BoD: Pop music

Our top 50 albums of the decade are dominated by the slate of prototypical “indie” bands. But while we are perfectly happy with that list, we figured it would be best to dedicate a day to an underrepresented genre. Today: Pop

BEST ALBUMS:

With Clear Channel obtaining more control over the country’s radio stations, pop music became the only type of music to dominate mainstream radio in the aughts. And while the decade started off a little rough – boy bands, teen pop – the latter half of the decade brought us some very solid pop records. Here are the best, in no order.

Rihanna, “Good Girl Gone Bad” (2007) – Powered by a stunning eight singles, Rihanna’s breakthrough album intelligently ditches the dancehall and reggae influences from her first two albums and is an achievement of great pop songwriting and production because of it.

Lady Gaga, “The Fame” (2008) – The always controversial Gaga entertains in a slightly different way on every one of the “The Fame”’s 12 tracks. We dare you to not sing along to any of the songs here.

Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black” (2006) – Insanity, drug problems or any other personal problems aside, it’s hard to deny the creativity of Amy Winehouse’s only major label release. By combining a slew of musical styles from doo-wop to R&B to rock, “Black” is an amalgamate of different generations.  

Kelly Clarkson, "Breakaway" (2004) – The first “American Idol” winner came into her own on her second album thanks to a slew of hella-catchy singles and her powerhouse vocal performance. “Since U Been Gone” is perhaps the most energetic single of the decade.

Justin Timberlake, “Justified” (2002) – JT’s first foray into solo territory is perhaps underrated so many years removed and because of the massive success of its follow-up, but “Justified” still includes a number of creative, stellar pop gems.

Justin Timberlake, “FutureSex/LoveSounds” (2006) – The above-mentioned second album from the Prince of Pop takes a number of risks – all of which pay off. With stellar flow (an underrated way to make an album better) and a number of polished, mature numbers, JT solidified himself with this one.

Beyonce, “I Am…Sasha Fierce” (2008) – Beyonce’s three solo efforts have all been solid, but her latest features an interesting dual identity idea running through it, which is more than you can say for most pop records. Oh, and anything with “Single Ladies” is a sure-fire way to get on the list.

Nelly Furtado, “Loose” (2006) – Though she was criticized for being a “sell out” or “sexing up” her music, Nelly Furtado’s most mainstream record was undeniably fun thanks to Timberland’s production and a, well, looser Furtado  

Andre 3000, “The Love Below” (2003) – Andre’s portion of OutKast’s widely successful dual album mixes all sorts of musical styles – pop, funk, jazz and soul – to produce a creative mish-mash of goodness that puts a smile upon our faces.

‘N Sync, “Celebrity” (2001) – The boy band’s previous effort “No Strings Attached” might have been more successful, but their follow-up and final studio album is more experimental and diverse while featuring less typical overproduced filler.

Jennifer Lopez, “J. Lo” (2001) – The dancer-turned-actress-turned-pop diva has had a surprisingly long and successful music career, but the early part of the decade was much friendlier to her. Her 2001 record blew up thanks to remixes from Ja Rule (remember him?), tracks that are still fun listens today.

Usher, “Confessions” (2004) – It might be the album with the most serious subject matter on the list, but Usher’s 2004 juggernaut of an album features four tracks that dominated radio – “Yeah!,” “Burn,” “Confessions Part II” and “My Boo” – and the album features a number of other solid efforts.

Britney Spears, “In The Zone” (2003) – We couldn’t create this list without pop’s biggest star of the decade, and even if some of her other releases were more popular, this one saw her transition away from factory-produced teen pop to something more adult. Oh, and everybody freaking loves “Toxic.”

Katy Perry, “One of The Boys” (2007) – Sure, it plays with faux-controversial topics in “I Kissed A Girl” and “Ur So Gay,” but Katy Perry’s solid voice and hook-laden melodies make this a big piece of sugar-filled pop.

Ne-Yo, “The Year of the Gentleman” (2008) – After writing and producing for all of music’s best, Ne-Yo stepped in front of the mic with three solid albums in the latter half of the aughts and his latest is the best. Featuring great lyrics and a solid R&B/pop sound, “Gentlemen” brings together all the promise his first two albums hinted at.

The All-American Rejects, “Move Along” (2005) – AAR’s second album proved they were more than a one-hit wonder, as this pop-rock gem was more mature and polished than their debut. The album’s title track features one of the best soaring hooks of the decade.

Black Eyed Peas, “Elephunk” (2003) – Another name that dominated the radio airwaves over the decade, but the Peas’ oldest “mainstream” album still remains as their best. “Elephunk” is less obnoxious and radio-baiting than later efforts.

Pink, “Missundaztood” (2001) – By changing directions completely from derivative dance pop to a heavier, more matured pop/rock on this second album and she’s never really looked back. “Just Like a Pill” and “Don’t Let Me Get Me” are wonderful (and personal) efforts that showed Pink had some substance behind the dumb stage name.

Taylor Swift, “Fearless” (2008) – T Swizzle’s second album helped her explode into pop super-duper stardom. And because she writes most of the songs herself, “Fearless” gets more respect from all sorts of fans – including us.

Chris Brown, “Exclusive” (2007) – Before he beat up on his more famous girlfriend, Chris Brown released a tight album that balanced R&B, pop and hip-hop pretty darn well. And though it was ruined by the YouTube wedding clip, “Forever” is still one of the non-JT or Usher male pop songs of the aughts.

The Fray, “How To Save A Life” (2005) – In a time when all sorts of piano pop/rock bands were trying to get our attention, The Fray pushed through because of Isaac Slade’s sometimes undistinguishable vocal and a nice plug from “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Mariah Carey, “The Emancipation of Mimi” (2005) – After a few bad years (hey, “Glitter”) Mariah made a comeback with a more focused, cool R&B album. “We Belong Together” topped radio for weeks on end in ’05 and never seemed to get that old.

Maroon 5, “Songs About Jane” (2002) – This one stewed in failure for about a year before mainstream radio finally caught on to the funk-pop fun of “Harder To Breathe” and it eventually spawned a handful of other successful singles.

Gwen Stefani, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby” (2004) – A fantastic retro pop album, Stefani goes hard for the duration of “Love,” channeling her inner bitch before it was cool in the latter part of the decade. From the playfully ruthless “Hollaback Girl” to the astonishingly cool “Cool,” Stefani shows she still has musical range but doesn’t need No Doubt to do be Gwen Stefani.

Christina Aguilera, "Stripped" (2002) – It might have been excessively raunchy in hopes of shedding a teen pop image, but "Stripped" also saw Christina take more control of the writing process and her sound, resulting in something much more interesting than her debut.

Destiny’s Child, “Survivor” (2001) – Besides annihilating the charts and the commercial front, Destiny’s Child’s Survivor was generally received well by the critics and public alike. Despite some banality in the latter half, the album’s enormous popularity and timeless title track should help to erase any lingering bad impressions of a great portrait of a true diva group.

Coldplay, “A Rush of Blood to the Head” (2002) – The follow-up to “Parachutes” was hardly a disappointment, as Coldplay was more ambitious musically and more articulate lyrically. The lush, pop appeal was in-tact as the band moved towards a more alternative sound that would be more prominent on later albums, but for our money, “Rush” is as good an alternative pop album as it gets.

Lily Allen, “It’s Not Me, It’s You” (2009) – While she was never shy, even Lily Allen’s album title is unyielding on her sophomore collection. Strong and hard but never fake, Allen is one of those female lyricists who can be autobiographical without alienating a male fan base. The feel of the album is more commanding and it has a direction and a groove that everyone can enjoy.

POP MVP: There have been a lot of things wrong with pop music this decade, but Justin Timberlake was not one of them. Since his beginning of the decade success with ‘N Sync, we were able to witness the complete maturation of JT into the artist that he is today, including his indiscretions like Nipplegate. Fortunately for Timberlake, it was his music that eventually defined him this decade, something that probably can’t be said for his prodigal counterpart Britney Spears.

“Justified” and “FutureSex/LoveSounds” were two of the premier pop albums in a genre that was dominated by the single for the last 10 years. Both albums were quite successful, “Justified” was a somewhat surprising debut while “FutureSex” established Timberlake as a force to be reckoned with as an artist and a producer. His forays into other spectrums of pop culture have endeared him to the public even more. His “SNL” performances and Digital Short efforts with Andy Samberg – “Dick in a Box” and “Mother Lover” – showed a side of the supafly Timberlake that people hadn’t seen before, one with a serious sense of humor. “SNL” and other acting endeavors have kept him fresh in the public’s mind and asserted him as a complete artist. With serious props to Beyonce and Lady Gaga, this decade as a whole just wouldn’t have been the same without Justin Timberlake. 

WORST TREND: Mind-numbing templates and hooks: Sure, pop music has never exactly been the most creative genre, but people, creativity should not be a lost art. The best pop songs of this decade, “Crazy In Love,” “SexyBack,” etc., did something a little different, a little audacious with their sound. Everyone else was just doing the verse-chorus, repeat as necessary thing. Oh, and make sure your hook is something completely meaningless about a hot guy/girl. No one wants to keep chewing the same piece of gum for too long, especially when it’s bubblegum music.