Best Albums of the Decade: #21 - 40

40. Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
Even if they never manage to live up to their self-titled debut album, and they have come awfully close, Franz Ferdinand deserves to be mentioned anytime someone brings up the music of this decade. At one point this band seemed set to become this generation's biggest rock band, and though things have settled down a bit their songs are still fantastic, enthusiastic bursts of rock. This album in particular is loaded with songs that are so good you never want them to leave you head, and based on how strong it still sounds never will.
Franz Ferdinand - "This Fire"

39. Outkast Speakerboxx/The Love Below
You'll find out on Friday where "Hey Ya!" ranks on my songs list, but for now rest assured knowing it's waaaay up there! This far reaching, double album may not have been the duo's finest full album but it is still loaded with songs that are absolutely incredible. Andre 3000's side was always the more popular, but over time the Big Boi side has definitely grown on me as well. It's just a really good record, with a few cast off tracks here and there but then that should be expected from a double album like this.
Outkast - "Hey Ya!"

38. The Field From Here We Go Sublime
There are very few true electronic albums that I ever get fully into, but this one was definitely one of them The Field take techno and make it somewhat accessible, not that it's not still dance music it most definitely is, but there's also a lot of ambient feelings to the music on this record and it creates a mood that you don't really want to leave.
The Field - "A Paw In My Face"

37. Sigur Rós Agætis Byrjun
The placement of this particular Sigur Rós album on the list can definitely be debated since it was originally release in Iceland in 1999. It didn't make it over to the States until 2001 and so I feel it bears placement because most of us in America didn't hear it until the new century began. Oh and it also contains the band's finest work to date, with absolutely stunning songs and a structure that makes it a complete record from start to finish. Debate its inclusion all you want it belongs on this list.
Sigur Rós - "Olsen Olsen"

36. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday
They may not have gotten popular until they added true singing into the mix, but personally the earlier work of The Hold Steady is still the band's best. Separation Sunday in particular takes its drug fueled main character, strong riffs, and steady literary lyrics to lofty heights. This is the band at its finest, crafting a story out of a born again Christian who is also probably a drug addict. It's great stuff and it helped shape the band's reputation as being America's best bar band.
The Hold Steady - "Your Little Hoodrat Friend"

35. The Avalanches Since I Left You
Familiar and fresh all at once, The Avalanches sole full length was an album that lured you in with its somehow familiar sounds and kept you latched on by peeling back its many layers piece by piece. This is a record that is built on so many references and influences, but also with so many new nuanced pieces that it's difficult to tell whether you've heard the songs before or whether they are brand new and dazzling. Either way the songs here are absolutely amazing and something that you should not have spent the last 10-years without.
The Avalanches - "Flight Tonight"

34. Fucked Up The Chemistry of Common Life
You have to love a band that is critically adored but whose name most publications can't print. Here we have no qualms about writing endlessly on Fucked Up's brilliant bland of modern hardcore, beefy and fully thought out this is one of the best records Canada has ever given us. So what if it just came out last year and just won the Polaris prize a few weeks ago, The Chemistry of Common Life is fucking great beginning to end.
Fucked Up - "Son the Father"

33. M.I.A. Arular
A lot of this decade was done exploring the spectacular sounds of foreign cultures and a good portion of that was pushed on us thanks to M.I.A.'s eclectic take on music. Designing her funky sounds out of Asian, tribal, and pop sounds M.I.A. cast a spell over most of the music world giving us beats, lyrics, and sounds that we could get lost in or dance for days on. None of it ever feels tired or weighed down, instead the whole album feels like an upbeat celebration of the various cultures she was reared in.
M.I.A. - "Bucky Done Gone"

32. Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary
At this point Wolf Parade have splintered into a million pieces using their best songs to start other projects and letting their original band suffer because of it. Once upon a time however, the band were a unified whole building songs that showcased each individual members extraordinary talents while working insanely well as a whole. If they never get back to making great records together at least we'll have this as a testament to what they once were.
Wolf Parade - "Fancy Claps"

31. Battles Mirrored
Math rock has never sounded so instantly accessible as it did when Battles created Mirrored. With insane time signatures, and quirky electronic voices, the songs aren't supposed to be the easiest thing to listen to but the way the band crafted them makes them not only instantaneous but lasting as well. The songs on this record should have you moving your feet even if your rhythm can't keep up with theirs.
Battles - "Tonto"

30. Animal Collective Feels
When all is said and done I have a feeling Animal Collective will be remembered as one of the most important bands of this decade. They have pushed boundaries and genres in ways that few have dared to do and if their earlier work was occasionally tough to process Feels started to change all that. Here the songs still go on forever but they are mixed by much more pop oriented sounds, making things easier to listen to while leaving many layers to digest. It was the start of a road that took them to even greater heights and started to make them the important band they would become.
Animal Collective - "Daffy Duck"

29. Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP
At this point Eminem is a shell of his former self, but at the beginning of the decade there was no bigger star in the music world. His music was controversial and dangerous, profane and misogynistic, but even if it was all those things it was still utterly brilliant. His production style and quick flow made me him incomparable at the time and looking back on his first few albums you can still see the brilliance that made him such a big star. This record in particular mixed the dangerous and the caring Eminem in a way that hadn't been seen before and almost humanized him to a point. That alone made it important, but Eminem's musical mind made it a classic record.
Eminem - "Stan"

28. Radiohead In Rainbows
In Rainbows was not just another solid musical offering from one of rock's most defining bands, instead it was a break-the-mold, re-think the music business, once in a lifetime record. Its release method alone merits placement on this list, but as important as changing the face of the music business in one fell swoop was the music on In Rainbows is right on par with the extremely high standards Radiohead has been setting for more then a decade.
Radiohead - "Reckoner"

27. Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica
Modest Mouse were on of the first indie bands to make the jump into the national consciousness thanks to their single "Float On", but it was the album before that that people should really have noticed. With a focus on their own mortality, Modest Mouse turned The Moon & Antarctica into a somber, intricate record that ebbs and flows as the band look at each side of their life. There's moody pieces, more upbeat songs, and it all works together brilliantly to create an emotionally fulfilling listen.
Modest Mouse - "The Cold Part"

26. The Shins Chutes Too Narrow
The Shins have become one of the defining bands as indie rock has grown from an oft ignored sub genre to the huge piece of music it is today. This record was a big reason why, along with a certain movie, that propelled them from underdogs that were overachieving to a band that greatness was expected of. Luckily the band succeeded in meeting those expectations with songs that somehow manage to sound happy while conveying a wide array of emotions. The peppy, catchy sounds of the record, mixed with the sappy, emotional lyrics gave kids something to latch onto and something they could call their own.
The Shins - "Pink Bullets"

25. Jay-Z The Black Album
It turns out that Jay-Z's retirement record came a bit early. The legendary rapper decided to call it quits and focus on the business side of things, but we all know that reitrement didn't last very long at all. Still, The Black Album is loaded with some of Jay-Z's most memorable songs. "99 Problems", "Dirt Off My Shoulder", and "Encore" are all amongst Jay's finest works and the album as a whole flows as one big sendoff to a brilliant career.
Jay-Z - "Encore"

24. Deerhunter Microcastle/New Era Cont.
If we were to take Microcastle and New Era Cont. and rate them separately I doubt they would be up this high, but since they were released together I think they should be counted together and belong right here. Deerhunter took the success and strengths of their previous record, Cryptograms, and turned that into a simple stepping stone to reach this point. On this two part record the band located the pop side of the 60's garage rock they were reviving and launched their songs to new heights thanks to it.
Deerhunter - "Little Kids"

23. Clipse Hell Hath No Fury
Coke rap was big during the late part of the decade but no one did it nearly as well as Virginia Beach's Clipse. Malice and Pusha T had long been building their legend with mix tapes and underground release but with the release of Hell Hath No Fury they exploded thanks to a few strong singles and a feeling that they were rapping about a life they had actually lived. So many rappers are just posing as what they say they are, but when your rhymes are as real as Clipse's you reach a whole new level.
Clipse - "Dirty Money"

22. Panda Bear Person Pitch
Putting a modern spin on the harmonies of The Beach Boys, Panda Bear took electronic pop music to a whole new place with Person Pitch. The record is loaded with loops and samples that make the record sound instantly familiar but there is so much at work here. Every time I listen to this record I hear something I never heard before and melt away with the rich pop hooks Panda Bear has laid out for us.
Panda Bear - "Comfy In Nautica"

21. Brian Wilson Smile
It may have taken 38-years but Brian Wilson finally managed to finish Smile, the long dreamed of album that was started way back in 1966. When it was finally finished Wilson proved that it may not have been his magnum opus, but it was damn close with perfect harmonies and brilliantly imagine lyrics. But then that's more or less what we all expected of Wilson. Still it was surprising to hear it was finally coming out and was amazing to hear upon it's release.
Brian Wilson - "Surf's Up"