Craig Manning’s Top 100 Albums of the 2000’s • Page 2

I don't usually get on people about this, but 53 albums listed before a single non white male? Seems a little sus.

 

our stories may be way different, but the soundtrack was the same. I knew we had some similar fave artists but pretty crazy to see the overlap. my favorite part of list -- aside from the sincere and vulnerable heart pouring -- is the unashamed praise and personal significance of some of my fave records I always felt a bit guilty/reticent about liking growing up. I'm at the point now where I know how silly that was but it's still cool to see.

much love my fellow musicophiliac warrior of the light

 

I really wish they'd gotten to make another record. I feel like they would have done better 10 years later, when their alt-country-leaning sound would have fit in with some of the things that are going on now in that world.

I'm so glad this was the impact. I think music has the power to let us keep ties with our pasts and remember those parts of our lives and selves that are different now. Going back through these records was a very powerfully emotional experience for me, for that reason.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with music traditions, ha. Those aren't things I really share with people in my day-to-day life, because I don't know anyone personally who has the same connection with music I do. So it's cool to know I'm not alone there.

Going through and seeing all the covers like this was a pretty emotional experience for me, too. When I was working on the post, it was all in Microsoft Word for so long that I didn't necessarily think about the covers. Some of those really take me back.

Had a conversation on Twitter about this, and it is definitely a valid criticism. It's a criticism of the list that I had myself when I was making it. I'll tell you what my reasoning was:

I struggled with how to approach this facet of the list, because I pretty quickly realized that it was going to skew very heavily toward white male artists. I ultimately decided that it made more sense for me to be honest and list the albums that really meant something to me, rather than try to be more inclusive, diverse, or representative. The simple fact is that I did not listen to many female or POC artists back then. And with the exception of 4-5 albums, these are records that I loved in those years, not ones that I discovered after. When it all shook out, these were the albums that told my story.

It was around 2010/2011 that I started broadening my horizons. I can at least confidently say that my 2010s list would feature many, many more female artists than this one. My 2018 top five at this point would be four women and only one male artist, for instance. I still have blind spots, which I freely acknowledge. My deep dive into country music this decade means I still don't have a lot of POC on my lists, simply because POC representation in country music is quite poor.

Bottom line, I will never claim my lists to be anything but a snapshot of the music that resonates strongly with me. As I've gotten older, the music that resonates with me has gone beyond perspectives that are similar to mine. This list, though, which represents the music that I loved between the ages of 9 and 19, is decidedly narrower because that's what my taste looked like at the time. If that invalidates the list for you, that's totally understandable. Just wanted to explain why it is what it is.

 

May I ask which records you previously considered to be guilty pleasures?

When I tried to make a version of this list at the end of 2009, and then again in 2013, I was still self-conscious about loving some of those bigger mainstream rock records. I know that stuff like Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows will never be "cool" among most music writers or even most people in this community. But those records stuck with me and a lot of the "cooler" records I tried to enjoy because other people said they were good faded completely from my listening.

 

yea matchbox and counting crows were the big ones that stuck out. I actually remember when a girl asked me what my top five record were I added the qualifier “I know they’re not but ‘cool’ (with hand quotes) but…” when I listed august and everything after as my number two. funny that adam just talked about that exact thing on hyden’s podcast.

but truthfully also mat kearney, the killers, keane, jon mclaughlin, t-swift, snow patrol, boy like girls, and dusk and summer which was supposed be a “sellout” type record but always loved the most -- among others.

I definitely had a critical darling indie phase I tried to convince I liked but at the end of the day I was truly moved by the melodic emotive “heart on your sleeve” type artists

 

Counting Crows were that band for so long. I think it hurt them for a long time, but I think we've gone full circle and they're pretty beloved again at this point. Everyone who felt like we did about that (loved their records but knew it wasn't "cool") probably got over it.

Boys Like Girls were definitely a big guilty pleasure for me for a long time, to the point where I lied to my friends once about where I was going when I went to a concert of theirs with my brother. In retrospect, that was dumb, because those records are packed with jams. Fearless was definitely one of those albums, too. It wasn't until Red where it became cool to like her.

My critical darling phase mostly came in 2013, which I think is why that's the only EOTY list of mine that has aged very badly.

 

Super agree. Life’s better just admitting what you like and fuck the haters. Hah.

 

Browsing this list made me realize we're all white guys

We only listen to white guy music

But awesome work. A lot of the albums you included were super formative for me, too.

 

I feel like I knew this instinctively when I was getting into music early on, and then I forgot it for awhile when I was reading Pitchfork regularly. Eventually, I figured it out again. Been much happier since.

 

Even beyond music this is fantastic advice

 

Not quite done reading yet (it's so wonderfully written - awesome job!), but I had a feeling that you loved "Before the Robots" somehow. Fantastic album. Nothing they've done since has hit me like that album did, but I do love all of their older ones, too. Also, "Edge of Desire"! I can't love a song more than I do that one. It's just wonderful.

 

Before the Robots is one hell of an album. And I agree, their stuff since then hasn’t been quite as good. I liked their last one a fair amount, but I still think Robots is firmly their best.

 

@Craig Manning why no Midnight Organ Fight?

 

Never spent a lot of time with that record, to be honest.

 

Time to rectify that!

 

I can finally say that I've read the whole list - awesome job, again!

I was surprised to see "Cigarettes and Gasoline" on your list. I mean, I had a feeling that you would enjoy it, but I doubted that you had heard it. Tonic is my favorite band, so of course I enjoy it, but I'm thrilled to see that you did too. It really takes me back to that time in my life. His second solo album is also fantastic, by the way - "Beauty in Disrepair." (Also, Tonic's "Head on Straight" (from 2002) has a lot of similarities to "Cigarettes and Gasoline" and I bet you'd enjoy that album, too.)

Congrats for this huge undertaking, again!

 

Shout out to @Steeeve Perry and others who I think enjoyed the 2000s list. Here's the follow-up:

Closer to the Truth and Further From the Sky: My Top 200 Favorite Albums of the 2010s

 

Looking forward to diving in! Still working my way through the 2000s list as well. Love your work!

 

I really appreciate that! Glad this kind of thing has value to someone.