The 55 Best Albums of 2011 (23-33)

It was the year of the reunion/comeback.  So many big artists came back together to put out one more album.  Maybe I'm just getting older and there are more bands under my belt who have the potential to reunite...but this honestly has to be the most reunions I can remember in awhile.  The strongest outing by far was by The Cars...and they seemed to have the most stacked against them.  Missing their key bassist/songwriter/singer, Benjamin Orr, no one thought they could really regenerate the magic the group possessed in the 80s.  But of all the reunions, The Cars seemed to embody the most honest energy of all the bands.  It's like they acknowledge off the bat that they couldn't do it properly without Orr...so they did everything in their power to do as good and respectable of a job as possible.  And it worked.  There were some good reunions this year...but The Cars came in the most low key and finished by far on top.

ATTENTION: I'm still collecting your TOP 20 LISTS.  If you don't have 20 albums...that's okay.  You can send as many as you want.  If it's just 5 or even 1 that's fine, too.  Send them in now and I'll compile an uber monster list to kick off 2012.

Here are the 55 Best Songs of 2011 (23-33):

23.       Deer Tick - Divine Province

24.       Washed Out - Within and Without

25.       Acrylics - Lives and Treasures (Nightwatch)

26.       Radical Dads - Radical Dads (Walking Wires)

27.       Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys

28.       Feist - Metals

29.       The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

30.       Neon Indian - Era Extrana

31.       Justice - Audio, Video, Disco

32.   The Roots - undun

33.   The Cars - Move Like This

Buy these albums and many more best of 2011...now!!! (all for under $5)

The 11 Best Song By The Roots of the 90s

Recently, the Roots got in trouble for playing Fishbone's "Lying Ass Bitch" as the entrance song for Michelle Bachman when she appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show.  Was is it a dick move?  Sure.  Did she deserve it?  Probably not.  Was it kinda funny?  Fortunately so.

Politicians have no sense of humor.  Musicians have no sense of politics.  Musicians are successful at what they do because they say what they feel without fear of repercussions or that they're polling numbers will dip.  They say whatever is on their minds no matter who it will offend or hurt.  They have outspoken opinions and utilize their vocal prowess to announce them to the world.  This is one of the reasons we fall in love with the music.  There's something honest about musicians and songs that connects to us on a personal level.  Politicians have no sense of truth.  They run a campaign to get elected...they don't run on their identity.  They tell you what they think we want to hear.  Instead, they don't realize that we'd rather just hear who they are and not the fabricated person they present.  This is why 20 years down the road, the Roots can make a political statement as much and still remain relevant while Bachman will wilt into obscurity.


Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Roots of the 90s:

1.  What You Want (The Roots Come Alive)
2.  I Remain Calm (Do You Want More)
3.  The Next Movement (Things Fall Apart)
4.  You Got Me (Things Fall Apart)
5.  Mellow My Man (Do You Want More)
6.  Adrenaline (Things Fall Apart)
7.  The Session (Organix)
8.  What They Do (Illadelph Halflife)
9.  Respond/React (Illadelph Halflife)
10.  Do You Want More?!!!??! (Do You Want More)
11.  Dynamite! (Things Fall Apart)

Buy the Roots new album, undun...now!!! (only $3.99 for a limited time)

The 11 Best Songs By The Roots of the 00s

The 00s might be best described as the Roots experimental period.  Their songs challenged the tradition hip-hop norms and opened new doorways to what the genre could be.

I first saw the Roots in the 90s in a college gym.  I had never seen a rap group use guitars and a drum kit.  That in itself was intriguing.  But then they came on stage.  They played four songs.  Better yet, they belted out four songs.  They screamed four songs.  They ripped through four songs as sweat dripped from their foreheads and through their shirts.  They weren't the most energetic rap group I'd ever seen...they might have been the most energentic band I'd ever seen.  Twenty years later, their sound is constantly being reinvented.  And the only challenge to themselves...is themselves.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Roots of the 00s:

1.  The Seed (2.0) (Phrenology)
2.  Break You Off (Phrenology)
3.  Game Theory (Game Theory)
4.  The Show (Rising Down)
5.  Stay Cool (The Tipping Point)
6.  Complexity (Phrenology)
7.  Rising Up (Rising Down)
8.  Don't Feel Right (Game Theory)
9.  Water (Phrenology)
10.  Don't Say Nuthin' (The Tipping Point)
11.  Lovely, Love My Family (Yo Gabba Gabba)

Buy The Roots new album, How I Got Over now!!!

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (89-99)

Here are the the 111 Best Albums of the 00s (89-99):

89. Missy Elliott - Under Construction (2004)
- Her 4th album was by far her best...not that the others are too shabby. She may easily be the best female rapper of her day...if not of all time. This is her at the peak of her game.

90. Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (2000)
- Adams' first solo album is actually a fairly tame start to the massive amount of music he would unleash on the public in the decade to come.

91. Cat Power - You Are Free (2003)
- Is it folk, it punk, is it indie, is it alternative, is it chamber music? Chan Marshall's massive seductive voice finds its groove on her 5th and best release, setting the stage for a steady impact of other stellar releases in the years to come.

92. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (2005)
- A blast of 80s retro energy, Silent Alarm was a reminder of how much fun alternative music could be. Even Ferris Bueller would have taken the day off to listen to this. (This Modern Love)

93. The Roots - Phrenology (2002)
- The 00s were littered with hip-hop artists testing the genre of what the boundaries were. The Roots had been pushing those boundaries for years...but on this release, they merged some heavy rock groves giving birth to one of the funkiest albums of the decade. (Complexity)

94. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (2005)
- This album was a like a rocket on the club scene, reminding the world what it was like to dance to actual music instead of mind-numbing pulsating electronic dial tones. The white boy dance movement was born on this puppy. (Tribulations)

95. N.E.R.D. - In Search Of... (2002)
- Now there are two versions of this album. The regular old hip-hop version with computerized beats...and the awesomely 70s throwback version with a full band. I'm referring to the latter. It sounded like something Stevie Wonder would have jammed on with the Jackson 5 had they shared a dorm room in college...had they gone to college. (Run To The Sun)

96. Sigur Ros - Takk... (2005)
- A rich rebound from their second more mellow release. It was giant leap forward in songwriting style, crafting epic musical pieces over plain old pop songs. They also proved that you didn't need to sing in English to captivate an American audience...or that Bjork was the only talented one out of Iceland.

97. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)
- It had been a good ten years since some sounded as dark, depressed and moody as Interpol sounded on their debut. Ironically, the brooding din was a bright spot in the otherwise morbid landscape of alternative nu metal.

98. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)
- The band debuted in the Billboard top 10 with this year's addition. An unheard of achievement for an indie rock band. And the album doesn't disappoint. It's like the band is breathing fresh life into their music on this glowing release. At times it sounds like they managed to harness the sound of the wilderness into a harmony. It only grows more interesting with every listen.

99. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (2001)
- Emo music was behind the 8-ball from the start. You can thank Dashboard Confessional for that. But if more of the releases sounded like JEW's refined pop brillance, the genre would have been much more tolerable. Instead, in its wake, we got Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco. (A Praise Chorus)

Buy these albums now...Best of the 2000s.

The 11 Best Albums of 1999

It was the year Napster broke into the music industry and changed it forever. Why? Because the record labels were forcing crap like Britney, Nsync, and Backstreet Boys upon the masses. Music fans wanted more...they wanted better...and they fought to find it.

Here are the 11 Best Albums of 1999:

1. Beck - Midnight Vultures

2. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrun

3. Built To Spill - Keep It Like A Secret

4. Black Star - Black Star

5. Wilco - Summerteeth (Summer Teeth)

6. Dr. Dre - 2001

7. Rage Against The Macine - The Battle for Los Angeles

8. Moby - Play

9. The Roots - Things Fall Apart

10. Travis - The Man Who

11. The Get-Up Kids - Something To Write Home About

Buy these albums here!

The 11 Best Roots Songs:

Some love him. Some hate him. Some think he's the greatest players in the NBA. Some believe he may someday be the greatest of all time. Some believe he's a role model. Some think he's rapist. Some think he's the kind of guy you want to bring home to your mother. Some think he's the kind of guy you don't want to leave alone with your younger sister. Some think he's a nice guy. Some think he's an asshole.

Whatever your impression is of Kobe Bryant. His impact on the world is undeniable. A 3-time NBA champion and most recently...Player of the Year. Because he can play ball unlike anyone else in the league...does that negate all the baggage that comes along with him? As long as the Lakers keep winning...then the answer is yes. If the Lakers were losing, then Kobe would be on the first flight to Oklahoma City.

In America, as long as your more talented than anyone around you...then you get a free pass to do anything you want. If Charles Manson had been a "good" singer...then he wouldn't be in prison right now. He would be the wacky aging rock star they'd wheel out at Grammy time to make a novelty appearance and do a guest spot with Rhianna. And people would love him. Don't believe me? Why do they still play Gary Glitter's "Rock N' Roll Parts 1&2" at ball games...even though he's a convicted child molester? Roman Polanski won best director. OJ Simpson is still allowed to buy kitchen knives. Rebecca Gayheart is still allowed to drive.

Here are The 11 Best Roots Songs:

1. What You Want (The Roots Come Alive)
2. The Next Movement (Things Fall Apart)
3. I Remain Calm (Do You Want More?!!!??!)
4. You Got Me (Things Fall Apart)
5. The Seed 2.0 (Phrenology)
6. Adrenaline (Things Fall Apart)
7. Don't Feel Right (Game Theory)
8. Don't Say Nuthin' (The Tipping Point)
9. Game Theory (Game Theory)
10. Tao of the Machine (Blade 2)
11. In The Music (Game Theory)

Buy the new roots album, RISING DOWN.