Her Majesty The Decemberists – The Decemberists: For an album made by five people out of Montana, this is the most British album in the past 20 years. Colin Meloy’s lyrics are some of the most poetic ever in pop music, sometimes even inventing his own slang (“lino” for linoleum, “chimbley” for chimney, et cetera). His lyrics are beautiful prose, filled with incredible and completely unique rhyme patterns. And the music ain’t bad, either. “Billy Liar” and “Los Angeles, I’m Yours” are the best of the best songs this year.
The White Stripes – Elephant: THE rock record of the year, The White Stripes are starting to make this look way too easy. Four albums in four years, and they are all phenomenal. The band has an extremely classic-rock vibe to them, and “Seven Nation Army” fits in perfectly with any 60s rock anthems.
The Darkness – Permission to Land: I can understand that it may be hard for some people to look past The Darkness’s gaudy outfits and Mercury-esque on stage behavior, but here’s the bottom line: this album is full of well crafted, catchy songs. “Friday Night” is like The Beatles strung out on skag, and “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” has even taken over MTV. Even the standard saccharine power ballads sound sincere. If The Darkness are just parodying late 70’s AM Radio rock ‘n’ roll, they nailed it. Trust me, they are for real.
The Postal Service – Give Up: Catchy pop songs wrapped in electronica with somber, mournful lyrics has never sounded this good. In fact, no electronica has ever sounded this good. Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard lends vocals and lyrics to this album, and his work on Give Up is his best to date. It may sound new-wave, but this album is pure pop.
The Strokes – Room On Fire: I really, really wanted this album to be great. I saw too much potential in this band with “Is This It?” to see them fall to the mercy of the dreaded sophomore slump. I obviously had nothing to worry about. “Room On Fire” is even better than their debut, and takes their sound to the logical next level. “12:51” was a fantastic single, and “Under Control” was the best song of the year. The questions about the future of The Strokes have been answered, and the road ahead looks promising indeed.
50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Trying: Forget about Outkast, this was THE rap Album of 2003. Just from a singles perspective, few rap albums have been this successful: “Wanksta”, “Many Men (Wish Death)”, “If I Can’t”, “P.I.M.P.”, “21 Questions”, and maybe the biggest single of the year, “In Da Club” all dominated the charts and beach parties alike. Good luck going to the beach in the spring of 2003 and not hearing “In Da Club”, it wasn’t possible.
Ozma – Spending Time on the Borderline: This, Ozma’s third album, is their best to date. The album bends and melts smoothly into itself, taking listeners on a trip unlike many other records. One of the things which people chiefly criticize Ozma for is the obvious influence which Weezer had on them, but on this record they finally produce songs on par with Rivers Cuomo’s. “Utsukushii Shibuya” may remind listeners of the oriental themes on Weezer’s “Pinkerton”, but only because it would have made a worthy addition to that album. This is the album where Ozma finally comes into their own and begins to defend all the indie L.A. cred they have built up.
Outkast – Speakerboxx/The Love Below: Probably the most hyped album of the year, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, for the most part, does manage to live up to hype. One important question: is it really fair to call these guys rappers anymore? Their music has taken rap light years past where it’s been before. “The Way You Move” is pure R’B, with a hook Marvin Gaye would be proud of.
Zwan – Mary, Star of the Sea: Zwan doesn’t even exist anymore, but their single release as a band was still fantastic. Like The Smashing Pumpkins on prozac, Mary, Star of the Sea is extremely clean and poppy, while still holding the musical edge Corgan built his career on. It’s too bad they imploded as a group, because they had limitless potential.
Death Cab for Cutie – Transatlanticism: The album starts out with a bang (“The New Year”) and never, ever quits. The songs smoothly blend together, moving past The New Year with “Expo ’86” and “The Sound of Settling”, both terrifically poppy and unmistakably catchy. From there, the album slams on the breaks and mellows down into a dream cycle. It’s the bands best effort yet, and is a must have for any serious music fan.
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