It’s that time when everything things seems to come in the form of a countdown. In keeping with the trend I have decided to do one of my own, with my personal greatest albums of the decade.
Here are my self-imposed rules:
1. Must be originally released between Jan 1, 2000 and Dec 31, 2009
2. Cannot be a live album (Unless no studio equivalent exists)
3. No Greatest Hits albums
4. An artist may only feature once.
But aside from the rules, it is also important to consider what makes an album great? I think my primary criteria is that it must stand the test of time, meaning I think I will enjoy listening to this album in another 10 years time. Unfortunately based on experience, this pretty much eliminates all my Christian music and almost all hip hop/rap.
So here they are:
10. Jay Z – Black Album. The only rap album on my list, I don’t listen to it often but when I’m in the right mood nothing compares.
9. Jack Johnson – Brushfire Fairytales. So simple, just great summer relaxing music. I think it could have been a lot better if all his subsequent albums weren’t exactly the same.
8. The Raconteurs – Broken boy Soldiers. It’s typical Jack White, which is to say it is not typical of anything else.Powerful kinda old school rock, but new and fresh at the same time.
7. Ben Harper & The Blind Boys From Alabama – There Will Be a Light. The beauty of the blind boys voices combined with the rawness of Ben Harpers voice make this a pleasure to listen to anytime.
6. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whisky & The GrooGrux King. In 10 years time this might be higher up the list, but it just hasn’t had that time to settle and compete against their other albums.
5. Killers – Hot Fuss. O.K. so it’s cheesy Vegas rock, but I love it and every time I hear it I sing along. This is one of my all time fav driving albums.
4. Evanescence – Fallen. Her voice, that’s all. One of the greatest voices ever, when she is singing you pay attention. (By the way, the only female singer on the list)
3. Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head. It really could have been any of their albums, they are all great I just had to pick one and to me this has the most truly great songs, Though Viva la Vida can put up a good case for being the most complete album.
2. Fat Freddys Drop – Based on a true Story. New Zealand music at it’s best. I think of home, I think of summer and I think of little else. I am relaxed and happy when listening to this. This album is musically brilliant because of the patience shown, it is not formulaic and that is why they will always struggle to be mainstream outside of NZ.
1. John Mayer – Continuum. Yes I know he is a jerk, but what an amazing album. Song after song makes me marvel at his skill with a guitar, his ability to write lyrics that aren’t just churned out from a pop factory, they way he brought blues back in to main stream music. From start to finish, this has been played on my ipod more than any other album and I’m sure will be for many years to come.
So there you have it. It wasn’t a list based on what anyone else likes, but simply on what I enjoy and will continue to enjoy. What’s your list?
Other notable mentions include: James Morrison, Lifehouse, U2 and the Foo Fighters. The first 2 just didn’t quite cut it, the second 2 released their best stuff prior to 2000 and while great in this decade, not quite great enough.