943. Rings Around the World

Rings Around the World
Super Furry Animals
2001

Tracks
1. Alternate Route To Vulcan Street
2. Sidewalk Serfer Girl
3. (Drawing) Rings Around The World
4. It's Not The End Of The World?
5. Receptacle For The Respectable
6. [A] Touch Sensitive
7. Shoot Doris Day
8. Miniature
9. No Sympathy
10. Juxtapozed With U
11. Presidential Suite
12. Run! Christian, Run!
13. Fragile Happiness

It seems that Super Furry Animals have become even more experimental than they were in their previous List album, Fuzzy Logic. This made this slightly less enjoyable. But you get fewer and fewer Doris Day shoutouts nowadays, so you must cherish them.

For the most part, this was still an entertaining album when they didn't go off the rails too much. I liked it more when it gravitated towards an Elvis Costello sound, as opposed to death metal. But the variety kept it interesting.

Not particularly memorable, but pretty good.

RATING: 3/5

942. Southern Rock Opera

Southern Rock Opera
Drive-By Truckers
2001

Tracks
CD 1:

1. Days Of Graduation
2. Ronnie And Neil
3. 72 (This Highway's Mean)
4. Dead, Drunk And Naked
5. Guitar Man Upstairs
6. Birmingham
7. The Southern Thing
8. Three Great Alabama Icons
9. Wallace
10. Zip City
11. Moved

CD 2:

1. Let There Be Rock
2. Road Cases
3. Women Without Whiskey
4. Plastic Flowers On The Highway
5. Cassie's Brother
6. Life In The Factory
7. Shut Up And Get On The Plane
8. Greenville To Baton Rouge
9. Angels And Fuselage

So this is another album with an interesting concept and a questionable execution. It's a ninety minute rock opera about Lynyrd Skynyrd, specifically Ronnie Van Zant, and Alabama. The track that focused on his death was pretty disturbing, but Drive-By Truckers eventually widen their gaze in an attempt to demonstrate that the South isn't the hellscape we Northerners think it is.

But it doesn't seem like Drive-By Truckers really has their own style. It just sounds like they are trying to be Lynyrd Skynyrd. And they are somewhat successful, but you are always aware that they are trying to imitate somebody else instead of establishing their own sound.

And 90 minutes was excessive.

RATING: 3/5

941. Melody A.M.

Melody A.M.

Royksopp
2001

Tracks
1. So Easy
2. Eple
3. Sparks
4. In Space
5. Poor Leno
6. A Higher Place
7. Royksopp's Night Out
8. Remind Me
9. She's So
10. 40 Years Back/Come

So another trip hop album. This one seemed to have been created for the sole purpose of being licensed for commercials and video games. I guess it's appeared in everything from T-Mobile and Geico ads, to promoting Spongebob Squarepants.

Which makes for a pretty bland, inoffensive album. It's not danceable trip hop, it's just sounds like stock samples in Garage Band.

Entirely skippable, but you might catch snatches of it if you use Apple products.

RATING: 2/5

940. The Blueprint

The Blueprint
Jay-Z
2001

Tracks
1. The Ruler's Back
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
4. Girls, Girls, Girls
5. Jigga That Nigga
6. U Don't Know
7. Hola' Hovito
8. Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)
9. Never Change
10. Song Cry
11. All I Need
12. Renegade
13. Blueprint

My friend who is a bit of a hip hop enthusiast has told me that Jay-Z is the best rapper bar none, but he doesn't even make my top ten list. But I don't think my hip hop opinions are taken very seriously by him, though. This might have something to do with my race, or my sex, or the fact that I don't know how to pronounce RZA. In any case, after listening to this album, I still don't think Jay Z is that great.

For the most part, this is standard peacocking fare, replete with swagger and drowning in hos. His diss track to Nas was particularly obnoxious. Nas is a better hip hop artist and Jay Z has sampled from him before. And he attacks Mobb Deep for taking ballet classes a child. Can you imagine possessing such fragile masculinity? It must be exhausting.

I thought Beyonce deserved better but after listening to that Destiny Child's album I guess they deserve each other.

RATING: 2/5

939. Hot Shots II

Hot Shots II
The Beta Band
2001

Tracks
1. Squares
2. Al Sharp
3. Human Being
4. Gone
5. Dragon
6. Broke
7. Quiet
8. Alleged
9. Life
10. Eclipse

I feel like the bands I've really enjoyed in the early 200s are all throwbacks to older bands. I suppose this is attempting to be a call back to Pink Floyd.

Here they are creating a blend of electronica and space rock, with a dose of psychedelica as well. None of those elements contain my favorite styles of music, but I still enjoyed listening to what they came up with.

Maybe not the most memorable album, but entertaining while it lasted.

RATING: 3/5

938. White Blood Cells

White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
2001

Tracks
1. Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground
2. Hotel Yorba
3. I'm Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman
4. Fell In Love With A Girl
5. Expecting
6. Little Room
7. The Union Forever
8. The Same Boy You've Always Known
9. We're Going To Be Friends
10. Offend In Every Way
11. I Think I Smell A Rat
12. Aluminum
13. I Can't Wait
14. Now Mary
15. I Can Learn
16. This Protector

It's difficult to dislike the White Stripes. They possess the punk sensibility and mix it with a heavy blues influence. Songs like "I'm Finding It Harder To Be a Gentleman" are just so damn charming for some reason.

The best song is probably "FeIl in Love With a Girl," but I also really enjoyed the instrumentals in "I Think I Smell A Rat." But really, every song packs a punch in their short runtimes.

It feels like a very stripped down album, which is a delight, particularly after the parade of overproduced albums from the likes of Destiny's Child and Britney Spears.

RATING: 4/5

937. Le Revancha Del Tango

Le Revancha Del Tango
Gotan Project
2001

Tracks
1. Queremos Paz
2. Epoca
3. Chunga's Revenge
4. Triptico
5. Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)
6. Una Musica Brutal
7. El Capitalismo Foraneo
8. Last Tango In Paris
9. La Del Ruso
10. Vuelvo Al Sur

I guess outside of the US this is a vastly overplayed album, but as an American I haven't heard It much. So while others' annoyance with it will come from hearing it a zillion times, my irritation comes from hearing it once.

I have resigned myself to my fate of having to listen to hundreds of electronica albums, but I found the instrumentals on this one particularly grating. I guess it might be interesting to some people to see Gotan Project drag tango kicking and screaming into the 21st century, but it wasn't to me.

Skippable.

RATING: 2/5

936. Time (The Revelator)

Time (The Revelator)
Gillian Welch
2001

Tracks
1. Revelator
2. My First Lover
3. Dear Someone
4. Red Clay Halo
5. April The 14th Part 1
6. Elvis Presley Blues
7. Ruination Day Part 2
8. Everything Is Free
9. I Dream A Highway

We've been treated to excellent folk singers lately and the trend continues with Gillian Welch. This was a really catchy collection of songs that harkened back to the early days of American folk music. 

I enjoyed the dark mood of this album, and the simple arrangements that supported Welch's beautiful voice. Great folk artists can also keep their audience engaged no matter how mournfully they approach their somewhat meandering songs. Welch pulls that off really well here. 

I was reading about some of Welch's other collaborations with Ryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, and Sam Phillips. She's definitely an artist I will be checking out more after I am done with this List (will that day every arrive?).

RATING: 4/5

935. Is This It

Is This It
The Strokes
2001

Tracks
1. Is This It
2. The Modern Age
3. Soma
4. Barely Legal
5. Someday
6. Alone, Together
7. Last Nite
8. Hard To Explain
9. New York City Cops
10. Trying Your Luck
11. Take It Or Leave It

An argument could be made that Strokes fans are fairly insufferable, but the album is still good anyway. The Strokes bring the sounds of the Stooges and Television into the 21st century. Some might say that makes them derivative, but I felt like they updated the style enough to keep themselves relevant.

It's a very enjoyable album filled with catchy songs. I feel like the dark predictions other List followers have made about the early 2000s are appearing unfounded. Yes, there's the occasional Eminem and Destiny's Child album, but there have also been some great discoveries as well. I wasn't paying much attention to the music scene at the time, being six years old, so I missed a lot of this.

Great album from a great band.

RATING: 5/5

934. Survivor

Survivor
Destiny's Child
2001

Tracks
1. Independent Women Part 1
2. Survivor
3. Bootylicious
4. Nasty Girl
5. Fancy
6. Apple Pie A La Mode
7. Sexy Daddy
8. Perfect Man
9. Independent Women Part 2
10. Happy Face
11. Dance With Me
12. My Heart Still Beats
13. Emotion
14. Brown Eyes
15. Dangerously In Love
16. The Story Of Beauty
17. Gospel Medley
18. Outro (DC-3) Thank You

"Nasty Girl" might be the single most offensive song we have had on this blog, and that's including every dumb Slim Shady and Butthole Surfers track. You would think a female band would be less hateful towards women. Not to mention how hypocritical it is. It also seems like all the band members hate each other, even with that bizarre "Outro." It's a surprisingly ugly album considering the epic hotness of the women involved.

I guess there are some catchy songs on here, like "Survivor" and "Bootylicious." But the moralizing was so ridiculous that it soiled the entire album. And most of the songs were pretty forgettable, or memorable for all the wrong reasons. It's absurd to have a song as sexist as "Nasty Girl" then turn around and try to create a feminist anthem in "Independent Women." 

I do like some of Beyonce's solo work and she's an amazing dancer. Unfortunately, we don't really get to see that in 2001.

RATING: 2/5

933. Gold

Gold

Ryan Adams
2001

Tracks
1. New York, New York
2. Firecracker
3. Answering Bell
4. La Cienega Just Smiled
5. The Rescue Blues
6. Somehow, Someday
7. When The Stars Go Blue
8. Nobody Girl
9. Sylvia Plath
10. Enemy Fire
11. Gonna Make You Love Me
12. Wild Flowers
13. Harder Now That It's Over
14. Touch, Feel & Lose
15. Tina Toledo's Street Walkin' Blues
16. Goodnight, Hollywood Blvd.

I watched the music video for "New York, New York," which was apparently filmed four days before 9/11. You can see the World Trade Centers behind him while he plays his guitar...definitely eerie.

Ryan Adams continues to give us quality folk/alternative rock music. "Answering Bell" is the highlight of the album and possesses clear influences harking all the way back to Fairport Convention and Gram Parsons. 

This a little more commercial friendly than Heartbreaker, which might lead some to claim he is selling out. But I really enjoyed it, you have to love an album with a track called "Sylvia Plath."

RATING: 5/5

932. Gorillaz

Gorillaz
Gorillaz
2001

Tracks
1. Re-Hash
2. 5/4
3. Tomorrow Comes Today
4. New Genius (Brother)
5. Clint Eastwood
6. Man Research (Clapper)
7. Punk
8. Sound Check (Gravity)
9. Double Bass
10. Rock The House
11. 19-2000
12. Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo)
13. Starshine
14. Slow Country
15. M1 A1
16. Clint Eastwood (Ed Case/Sweetie Irie Refix) (Edit)
17. 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)

This is the first we have heard from a virtual band, which is not a concept/term I was familiar with. For others who do not know, apparently a virtual band is a fictional group where the members are depicted as cartoon characters and any media related to their music features the animated line up. I'm not entirely sure what the point is, only that it reminds me of Alvin and the Chipmunks, which is never a good thing.

But I am still glad this was on the List, because the Powers That Be show us a little bit of everything. Forgetting the concept of the album for a moment, the music is actually really good. They move through a variety of styles and manage to keep you engaged the whole time. Maybe because you keep expecting something weirder to happen.

Perhaps there will be a spike in virtual bands with the panny d situation. If they were all like this, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

RATING: 4/5

931. Vespertine

Vespertine
Bjork
2001

Tracks
1. Hidden Place
2. Cocoon
3. It's Not Up To You
4. Undo
5. Pagan Poetry
6. Frosti
7. Aurora
8. Echo A Stain
9. Sun In My Mouth
10. Heirloom
11. Harm Of Will
12. Unison

I actually thought we were done with Bjork and am delighted to discover that this is not the case. She is still wonderfully weird and possesses a unique sound that you can't help but enjoy.

She also uses microbeats throughout the album which she created with various household sounds, like the cracking of ice and the shuffling of cards. It's a very sensual, intimate album. I know her vocals might be off putting to some, but I can't get enough of her.

A talented singer and composer, you can't ask for much more than that. 

RATING: 5/5

930. Bright Flight

Bright Flight
Silver Jews
2001

Tracks
1. Slow Education
2. Room Games And Diamond Rain
3. Time Will Break The World
4. I Remember Me
5. Horseleg Swastikas
6. Transylvania Blues
7. Let's Not And Say We Did
8. Tennessee
9. Friday Night Fever
10. Death Of An Heir Of Sorrows

We have another really delightful album, brought to us by Silver Jews. I love this indie folk genre this List has been into lately. It's definitely a nice reprieve from the onslaught of electronica. 

This is a short album that is over before you know it, but definitely leaves an impression. The lyrics were funny and clever, and the songs were fairly catchy. I guess this was a mixture of country/folk but it also had some lo-fi elements as well.

Overall, a really fun album and so far 2001 hasn't been so bad.

RATING: 4/5

929. Amnesiac

Amnesiac
Radiohead
2001

Tracks
1. Packt Like Sardines In A Crushed Tin Box
2. Pyramid Song
3. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors
4. You And Whose Army?
5. I Might Be Wrong
6. Knives Out
7. Morning Bell/Amnesiac
8. Dollars & Cents
9. Hunting Bears
10. Like Spinning Plates
11. Life In A Glasshouse

Radiohead brings us another satisfactory album that even pleases me, a self proclaimed electronica dissenter. I often feel like I can't enjoy the electronica album because I'm not in a club setting. But Radiohead is enjoyable no matter where you are, or when you are. It's even enjoyable in the hellscape that is 2020.

So Radiohead continues to move away from a mainstream sound but they still manage to stay accessible. It's good chill music but manages to be challenging at the same time.

Still more Radiohead to come, and I'm looking forward to it.

RATING: 4/5