BoD: Albums [50-31]

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 five and four.

Fifth tier (no order):

Converge, “Jane Doe”

Blink-182, “Blink-182”: The pop-punk jokesters went uber-serious on their self-titled and currently final release, and the results are surprisingly fantastic. With a darker approach to songwriting, denser compositions and Travis Barker’s best drumming, “Blink-182” is an emo tentpole.

OutKast, “The Speakerboxxx/The Love Below”

Spoon, “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”

Muse, “Absolution”

Manchester Orchestra, “Mean Everything To Nothing”: Atlanta’s Manchester Orchestra brings listeners a gritty brand of rock music, and “Everything” features Andy Hull’s unnerving yet still approachable lyrics propelled by a layered, moody contrast of views and feelings. 

Against Me!, “Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose”

Modest Mouse, “Good News for People Who Love Bad News”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Fever To Tell”: Forget the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ last two albums and take a trip with “Fever To Tell.” Exploding with chunky guitars, frenzied rhythms and Karen O’s confident wail, the album is a thrilling, bare-bones rock ride filled with emotional ups and downs manifested through its manic, ever-changing sound.

Grizzly Bear, “Veckatimest”

Fourth tier (no order):

Bon Iver, “For Emma, Forever Ago”

At the Drive-In, “Relationship of Command”

The National, “Boxer”

Jay-Z, “The Black Album”: Jay-Z’s “farewell” album was him at his best: strong, diverse and self-promoting. From his opening autobiographical “December 4th,” the album has tremendous continuity and flow.

Danger Mouse, “The Grey Album”

The Mars Volta, “De-Loused in the Comatorium”: When The Mars Volta unleashed their frenzied beauty of a debut album on an unsuspecting population, it was nice to have something this fresh. The Latin-tinged heavy prog rock that characterizes “De-Loused” has yet to be recreated by this band or any other.

John Mayer, “Heavier Things”

Beck, “Sea Change”

Lil Wayne, “Tha Carter III”: Weezy F. Baby rode an absolute explosion in popularity from late 2007 into the summer 2008 release of “Tha Carter III.” Masterfully produced, the album has a track for any listener. Truly remarkable is the effort by Wayne himself. There is a minimal number of commercial collaborations, and he carries “TCIII” enviably.

Johnny Cash, “American IV: The Man Comes Around”