Essential Albums of the Decade: 41 to 60

41. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul (2008). An all-around great rock album, Dig Out Your Soul finds Oasis continuing to demonstrate its excellence years past the Britpop heyday. Although they've mined the Beatles' sound extensively in the past, John Lennon's had no more fitting a tribute than "I'm Outta Time." Best: I'm Outta Time.

42. U2 - No Line on the Horizon (2009). Probably the least popular of U2's albums released this decade, but it was my favorite. In fact, I never really connected with a U2 album until I heard this one. Best: Magnificent.


43. Will Young - Let It Go (2008). Will Young continued to create infectious, soulful pop music on his fourth album, his most personal work to date. The mood get a bit on boisterous pop productions like "Love" and "Grace," but this album's best moments are its quiet, tender ballads like "Tell Me the Worst," "Disconnected," "You Don't Know" and the title track. Best: You Don't Know.

44. Robbie Williams - Reality Killed the Video Star (2009). Robbie Williams excels at making grand, sweeping pop songs, the kind that few male pop stars seem able to pull off. On Reality Killed the Video Star, he delivered the best set of them that he's done in many years. Best: Bodies.

45. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose (2004). White Stripes' Jack White produced this album for Loretta Lynn, giving her the biggest hit she'd had in years and one of the decade's most acclaimed country albums. It also gets bonus points for giving my hometown a worthy anthem. Best: Portland, Oregon.

46. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (2007). The Chicago-based alternative band Wilco is best known for their 2002 album, Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, but I much prefer this softer, later album, beautifully scored with long guitar, strings and piano passages. Best: Impossible Germany.

47. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (2007). British Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and American bluegrass singer Alison Krauss teamed up to make this bluesy pop album. Much acclaim ensued, including last year's Album of the Year Grammy Award. Best: Please Read the Letter.

48. Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). Best: Umbrella. On her third album, Barbadian pop singer Rihanna made the transition to international pop star, with a mostly dance pop set that also showed her effectively tackling R&B and pop ballads. Best: Umbrella.

49. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (2007). The Arcade Fire's 2004 debut, Funeral, received a lot of acclaim, but didn't impress me. I much prefer this second album, which has better songs and a bigger sound, particularly on songs like "Black Mirror" and "Intervention," as well as the jolly "Keep the Car Running." Best: Black Mirror.

50. Dido - Life for Rent (2003). On her second album, Dido Armstrong continued in the same vein as her surprisingly successful debut, No Angel, giving us sing-songwriter pop with a lush, modern production. And anyone who dismisses Dido as too "sleepy" should check out "Stoned" and anyone who thinks "Don't Leave Home" is a sappy love song hasn't listened to the lyrics carefully. Best: White Flag.

51. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas (2006). Another winning trans-Atlantic male/female pairing, This time two former members of prominent alternative bands--the Scottish Isobel Campbell and American Mark Lanegan. They joined forces to deliver this lovely pop album, with shades of brooding country and folk. Best: The False Husband.

52. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open (2006). Between the lush, but unvaried Final Straw and the uneven A Hundred Million Suns, Snow Patrol released this amazing album, bristling with confidence, diversity and quality songcraft. The band proves itself as adept at upbeat rock on the driving hit single "You're All I Have" as they do at rock balladry on their international smash, "Chasing Cars." Best: Chasing Cars.

53. Kanye West - Late Registration (2005). For the first-half of the decade, hip-hop was dominated by thug-rap a la 50 Cent, party rap a la Nelly, tuneless crunk and whatever it is Eminem does. Then Kanye West came along with his tuneful, ambitious and pointedly mainstream take on the genre. Late Registration is my favorite of his works, imbuing tracks like "Heard 'Em Say" and "Touch the Sky" with an old-school feel and masterfully sampling Shirley Bassey's Bond theme "Diamonds Are Forever" into two versions of "Diamonds from Sierra Leone"--the remix, which explores the problems of African conflict diamonds issue, and the original, which is just a fun song. Best: Gold Digger.

54. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak (2008). Kanye West's fourth album, his first to not be nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy Award, was controversial for its lack of rap, overuse of auto-tune and overall dark mood. I loved it. After the showiness of Graduation, this album felt much more intimate, exploring heartbreak from the loss of his mother and the end of a romantic relationship. Best: Paranoid.

55. Pet Shop Boys - Yes (2009). After delivering a mixed bag of albums for the last 10 years or so, Pet Shop Boys went back to the quirky dance pop of their landmark 1993 album Very on this, their 10th studio album. Best: Beautiful People.


56. Kings of Leon - Only By the Night (2008). Kings of Leon flew under the radar until last year, generating some buzz and a few hits in the UK, but little interest in their native US. That all changed with this album, particularly hits massive international hits "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody," taking this set of traditional but quality guitar rock songs to the top. Best: Sex on Fire.

57. Sugababes - Angels with Dirty Faces (2002). This was the best and biggest the Sugababes ever were. Having traded out early member Siobhan Donaghy for Heidi Range, the 'Babes sharpened both the quality of their vocal harmony and their songs, particularly on the innovative mash-up/remake of "Freak Like Me" (which was half Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric") and the gorgeously dark "Stronger," which borrows the sultry downbeat vibe of Massive Attacks's "Unfinished Sympathy." Best: Stronger.

58. The Editors - The Back Room (2005). The Editors made gorgeous guitar rock on their debut, tinged slightly with the synths of Depeche Mode and the beauty of Interpol. Highlights include the rousing opening track "Lights," bracing hit single "Munich" (which really reminds me of the best of Interpol's debut), and the plaintive "All Sparks." Best: Munich.

59. Dannii Minogue - Neon Nights (2003). Kylie Minogue made an electro-pop album in 2003, but her little sister made a better one with Neon Nights, the album which demanded that Dannii Minogue's musical career be taken seriously. Although she's too busy being an X Factor judge to make another album, Neon Nights at least proved she could do it right, delivering down-and-dirty electro-pop songs like "Creep," "I Begin to Wonder," and "Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling" (which was later brilliantly mashed up with Madonna's "Into the Groove"). Best: I Begin to Wonder.

60. Kaiser Chiefs - Employment (2005). This fivesome from Leeds delivered a charged debut, full of promise, energy and hooks, employing new wave touches on songs like the pulsing "Everyday I Love You Less and Less" and racing hit single "I Predict a Riot." Best: I Predict a Riot.