AOTY 2023
Slant Magazine's 100 Best Albums of the Aughts

Slant Magazine's 100 Best Albums of the Aughts

Original Source →

98.

Clipse - Lord Willin'
August 20, 2002
Critic Score
64
5 reviews

97.

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
April 7, 2009
Critic Score
79
34 reviews

Two Suns is a shared journey for artist and audience, where both tread through the darkness and into a musical promised land. For Khan or any comparable artist, there can be no greater accomplishment.

96.

Gorillaz - Gorillaz
March 26, 2001
Critic Score
74
14 reviews
Not bad for a band that doesn’t even exist.

95.

The Knife - Silent Shout
February 17, 2006
Critic Score
79
18 reviews
The album foregrounds the cold-blooded calculation of its technological origin while still capturing emotions that are recognizably, powerfully human.

94.

Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
September 11, 2000
Critic Score
72
8 reviews

93.

Hot Chip - The Warning
June 13, 2006
Critic Score
79
23 reviews

92.

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
April 24, 2006
Critic Score
79
29 reviews

St. Elsewhere is a rich, slick album that defies easy categorization; Danger Mouse’s inventive samples and uncanny ear meshes well with Cee-Lo’s neo-soul stylings, creating a 21st century-ready fusion that the press notes bill as “psychedelic soul.”

91.

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
October 21, 2003
Critic Score
86
19 reviews

90.

Erykah Badu - Worldwide Underground
September 16, 2003
Critic Score
62
7 reviews

89.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
October 10, 2007
Critic Score
87
30 reviews

As with almost every Radiohead album, there are moments of brilliance, inventiveness, and surprise.

87.

Missy Elliott - This Is Not a Test!
November 25, 2003
Critic Score
71
13 reviews

This Is Not A Test! is Missy’s third album in just over three years, and while she (in any incarnation) still trumps her hip-hop contemporaries, a little time away might give us a much-needed opportunity to miss Missy—and remind us why we loved her in the first place.

81.

Kristin Hersh - Learn to Sing Like a Star
January 23, 2007
Critic Score
72
15 reviews

Learn to Sing Like a Star, which falls somewhere in between her typically spare acoustic solo outings and her harder-edged Throwing Muses output, might be her most coherent, consistently listenable record since Hips and Makers.

79.

Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
April 23, 2003
Critic Score
72
16 reviews
Goldfrapp know how to draw you in and, more importantly, hook you.

78.

Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out of Season
October 28, 2002
Critic Score
80
11 reviews

As versatile as Gibbons’s vocal is ... you won’t find her wailing in the sinister Portishead style.

77.

Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
April 27, 2004
Critic Score
88
21 reviews

While country radio probably won’t “get it,” and rock radio will most likely treat it as a trite novelty, the important thing to remember is that somehow, in the midst of the vacuous sucking sound that is modern music, soul music can still be heard, sung by the sweetest voices God gave breath to.

76.

Panda Bear - Person Pitch
March 20, 2007
Critic Score
84
25 reviews

Panda Bear, everyone’s favorite endangered species and Animal Collectivist, masters problems of scope on Person Pitch.

74.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
January 29, 2008
Critic Score
82
27 reviews
Vampire Weekend's eponymous debut, with its wide range of references rationed across a collection of brief pop morsels, proves the early fascination was no fluke.

73.

Sigur Rós - ( )
October 28, 2002
Critic Score
82
14 reviews
While it might be free of meaning (and irony), it’s chock-full of pretense.

72.

Aaliyah - Aaliyah
July 7, 2001
Critic Score
77
10 reviews
Following in the footsteps of some of today’s biggest icons, Aaliyah has learned how to align herself with A-list producers without losing her individuality and, instead, makes the sound her own.

71.

LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
March 12, 2007
Critic Score
85
29 reviews
Murphy's willfully pretentious métier, his intentionally inadequate lyrics, and his monotonous sequencing expose a genuine fear of dance.

69.

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
June 9, 2003
Critic Score
83
19 reviews

The album sits comfortably somewhere in between the computer-generated Kid A and the prog-rock splendor of OK Computer, which is an inch in the right direction but still a whole step away.

66.

TV on the Radio - Dear Science
September 22, 2008
Critic Score
86
32 reviews

Dear Science is a structural marvel in the way that its music reflects its tone.

65.

Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
May 1, 2007
Critic Score
83
8 reviews

Brash, insightful, wry, and, above all else, smart, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend confirms that Miranda Lambert is far more than just the latest in a long line of bad girls: She's a country music legend in the making, and the most vital artist Music Row has produced in a generation.

63.

Hercules & Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
June 24, 2008
Critic Score
84
24 reviews

Hercules and Love Affair is relentlessly listenable (the group’s songs are too good to be classified as tributes), but it’s nevertheless defined by the inspirational pull of a golden age that’s gone.

62.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
January 20, 2009
Critic Score
92
37 reviews

Soulful and almost structurally flawless, Merriweather finds one of the most talented, most creative pop bands finally and gloriously figuring it all out.

57.

Carina Round - The Disconnection
March 9, 2004
Critic Score
88
4 reviews

56.

Kleerup - Kleerup
May 19, 2008
Critic Score
71
9 reviews

55.

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
May 18, 2004
Critic Score
87
19 reviews

With A Grand Don’t Come for Free, the Streets are once again keeping it real.

54.

Missy Elliott - Under Construction
November 12, 2002
Critic Score
81
14 reviews

Under Construction is a living, breathing homage to old-school rap’s simpler days.

53.

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
September 12, 2006
Critic Score
87
27 reviews

Their music is accessible, but what makes the band stand out aside from their "weird" presentation is their refusal to compromise their artistic integrity.

52.

Kanye West - The College Dropout
February 10, 2004
Critic Score
81
16 reviews

Like every hip-hop album (even the great ones), Kanye West's The College Dropout is marred by too many guest artists, too many interludes, and just too many songs period. 

51.

Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
November 21, 2000
Critic Score
78
11 reviews

With Mama’s Gun, Badu reintroduces her fresh hybrid of organic grooves, live instrumentation and the latest recording technology.

Original Source: https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/best-of-the-aughts-albums
Comments
Sign in to comment
No one has said anything yet.
Connect with AOTY
Like Us
Follow Us

November Playlist