BoD: Albums [30-21]

The aughts brought us all sorts of crazy stuff in music. From emo to iTunes to the death of the music video, things are much different now from when a lot of people still bought KoRn records. For our top 50 albums of the aughts, our diverse group of panelists tried to include as many different genres as possible.

Here are tiers three and two.

Third tier (no order):

Between the Buried and Me, “Colors”

Explosions In The Sky, “The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place”: Post-rock is an almost inaccessible genre for the general public. The lengthy and usually instrumental songs are at odds with what has been driven into the collective unconscious as “good,” and as such, the music stays underground. But if post-rock interests you at all, this is the album to hear.

Eminem, “The Marshall Mathers LP”

Radiohead, “In Rainbows”

Lady Gaga, “The Fame”: Gaga’s “The Fame” is a pure pop record, but each track delivers a little something different, creating a fun glam-esque experience that hasn’t been seen for years. Pick any track from this album and dare yourself not to sing along.

Justin Timberlake, “FutureSex/LoveSounds”

The Flaming Lips, “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots”

The Shins, “Chutes Too Narrow”

TV On The Radio, “Dear Science”

Brand New, “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me”: Brand New is one of the only bands out of the “emo” scene to take chances and have them pay off. “Devil and God” is dense, dark and depressing, but it features a number of tracks that build slowly to a satisfying climax.

Second tier (in no order):

The Gaslight Anthem, “The ’59 Sound”: The Gaslight Anthem proved that all it takes is a true revival of rock ‘n’ roll to get our panties in a bunch. On “The ’59 Sound” these Jersey boys combine the fire of punk roots with their Springsteen upbringings to create an album about our generation that feels like a throwback to the golden years of rock.

The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife”

The Killers, “Hot Fuss”: It could have been higher on this list. The Killers brought the ’80s back to life with “Hot Fuss.” “Somebody Told Me” helped the group explode onto the scene as an accessible post-punk revival band with a sound we hadn’t heard in a while. Their tunes were all catchy, and soon they had turned more teens into indie rockers than you could count.

LCD Soundsystem, “The Sound of Silver”

Kanye West, “The College Dropout”

The White Stripes, “White Blood Cells”

Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes”: Despite the huge indie acclaim that they earned after its release, the band’s self-titled debut LP is simply an American folk record. It would sit comfortably in a collection of Dylan, Guthrie and Simon and Garfunkel. Simple beauty pours out of the songs, which are driven by frontman Robin Pecknold’s syrupy vocals and decidedly rural lyrical stylings. The Postal Service, “Give Up”

The Strokes, “Is This It”

Animal Collective, “Merriweather Post Pavilion”