If you aren’t familiar with most of the albums on this list, or if you don’t take the time to check them out, I feel very sorry for you. Loads of great albums released in 2000 prove that music is thriving. The average fan has a totally distorted perception of music today because for every great artist like Macy Gray, Dr. Dre and Iggy Pop, we are force-fed Creed, Backstreet Boys and Lil’ Kim.
Deserving bands like Travis and the Hellacopters are criminally ignored because people settle for Total Request Live. We don’t have a dinosaur, like the Beatles, but we do have a larger quantity of classic albums being released. Listen to new acts like Earlimart, Stereophonics, Lowgold, Beachbuggy and Finley Quaye and rediscover legends of the past like Robert Johnson, The Hives, Guns’N’Roses, ZZ Top and Grandmaster Flash.
January graced us with the UK release of the year’s best album, Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR. The Scream, now including My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Sheilds and ex-Stone Roses bassist Mani Mournfield, created the most brutal sonic assault ever recorded.
Neil Young graced us with multiple releases, and the Super Furry Animals released mwng, recorded entirely in the Welsh language.
The following 50 albums are by no means a comprehensive list as hundreds of worthy titles were released this year. Worthy offerings from Johnny Cash, Pearl Jam, Dilated Peoples, Sigur Ros, Common and Broadcast didn’t even make the list-a testament to how much music there is to discover.
Don’t get upset that Eminem isn’t on the list because that boy is quite inconsistent, despite his witty lyrics and incredible timing.
If you can name more than five tracks off of The Marshall Mathers LP at this time next year, it will definitely be impressive. I didn’t forget the intentionally obscure Kid A either. The album is enjoyable, but Radiohead is better when they are writing songs. If they wanted to make an atmospheric album that changed perceptions of pop music, maybe someone should have reminded them that Mogwai and Trashmonk can do it better. You can go out and buy Kid A, but may I recommend these fifty titles first.
Also, please don’t buy crap like Palo Alto, Godsmack, Dave Matthews Band and Jay-Z, or else you’ll live the rest of your life in misery.
Top 40 Albums of the Year
1. Primal Scream XTRMNTR
2. Queens of the Stone Age R
3. Lambchop Nixon
4. U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind
5. Marah Kids in Philly
6. Cosmic Rough Riders Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine
7. Oasis Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
8. David Holmes Bow Down to the Exit Sign
9. Badly Drawn Boy The Hour of the Bewilderbeast
10. Shelby Lynne I Am Shelby Lynne
11. At the Drive In Relationship of Command
12. Grandaddy The Sophtware Slump
13. Ryan Adams Heartbreaker
14. Richard Ashcroft Alone with Everybody
15. Jurassic 5 Quality Control
16. The North Mississippi All-Stars Shake Hands with Shorty
17. The Dandy Warhols Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
18. PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
19. King Biscuit Time No Style
20. Doves Lost Souls
21. The F***ing Champs IV
22. Supergrass Supergrass
23. Joseph Arthur Come to Where I’m From
24. Super Furry Animals mwng
25. Idlewild 100 Broken Windows
26. Neil Young Silver & Gold
27. Godspeed You Black Emperor! Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven
28. Coldplay Parachutes
29. Madonna Music
30. Sade Lovers Rock
31. Shellac 1000 Hurts
32. Six By Seven The Closer You Get
33. Clinic Internal Wrangler
34. Beachwood Sparks Beachwood Sparks
35. Kelis Kelis
36. The Go-Betweens The Friends of Rachel Worth
37. Tahiti 80 Puzzle
38. Yo La Tengo And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
39. Damien Jurado Ghost of David
40. Outkast Stakonia
Top 5 Live Albums
1. Oasis Familiar to Millions
2. Jeff Buckley Mystery White Boy
3. Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes Live at the Greek
4. Underworld Everything, Everything
5. Eels Oh! What A Beautiful Morning
Top 5 Compilations/Reissues
1. The Who BBC Sessions
2. The MC5 The Big Bang: The Best of the MC5\
3. El Vez Pure Aztec Gold
4. Blur The Best of Blur
5. Johnny Cash Love/God/Murder
