#40
Coldplay, X&Y (2005)
I imagine there might be some disputing this one, especially when I tell you it's the only Coldplay album on the list. Most people would rank A Rush of Blood to the Head or Parachutes first, and even Viva La Vida is more widely loved. But X&Y is where I really came in on Coldplay, and I had a very similar moment to the one I described for Turn on the Bright Lights when I first heard "Square One" on the Borders headphones as I decided to see what the Coldplay thing was all about. And frankly I'll put this album up against all their others in terms of number of straight awesome songs - "Square One," "Fix You," "Talk," "Speed of Sound," "A Message"... really, the only ones I wouldn't go out of my way to defend are "What If," "White Shadows" and the title track, and it's not like those are terrible songs. It's probably the most consistent Coldplay album and I enjoy rocking along to it.
#39
Destroyer, Destroyer's Rubies (2006)
In his role as one contributor to the New Pornographers, Dan Bejar has always been fairly well integrated into the group's sound. Put him on his own, however, and there's a bit more of an edge to his music which really stands apart (by comparison, Carl Newman's solo albums might as well be New Pornographers albums). The high points of Destroyer's Rubies are the epic, nine-and-a-half-minute quasi-title track "Rubies" and "3000 Flowers," a song from the middle of the album which never meanders (as some of Bejar's tracks will do) and has a killer drive and riff. But the whole album has a great, consistent tone that makes it feel like a strange modern art project (what with Bejar's odd, beat-poetic, almost stream-of-consciousness lyrics) with music so solid it always keeps me coming back. It's the happy contradiction of Bejar; no matter how weird and rambling his lyrics might get, the rock is never any less solid for it.
#38
Idlewild, The Remote Part (2002)
Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble has a bit of a lofty goal for his lyrics, which I think he thinks are more poetic than they are. Frankly, it's a little hard to otherwise explain the presence of Scottish national poet Edwin Morgan on the closing track of The Remote Part. The band's lyrics are pop-rock solid if hardly profound, but they're all that's needed to carry the music, which is really what carries the album to its heights. The Remote Part alternates almost perfectly between heavy rockers like "You Held the World in Your Arms" and "Stay the Same" and milder, often more enjoyable tunes like "Tell Me Ten Words" (probably the album's best song) and "Live in a Hiding Place." But even if it's not quite as fun when the band gets louder, and even if Woomble's lyrics aren't quite as deep as he thinks, it's a great sing-along album that doesn't let up from start to finish. It deserved more attention than it got, at least in the States.
#37
Snow Patrol, Eyes Open (2006)
Not to spoil anything, but Snow Patrol quickly became one of my favorite active bands in 2005 when I first heard Final Straw, which is coming up later. In 2006, they released Eyes Open, and while it's not as strong as its predecessor, it's a really fun album. I remember hearing "Hands Open" for the first time and being underwhelmed, but it really grew on me - and how many bands getting top 40 radio airplay would have had the balls to name-check Sufjan Stevens? Meanwhile, "You're All I Have" and "Chasing Cars" are both great hit-style songs, even if the latter got overplayed eventually. Sadly, the second half of the album just isn't quite there; while "Open Your Eyes" is absolutely epic and sounds like Joshua Tree-era U2, the three-song group of "Make This Go On Forever," "Set the Fire to the Third Bar," and, in particular, "Headlights on Dark Roads" leave me pretty cold. Still, the first half of the album is extremely strong and "Open Your Eyes" is a welcome redemption for anyone making it that far.
#36
Embrace, Out of Nothing (2004)
Another British band that barely found its way to the States at all, Embrace might have avoided notice altogether if not for the fact that "Gravity," the second track from Out of Nothing, was written by Coldplay's Chris Martin. It's a bit unfair, since Out of Nothing is a great modern rock album and "Gravity" is hardly its best track, an honor that goes either to "Ashes," "Someday," or "Spell It Out." Good luck digging any of those up on YouTube, of course. Embrace's follow-up album wasn't even released in the United States, so this is the only one of theirs I know, but it's pretty strong front to back (although the last two tracks are significantly more disposable). Why isn't it higher? Because while it goes down smooth, it's ultimately pretty conventional stuff and only a few tracks are really killers. I hope what follows can beat that standard.
#35
Guster, Keep It Together (2003)
I had hoped to include Lost and Gone Forever, still Guster's best album, but it turned out to be 1999. So we'll have to settle for Keep It Together, the nevertheless enjoyable follow-up. Was it worth a four-year wait? That might be debatable. Guster exchanged the bongos for regular drums and altered their sound for this album, and while that didn't stop them for turning out one catchy pop song after another, it might prove a disappointment to long-time fans from the days of "Mona Lisa" and "Great Escape." But it's still a good listen, with standout tracks including "Amsterdam," "Homecoming King," "Come Downstairs and Say Hello," and "I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today." There are no bad tracks, though "Red Oyster Cult" is questionable, and the consistency is there. The high points just aren't numerous enough to push it any higher.
#34
The Killers, Sam's Town (2006)
"When You Were Young" is an absolutely titanic rock song (even if it takes them a damn minute and a half to get to the song in the video; see below), and if all of "Sam's Town" could have approached that standard, we might be talking top five. But like many others down here, it's a strong, solid album with three or four high points, not enough to push it further. "Why Do I Keep Counting?" and "Read My Mind" both reach the heights, but the rest of the album is merely very good.
#33
Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers (2003)
No band's 2000s oeuvre was harder to appraise than Fountains of Wayne. I love their albums, but they can be wildly inconsistent, perhaps no more so than Welcome Interstate Managers, which contains some of the band's absolute best songs, but also goofy stuff like "Halley's Waitress." "Stacy's Mom" is a full-on masterpiece of comedically-inclined power pop, and everyone's heard that, but "Mexican Wine" and "Bright Future in Sales" aren't far behind. Even deep tracks like "Bought for a Song" can bring the power. But, not to sound like a broken record here, the highs soar and the rest of the album pretty much just chugs along. Traffic and Weather, FOW's 2007 follow-up, is much more consistent but doesn't hit the same highs. It would have been in the 51-55 range, probably.
(By the way, be sure to turn the volume down before playing this video if you do, because it's a lot higher than others. Blame it on EMI, who doesn't seem to want this video embedded and forced me to do some digging.)
#32
The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic (2000)
General rule: New Pornographers albums are awesome. Mass Romantic, however, is not as awesome as most. The hits are absolutely there - the title track, "The Fake Headlines," "Jackie," "Letter from an Occupant" - but - again - the rest of the album does not rise to the same heights. In fact, almost the entire second half of Mass Romantic is comparatively uninteresting to me - I'm not saying I don't like it, but if I only had 20 more minutes in which to listen to music I would skip to another CD after "Letter from an Occupant" ended. But these guys were just getting warmed up.
#31
Death Cab for Cutie, Plans (2005)
Give Death Cab for Cutie credit - they really had some balls for releasing arguably their least commercial record ever right after signing to a major label. With that said, Plans spends a little too much time being miserable and depressing for my liking, even by Death Cab standards. "Marching Bands of Manhattan" kicks things off in fine fashion, but it's all downhill after "Soul Meets Body," with the exception of the stellar "Crooked Teeth," feeling completely out of place between "Someday You Will Be Loved" and the supremely depressing "What Sarah Said." This isn't to say it's a bad album by any stretch. "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," however morbid, is a wonderful song, and really, aside from "What Sarah Said," Death Cab manages to inject a lot of life into even the darkest material. In fact, that ability might sum up their entire career, but it's never more true than on Plans, the kind of album that might have been a complete disaster in other hands but still managed to go platinum under Death Cab's capable musicianship.
All right, 20 down, 30 to go! Come on back soon, if you care.
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