2001 in music. • Page 2

1. The Strokes - Is This It
2. Radiohead - Amnesiac
3. Bjork - Vespertine
4. Muse - Origin of Symmetry
5. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American

TOYPAJ would have been up here but I can’t get into the lyrics the older I get, which is funny because the band was older than me when it came out

 

1. blink-182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
2. Daft Punk - Discovery
3. Jay-Z - The Blueprint

ALSO
Thursday - Full Collapse
Converge - Jane Doe
Gorillaz - Gorillaz
Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Saves the Day - Stay What You Are
Incubus - Morning View
Nas - STILLmatic
System of a Down - Toxicity
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Death Cab For Cutie - The Photo Album
Sugarcult - Start Static
Alkaline Trio - From Here To Infirmary
Pete Rock - Petestrumentals
Rufio - Perhaps, I Suppose
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The Bouncing Souls - How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Slipknot - Iowa
Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear the Most
Sum 41 - All Killer, No Filler
The Strokes - Is This It
The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
Jadakiss - Kiss tha Game Goodbye
American Hi-Fi - American Hi-Fi
Mest - Destination Unknown
The Ataris - End is Forever

 

Once again, focusing more on what I spent 2001 actually listening to but made some late-in-life updates that were too good to ignore:

01) LUCKY BOYS CONFUSION – Throwing The Game

There’s a long list of pop-punk C-listers that people will always claim “should have” been bigger and, for the most part, those claims are usually baseless but LBC (as their Chicago fanbase refers to them) really should have been bigger. Taking a hybrid approach of pop-punk Sublime-style ska/reggae and hip-hop, Throwing The Game was an absolutely infectious collection of 14 tracks detailing the trials and tribulations of suburban life. So many sure-fire bangers on here, I’m not quite sure how Elektra never made this work.

02) TOOL – Lateralus

Anticipation was sky-high for this album and Tool leveled up with their most complex and hard-hitting work to date. The way these songs build and explode is really incredible and cemented that they were no longer an alternative metal but full on prog-rock.

03) JIMMY EAT WORLD – Bleed American

Not much needs to be said about this one. The most concise, hooky and immediate Jimmy Eat World release to date perfectly balancing bubbly power-pop rockers with tender ballads that aren’t excessively sappy. The deluxe version is essential due to the inclusion of “No Sensitivity” which I still think the band’s best song.

04) SYSTEM OF A DOWN – Toxicity

Nu metal was already stale by 2001 but these LA weirdos injected so much needed life into the genre by way of their Eastern Armenian influences and love of Slayer. The vocal delivery alone is phenomenal but the tight riff-ing on this album mixed with big hooks still rules.

05) THE WHITE STRIPES – White Blood Cells

The old-fashioned tunesmith of this album is really what made it stand out and get all the praise it deserved, not the brother-and-sister gimmick. Jack White’s songwriting was at it’s peak in this period.

06) THE STROKES – Is This It?

I tried to avoid this album for a long time since I was resentful that the rock press was treating it as a “return to REAL rock and roll, man” therefor implicating that the stuff I was listening to as a teenager (alt-rock, pop-punk, post-grunge, nu metal, rap-rock, etc) as being inauthentic. Still, as I listened to it, could not deny the Strokes updating of 70’s NYC rock and their extremely hooky songwriting.

07) BOY HITS CAR – Boy Hits Car

Another failed bid that never went anywhere, Boys Hit Car was like if Jane’s Addiction ran their art-rock through a nu metal blender mixed with hippy-dippy mentality. The slightly trippy vibes mixed with acoustic-guitar led big rock numbers still rule.

08) ALIEN ANT FARM – Anthology

While they’ll forever be known for their goofy MJ cover, the rest of Alien Ant Farm’s debut was a really forward-thinking approach on funk-metal with an emphasis on songcraft. It’s tough to categorize them as nu metal or post-grunge as they lived somewhere in between.

09) SUGARCULT – Start Static

Perfect balance of power-pop and pop-punk, Sugarcult were basically put in the Warped Tour crowd by default since they played fast, polished and hard driving rock. They made two more great records but this one is still their best.

10) DIFFUSER – Injury Loves Melody

Formerly Flu 13, this band re-branded as Diffuser and made an impressive debut of 11 hooky Foo Fighters-like pop/rock. Like a lot of my favorites from this era, this was an under-the-radar release in the sense that the furthest they ever got was opening for SR-71 at the time. This CD full of big riffs and big melodies still holds up.

11) 311 – From Chaos

After course-correcting with Soundsystem and going through a lawsuit with their label, 311 rebounded with their most balanced record to date. Containing a healthy amount of their hippie rap-rock bangers, the band explored their more mellow and melodic side which made for one of the most consistent 311 listening experiences.

12) MATTHEW GOOD BAND – Audio Of Being

My #1 1999 and one of Canada’s great alt-rock hopes were falling apart in 2001 yet still made an excellent record out of the chaos with Good emphasizing his love of Springsteen on many heartfelt emotional tracks.

13) RADIOHEAD – Amnesiac

Kid A’s weird cousin, Amnesiac is definitely a more streamlined and listener-friendly experience. Still artfully weird in places but a little less tough on casual listeners.

14) BLINK 182 – Take Off Your Pants And Jacket

I read an article around the time where Blink mentioned this was a more mature effort and laughed. That being said, if you remove the obvious last-minute singles (First Date, Rock Show) and the joke song (Happy Holidays) it is….kinda…true. They took the template of Enema and added additional layers and textures which means it’s still a fun, hooky listen but more dynamic and laid the groundwork for their self-titled opus.

15) DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – Southern Rock Opera

Discovered this one later in life but this record stand’s as one of DBT’s fines with excellent contributions from both Cooley and Hood. Additionally, great informative lesson for those of us unaware of the backstory of racial segregation and history in Alabama.

16) WEEZER – Weezer (Green Album)

Many hardcore Pinkerton fans were miffed at this release but I think it’s an excellent collection of power-pop. I still can’t tell if there’s some irony underneath this polite collection of songs (and that’s really the whole conflict of Weezer to begin with). Dudes definitely need to re-issue this with the B-sides.

17) INCUBUS - Morning View

This slipped a bit in recent years but I still love the mellow vibe they got from recording in Malibu. Even the rockers have some extra gloss on them.

18) STONE TEMPLE PILOTS – Shangri-La Dee Da

A strange outlier in the STP discography. “Sour Girl” freed them up to experiment a bit more in terms of style and they turned in their most diverse record to date with an emphasis on acoustic guitars and ballads mixed with power-pop (though with a few glammy rockers included for good measure). I guess their lunk-headed audience didn’t respond well given it’s poor sales and the fact that it caused so much tension in the band they split for 6 years but I still think it’s a great album.

19) P.O.D – Satellite

Most uncool release on here but Satellite is an excellent collection of faith-based rap/rock with a heavy Faith No More influence. I’m not a Christian (or a practice of any religion for the matter) yet a lot of this album still connects as the band was able to take their message to a secular audience without being overly preachy.

20) NO DOUBT – Rock Steady

In my opinion, the only front-to-back No Doubt album that’s great. So many dance-hall inspired bangers on here and it was nice to hear No Doubt fully embrace being a pop act without relying on so many moody ballads and slow numbers like they did on Return Of Saturn

HONORABLE MENTIONS

BETTER THAN EZRA – Closer
BRAND NEW – Your Favorite Weapon
DAFT PUNK – Discovery
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE – The Photo Album
FENIX TX – Lechuza
GARBAGE – Beautiful Garbage
HOOBASTANK - Hoobastank
LIT – Atomic
MY MORNING JACKET – At Dawn
OLEANDER – Unwind
PHANTOM PLANET – Phantom Planet
PRIME STH – Underneath The Surface
SEMISONIC – All About Chemistry
THE SHINS – Oh, Inverted World
SUGAR RAY – Sugar Ray
SUM 41 – All Killer No Filler
THURSDAY – Full Collapse
TRAVIS – The Invisible Band

 

Holy shit man, Lucky Boys Confusion. I have not heard that name in over 10 years. No lie, I have a signed CD copy of Throwing The Game. Definitely was really into them for a couple of years. Agreed 100% on how they were not bigger. "Hey Driver" off the following album should've been a smash hit.

Didn't even read the rest of your post yet that gave me such a nostalgia blast I had to say something

 

Woooooooooof this is tough. I know what 3 it would be if I simply listed the ones I have listened to the most over the years (with the exception of the certain band, their album would also prob be up there in my most listened, but not including it here for obvious reasons).....but there's a few others I came to love more as I got older so didn't listen to as much back then. HMmmmm.

1. Toxicity-System of a Down

Wow what an album. As I mentioned in the 2000 thread, I was kind of still finding my musical tastes at this point in my life. Eminem had gotten me into rap, but there were rock influences seeping in with Linkin Park and a few others. Then I heard Chop Suey! over and over and over again that summer/fall and I was like woah what is this. I wasn't sure if I was liking it or what, but eventually I realized yeah I loved it. And then the single Toxicity dropped and I asked a skater friend of mine who this was/if I they could burn me the album. They knew SOAD and they did. Changed my entire musical taste direction. AND began introducing me to political thoughts and ideas a 13/14 year old me hadn't really thought about it. I wouldn't say they're responsible for me being on the left politically, but it certainly didn't hurt haha. I am not a huge fan of X, but pretty much every other song on the album is so crazy good that it makes up for it. Jet Pilot is the only other one I'm iffy on.

2. From Here To Infirmary-Alkaline Trio

I didn't get into Trio until Good Mourning came out, but quickly bought all the albums they had at the time and this quickly become my second favorite, and held that position for a long time. Felumlee brought a tighter sound on the drums from the more chaotic style of Glenn Porter, and both Dan and Matt crushed it on the song writing. This album is very clearly IMO one of the more influential albums in the scene in terms of Pop punk/emo taking that turn towards the more 'gothic' style, both visually and musically. I'm like 70% sure Tom/Mark referenced this and Good Mourning when they talked about their influences for S/T. "Hey, do pop punk, but wear black and make it depressing!" was basically this album in a nutshell lol. Dan's vocals also took a noticeable step forward on this album, and this is wear he became my favorite vocalist/song writer of the two. There isn't a clunker on the album. Even the songs I tend to consider the "weaker" songs on the album, like Steamer Trunk, Trucks and Trains, and Bloodied Up, are good listens.

3. The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most-Dashboard Confessional

This album/band didn't get a lot of play out of me until years later, but goddamn is this good "i'm depressed because a girl broke up with/cheated/etc with me" music. And even now years later I can still listen to these songs and just let myself feel things I haven't felt in years, belt them out in my car, etc. The Best Deceptions almost word for word describes a horrible break up I went through due to her cheating. Screaming Infidelities is what it is as we all know. Saints and Sailors is a classic. The title track is definitely a bit of a middle finger at whoever the person is that Deceptions/Infidelities is about" lol, and it does it without being overly.....I don't know the right word. But we all know those angry break up songs that come from this scene that can be a bit cringe-y for some of the undertones, while that song just goes for the emotional killshot while trying to convince yourself the other person isn't as happy without you even though they're pretending they are and etc. This Bitter Pill..whew. I love how terrible the vocals are on this song, but on purpose. That raw emotion in his voice is nuts, and I feel like we've all been at that point in our lives at times.


Hard to cut these out of my top 3.....

Bleed American-Jimmy Eat World: I'm not as huge as everyone else on JEW, I like them but never became a huge huge fan. So I know this is kind of the "basic" album for people to like lol. But hell, this album is great just on The Middle/Sweetness/Bleed American/A Praise Chorus alone

Gorillaz-Gorillaz: This album has a chance to be in my top 3 based on how many times I've listened to an album. As someone earlier in the thread said, nostalgia hits hard with those first chords of 5/4 hit. And really just the first drums of Rehash. There's a few songs I don't like on here, but the ones I do like are all great. I can still to this day rap Clint Eastwood lol

Take Off Your Pants and Jacket-Of the 4 blink albums of that late 90s/early 2000s run, this is probably my 3rd favorite. I like the singles and a few other songs that were in every movie back then. But def prefer enema and s/t over this.


There are lots of singles from lots of artists I liked, but never really went out and got their albums, a lot of which you guys are naming here.

 

Hell yeah! Love both those albums. Stubhy was a rarity in the genre as an Indian-American vocalist. Fun fact, he has actually an extra in Veruca Salt's "Volcano Girls" video in 1997 (I believe you can briefly see him in one of the shots).

 

No disrespect to those who like that Dashboard album but it's precisely BECAUSE it's a "my girlfriend cheated on me/broke up with me" album exclusively that always kind of bugged me. I feel like Chris got better at constructing actual songs as opposed to just putting diary entries to music. I've revisited it a few times and I've grown to appreciate more due to how impactful it was to people and it's influence though. Interesting fact, "Screaming Infidelities" is almost (save for one string) the same open tuning as Goo Goo Dolls "Black Balloon".

 

1. Tool - Lateralus
2. Blink-182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
3. Gorillaz - Gorillaz
4. Saves The Day - Stay What You Are
5. Sugarcult - Start Static
6. Sum 41 - All Killer No Filler
7. Lucky Boys Confusion - Throwing The Game
8. Incubus - Morning View
9. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
10. Daft Punk - Discovery
11. Mest - Destination Unknown
12. Weezer - Weezer
13. Jay-z - The Blueprint
14. No Doubt - Rocksteady
15. Lit - Atomic
16. Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
17. Rx Bandits - Progress
18. Bjork - Vespertine
19. Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
20. Radiohead - Amnesiac

 

Holy shit..... I can't even make cuts on ranking less than 30 anymore lol

1. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
2. Thursday - Full Collapse
3. System Of A Down - Toxicity
------------------------------
4. Incubus - Morning View
5. 311 - From Chaos
6. Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants And Jacket
7. Stone Temple Pilots - Shangri-La Dee Da
8. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
9. The Strokes - Is This It?
10. Weezer - Weezer (Green Album)
11. Tool - Lateralus
12. Spoon - Girls Can Tell
13. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
14. Radiohead - Amnesiac
15. John Mayer - Room For Squares
16. Pinback - Blue Screen Life
17. Guided By Voices - Isolation Drills
18. Muse - Origin Of Symmetry
19. Lucky Boys Confusion - Throwing The Game
20. Ash - Free All Angels
21. Gorillaz - Gorillaz
22. Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
23. Live - V
24. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
25. Tenacious D - Tenacious D
26. Sugarcult - Start Static
27. Ryan Adams - Gold
28. Sum 41 - All Killer, No Filler
29. Pete Yorn - musicforthemorningafter
30. Every Time I Die - Last Night In Town

Honorable Mention:
Alien Ant Farm - Anthology
Alkaline Trio - From Here To Infirmary
Andrew W.K. - I Get Wet
The Ataris - End Is Forever
Bush - Golden State
Cake - Comfort Eagle
Clutch - Pure Rock Fury
Creeper Lagoon - Take Back The Universe and Give Me Yesterday
Daft Punk - Discovery
Dave Matthews Band - Everyday
Death Cab For Cutie - The Photo Album
Depeche Mode - Exciter
The Dismemberment Plan - Change
Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera
Eels - Souljacker
Feeder - Echo Park
Fugazi - The Argument
Fu Manchu - California Crossing
Garbage - Beautiful Garbage
Hey Mercedes - Everynight Fire Works
Hoobastank - Hoobastank
Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales
Lit - Atomic
My Morning Jacket - At Dawn
The National - The National
N.E.R.D. - In Search Of...
The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic
No Doubt - Rock Steady
Old 97's - Satellite Rides
P.O.D. - Satellite
Puddle Of Mudd - Come Clean
R.E.M. - Reveal
Rise Against - The Unraveling
Rival Schools - United By Fate
Rob Zombie - The Sinister Urge
Slipknot - Iowa
Staind - Break The Cycle
Stereophonics - Just Enough Education to Perform
Sugar Ray - Sugar Ray

Checking Out In Full for First Time:
The Appleseed Cast - Low Level Owl, Vol 1 & 2
Better Than Ezra - Closer
Bjork - Vespertine
Built To Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future
Converge - Jane Doe
Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
Explosions In The Sky - Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever
Fenix TX - Lechuza
Further Seems Forever - The Moon Is Down
Jay-Z - The Blueprint
Low - Things We Lost In The Fire
M83 - M83
Matthew Good Band - The Audio Of Being
My Vitriol - Finelines
Rilo Kiley - Take Offs And Landings
Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds
Saves The Day - Stay What You Are
Superchunk - Here's To Shutting Up
Travis - The Invisible Band
Whiskeytown - Pneumonia

 

1. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
2. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
3. The Microphones - The Glow Pt 2

 

It's been a loooong time since I tried playing any of that album on my guitar, but if memory serves, doesn't that whole album have some WEIRD ass guitar tuning? lol

 

1. Further Seems Forever - The Moon Is Down
2. Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most
3. Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
4. Death Cab For Cutie - The Photo Album
5. The Strokes - Is This It?
6. Gorillaz - Gorillaz
7. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
8. Incubus - Morning View
9. Weezer - Green Album
10. Fenix TX - Lechuza

Honorable Mentions: Sum 41, System of a Down, Explosions in the Sky, John Mayer, Radiohead

 

2001 mix. Track 12 should be Weezer - Starlight but it's not on spotify

 

I actually have the whole tab book scanned if you or anyone wants it haha. You are correct in that there are a number of open tune songs along with a few standard (all 1/2 step down).

 

Feel like Lechuza was a significant step up from the self-titled. That song "Phoebe Cates" is an all-timer.

 

1. Bjork - Vespertine
2. Rufus Wainwright - Poses
3. Fugazi - The Argument

Vespertine is Bjork's deeply intimate and sensual album, borne out of a new relationship and these delicate little micro-beats. It's a naked, vulnerable album, and her 4th straight masterpiece. There's also this wonderful quote about it, that I think really sums it up;

Poses is a wonderful album, singer-songwriter music, but with a lot of classical influence, as well as something closer to show-tunes. At his best on the title track, he's just a remarkable songwriter. It's not quite as exuberant as Want, which would follow it, but he's an incredible talent.

The Argument is Fugazi's last record, and talk about going out on a high. A mature and restrained post-hardcore record, pushing the genre into new directions, without the aggression of their earlier work, but still full of the passion.

Honourable mentions;

Converge - Jane Doe: If you need an album to just kick your arse relentlessly, look no further. Feels like an endurance challenge getting through this (in a good way!). Converge would release better albums, but none that come close to the white knuckle intensity of this.

Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star: Saul's debut, an aggressive and incredibly lyrical and dense hip-hop record.

Death Cab for Cutie - Photo Album: I don't really listen to Death Cab's albums prior to this, but this is a fantastic record, a really well written and smart indie rock record, with a handful of their best songs.

Jimmy Eat World - Jimmy Eat World / Bleed American: JEW showing that they can write pop hits better than pretty much any of their peers. A really fantastic diverse sounding record.

Muse - Origin of Symmetry: Don't let their current corniness overshadow how good they were for a little ~5 year run.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint: Some of Kanye's best beats on this, and "The Takeover" might be one of my favourite diss tracks, as immature as it is.

Mogwai - My Father, My King: Just one twenty minute track, but a brilliant song to capture all that's great about Mogwai. Last time I saw them, this was their last track, and I've never heard anything so loud, ears still ringing.

Against Me - The Acoustic EP: A year before Reinventing Axl Rose, and I think some of these tracks work better in their scrappy acoustic glory.

 

Also, for anyone checking out Vespertine for the first time, definitely make sure you also find time for an B-side from the Vespertine sessions called "Domestica";

It's the most contented little song I've ever heard, a beautiful little three minutes of mundane domestic bliss. Absolutely would make my top 10 Bjork tracks, and feels like it fits the ethos of the record so much. Essential listening.

 

I knew you'd post Domestica. We've mentioned it a couple of times in her thread.

 

the heavy songs are just so bad. a few of the all time best pop punk songs on it for sure, though - A Song For Everyone in particular is a real highlight.

 

"You want to fuck shit up? Well motherfucker, COME ON!" I can't tell if they were taking the piss out of nu metal with that one but was still fun.

 

1. The Strokes - Is This It
2. Spoon - Girls Can Tell
3. Converge - Jane Doe

great year

If I did this in high school I probably would have Stay What You Are and The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most up there along with Bleed American

Need to finally hear Vespertine for sure

 

I really start my Spoon fandom with Kill The Moonlight but those early 3 still have a ton of charm to them. Spoon really cannot put out a bad album if they try.

 

1. Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon (this is number one by a mile)
2. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed american
3. Saves the Day - Stay what you are

Incubus, Dashboard, Blink and John Mayer just miss the cut.

 

need to check out that gillian welch album

 

Since I was really into the last two Weezer albums and I haven't heard most of their stuff I'm gonna try and get through all of their albums as we go through the years.

Was not a big fan of Green, just felt very bland and samey throughout. None of it really excited or interested me much sadly. It's fine.