Five of The Best Albums This Decade

With the early 00’s closing out in just two months, it felt like reason to go back over the last nine years of music and select what The Media Crunch feels are several of the decades best albums. The LP’s that were chosen were based on the potential to be classics or not, their perceived longevity and the influence and impact their sound had on the music scene.

THE FIVE

the Strokes: Is This It?

Amidst the 2001 garage rock revival scene the Strokes came out of a relative nowhere to deliver this 35 minute, lighting in a bottle album. Frontman Julian Casablancas wrote 11 songs that perfectly captured the hipster youth’s attention and delivered it with a swagger matched only by Nick Valensi’s and Albert Hammond Jr.’s guitar playing. the Strokes didn’t even sound like they were making an album, they were just having a good time and you were along for the ride.

The White Stripes: Elephant

Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP

Kanye West: Late Registration

Say what you will about the man and his ego but when he promised to deliver big on his follow-up the multiplatinum College Dropout, he did. Kanye’s sampling ability mixed with Jon Brion’s arrangements made for one hell of an album. With hits like “Golddigger” “Touch the Sky” and the slow burning “Gone”, he upped his game while retaining what his fans (and music critics) liked him for. With orchestral chords, Adam Levine from Maroon 5 guesting and Jamie Foxx in his Ray Charles schtick, Kanye crafted a near perfect flowing pop/soul/hip-hop album. He clamoured for those pop hooks and in that regard he exceeded expectations. Time will tell if his other releases will hold up as well as this one (or if any will for that matter) but for now, he changed the way Hip-Hop was presented.

Amy Winehouse: Back to Black

Channelling her inner Ronnie Spector, Amy Winehouse followed up her mostly unknown first release Frank with an album that brought back a sixties soul revival. Producer Mark Ronson’s clever combination of a classic soul vibe intertwined with a modern day sound presented Amy as a towering vocal force that had to be reckoned with. At first the novelty of Rehab grabs your attention, but it isn’t until you dig deeper into cuts like You Know I’m No Good, Some Unholy War and the Marvin Gaye tinged Tears Dry On Their Own that you realize her anguish about losing her Blake is all real…and entertaining at the same time. Standing out above her peers, Ms. Winehouse managed to carve out her own sound while showcasing everything that inspired her.

Written By: Kyle Bulai