CheekyChicago

The last 10 years have been paradoxically some of the most interesting and boring that music has ever encountered.

The business of music certainly made it the most interesting… 2000 was the high water mark for sales and success by any measure; but the good times lasted only about as long as a Britney Spears marriage. By June of 2009, the industry was at its absolute worst and they wanted to point the finger at someone or something else for this downward spiral instead of taking a look at themselves. Music piracy was flourishing, prompting the RIAA into a witch-hunt against 35,000 fans of music – certainly not the best PR move to try and spark good-will, let alone sales. Not to mention – ticket prices, merchandise, and service charges all went through the roof at a time when money for most was tighter than ever. But let’s not forget the greatest tribulations that we had to endure as music fans: Limp Bizkit, Creed, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Black Eyed Peas, Keane, Asher Roth (just to name a select few)… This leads me to the B-side of music’s paradox.

In the better part of this decade, music has never seen a more boring period – we can officially call this the Dark Age, at least in terms of rock music specifically. I’ll say it again, but finding good music has become more and more of a challenge today – partly because music is more accessible than ever, but predominantly because “artists” feel that they can follow a template to cash in on. We are living in an age of homogenous monotony. Thank God for the few who still remember what it means to be unique, to push the envelope, and to take a risk.

While there were still many amazing moments in music throughout the past 10 years, more and more they are reduced to just mere instances. In an age of iTunes and a la carte singles, the “album” has become something of an endangered species. I hate to think of a day when our society is too ADD to only listen to a short memo within the small span of one track rather than the long, meaningful novel of an entire ALBUM! Instant gratification is choking the earned pleasure that comes with opening up to the bigger picture.
With that rant stated, my top albums of the decade are chosen under the context that these are truly the highest forms of a musical effort – they are individual works put together within a framework that when combined and played in a set order, they are greater than the sum of their parts.

Thankfully, this list was more difficult to narrow down than I originally thought it would be.

Top 10 Albums of the Decade (In No Particular Order):

Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica

I thought that I knew what music was, I thought that I knew what progressive or punk was until I heard this album. Issac Brock is the music icon of our generation. The new artists who cite this band, and specifically this album, as a core influence are too great to be counted. I’m doing my best to sum it up, but words just can’t describe this beauty.

Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
Country music had always seemed recreational to me – I always thought of it as an ode to your “pickup trucks” and “gals”; but Ryan Adams made me realize what a closed-minded, juvenile I was being. Ryan brought out the true emotion and beauty in country music. He pioneered the alt-country sound with his first band, Whiskeytown, and perfected it in his solo work. Heartbreaker is just one of the most compelling reasons why Ryan Adams is the most prolific singer-songwriter of our time. I was hard pressed to pick just one of his albums, but this is the best place to start. I never saw all of the value in every genre of music until Ryan Adams walked me through all of them. This is an artist we should all be thankful to witness evolve.

The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
Remember what rock was like? Well, if you were like me at the beginning of the decade, it had been a while and I was a bit fuzzy on what the answer to that was… But then came The White Stripes. Take rock back to its blues roots, reduce the band to two, give them a garage to play in, and you will soon remember. Jack White and his counterpart (whatever label you want to assign her: wife/sister/drum tech/etc.) rose from the ashes of Detroit to save us at a time when we saw no life in the signs of rock music. This album taught me everything I ever wondered when Kurt Cobain used to say, “less is more.”

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Less is more!!! Six years after Jack White had taught me this lesson, I needed a reminder. Thankfully, one man – in the form of Justin Vernon – did just that. With even less than The White Stripes (two members [technically]), Bon Iver (one member) created some of the most beautiful music that has genres fighting harder than ever to claim ownership of. Holed up in a Northern Wisconsin cabin, Justin created the most lush, musical landscape to ever so rightfully shame the synthetic world of Pro Tools. Nothing could seem more heartfelt, more raw, more incredible.

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
I didn’t want to like Wilco… I was too busy getting over the loss of The Smashing Pumpkins as I knew and loved them – only to watch them dissolve into some sad, queer, reality-show ending. I didn’t want to hand over the key to the city just yet (having to take it from Urge Overkill to give to The Smashing Corgans was already awkward enough). So I wasn’t on the Wilco train in the early days, but when I heard this record, I felt like a real ass for being so stubborn. These beautifully constructed songs gave me a new kind of pride for being from Chicago.

The Strokes – Is This It?
While I am out thanking people for saving rock as we know it, I would be a fool not to mention The Strokes and their breakthrough album, This Is It. I would be a liar if I didn’t say that I find it pretty nauseating how cool these dudes think they are – but when you hear this album, you don’t really have a leg to stand on. The Strokes brought character back to rock with this album. They had a kind of soul that you really envied – and I’m not talking Aretha Franklin either.

Elliott Smith – From A Basement On The Hill
It’s so hard to say goodbye and this album makes it even harder. Elliott Smith gave us so much in his short time here. It seems so very wrong to ask for more, but when you listen to this album and the genius direction he was taking, it makes it so hard not to beg. Elliott shattered all boundaries when he set out to begin this album, working with elements of “noise music” and layering. Thankfully, he finished a great deal of this work before his passing – one final gift from an irreplaceable soul.

Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell
Let’s lighten the mood again – there’s no better way to do that than listening to the great hope for our musical future. These four Canadian kids (yes kids) have created some of the most beautiful music that we have seen in far too long. Blending a raw, garage rock sound with catchy up-tempo rhythms and gorgeous hooks – they have created a genre-defying sound that will only ever have one label: “original.”
Seeing them play this album at Angels & Kings made me so proud and showed me the silver lining to the bleak future of music.

Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Thank God Ryan Adams had shattered enough barriers in time for a greater audience to be receptive to this beauty. You can feel every ounce of sentiment come through the trembling voice of Conor Oberst. With this album, Conor finally perfects his songwriting disciplines and musical strengths. This record flows seamlessly from one gorgeous track to the next, never stopping along the way long enough for you to realize that your heart gets broken, healed, and then broken all over again.

Arcade Fire – Funeral
This album defined independent music for the entire decade by setting the bar higher than we ever knew the top rung to be. Experimental yet beautiful, soft and delicate but loud – this album is an extraordinary feat that I am certain will not be topped within the next 10 years (unless it is by Arcade Fire themselves). I am sure that there are many out there looking to cop this sound, only to be left scratching their heads about where to begin.

Honorable Mentions (Again, In No Particular Order):

Beck – Sea Change

In all of his efforts, Beck never lived up to the critics’ hype as much as he did with this album.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
It’s about time we had a female who could kick us in the ass, but leave us throbbing in the heart thereafter.

Kings Of Leon – Because Of The Times
Before they polished their game well enough to break into and then become the mainstream, the Followill brothers released a true Southern rock revival.

Johnny Cash – American IV: The Man Comes Around
Rick Rubin set out on a mission to remind the world why Johnny Cash was the best there ever was; and how better than recording an album of covers that The Man In Black does better than the original artists ever could.

Sufjan Stephens – Illinois
We get a rich lesson in our state’s history that sounds as though it’s coming from the school’s auditorium – but only in the most stunning way.

Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood to the Head
I don’t like admitting to this one – but they earned it.

Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism
This record could bring a heavyweight boxer to tears with any one of its 11 moving tracks.

Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days
Sam Beam whispers his lyrics to us, but this album screams the announcement of one of the best musical works we’ll ever have the privilege to feel.