The Top albums of the Last 15 years

[troutman]

http://www.pitchfork.com/news/47538-the-peoples-list-our-staffs-picks/?utm_medium=site&utm_source=most-read&utm_name=news

Voting for The People's List (http://peopleslist.pitchfork.com/), the poll of our readers' favorite albums since Pitchfork began (1996-2011), closes tonight at midnight. If you still want to be part of the list, head right here to choose your top records (http://peopleslist.pitchfork.com/). The overall results will be announced next week.

To help you get into that list-making mindset, we asked our staff for links to their personal ballots. Find those below, along with links to staff members' personal Twitter and Tumblr pages.

Voting has now closed. Thank you for your participation.

Check for the results on Pitchfork (http://pitchfork.com) between August 22-24.

[East Coast Flame]

Let me guess, 1 through 5 will be Radiohead? The hard on that website has for that band is absurd.

[troutman]

Let me guess, 1 through 5 will be Radiohead? The hard on that website has for that band is absurd.

It's a readers poll. You can view the staff ballots separately. Sorry, it is too late to vote. It would have been fun to share our lists.

[Flabbibulin]

Let me guess, 1 through 5 will be Radiohead? The hard on that website has for that band is absurd.

I think you mean the hard on virtually every rock website/critic has for that band.

[East Coast Flame]

Looks like the list is up:

http://www.pitchfork.com/peopleslist/

Radiohead first, second, sixth and twentieth.

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Radiohead - Kid A
3. Arcade Fire - Funeral
4. Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeoroplane Over the Sea
5. The Strokes - This is It
6. Radiohead - In Rainbows
7. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
8. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
9. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
10. Sufjan Stevens

[YYC in LAX]

^^ lol, what a ####ing hurtbag list.

[Ozy_Flame]

Geezuz christ the Hipsters jihaded that top 20.

[East Coast Flame]

I would have definitely had Arcade Fire and Kanye West in my top 10....maybe the Strokes too, but yeah, I don't think that's a great list either

[troutman]

Canada with 16 in the top 200.

[Flabbibulin]

Personally, I think the list is ok... not sure why everyone gets so mad over a reader's choice poll?? Websites like NME and pitchfork attract people with a specific style of music. For the type of music pitchfork promotes, what albums are noticeably absent??

[Coach]

The lack of Sam Roberts, Coldplay (ducks) and Oasis hurts my brain.

[Coys1882]

A group along the same vein as Nickelback but Coldplay's X&Y is pretty damn good.

[Coach]

^^^ Rush of Blood to the Head is one of the best albums ever much less the last 15 years.

[OilKiller]

I refuse to recognize a list that doesn't have a single Linkin Park album on it...Yeah, I said it...

[drew24]

My top 10 has 6 of their top 10. Needless to say I like the list overall.
1. Kid A
2. OK Computer
3. Hospice
4. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
5. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
6. In Rainbows
7. Funeral
8. For Emma, Forever Ago
9. Amnesiac
10. Strange Mercy

[FlamesAddiction]

Looks like the list is up:

http://www.pitchfork.com/peopleslist/

Radiohead first, second, sixth and twentieth.

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Radiohead - Kid A
3. Arcade Fire - Funeral
4. Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeoroplane Over the Sea
5. The Strokes - This is It
6. Radiohead - In Rainbows
7. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
8. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
9. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
10. Sufjan Stevens

I have 4 and 5 in my collection. They're good, but not awesome albums IMO.

I can't comment on the rest. I like the "popular" Radiohead songs, but have never listened to one of their albums from start to finish. Same with Arcade Fire. As for 7-10 on that list, I honestly can't say that I could name a song from any of them (although they could be good for all I know).

[trackercowe]

Solid list from my viewpoint. Oasis would be pretty high on my list as well, but not as high as Radiohead.

However, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Strokes, Animal Collective, Elliot Smith, Fleet Foxes, Beck, Sigur Rós, and a few other names on the constitute the majority of my playlists from the last 15 years. So I very much approve of this list.

I wouldn't consider myself a hipster, but I took most of my musical cues from my brother, who would most definetly be considered a hipster. So I can see why others say this list only appeals to a certain demographic.

[East Coast Flame]

I thought Oasis too, but I checked and (What's the Story) Morning Glory was 17 years ago, Definitely Maybe was 18 years ago...holy smokes I'm getting old.

[Coach]

Yeah they just missed the cut with Morning Glory, but they have made some very albums since. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants and their newest Dig Out Your Soul were both very good. At least good enough for consideration to the top 200

[trackercowe]

I thought Oasis too, but I checked and (What's the Story) Morning Glory was 17 years ago, Definitely Maybe was 18 years ago...holy smokes I'm getting old.

Yeah that's what I sort of figured. Which is also why The Bends is not on there I'd imagine.

[Northendzone]

out of that top 200 list, I only have downloaded songs of about 12 of the artists......i am to mainstream i guess......

[drew24]

For the type of music pitchfork promotes, what albums are noticeably absent??

I'm surprised that there isn't one Mountain Goats album there.

Also Rubber Factory and The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place. One of those should probably be my #10 instead of Strange Mercy.

[rubecube]

I know I'm a pretty big Springsteen homer, but how does The Rising not make that list? One of the best artistic commentaries on one of the most significant events of the last 20-30 years and it doesn't even get mentioned?

[Coach]

Agreed The Rising is awesome

[rubecube]

Agreed The Rising is awesome

Looks like it was never reviewed by Pitchfork, so that's likely why. I don't mind Pitchfork. They've helped me discover a lot of good, new music, but it's stuff like this that makes them look pretty bush-league at times.

[undercoverbrother]

I know I'm a pretty big Springsteen homer, but how does The Rising not make that list? One of the best artistic commentaries on one of the most significant events of the last 20-30 years and it doesn't even get mentioned?

nm

[rubecube]

cuz the list is for the last 15 years?

I'm no math scholar, but I'm pretty sure 2002 was within the last 15 years.

[troutman]

Remember, this is a readers' poll - not a list complied by the editors of Pitchfork.

[undercoverbrother]

I'm no math scholar, but I'm pretty sure 2002 was within the last 15 years.


apparently neither am I.....:bag:.....i blame the conferance call I am on.

[Regular_John]

Man I like Radiohead well enough, but even I find that showing to be a bit much. Were people voting to impress their friends maybe?

[3 Justin 3]

Not a single album from Metal or even Rock.

**** this generation.

[troutman]

Not a single album from Metal or even Rock.

**** this generation.

Define "rock"?

[undercoverbrother]

Not a single album from Metal or even Rock.

**** this generation.

To be fair Appetite for Destruction was 10 years too old.

[FlamesAddiction]

Define "rock"?

The Strokes are pretty much a pure rock band.

[nik-]

Pitchfork is such a cartoon. From their review of Daft Punk's discovery

It's practically brainwashing, isn't it? Daft Punk seem to be operating under the premise that if you hear something enough times, you'll start to believe it. But after more than 15 listens to Discovery's first single and opening track, "One More Time," vocodered vocalist Romanthony doesn't have me "feeling the need," much less not waiting, celebrating, and dancing so free.


Then on their top 500 tracks of the 2000's list ... in at NUMBER 5!

This song sounds like many things. It is not prudent. But it is wise. Because-- remember-- it's called "One More Time". Not "Forever" or "Infinity" or "17 More Times". This is it. There is an end. The feelings will wear off. But not before the beautifully faceless Romanthony gurgles his way into your chest, knees, brain. Not before Daft Punk distill 25 years of pop and house into five and a half minutes of first-time joy. Not before you lose any and all sense, breath, scream, beg, cry, break, heal, pump, kick, and beam wider than your mouth knows. So keep repeating because you won't last. "One More Time", of course, will.

[saskflames69]

Define "rock"?
Rock is bands like Nickelback and Hedley!

[Coach]

I'd also like to give a nod to JET. Get Born, Shine On and Shaka Rock were all very good albums.

[king_amonte]

How is Californication or By The Way not on this list (RHCP)......that baffles me???

[Magnum PEI]

Phantom Power by the Hip is the best album of the last 15 years, and it's not even close.

[d_phaneuf]

problem with votes like this is that people clearly vote their favorite bands higher than they should

and at pitchfork they like certain bands a lot, and dislike certain bands a lot (almost anything extremely popular)

[d_phaneuf]

I thought Oasis too, but I checked and (What's the Story) Morning Glory was 17 years ago, Definitely Maybe was 18 years ago...holy smokes I'm getting old.

first thing I checked too when I didn't see both in the top 10

[rubecube]

How is Californication or By The Way not on this list (RHCP)......that baffles me???

Because releasing the same 15 songs about L.A. every two years isn't very fresh.

[GreenLantern]

Am I reading that wrong or did Pearl Jam not make the top 200?

[TurnedTheCorner]

A flawed poll on the internet? Scandalous!

[Matata]

I can't believe The Strokes are still held in such high regard. My first impression of them was "these guys are completely interchangeable with every jangly-garage rock band that I've heard on 'The Wedge' for the last 5 years. Why is everyone acting like no-ones ever done this before?" Then I found out they were the kids of artsy, influential New York elitists and it all came together.

[PeteLFan]

Can't believe trash like drake made the list.

How is kanye west the best represented hip hop artist on the list.

[Tinordi]

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake it's Morning is noticeably absent good list in all but I'm not a huge Radiohead fan.

[saskflames69]

15 years ago = 1997

Mainstream music went down the crapper in the early 00's. This is why you don't see Pearl Jam, Oasis and all the other good bands on here. There's still some gems on that list, but most good music was released before 2003.

[Free Ben Hur!]

All of these lists are fairly insipid. Case in point, Rolling Stone just did another one of their famous money grab special additions, this one ranking the best 100 guitarists. John Lennon, George Harrison and Kurt Cobain all placed well ahead of Alex Lifeson who barely scraped in at 97 or 98. Pass the salt shaker please.

[Mass_nerder]

Man, looking at Pitchfork's CEO's list is like getting in a time machine and hitting play on my computer 3-4 years ago.
Hahah, my list would have looked almost identical back then.
Less so now.
Brandon Stosuy definitely has the most interesting list by far...lots of noise, metal, some crust, ambient electronic, but still the odd "indie" band.
Bands like Wolf Eyes, Lighting Bolt, Titus Andronicus, Disfear, Dystopia etc probably aren't on a lot of peoples' "best of"

[Sparks]

15 years ago = 1997

Mainstream music went down the crapper in the early 00's. This is why you don't see Pearl Jam, Oasis and all the other good bands on here. There's still some gems on that list, but most good music was released before 2003.
I think a statement like that depends entirely on how old you are. I would have said mainstream music went to hell around 1996, but this list shows how that was not the case at all.

In 2018, you'll see someone post what you just did, claiming that music was good until 2010 or whatever. Like clockwork.

[iLoveLamp]

My top 10

1. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
2. And So I Watch You From Afar - S/T
3. Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
5. Arcade Fire - Funeral
6. The Killers - Hot Fuss
7. The Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
8. Radiohead - Kid A
9. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
10. At The Drive-In - Relationship Of Command

[Devils'Advocate]

It's what I thought. Music has completely left me behind. I have *nothing* off the top 58 albums. So I figured "Wow, I must be missing out on sooooo much good music". I spent the last half hour listening to music off the top 50 albums, and didn't find a song that I WANTED to add to my library. So, yep, music has left me behind.

My list would have included:
21 - Adele
Funhouse - Pink
Stronger - Kelly Clarkson
Hymns of the 49th Parallel - k.d. lang
Flavors of Entanglement - Alanis Morissette
Symphony - Sarah Brightman
Living With War - Neil Young
Where You Live - Tracy Chapman

[Caged Great]

I'm not minding what I've heard of Grizzly Bear after hearing them for the first time on the Colbert Report.

[Yeah_Baby]

Is Set Yourself on Fire anywhere on there? Best Stars album every, and probably my favorite album from the 2000s.


#hipsterdoofus

[macker]

We are Augustines : Rise ye sunken ships & Cloud Nothings : Attack on Memory are my favorite "ROCK" albums of 2011/2012. Big Radiohead fan but never listen to them anymore and don't miss them:blink:

[Lobotroth]

Radiohead with 5 albums in the top 40, and rightfully so if you ask me. Not going to lie, overall it's a pretty solid list.

[blankall]

Radiohead with 5 albums in the top 40, and rightfully so if you ask me. Not going to lie, overall it's a pretty solid list.

No....I like Radiohead, but it's laughable to suggest they have 3 of the top 6 albums of the last five years. Kid A and OK Computer I can get, but In Rainbows at #6? Really?

[Lobotroth]

No....I like Radiohead, but it's laughable to suggest they have 3 of the top 6 albums of the last five years. Kid A and OK Computer I can get, but In Rainbows at #6? Really?

Meh, to each their own, I'm not going to try and convince people who don't like Radiohead to start listening, maybe that separates me from the hipsters. Music, like any artform, is a very personal and subjective entity so I normally don't read reviews or look at lists but in this case I can appreciate some of the choices.

[blankall]

Meh, to each their own, I'm not going to try and convince people who don't like Radiohead to start listening, maybe that separates me from the hipsters. Music, like any artform, is a very personal and subjective entity so I normally don't read reviews or look at lists but in this case I can appreciate some of the choices.


There is a difference between liking Radiohead and stating that they have 3 of the top 6 albums over the last 15 years.

One is a reasonable statement of opinion the other is an absurd and totally unrealistic statement. No single band has 3 albums in the top six over the last 15 years.

[Table 5]

Kid A is the most over rated Radiohead album ever.

I still like the first 3 albums quite a bit..with Ok Computer being the best. I just can't handle Thom Yorke's eunuch-inspired singing in the rest of them.

[East Coast Flame]

I think the Bends was fantastic, but nothing since that album has done anything for me. They make cold, unlistenable, robot music. I can only take so much haunted wailing.

[opendoor]

Kid A is the most over rated Radiohead album ever.

I still like the first 3 albums quite a bit..with Ok Computer being the best. I just can't handle Thom Yorke's eunuch-inspired singing in the rest of them.

Relative to their catalog, I actually think it's a little underrated (or perhaps that the rest of their stuff is overrated). Personally, I think Kid A blows everything else they've ever done other than OK Computer out of the water and stuff like In Rainbows or Amnesiac shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath.

As for their earlier stuff, I think it's a mixed bag. Pablo Honey is mostly throwaway stuff and while the Bends is a great album, it's not something I find myself listening to all that often anymore and I don't think it has really stood the test of time as well as OK Computer which was released only 2 years later.

[undercoverbrother]

To echo what has been said the first three radiohead ablums great.

I was done after OK Computer.

[Hockey_Ninja]

I can thing of several different hip hop album that came out over the last 15 years that are better than My Twisted Dark Fantasy.

[drew24]

Alright. This thread isn't as much fun as it should be. Nobody feels silly criticizing the top albums in a user voted poll without providing reasons why or posting a list themselves? You're bigger bummers than these albums you dislike for being bummers.

So maybe post lists because it's more fun to talk about things you like than things you dislike?

[East Coast Flame]

I can thing of several different hip hop album that came out over the last 15 years that are better than My Twisted Dark Fantasy.

Like? I agree 100% with the Kanye pick. It's the best hip hop album since Ready to Die, in my opinion.

[Lobotroth]

01. Radiohead - Kid A
02. Ween - Quebec
03. Radiohead - In Rainbows
04. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...
05. Pavement - Terror Twilight
06. Radiohead - OK Computer
07. Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
08. British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power
09. Ween - The Mollusk
10. Built to Spill - Keep it Like a Secret

I just went through my iPod and chose music that I've listened to over and over. I'm sure I'm probably missing something good but I'm pretty happy with that list.

EDIT - Yup, I missed something, The Walkmen. I would happily put You & Me on that list.

It appears that I like "cold, unlistenable robot music".

[East Coast Flame]

Alright. This thread isn't as much fun as it should be. Nobody feels silly criticizing the top albums in a user voted poll without providing reasons why or posting a list themselves? You're bigger bummers than these albums you dislike for being bummers.

So maybe post lists because it's more fun to talk about things you like than things you dislike?

Alright, my top 10 would probably look like:

1. Gaslight Anthem - 59 Sound
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral
3. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
4. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
5. Kanye West - MBDTF
6. Daft Punk - Homework
7. Kanye West - College Dropout
8. Dr. Dre - Chronic 2001
9. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeous Phoenix
10. The White Stripes - Elephant

Pretty sure all my picks were on the pitchfork top 200, so I definitely fall in line with their fan base...even though I hated most of their top 10, especially Radiohead.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Like? I agree 100% with the Kanye pick. It's the best hip hop album since Ready to Die, in my opinion.
I'm not denying that the album is bad because I'd be lying, it's a great album by Kanye, defiantly some of his best work , but personally i think his best work was The College Dropout. The songs on that album where better written and had a better message behind them. My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy wins in the production department but the lyrics for the majority of the album aren't really that great. Kanye is defiantly one of the most talented guys in the industry but i personally think The College Dropout was better.

[jayswin]

I'm not denying that the album is bad because I'd be lying, it's a great album by Kanye, defiantly some of his best work , but personally i think his best work was The College Dropout. The songs on that album where better written and had a better message behind them. My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy wins in the production department but the lyrics for the majority of the album aren't really that great. Kanye is defiantly one of the most talented guys in the industry but i personally think The College Dropout was better.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3tjkoSKo61qc39sao1_400.jpg

[TurnedTheCorner]

I submitted my own Top 100 list to p4k as part of the entire people's list exercise. I'll see if I can find the link sometime and post it here.

[PeteLFan]

Hip hop is poorly represented stankonia isn't even outkast best material. How the heck is Nas left off, but we have drake. Thankfully there isn't any little Wayne on there.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Here's the link. 64 write in votes, but that's not unexpected. And it's hip hop heavy, because that's what I like to listen to. DWI.

http://peopleslist.pitchfork.com/list/46596912/

[PeteLFan]

Here's the link. 64 write in votes, but that's not unexpected. And it's hip hop heavy, because that's what I like to listen to. DWI.

http://peopleslist.pitchfork.com/list/46596912/

Interesting picks, slim shady and marshal mathers over eminem show. Streets disciple and gods son on over stillmatic, sir luscious left foot.

[iLoveLamp]

My complete list

http://peopleslist.pitchfork.com/list/ea8ad073/

[Magnum PEI]

Top Guilty Pleasures of the Last 15 Years:

1. Nelly Furtado- Loose
2. Lady Gaga- The Fame
3. Kylie Minogue- Fever
4. Paramore- Riot
5. Christina Aguilera- Stripped
6. Eminem- Relapse
7. Lil Wayne- Tha Carter III
8. The Killers- Hot Fuss
9. 50 Cent- Get Rich or Die Trying
10. Weezer- Green Album

Edit: I really like that 3rd Taylor Swift Album too.

[Senator Clay Davis]

What's most annoying on the list is when clearly superior albums by an artist are rated lower than more well known albums. Prime examples being OutKast (Stankonia way ahead of Aquemini) and Kanye West (lol Dark Fantasy top 10? ooookk. College Dropout twice as good). Hip-hop and metal both poorly represented but you'd expect that from a magazine that doesn't cater to those audiences.

Worst omissions:

- The fact that Black Star, or neither Mos or Talib's first solo albums not being on the list compared to some of that average/awful crap on there.
- No Roots albums either?
- No Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R? Really?
- No Mastodon or Opeth?

Obviously could go on for a while, but this list is what it is: A list that looks similar to what it is at RateYourMusic.com, minus all the popular mainstream albums and metal and hip-hop

[Hockey_Ninja]

Not To mention The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill isn't even on that list. Seriously wtf.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Yeah, the database on albums for inclusion on p4k was really strange for the reason you noted. Not only were some albums by artists inexplicably write ins, the database also included compilations and greatest hits packages.

[troutman]

It would be tough to rank my top albums, so in alphabetical order:

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Arcade Fire - Funeral, The Suburbs
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
Built To Spill - You In Reverse
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies, Kaputt
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Doves - Some Cities
Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South
Bob Dylan - Love And Theft
Feist - The Reminder
Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues
Flight Of The Conchords - Flight Of The Conchords
Futureheads - The Futureheads
Grant Hart - Hot Wax
Hold Steady - Stay Positive, Heaven Is Whenever
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes
Lonely Island - Incredibad, Turtleneck & Chain
Los Lobos - Good Morning Atzlan, The Ride
M.I.A. - Arular, Kala
Magneta Lane - Gambling With God
Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx (II)
Metric - Fantasies
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular, Congratulations
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy, Demolished Thoughts
My Morning Jacket - Z, Evil Urges
New Pornographers - Mass Romantic, Electric Version, Twin Cinema, Together
Outkast - Stankonia
Pavement - Brighten The Corners
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block, Gimme Some
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Radiohead - OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac
Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire
Rainer Maria - A Better Version Of Me
Raveonettes - Raven In The Grave
The Roots - Phrenology, Game Theory, How I Got Over, Undun
The Shins- Oh, Inverted World
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Sonic Youth - Murray Steet, Rather Ripped, The Eternal
Bruce Springsteen - The Rising
Steely Dan - Two Against Nature
Sufjan Stevens - Come On Feel The Illinoise!
Strokes - Is This It?
Mark Sultan - $
Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
Tragically Hip - Phantom Power, In Between Evolution
TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain, Dear Science, Nine Types Of Light
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend, Contra
Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site, Reunion Tour
Ween - The Mollusk, White Pepper, Quebec, La Cucaracha
Wilco - Summerteeth, The Whole Love
Wild Flag - Wild Flag
XTC - Apple Venus, Wasp Star
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell, It's Blitz
Yo La Tengo - Summer Sun

[DementedReality]

where is Justin Timberlakes - Sexy Back? its gotta be in most top 10.

[Lobotroth]

Good stuff Troutman, I like your style.

[YYC in LAX]

I know I'm a metal homer, but it's pretty sad that not a single metal album made that entire list. It's not music for the masses and probably outside the Pitchfork demographic, but it would be nice to see the great composership and instrumental precision that comes with good metal be recognized.

[Coach]

where is Justin Timberlakes - Sexy Back? its gotta be in most top 10.

futurelove/sexsounds or what ever the albums called is on there somewhere. Sexy Back was just a song.

[Table 5]

Admittedly, I tend to listen to mostly older music (60s-90s), and just can't quite connect with a lot of newer stuff, but there have been some great things put out in the last decade and a half.

To me the best albums, bring something new to the table to make you appreciate music in a whole new fashion. The best albums wow the crap out of you from the first listen on. They are the albums you can't help but listen to over and over and over again when you first get it…..but can still stomach it later too. For me, the "game changer" albums of the last 15 years were the following:

• Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
This was probably the most original album of the last 15 years. Was there anything even close to this sound before (and perhaps even after)? Awesome stuff.

• Magnetic Fields - 69 Love songs
Talk about amazingly witty lyrics. So smart and catchy.

• Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
One of those "college years" albums I've probably listened to 200 times and could recite in my sleep.

• Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Yes, they're probably a bunch of annoying hipsters, but man are the songs great.

• Ratatat - Ratatat
This album made me run out and buy a Korg. Pretty sure it's still in some closet somewhere…..

• M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
Hard to pick an M83 album, they are all pretty much the same and pretty much awesome.

• Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Can't ever seem to get enough of this album, no matter how many times I listen.

• Neil Young - Greendale
The old fart is hit and miss, but this was fantastic.

• Radiohead - Ok Computer.
Yes, it's expected. But that doesn't mean it's not awesome.


Oh and best title of the last 15 years:
Belle and Sebastian - Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant.

.....and if I never hear Arcade Fire for the rest of my life, I'll be ok with it.

[Finny61]

Just off the top of my head, I can think of a few CDs in the past 15 years that were great.

Coldplay: Rush of Blood or X&Y
Our Lady Peace: Happiness or Gravity
Killers: Hot Fuss
Matthew Good Band: Beautiful Midnight (all time fav album)
Weezer: black or green album
Metric: Fantasies
All American Rejects: Move Along album

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Given what the top 10 looks like, I'm surprised that Wilco's A Ghost is Born didn't make the Top 200. Especially since Being There did.

[gottabekd]

Some great music on that list.

I'll add a write-in for Mars Volta - De-loused in the Comatorium. It seems like a pretty notable omission.

I'd also have Elephant in my top 10, and also bump up Songs for the Deaf to somewhere near there.

[octothorp]

My top 10 in no particular order:

And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out - Yo La Tengo
Mule Variations - Tom Waits
Abattoir Blues / Lyre of Orpheus - Nick Cave
Lonesome Crowded West - Modest Mouse
Tiny Voices - Joe Henry
Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - PJ Harvey
Leviathan - Mastodon
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Funeral - Arcade Fire

[flizzenflozz]

Throw The National- Boxer and Sixteen Horsepower- Sackcloth and Ashes onto Troutman's list for me.

Agreed with Table 5's assessment of Arcade Fire. Do not understand the rabid obsession people have but I guess Radiohead are in that department for me too. Loved OK Computer but man that other stuff just leaves me cold.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I'm guessing if I thought about this more it might be different, but whatever.

1. Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star
2. OutKast – Aquemini
3. Radiohead – OK Computer
4. Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R
5. Mos Def – Black on Both Sides
6. The White Stripes – Elephant
7. The Strokes – Is This It?
8. Mr. Bungle – California
9. Mastodon – Leviathan
10. Opeth - Blackwater Park

Guilty Pleasures

The Darkness – Permission to Land
Slipknot – Slipknot
Sugar Ray – Floored
Kid Rock – Devil Without a Cause
Austrian Death Machine – Total Brutal

It also amazes me what 1 year would do to my list. If this was 1995-2010, at least 3 of my albums would be different

[DementedReality]

futurelove/sexsounds or what ever the albums called is on there somewhere. Sexy Back was just a song.

you are right, great collection, every song is intereasting.