NME's Top 50 albums of 2000-2009 POLL

The Shins – Wincing The Night Away

what a weird choice of Shins album

I'll get the obvious "boy did me and the NME experience music differently" post out of the way then think about this particular list

Reminder that I intend to run ILX's version of this at some point this year, albums and tracks

I'd hope that our results differ markedly

OK tbh this is a horribly banal list, no knock at you intended Turrican, honest

Absolutely - I'm looking forward to that, and I wouldn't expect the overall ILX Top 50 to look much like this. I'd expect to see Neon Bible nowhere near it, for one!

(xpost)

XTRMNTR or Funeral, though I'm tempted to be a lonely voter for Think Tank. But yeah, this is not the list I would make, even though I followed NME for a few years in the middle. The biggest snub seems to be Franz Ferdinand, right?

Babyshambles - Down In Albion

lol ok

one of the two records with "silent" in the title

Probly Dizzee or MIA in terms of "still listen to occasionally"

At The Drive In – Relationship Of Command

whoops, missed this one, easy vote for me

Silent Shout > Arular > Since I Left You >> The Sophtware Slump >>>>>> everything else I've heard from this list

that's a list of albums all white

I mean alright

OK tbh this is a horribly banal list, no knock at you intended Turrican, honest

― stuck in the Lidl with EU (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, January 15, 2019 6:38 PM (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh, I know it is! That's part of the reason I'm polling it, really. NME in the '00s was pretty much the Conor McDickless years, where they'd try to be "historic"* seemingly by championing any band that had a trilby and a crack habit. It still makes a little more sense than their year end lists throughout that decade, though. Of course, I'm expecting ILM's Top 50 to be far more diverse than this.

*("historic" was a word McDickless was very fond of, and I knew when I saw that very word used in the pages of the NME to describe a live cover version of Heaven 17's 'Temptation' by Jarvis Cocker duetting with Beth Ditto in 2007 that he was just desperately throwing the word around for the sake of it)

To function as a publication it believed it needed a theory

This rockist chose Queens.

The biggest snub seems to be Franz Ferdinand, right?

I'd never noticed, but you're right! Given how the NME were all over Franz Ferdinand in 2004, you'd think that the debut would have made it into their Top 50. The full list is actually a Top 100, and it's nowhere to be seen 51-100 either.

Babyshambles - Down In Albion

lol ok

― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Tuesday, January 15, 2019 6:46 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ha, yeah! Even bearing in mind that NME's Doherty coverage was relentless throughout the decade, that's a bizarre choice. Doherty was his most visible in the tabloids at the time of that record (it was when he was dating Kate Moss) but most critics of the time (and even the fans) thought it was a terrible record.

x-post: That's pretty crazy. That album holds up fine, and surely the band has fallen less from grace than Bloc Party, for instance.

that's a list of albums all white

I mean alright

― Number None, Tuesday, January 15, 2019 6:50 PM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, there's Jay-Z, Outkast, MIA, Dizzee and there's Bloc Party also.

Also, it's the NME circa 2009 - they were a publication for people that primarily liked indie music, so that's what their list is made up of. Yes, it's nowhere near as diverse as it could have been, but the NME weren't really covering hip-hop or R&B at this point.

(in any kind of depth, I should say)

Either The Blueprint or YHF for me, probably gonna go with Jay

voted silent alarm

That's pretty crazy. That album holds up fine, and surely the band has fallen less from grace than Bloc Party, for instance.

― Frederik B, Tuesday, January 15, 2019 7:09 PM (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I still have a lot of time for the first Franz Ferdinand album and I quite like the second one also. They took far too long over their third album and by the time it surfaced the NME and its readers had found a zillion other bands to get distracted by, but still this doesn't explain the omission of the debut from the EOD list.

Rings Around the World, of course

Was the list made in 2009?

There's a few albums on this list that I thought were overrated at the time of their release that I've come to enjoy over the last couple of weeks now that I'm years removed from all the hype.

I actually enjoy Is This It now, although still don't think it's anywhere near being "album of the decade" ... I always preferred Neon Bible to Funeral, but now prefer Funeral although I don't think it's a flawless record - 'Crown of Love' and the closing track both get a thumbs down from me, the rest of the LP is very good. The one that surprised me most is finding I enjoy Turn on the Bright Lights now, which I thought was something I'd never say.

I heard a song from Illinois on the radio the other day and it sounded quite nice

kind of afraid to revisit the LCD Soundsystem album though I really really liked it at the time.

Was the list made in 2009?

― Frederik B, Tuesday, January 15, 2019 7:37 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, it was in the Nov 18th 2009 issue - so there wasn't any distance at all from the decade.

Some opinions:

Since I Left You is one of the greatest albums of the 00s, if you skip Frontier Psychiatrist

Is This It? is excellent

The first Walkman album is way better than Bows & Arrows

The first Libertines album is pretty good

Another WTF thing about this list is that there's two Outkast albums in the Top 100. Speakerboxxx / The Love Below made it into the Top 50. The one that didn't make it into the Top 50 was Stankonia.

xp agree with all 4. yes Frontier Psychiatrist is annoying

nah its still my favorite tune on that album

tbh I think Wildflower is a lot better than SILY. never quite got the hype there

The first Walkman album is way better than Bows & Arrows

otm, lisbon and you & me are better too

i think pretty much every walkmen record is equally awesome

saw Is This It, voted for it reflexively. looking at the rest of the list, Kid A, Dizzee, OutKast, MIA and Vampire Weekend are fine options too.

Wildflower wasn't rough enough, too "organized" sounding, too much "breath of life", too twee also

Since I Left You is one of the greatest albums of the 00s

also one of the greatest albums of the '90s, London Calling-style

Another WTF thing about this list is that there's two Outkast albums in the Top 100.

there is nothing wtf about this

in this poll I'll vote SFA as well, but I don't think RATW would make my 25 top albums of the decade

Well, maybe The Sophtware Slump actually. I'll decide later

idk I thought there was a lot of chaos in Wildflower. there almost had to be, given how many aborted projects it was made out of. I liked that it felt organized. the tracks on SILY are kinda in one ear and out the other to me, outside of the real obnoxious bits "I'll book a flight tonight!! I'll book a flight tonight!! I'll book a flight tonight!!"

Is This It. I love The Delgados, but that is their one dud album.

Kid A or Silent Shout. This list is boring.

I guess I love SILY the same way I love Endtroducing or Donuts, I feel like I'm hearing gods just freakin on decks and MPCs and stuff in a beautiful impressionistic way.

Endtroducing obv very organized... idkwita

I know it kind of drifts, but Kid A still seems like a landmark album to me

I like a lot of these, the Vampire Weekend album maybe most of all

The first Walkman album is way better than Bows & Arrows

otm, lisbon and you & me are better too

― harvey wall/barrier (voodoo chili)

I'd rate Heaven above it too.

xp I know it's not ILX consensus, but for me Vampire Weekend never topped their debut

Tough call between Since I Left You and Silent Shout.

Biggest surprise to me is that there's no Discovery. When they did their all time albums list a few years later, it was in the top 100.

I love Kid A, but to be honest I probably prefer In Rainbows these days and I can't help but feel it's actually quite a boring pick.

I'm a fan of In Rainbows too.

No Daft Punk I see.

Disintegration Loops - now there's an album you could set your watch by.

I have to be wary of overenthusiastically joining a basinski pileon so I will merely bow my head in a sombre fashion and assert that it is some of the very finest sound art of our age

while farting

So fine, in fact, that the farting does not detract.

ALBUMS I LIKED THEN AND STILL REVISIT

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
Radiohead – In Rainbows
LCD Soundsystem – Sounds Of Silver
Radiohead – Kid A
Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
The Knife - Silent Shout
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Mia - Arular

ALBUMS I LIKED THEN BUT VERY RARELY REVISIT

Arcade Fire – Funeral
The Streets – Original Pirate Material
Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
The Streets – A Grand Don't Come For Free
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
The Rapture – Echoes
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Ryan Adams - Gold
Outkast - Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

ALBUMS I’VE NEVER CARED MUCH ABOUT BUT DON’T MIND WHEN SOMEONE ELSE PLAYS THEIR SONGS

The Strokes – Is This It
Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
The White Stripes - Elephant
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
Blur - Think Tank

ALBUMS I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF EVER HEARING THEM OR DON’T CARE ABOUT HEARING THEM EVER AGAIN

The Libertines – Up The Bracket
Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
At The Drive In – Relationship Of Command
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
The Coral – The Coral
Jay-Z – The Blueprint
Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
The Libertines – The Libertines
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World
Elbow - Asleep In The Back
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Babyshambles - Down In Albion
Spiritualized - Let It Come Down
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Delgados - The Great Eastern
Brendan Benson - Lapalco
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Muse - Absolution

Ha, I think you'd enjoy XTRMNTR and Rings Around the World.

Those are on the list of albums I don’t think I’ve ever conciously heard. I might take a listen if you recommend them!

They're both amazing fwiw.

I absolutely 100% recommend both!

Actually from that list the only albums I don’t care about ever listening again are the doherty ones (libertines, babyshambles) everything else I will listen to if there’s love for them in here.

I’ll add those two on my must hear list. Will probably listen to them today or tomorrow.

Oh turns out I do know some songs from that Super Furry Animals album but I thought it was the Flaming Lips, a friend liked playing that one when it came out but never bothered asking her what it was. Definitely like a couple of cuts in there, “juxtapozed with u” is the one I remember the most but will give it a real listen as I don’t remember half of it.

There are a few great songs on Rings (especially Run Christian Run) but it is comfortably their worst album for me. Too overproduced and there's a fair amount of filler. Phantom Power was a huge improvement.

I disagree. While I do prefer the albums either side (Mwng and Phantom Power) I don't think there's any filler at all on Rings Around the World, and the high level of production was the point. If Rings Around the World is overproduced, then so is Kid A!

PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
The Streets – Original Pirate Material
LCD Soundsystem – Sounds Of Silver
Radiohead – Kid A
Blur - Think Tank
The Streets – A Grand Don't Come For Free
Jay-Z – The Blueprint
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
The Knife - Silent Shout
Outkast - Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
Mia - Arular

These are still probably good, although i don't listen to radiohead, blur and lcd for ages and don't have much will to do it. but still good memories.

it was late and I was pretty conked out when I heard Rings Around the World for the first time, I remember the ending of "No Sympathy" really freaking me out in the moment

having another listen to XTRMNTR and yeah - this is the one "Big Beat" album I can think of that's really held up

XTRMNTR begins and ends like a comet but sags in the middle imo

kill all hippies -> accelerator -> mbv arkestra -> shoot speed kill light = ep of the decade contender

actually that doesn't even need kill all hippies tbh, just the other three. formative shit. i'm 18 again

I agree!

also RATW is still kind of monumental and imo probably SFA's greatest achievement as well - Phantom Power is backloaded to hell and has Golden Retriever on it ffs

voted Grandaddy in the end though because of emotions

also listening to XTRMNTR just now far too loud on earbuds has done me some mischief lol

must listen to the delgados again to see if i still don't like them

been trying to like them for 2 decades now

Was about to recommend their EPs 'Under Canvas Under Wraps' and 'Cinecentre' both from 96, but apparently they don't exist on the internet, hard to believe for a band that were pretty well known.

also RATW is still kind of monumental and imo probably SFA's greatest achievement as well - Phantom Power is backloaded to hell and has Golden Retriever on it ffs

― imago

I'd take Golden Retriever over the title track on Rings which is easily their worst single for me. It's Not The End Of The World isn't great either. There's a few album tracks I can barely remember even though I've heard that album plenty.

SFA become my favorite band in the world after the Boo Radleys broke up. so during this time they were number one. but i'm not sure RATW would make even my Top 10 from this list. still love them but it was more for what they did before and a huge PP fan. i do love RATW but there are some great albums on this list despite how it looks on the surface.

Silent Shout sort of towers over everything else and is my number one from this decade.

meaning, not just NME list...

Yeah... serious contenders from this list for me is Kid A vs Silent Shout.

Neither '(Drawing) Rings Around the World' or 'Golden Retriever' are close to being their worst single. That dubious accolade would go to either 'Lazer Beam' or 'Bing Bong' ...

Lol I feel like anyone who says one of those is their worst single simply hasn’t listened to anything that came out after phantom power... I’ve always loved RATW, but it certainly is a very slick album.

I enjoy the Hey Venus! singles. The ones they chose for Dark Days/Light Years were strange. 'Lazer Beam' and 'Bing Bong' are worse than all of 'em, although 'Mt.' is down there too.

Laser Beam takes the shit cake, and the album it’s on does as well. I always considered RATW the bands best album, but it’s also the first album of theirs I truly loved and came out about six months after I discovered the group. Not one I listen to a lot anymore, but still fear to my heart.

Enough SFA chat from me.

Ah, I've noticed Absolution the Muse album they chose for their Top 50. The correct choice, IMO.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Listening to Rings Around the World now for the first time in ages. Yeah, it's still superb.

Listening to /Rings Around the World/ now for the first time in ages. Yeah, it's still superb.

SFA in a photo finish ahead of pirate material, sophtware slump and great eastern.

And then The Libertines go and win it by miles..

On here? Surely not!

dot dot dot

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Hmm. 0 votes for LCD Soundsystem, which I wasn't expecting. I was half-expecting Absolution to get 0 even though it's actually a very good record (and Muse's best album) because, well, ILM.

Hats off to the 99 people that didn't vote for either Silent Shout or Kid A, although I'd really like to hear what the 2 Klaxons voters are still getting out of that record.

I was the (lone) Fever to Tell voter. Love that album

Me too. Easily my favourite of theirs after It's Blitz! ...

Brendan Benson - Lapalco

Only one I'd never heard of in X years of ILM usage.

I used to quite like those Brendan Benson albums as my wife used to listen to them a lot.

Think The Raconteurs are back this year too

I'm pleased to see how well loved In Rainbows still is.

It's one of their finest albums, IMO.