NPR's 50 top albums of the decade

timmyjoe42 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:51 pm

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... c=fb&cc=fp

The 50 Most Important Recordings Of The Decade
01. John Adams: On The Transmigration Of Souls
02. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
03. The Arcade Fire: Funeral
04. The Bad Plus: These Are The Vistas
05. Beyonce: Dangerously In Love
06. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
07. Bright Eyes: Iâ€™m Wide Awake, Itâ€™s Morning
08. Burial: Untrue
09. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: S/T
10. Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway
11. Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
12. Danger Mouse: The Grey Album
13. Death Cab For Cutie: Transatlanticism
14. The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
15. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP
16. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
17. Osvaldo Golijov: La PasiÃ³n Segun San Marcos (Saint Mark's Passion)
18. Green Day: American Idiot
19. Iron And Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days
20. Jay-Z: The Blueprint
21. Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
22. Juanes: Fijate Bien
23. LCD Soundsystem: Sound Of Silver
24. Lilâ€™ Wayne: Tha Carter III
25. Little Brother: The Listening
26. M.I.A.: Kala
27. Yo-Yo Ma: Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet
28. Mastodon: Black Stars
29. Jason Moran: Black Stars
30. OutKast: Stankonia
31. Brad Paisley: 5th Gear
32. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
33. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: The Rising
34. The Postal Service: Give Up
35. Radiohead: In Rainbows
36. Radiohead: Kid A
37. Shakira: FijaciÃ³n Oral, Vol. 1
38. Sigur Ros: ( )
39. Britney Spears: In The Zone
40. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
41. The Strokes: Is This It
42. The Swell Season: Once Soundtrack
43. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate: In The Heart of the Moon
44. TV On The Radio: Return To Cookie Mountain
45. Various: Garden State Soundtrack
46. Various: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
47. Kanye West: The College Dropout
48. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
49. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
50. Amy Winehouse: Back To Black

It's an interesting list, but I think there are some better discs out there.

toots · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:04 pm

always fascinating when government radio has better taste than my local x station

jewels santana · **Joined:** Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:36 pm **Posts:** 10198

i usually don't complain about these things, but jesus christ.

toots · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:08 pm

its no konstantirank

Rick Derris · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:20 pm

jewels santana Wrote:

i usually don't complain about these things, but jesus christ.

Care to elaborate? Did you read the intro on the main page of the site?

It's not a list of "favorites" or what was necessarily "best" of the decade. It's the most "important" recordings of the decade. Obviously anytime art is up for debate it's going to be subjective but I actually find it a pretty interesting how they defend their picks.

Example: Kelly Clarkson

This inclusion is a nod to how American Idol has been the biggest phenomenon of the decade in pop culture bar none and that album was probably the biggest yet by an AI winner.

jewels santana · **Joined:** Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:36 pm **Posts:** 10198

i didn't read the intro, it changes my reactions to some of the choices. But my response of "jesus christ" remains, but for different reasons now.

toots · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:28 pm

like, you've accepted him?

bort · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:46 pm

maybe they're using the Garden State soundtrack as a catch-all, but didn't The Shins make significant headway for the now-blooming "indie" music scene? Their debut had music in movies and commercials (tons of bands have since followed suit) and it also helped put Sub Pop back on the map. Maybe i'm misremembering....

timmyjoe42 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:01 am

Yea, the list seems a little heavy on the second half of the decade or the ones that are more fresh in the memory.

hey look · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:43 am

probably should note that they aren't ranked, but alphabetical

DumpJack · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:44 am

what's NPR?

jewels santana · **Joined:** Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:36 pm **Posts:** 10198

contradiction Wrote:

probably should note that they aren't ranked, but alphabetical

All the hours I've watched The Wire and i'm still not much of a detective. I thought it was a little odd that the two Radiohead albums were next to each other.

Dalen · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 1:00 am

this list

Mick · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:09 am

Pretty much entirely American music.

And while I'll submit that this will usually be the case due to the shear volume (and, sure, quality) of American music alone, the ratio here is obscene.

jsh · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:16 am

Dalen loves stuffing Wrote:

this list

this post

shiv · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:23 am

Mick the Stripper Wrote:

Pretty much entirely American music.

And while I'll submit that this will usually be the case due to the shear volume (and, sure, quality) of American music alone, the ratio here is obscene.

sheer.

Mick · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:29 am

shiv Wrote:

Mick the Stripper Wrote:

Pretty much entirely American music.

And while I'll submit that this will usually be the case due to the shear volume (and, sure, quality) of American music alone, the ratio here is obscene.

sheer.

yeah...

south pacific · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:52 am

I'd like to see an Australian top 50 albums of the decade

harry · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:19 am

Rick Derris Wrote:

jewels santana Wrote:

i usually don't complain about these things, but jesus christ.

Care to elaborate? Did you read the intro on the main page of the site?

It's not a list of "favorites" or what was necessarily "best" of the decade. It's the most "important" recordings of the decade. Obviously anytime art is up for debate it's going to be subjective but I actually find it a pretty interesting how they defend their picks.

Example: Kelly Clarkson

This inclusion is a nod to how American Idol has been the biggest phenomenon of the decade in pop culture bar none and that album was probably the biggest yet by an AI winner.

Important, yeah. So I love lists that have Lil Wayne and Yo Yo Ma both. But jazz? There was important contemporary "serious music" (John Adams) but not one jazz record? And don't say Norah Jones...

Rick Derris · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:27 am

harry Wrote:

Rick Derris Wrote:

jewels santana Wrote:

i usually don't complain about these things, but jesus christ.

Care to elaborate? Did you read the intro on the main page of the site?

It's not a list of "favorites" or what was necessarily "best" of the decade. It's the most "important" recordings of the decade. Obviously anytime art is up for debate it's going to be subjective but I actually find it a pretty interesting how they defend their picks.

Example: Kelly Clarkson

This inclusion is a nod to how American Idol has been the biggest phenomenon of the decade in pop culture bar none and that album was probably the biggest yet by an AI winner.

Important, yeah. So I love lists that have Lil Wayne and Yo Yo Ma both. But jazz? There was important contemporary "serious music" (John Adams) but not one jazz record? And don't say Norah Jones...

Sorry harry. I was just trying to cut the "this list sucks" comments off at the pass but I have failed.

But honestly when was the last time someone put out a jazz record that was "important". Honestly asking.

I mean, I don't know what makes the Yo Yo Ma record important or even "good" for that matter. I could make a case for a lot of these but some leave me scratching my head as well.

Still, this is the first one of these decade lists I've seen from a fairly reputable source and I find it a pretty interesting take.

harry · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:46 am

Rick Derris Wrote:

harry Wrote:

Rick Derris Wrote:

jewels santana Wrote:

i usually don't complain about these things, but jesus christ.

Care to elaborate? Did you read the intro on the main page of the site?

It's not a list of "favorites" or what was necessarily "best" of the decade. It's the most "important" recordings of the decade. Obviously anytime art is up for debate it's going to be subjective but I actually find it a pretty interesting how they defend their picks.

Example: Kelly Clarkson

This inclusion is a nod to how American Idol has been the biggest phenomenon of the decade in pop culture bar none and that album was probably the biggest yet by an AI winner.

Important, yeah. So I love lists that have Lil Wayne and Yo Yo Ma both. But jazz? There was important contemporary "serious music" (John Adams) but not one jazz record? And don't say Norah Jones...

Sorry harry. I was just trying to cut the "this list sucks" comments off at the pass but I have failed.

But honestly when was the last time someone put out a jazz record that was "important". Honestly asking.

I mean, I don't know what makes the Yo Yo Ma record important or even "good" for that matter. I could make a case for a lot of these but some leave me scratching my head as well.

Still, this is the first one of these decade lists I've seen from a fairly reputable source and I find it a pretty interesting take.

Now I actually have Osvaldo Golijov: La PasiÃ³n Segun San Marcos (Saint Mark's Passion) but I can think of at least 20 jazz releases in the last ten years that were more "important" by any definition.

d · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:22 am

DumpJack Wrote:

what's NPR?

If you're not being funny, it's National Public Radio.

DumpJack · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:33 am

d Wrote:

DumpJack Wrote:

what's NPR?

If you're not being funny, it's National Public Radio.

Right.

I'm not being funny at all, I'm just Canadian.

jewels santana · **Joined:** Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:36 pm **Posts:** 10198

isn't the bad plus jazz?

PopTodd · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:35 am

DumpJack Wrote:

I'm not being funny at all, I'm just Canadian.

Sig-worthy.

NPR's 50 top albums of the decade

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