Albums of the Decade: The Aughts

Here are ten of the most important albums to be released from 2000-2009. They are arraigned chronologically.

The Marshall Mathers LP- Eminem (2000): Hip Hop had gone stale and then Eminem came along. Ten years later, Hip Hop is once again stale.


Kid A- Radiohead (2000): It took less than a week for Kid A to go platinum. Would not be an accurate list without Radiohead.


U2- All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000): U2 decided to get out of electronic music and return to form. The end result was a monster.


Songs in A Minor- Alicia Keys (2001): Keys mixed blues with jazz and R&B. The comparisons to Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Billie Holiday followed.

American IV: The Man Comes Around- Johnny Cash (2002): This album signalled the greatest comeback in music history. All of a sudden, a 70-year-old was a superstar once more.


A Rush of Blood to the Head- Coldplay (2002): After this album, they were being compared to U2. This made Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


The Rising- Bruce Springsteen (2002): Reinvigorated after a decade of experimentation, Springsteen returned with one of his strongest albums ever harkening back to his 80s glory.

Elephant- The White Stripes (2003): Garage rock lives! The White Stripes are one of the last of the rock bands.


American Idiot- Green Day (2004): American Idiot is probably the album of the decade. Green Day really connected to its audience as well as the zeitgeist of mid-decade America.


Magic- Bruce Springsteen (2007): This is generally considered the best (or second best) album of 2007. The album is about disillusionment with society, condemns the Iraq War, and could almost be a companion piece to American Idiot.

Riffs of the Decade: 2000-2009

Here are the best riffs of the decade. This is one of the few posts I actually had to research! Interestingly, the best known riff of the decade was probably a piano riff. Coldplay's "Clocks" became omnipresent and iconic during the aughts especially when the media needed some background music for a story. The riff is not as important to music as it used to be. Perhaps all the great riffs have been written.

Here are the riffs of the decade:

Kryptonite- 3 Doors Down

Judith- A Perfect Circle

Cochise- Audioslave

Suicide Messiah- Black Label Society

The Pretender- Foo Fighters

Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand

American Idiot- Green Day

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades- Green Day

Sleep Now in the Fire- Rage Against the Machine

Vertigo- U2

Slither- Velvet Revolver

Seven Nation Army- White Stripes