By Chris Moore:
With only two days remaining in this decade, I’ve finally completed The Weekend Review’s take on the fifty best albums of the past ten years. I’ve added the modifier “Rock” albums in order to purposely separate out the other genres currently taking up spaces on many of the end of decade lists. The albums you will see here stretch across a wide range — from acoustic rock to alternative/indie rock to grunge rock and many shades in between – but what these works all have in common is that basic rock sensibility, namely a songwriter or band with guitars, bass, drums, and words and music of their own creation.
I had originally planned to post a top thirty list, but there were just too many (as you’ll see below) great albums that deserve ranking. And indeed, this has been a difficult — but enjoyable — task, pouring through my iPod selections and stacks upon stacks of CDs from the decade. I greatly enjoyed discussing and debating where certain albums should fall, and I was introduced and reminded of not a few by my close friends. Perhaps the most difficult part was attempting to remove my bias, wherever possible, from my final rankings. I even had to add the honorable mentions note, highlighting two albums that I could not in good faith rank higher than even one on the list above them and yet felt strongly about their quality.
With that, I enthusiastically thank those people who humored my desires to discuss and debate the greatest music of the decade, and I hope you will enjoy this first installment of the list. The next ten, with annotations included for each album, follow below. And, of course, please leave your comments, criticisms, and even your own lists — I’d love to read and consider them!
31) Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes
32) Binaural – Pearl Jam
33) The Thorns – The Thorns
34) Rebel, Sweetheart – The Wallflowers
35) In Rainbows – Radiohead
36) Little by Little… – Harvey Danger
37) Reptile – Eric Clapton
38) On and On – Jack Johnson
39) Elephant – The White Stripes
40) American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash
41) A Ghost is Born – Wilco
42) Riot Act – Pearl Jam
43) The Wind – Warren Zevon
44) Songs for Silverman – Ben Folds
45) The Ruminant Band – The Fruit Bats
46) (Breach) – The Wallflowers
47) Snacktime – Barenaked Ladies
48) More Than You Think You Are – Matchbox Twenty
49) Wildflower – Sheryl Crow
50) Sea Change – Beck
Honorable Mention
51) Here & Now – America
52) Transatlanticism – Death Cab for Cutie
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.