Best Albums of the 2000s

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Explore the best albums of the 2000s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 61,000 charts. Last updated: 5 hours ago

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2000s decade summaryThe best artists of the 2000s were Radiohead, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Coldplay, Sufjan Stevens, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, The White Stripes, Wilco and Animal Collective.

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In Rainbows

Radiohead

"My college roommate and I decided that we were sick of hearing about Radiohead and how great they were, and to allow us to be fully educated in our dislike of Radiohead we decided that we should only listen to Radiohead for one week. After one week we would be able to definitively say that Radioh..." Reply

- ars2458 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 12

Year of Release:

2007

Appears in:

2,995 charts

Rank Score:

40,283

Rank in 2007:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (3,993 votes)

Comments:

400

Kid A

Radiohead

"This is my favourite album ever. 1st listen: What the fuck is going on? This is nothing like OK Computer 3rd listen: I don't know what is bringing me back to this, I don't really like it but I can still somehow tell it's well made regardless 5th listen: OK, I like Everything In It's Right Place, ..." Reply

- Jordbord | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 23

Year of Release:

2000

Appears in:

3,248 charts

Rank Score:

38,500

Rank in 2000:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (4,506 votes)

Comments:

565

Funeral

Arcade Fire

"If it sounds like any other album of the so called "indie" it is beacuse, this is the quintaessencial album of that "subgenre", one of the best of the last decade and definietely a key recording overall, it has such a beautiful atmosphere and the structure of the songs is so precise and dreamlike..." Reply

covecove | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 17

Year of Release:

2004

Appears in:

2,942 charts

Rank Score:

31,448

Rank in 2004:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

"I’ve hesitated to review this until now. Like most of my favorite albums, this one had to grow on me, for 18 years to be exact. I felt like it lacked the immediacy of most great rock albums, that it needed more hooks and stronger payoffs instead of ending abruptly on certain songs. I remember rea...""I’ve hesitated to review this until now. Like most of my favorite albums, this one had to grow on me, for 18 years to be exact. I felt like it lacked the immediacy of most great rock albums, that it needed more hooks and stronger payoffs instead of ending abruptly on certain songs. I remember reading an article about some industry executives who felt ‘Is This It’ should have been an even bigger album, that the songs never reached the heights of their potential. They used the template from the songs here and helped co-write ‘Since You Been Gone’ by Kelly Clarkson, demonstrating what they felt was the direction The Strokes songs were building to, but with bigger hooks. And I tended to agree with that sentiment for a long time, that these songs were good but never built up to a large payoff. Until one day, I was driving my old truck (as opposed to a newer Bluetooth enabled company vehicle) where I had no Spotify, no streaming service to speak of, just my old CD binder and the music of my youth. I was reminded of being in my friend’s basement, smoking weed and riding skateboards with our high school buddies, listening to The Strokes and desperately wanting to ‘get’ them the way they did. But it still didn’t click. It was good, yes, but that was all. It was historically important, I never argued that. But I never loved it. Fast forward a few weeks, and the album stayed in my CD player. I only drive that old truck on weekends, and somewhere along the way I misplaced the binder. So I have a choice: listen to this, the only album in my CD player, or the radio. I continued playing this album. And over time, I noticed my son nodding along to the songs, asking me each time he got in my truck who we were listening to, and commenting that they sound like The Beatles (he’s 3, he gets a pass). And in these moments, in a shared a experience, the songs started revealing themselves to me. I appreciated that the songs didn’t contain soaring choruses (with the exception of the perfect ‘Hard to Explain’) and instead relied on actual songwriting and musicianship to establish its brilliance. With all due respect to the poster below me, I feel it’s one of those rare albums that is anachronistic without being derivative. It could have been recorded in 1970 or today, and would have found an audience any time in between. It took me much longer than most to understand this album, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t appreciate it a little more for that reason. 97/100" Reply

- Joshuatyler | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 5

Year of Release:

2001

Appears in:

2,511 charts

Rank Score:

26,740

Rank in 2001:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

"The Greatest album of the 21st century so far. Storytelling worthy of Dylan. 5 stars!" Reply

- SamTheMan | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 17

Year of Release:

2005

Appears in:

1,711 charts

Rank Score:

19,076

Rank in 2005:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,934 votes)

Comments:

169

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco

"I had not heard of Wilco or heard anything by them. I bought this at the end of January 2016 because of its position on the overall chart, and it's excellent review. Ive listened to this loads since purchasing it and have decided this is a VERY addictive album ! It is a diverse, relaxing beautifu..." Reply

- Bungalowracoon | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 8

Year of Release:

2002

Appears in:

1,704 charts

Rank Score:

16,054

Rank in 2002:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,977 votes)

Comments:

174

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Arctic Monkeys

"Wasn't impressed. Album was very highly rated on this site, so I figured it was worth a listen. Not bad by any means, just not all that special either. Maybe will revisit later, but for now it's a bit of a disappointment." Reply

souplipton | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 7

Year of Release:

2006

Appears in:

1,650 charts

Rank Score:

15,324

Rank in 2006:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

"was looking through the "Rap" section of FYE and was looking for something new. I asked the sales associate if he could recommend me something and he said, "Yeah check out Madvillain, they're underground rap". I never heard of "underground rap" before so I was hesitant but I bought it anyway. Wha..." Reply

- | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 9

Year of Release:

2004

Appears in:

1,090 charts

Rank Score:

13,093

Rank in 2004:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,240 votes)

Comments:

Turn On The Bright Lights

Interpol

"While The Strokes represented the Television-y part of the '00s punk revival, Interpol came to be the leading band of the gloomy Suicide/Joy Division-inspired section of the thing. But Paul Banks went further from only mimicking this sound: they renewed their work in a way that fits perfectly the..." Reply

bonafini | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 15

Year of Release:

2002

Appears in:

1,319 charts

Rank Score:

12,730

Rank in 2002:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

84 (1,655 votes)

Comments:

130

10.

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

"I think that my vocabulary is not sufficient to convey what this album illustrates in my mind. Its an epic affair. I feel like when I really give in and immerse myself in this record I am sort of confronting and feeling some concept as big as civilization itself. It feel at times like the beginni..." Reply

Mercury | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 22

Year of Release:

2000

Appears in:

1,123 charts

Rank Score:

11,886

Rank in 2000:

Rank in 2000s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,355 votes)

Comments:

108

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Total albums: 989. Page 1 of 99

Best Albums of the 2000s composition

Year	Albums	%

2000	103	10%
2001	101	10%
2002	108	11%
2003	110	11%
2004	87	9%
2005	107	11%
2006	100	10%
2007	92	9%
2008	87	9%
2009	105	11%

Artist	Albums	%

Animal Collective	6	1%
Bruce Springsteen	6	1%
Dream Theater	5	1%
Wilco	5	1%
The Black Keys	5	1%
Bright Eyes	5	1%
Opeth	5	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	547	55%
	221	22%
	56	6%
	39	4%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	18	2%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

Live?	Albums	%
No	992	99%
Yes	8	1%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	989	99%
Yes	11	1%

Best Albums of the 2000s chart changes

Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month
Up 3 from 73rd to 70th The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me by Brand New
Up 3 from 69th to 66th Graduation by Kanye West
Up 2 from 99th to 97th The Resistance by Muse

Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month
Down 3 from 79th to 82nd Voodoo by D'Angelo
Down 2 from 47th to 49th The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem
Down 2 from 55th to 57th Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea by PJ Harvey

« View best albums of the 1990sView best albums of the 2010s »

Best Artists of 1964

1. The Beatles

2. Bob Dylan

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5. The Ronettes

6. The Rolling Stones

7. Sam Cooke

8. The Supremes

9. Charles Mingus

10. The Kinks