nme-top-50-00s.jpg

There is no such thing a perfect list. There are lists, however, that love the Streets more than other lists. Stateside we’ve seen Paste hand the top spot to one of Sufjan’s states and Pitchfork gave the nod to Kid A. Since all British people sound the same (just kidding?) you might assume Uncut would be similar to NME‘s 50 Greatest Albums Of The ’00s, but once again assuming makes an ass of “u” and “me.” The top 10 does have a decidedly British bent, but it’s a pack of scruffy New Yorkers (and ex-New Yorkers) who grab number one. Actually, in general, NYC 2001-2003 performs much better than the Now Sound.

50 MIA – Arula
49 Muse – Absolution
48 The Walkmen – Bows and Arrows
47 Brendan Benson – Lapalco
46 The Delgados – The Great Eastern
45 Avalanches – Since I Left You
44 Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
43 Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
42 Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
41 Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
40 Ryan Adams – Gold
39 Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
38 Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
37 The Knife – Silent Shout
36 Spirtualized – Let it Come Down
35 Babyshambles – Down In Albion
34 Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump
33 Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
32 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
31 Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
30 Elbow – Asleep In The Back
29 Super Furry Animals – Rings Around The World
28 Johnny Cash – The Man Comes Around
27 Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
26 Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner
25 The Rapture – Echoes
24 The Libertines – The Libertines
23 Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future
22 Jay-Z – The Blueprint
21 The Coral – The Coral
20 Blur – Think Tank
19 The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
18 The White Stripes – Elephant
17 Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
16 The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come For Free
15 Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
14 Radiohead – Kid A
13 The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
12 LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
11 At The Drive In – Relationship Of Command
10 Radiohead – In Rainbows
09 The Streets – Original Pirate Material
08 Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights
07 Arcade Fire – Funeral
06 PJ Harvey – Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
05 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
04 Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
03 Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
02 The Libertines – Up The Bracket
01 The Strokes – Is This It

For completists, 51-100 are at NME.

Comments (149)
  1. mfortune  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    yeah, I agree. with most of this list. ha. its nice to see The Streets on this. I might not of put In Rainbows as low as it is, but other than that.

  2. Smell the glove

  3. Good to see Bloc Party at 38. Silent Alarm is a great record.

  4. Marko  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    It’s kind of nice to see In Rainbows outrank Kid A.

    But to have the Libertines as number 2, that’s kind of strange.

  5. Daniel Kober  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    Pitchfork really should have had Blur’s Think Tank on their list.

  6. flick  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    It’s great to see At the Drive-In get some love. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed that record when it first came out.

    • ceder  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

      enjoy the At the Drive In choice a lot also, i just wish the Mars Volta’s De-Loused would get some love. jaw-dropping album. and one of the all-time great drum performances. John Theodore hit legendary status with that one.

  7. Brits don’t understand Modest Mouse, I guess. More American than a golden retriever with a gun in its mouth carrying you a fresh apple pie on its back? And all of that, in spite of this!!:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Brock

    Or because of this. I’m onto you, Wikipedia. Or should I say WIKIPAEDIA.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/conspiracy

    • I’m British and by god I understand Modest Mouse and AC… Also, I don’t know if any of you have actually read an NME issue but I can assure you all, it barely passes as music journalism. It is essentially a “this is what you should/shouldn’t like” magazine.

  8. Paul  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    YES. In Rainbows above Kid A, and the only Top X of the 00′s list to include Super Furry Animals. I like these NME guys.

  9. kevin  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    Glad to see Wild Beasts and Elbow make a list.

  10. Is it just me, or is 51-100 infinitely more interesting? Shellac, LSF, Mclusky, Botch.

    Not enough rap though. Also, I don’t like the Streets.

  11. TNshines  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    Good call on the Johnny Cash record! For some reason I always associate his American albums with the mid to late 90s and had completely forgot about including this in any of the lists I’ve seen.

    Also, I have never understood the appeal of grime, Amy Winehouse, or all things Pete Doherty… must be a British thing

  12. Just like any other lists: some nice picks, a bunch of awful ones, a couple of “no way that album from X band is better than their X album” and, of course, the order. In Rainbows ahead of Kid A makes my head want to explode. (Really?!)

    As for 2009, I spotted three albums. Unless I’m missing something due to eye exhaustion.
    41. Wild Beasts ? Two Dancers
    68. The Horrors – Primary Colours
    86. The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead

    • I’d like to add that these 09 picks are three of my favorites of the year, but I’m not 100% on them being on a “decade” list. Mostly because good music is greatly benefited by time.

      Same beef I have with any 09 albums on decade lists.

  13. Clipitar  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    I love those lists, but this one in particular strikes me as ackward for two omissions: Kasabian’s and Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled albums.
    I wouldn’t normally mind, I mean, omissions are part of the whole lists thing, but for crying out loud, this is NME!!! They hailed those two bands as the saviors of rock (them, and some 50 others acts, of course). It just seems very curious to me.

  14. Wilco’s YHF is #43?

    No way Amy Whinehouse, Klaxxon or PJ Harvey records top Wilco? Good Artist but YHF deserves better, its just a personel prefrence though, i’m sure theres some people that have there top album of the decade being Soulja Boy.

    Is anyone else really f-ing done with these list, you can’t rate these things because music is only able to be rated by the listener.

  15. So this means Wild Beasts goes #1? I think it’s top 10 or close, but there are a number of records in front of it this year. And I find it hard to believe that one year of 10 covers only 1 spot of 50. These lists are handicapped by the limited perspective on this years’ albums. And sentimentality.

  16. Brendan Benson?

    Contrarily, that self-titled Libertines album is fucking awesome. Wincing the Night Away is by far the worst Shins album. I would fully endorse placement of Oh Inverted World on this list though

  17. Rest of the list:

    100 MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
    99 The Maccabees – Colour It In
    98 Gorillaz – Demon Days
    97 Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun
    96 Shellac – Excellent
    95 Bjork – Vespertine
    94 Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster – Horse Of The Dog
    93 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
    92 The Sleepy Jackson – Lovers
    91 Les Savy Fav – Let?s Stay Friends
    90 Gallows – Orchestra Of Wolves
    89 Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
    88 Bonnie Prince Billy – The Letting Go
    87 Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
    86 The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead
    85 Roots – Manuva Run Come Save Me
    84 Regina Spector – Soviet Kitsch
    83 Laura Marling – Alas, I Cannot Swim
    82 Mclusky – Mclusky Do Dallas
    81 Field Music – Field Music
    80 Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
    79 Kings Of Leon – Youth And Young Manhood
    78 Belle & Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant
    77 Isobel Campbell – Ballad Of The Broken Seas
    76 Capdown – Civil Disobedients
    75 The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
    74 Brand New – The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Of Me
    73 Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People
    72 MIA – Kala
    71 Brian Wilson – Smile
    70 Glasvegas – Glasvegas
    69 Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
    68 The Horrors – Primary Colours
    67 Botch – We Are The Romans
    66 Mogwai – The Hawk Is Howling
    65 Muse – Black Holes And Revelations
    64 The Radio Dept. – Lesser Matters
    63 Godspeed You Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
    62 Queens Of The Stone Age – Rated R
    61 The National – Alligator
    60 Green Day – American Idiot
    59 The Hold Steady – Boys And Girls In America
    58 Liars – Drum’s Not Dead
    57 Outkast – Stankonia
    56 My Morning Jacket – Z
    55 Hard-Fi – Stars Of CCTV
    54 The Golden Virgins Songs Of Praise
    53 Jamie T – Panic Prevention
    52 Rufus Wainwright – Poses
    51 The Good, The Bad and The Queen – The Good, The Bad and The Queen

  18. jim  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    I forgot how amazing the video for Hard to Explain is.

  19. Scott  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    I would also take Down In Albion over any Animal Collective album.

    But not really, NME. Not really.

  20. The worse decade list of all time. Why would someone make a list that so utterly doesn’t define the best music these 10 years. Yes some good picks, but not only are nearly ALL of them in awful placements, some of the album choices are just SO wrong.

    And does anyone else notice that M.I.A.’s album title is missing an ‘r’ at the end?

  21. No  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    Finally, “Is This It” tops a list. As it should.

  22. Keith  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    White Blood Cells should never place below Elephant. Sry.

  23. joshua Clark  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    it’s a good list. i wouldnt think of numbering 2 white stripes album right after the other though.
    Glad interpol, at the drive in and blur is on it too.

    it needs a bit of franz ferdinand.

  24. eric  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    brits are so hilarious when it comes to american music….oh and where the eff is modest mouse??

  25. all 3 of the yeah yeah yeahs albums suck, and yet according to NME, their first 2 deserve to be in the top 50 of the 00s? pure shit.

  26. Lane  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    I think this one is more representative of your average stereogum listener than any of the other ones.. at least for me, but I’ve always been inclined more towards the brits taste in music.

  27. My favorite list so far. The Strokes, the Libertines, Bright Eyes.

  28. Bender Bending Rodriguez  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    Here’s my list of Best Lists of Best Albums of the ’00s:

    1) This one from NME.
    2) There is no #2.

  29. Game of Pricks or Life Aquatic  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    If growing a beard and buying a nudie suit is what it takes to rebel these days….then well sir…

  30. jesse  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    I thought NME were the biggest Arctic Monkeys enthusiasts. How did their second and/or third album not make this list?

  31. Best Albums of the 00s Lists that exclude The Moon & Antarctica are fucking ridiculous. Also where is The Glow, Pt. 2 did the people who make these lists forget that album existed.

    • idontgivea  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

      fuck yeah. only comment i agree with. and anyone who says in rainbows over kid a must be a fucking hipster.

  32. top 50 had a bit too much pete doherty, and lets be real honest- NOTHING he put out is better than YHF. American Idiot and no source tags? I’m all for being different, but not narrow and unenlightened

    • Lane  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

      Wilco is so mediocre 90% of the time it bores me, I honestly think most people who listen to them just wish they were already 40 w/ two kids and a house. (and thats not a crack at the tweed meister) they do have some really good songs but I dont think anything they’ve put out comes close to being as exciting as the music Pete has put out. but this is all about opinions so i guess i’ve wasted my time writing this…

      • Yep, wasting your time indeed. In music, I’m always looking for the wildest shit out there, and as a musician, Wilco remains my favorite go-to act because they have some unbelievable textural things going on. Gotta look below the surface, and see them live of course. They’re rock and roll through-and-through and there’s a great youthful draw in their innovation. i was drawn to them as a fuck-the-world 17-year-old obsessed with sex, drugs and rock n roll… far from wishing I was middle-aged.

        I do really like the Libertines, but shit, they’re no Wilco.

  33. buco di beppo  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    poppycock! boulderdash! bloody fucking rubbish!
    how half these albums got in front of You Forgot It in People is a joke. Is This It is a solid record but NOT a #1. It’s science.

  34. Scott  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    some good albums in theres but hard-fi, primal scream, libertines, streets, arctic monkeys… all irrelevant bands with shit albums. wheres battles, grizzly bear, animal collective, tv and the radio? good to see in rainbows above kid a tho.

  35. The top two. Really?
    Oh wait, I just noticed that they’re british. This explains a lot.

    Oh well, glad to see XTRMNTR get some recognition.

  36. Goddammit. I had almost forgotten enough of the annoying-as-shit Strokes hype to actually listen to them.

    Also: you guys know that these lists always always always suck, right?

  37. Ryan   |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    PRML SCRM MTHR FCKR

  38. Pretty respectable list for NME all things considered.

    I’m probably going to end up ranting here but the “zomg brits don’t get our music!!!” comments are so needlessly defensive it’s almost laughable. They’re missing the point of a localised music magazine: NME is not going to rank acts if they haven’t broken right through into the British indie-consciousness and don’t have any real cultural resonance with their readership. These two reasons are why Modest Mouse and Wilco have never become household names for British music journalists in the same way that The Strokes and Arcade Fire have. You could probably put it down to PR but I think it’s a little more complex than that.

    The same principles explain why The Libertines and The Streets feature in NME’s top 50 but not Pitchfork’s. NME editors and readers know all too well how bad a state British indie music was in after Britpop fizzled out. They also remember just how fucking brilliant the two acts were at giving voice to Britain’s disillusioned urban youth culture through the stories their albums told. Of course you Americans aren’t going to appreciate these bands in the same way that us Brits do because the stories aren’t about you. No need to get all uppity about it. I for one would love to “get” Wilco and The Gaslight Anthem but at the end of the day they’re not really writing music about Brits like me. Anyway (Y) for Is This It.

    • The Streets were in Pitchfork’s Top 50

    • This. I’m American, but I was thinking the same things as I read most of the comments here.

      Anyone who’s bitching about the absence of Modest Mouse and Animal Collective in one breath and the high rankings of bands like The Libertines or Arctic Monkeys or The Streets in the next is completely missing the point. The reason the NME thinks Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is just a pretty good alt-country-ish album is the exact same reason most Americans think Up The Bracket is just a pretty good garage rock album. Disagreeing is one thing, but disparaging the selections (and omissions) that are obviously based in cultural differences is like complaining because British people like soccer better than baseball.

      (And on a sort of related note, I think both of The Libertines’ albums are fucking great, and I always thought it was a shame that the American music press either treated them as a novelty or ignored them altogether.)

      • Very good point! Or as Pete Doherty memorably put it on that record: “There’s no more distressing sight than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap.”
        On the whole though I was pretty shocked by this list due to some ridiculous omissions, not because I would have liked them to be on there personally (I don’t actually own any of the albums I shall mention), but because the NME should have stuck to their guns and put them on there: Coldplay’s ‘A Rush Of Blood To The Head’ was awarded first place in there best albums of 2002 list and is absent; likewise Franz Ferdinand’s debut was awarded the same accolade in 2004 and is also nowhere to be seen; MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular #1 in 2008 barely squeezed in at #100 of the decade. It feels too much like the NME are trying to rewrite their allegiances with this list and it smacks of falseness in my opinion.

      • K Accident  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

        Lily

        You made a really good point, I’m in a agreement completly about the musical favoritism over which is rated as a top list, in a America its KID A, Arcade Fire’s “Funeral” and Wilco YHF, but this list isn’t favored by me, it still makes alot of sense. i just thought i’d point that out.

        I was wondering if this was just me and it might not be appropiate for this list but am i the only one that thinks “Time to Die” by the Dodos needs to be somewhere in any top list??

    • c.  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

      obviously, everybody who has said that the omission of modest mouse etc. from this list is to be expected because NME caters to british readers that view music through a different, culturally specific scope, are quite right. i’m not going to disagree with you.

      on the other hand, i don’t think it’s fair to accuse anyone complaining about the absence of their favourite bands of laughability, stupidity, or of missing the point. those people didn’t buy a copy of NME, get upset at the list, and then write a shit-nosed hate letter to the editors; they came onto a music website that posts these (absurd) “top albums” lists as a jumping off-point for a discussion of what should and should not be on such a list.

      again, you make a good point, but begrudging people their opinion on the basis of cultural bias on an internationally-read website doesn’t seem fair to me.

  39. Chris  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    Unhelpful that the 50th album title is spelled wrong.

  40. Despite the fact that I’m seriously dubious about some positions of some albums, somehow this still is the best BEST list I’ve seen; so refreshing to see no Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear! #minoritygum

    Though seriously, Twilight Sad’s Forget The Night Ahead instead of Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters? I love both these albums, but NME, come on, first one’s so much better.

  41. Kyle  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    So glad they included The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me.

  42. Kyle  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    So glad they included The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me.

  43. danny  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    No Franz Ferdinand! No Spoon! No TV on The radio! No Blonde Redhead!

  44. Scottbird  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    No My Morning Jacket or Kings Of Leon, weak

  45. I agree with that previous commenter that stated the obvious omission of TVOTR & Spoon. As far as placements, I would’ve personally have had Wilco’s YHF & Kid A somewhere closer to the top 5 at the very least. Don’t understand why people feel In Rainbows is much better than Kid A. I love In Rainbows as much as the next RH fan, but I’m afraid even Thom would disagree with the placement of one of his greatest achievements(Kid A). The big surprises are the Johnny Cash & At The Drive-In albums making an appearance on this best-of-the decade list. Also glad to see Primal Scream and The Libertines up there on the top of the list but as much as I loved The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’, I just don’t feel it’s the greatest album of the decade. Just saying.

    • Yeah, I was just wondering why there’s so much “In Rainbows is better than Kid A” sentiment popping up all of a sudden. I think some other best of the decade list (Gigwise, I think?) even ranked Kid A in the top 5 but put IR at #1. I don’t get it at all either. In Rainbows is beautiful, but for me there is simply nothing like Kid A.

  46. Ouch, no Beck/Sea Change in the top 100. Also, I have yet to see either Gorillaz record on a single 00s list, guess I’m really alone in appreciating their stuff.

  47. bg  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    “assuming” makes an ass out of “u” and “ming”.

  48. Just read NPR’s list, and i think i might like is even more than this one. Amazing.

  49. Just read NPR’s list i think i might like it was the only list aside from this one i can say i really liked. Only major flaw is neither have Modest Mouse on them, such a shame.

  50. brian  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    SHOW YOUR BOOOONNNEEESSSS

  51. Jeff  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    How is there not more outrage about In Rainbows over Kid A?? It’s blasphemous IR is higher.

    • Cause In Rainbows is a more full album, top to bottom? Not saying its better, just more…idk, obviously its all subjective, i put those two at a tie pretty much so…(shrug).

      • sillymakid  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

        More full???! What a load of … Kid A should very arguably be #1 on the list. Everything Radiohead has attempted since has been adequate extensions of what they accomplished on that masterpiece. Before you ram your opinions down my throat, note that I said adequate, not failed, lousy, lame, or bad. Adequate for them blows away best for most of the rest. And for that matter, many things other bands have tried since Kid A have been inadequate attempts to be influenced by it.
        Absence of Modest Mouse on their list renders it an invalid list. Putting the Strokes at #1 does as well and is an obvious marketing ploy to get people riled up so that this lame publication seems slightly relevant for the most fleeting of moments. Then when next week rolls around, it slips back into its mediocre spot on the bathroom floors next to the toilets of a handful of British hip-huckster wannabees.

        • First off, don’t try to out-rank me with the Radiohead love, yer not only preaching to the choir, you’re preaching to GOD ok haha, RH have been my fav band since 1996, and i’ve been known as Radiohead Dave by my friends since circa ’99, i’m as a devoted sick RH fan as they come. I got all the singles, videos, 292829 boots etc etc etc, so calm down.

          SECOND, i just don’t see why Kid A being ranked vs. In Rainbows should matter to you, who cares. No ones ever gonna get that shit ‘right’ anyway, it’s impossible, too subjective. 3rd, I love Kid A, but you have to admit, it’s not for everyone, it’s a very different RH album. You DON’T get Thom Yorke’s full vocals, which is a huge part of the band, it’s only 10 tracks, make that 9, Treefingers does not count so…thats what i meant In Rainbows perhaps being a more full album and maybe JUST maybe, it might warrant being up a tad higher…but then again, WHO GIVES A SHIT!

          3rd…whenenver it comes to judging a ‘new’ album vs. an old one, it’s always hard, just like trying to compare 60s music to todays, it’s nearly impossible. You have your memories of the old one, 10 years worth…then you got this new one, which is ‘good’ butttt….it always takes time to fairly judge shit and compare. But once again, who CARES, it”s just a gayass list, don’t let it bother you.

  52. 14 Radiohead – Kid A
    13 The Shins – Wincing The Night Away

    lolwut.

    But kudos on the inclusion of Two Dancers.

  53. Thats actually a pretty good list, but then again i’m brit-centered musically so haha, though i woulda pulled the libertines way down…and interpol, but the order really doesnt matter-*I* dont think. Definitely some ommissions though…poor Eels:( (for 1)

  54. Nick Jonas (spy)  |   Posted on Nov 17th, 2009 0

    I really like the inclusion of Vampire Weekend. That album is endlessly listenable and definitely a decade definer.

  55. Ray Shackleford  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    Primal Scream finally gets their due. About fckng time. Good to see Super Furry Animals, Brendan Benson and Brian Wilson in there as well. Would have been good to see Pete Townsend (aka The Who) get one in there for Lifehouse though.

  56. This is one of the best lists so far. Keep them coming.

  57. James  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    Lists like this are garbage, it’s just one person’s opinion and most of the time other people have shitty taste in music, as nme clearly does. The strokes at #1? are you fucking kidding me? the arctic monkeys? what the fuck. How about Set Yourself On Fire, Transatlanticism, Boxer, Know by Heart, Gulag Orkestar, Broken Social Scene (self titled is way better), any Modest Mouse album, The Rhumb Line, Descended Like Vultures, Hospice, any Decemberists album, I could go on forever with albums that are better than the majority of that list, but leaving out the postal service is pretty ridiculous considering how that completely changed music.

    • wow, I didn’t even notice that the Postal Service wasn’t there, because its so obvious that it should be.

    • You sound pretty ridiculous because you obviously don’t like rock music. That’s fine, all of the bands you named are great, but so are the Strokes and the Arctic Monkeys. Expand your horizons a bit, you come off like a 35 year-old dad who’s a bit too comfortable in his niche.

  58. babylost  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    finally… the strokes make the top..

    Am I the only American that thinks that this should just be standard textbook music 101 for the youth of the future to read about? The strokes may not have been the “nirvana” of the noughties as far as worldwide domination or household name status… but damn it they sure changed the face of music just as much as good ol Kurt did.

    And Julian’s album is by far one of the best of 09. 4 Chords of the Apocalypse is genius.

  59. Over all, not a bad list. I agree and disagree with some of the choices, but is that not always the case with music publications? Lists like this are subject to a lot of debate. They always take on personal preferences, no way to avoid it. Music is a personal thing as much as it is public. Different people like different stuff. Of course a british publication is going to have a sort of national quota… its no different here with Rolling Stone or Spin. As much as they promote music from other countries, there is always a bias and emphasis on the homegrown talent. I like that this list is not all top 40 radio play artists. Its got a little bit of everything, and rather heavy on the less mainstream acts (in Canada/US anyways). Bands like Vampire Weekend, The Gallows and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Not really a big disappointment if you ask me- all great acts with great albums. All in all, its like any other music list. I like it, but I don’t haha. Not a bad effort for NME.

  60. FINALLY some love for SFA, arguably the most underrated band of the last 15 years.

    Probably wouldn’t have selected Bows and Arrows, since I think the last two albums were better, but nice to see the Walkmen on the list.

    Also nice to see Let it Come Down on the list. Finally got to see them live a couple times last year and the shows were really amazing.

  61. Mando  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    I’ve yet to see a list with Death From Above 1979. What the hell.

  62. Mark Abel  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    no TVOTR? no Grizzly Bear? No Kanye? No Clipse? …NO SHIT!

  63. Ric  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    The Knife – Silent Shout should be number one.

  64. jacob  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    big lolz at Hard-fi being on the list above Brain Wilson, Gorillaz, bon iver etc

  65. Jacob  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    big lolz at Hard-fi being on the list above Brain Wilson, Gorillaz, bon iver etc

  66. the red feather  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    Crystal Castles above YHF? Vomit

  67. I appreciate the love for The Sophtware Slump

  68. JACK  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    no Flaming Lips on the list. BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

  69. Andrew  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary should have not only been on this list, but been number 1.

  70. Laurence  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    Agaetis Byrjun at 97, but The Libertines twice in the top 50, eh?

    It’s lucky I never had any respect for NME in the first place, it’s just a British indie-rock fap-fest.

  71. pritch  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    I think every album on this list should be by the Streets

  72. Lane  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    I think as long as someone made their list with the top 5 albums all being radio head album no one would complain. Everyone just scans the lists for the RH rankings anyways, so if we make them obvious then no one would bitch..

  73. K Accident  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    I know this probably shouldn’t be brought up in a music list dedicated to the british music scene but doesn’t anyone else thing that “TIme to Die” by the Dodos belongs on one of these list.

  74. middlestub  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    is this list made for 17 year olds or what. except kid a, since i left you and drum it doesn’t really have soimewhat original stuff (don’t brag about godspeed or mogwai – they’re doing same thing over and over), but it’s full of cliche indie rock and pop. even p4fk had more variety. think about it

  75. bizzyJay  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    Nice to see Brand New somewhere in there. Devil and God was a slow-grower but is a definite classic in my eyes. much better than some of the other shit they put higher on the list.

  76. The closest any of these lists have come to my wheel house of albums.

  77. Can someone explain to me the album artwork? When I bought “This Is It” it had that yellow-blue, molecule-sciency-microscope artwork. I guess they changed it on the re-issue?
    First of all why would you do that in general? It seems confusing and useless.
    Secondly, the new album artwork is completely stupid. I suppose it’s mildly boner-provoking, but otherwise stupid and kinda insulting. “Smell the glove” is right!
    As the lads in Spinal Tap wisely put it “its a fine line between sexy and sexist”.

  78. Dave Mallett  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    Music is a very personal thing when it comes to favourites. And while there are many worthy albums on this list, there is no way that The Strokes are the finest of the last ten years. I assume reviewers and editors cull together their opinions on this list and then a victor is revealed, perhaps using a critical average as well. So how do you come to that conclusion? How can you listen to AF’s Funeral or The National’s Alligator and then say to oneself, “Nah, the Strokes are better.” I feel I’m pretty open minded about music, but sometimes its obvious what constitutes superior music. Once in a while, critics just get it altogether wrong.

  79. elmeliac  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    More spoon. MORE SPOON!!! Wha? No spoon? NO SPOON?!?

  80. Slim  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    This list is fine and all, but more importantly…is America still staying cool NME?? Man, I really hope we are!

  81. aesop  |   Posted on Nov 18th, 2009 0

    you sound like an asshole.

  82. eric J  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    ahh, sounds like that was sarcasm referring to nme’s cover earlier this year.

    i found this comment to be hilariious and i think you’re the asshole

  83. Dean  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    Crazy how Franz, The Flaming Lips and Animal Collective aren’t on there, nice seeing The Rapture in the top 25 though, totally agree with The Libertines’ placings too.

  84. mangos  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    i like how their SMiLE review says it stands with the great music of the 20th century. but they dropped it to 71. actually wait cause it came out in the 21st officially. maybe that’s why. i think the influence of that album will only grow with time. like it would have. that an i wonder how many of their pics graced the cover of NME before their debuts were even out

  85. milf  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    The list contains almost all my fav albums of 00′s but I think that in rainbows,primary colours,think tank and demon days that’s missing should be at the first places and libertines at no 2 is kinda funny

  86. Katie  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    NME is all bullshit most of the time but their #1 is right on the money.

  87. That list need something its start whit grizzly and end with bear

  88. hello nasty  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    this seems like a pretty arbitrary list. and i really don’t think you can rank “in rainbows” higher than kid A. really NME?

  89. flyin butts outta south africa (god bless nelson mandella)  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    internet arguments AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa

    but am i happily surprised primal scream is at #3 (-:

  90. awesome  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    how is fever to tell better than funeral? I HAVE OPINIONS

  91. Scott  |   Posted on Nov 19th, 2009 0

    Finally some love for Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump.

  92. Hey Brandon, Amrit, Sterogum fans, I read this and it made me think, and I headed down some strange memory lane back two decades, with the naughts and the aughts together, GBV handing the torch to the Strokes somewhere messily along the trajectories of both their careers… Here’s a blog about it if you care to read – http://www.thefanzine.com/blog/item/579. Someone said it sounded bitter btw, which… well just read on, cause I hope it makes up for the blog’s initial snarkiness in the end, an apologia for a band that at once seemed over-hyped, and by god um…threatening, which I later came to love. -Casey

  93. Ted Tedson  |   Posted on Nov 20th, 2009 0

    No Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective…THANK GOD!

  94. Yacob  |   Posted on Nov 20th, 2009 0

    Can’t believe you missed out Coldplay, Raconteurs, MGMT, BRMC, Kings Of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, Flaming Lips and Cold War Kids?????????????
    Call this a chip shop??? You must be barking mad!!!

  95. Rool  |   Posted on Nov 20th, 2009 0

    Where is The Nationals’ Alligator and Bright Eyes’ Lifted?

  96. K Accident  |   Posted on Nov 20th, 2009 0

    What the hell man, why is everyone downing on animal collective and grizzly bear. they are both freakin awesome bands, regardless if the make the list or not you know they are fucking better then half that shit on that list, ameican or not

  97. Ted Tedson  |   Posted on Nov 21st, 2009 0

    Can’t believe some dude said Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR was an irrelevant album. LOLz.

  98. Great list. But which battle wins head to head??
    Check out http://www.albumvsalbum.com. Vote on battle albums, see who wins

  99. Max   |   Posted on Nov 21st, 2009 0

    Up the Bracket is #2, Fever to Tell is #5, no Spoon, no Animal Collective, Arular is better than Kala, and In Rainbows is better than Kid A… I see.

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