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Merriweather post pavilion |
Animal Collective's eighth album is a swooning, dizzying, cosmic experience � danceable rock seeping in positivity. Billboard notes it is "so gorgeously confident that it fulfills expectations and more." |
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Funeral |
Arcade Fire entered the rock scene with a bang in 2004. Their debut record is lavish, energetic, and operatic � a cornucopia of sound. |
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Sea change |
On Sea Change, Beck leaves his playful past behind. He masters the break-up album, revealing his more somber side. The melancholy music feels haunting and warm, proving Beck is a talented chameleon singer/songwriter. |
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The blueprint |
Jay-Z started the decade at the top of his game with the release of The Blueprint, a captivating album full of hits. All Music Guide says the tracks on the album are "all stunning, to the point where the album seems almost flawless." |
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Sound of silver |
Pitchfork called LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver "As close to a perfect hybrid of dance and rock music's values as you're likely to ever hear. " It's an addictive album and demonstrates James Murphy was doing a log more than just goofing around. |
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Kala |
M.I.A.'s Kala is an audacious blending of genres that produces what could be called a 21st century globalized sound. It's rhythmic, chaotic, and unapologetically defiant like the artist herself. |
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Stankonia |
OutKast has been making some of the most inventive, hooky hip hop for nearly two decades now. Stankonia is hip-hop, soul and funk with a dexterous pair of MCs, Andre 3000 and Big Boi, behind the mic. |
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Kid A |
Radiohead has really only made good albums, but Billboard called Kid A the "first truly groundbreaking album of the 21st century." Radiohead reinvented themselves with this hypnotic electronic outing. |
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Ágætis byrjun |
The start of the decade brought us Icelandic band Sigur Ros' sophomore release. The large shoegaze sound and Jonsi's falsetto vocals enhance this deeply emotive album. |
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Come on feel the Illinoise |
The second of Sufjan Stevens's 50 states albums � a project he has since abandoned � is a dense, ambitious work. The 22 song cycle sounds at times both symphonic and deceptively simple, as Stevens crisscrosses the state geographically and historically. |
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Is this it |
Channeling early punk, the Strokes mastered infectious guitar-fueled rock on Is This It? Billboard stated it's a "deliciously fun romp that draws heavily upon influences like the Velvet Underground, Television, and the Stooges." |
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The college dropout |
Kanye West went from producer to MC with ease on his debut College Dropout. Clever lyrics, catchy samples, fantastic production and a singular rapper who broke the mold of hip-hop artist, combine to make this album great. |
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White blood cells |
Pitchfork says of the White Stripes, "They don't innovate rock; they embody it." And they certainly do on White Blood Cells, an album of nearly perfect raw, gritty, bluesy garage rock. |
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Yankee hotel foxtrot |
The critics swooned with the release of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, calling it "breathtaking" and a "masterpiece." Pitchfork gave it the very rare rating of a perfect 10. It's the pinnacle of the band's evolution: after being dropped from their label for refusing to compromise their music, they released a mature, complex, and timeless rock album. |
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Back to black |
It remains to be seen how influential Winehouse's Back to Black will be, but it's evident in Adele, Duffy and other artists. It was her retro 60s girl group sound, brazen lyrics, and contralto voice that made her stand apart. |