Albums 10 thru 1

10. Sufjan Stevens - “Come On Feel The Illinoise!” A couple of weeks ago I read some of the saddest news in Paste magazine: Sufan Stevens will not continue on his quest to write an album dedicated to each of the fifty states. Although upset, I was still happy to see Paste name this album number one in their countdown of top albums of the decade. I especially love the song “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”. It’s a haunting song telling the stories of the serial killer’s life. But the haunting part is when he sings, “In my best behavior I am just like him”. Back when I lived in Rhode Island Marie and I were invited to watch a co-worker’s son perform in a high school talent show. One of the acts was a group of about 25 high school kids performing the song “Chicago”. The thing that really blew me away is that these kids even knew who Sufjan Stevens’ was.

Key Tracks – “Chicago”, “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”, “Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!”, “Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois” and “Come On! Feel The Illinoise!”

9. Radiohead - “In Rainbows” Ever since “Kid A”, I’ve been very disappointed
with Radiohead. When I heard that they were releasing a new album online and buyers could choose their price, I knew something was going to be different. It was almost like a re-birth. You may think “Kid A” as a better album and you may be right. But for me, this was the first great Radiohead album to be released since I have been a true fan of theirs. The first time I played a Radiohead CD was when I stole it from my brother. In late 2000, I took his only three rock CDs: Radiohead “OK Computer”, “Kid A” and The Chili Peppers’ “Californiacation”. Soon after “Kid A”, Radiohead released their worst albums, “Amnesiac” in 2001 and “Hail to the Thief” in 2003. When you listen to this album it’s more traditional than “Kid A”, but with a touch of the out-of-this-world feel. “All I Need” still gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

Key Tracks - “All I Need”, “Reckoner”, “Videotape” and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”

8. Eddie Vedder – “Into The Wild” This was the album I could not stop listening to. This was the album being played while Atticus was being born. (I guess you could say I live on the idealistic side of life.) This album is so high on my list because it gives the idea of living the best life you can without putting too much emphasis on the material world. Overall the album is on the calm side, but the message is loud and clear: A little soul searching will do us all some good.

“Society” shadows the prospect of leaving it all behind and restarting your life the way Christopher McCandless, the main character in “Into The Wild”, did. But the amazing thing about the song is that it questions whether starting over is the right thing to do or not. Whether or not this album touches your life like it did mine, I think if you give it a listen through you will be pleasantly surprised.

Key Tracks – “Society”, “Guaranteed”, “No Ceiling”, “Rise” and “Hard Sun”

7. TV On The Radio - “Return To Cookie Mountain” This is probably the most original band of
this decade, but with that in mind you also get great music and complete albums. You can find original bands year after year but to find original bands that make great tunes as well is not common. The music that TV on the Radio is labeled as experimental rock, but to me they are indie rock.

The song “Providence” features David Bowie singing back-up. Finding the best up and coming artists and working with them is something Bowie has always been great at. (See Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.) TV On The Radio is a lot like these acts from rock’s past, and they will influence teenagers to make music that they like and not worry so much about other preferences.

Key Tracks - “Wolf Like Me”, “Providence”, “I Was A Lover” and “Hours”

6. Fleet Foxes - “Fleet Foxes/Sun Giant” I pose this question to you: what is music? To
me it is a harmony, rhythm of a drum, the strum of the guitar, and it is the telling of a story. The Fleet Foxes do this amazingly on their first album and EP. The albums feel as if they recorded them in an old church because you can hear the very unique echo of their voice as they harmonize. The music is peaceful and has a feeling of solitude; almost like you would find it in a monastery.

In the leaflet I received with the album, lead singer Robin Pecknold writes about the way our world today is kind of a new world placed over the top of the old. We still have pieces of the mountains, the forest is mixed with modern things, graveled roads, homes, cars, cell phones, etc. He’s not complaining, but he talking about having an experience of discovery we can’t have with the old world. We can have a discovery with music. It can take us to another world, a place we’ve never been. This is exactly the way I felt with this album. It’s as if I traveled to this special place in my mind where only The Fleet Foxes can take me. It’s a lot like traveling and it’s a beautiful thing. I am forever grateful for this.

Key Tracks - “Mykonos”, “White Winter Hymnal”, “Ragged Wood”, “English House” and “Oliver James”

5. OutKast – “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” One of the greatest days of my life as a music fans was on a Monday while I was living in Ohio and knew that the new OutKast album was coming out the following day. I had nothing else to do on my day off so I headed down to the local music shop “The Record Den” and I saw the owner of the shop unpacking the next day’s new releases. I saw “Speakerboxx/The Love Below”, the album I was waiting for. It was going to be each of the two band mates’ projects on separate albums combined into a double album. What a great idea! So for about a half an hour I was contemplating on how to ask this guy to sell me an album early. All I did was ask if I could buy a copy and he said yes! I was so excited to pop that CD in my car. Which one to listen to first: André 3000 or Big Boi? I had to go with 3000 because he has always been my favorite. I was blown away. I drove around for however long it took me to listen to the two albums. This a whole day before the actual release date.

You can tell which album belongs to which artist. Andre is the more experimental artist and Big Boi is the more traditional Southern rap production. Big Boi’s album was very experimental this time around. If you listen to “Ghetto Musick” it sounds as if he infused two songs into one and it’s quite the crazy-sounding song. These albums also have two of the biggest pop songs of the decade: “The Way You Move” and (the greatest song of this decade) “Hey Ya!”. The greatest thing about this album is it won The Best Album of the Year at The Grammys. The Grammys usually get this right once a decade.

Key Tracks – “Hey Ya”, “Ghetto Musick”, “Roses”, “Take Off Your Cool”, ”The Way You Move”, “Reset” and “A Life In The Day of Benjamin Andre (incomplete)”

4. Girl Talk – “Night Ripper” Listen to Track 5 “Smash Your Head” and at minute 1:28 you will understand why I love Girl Talk. At this point he mixes two of my favorite songs of all time, Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” and The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”. You may think he is some gimmick but I would argue that he is more. His albums are pieced together with a feel you get from an album that was made in a studio. The sound quality is perfect with no annoying low quality fuzz or illegal download feel.

Key Tracks – The whole album.

3. Kings Of Leon - “Aha Shake Heartbreak” Out of all my music I think this album is
Marie’s favorite. When I say my music, I mean the music I force her to listen to. She actually sings along which I absolutely love. I wish she would love more of my music.

After picking up this album and falling in love with it, I knew it was only time before they would become the band they are today. This album has so many potential pop singles that never became popular and I don’t understand why. I guess it was a good thing because we got to see them on tour in a small venue when they toured for this album. It was a great show at The Avalon in Boston right next door to Fenway Park.

Key Tracks - “King Of The Rodeo”, “Milk”, “The Bucket” “Soft” and “The Bucket”

2. Kanye West – “The College Dropout” In the time I’ve been preparing this list I’ve listened to these albums all the way through probably three times. I’ve debated with myself to make this number one, but have decided to leave it at number two. It is still a classic.

What makes this a modern classic is the top quality production, which we all would expect from a man who made his living off his amazing beats. But who knew he could not only rap, but also give us some of the best lyrics of the decade. The best song that sums up Kanye West has to be “All Falls Down”. He first he samples, or better yet he reworks, a Lauryn Hill song from her unplugged performance. Second he gives a lesson in the modern black struggle, all while making a radio friendly pop song. This is something other social conscience raps have had problems doing. Then you have “Jesus Walks” where he declares, “But if I talk about God my record won't get played Huh? / Well let this take away from my spins / Which will probably take away from my ends / Then I hope this take away from my sins” He delivers the best first album from a rapper since Nas’ “Illmatic” that was released 10 years earlier. West saves his best lyrics for last, on the track “Last Call” where he tells his story about his journey of trying to get a record deal. He gives us gems like “Though the fans want the feeling of A Tribe Called Quest / But all they got left is this guy called West” and “You know what I've been up to / Killin y'all ni**az on that lyrical shit / Mayonnaise colored Benz, I push Miracle Whips”. My favorite song on the album is “Through The Wire”. He rapped the song all while his jaw is wired shut while he recovered from his car accident.

The beautiful thing about this album is you can feel Kanye’s spirit and soul through the speakers. You can say what you want about him, but you can’t say he doesn’t speak from his heart. It’s hard to get that from many artists these days. When it comes to hip-hop albums not many top “The College Dropout”.

Key Tracks – “Through The Wire”, “All Falls Down”, “Jesus Walks”, “Last Call” “Family Business”, “Never Let Me Down” and “Slow Jamz”

1. The Arcade Fire – “Funeral” This, I believe, is the album that was most original. It is an excellent rock & roll album in its purest state. I was reaffirmed on how good these guys were when I saw them live. It was the greatest musical performance of my life. They truly give their all at every show. It’s almost like watching an athlete leave it all on the field. After learning they were playing a Salt Lake show where my sister Sara was living at the time, I had offer to buy her a ticket so she could experience what I had.

The songs from this album are timeless. “Rebellion (Lies)” might be my favorite song ever. It’s up there with “Heart of Gold”, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and “God Only Knows”. Many people, excluding Sara, were first introduced to Arcade Fire when they saw the trailer for “Where The Wild Things Are”. I think this fine, but with popularity it sometimes feels like new fans can’t have the same feelings unless they were there from the beginning. For me I didn’t find this album until I was reading a list of favorite albums of some actress in Blender magazine in 2006. (I think it was Portia De Rossi...) Regardless of how we find out about music, treasure it for what it truly is: a trip to somewhere new or a journey into our memories from our past. A life without music is a life I would rather not live.

Key Tracks – “Rebellion (Lies)”, “Haiti”, “Wake Up”, “Neighborhood #2(Laika)” and “Neighborhood #1(Tunnels)”