A List That We Can Disagree On To Pass Time. Top 10 Albums Of The Past Decade.

We all do it. All of us music geeks. We get bored, and we make "top" lists. Don't act like you don't, it's cool. We can admit it here if nowhere else. What would High Fidelity have done for any of us if it didn't make us believe that the act of ranking your top 5 all time track 1 side 1 songs (mine is "Love's In Need Of Love Today" off of Songs In The Key Of Life, in case you were wondering) was totally normal and ok?

Well, it's raining. And I'm feeling like maybe this will stimulate some of my peers on a day such as today. Not to mention, I am putting off wedding gift shopping for another hour or so. When making a list like this, I always try to nail down the top 3 first, and stand by them. That makes the rest so much easier. My top 5 MC's haven't changed for like 14 years (there was a point after Biggie died where I bumped him up to 2, and knocked Nas down to 3, but that faded....oh, and Rakim is first. Don't be surprised.), and I hope to keep it that way. Standing by the choices on your list is critical. Nas went through a phase where he made at LEAST 3 horrible albums in a row, but did he drop out of the top 5? no way.

So, with that in mind, here's my top 10 best rock (or pretty much rock, pop, etc.) albums of the past 10 years (1998-2008)....enjoy and debate. Except no one ask me why there's no Radiohead albums on this list. I will lose my mind. Also, "Smile" by Brian Wilson would have made it, but didn't...I felt that it wouldn't be fair to the other albums in some ways.

10.) Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (2002):

I stopped caring that Interpol ripped off Joy Division once I heard the song "NYC". I was really offended at first, and then I realized how much they understood what they were doing. This is like a throwback post-punk album, with more intriguing instrumentation. I think this album just lost some appeal with Interpol's next releases. A trend that will continue in this list.

9.) Sleater-Kinney - The Hot Rock (1999):

I think I've said quite enough about S-K here, but the thing is...they never made a bad record. Any album they made in the past decade could have made the cut, but this one is the one that I think is the most all-inclusive. There's something for everyone here. Ballads ("The Size Of Our Love", "God Is A Number") to intense all out rockers ("Get Up"). The only gripe with this is that really hardcore S-K fans seemed to dislike the toned down vocals and the fact that the ladies actually discovered melody. Um. How dare they. It's a perfect transitional album for their career.

8.) Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998):

Ah, NMH. The band only made 2 albums, and I've never met anyone who has a bad thing to say about either of them (The first, 1996's "On Avery Island" may be better than this one, at least to me...), so naturally I should hate them. But, I don't. This is an album that I think is slightly overrated (Rate Your Music has it as the 41st best album ever made...), but I've come to accept that it's good. It's like that album in your collection that you know is a great album, but you just don't listen to often because it's not practical. It's a good album, but not easy to listen to. I would never read reviews before listening to it if I were you. If you do, you'll go into it expecting some life changing magical experience, and it's not that...it's just a very good record, which isn't a bad consolation prize.

7.) The Strokes - Is This It (2001):

This COULD be one of the best debut albums in rock history. Easily (that's another list for another time though...), but the Strokes went from Rock's saviors to somewhat of a messy Velvet Underground ripoff pretty quickly. Still, you can't go wrong with the title track, and "Last Night". Don't think of what The Strokes are now. Just think of what they were....that's what I do.

6.) Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me (2006):

The newest album on this list, I think that prevented me from putting it higher for some reason, even though I love it. Brand New's body of work is just flat out impressive no matter how you look at it, and their albums just keep getting better. There are 2 instrumental tracks on the album ("Welcome To Bangkok", "--"), which I wasn't really into at first, but warmed to as I listened to the album more. They toe the line of "emo", but it's so acceptable that if you have hangups about listening to music labeled as such, you lose those hangups right away with the opening song.

5.) Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antartica (2000):

Pick a MM album. Any one...they're all going to at least be solid, at best be classic. This one, to me is in that "at best" range. It's a bit noisy and experimental at times, a bit Sonic Youth-ish...which is challenging for the group, but it's still a MM album at heart, as the lyrics, and topics of choice won't let you forget.

4.) Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends (2002):

Ah, the story of Taking Back Sunday. First off, be unashamed to like this album. People who write it off as another whiny "emo" record are missing what I think will be remembered as a classic once it ages a bit more. This came out when I was finishing my freshman year of college, and I spent at least half of summer vacation blasting every song on this album. It's amazing. It could be at 3, had I not stuck to my rules and changed my top 3 after I decided on it. It's telling that the consensus "worst" song on the album ("You're So Last Summer") is still being played and covered by everyone now, even though the album isn't even 10 years old. The lyrics may be considered terrible, but they'll make you smile regardless (lines like "We're both such magnifacent liars, So crush me baby, I'm all ears"...) The downside to this is that listening to this album will make you think "wow, what HAPPENED to these guys??". They're a case of just setting the bar too high. The first song on their first album ("You Know How I Do") may be the best song they've ever made. And they've just failed in trying to reach this level again. Their last album, 2005's Louder Now, was just horrible. Again, like the Strokes...Remember them for what they were.

3.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell (2003):

Yes. The curveball choice. Every list has one. Look, I know a lot of people hate them, and the Siouxsie Sioux comparisons run rampant everytime Karen O's name gets bought up (call me crazy, but I just don't see it. She's WAY better.) But come on, this is a great album. I'll go bold enough to say that even if you take "Maps" off of this album, it'd still be on my list. This album could have the best opening track of any album of the past decade. "Rich" is no joke...it rocks hard enough to get your attention, and the lyrics let you know early on that these guys (and this girl) are not to be taken lightly. And the album never slows down. It's perfect because it's constantly building and getting better. "Y Control" is better than "Maps", but the final song ("Modern Romance") is better than both of them. It's truly what an album should be.

2.) The White Stripes - Elephant (2003):

I'm sure you didn't think you all would get out of this without a Stripes album. I won't say anything about this, because enough has been said...but man, was 2003 a good year for music or what?

and....

1.) Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004):

This is number one mostly because I think right now it could stand up in the conversation of greatest all time, and not just past decade. I think you could put it up against the best albums ever made, and it would still make some of the cuts. The most amazing thing is that the musical aspect of it is so good, you forget that there are even lyrics, but when you remember to listen to the lyrics, you're even more blown away. I know it might have something to do with the slight Springsteen influence, but I love this band, and I love this album even more.

So, there you have it. A lot didn't make the cut that deserved to, like any Black Keys album, and the very first Fall Out Boy record (Take This To Your Grave)...but, no list is perfect. Except this one, actually. This one is perfect.