Top Albums of the DECADE: acc. to J.Kwest

Let me be clear...if I could put the advance copy of Lupe Fiasco's "Food & Liquor" on here, it would be near the top. That was a near flawless piece of work, but alas...my list (with explanations when needed)

HONORABLE MENTION:
N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds
Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
Outkast - The Love Below AND Speakerboxxx (one of the best mixed albums EVER)
Amy Winehouse - Frank (for "Take the Box" if nothing else)
Kanye West - Late Registration
White Stripes - Elephant
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Common - Like Water for Chocolate
J.Kwest - 20/20: The InVision (why not? It's my list lol)

And the list (in no particular order). Really, they're all #1:

1. Slum Village - Fantastic Vol. 2. (2000)


First off, this album was the epitome of cohesion. Top to bottom it sounds like Dilla and SV were sleeping in the same bed together (foot to head naturally). This is the type of producer/rapper chemistry that most artists dream of. It was in the lane of hip-hop and yet totally new and vibrant. The reason Common's "Like Water for Chocolate" is in Honorable Mention is because of THIS ALBUM.

2. Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002)


What does an old man sound like at the end of his life? What if he was an unreconciled rebel who was deeply spiritual? What if, in speaking your last piece you didn't want drums and fanfare, but a simple guitar to write simple songs with words that rhyme (remember that?). Well, that's THIS ALBUM. Very folksy. While writing "No Country For Old Men" I bet the Coen Bros. were listening to THIS ALBUM. Tied together by scriptures from Revelations, this album is simply devastating at certain points. You are familiar with "Hurt" already. His cover of "Desperado" (a famous Eagles record) makes it sound like they stole it from him. Ever listened to an album where every song sounds like the last song? Here. Listen to "We'll Meet Again" and you'll want this playing at your funeral. I know I do.

3. Justin Timberlake - Justified


Genre Changing. Stop playing around. I am very tempted to call this the most influential and BEST album of the decade. Pharrell. Timbaland. Every record was a record. Moving on.

4. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere


You know, I hated this album when it dropped. I thought "Crazy" was overhyped (and it was). I thought it was gimmicky stoner-loner music (and it was). One day I gave it a full listen and thought, "well now..." and well...now it's on my list.

5. John Mayer - Continuum (2006)


Though I like "Battle Studies" better (for the same reason I have a J. Cash album on my list), I know good music when I hear it. Gravity. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. Is John Mayer the best songwriter in all of music right now? I HAVE to say yes. And this was his album. I'm sure @2woLangley can expound further on why, but Continuum HAS to be on your list.

6. Jay-Z - Blueprint (2001)


There has to be a Jay-Z album on here, and I was deciding between this and "Black Album." Though his best SONG this decade is "Allure," his best album of the 21st is Blueprint. Takeover. You Don't Know. Heart of the City. Game-changing records. You can't put "College Dropout" on this list because THIS album is the one that put Kanye on his rapping horse. This is the last time he ever gave his best beats to someone else. Song Cry? Renegade? Fam...RENEGADE? The first over-hyped Eminem verse ever. Speaking of that guy...

7. Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP (2000)


Nothing needs to be said. Near-demonic introspection. Dr. Dre. Concepts in songs (now, REMEMBER THAT?). Cohesion through interludes. He didn't eat one rapper either. He just rapped, and they ate themselves.

8. Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)


You know, since this album, a lot of good alternative/funky European/anti-hip-and-yet-very-hipster artists have come along and had a lot of success. Most of them write the soundtrack to Grey's Anatomy, and I wish them quite ill. The Big Man on Campus has always been Chris Martin, and this album seems the most authentic to pop music (what irony). If you have a Decade's Best list and there's no Coldplay or U2 on there (or some band who only does festivals)...As opposed to U2 I decided to pick something that was actually music.

9. Radiohead - Kid A (2000)


And now, for my favorite album of the decade. Everything In Its Right Place. No rock album is better, and I promise you Radiohead should be getting royalties from every artist that has ever done BDS or get spins through MTV2 (see Honorable Mention list). Kid A was just authentic "this is awesome. what is it again?" music. Have a listen sometime soon. You too can wake up sucking on a lemon.

10. D'Angelo - VooDoo


Had to, right? When Neo-Soul was a floundering genre (and I mean dying: Jon B was the spokesperson), D'Angelo and ?uestlove and Pino and James and Dilla came in and make a doggone MONSTER of an album. I confess I do not love this album like some do, and I probably enjoy Badu's "Mama's Gun" a bit more, but when you resurrect Funk from its Sly and the Family Stone grave, and you give birth to a million other artists I can't listen to, I have to respect you. And while you didn't make "Orange Moon," you made "Untitled" (the slowest groove of the century). Thank You.

WELL FOLKS, That's my list. feel free to argue. More lists are coming. I'm looking for a reason to change my mind, but I feel pretty solid about this.