Coming to a consensus on the top albums of the year is always a difficult task. Should they be judged by sales, musical complexity, genre, catchiness or a combination? How can 10 people with very different musical tastes manage to agree on what constitutes the “best” albums?
This is even more challenging in a year when the popular music industry seems content pumping out mediocre, easily classified music overflowing with escapist sentiment. A new era of download pirates and audiophile hackers has pushed an arrogant music biz into all-out war on its largest consumer market: high school and college kids armed with high-speed Internet connections.
Record companies are dropping prices and big-box corporations are knocking out independent stores all over the nation. Radio waves are infatuated with glossy repetition and music television is bent on selling you the “in” lifestyle of the week. But not everyone buys into it.
Thus we present The Badger Herald’s official “Top Albums of 2003.” Rather than assign numerical ratings to each album, the panel of editors and writers opted to choose the five best-of-the-best albums and rank them at the top and give no particular preference to the rest. In the interest of preserving some of everyone’s taste, the list wasn’t limited to 20, as originally planned, but ends up numbering 26 — our little symbol of unrest.
It may not be the most conventional list, but it feels great to include some important “on-the-fringes” music that definitely deserves a spot. And convention is overrated, anyway. Enjoy the list, and whether you agree or disagree, pick up a copy of something you haven’t heard before. You might just like it.
Radiohead, Hail to the Thief
It is the challenge of genius to remain unaware of itself; Thief demonstrates that Radiohead has become self-aware. Thom Yorke has chosen to abuse his gifts. Musically every bit a Radiohead gem, the vocals and lyrics are excessive, contrasted with Yorke’s having less to say. Nonetheless, in a year without notable high-profile achievements in music, a mediocre Radiohead album — lacking compared to any of the group’s prior work — is better than the junk produced by any other big-name band this year. Radiohead will have to make much worse albums than this to damage its legacy.
— Adam Arnold, ArtsEtc. Writer
Outkast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
The duo has been hinting at it for some time, but here Outkast became the standard-bearer for popular music. Astounding in scope and creativity, this two-disc album — ostensibly a pair of solo recordings by Big Boi and Andre 3000 — contains within it music that seems heretofore unimaginable.
Big Boi’s half speaks to hip-hop’s past and present with alchemy of sound and rhyme that allows for music both immediately accessible (“The Way You Move”) and shockingly original (“Ghettomusick,” which jumps from electro-funk to slow-jam with jarring affect). Andre’s half is a purposefully complicated affair, awash in everything from club jazz to Prince-esque psycho-soul, all blended together with charismatic lunacy by ‘Dre, now a certified star.
Andre’s half also houses smash-hit “Hey Ya,” an instant-classic mixture of soul, funk and guitar-pop. Simultaneously towering and eccentric, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below hints at new paths and possibilities in a way that no other music approached this year. Outkast is, for the moment at least, the best band in the land.
— Charles Hughes, ArtsEtc. Writer
Warren Zevon, The Wind
Initially given just three months to live in the summer of 2002, Warren Zevon eluded his ultimate fate for over a year, where, in the studio, he crafted one of the finest albums of 2003.
With the same clever droll exhibited throughout his catalog, Zevon’s poignant album is a fun final ride packed with contributions from friends Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Dwight Yokum and Joe Walsh, among many others. Exceptionally admired by many of his peers, the collaborators all make sincere contributions in helping frame his final testament without stealing the show.
The Wind does face death on several songs, but Zevon confronts the subject with an admirable frankness and intelligent wittiness while still finding the energy in his cancer-plagued body to pick up his guitar and rock it out with no regrets.
— Drew Hansen, ArtsEtc. Writer
The White Stripes, Elephant
If the White Stripes didn’t release the best album of the year, I’d appreciate if you hooked a brother up with whoever did. Elephant is artistically and popularly the focal point of 2003, both attributes which no other album on this list possesses.
One cannot fuck with Jack White. As a lyricist, White excels — just see “I Want to Be the Boy” and “Hardest Button to Button,” where he runs around comparing his brain to pancake batter.
And vocally, I implore someone to nominate a singer with a more distinct and passionate voice that both aches and growls. The title Elephant was used because elephants are one of the few creatures to display respect for their dead. Oh, and they’re fucking huge. Listen to the enormous distortion emanating from White’s makeshift rig on “Black Math” and one may find him/herself enlightened. Really.
— Paul Tyree-Francis, ArtsEtc. Writer
Kings of Leon, Youth and Young Manhood
2003 was the year that it started getting cooler to play in the garage with amps on liquefy and become intent on rockin’ that body, especially for newcomers. Kings of Leon came to me with no track record, no recommendations. But I’ll be damned if everyone present for any of the frequent listening sessions I’ve undertaken since of Youth and Young Manhood didn’t immediately inquire as to the band’s name and devour the record soon after.
The brothers Followill and their cousin released a true testament to the merits of southern-fried rock, a genre that should no longer be ruled by the likes of Kid Rock and the Black Crowes. This is no more evident than on “California Waiting” and “Red Morning Light,” simple rockers that demand veneration to the still-existent Gods of Rock. Kings of Leon may not have written the rock bible, but they’ll bring you damn near to Annunciation.
— Paul Tyree-Francis, ArtsEtc. Writer
Junior Senior, D-D-Don’t Stop the Beat
D-D-Don’t Stop the Beat. Please don’t stop the beat. This odd couple of Danes inexplicably made one of the year’s best dance records. D-D-Don’t Stop the Beat became the little album that could, as revelers incessantly requested the title song and grooved to the beats of Junior Senior. If you were lucky enough to check them out live this fall, certainly you too have entered the pantheon of believers.
— Paul Tyree-Francis, ArtsEtc. Writer
Sun Kil Moon, Ghosts of the Great Highway
I’ll admit it, I’m new to this whole Mark Kozelek thing. He’s been around for some time now between the Red House Painters and solo projects covering AC/DC songs. And some of us are opposed to his whine. But Ghosts of the Great Highway is every reason not to be, featuring plaintive ballads, sparse instrumentation, freak-out rockers and 18-minute epics. This is well-wrought, mellow music from a stellar lyricist and captivatingly original vocalist.
— Paul Tyree-Francis, ArtsEtc. Writer
Al Green, I Can’t Stop
The Reverend triumphantly returns to R&B. Al Green — now a Memphis minister — re-teams with collaborator Willie Mitchell for an album instantly reminiscent of his 1970s heyday. Green’s voice has lost no gospel intensity, and Mitchell leads the veteran band in tight and funky fashion. Hotter than July, as righteous as Rev. Green’s services, I Can’t Stop is a masterful return.
— Charles Hughes, ArtsEtc. Writer
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Master & Everyone
As corporate music’s shittiness becomes more self-evident, perfect small-label albums like this will earn their due. The over-used adjective “haunting” is accurate here, a lo-fi country-folk song cycle that never reaches rock decibels. Johnny Cash is gone, but Will Oldham is his dark, ideological heir, sans basso profundo.
— Adam Arnold, ArtsEtc. Writer
AFI (A Fire Inside), Sing the Sorrow
After basking in the indie sun for the past eight years, AFI entered the big leagues in 2003 with the release of its highly anticipated Sing the Sorrow. Straying from their early punk roots to further embrace New Wave and rock influences, Davey Havoc and company succeeded in creating the most artistic album of their career. With the group’s breakout track “Girl’s Not Grey,” AFI proved that there is such thing as a legitimate punk-to-pop crossover.
— Alexander Larson, ArtsEtc. Writer
Atmosphere, Sevens Travels
Demonstrating once again that life exists somewhere between the two extremes with their first single “Trying to Find a Balance,” Slug and his Rhymesayers’ underground rap militia marched forward again in 2003 with their battle cry, Sevens Travels. Continuing in the biting sarcastic tradition of Atmosphere’s past, Slug and Mr. Dibbs again strayed from the over-produced mainstream hip-hop scene by writing their best anthems yet for the disillusioned and emotionally insecure.
— Alexander Larson, ArtsEtc. Writer
A Perfect Circle, Thirteenth Step
In a year of failed second albums, A Perfect Circle’s Thirteenth Step proved to break from this trend and rise to the top of the crumbling hard-rock mountain. As evident in the atmospheric single “Weak and Powerless,” APC continued to follow suit in its trademark elegant fashion. With the flowing vocals of Tool’s Maynard James Keenan again at full mast, this battleship of an übergroup continued to unwaveringly sail into the realm of popular acceptance in 2003 and has shown no signs of slowing.
— Alexander Larson, ArtsEtc. Writer
Atom and His Package, Attention! Blah Blah Blah
This one-man band has put out great albums in the past, but never before has he so eloquently and entertainingly mixed humor, politics and surprisingly complex instrumentation. Attention! Blah Blah Blah, the last album he’ll make as a solo artist, allowed Atom to go out the same way he came in — with a bang.
— Molly Webb, ArtsEtc. Editor
Cat Power, You Are Free
With a deep, husky voice and simplistic-yet-catchy acoustic guitar parts, You Are Free evokes memories of coffeehouses and dark rooms. It combines politics with an innocently pure writing style, creating an ambiance unmatched by any other female artist making music today. Although not absurdly popular yet, she deserves to be.
— Molly Webb, ArtsEtc. Editor
Nada Surf, Let Go
Former “Popular” stars sing of fruit flies, paper boats and the ways they wear their heads on their third LP. Matthew Caws’ ethereal vocals anchor a melodic tour de force set to shifting rhythms and irresistibly elegant harmonies. Great listening for the times when somebody has to say it.
— Ryan Swan, ArtsEtc. Writer
Curse Ov Dialect, Lost in the Real Sky
Who would’ve guessed Melbourne, Australia, would dish out the tastiest avant hip-hop of the year? Curse Ov Dialect is composed of five Aussies whose Anticon-influenced style, destructive social commentary and punk aesthetic make the scissors-n-sample beat of “Baby How?” and mish-mash world collision of “All Cultures” instant classics. Lost in the Real Sky is the most unique cross-genre album of the year, fast-paced and beautifully imagined.
— Christopher J. Ewing, Associate ArtsEtc. Editor
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Hearts of Oak
The best album Lookout Records has dropped since 1989, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists infuse biting social commentary with spine-cracking guitar jangle. Sounding like Paul Weller battling U.S. foreign policy and race issues in America, guitar in hand, Leo delivers some heart-stopping poppy punk gems. The mythical escapade chronicled in “The Ballad of the Sin Eater” and Leo’s ode to interracial ska bands, “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone,” are essential listening.
— Christopher J. Ewing, Associate ArtsEtc. Editor
The Blood Brothers, …Burn, Piano Island, Burn
The Blood Brothers’ intelligent scream fest and abstract guitar explosions capture the confusion of 2003 like no other recording. From the 30-second blast of “Guitarmy” to the paranoid mathematic equation of “Ambulance vs. Ambulance,” dual vocal howling and hyperspazz compositions make questions like, ” Have we wasted our whole lives sucking candy-coated bullets from the chemical gun?” seem reasonable to ask. The most aware, important album to shred your auditory nerves in years.
— Christopher J. Ewing, Associate ArtsEtc. Editor
Ben Folds, Speed Graphic and Sunny 16
At first listen, Speed Graphic and Sunny 16 sound a lot like Ben Folds Five records. And whether you think that’s good or bad, it’s a change for Folds, who spent the last few years alone on stage or alone in the studio. Back with a drummer and bassist, Ben recorded two brilliant EPs earlier this year — and released them both himself. We don’t need no stinking labels.
–John Zeratsky, ArtsEtc. Writer
The Bad Plus, These Are The Vistas
Darlings of the media this year, The Bad Plus brought jazz-fusion up-to-date with These Are The Vistas. An atmospheric cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” seems to be everyone’s favorite, but it’s The BP’s ability to co-opt pop without giving up jazz that is notable. Purists scoff at this kind of “gimmick,” but it may just be jazz’s salvation.
–John Zeratsky, ArtsEtc. Writer
The Black Keys, thickfreakness
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney compiled an album of traditionalist blues music when it seems the rest of garage rock is simply just experimenting with its parts. On thickfreakness, the two-piece band delivers 11 yearning rockers, heavy with Auerbach’s gritty guitar and impassioned vocals. Carney adds drums and skillful production on an album that pays homage to great blues music without once sounding insincere.
— Drew Hansen, ArtsEtc. Writer
The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow
A little less thrilling than their debut, The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow still offers great guitar pop from deep within the New Mexico desert. With emotive lyrics that run circles around similar bands, Chutes Too Narrow is 10 songs of impressive wordplay wrapped in tender musicianship, all underlined with a beautiful sense of nervousness, pain, dissatisfaction and, ultimately, joy.
— Drew Hansen, ArtsEtc. Writer
The New Pornographers, Electric Version
It came out magical when Vancouver’s New Pornographers recruited alt-country singer Neko Case and turned up their amps. An extremely polished album filled with sonic fun, Electric Version is brimming with heavenly hooks and goofy lyrics. It’s a sunshine daydream of studio rock that borders between psychedelic guitar pop, great new wave and an otherworldly alarm clock.
— Drew Hansen, ArtsEtc. Writer
moe., Wormwood
moe.’s 2003 release of Wormwood developed much recognition in the jam-band community for its studio appeal combined with live perks achieved through a year of extensive live recordings. This unique and uncommon approach has kept moe. distinct and is what lands this album as one of the best of the year with favorites “Shoot First” and “Kyle’s Song.”
— Cristina Daglas, ArtsEtc. Writer
Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Unclassified
After much time spent touring and developing name recognition, Robert Randolph and the Family Band released their genre-challenging first studio album, entitled Unclassified. Randolph has managed to captivate audiences with his steel pedal, slide guitar and sweat-dripped vocals. If for nothing else, his emotionally charged lyrics and energy-filled songs are enough to make anyone dance their ass off.
— Cristina Daglas, ArtsEtc. Writer
Reid Genauer & The Assembly of Dust, The Assembly of Dust
Although popular primarily on the East Coast, Reid Genauer & The Assembly of Dust’s recognition is spreading, and Genauer’s unique voice and intense lyrics are shining through in the debut album so creatively named The Assembly of Dust. Despite rookie status, this band has managed to produce a tightly packed studio album fit for any jam-band enthusiast’s taste.
— Cristina Daglas, ArtsEtc. Writer