I'm confused. No offense was intended. I'm just saying a lot of people on BEA (clarification: being active users/users who use the forums, etc.) would agree with this chart. And they do... that's all.
Not sure how that's an insult... but yeah... I guess you can take it that way.
Like really, all I was saying is this is a perfectly curated chart that probably nobody would disagree with who actively uses the forums.
Furthermore, I'm not sure if you saw my comment, but you keep suggesting that I should get more into genres I already have listened to and don't enjoy/love... I think you are insinuating I am closed minded because I don't have Burial on my chart...but why would I if I don't enjoy it after multiple listens?
This is basically the BEA soundtrack to the 2000s.
dope chart!
I'm more familiar with the albums on this chart than your overall one. Still lots to check out, but I like what I do know a lot. Great resource for discovering new music, which is what this website is all about for me.
Nice collection of albums right there. Cannot get enough of Kid A and Glow Pt2
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