The Best Album of Each Year Part 4: 2003-2014

2003

The White Stripes, Elephant

Why it’s the best: Because the White Stripes perfected a formula that has never successfully been replicated--even by Jack White himself. Sure, there have been plenty of blues/rock bands--even two-man blues/rock bands (the Black Keys come to mind)--but none have tackled the genre quite like Jack and Meg White. The fusion of Jack's technically proficient guitar playing with Meg's deceptively simple beats created an entirely unique sound, all infused with a sense of childlike wonder (on songs like "Black Math" and "I Want to be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart.")

Other candidates: Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief, The Strokes' Room on Fire
Quality of year (out of 10): 8

2004

Arcade Fire, Funeral

Why it’s the best: Because rarely does a band arrive as fully formed and unique as Arcade Fire. With songs that are about death and yet also about life, Arcade Fire debuted with four songs about their childhood neighborhoods (or a version of them), and also delved into topics like riding in the backseat of a car, and the ancestral home of band member Regine de Chassagne's family ("Haiti"). The album rides from one high to the next. It's fitting that "Wake Up" was later used to score Spike Jonze's film version of Where the Wild Things Are, because few songs convey that sense of childlike wonderment as well as Arcade Fire do here. (In fact, the only band that comes close is the previous band on this list, the White Stripes.)

Other candidates: Interpol’s Antics, The Black Keys' Rubber Factory
Quality of year: 6

2005

The National, Alligator

Why it’s the best: Because this is where the National arrived, and it's the first step towards greatness for a band that would continue down that path with each subsequent release. It's actually a bit weird to go back to this one; it's strange hearing Matt Berninger sound as young as he does here, because he's become so associated with that middle-aged baritone voice he has now. This album is also the most upbeat of their catalog by far-- there are honest-to-god punk rockers on here! ("Abel," "Lit Up")

Other candidates: My Morning Jacket's Z, Spoon's Gimme Fiction

Quality of year: 6

2006

The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

Why it’s the best: Because this album has ten- and twelve-minute songs, song versions of Shakespeare plays and Japanese folk tales, and yet it succeeds, and not in spite of those elements, but because of them. To ask the Decemberists to cut down on these aspects of the band would be to remove their charm and the very things that make them unique. Few can tell a story in song form like Colin Meloy, and if he wants that story to be a three-part epic about marrying a bird, then that's what it should be.

Other candidates: Silversun Pickups' Carnavas, Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds

Quality of year: 6

2007

Radiohead, In Rainbows

Why it’s the best: Because some albums are more like a collection of short stories--a series of songs that, while they may be great, are unconnected except for the artist. Other albums are more like novels, with each song acting as part of a whole. This is one of those albums. Radiohead makes the sound work for them on In Rainbows, utilizing reverb beatuifully and eschewing traditional verse/chorus forms of songwriting for slow builds that, when they crescendo, lead to breathtaking moments.

Other candidates: Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, The National's Boxer

Quality of year: 10

2008

Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend

Why it’s the best: Because this may be the happiest music I've ever heard. There are so many quirks that make Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut so good, and while it has its share of detractors, how can they turn down music that's this happy?

Other candidates: Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut, TV on the Radio's Dear Science

Quality of year: 5

2009

Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Why it’s the best: Because this album surprised me when I first heard it; I had heard the singles, "Lisztomania" and "1901," and I liked them, but I wasn't sure it would necessarily mean that the album would be great. I was wrong; it's great all the way through, even succeeding in a two-part instrumental. 

Other candidates: The XX's XX, AFI's Crash Love

Quality of year: 1

2010

The National, High Violet

Why it’s the best: Because this album was where the National got grand, bringing in common "we're rock star now" cliche instruments like strings-- yet it wasn't overblown or pretentious, it just accented their music very well, and with it, they made their best album to date, which is doubly impressive considering how consistently great these guys are.

Other candidates: LCD Soundsystem's This is Happening, Arcade Fire's The Suburbs

Quality of year: 9

2011

The Decemberists, The King Is Dead

Why it’s the best: Because here the Decemberists proved they were just as good at Americana and folk rock as they were with the French-inspired accordion-driven music of their previous albums. To be honest, this wouldn't have been my choice as album of the year at the time (and was rarely included in such lists from music publications), but as time has gone on, its brilliance has become more obvious to me. Colin Meloy's lyrics have always been the not-exactly-secret weapon for the Decemberists, and though he's stopped using the ridiculously big words he indulged in in the past, this may be his best work lyrically. Songs like "Don't Carry It All" and "All Arise" make you feel like you're living among 1800s pioneers, while "June Hymn" and "January Hymn" paint perfect portraits of their seasons.

Other candidates: Beirut's The Rip Tide, Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues

Quality of year: 9

2012

Japandroids, Celebration Rock

Why it’s the best: Because it's very impressive that two guys can make music this loud, this powerful, all on their own. Few bands can aspire to the kind of fist-pumping anthems like "The House That Heaven Built."

Other candidates: Grizzly Bear’s Shields, Tame Impala's Lonerism

Quality of year: 1

2013

Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

Why it’s the best: Because this is the album where Vampire Weekend improved in areas where they already excelled, while ditching certain aspects that many found irritating. While their first album was brilliant, only this more mature version of Vampire Weekend could take a song like "Hannah Hunt," which starts off as a simple piano ballad, and take it to its impressive, piano-led crescendo.

Other candidates: Queens of the Stone Age's ...Like Clockwork, Daft Punk's Random Access Memories

Quality of year: 9

2014

Spoon, They Want My Soul

Why it’s the best: Because this is far from the only year Spoon has an argument for having the best album of the year. 2002's Kill the Moonlight and 2007's Ga  Ga Ga Ga Ga, in particular, are probably stronger than They Want My Soul, but this is the year when everything lined up just right for Spoon. At least, for now-- we still have two and a half more months for a contender to emerge.

Other candidates: Wye Oak's Shriek, St. Vincent's self-titled album

Quality of year: 5

The Best Album of Every Year, Part 3: 1992-2002

Part 3 in the series, now with pictures!

1992

Rage Against the Machine, Rage Against the Machine

Why it’s the best: Because despite what Limp Bizkit showed us, rap and metal don’t always have to combine to be awful. The trouble was that none of those late '90s nu metal groups went about it the same way as RATM, who combined technical mastery with driven anger, and relied heavily on Tom Morello's brilliant guitar riffs.

Other candidates: REM's Automatic for the People, Neil Young's Harvest Moon
Quality of year: 4

1993

Pearl Jam, Vs.

Why it’s the best: Because Pearl Jam is the best. But seriously, for me there are two reasons why Vs. beats out In Utero: first, because musically In Utero is a bit of a step down from Nevermind, while Vs. is an improvement over Ten-- it's less grim and overdramatic; and second, In Utero was clearly Nirvana trying to make a statement, bringing in Steve Albini to record a rougher, less radio-friendly album, while Pearl Jam was simply making an album with little regard to how it would be perceived (or at least, not nearly as much overt regard as Nirvana), and that tends to hold up better over time.

Other candidates: Nirvana’s In Utero, Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream
Quality of year: 6

1994

Pearl Jam, Vitalogy

Why it’s the best: Because it's the best album of one of the best and most influential bands of the '90s. Vitalogy features one classic song after another; from "Corduroy" to "Last Exit" to "Better Man," if you're looking for the best Pearl Jam songs, nearly this entire album qualifies.

Other candidates: Weezer's Blue Album, Alice In Chains' Jar of Flies
Quality of year: 7

1995

Radiohead, The Bends

Why it’s the best: Because it takes the concept of Britpop to another level. Maybe it's because I'm not British, but I don't "get" Britpop; to me, It just seems like unending lesser incarnations of the Beatles. But I wouldn't have and problems with Oasis or Blur if they sounded like Radiohead does on The Bends. The amazing thing is, this album only hinted at Radiohead's potential.

Other candidates: Pulp’s Different Class, Neil Young's Mirror Ball

Quality of year: 1

1996

Pearl Jam, No Code

Why it’s the best: Because there weren't a lot of candidates for '96, and because I am a bit biased when it comes to Pearl Jam. But in all seriousness, No Code does make an excellent case as the best album of 1996; it's another step in the direction they started taking with Vitalogy, a more risk-taking and diverse approached that took them from the African drumbeats of "Who You Are" to the rock harmonica-driven "Smile" while still sounding entirely cohesive--no small feat.

Other candidates: Soundgarden's Down on the Upside, Rage Against the Machine's Evil Empire
Quality of year: 3

1997

Radiohead, OK Computer

Why it’s the best: Because it's hard to find a year when this wouldn't win. That being said, it does feel especially suited to the late '90s in its themes, which deal with the rapid rise in technology, alien abductions, and 

Other candidates: Daft Punk’s Homework, Yo La Tengo's I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
Quality of year: 4

1998

Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Why it’s the best: Because this melancholy album ushered in the indie movement of the 2000s. It may not be for everyone, but there's no denying that Jeff Mangum's songwriting is top-notch, even if his voice can be... difficult... to listen to.

Other candidates: System of a Down's self-titled debut, Spoon's A Series of Sneaks
Quality of year: 4

1999

Rage Against the Machine, The Battle of Los Angeles

Why it’s the best: 1999 was a strange time for the music industry; sales were through the roof, but quality was at a low point. Maybe Rage Against the Machine was just the band for that year, a band that didn't cash in on industry trends, but instead invented their own. Evil Empire was a slight step back from their debut, but this one is every bit as good.

Other candidates: Wilco's Summerteeth, AFI's Black Sails in the Sunset

Quality of year: 4

2000

Radiohead, Kid A

Why it’s the best: Because no one else could have-or would have-followed up OK Computer quite like this. Radiohead responded to the pressure of following up their masterpiece by creating another masterpiece, one that is completely different and yet still unmistakably Radiohead.

Other candidates: Queens of the Stone Age's Rated R, Outkast's Stankonia

Quality of year: 7

2001

The Strokes, Is This It

Why it’s the best: Because the only way to deliver on the hype that the Strokes were getting in 2001 was for the music to be this good. The word always used to describe the Strokes is "effortless," and rightly so: they seemed effortlessly cool, both in appearance and in sound.  But don't be fooled: these songs are meticulously crafted and expertly carried out by brilliant musicians.

Other candidates: The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells, Muse's Origin of Symmetry

Quality of year: 10

2002

Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf

Why it’s the best: Because it's metal that appeals even to non-metal fans. It's a very diverse album, encompassing everything from good pop-rock music "Go with the Flow" to screaming metal "Six Shooter," and handles each genre it tackles as well as any band I've heard.

Other candidates: Spoon’s Kill the Moonlight, The Decemberists' Castaways and Cutouts
Quality of year: 8

The Best Album of Every Year Part 2: 1981-1991

Part 2 of the feature I spent way too much time on: the best albums of every year. Here's 1981-1991:

1981

Elvis Costello's Trust

Why it’s the best: Because Elvis Costello started out his career on fire, just like Led Zeppelin. Five great albums in five years—few artists can boast such a claim, but Elvis Costello can, and even more incredibly, they were the first five albums of his career.

Other candidates: The Clash’s Sandinista!,
Quality of year (out of 10): 1

1982

Michael Jackson's Thriller

Why it’s the best: Because it’s the best that pop has ever been, and possibly the best it ever will be. Thriller remains unsurpassed as a pop album, the modern definition of which usually consists of multiple radio hit singles and some filler to make it an album-length. Not so with Thriller, which is basically an entire album's worth of hit singles; all these songs still get regular radio play today, and with good reason.

Other candidates: The Clash’s Combat Rock, Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom
Quality of year: 4

1983

David Bowie's Let's Dance

Why it’s the best: This may not be Bowie's best, but anything he does has the opportunity to be the best album of its year. This also isn't the most popular Bowie album among fans; many at the time saw it as a bit of a sell-out. In reality it's not that, while it's also not quite up to the standards of his '70s work. And if you're OK with that, this is a worthwhile Bowie album that features several of his very best songs.

Other candidates: The Police's Synchronicity, New Order's Power Corruption and Lies

Quality of year: 7

1984

Metallica's Ride the Lightning

Why it’s the best: Because the genre of metal we know today wouldn’t exist without it—and it’s still better than almost anything being put out by current bands. Metallica aren’t simply an influence on metal bands; they remain the band that every metal band is still trying to match.

Other candidates: U2's The Unforgettable Fire, The Replacements' Let It Be

Quality of year: 3

1985

Tears for Fears's Songs from the Big Chair

Why it’s the best: Because it sums up the ‘80s in a way no other album can. With some of the best tracks of the entire decade ("Head over Heels," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World")

Other candidates: The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder, The Cure's The Head on the Door

Quality of year: 6

1986

The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead

Why it’s the best: Because a Smiths album had to get on here at some point; they were just that good. In spite of their overly '80s production, the Smiths are in my opinion the best band of the '80s, and either this or Meat Is Murder is their best work. This one features Morrisey's lyrics at their most complex, and while it lacks that one classic song in the vein of "How Soon Is Now?" it's the most complete Smiths album.

Other candidates: Metallica's Master of Puppets, Paul Simon's Graceland

Quality of year: 6

1987

U2's The Joshua Tree

Why it’s the best: Because this is the one where it all clicked for U2. This album manages to be grand in the best possible ways, without sounding pretentious like some of their later work. Love them or hate them (and there are many on both sides of that argument) you can't deny that intro to "Where the Streets Have No Name."

Other candidates: REM's Document, New Order's Brotherhood

Quality of year: 8

1988

Michael Jackson's Bad

Why it’s the best: Because Michael's arguably the best pop singer ever, meaning Thriller isn't all he has to offer. Bad features "The Way You Make Me Feel" and other classic songs, and while it's not quite Thriller, nothing really is.

Other candidates: Metallica's ...And Justice for All

Quality of year: 2

1989

Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever

Why it’s the best: Because of "Free Fallin," "I Won't Back Down," and "Running Down a Dream." There are other reasons, but shouldn't that be enough?

Other candidates: Nirvana's Bleach, The Cure's Disintegration

Quality of year: 2

1990

Pixies' Bossanova

Why it’s the best: Because while 1990 was an especially weak year for music--coming in the middle of the transition of the '80s and '90s--but the Pixies were the most important band of that time period, and Bossanova is very representative of their sound. 

Other candidates: Neil Young’s Ragged Glory, AC/DC's The Razor's Edge

Quality of year: 1

1991

Nirvana's Nevermind

Why it’s the best: Because the rest of the ‘90s couldn’t have happened without it. As much as I wanted to pick Pearl Jam's Ten for this spot, I couldn’t choose anything other than Nevermind for 1991. It just wouldn’t be right. Besides, I've already given Pearl Jam too many spots in part 3 (coming later this week!)

Other candidates: Ten, REM's Out of Time
Quality of year: 9

The Best Album of Every Year Part 1: 1970-1980

My last album review, Spoon’s They Want My Soul, got me thinking of a larger project. I think They Want My Soul is the best album of the year so far, and it got me thinking about the best album of each year going back. This idea snowballed, and here we are: my list of the best album of every year.

Since the '60s were dominated by singles, with very few acts making great full-length albums until the very end of the decade, this list will start with 1970. The criteria considered are as follows: how the album was received and its popularity at that time; its influence for future music (which obviously won't apply for the most recent years); how well the album holds up today; and of course, my own personal taste, because that can't be avoided. It should be noted also that these albums will almost exclusively fall in the rock/alternative genres, because that is what this blog covers. I've also rated the overall strength of each year on a scale of 10 (10 being the highest), because not all years deliver the same amount of great albums. Yeah, I spent way too much time on this. On to the list...

1970

Black Sabbath, Paranoid

Why it’s the best: Because it’s the album that basically invented metal. Before Ozzy rode the Crazy Train and started eating bats and writing controversy-generating songs about the “suicide solution,” he was a key member of a pioneering group. Every metal band today has these guys, and this album, to thank for its existence.

Other candidates: Led Zeppelin III, Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush
Strength of year: (out of 10) 6

1971

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV

Why it’s the best: Because it’s hard to top perfection. While no album is perfect, is there anything more you could really ask from Led Zeppelin IV? You might think there is, but if that happens, just put on "Black Dog." And know that it couldn't possibly be any better.

Other candidates: Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers

Strength of year: 10

1972

David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Why it’s the best: Because convoluted storylines don’t matter when the writing is as good as this. Other than an ill-advised cover of the Kinks’ “It Ain’t Easy,” this album is nearly flawless; it hits all the right notes, from the all-time great key change in “Soul Love” to the singalong ending of “Starman” to the undeniable “Suffragette City,” this album is the best the ‘70s had to offer.

Other candidates: The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book

Strength of year: 8

1973

Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy

Why it’s the best: Because Led Zeppelin were in the middle of one of the greatest runs of albums ever. Houses of the Holy was simply the latest in a long line of incredible albums from this band. And though Robert Plant’s voice had started to falter a bit by now (he sounds like a shell of himself on opening track “The Song Remains the Same,”) at other points he sounds like vintage Plant, like on “Over the Hills and Far Away.” This album is sort of a transition for Zeppelin; it’s the first sign of the ideas that would eventually derail them (as seen here on “The Crunge”), but also one of the last vestiges of greatness from a band that, at its peak, was better than any other.

Other candidates: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Iggy and the Stooges’ Raw Power

Strength of year: 6

1974

Aerosmith, Get Your Wings

Why it’s the best: Because it was the best Rolling Stones album released in 1974. The Stones’ albums in the early ‘70s spawned a lot of imitators, none of whom became as successful as Aerosmith. This album doesn't really have any of their hits, but it's the best from back to front, highlighted by "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Seasons of Wither."

Other candidates: David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs, Rush's self-titled debut

Strength of year: 2

1975

Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run

Why it’s the best: Because it’s the greatest epic album in history. The songs of Born to Run are true epics, telling stories of ordinary Americans in typical Springsteen style, but the instrumentation makes each story sound like the most important thing in the world.

Other candidates: Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album, Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti

Strength of year: 7

1976

Boston, Boston

Why it’s the best: Because it’s the best of what made classic rock great. Still one of the best debut albums ever released, Boston was the product of years of studio tinkering by their talented guitarist and mastermind Tom Schultz. But what really put Boston over the top is Brad Delp’s voice, which reaches heights impossible for nearly everyone.

Other candidates: Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak, The Ramones’ self-titled album

Strength of year: 5

1977

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours

Why it’s the best: Because it’s the best product a terrible relationship’s end has ever produced. Rumours goes from one classic song to the next like few albums can. Ask anyone from the era--they don't just remember "Go Your Own Way;" they know "Never Going Back Again," "You Make Loving Fun," and "Gold Dust Woman" just as well.

Other candidates: Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True, Television’s Marquee Moon

Strength of year: 10

1978

Blondie, Parallel Lines

Why it’s the best: Because it’s a great pop record, from back when that sort of thing could actually exist. A band that made its name at CBGB could only record a song like "Heart of Glass" and get away with it if it was this good. But that's hardly all Parallel Lines has to offer; from the guitar-driven "One Way or Another" to the dreamy "Fade Away and Radiate" to the fast-paced "Just Go Away," this album is great from first to last.

Other candidates: Elvis Costello’s This Year’s Model, Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town

Strength of year: 7

1979

Elvis Costello, Armed Forces

Why it’s the best: Because Elvis Costello is seriously terrific, and any of his albums from this era could be the album of the year. While My Aim Is True might be his best, it sounds like the '50s, while Armed Forces is the one where he really developed his signature style.

Other candidates: Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, Blondie's Eat to the Beat

Strength of year: 8

1980

Joy Division, Closer

Why it’s the best: Because Joy Division was the band that ushered in the ‘80s. Often mimicked but never really replicated, the minimalist sound of this band is impressive and yes, sad, and “Isolation” showed what would happen if you combined punk with synthesizers.

Other candidates: Talking Heads’ Remain in Light, The Clash’s London Calling
Strength of year: 7

Spoon: They Want My Soul

Spoon's 2010 album Transference was an oddball of an album. It seemed like a reaction to the easy catchiness of their previous effort, 2007's fantastic Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Transference zigged where you expected it to zag, and was full of unexpected stops and starts. It was well enough reviewed when it was initially released, but opinion seems to have turned on Transference since then, with many early reviews of Spoon's latest album, They Want My Soul, hailing it as a return to form for the band after a previous misstep. 
And while Transference wasn't bad, there's no denying that Soul takes after Ga Ga Go Ga Ga, with its catchy melodies and production sheen. There are plenty of similarities to be drawn between those two albums: they are mostly the same length (37 minutes vs. 36), the same number of songs (10), and once again Spoon displays the same knack for infectious songwriting.
The album kicks off with rocker "Rent I Pay," which comes out of the gate with a hard-hitting drumbeat courtesy of the great Jim Eno. It's followed by "Inside Out," which is full of empty space and seems content to just let its programmed beat and keyboards wash over you for five minutes. "Do You" is the obvious highlight, a song reminiscent of great Spoon singles of the past like "The Underdog" or" I Turn My Camera On" in its catchiness and in the immediate impact it makes on the listener.
And that's perhaps the most apt description for They Want My Soul: immediate. Following up an album that seemed almost a little too concerned with defying the expectations of the listener, Spoon has abandoned that approach for one that's closer to hitting the listener in the face and saying "hey look, a great Spoon song."
It's hard to believe Spoon has been doing this for nearly 20 years, and even harder to believe that, almost 20 years in, they've crafted one of their best albums to date. It's not quite Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga or Kill the Moonlight, but it certainly belongs in the discussion.
Grade: A

The Radio Is Irrelevant

Earlier this week, I was on YouTube, listening to a song that had been popular a few years back, “Move Along” by the All-American Rejects. (This is not something I’d normally be listening to, it just got in my head that day… anyway…) The top comment for the song struck me as odd. It said “I love this song! I miss hearing it all the time!” 

Clearly he or she was referring to the days when the All-American Rejects were extremely popular on the radio. The main reason I found this comment odd is because this person was listening to this song on YouTube, which means he or she can, in fact, hear it all the time. It’s on the internet! For free! You can hear it as much or as little as you like!

This brings me to my topic, the irrelevance of the radio. Radio stations were once the only way of discovering new artists, or really of hearing any music that you or your friends did not own. Being played on the radio was once the goal of any artist hoping to become popular and grow an audience. However, so much has changed today that this is no longer imperative, or even important, for a new artist.

     Take, for example, High Violet, a 2010 album by The National. The National, for those unaware, are a highly critically praised indie rock band, known for sad songs and their frontman’s deep baritone. Hardly Top 40 fare. Yet High Violet debuted on the Billboard 100 at #3, shattering their previous highest place on the chart by 63 places.

     In the past, success of an album largely hinged on the strength of its radio singles. So how did the singles for High Violet do? Well, the only single from High Violet was “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” released four months before the album. “Bloodbuzz Ohio’s” highest position on the charts? Sixteenth, and that was in Belgium. The song failed to chart at all in the United States, getting little airplay even from rock stations.

     So how to account for the increased sales of High Violet? Start with the fact that “Bloodbuzz Ohio” was available for months before the release of the album on iTunes, YouTube, Pandora, The National’s own website, and a myriad of other online music sites. It received positive reviews from online music reviewers, being voted “best new music” by indie heavyweights Pitchfork Media. This positive press, coupled with the widespread availability of the song, was the most significant factor in High Violet’s sales.

     The internet is what has changed all of this. There are now so many different ways of hearing a new song or album that the radio is just not nearly as important as it used to be. These days when a band comes out with a new song, they generally post it to their website. Soon a video is posted to YouTube, and the song goes up for sale on iTunes and for streaming on Spotify. This is the way most people now find out about new music, and all these people have already heard the song before radio stations even get hold of it.

So we don’t need the radio for music discovery anymore. What does that leave? Radio stations are now most played in cars and in stores. Yet even this is declining. Many cars now come with Sirius radio, which is more split up by genre, and stores have access to Sirius as well as Pandora. The majority of cars now also come with a hookup for an iPod, or a CD player at the very least.   

The radio will likely always be used by people who want to hear some tunes on the way back from work, and don’t really care what they are. But for those serious about music, there are a host of more viable, and more convenient, options for discovering and hearing music. So, to the person who commented on that YouTube video, never fear. You can listen to “Move Along” any time you want.

The Top Ten Albums of the 2000s

No one can decide what to call last decade--it doesn't have an easy nickname the way the sixties or the nineties did. So I'm just going to call it the 2000s, by which I mean 2000 through 2009, and count down the top ten albums (one per artist) of a very strong decade in music.

10. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
I've heard the criticisms of this album: yes, it's a bit pretentious and Harvard-y (assuming that's a word), but it works really well despite all that. It's always hard to look past a band's image or perception to just hear the music and judge it on its own merits, but if you can get past that with Vampire Weekend, you'll be rewarded with songs like "Oxford Comma" and "Walcott." And if you have no problem with Vampire Weekend's image, you probably already love this album.

9. Muse: Origin of Symmetry
On 1999's Sunburn, Muse was a shameless Radiohead clone, but the potential was there for them to become something more than that. That potential was reached on Origin of Symmetry. In later years, Muse's bombast and theatrics would become so overblown that the band has nearly become unlistenable; but in 2001, this sound was fresh, and it was great. The songs on Origin of Symmetry manage to sound epic without also feeling pretentious (cough, The Resistance), and highlights like "Citizen Erased" are multipart guitar-led odysseys that can still make those of us who had the misfortune of slogging through The 2nd Law remember why we cared enough about this band to do so.

8. Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf
This is a matter of personal preference only, but I think this is the best album that Dave Grohl ever worked on. I'm certainly not arguing that this is more important or relevant than Nevermind; there's no argument to be made there. I'm just saying, for me, this is the best project he was ever involved with. Queens of the Stone Age is that rare band that maintains mainstreamn popularity solely based on quality, something that is all too rare, and even more rare for a metal band. The reason you'll still hear "No One Knows" on a modern rock station is because it's damn good, nothing else. The different voices and styles heard throughout this album provide a nice change of pace and prevent Songs for the Deaf from getting stale. Not that there was any danger of that; aside from the silly radio gimmick, this album is tremendous. It's metal for those who like it and those who don't; an impressive feat for an extremely polarizing genre.

7. Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Adding horns to a band's sound isn't always a good thing, but for Spoon, it directly spawned their two best songs: "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" and "The Underdog," both from this album. Few bands can match the run of good albums Spoon had in the decade between 2001 and 2010, and this one, from 2007, was the high point. And while it's not all because of the horns, they have more to do with it than you might think.

6. The National: Boxer

Boxer is a slow burn of an album, one that you don't realize is so good until you've heard it the second time, and by the third time, you're wondering how you never noticed this vocal melody, or that drum part, or that piano intro. The two adjectives most often used to describe The National are "consistent" and "sad," which belies how exceptional they are at being consistently sad. Consistency is boring until you remember how remarkable it is; that's what makes Boxer so deceptively great.

5. The Strokes: Is This It

They hype for this album was overwhelming; good thing it delivered the way it did. They were supposed to "change rock music," what they did instead was make one of the decade's defining albums, which should be good enough for everybody. Not every band has to start a musical revolution; the reason a band like Nirvana is so important is because of how rarely something like that is. Is This It isn't Nevermind, but it doesn't need to be; it's still fantastic.

4. The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
The Crane Wife contains two twelve-minute songs. I'm sure I turned a good number of people off the album with that one sentence, but it's actually those two twelve-minute songs that are the main reason this album is so good. Both are actually in multiple parts, and they showcase both Colin Meloy's ability to write lyrics that actually tell a compelling story (which is a rarity), and The Decemberists' ability to stretch the same concept over a long period of time and create something that changes, but works together. And isn't that really what an album is all about? So if you can get over the long track times, you'll find something fantastic here.

3. The White Stripes: Elephant

I debated for a very long time whether to include this album or White Blood Cells, which is pretty much every bit as good. I eventually decided on this one (obviously) for a few reasons: it's a better length than White Blood Cells, which is a bit long; but mostly that, aside from "In the Cold, Cold Night," which doesn't need to exist, I can't find a single flaw with this album. There's a reason fans of old-school blues rock flocked to this album after hearing "Ball and Biscuit," but Elephant goes beyond bringing back blues rock; it solidifies the White Stripes' sound as something brand new, something unmatched by anyone else (including present-day Jack White himself). Forget about the obnoxious college kids chanting the "Seven Nation Army" riff at football games, and instead remember why they started chanting it in the first place: because it's damn catchy. 

2. Arcade Fire: Funeral

Childlike innocence is a wonderful thing, but it's also one of the hardest moods or feelings to recapture as an adult. That's what's so incredible about Funeral; it manages to bottle the spirit of childhood innocence and turn it into music. There's a reason Arcade Fire became such a buzzed-about indie band in 2004; the likes of this album had rarely been heard. Now they're one of the biggest bands in the world (or at least they think they are), but they have yet to top this, and they probably never will. But that's to big expected; something like this could likely only be achieved once, and really, they're lucky that they managed to do so at all.

1. Radiohead: In Rainbows

There's a moment on "All I Need," the fifth track on In Rainbows, around the 2:45 mark. "All I Need" is a slow burn of a song at the beginning, carried by a great bassline and Thom Yorke's soaring, reverbed-out vocals. But at 2:45, the piano starts building up, and suddenly the cymbals crash in, and it's a little like a dark room has suddenly filled with light (but for the ears) and the song which was once so minimalist finishes with a huge sound.

There are a lot of things I could say to explain why In Rainbows is, in my opinion, the best album of the decade, but that's the one that stands out to me. Kid A was the big statement, the reaction to OK Computer that somehow managed to be completely different and yet very nearly as good. But In Rainbows is beauty in music personified. It doesn't define the decade the way Kid A does; but for me, this is the best music released in those ten years, all captured by that one moment.