Best of the Decade - Music Edition (31-40

Today we return to our look back at the top 100 albums of the past decade. In case you missed the previous entries, you can get to them through the following links:
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100

40. Loretta Lynn – Van Lear Rose (2004)
The teaming of this classic country artist with a new generation’s guitar god, Jack White, must have seemed quite strange on paper, but somehow it worked beautifully. Lynn turned 70 in the year this album was released and was long past her best known works, but in taking a lesson from fellow country star Johnny Cash, she reinvigorated her career while in her golden years. The Lynn/White duet on “Portland, Oregon,” ranks as one of the best songs of the decade and “Miss Being Mrs.” is as wonderfully old-school as you’re going to find.

39. Spoon – Kill the Moonlight (2002)
There are few artists who put together a string of albums at the quality level of Spoon over the past decade. They have a real knack for creating pop gems that make you want to dance and sing along, in a way that few other higher profile acts can. This is the epitome of good time music for the new millennium. Listen to tunes like “The Way We Get By” and “Stay Don’t Go” and let the music carry you away.

38. Kanye West – Late Registration (2005)
Kanye West holds the distinction (along with Jay-Z) of being one of the few consistently good rappers in the decade, releasing four interesting and adventurous albums over that span of time. West is smart, full of braggadocio, and his songs are catchy as heck, three needed elements to succeed in the rap game. Check out “Heard ‘Em Say” and “Gold Digger” and you may just agree that West is one of the best of all time.

37. Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
In a time replete with 80’s nostalgia, this piece of work from a band obviously influenced to a great extent by the downbeat post-punk bands from the early part of the decade like The Cure and Joy Division. Though the lyrics never reach the utterly depressing state of their influences, their music continues to carry the torch with a sound of desolation and loneliness. Listen to “NYC” and “PDA” for a taste of retro despair.

36. Drive-by Truckers – Decoration Day (2003)
As most of my friends already know, the Drive-By Truckers are one of my favorite bands of any genre from the past decade. Their tales of the dark side of Southern life are second to none and they rock in concert like few others. From the first bars of “The Deeper In,” (which may be the best song ever about brother-sister incest) sung a capella by vocalist Patterson Hood to the manic depravity of “Sinkhole” to the heartfelt goodbye of “Outfit,” this is one incredible collection of tunes. If you like your rock southern fried without the redneck stupidity, this is the band for you.

35. The White Stripes – Icky Thump (2007)
As I’ve mentioned before, Jack White is the greatest guitar god of an entire generation, and with good reason. This album just rocks, pure and simple. I had the chance to see the Stripes on this tour back in ’07 and let me tell you, it was an experience second to none and I will always be in awe of White. The title track, “Icky Thump,” and “I’m Slowly Turning into You,” with it’s strange organ line, are two great examples of what this little two person band with a big sound is capable of.

34. The Avett Brothers – Emotionalism (2007)
Country-rock, new-grass, whatever you want to call it, the Avett Brothers know how to rock a banjo. Intense, fun, and increasingly interesting, this album gets better and better each time you listen to it. “Shame” mixes sadness with a buoyant rhythm section and nice harmonies to create one of their better tracks and “Paranoia in B-Flat Major” just plain rocks. Make sure you check this band out.

33. Garden State Soundtrack (2004)
I’m generally not a big fan of movie soundtracks, mainly because they tend to be a repository for cast-off tracks with the occasional great song thrown in for good measure. But this soundtrack, for the wonderful little Zach Braff-helmed film Garden State, is a true stand-out. The songs contained here capture the essence of what is often called the quarter-life crisis, that depressing time in post-college life where you look around and say, “This is it?” It is an almost perfect mix of well known acts like Coldplay, classic folk from Nick Drake and Simon & Garfunkel, and a plethora of bands unknown to much of the general public. It was through this soundtrack that I first became familiar with great groups like The Shins and Iron & Wine, and that cannot be discounted. A few of my favorites from the collection in The Shins’ “New Slang,” Colin Hay’s “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You,” and Iron & Wine’s “Such Great Heights.”

32. Ryan Adams – Heartbreakers
Releasing 11 albums over the course of the decade, Adams is no doubt the most prolific artist of the 00’s, and thought they have their bright spots, it is this, his first solo album, that I come back to time and again. His teaming with folk siren Emmylou Harris is inspired for this collection of beautiful sadness, the kind that is akin to the best in country music. “To Be Young” is a rollicking number to kick things off while “Oh My Sweet Carolina” has the distinct ability of being sad without the country music cheese. When Adams is on, he’s among the best and this album is proof.

31. Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
How do you follow up one of the best rap albums ever released? By releasing a long, brilliantly pretentious, double album that really amounts to two solo albums by the duo of Andre 3000 and Big Boi. Big Boi’s half, entitled “Speakerboxxx” is straight ahead hip hop that hits hard and makes you want to move from beginning to end, through songs like “The Way You Move” and “Ghetto Musick.” Andre 3000’s selection, entitled “The Love Below” stretches out into the genres of funk, jazz, and soul, creating an eclectic and unusual mix, a style that drives the huge hit “Hey Ya!” as well as the rest of the interesting album. This is a truly incredible work and one of the most important ever released in the hip hop/rap genre.

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