Monday, December 14, 2009

Best of the Aughts - Ricky's 15 favorite albums of the decade

Narrowing down an entire decade of music to a mere fifteen albums is incredibly difficult. My primary criteria for the selections: did I consistently listen to the entire album from beginning to end without skipping ahead?

Unfortunately, I can't say that about Radiohead's "Kid A" - it's a great album, but that "Treefingers" track bores me immensely (as does the dead air break on the final track). Of course, please feel free to disagree.

Again, this isn't a critic's list. Just my personal favorites. It's been a pleasure reading this group's lists for nearly a decade. Keep 'em coming.

Happy New Year!

Respectfully,
Ricky

15. Nickel Creek, "Why Should the Fire Die?" (August 9, 2005)
14. Muse, "Black Holes and Revelations" (July 11, 2006)
13. Depeche Mode, "Playing The Angel" (October 18, 2005)
12. Britney Spears, "Blackout" (October 30, 2007)
11. Daniel Bedingfield, "Gotta Get Thru This" (August 27, 2002)
10. Evanescence, "Fallen" (March 4, 2003)
9. Coldplay, “Parachutes” (November 7, 2000)
8. Beck, "Sea Change" (September 24, 2002)
7. Madonna, “Confessions on a Dance Floor” (November 15, 2005)
6. Snow Patrol, “Final Straw” (March 30, 2004)
5. Keane, "Hopes and Fears" (May 25, 2004)
4. Robyn, “Robyn” (April 27, 2005)
3. Shelby Lynne, “I Am Shelby Lynne” (Jan. 25, 2000)
2. Switchfoot, "The Beautiful Letdown" (February 25, 2003)
1. Nine Inch Nails, “Year Zero” (April 17, 2007):
"Certainly the album is bleak and doesn't make for bland entertainment, but then, his records never do. This one is as fully realized as a rock & roll album for the post-9/11 world can be…Year Zero is bloodied but unbowed rock with a capital "R"; it's a serious and marginal pop treatise on the lack of political and social awareness inherent in the current and perhaps near future culture. It reveals in song and sound the helplessness bred in the individual's eminent collision and collusion with a perceived enemy. It becomes a kind of manifesto, a Jeremiad prophecy of what may arrive, however metaphorically, if these shadows do not change. It's brilliant, disturbing, necessary."

Full review at: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wzfrxz85ldje~T1

4 comments:

Paul said...

You did it again, Ricky. Great, interesting list. It's remarkable how we share an appreciation for that Shelby Lynne record, yet I find Evanescence to be one of the worst bands of the decade. C'est la vie.

I actually reacquainted myself with Nine Inch Nails over the past couple of years. I had forgotten how melodic and, dare I say, sexy they can be. Would've been fun catching them on their last go around.

Ricky said...

Cool. Yeah, I'm disappointed I didn't get to go to any of the four shows out here in L.A. At some of them, I think he played "The Downward Spiral" from beginning to end. Seeing them one last time would've been a treat.

Thomas McMahon IV said...

Ricky, it's also remarkable that you have both Britney Spears and Nine Inch Nails in your favorites of the decade. I don't think many people can (or would) claim such a drastic range in taste.

Chris said...

Love the "I Am Shelby Lynne" Album.

Your lies won't leave me alone. . .
Definitely one of my favorite songs of the past 10 years. Thank you Paul for turning me on to that one!