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The Times 100 best pop albums of the Noughties


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Old 23-11-2009, 13:17
If_U_Seek_Amy
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The Top 100 Pop albums of the Noughties

Here are the top 10:

10. The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow (Polydor, 2008)

Grumpy northern indie underachievers — the adjectives were all lined up for Elbow’s career obituary when from nowhere they served up a masterpiece. Guy Garvey’s grown-up lyrics and delivery give a whole new meaning to the word tender.


9. Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Decca, 2007)

Few could have expected a collaboration between a grizzled golden god and a God-fearing bluegrass icon to go interstellar — nor be quite so gently spellbinding.

8. Elephant - The White Stripes (2003, XL)

The whey-faced duo at the peak of their minimalist brilliance — from the punk-blues Seven Nation Army to the Bacharach/David melodramatics of I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself. He shreds and sings. She bangs the drum. No bass required.

7. Coles Corner - Richard Hawley (Mute, 2005)

Britpop survivor knocking on middle age delivers stunning album of orchestral, reverb-soaked romanticism that manages to evoke an age of smoking in cinemas and afternoon pub closing. The transformation from local hero to national treasure started here.

6. Is This It - The Strokes (Rough Trade, 2001)

They failed to sustain the momentum, but for a couple of years Julian Casablancas and his elegantly dishevelled cohorts were the most exciting rock band on the planet, thanks to the bleary-eyed swagger and rabble-rousing garage rock of their breakneck debut.

5. Blackout - Britney Spears (SonyBMG, 2007)

The title was pertinent enough — Spears had shaved her head and was in and out of rehab when this vocally scrunched, harshly metallic album appeared. No one expected it to be this good.

4. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - Outkast (Arista, 2003)

The coolest hip-hop album of the decade. A sprawling, madcap collection of jazz, funk, rock, rap, dance and Southern soul music performed with impeccable wit by the polar opposites Andre 3000 and Big Boi. Hey Ya! indeed.

3. In Rainbows - Radiohead (XL, 2007)

Bereft (at least initially) of the artwork and packaging that comes with physical releases, all we had to appraise were the songs — and what songs they were. Febrile magic hour reveries such as Faust Arp and Reckoner were startling snapshots of a band delighted to discover that each hitherto undiscovered chamber in rock’s Gothic pile contains an entrance to yet another.

2. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (Island, 2006)

“I told you I was trouble” — and so it proved — but Winehouse’s second album is as close to an instant classic as any this decade. The true magic of this record is in the rich melodies, and lyrics full of busted love and dark humour.

1. Kid A - Radiohead (Parlophone, 2000)

Almost a decade after its release, it’s easy to forget just how much of a leap into the unknown Radiohead’s fourth album presented. With OK Computer hailed by fans and critics as one of the greatest albums of all time, the group’s next challenge was to keep an audience without turning into their own tribute band. In doing so, they came famously close to dissolving completely. Tales of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood — the laptop-prodding axis of the group — sitting in one room while the others wondered if they would even be needed that day have become legion. However, what they emerged with effectively redrew the parameters of the rock album for the new century. The padded-cell ambience of Everything in its Right Place and Morning Bell seem custom-built for these obsessive-compulsive times — as does the fin de siècle night terrors of The National Anthem and Idioteque. And throughout it all — most notably on How To Disappear Completely and Optimistic — Radiohead still found time to remind us that, when the fancy took them, their electrifying live synergy was still intact. Anyone seeking to establish the last time a mainstream rock goup released such an experimental record and maintained their commercial stock would have to go all the way back to 1968 and The White Album. Therein lies the scale of Kid A’s achievement.


Surprisingly Beyonce and Christina Aguilera didn't make the list!!!
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Old 23-11-2009, 14:34
letmeinFFS
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that was the worst Outkast album by a long shot! but i suppose its a pop chart.
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Old 23-11-2009, 14:43
upintheskylfc
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i thought coldplay would have got on the list
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Old 23-11-2009, 14:46
LucyKay18
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CRIMINAL that Stripped is NOT in the top 10.
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Old 23-11-2009, 14:56
bohoboy
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How was the top 100 list compiled? It's a very dubious list.
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Old 23-11-2009, 15:18
zx50
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I think I need to start listening to a more wide variety of music because none of them seem at all familiar [except for Britney and Amy]. I always thought Radiohead were crap. I agree with bohoboy though, that list does seem a bit strange and suspicious. Was this list compiled by actual figures, or, just multiple votes from fans?
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Old 23-11-2009, 16:32
carldavis75
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Kudos for choices 66, 54, 52, 38, 37, 19, 9, 6, 3, 2 and 1.

Lots not in there of course, but these things are designed to cause arguments..!
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Old 23-11-2009, 17:19
IndieLove92
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I appreciate their attempts at being open minded and impartial, but seriously? Britney Spears above the likes of Richard Hawley and Elbow? Dubious indeed.
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Old 23-11-2009, 18:06
Gorky
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The full list is all over the place with some puzzling choices but I agree with the #1.

As it's so eclectic it's quite a good list to discover new things. There's about 10 albums I haven't heard and of those, 4 or 5 sound intriguing to me so I aim to give them a listen.
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Old 23-11-2009, 21:01
If_U_Seek_Amy
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I appreciate their attempts at being open minded and impartial, but seriously? Britney Spears above the likes of Richard Hawley and Elbow? Dubious indeed.
For what Blackout was...a pure pop orgy it was an amazing album, yes the lyrics weren't as deep as those on an Elbow album...but as a pure dance pop album it's f*cking amazing!!!
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Old 23-11-2009, 21:13
5th Horseman
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Radiohead = Pop Music
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Old 23-11-2009, 21:17
If_U_Seek_Amy
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Radiohead = Pop Music
I think they mean pop as in popular music!!!
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Old 23-11-2009, 21:21
Tfan26
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rubbish list
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Old 23-11-2009, 22:30
Gorky
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I think they mean pop as in popular music!!!
I thought that at first but if you look at the whole list there's some quite obscure stuff so whichever way you look at it, the term "pop" isn't very accurate.

Still, there's some interesting albums on the list for anyone who likes to look for new music in various genres.
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Old 24-11-2009, 09:12
Tel69
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Now I love Radiohead and have all their albums....... but anyone saying Kid A is the best of the decade has taken a large dose of poncey pills. It was ok but In Rainbows and several others from their back catalogue were far better.
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Old 24-11-2009, 09:18
glyn9799
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To me a pop album would be Kylie, Beyonce or Madonna.

Radiohead?!?!

Britneys Blackout is fantastic though. Had she not have been a bit out-of-it for most of the era and done some decent promo that album would have sold even more copies
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Old 24-11-2009, 11:20
DuckSeason
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To me a pop album would be Kylie, Beyonce or Madonna.

Radiohead?!?!

Britneys Blackout is fantastic though. Had she not have been a bit out-of-it for most of the era and done some decent promo that album would have sold even more copies
"Pop album" is a vague term referring to dance, pop and rock. The list seems to exclude stuff like heavy metal and DNB because neither of those genres are 'pop'. I think the list looks about right, Kid A is definitely deserving of No.1. There's nothing from Beyonce or Christina because maybe their albums just aren't up to snuff.
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Old 24-11-2009, 11:20
carldavis75
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I think we're mis-understanding the term 'pop' here.

Pop, as in popular, or as usualy used 'pop/rock'. Basicaly, anything that doesn't easily fit into the other genres like Jazz or Country for example. I don't like Radiohead being a list with Britney either (as a Radiohead fan), but there it is. Thats how record shops do it. Its just a way of finding stuff.

A list of 'Best Pop Albums by people that don't play instruments and use being attractive over talent as a marketing tool' would have sorted it out...
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Old 24-11-2009, 11:24
mattshenton
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the list is a crap.

Prodigy, eminem, radiohead not pop.

best album for me all genres.

Eminem - marshall mathers Lp
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Old 24-11-2009, 11:38
silentNate
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The Prodigy album deserved to be way higher up the list. Nice to see Bon Iver mentioned along with Artic Monkeys, Burial and The Go Team but aside from its choice for number one the list is pretty pedestrian in its tastes. Would have thought that Laura Marling and La Roux would have got a mention whilst Kanye only has one album in the 100 listed...
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Old 24-11-2009, 12:04
CLL Dodge
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Looking at all the top 100 it might as well be Kid A at the top as any of the others.

I'd have swapped the Whinehouse album for Muse' Black Holes & Revelations at no.2, though.
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Old 24-11-2009, 12:54
Gorky
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I think we're mis-understanding the term 'pop' here.

Pop, as in popular, or as usualy used 'pop/rock'. Basicaly, anything that doesn't easily fit into the other genres like Jazz or Country for example.
Yes but with folk, rap, soul, jazz and country-ish albums on the list, they're really pushing the boundaries of the term 'pop'. Not that it matters at all as it's just a list of someone's favourite albums.

Now I love Radiohead and have all their albums....... but anyone saying Kid A is the best of the decade has taken a large dose of poncey pills. It was ok but In Rainbows and several others from their back catalogue were far better.
Not really. It may not be your favourite but you will find it at the top of a number of these decade-ending lists as it really is very good indeed .
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Old 24-11-2009, 17:57
Slick Nick
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No mention of Brian Wilson's 'SMiLE'?

Pathetic.
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Old 24-11-2009, 18:32
fezxenakis
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No Mika?!!

and was that no Killers either, or did I miss them?

Looking at that list it does seem like it's been a really crappy decade. I've got a lot of those albums and they don't have any staying power. "Justified" is top heavy and over long "Speakerbox/Love Below" is overrated, overlong and full of filler. "Smile" and "Flight of the Conchords" would be much higher if I had anything to do with it.
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Old 24-11-2009, 18:33
fezxenakis
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No mention of Brian Wilson's 'SMiLE'?

Pathetic.
I think "Smile" was about number 70ish
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