Best Albums of the Decade (2000-2009): 20-11

We have now reached part four of our journey through the best albums of the past ten years.  This is where things become more familiar.

Honestly, when push comes to shove, any of my top twenty albums could have been number one, depending on the day and the mood I was in.  There is actually little rhyme or reason for their order placement, other than I was feeling like more of a Brian Wilson fan the day I was putting it together than I was a Stars fan. Lists like this are arbitrary. I use them to champion bands I think are ignored and to praise favorites that people might have forgotten over time. But mostly, I use them to tell my friends what music they should be listening to because I love them and I want them to start listening to the music I think can change their lives.

And now, numbers twenty through eleven.

20. For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver (2008)

Every once in a while, I buy an album by an artist on whim and discover something great. I bought this because I have a daughter named Emma and I collect albums that use the names of my children. That album count is one. This is a low-fi collection of acoustic love songs written by a heartbroken man in a wintery Wisconsin cabin.  I just lucked out that the album was amazingly beautiful and sad. Emma is never going to steal this away.

Download: " Skinny Love," "For Emma," "Creature Fear," "Blindsided"

19. Let It Die, Fiest (2004)

This is the real classic of Leslie Feist's career. Don't let the fact that "1234" isn't on it scare you or anger you. A mix of sunny sounding jazzy-folk originals and diverse covers from the likes of the Bee Gees and Ron Sexsmith, it's the album that brought her to an international audience who needed to be reminded that Canadian female singers don't always have amazing soprano voices that reach thirty different octaves and sing schlock. They sometimes write their own simple songs and sing in their own wistful ways.

Download: "Mushaboom," " Inside and Out," "One Evening," "Gatekeeper"

18. American Idiot, Green Day (2004)

You can't look at this as being a pop-punk album- its meat and potatoes rock with varying influences. Mostly, Green Day shakes off the Clash and Stiff Little Fingers cobwebs and infuse their politics with the Who and Zeppelin. What you end up with may not be perfect, but damn if it doesn't make me want to change the world every single time I hear it? This took them from a dying, middling 90s band to international superstars that aspire to be the atheistic version of U2.

Article Author: palais1977

A pop culture junkie, I write about things that strike my fancy, whether it be the random song on the radio or a recap of whatever was on television last night.

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