The 2000s was a period marked by economic fluctuation, pharmaceutical emotional suppression, and easy weight-loss diets.
It was also the time for some really incredible music to be released.  Here is The Greatest 25 Albums of the 2000s, as decided upon by The Woove Editorial Board—Peter Tesh, Chelsea Kilburn, Ben Woody, Stu Ruiz, Elizabeth Spencer, Alex Tallant, and Matt Clark.

1.  The Strokes – Is This It? (2001)

You could probably trace the explosion of the naughts’ garage movement back to the hype surrounding this New York quintet.  

Their reputation is well deserved as well, as these songs are reckless and skuzzy, with lyrics to match from front man Julian Casablancas; singing about barely legal girls in trench coats and taking a few too many varieties.  The overall effect of the sound is that the album emanates cool—thekind of cool that likely drove leather jacket sales to record highs for a few years.

This album isn’t just about debauchery and the occasional worldly musings that come afterward; it’s about the music.  Every song is made up of extremely simple parts, but they’re put together in ways that make songs that may have been done a million times before sound completely fresh.  This album may not be the most original sounding one, but there’s a level of craftsmanship rare in most garage bands.  So maybe Is This It?didn’t change the rock world in the long term, but damnit, it was the closest we got this decade.  —Stu Ruiz

2.  Radiohead—Kid A (2000)

There’s nothing to say about this album you haven’t already heard.  You know, just that Kid A is the euphonic manifestation of the predicted chaos that did not happen as we rang in the new millennium.  Paranoia, discomfort, incoherence, Ezra Pound stated fragmentation as metal filings.  On their own—nothing, but when the magnet is placed over ahead they come together to shape a rose.  

Take a deep breath.  Just marinade in that.  Yeah, this is what Radiohead is making you do with this album.  

This is Kid A. —Matt Clark

3.  TV on the Radio—Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)

The New York-based TV on the Radio is just messing with you with their third album, Return to Cookie Mountain.  

What genre don’t they sample?  The general rules of genre-bending: first, leave it to Radiohead; second, the more genres, the worse it is. (Define post-avant-electro-prog-punk rock.)  But TV on the Radio has the formula figured out.

Tracks like “I Was a Lover” and “Wolf Like Me” prove that Return to Cookie Mountain was not built for little iPod headphones.  Honestly, I’m not sure if there is a system that does this work of art justice.  

You will dance.  You will rock.  You will swing, sway, swoon, and sweep your bad day under the carpet when you hear this album.  Whom do we thank for such a unique sound?  —Ben Woody

4.  Wilco—Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

Wilco’s fourth album really drives home the essence that is, you know, Wilco.  Their struggle for self-worth, the analysis of romance, and even their sarcastic perception of religion are all motifs you will find throughout their work, but you’ll definitely notice it here.

Songs like “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” “Jesus, Etc.” and “Heavy Metal Drummer” examine the conscious human experience.  You’d say I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t easy to describe their themes.

Wilco’s legacy has its roots in this album.  Jeff Tweedy and Co. don’t rest on their laurels, but work harder to build on their reputation as one of the best bands of this decade. —Ben Woody

5.  Tom Waits—Blood Money (2002)

Disclaimer—this album’s genre is unclassifiable.  Blood Money compiles elements of jazz, blues, among others to craft a summary of the musical innovation of the twentieth century.  The level of craftsmanship in his songwriting is unparalleled in his capability to incorporate various styles of music.  His blunt, minimalistic lyrics leave but one question to his audience: how come nobody said this earlier?

“If there’s one thing you can say about mankind, there’s nothing kind about man.”  His cynical, transcendentalist axioms drive this album to greatness.  Tom Waits is the greatest songwriter of this century thus far. —Matt Clark

6.  Jay-Z—The Blueprint (2001)

 It’s not secret that 2001 was a tumultuous year for Jay-Z.  With criminal trials pending and fellow rappers dissing, Jay-Z wasn’t getting any love from anyone, not even in the heart of the city of New York.

Jay-Z’s The Blueprint went live on September 11, 2001.

Despite its release in the shadow of the worst terrorist attack on the United States in our nation’s history, the album received intense critical acclaim.  It samples the likes of Slick Rick, David Bowie, and even The Doors.  It publicly dissed Nas and Prodigy.  It is revolutionary.
It’s radio-friendly nature, far-reaching samples, and revolutionary diss tactics, The Blueprint remains one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. —Ben Woody

7.  Kanye West - Late Registration (2005)

Kanye did not fall prey to the typical rapper’s sophomore slump, but instead outdid himself with his sleek and shiny, multi-faceted second album Late Registration.  How can you do wrong when you’re a musical genius?

Collaborating with producer Jon Brion, Kanye pushed the boundaries of the rap and hip-hop genre in the year-long production of this album.  Classic hip-hop beats are the foundation for smooth orchestral chords, samples from a variety of genres, and funky riffs, topped off with clever and meaningful syncopated lyrics.  

It’s a wonderful album packed with sharp criticism for his contemporary social climate, also.  

“Gold Digger” and “Touch the Sky” especially stand out, but with each song different from the one before, the entire album is worth an attentive listen.  Don’t hurt Kanye’s feelings—just listen to it all.  —Elizabeth Spencer

8.  Radiohead—In Rainbows (2007)    

Radiohead again?  

If this list displayed the top albums of the 1960’s, multiple Beatles’ albums would make the list.  Radiohead is The Beatles’ equivalent of the decade.  

This album takes another direction in the band’s history of ever changing musical landscapes, in this case electronic fused alternative designed for digital consumption for the price of a donation.  Aside from being a musical masterpiece, this album showed the trivial role major record labels play in marketing.

Tracks such as all ten of them, there is not a single track on this album below excellence.  
Thank you Radiohead, this album is All I Need.   —Matt Clark

9.  Modest Mouse—The Moon & Antarctica (2000)

Good News for People Who Love Bad News gave us some polished, radio-ready gateway to the Modest Mouse experience. This overexposure for the band was a nightmare, given the band had just received immense critical acclaim for their third studio album, The Moon & Antarctica.  This album offers more than simply a less sterile production environment from its preceding album.

Explorations into existence, life, death, and the great beyond define this album. The music is all but simple, as atmospheric sections are contrasted with much more lively marches and spastic vocals from Isaac Brock, and then on to creepy pieces unique to Modest Mouse.  The result of such diligence yields a homerun, and Modest Mouse hits its ponderous ball right out of the park for all fans to watch fly out with wide eyes and jaws dropped.

Though generally a hard pill for the common music fan to swallow, this album has a massive appeal to those musicians looking for new approaches to rock music both structurally and proximately.

This album is Modest Mouse’s magnum opus, and that’s saying a whole lot. —Alex Tallant

10.  Arcade Fire: Funeral (2004)

Where to start with Funeral? The Arcade Fire’s acclaimed album definitely deserves all the hype it has received—after all, the love is still rolling in, six years after its release.

Supposedly based on the process of coping with the death of family members, the aptly titled album presents a fantastic journey through hand clapping, ominous guitars, and gruff vocals. The “Neighborhood” tracks truly grip the listener with their sorrowful lyrics yet operatic style, which surprisingly doesn’t come off as over-the-top but as a wonderfully executed work of art and sound.

Even though “Neighborhood #2 (Laika),” “Rebellion (Lies),” and “Wake Up” have garnered the most attention, “Haiti” and “Une Annee Sans Lumiere” offer an equally beautiful, delicate blend of English and French with “Haiti” incorporating an eerie contrast to the rest of the album. The final track on Funeral, “In the Backseat,” completes the album so completely with its fading strings that it seems impossible for the band to produce another album with such intensity, yet they eloquently achieve the same brilliance in their sophomore release Neon Bible. —Chelsea Kilburn

11.  Animal Collective—Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

It’s no surprise that this album (or any of Animal Collective’s latest few) is on this list. Love them or hate them, you can’t deny that Animal Collective has been one of the more influential names of the latter part of the decade—and that Merriweather Post Pavilion, though it came in 2009, very well sums up the evolution of the band’s (and the decade’s) sound.

It’s strange at times, yes, sometimes melodic and sometimes dissonant; but even in its strangest samples and weirdest noises it never loses its direction. It meanders easily through its psychedelic journey, from the more accessible single “My Girls” to the strangeness of “Brothersport” and everywhere in between.

It is accessible and aesthetically pleasing in a way that few experimental albums are, its sounds are complex, inventive and pleasant to listen to. This album is on our list for the decade, and just about every other music magazines’ lists—but it certainly deserves its spot. —Peter Tesh

12.  M.I.A.: Kala (2007)

Let’s talk politics—M.I.A. sure wants to. Through a medley of Bollywood beats and elastic bleeps and bloops, M.I.A. speaks out about refugees, terrorism, and personal violence. With a specific voice M.I.A. has developed from her previous release, Aurlar, a musical riot breaks out. Her discontent is amply displayed through her biting lyrics, such as “Sex is so cheap/ I get it at KFC/
When it’s meaningless why they do R&B” on the magnificent first track, “Bamboo Banga.”

The most popular track, “Paper Planes,” attracted quite a following when it morphed into a summer anthem with its catchy gunfire and singsong style. But who cares about radio play when the message is being delivered? M.I.A. contributed to the decade in a radical, personal way similar to that of similar artists Kanye West and Santigold.

However, M.I.A.’s voice will never be lost, for as the world continues to get crazier, M.I.A.’s voice will get stronger. —Chelsea Kilburn

13.  The Hold Steady—Boys and Girls in America (2006)

Combining elements of punk rock, classical piano, hiphop, and everything in between, The Hold Steady’s music is generally straight-up excellent.  
With storytelling lyrics that I daresay rival with Bob Dylan, rocking riffs that I daresay match up with AC/DC, and enough literary references to keep T.S. Eliot happy, The Hold Steady’s Boys and Girls in America has something for everyone.

“Stuck Between Stations” has their signature cynically insightful lyrics about academia.  “Hot Soft Light” is the song that bitchslaps you out of your seat for not grabbing a beer and throwing your fist in the air while rocking out.  “Chillout Tent” couples their “whoever’s gonna get her the highest” motif with spot-on keyboard chords.

The Hold Steady’s Boys and Girls may not be their most complete album, but it definitely is worthy of a place in your car stereo’s CD rotation. —Ben Woody

14.  Madvillian  - Madvilliany (2004)

Madvilliany is the prototype for all hip-hop collaborations.  The combination of MF Doom’s distinctive flow and oddball rhyme schemes with Madlib’s atypical sampling and multi-layered soul/jazz grooves almost seems like too perfect of a pairing, as if something so obviously a good idea couldn’t possibly live up to expectations.  Madvilliany exceeds those.   Doom is at his lyrical best, putting topics such as drug addicts, Freudian  psychiatry, obscure celebrities, weed, two-timing women, backstabbing politicians, superheroes, and plenty more into jokes, musings, and rhyme schemes that treats the conventional a-a b-b trappings as rookie guidelines.  

Madlib brings his A-game here, proving there’s still room out there for producers who eschew new technologies for only turntables, an ungodly amount of records, and excellent taste.  It’s nearly impossible to pick out the songs being sampled, with every deep soul cut, jazz standard and movie clip is deconstructed to create a groove and melody that doesn’t ever ape the source material.  This is an album for hip-hop heads and skeptics alike proving the pair have “got more soul than a sock with a hole.” —Stu Ruiz

15.  Daft Punk—Discovery (2001)

This second album by the French duo was an early entry into the music of the 2000’s, being released in March 2001, but its influence on the electronic music of the decade is unmistakable. You can hear this album—especially songs like “One More Time,” “Aerodynamic,” “Digital Love,” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”—both played straight and in samples from the electronic scene to the mainstream.

But that’s not the true strength of Discovery as a whole. Discovery feels like a concept album—the songs flow together perfectly into such a seamless whole that after listening to the whole thing through a few times it feels odd to listen to only a single song out of context. It’s light, fun, and expertly mixed all the way through, perfectly paced from beginning to end. Although many of its songs are forgettable (how often do you hear people talking about “Veridis Quo” or “Too Long?”) the album as a cohesive whole is one of the solidest albums ever released. —Peter Tesh

16.  The Mars Volta— De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)

It’d be impossible not to mention this album given how many Mars Volta fans I’ve heard swoon over it in the last seven years. Following the structure of the songs on this album I’m going to blast through the front door and say flat out that the lyrics make no sense and I’m fine with that.

This album does a great job of catch and release with dramatic melodic high points spliced with slow beeps, boops, and squeals. This dissonance helps keep the listener’s attention without completely running into either extreme and boring or over-stimulating listeners, and it is done tastefully with complete musical statements made before any dramatic shift. No one song can be characterized completely by high or low energy, and that sort of dynamic is what makes it all that much more engaging.

Returning to an earlier theme: I wouldn’t think of reprimanding this album for its “ritual contrition asphyxiation half mast commute through umbilical blisters and boxcar cadavers,” due to its strong musical backbone. Unlike so many progressive rock and metal albums over the years, this one remains not only accessible, but also fun for listeners—if you can enjoy the dense minefield of lyrics.  For its value as a progressive album that remains musical, I support its demigod status within this generation. —Alex Tallant

17.  Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf (2002)

Sludgy riffs.  Off-kilter hooks.  In-the-pocket grooves.  Occasional weirdness for weirdness’s sake.  Songs for the Deaf brought together everything that Queens of the Stone Age does so well, then added about thirty metric tons to the bottom edge.  How does an already heavy hard rock band get even heavier?  Simple, call up your pal Dave Grohl.  Grohl attacks his kit with the kind of impassioned fervor unheard of since Bonzo wrote the script.  The production is raw but damped, turning every second into a blunt object wallop.

Undeniably catch songs like “No One Knows” and “Go With the Flow” brought the band a good deal of airplay without compromising their sound in the slightest, but behemoths like “A Song for the Dead” and “God is in the Radio” are the real highlights, jams with trapdoors and time changes that stand up to countless listens.  This album would turn out to be last album with such a reliance on their hardcore punk and progressive influences, but when a swan song is this good, it’s hard to get too upset. —Stu Ruiz

18.  Sigur Ros: ( ) (2002)    

In a decade full of indie rock gods and folk legends, Sigur Ros brought world music back into the spotlight. Although the Reykjavik band produced several albums in the Aughts, their prominent work, ( ), stands out as a modern masterpiece.

With its lyrics in Vonlenska, also known as Hopelandic (a nonsense derivation of Icelandic), ( ) allows for the listener to interpret the album on a personal almost religious level. Even with all of the tracks blending into one another with their atmospheric violins and piercing falsettos, the untitled songs “Track 3” and “Track 4” (re-titled “Samskeyti” and “Njósnavélin,” respectively) definitely warrant the listener’s attention with their simple yet expressive melodies and wonderfully garbled lyrics.

All in all, Sigur Ros captures the essence of music not with the beauty of each individual track, but with the album as a whole. ( ) focuses on the amalgamation of sound while creating parallels between the listener’s stream of consciousness and the inner movement of the album. —Chelsea Kilburn

19.  O Brother Where Art Thou? Official Soundtrack (2000)

The only soundtrack on this list, the cinematic score for the Coen Brother’s 2000 movie introduced the traditional folk music, blues, and bluegrass of Appalachia to a wide audience in a manner that made it worthy of inclusion. It brought together artists at the top of their genres, like Alison Krauss and Union Station and the Stanley Brothers, and made a soundtrack that topped the mainstream charts, even for a short time. At what other time has a song like “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow” been heard on mainstream radio, since the time in which the movie itself was set? For that fact alone, this album deserves a recognition.

Besides that, the album is an extremely accessible overview of a period and type of music that is still alive today: a sort of “gateway album” to folk and bluegrass music. If you’ve never had the chance to be exposed to the music of Appalachia, then this is a great album to start with—and if you like it, there are plenty of names on the album to keep listening to.  —Peter Tesh

20.  Mastodon—Leviathan (2004)

One of the most anticipated metal albums of 2004, Leviathan not only lived up to the hype, but also it blew fans out of the water!  While giving taxonomic metalheads headaches by crossing several subgenres, it still managed to be musical rather than painfully repetitive or gimmicky.

Leviathan itself is a dirty, briny, grimy, and all sorts of masculine album that will definitely put hair on your chest. A concept album based around the story of Moby Dick, it captures the appropriately salty sound without being too much of a departure. The album starts out grisly and disgusting then effectively magnifies the highs and lows one would expect in such a setting, musically. The final two tracks, “Hearts Alive” and “Joseph Merric”, take the album in a much more humanized direction with clear vocals and varying levels of musical intensity.

This album is essential for metalheads as proof that metal can actually be musical and be used as a medium to create intricate soundscapes that have more to offer listeners than the next album with the most blast beats, more tuned down guitars, and more Cookiemonster vocals. —Alex Tallant

21.  The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)

The White Stripes’ blend of punk-blues, garage rock, and pop sensibilities had been well established early on in the decade, thanks to the stellar White Blood Cells.  It was Elephant, however, that blew all that up with a slew of heavy-rockers-dripping-with-grime attitude.  First single and opening track “Seven Nation Army” features what has become one of rock’s most recognizable bass lines.   The song “Ball and Biscuit” is the real anchor of the album though—a behemoth of a song combining delta blues swagger with British Invasion guitar histrionics never before seen from the White Stripes.

This is Ground Zero for White’s impassioned style of guitar that sacrifices technique in exchange for primal ferocity, and the guitar solos hear prove it, tearing apart every song they touch.  Elephant wasn’t just a step forward for the band, it was the album that made both the guitar and the blues cool again, and most importantly, reminded a whole new generation that the blues was around long before suburban kids in England were picking up guitars.  —Stu Ruiz

22.  Deftones—White Pony (2001)

White Pony is the best Deftones album—hands down.  But what is debatable is a toughie: which track is the best off this album?  Secondly, does the guest appearance of Tool and A Perfect Circle vocalist Maynard James Keenan play an indispensable role in this album?

Certainly they might.  “Passenger” features Keenan, whose straining and powerful voice augments the effectiveness of the track.  “Digital Bath”features the band alone, exploring their patented dream rock sound in their existential journey to “feel like more.”

This album is powerful.  It’s loud.  It’s versatile.  It fits the landscape of America, and it vows to search for something—anything—better. —Ben Woody

23.  Justin Timberlake—FutureSex/LoveSounds (2005)

Yes, it makes the list for redefining the quintessential pop album.  An album should be more than just one or two commercial singles; it should have three.  This album displays a mature side of a performer either you cherish or despise.

FutureSex really makes you dance—and that’s all pop music is designed for.  It’s nothing complicated.  Timberlake’s career trajectory is just one child molestation away from Michael Jackson’s. —Matt Clark

24.  Beck – Guero (2005)

Warbling guitar-riffs mashed with funky electronic bebops and foot-tapping bass-beats drive Beck’s ninth album the whole way through.  Produced with the Dust Brothers, it has a hi-fi sound similar to but smoother than that of Odelay.  

Through sampling and the help of other prominent artists including Jack White of the White Stripes and Money Mark of the Beastie Boys, Beck successfully merges the genres of rock and electronica.  “E-Pro” grabs attention from the go, “Que Onda Guero?” follows with quirky Spanish lyrics and head-bobbing rhythm, and it’s nigh impossible for the listener not to dance along to the rest of the album. —Elizabeth Spencer

25.  Tool—Lateralus (2001)

The progressive metal band’s third studio album, Lateralus, is a testament to drummer Danny Carey’s enormous drumset.  No, seriously, Carey’s drumming on this album is so good that it makes quadriplegics wiggle about and drum like all hell is breaking loose.

Not only is Carey’s drumming on tracks like “Schism” and “Ticks and Leeches” sick-nasty, but Maynard James Keenan’s intense range as a vocalist just amplifies the value of Lateralus that much more.

But Adam Jones’s guitar and Justin Chancellor’s bass aren’t anything to overlook, either.  

All in all, the musicianship in Lateralus is not to be overshadowed by the cryptic yet applicable lyrics that run throughout the album.  This album truly is a tool for us, the readers to use and apply to our own struggles.  —Ben Woody

Soecial thanks to Topher Forhecz, Features Editor of the Collegiate Times.  Also, thanks to the Editorial Board of the Woove for helping get this big project complete.