Since we are in the last year of the double-aughts, I’m putting together my thoughts of the song and album of the decade. For the selections, I am trying to come up with picks that:
A) are at least reasonably popular
B) are in my mind objectively great
C) somehow capture at least a small bit of the zeitgeist of the decade
So far my leading candidate for Song of the Decade is Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. Great song by one of the more prolific bands of the decade, and it definitely brings to mind the spectre of the global coalition that supposedly existed for the Iraq war and by extension the war on terror.
Album of the Decade has been trickier for me. I can think of plenty of albums that meet 2 of the criteria, but none that really meet all 3. I’m tempted to go with a Modest Mouse album, because they are the best band of the last 20 years, but that would be a homer pick and unfortunately for them they hit qualification A after their best work was behind them. At gunpoint, right now, I would go with Costello Music by The Fratellis. It is a phenomenal album from start to finish - the worst song on it is a B-/C+ - and was reaasonably popular. It was also featured in an iPod commercial, which reflects the .mp3 revolution that started last decade but avalanched in this one.
What do you think? You don’t have to follow my criteria (unless you want to). What are your picks for Song of the Decade and Album of the Decade?
I don’t have any real nominations for Song… perhaps American Idiot. Seems to sum up a number of things about this decade…
For Album I would nominate Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, or (since you mentioned Modest Mouse) Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Illinois from Sufjan Stevens should probably get a mention too. All of these are, I think, objectively great but perhaps fail at both the popularity and zeitgeist requirements…
My pick for Album of the Decade would probably be Green Day’s American Idiot, for fairly obvious reasons. It’s a terrific album, and it captures the outrage and despair many people felt during the past eight years.
Song of the Decade is harder. I would nominate:
“Rehab” by Amy Winehouse: great soul/R&B throwback sound with contemporary lyrics.
“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley: fantastic single that defies any certain genre and has a certain “what the hell, we’re all crazy” attitude in its lyrics.
Some other possibilities for Song:
“Not Ready to Make Nice” by Dixie Chicks
“Beautiful Day” by U2
“Lose Yourself” by Eminem
From a hip-hop perspective I’d nominate either the Blue Scholars’ *Bayani *or Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor. They most definitely touch on a few of the zeitgeists of the decade. Objectively speaking, they are classics. As far as popularity goes, they for sure would qualify within the genre, but of the two, Lupe has a much farther reach outside of it.
Beyond hip-hop, maybe The Decemberists’ Picaresque? ‘16 Military Wives’ certainly captures the essence of the lead up to the Iraq War, and it is a solid album all the way through. Lest we not forget, they also have received the “Colbert bump”.
Yeah I’m going to have to give American Idiot strong consideration. Although really that might be song of the decade, since I didn’t think the rest of the album was particularly good. Maybe I didn’t give it enough chance, I will investigate further.
Album of the Decade:
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Regarding Green Day, The Fratellis, etc. I think a reasonable demand is that the album is at least on top100 on
I’ve loads of favourites, but think that Funeral by Arcade Fire is the only one that really has the gravitas to be spoken of in best of decade terms.
Relationship of Command and Songs for the Deaf are amongst my favourite ever rock albums, but I’m not sure that they have the wider appeal to be considered as overall, decade-defining classics.
I think fans of radiohead will pick Kid A. I like radiohead OK, but IME a lot of hardcore fans see the band as being really special, a level above all others. So I’ll also suggest Kid A by proxy.
It’s not horrible, but it’s wayyy too biased toward a particular sound. I don’t dislike the music they rank highly, necessarily, but it’s very “this is what white kids listen to in college.” Aside from a few token albums, pop and hip-hop are neglected almost entirely.
Radiohead - Kid A
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica a very close second.
Both from 2000, and while there have been a lot of amazing albums since, nothing that I’ve heard has reached that level. Hell, even Radiohead and Modest Mouse have been unable to get back to that peak.
Agreed, although it is an aggregation site (if i understand it correctly) so it is basically an amalgam of sites, probably mostly made by that demographic which would explain the bias to a large extent.
And upon further review, American Idiot is a much better song than album. Although I still like 7 Nation Army as a better representative. Green Day just seems so 90s to me.
I personally agree with that sentiment. But you should note, it’s not a specific site with it’s own opinion. It’s a site that takes all critics lists, and creates a meta list from them.
Critics generally don’t like pop and hip-hop so much. Claiming there is not as much deeper musical content in those genres as in rock. I agree with the critics on this.
You may be right. I’m biased because I don’t like the White Stripes (though I do like the song “7 Nation Army”). And yeah, I did have a little bit of a problem with giving “album of the decade” to a band that I, too, think of as a 90’s band.