150 - Band of Horses Everything All the Time
149 - Ray Lamontagne Trouble
148 - Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
147 - The Acorn Glory Hope Mountain
146 - Richard Thompson Front Parlour Blues
145 - Iron & Wine Our Endless Numbered Days
144 - Robert Wyatt Comicopera
143 - Leonard Cohen Ten New Songs
142 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever to Tell
141 - Rahel Unthank and the Winterset The Bairns
140 - Espers Espers II
139 - Outkast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
138 - Wilco Sky Blue Sky
137 - Elliott Smith From a Basement on a Hill
136 - The Strokes Room on Fire
135 - Willard Grant Conspiracy Regard the End
134 - Radiohead Hail to the Thief
133 - Bruce Springsteen We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
132 - Drive-By Truckers Brighter Than Creation's Dark
131 - Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head
130 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
129 - Yo La Tengo And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
128 - Antony and the Johnsons I Am A Bird Now
127 - The Handsome Family In the Air
126 - Neil Young Prairie Wind
125 - The Hold Steady Stay Positive
124 - Brightback Morning Light Brightback Morning Light
123 - Doves The Last Broadcast
122 - Donald Fagen Morph the Cat
121 - Hot Chip The Warning
120 - MGMT Oracular Spectacular
119 - Scritti Politti White Bread, Black Beer
118 - Super Furry Animals Love Kraft
117 - At the Drive-In Relationship of Command
116 - Sufjan Stevens - Michigan
115 - Steven Malkmus & The Jicks Real Emotional Trash
114 - The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely
113 - The Shins Chutes Too Narrow
112 - Beirut The Flying Club Cup
111 - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins Rabbit Furcoat
110 - Steely Dan Everything Must Go
109 - The White Stripes Icky Thump
108 - Comets on Fire Avatar
107 - Paul Westerberg Come Feel Me Tremble
106 - The Go-Betweens The Friends of Rachel Worth
105 - Steely Dan Two Against Nature
104 - Grizzly Bear Veckatimest
103 - Missy Elliott Miss E...So Addictive
102 - The Felice Brothers The Felice Brothers
101 - Neko Case Blacklisted
100 - Jim O'Rourke Insignificance
99 - Babyshambles Down in Albion
98 - The Avalanches Since I Left You
97 - Paul Weller 22 Dreams
96 - Rufus Wainwright Want One
95 - Grandaddy The Sophtware Slump
94 - Devendra Banhart Oh Me Oh My...
93 - The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free
92 - Tom Waits Real Gone
91 - John Cale HoboSapiens
90 - Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, it's Morning
89 - Neil Young Living With War
88 - The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
87 - Queens of the Stone Age Rated R
86 - PJ Harvey White Chalk
85 - MIA Arular
84 - David Bowie Heathen
83 - Outkast Stankonia
82 - Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South
81 - Okkervil River The Stage Names
80 - Levon Helm Electric Dirt
79 - Kings of Leon Only By the Night
78 - Johnny Cash American III: Solitary Man
77 - Kanye West The College Dropout
76 - Beck Seachange
75 - Gorillaz Demon Days
74 - Elbow Asleep in the Black
73 - Elliott Smith Figure 8
72 - Emmylou Harris Red Dirt Girl
71 - TV on the Radio Dear Science
70 - The Good, The Bad & The Queen The Good, The Bad & The Queen
69 - Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare
68 - D'Angelo Voodoo
67 - Midlake The Trials of Van Occupanther
66 - Jay-Z The Blueprint
65 - Rufus Wainwright Poses
64 - Lift to Experience The Texas-Jerasulem Crossroads
63 - The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang
62 - Ghostface Killah Fishscale
61 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds The Lyre of Orpheus/Abbatoir Blues
60 - Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose
59 - The White Stripes De Stijl
58 - Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
57 - Robert Wyatt Cukooland
56 - Sonic Youth Murray Street
55 - Bjork Vespertine
54 - Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs
53 - Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights
52 - Dizzee Rascal Boy in Da Corner
51 - Warren Zevon The Wind
50 - Cat Power The Greatest
49 - PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
48 - Ry Cooder Chavez Ravine
47 - The National Alligator
46 - Drive-By Truckers Souther Rock Opera
45 - Solomon Burke Don't Give Up on Me
44 - The Libertines Up the Bracket
43 - The Streets Original Pirate Material
42 - Richmond Fontaine Post to Wire
41 - Bruce Springsteen Magic
40 - Boards of Canada Geogaddi
39 - Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
38 - Ryan Adams Gold
37 - The Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers
36 - Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around
35 - Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
34 - Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago
33 - Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion
32 - Calexico Feast of Wire
31 - My Morning Jacket It Still Moves
30 - Sufjan Stevens Illinois
29 - Neil Young Chrome Dreams II
28 - Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf
27 - The Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America
26 - Lambchop Nixonland
25 - Radiohead Kid A
24 - Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
23 - Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man Out of Season
22 - Blur Think Thank
21 - Joanna Newsom Ys
20 - Amy Winehouse Back to Black
19 - Bruce Springsteen The Rising
17 - The White Stripes - Elephant
18 - Kate Bush - Aerial
16 - LCD Soundsytem Sound of Silver
15 - Radiohead In Rainbows
14 - Primal Scream XTRMNTR
13 - Gillian Welch Time (The Revelator)
12 - Portishead Third
11 - The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
10 - Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes
9 - Ryan Adams Heartbreaker
8 - Bob Dylan Modern Times
7 - The Arcade Fire Funeral
6 - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Raising Sand
5 - The Strokes Is This It
4 - Brian Wilson Smile
3 - Wilco A Ghost is Born
2 - Bob Dylan Love and Theft
1 - The White Stripes White Blood Cells

What do you think?

"79 - Kings of Leon Only By the Night"

*guffaw*

I like this list because it includes a lot more albums that "aren't cool" to like. Most notably near the top we have awesome albums by Bob Dylan, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, Brian Wilson, and Bruce Springsteen. It's nice to see the old guys getting the credit they deserve, especially with the fantastic albums that they released this decade.

I like the choice of White Blood Cells for the top album, it's an amazing album, though I wouldn't put it at number 1.

Also nice to see the Hold Steady at 27.

I feel like this list is a good mix of old and new rock/folk, with not a lot of *other* genres being represented very well. Any list that doesn't have a few hip-hop albums in the top 25 isn't as comprehensive as one would hope.

and also, another list that neglects the sheer awesomeness of Spencer Krug...

quote:

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Raising Sand

- Still need to hear this one.

quote:

and also, another list that neglects the sheer awesomeness of Spencer Krug...

- just goes to show that Sunset Rubdown will be one of those acts that future kids will dig up at record stores (if they're still around, that is) and blow their impressionable minds with.

I love White Blood Cells at number one. Great album. This is a pretty good list that includes a lot of wonderful albums Pitchfork ignored (nice to see three Drive By Truckers albums, not to mention The Stage Names, Asleep In The Back, Rabbit Fur Coat, and others).

It's only hurt by some understandable, but still pretty awful mainstream/dad rock stuff, and some stuff that's just sort of inexplicable (Dylan's Together Through Life? That's his worst CD this decade. Babyshambles? The Good, The Bad, and The Queen? Rufus Wainwright's Want One?)

It's also a little too heavy on folk/alt country for my tastes. But I guess it's a trade off since it's not clogged with dance and mainstream hip hop like the Pitchfork list.

Also, I love Jack White as much as the next guy, but seriously, all five White Stripes albums, both Racontuers albums, AND Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose made this list? That's a little ridiculous. I'm surprised they didn't find room for The Dead Weather and the first Von Bondies album as well.

Also also, after Alligator's surprising upset of Boxer on the Pitchfork list, this makes the second straight list where Alligator came out on top (Boxer didn't even make this list). Are we seeing the consensus shift to Alligator as the stronger album? I go back and forth depending on my mood.

While a publication like Pitchfork is geared towards a younger, indie-obscure leaning, gen Y audience, Uncut is unashamedly retro and caters for an older crowd and their lists are going to reflect this.

There's not going to be a lot of hip-hop on this list because, I would imagine, few readers of this mag would be in to this genre.

I also don't mind White Blood Cells at number 1. It's this decade's Nevermind (or Ramones) in that it helped stear the musical landscape back to simple, band-based rock.

I don't read Uncut but I know their 'ideology' but even so, the Rolling Stones? I'm sure even their readers know the Stones haven't made a good album since 1978 (Some Girls). It does seem like they've chosen their 150 albums from a very small pool of artists, and from a small pool of genres (which is cool, that's their niche). 60s/70s artists are always going to do well in an Uncut poll (Dylan, Wilson, and Plant all top 10). It's interesting A Ghost is Born is (a) No.3; and (b) way ahead of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

This is not a great list, and where Pitchfork gets put under a microscope and scrutinized and criticized, this list will get polite accolades just because its different. It's giving credit to a lot of mediocre albums and at times values safety over innovation (see: In Rainbows>Kid A??).
And maybe they should just not pretend to be hip-hop fans, and call it the best "Rock and Folk of the decade." The pat on the back to Dizzee Rascal at #52 as their highest-rated hip-hop...dubious.

I do, however, enjoy the folk-rock bent of the lists, notably the attention given to Lambchop, Ryan Adams, My Morning Jacket, and Gillian Welch.

A Ghost is Born is great too, and I'm interested in seeing critical consensus surrounding this album as other decade lists trickle out.

p.s. Baffling inclusion of 69 Love Songs, which came out three months before the end of 1999. But if you are gonna deem it eligible, 54 is way too low.

quote:

Originally posted by BContrat:
This is not a great list, and where Pitchfork gets put under a microscope and scrutinized and criticized, this list will get polite accolades just because its different. It's giving credit to a lot of mediocre albums and at times values safety over innovation (see: In Rainbows>Kid A??)

In Uncut's 'defence' it is a niche magazine with a small readership. 'Contemporary' or even 'modern' music really isn't their forte. But like you say, their token nod to 'hip hop' is kind of lame/redundant.

quote:

p.s. Baffling inclusion of 69 Love Songs, which came out three months before the end of 1999. But if you are gonna deem it eligible, 54 is way too low.

Came out in 2000 in the U.K. and most of the world, so technically it's eligible I suppose, but yeah, if so, No.54 is way too low.

Yeah, I guess so.

quote:

Originally posted by Stocky:
145 - Iron & Wine Our Endless Numbered Days
134 - Radiohead Hail to the Thief
130 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
128 - Antony and the Johnsons I Am A Bird Now
115 - Steven Malkmus & The Jicks Real Emotional Trash
114 - The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely
113 - The Shins Chutes Too Narrow
112 - Beirut The Flying Club Cup
104 - Grizzly Bear Veckatimest
98 - The Avalanches Since I Left You
95 - Grandaddy The Sophtware Slump
90 - Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, it's Morning
87 - Queens of the Stone Age Rated R
76 - Beck Seachange
75 - Gorillaz Demon Days
74 - Elbow Asleep in the Black
73 - Elliott Smith Figure 8
59 - The White Stripes De Stijl
56 - Sonic Youth Murray Street
50 - Cat Power The Greatest
49 - PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
40 - Boards of Canada Geogaddi
36 - Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around
30 - Sufjan Stevens Illinois
26 - Lambchop Nixonland
25 - Radiohead Kid A
23 - Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man Out of Season
16 - LCD Soundsytem Sound of Silver
15 - Radiohead In Rainbows
14 - Primal Scream XTRMNTR
12 - Portishead Third
11 - The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
1 - The White Stripes White Blood Cells

Hell no, you bland, predictable bastards who likely only buy music at Starbucks.

quote:

Originally posted by Stocky:
148 - Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand
136 - The Strokes Room on Fire
103 - Missy Elliott Miss E...So Addictive
93 - The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free
79 - Kings of Leon Only By the Night
77 - Kanye West The College Dropout
69 - Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare
68 - D'Angelo Voodoo
63 - The Rolling Stones A Bigger Bang
39 - Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
38 - Ryan Adams Gold
33 - Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion
24 - Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
21 - Joanna Newsom Ys

Huh?

quote:

Originally posted by Stocky:
124 - Brightback Morning Light Brightback Morning Light [really? you all thought it was that good?]
118 - Super Furry Animals Love Kraft [I love SFA, but this is easily their worst album]
109 - The White Stripes Icky Thump [did you guys miss a single album Jack White ever appeared on?]
105 - Steely Dan Two Against Nature [seriously? More than one post-millennium Steely Dan album?]
60 - Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose [I think Jack White produced this one... I'm shocked Blanche's debut album didn't make the list too, he had a brief solo on that... all due respect to Loretta Lynn]
29 - Neil Young Chrome Dreams II [every post-millennium Neil Young album too?]
19 - Bruce Springsteen The Rising [And every album from the Boss?]
5 - The Strokes Is This It [It's aging that good for you guys, number 5 good? Have you listened to it in the past five years?]
2 - Bob Dylan Love and Theft [And every post-millennium Bob Dylan album, with enough votes to float this bloated, overrated, and overproduced piece of forgettable to number 2. Between Dylan, Steely Dan, Springsteen, and Neil Young alone, I take it everyone who writes for Uncut is over the age of 45. Good for you, I guess, but lord only knows why you'd even bother making a list like this when it's obvious you haven't listened to any new artists in the past decade or, at least, none that weren't already hyped to death by P4k]
1 - The White Stripes White Blood Cells [Well, between this, every WS album ever made, both Raconteurs albums, and Loretta Lynn all making the list, a Jack White record was bound to claim the number one spot. Hooray for variety]

quote:

Originally posted by Stocky:
123 - Doves The Last Broadcast
74 - Elbow Asleep in the Black

What do you think?

Hell yes! Excellent albums.

Hey Alan, have you been in a Starbucks lately?

Cause they sell a helluva lot more CDs by Iron & Wine, Bright Eyes, Beck, The Shins, Beirut, Johnny Cash, and The White Stripes (aka the bands on your first list) than they do The Streets, Kanye West, Missy Elliott, The Strokes, and Franz Ferdinand.

quote:

Originally posted by bonzob:
Hey Alan, have you been in a Starbucks lately?

Cause they sell a helluva lot more CDs by Iron & Wine, Bright Eyes, Beck, The Shins, Beirut, Johnny Cash, and The White Stripes (aka the bands on your first list) than they do The Streets, Kanye West, Missy Elliott, The Strokes, and Franz Ferdinand.

As well as every Bob Dylan album made in the past decade. That's my point exactly. Starbucks actually has a lot of decent albums, but that should not be your only source for music, especially not if you are a professional music journalist.

quote:

Originally posted by Stocky:

109 - The White Stripes Icky Thump [did you guys miss a single album Jack White ever appeared on?]

This is the best White Stripes album, though.

I got the point you were making, it just seemed weird that the albums you were pointing the Starbucks criticism at weren't really the types of albums they sell in Starbucks.

But yes, the list overall is very Starbucks-y.

quote:

Hell no, you bland, predictable bastards who likely only buy music at Starbucks.

I'm not saying you are wrong (you're not) but it seems harsh to knock Uncut for having the Streets, Kanye, Joanna Newsom, Animal Collective, Franz Ferdinand and (possibly) Vampire Weekend albums on their Albums of the Decade when most likely every publication is going to have most if not all those albums on their lists too.
The 'Hell, no!' should be reserved for the truly inane choices, such as the Stones, Kings of Leon, Missy Elliott, and the wrong Ryan Adams album. I can excuse the two Arctic Monkeys selections because Uncut is English and so that band is more relevant/'important' to an English publication than they are to the rest of the world.

Damn all of these end of the decade lists are horrendous.

I hate to say it, but I like Pitchfork's list better. There are too many important omissions and questionable choices for this to be even somewhat accurate. It is cool that they acknowledged Room on Fire, though. The top choice isn't bad, it's just Wilco's somewhat mediocre album, Bob Dylan's bleh album and the evil Brian Wilson album are following it. This list doesn't reflect the music of the decade in any way.