The 111 Best Music Lists of the 2000s

Is this the greatest book ever written?  Probably not but it's close.  I've been writing this blog for the past six years; I've written hundreds of lists.   Taking some of the best lists directly from the site and adding in some brand new lists, I am proud to present my first book.  Sticking with the theme of my blog I've delivered a book that takes a look back at one of the most chaotic decades in music.  It was the decade where music went from being physical to only existing in a digital space.  It was an era where pop dominated and rock was stuck taking the bus.  With this book, I hope to right the ship and look back at some amazing bands that were overlooked.

You can purchase the book now at Amazon and Kindle.  Right in time for all your holiday shopping needs.

The 111 Best Music Lists of the Decade

Enjoy!

The 11 Best Supergroup Duos

Side projects and supergroups always draw amazing attention but usually end-up disappointing greatly.  It's hard for an artist to experiment with a new sound because of the expectations they bring with them.  A few artists manage to exceed expectations usually by throwing a big curve.  If it is too outside the box, it tends to scare listeners away...and if it's too inside the box...it leaves listeners wondering what the point was in the first place?  Billie Joe of Green Day and Norah Jones of pianos team-up today to play a collection of Everly Brother songs.  Which side of the box does this fall In?  Out?  Under? Over?  Ever?

Here are the 11 Best Supergroup Duos:

1. Electronic (Bernard Sumner of New Order & Johnny Marr of The Smiths)
2. She & Him (Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward)
3. Pinback (Zach Smith of Three Mile Pilot & Rob Crow of Heavy Vegetable and Thingy)
4. Felt (Murs & Slug of Atmosphere)
5. Quasi (Sam Coomes of Heatmiser and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney)
6. Discovery (Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend & Wesley Miles of Ra Ra Riot)
7. Bad Meets Evil (Eminem & Royce Da 5'9")
8. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
9. Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles)
10. The Evens (Ian McKaye of Fugazi and Amy Farina of The Warmers)
11. WZRD (Kid Cudi & Dot Da Genius)

Buy Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones new album, Foreverly...now!!

The Best Albums of 2012 (23-33):

I dragged my feet on getting the countdown out this year.  The contributions so far have been fairly slim.  I know you all listen to music.  I know you all have your favorites.  So let's hear them.

It's the day before Christmas and I've sat down to spend the next 48 hours watching screeners.  If you guys are good and get your lists in, I'll loan them to you.  You know you want to watch the Hobbit in the comfort of your own home.  So, get shaking.

Here the Best Albums of 2012 (23-33):

23.  Minus The Bear - Infinity Overhead
24.  Bob Dylan - Tempest
25.  Soundgarden - King Animal
26.  The Killers - Battle Born (Bonus Track)
27.  Conor Oberst - One Of My Kind 
28.  Macklemore and Ryan - The Heist
29.  Zedd - Clarity
30.  G.O.O.D. Music - Cruel Summer 
31.  Green Day - Uno/Dos/Tre (Bonus Track)
32.  Cooly G - Playing Me
33.  Big Boi - Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors

Buy these albums and a lot more...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day of the Teens

This is something I never do.  I never include new songs from new releases in my lists.  But Green Day has done something this year that has never been done either...they've released three albums in four months.  So if they can break the rules, then so can I.  Granted I'm breaking a rule I've self-imposed upon myself and the only one I have to answer to is me...but let's not think about that.

I've been going through my old Rolling Stones magazines for a project I'm working on.  I have twenty years of Rolling Stones.  And I've kept all of them.  Reading old stories about bands in retrospect has some incredible insight about what music we thought had potential...and what truly did.  From reading articles about breaking artists like Amy Winehouse, The Killers, and Arcade Fire to interviews with a rising young Senator named Barack Obama, who swears he will not be running for President in 2008.  The names of the past like Amy Grant, Jesus Jones and Chris Whitley.  Or how Green Day is talked about like they are a passing fad while Candlebox is the air apparent to Led Zeppelin's throne.  Truer words have never been spoken.

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day of the Teens:

1. Kill the DJ (Uno!)
2. Lazy Bones (Dos!)
3. Stay The Night (Uno!)
4. Let Yourself Go (Uno!)
5. Ashley (Dos!)
6. Sex, Drugs and Violence (Tre!)
7. Nuclear Family (Uno!)
8. Stray Heart (Dos!)
9. 99 Revolutions (Tre!)
10. Dirty Rotten Bastards (Tre!)
11. Nightlife (Dos!)

Buy Green Day's new album, Tre!

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day of the 90s

Green Day came out at a time when rock ruled the planet.  Decades ago.  The fact that they've hung around despite the pop and schlock is comforting...but it's not the same.  If music is cyclical, then we're right around the time of the early 80s.  The Guettas, Harrises, and Skrillexes are the Human League, Soft Cell, and Kajagoogoo of this decade.  Loosely speaking.  Rock still exists...only in the garages of your best friend's crystal meth dealer.  You can only discover it if you're in the right place at the right time.  Or if you have unlimited time to surf the internet.  Like the mainstream music in the 80s, everything had to have a keyboard or sax solo.  Today...it's not much different.  Right, M83?

Rock will return.  And soon.  The music cycle changes about every four years. People get bored and burnt out on what's popular and demand something new.  They want something that will smash what's popular.  Pop, hip-hop, emo, and EDM have all had their turn...it's fairly obvious that rock is next line.  And when it does return...and it dominates, yet again...everyone who had ditched it for day-glo bracelets will pretend like they had been fans all along.  All we need is someone to kill the DJ.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Green Day of the 90s:

1. Basket Case (Dookie)
2. Scattered (Nimrod)
3. One of My Lies (Kerplunk!)
4. Hitchin A Ride (Nimrod)
5. She (Dookie)
6. Burnout (Dookie)
7. Uptight (Nimrod)
8. Going To Pasalacqua (39/Smooth)
9. Who wrote Holden Caulfield? (Kerplunk!)
10. Christie Road (Kerplunk!)
11. Welcome to Paradise (Kerplunk!/Dookie)

Buy Green Day's new album, Dos! now!

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day of the 00s

Carmageddon II strikes today.  and like some awful Summer blockbusters...not everything needs a sequel.  The hype is huge as usual and like all big plugged sequels it will likely be a letdown.  But at least...and let's hope there's not a Carmageddon trilogy.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Green Day of the 00s:

1. Holiday (American Idiot)
2. Jesus of Suburbia (American Idiot)
3. Minority (Warning)
4. Viva La Gloria! (21^st Century Breakdown)
5. American Idiot (American Idiot)
6. East Jesus Nowhere (21^st Century Breakdown)
7. Whatsername (American Idiot)
8. Dead Beat Holiday (Warning)
9. Working Class Hero (Instant Karma)
10. Murder City (21^st Century Breakdown)
11. Restless Heart Syndrome (21^st Century Breakdown)

Buy Green Day's new album Uno!...now!!!

The 11 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2012

There's no telling if any of these albums are coming out this year...it's all a massive guess...all for fun.  Some of these may come out before Fall...some after...but rumors are flying.

Here are the 11 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2012:

1. Tool - TBA (Nov.)
2. Stone Roses - TBA (Oct.)
3. Pearl Jam - TBA (Oct.)
4. No Doubt - TBA (Nov.)
5. U2 - TBA (Oct.)
6. Green Day - TBA (Dec.)
7. The xx - TBA (Oct.)
8. Modest Mouse - TBA (Nov.)
9. Black Sabbath reunion - TBA (Oct.)
10. Phoenix - TBA (Oct.)
11. Dr. Dre - Detox (???????????)

The 11 Best Albums of 2009: 34-44 (Part 2)

With the end of decade sending everyone scrambling to make decade topping lists, let's not forget all the good music that made this year one of the better musical years of the decade.

Don't forget to vote in our annual "best of." Just send us your top 20 albums of the year...or as many as you can think of, if you can't think of 20. We take all albums...all genres...just be sure they were released in 2009. To vote, just put your list in the comments section of the blog...or email us.


Here 11 Best Albums of 2009: 34-44 (Part 2):

34. Moby - Wait for Me (Shot In The Back of the Head) - only $5.00
35. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon
36. Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light - only $5.00
37. Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11 -only $5.00
38. Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti...is a Skyscraper
39. Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen (What Have I Done)
40. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (East Jesus Nowhere)
41. The Editors - In This Light and On This Evening
42. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
43. Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
44. Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (1-11):

In creating the top 11, it really comes down to finding albums that weren't only great but also helped define the musical landscape of the decade. These ablums don't need a lot of explanation of why they were chosen. If you haven't heard these discs...then you likely were in a coma for the Bush years. It's only fitting in my opinion, that the most potent artist of this decade (Jay-z) opens the decade with the Blueprint...and closes it with the Blueprint 3.0. I've been racking my brain...trying to come up with something clever to say that sums up the decade musically...but when sitting down to finally write it...I think letting the music play...just speaks for itself.

NOW...it's your turn....

What are your top 11 albums of the 2000s???

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (1-11):

1. Jay-Z - The Blueprint (2001)
2. Wilco - Yankee Foxtrot Hotel (2002) - War on War
3. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003) - Seven Nation Army
4. Coldplay - Parachutes (2000) - Yellow
5. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
6. Beck - Sea Change (2002) - Lost Cause
7. Green Day - American Idiot (2004) - American Idiot
8. Radiohead - In Rainbows (2007) - Reckoner
9. Kanye West - College Drop-Out (2004)
10. The Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004) - Laika
11. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

    
    

    Buy these albums now!

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day

So I can make as many statements against Idol, claiming my opinions are accurate...but there's only one way to be convincing...and that's with facts. And there's one solid fact I can use to show that American Idol singers are nothing more than a fad...album sales.

Here's a look at the American Idol album sales over the past 7 seasons:

Kelly Clarkson (s1w) - had 4 albums - #1 sold 4 mill, #2 sold 6 mill, #3 sold 1 mill, #4 sold 500k
Justin Guarini (s1ru) - has 3 post-Idol albums - the best seller is 135K
Ruben Studdard (s2w) - 3 albums - #1 sold 1.8m, #2 sold 400K, #3 sold 250K
Clay Aiken (s2ru) - 4 albums - #1 sold 2.8m, #2 sold 1.4m, #3 sold 500K, #4 sold 160K
Josh Gracin (s2ru) - 2 albums - #1 sold 500K, #2 sold 80K
Fantasia Barrino (s3w) - 2 albums - #1 sold 1.8m, #2 sold 500K
Diana DeGarmo (s3ru) - 1 albums - sold 168K
Jennifer Hudson (s3ru) - 1 album (post Oscar) - 700K
Carrie Underwood (s4w) - 2 albums - #1 sold 7 m, #2 sold 2m
Bo Bice (s4ru) - 2 albums - #1 sold 600K, #2 sold 61K
Taylor Hicks (s5w) - 2 post-Idol albums - #1 sold 700K, #2 sold 18K
Katharine McPhee (s5ru) - 1 album - sold 300K
Elliott Yamin (s5ru) - 2 albums - #1 sold 500K, #2 sold 80K
Chris Daughtry (s5ru) - 1 album - #1 sold 4m
Kellie Pickler (s5ru) - 2 albums - #1 sold 700K, #2 sold 200K
Jordin Sparks (s6w) - 1 album - sold 1.5m
Blake Lewis (s6ru) - 1 album - sold 300K
Melinda Doolittle (s6ru) - 1 album - sold 20K
David Cook (s7w) - 1 album - sold 1.1m
David Archuleta (s7ru) - 1 album - 700K

In 7 seasons, these are the 20 best selling artists from American Idol. There are only 8 platinum selling artists. And only 3 of them have 2 platinum albums. And the biggest stars are the ones who have rejected Idol. Clarkson refuses to be associated with the show. Underwood rejected going pop and went country. And Daughtry went rock. That leaves only Clay Aiken...who just got dropped from his label.

I'll have a wrap-up tomorrow.

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day:

1. Basket Case (Dookie)
2. Jesus of Suburbia (American Idiot)
3. One of My Lies (Kerplunk!)
4. Holiday (American Idiot)
5. Scattered (Nimrod)
6. Longview (Dookie)
7. Hitchin' A Ride (Nimrod)
8. Minority (Warning)
9. When I Come Around (Dookie)
10. 86 (Insomniac)
11. Going To Pasalacqua (1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hour)

Buy Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown (only $4.99 for one week!!!)

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day Members:

I saw this in the store today and was honestly horrified. I wasn't just horrified that someone thought that a Bling Bling Barbie would be a good idea and decided to make one. Nobody comes up with an idea for a toy and just makes it. It goes through rounds and rounds of market research. Hundreds of parents were consulted if they would buy this for their kids. Hundreds of kids were consulted if they wanted this toy. What horrifies me isn't that this ended up on the shelf...it's when I think...what were the other toys that this product beat out? What other toys were so awful that My Bling Bling Barbie seemed like the best toy?

I weep for our kids.

The 11 Best Songs By Green Day Members:

1. Life During Wartime - Pinhead Gunpowder
2. Money Money 2020 - The Network
3. Song of My Returning - Pinhead Gunpowder
4. Supermodel Robots - The Network
5. Mechanical Man - Billie Joe Armstrong
6. 27 - Pinhead Gunpowder
7. Transistors Gone Wild - The Network
8. I Wrote Holden Caufield - Screeching Weasel
9. Roshambo - the Network
10. Big Yellow Taxi - Pinhead Gunpowder
11. Chocolate Rain - Tre Cool

Get the new Green Day album...I mean the new Foxboro Hot Tubs album...