Retroactive Thinking: Top 10 Albums From 10 Years Ago

For me 2002 is probably one of the most important years of music for me. If I were to construct a list of the 100 Albums That Made Me Love Music (and I did it’s on my blog, read it sometime) three of the top 10 albums that completely controlled my existence and I couldn’t stop listening to were released that year. In fact they’re on this list (spoiler alert… they’re the top 3), two of them would even be in my top 5 of all time. Enough of this stupid part anyone… does anyone read this? I know I normally just skip down to where I see the first picture

 10. Sigur Ros: ( )

I first heard of Sigur Ros through my friend Mitch. He suggested I download a few of their songs. I enjoyed them but didn’t love them. A few weeks later I found this record in the used bin at F.Y.E. and decided to give it a shot. Within an hour I went from appreciating Sigur Ros to absolutely loving them. I adored structure and concept of this album. It has no album title, no lyrics and no song title, it’s completely lined up to be about whatever the listener wants it to be. Furthermore the musical structure changes mid-album. After Untiled Track 4 there’s 30 seconds of silence before tone completely changes. Untitled Tracks 1-4 are soothing and mellow songs. A mix of ambient guitar and xylophone give the songs a care-free vibe. While Untitled Tracks 5-8 are darker and more aggressive. This creates a double meaning to the albums title, not only is it ( ) so that the listener can incorporate whatever the album is about but also the two parenthesis represent the two halves of the album. I will always remember listening to this album while studying in a college. It’s a great relaxation record.

9. Bright Eyes: Lifted or the Story is in the soil, Keep your ear to the ground

Despite it’s pretentiously long title, Bright Eye’s 4th album is his untoppable masterpiece. I remember flying home listening to this record and being completely captivated, specifically to the songs Bowl of Oranges, From a Balance Beam and Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (to love and to be loved). This isn’t to say the other 10 tracks aren’t insanely bizarre and unique as well. The opening song The Big Picture (which is my least favorite song on the album) is one of the most bizarre opening tracks ever. The almost 9 minute long song doesn’t begin until roughly 2 minutes into the track. Before that you just hear a couple walking into a car and driving, the girlfriend gives the boyfriend directions and slowly the song fades in on the radio, throughout the song you hear the girl awkwardly singing along. Even quirkier is track 3 (False Advertising) which stops mid-song when a musician plays the wrong note. He apologizes lead singer Conor Oberst says it’s okay and then the song starts back up again. For someone who was clearly depressed at the time of writing this album Oberst manages to have fun and even write an uplifting song or two (specifically the infetiously catchy Bowl of Oranges).

 

8. Eels: Souljacker

Mark Everett changed things up from his previous albums Daisies of the Galaxy and Electro-Shock Blues when he released Souljacker (released in the UK/Canada in 2001 but the US early 2002). While his previous albums were ripped straight ought of his own life and pain, Souljacker started his habit of writing about fictional characters. This was his last great album. This isn’t to say he’s ever release a bad album but they have yet to reach the levels of perfection that Electro-Shock and Souljacker achieved.

7. Sage Francis: Personal Journals

Sage Francis is a rapper. But rapper always feels like an understatement. The man write creative poetry under the guise of hip-hop. That’s not to accuse him of NOT being a rapper, it’s just to say that he has elevated the genre of rap into poetic levels rarely seen in this day and age. The album title alone pretty much tells you that you’re about to hear stories ripped straight from real life and Sage tells us these stories without holding back. It’s rare that an album comes out where almost immediately upon hearing it you instantly feel something. He may not be the fastest, his flow isn’t always perfect but all those imperfections only seem to make the album better.

6. Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf

I don’t know why I knew the name queens of the stone age for as long as I did, but I always knew their name. I must have read it in one of those “columbia record club” things. However it wasn’t until the release of the trippy music video for No One Knows that I really heard what they sounded like. I could not for the life of me figure this band out. In 2002 I was a sophomore in High School… I like Pop Punk and that was about it. As the years went by the song and video stuck with me, eventually I caved and bought the album and was opened up to an incredible semi-concept album. Josh Homme’s lyrics and unique almost rock-a-billy singing style fits so well over the hard rock sounds ONLY because it shouldn’t fit. The album also featured some of Dave Grohl’s best drumming. Now that he’s re-joined the band I can only hope that the next Queens of Stone Age release will appear on that years best of list.

3. Mewithoutyou: A->B Life

I first heard mewithoutyou on a random Tooth and Nail comp. I instantly fell in love with the song (Gentleman) and wanted to hear more of what this band had to offer. I bought the album and found that I currently held in my hands a poem about depression.  The album plays out like an hour long song, simply broken into 12 sections. There are very few chorus’ or moments of silence. What’s incredible about this is that all the songs still work independently of each other, but the full experience is certainly from hearing the record from start to finish and feeling the pain as well as Aaron Weiss’ stalker like poetry (specifically in Gentleman and We know Who Our Enemies Are). The band took a huge musical 180 when they released their 3rd album changing from Post-Hardcore to Indie Folk. While I prefer the musical change, their debut album will always be my favorite that they released as well as one of my favorite albums of all time.

2. The Streets: Original Pirate Material

For the brief few years that MTV2 was playing music videos it certainly introduced me to some great new bands. I will always remember laying on my couch in the basement the day the Let’s Push Things Forward came onto my TV. This wasn’t like anything else I had ever heard. It was hip-hop, sorta, but also like reggae and techno. On top of the interesting beat the rapper (Mike Skinner) spoke in an extremely thick accent. This was the first album I ever pirated mostly because I couldn’t find it anywhere (about 2 years later I found both streets albums and their EP at Downtown Disney’s Tower Records and picked it up). I played this album for EVERYONE. This was also around the time of my first girlfriend and I remember us listening to this in her car constantly. I’ve loved Skinner’s entire career but he never topped the quality of this album and with the Streets no done for good it’s easy for me to say this will always be the highlight of the band’s career.

1. Norah Jones: Come Away with Me

Norah Jones pretty much owned 2002 and it couldn’t have been a more unlikely person to pull it off. Norah dominated the Grammys the following year on an album that was easy-listening jazz and she deserved every element of praise. I remember the second I heard Don’t Know Why I fell in love, not just with the music (which was beautiful) but with Norah herself. I bought the album that same night and listened to it in my car for months. It was the perfect soundtrack for late night drives. I miss those days sometimes, when you could just drive and listen to music… just before gas prices became insane. It’s weird that a jazz record would represent so much of my high school years but it really truly does. It’s a crime that Norah doesn’t make music like this anymore, her career has continually evolved but it has never released the level of perfection as this debut. I think of all my memories of this album the biggest one is how it could make me shed a tear. A few months before it was released my grandfather died. He would have loved this album. Whenever I hear it I still think that it’s a sin he never got to experience, specifically because I know that he would have learned “The Painter Song” on guitar.