10. The White Stripes – Elephant
White Blood Cells might have been the White Stripes’ breakthrough, but Elephant thrust them into rock god status. The amount of rock produced by two people – one of whom isn’t the most technically proficient – is pretty incredible. From the low-end heavy, riff rock anthem “Seven Nation Army” and the balls-to-the-wall cover of the Burt Bacharach-penned “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” to the retro-garage romper “Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine,” the album finds the Stripes’ at their most captivating. The songs are focused, raw, heavy and cleverly arranged. Jack White became a guitar hero with his virtuosic solo on the six minute-plus fire-y blues epic, “Ball And Biscuit.” And though I’m not too fond of Meg’s singing, “In the Cold, Cold Night” is definitely her best vocal effort yet. Elephant proved the band was out to prove themselves as a powerful and influential force in rock and roll.

9. Kanye West – Late Registration
It appears I wasn’t the only one who realizes this was Kanye’s masterpiece. What makes Late Registration such a success is how complex of a hip-hop album it is musically and lyrically. Every track is layered with precise orchestration and songs that could be two to three minute singles are stretched out to epic lengths to include bridge sections and false endings such as on “Gone” or “We Major.” Then we find Kanye West himself still young and hungry yet not completely jaded by fame yet with a tribute to his late mother, “Hey Mama,” and spouting off hilarious rhymes on “Gold Digger.” Not to mention all the killer soul, jazz and blues samples scattered throughout (Andrew Kahn lists some of the sampled artists on his list). Late Registration is the result of an over the top artist trying to top his masterpiece. And while it may not be as classic as College Dropout, Late Registration is far more entertaining and extravagant in it’s delivery.

8. Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
Honestly, if you ask what my favorite band is, four out of five times I’d say the Beatles. The other time, I’d said Sleater-Kinney. The girls of S-K did little to no wrong in their 12-year career. It culminated in their fuzzy coda masterpiece, The Woods. The album is heavily aided by producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) and his thought to turn the amps up. And by up I mean way, way up. The Woods is possibly the loudest album released from 2000 – 2009. However, the album shines because of its tightly sketched hooks over waves of feedback and arena rock antics. The album offers Corin, Carrie and Janet at their best with the frantic “Jumpers,” a creeper which builds on hushed anxiety until erupting in an electric freak out, and the 11-minute opus “Lets Call It Love” with its grinding-gear riff that could go bead to head with Sabbath any day of the week. If The Woods truly is the final Sleater-Kinney album ever, I can’t think of any band going out such a high note*.

*Exception to the rule may be the band in the number three spot

7. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots…
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots was for many suburbanite teenagers the beginning of their fandom with those psychedelic Oklahomans The Flaming Lips, a band who was already roughly nineteen years into their career. But it’s not the fault of their fans as the Flaming Lips were relegated to more of a cult and small fan base before the 2000′s. The band began as a pretty intensely psychedelic rock group having on minor success with a couple of singles along the way such as 1993′s “She Don’t Use Jelly” and 1995′s “Bad Days.” In 1999, the band shifted gears again to record the symphonic pop masterpiece The Soft Bulletin. Yoshimi… takes the Soft Bulletin sound to a new level with more use of the studio as an instrument, trip-hop elements and integrating more electronic and computerized instrumentation. Not to mention some of the bass lines are absolutely gorgeous such as on “In The Morning Of The Magicians.” Everyone who considers themselves a Flaming Lips fan obviously know the group’s two biggest songs come from this album in “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1″ and “Do You Realize??” I mean “Do You Realize??” is currently the official rock song of Oklahoma! How’s rad is that?

6. Radiohead – Kid A
To this day I still don’t understand all the hubbub about this album and how it possibly could divide a fan base. Was it simply because Radiohead weren’t using the guitar as their primary instrument on Kid A? Was it because it was a bit slower than their previous albums? Fans should have guessed that after OK Computer the band were more than your average brit-rock, grunge-era knock off. Radiohead were pure musicians. So, why to this day does it seem Radiohead’s fan base is so split? Those who love Kid A and those who either like every thing before Kid A or hated the putrid sounds emanating from Kid A so much that they vow that Radiohead is overrated or crappy or all their fans are pretentious. Because Kid A really isn’t too out there. Bands have taken greater chances in the past than the more subdued and organ/synth-driven bliss that is Kid A. Opener “Everything In Its Right Place” is a hymn for the digital age and sets the tone for the melancholy Kid A story concept which is pretty out there. But the album also provided some of Radiohead’s best rockers like the call-to-attention booming bass of “The National Anthem” and the lucid “Optimistic.” And aside from the brief-yet-meandering “Treefingers,” Kid A really has no filler or throwaway tunes. The songs compliment each other, and it works best as a whole. I really love Amnesiac as well, but seeing Kid A came first, I think it gets a higher rank by default.

5. Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
Josh Homme took his little stoner rock project to the next level with 2002′s “Songs For The Deaf,” which featured current Them Crooked Vultures band mate Dave Grohl behind the kit. This was, unfortunately, the last QOTSA record with former bass player Nick Oliveri. Say what you want, the Songs For The Deaf version of QOTSA definitely was their strongest incarnation yet. Oliveri’s piercing shriek was the perfect foil to Homme’s sleek, at times lounge-y singing style and Grohl’s machine-like precision. “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire” is an absolute stoner romp, while hit singles like the swagger-fueled “No One Knows” and thrashy desert-folk recollection “Go With The Flow” put Homme on the map as one of rock’s top songwriters and guitar gods. Queens Of The Stone Age (or any Homme project for that matter) are still one of America’s best rock bands, but Songs For The Deaf really found them at the top of their game.

4. The Strokes – Is This It
In my review for Julian Casablancas’ solo debut, Phrazes For The Young, I wrote, “Say what you want about the Strokes, it was Casablancas’ vocals that made them such a success. The music wasn’t anything to write home about. It was garage rock and early punk riffage on top of a basic drum beat.” Maybe I was a bit too critically on the band because going back now and listening to Is This It, the riffs sound tighter and just as smart as ever. Yes, I still think that Casablancas’ dirty; occasionally in tune ramblings were really what gave The Strokes that edge. But musically, the band were equally impressive at writing short and concise journeys that shifted keys or tempos so quickly that it was hard to notice. “Take It Or Leave It” is a perfect example with its bouncy opening section that gives way to a waltz-y chorus until shifting into a moody punk-riff bridge. What made the Strokes so great is they delivered these brilliant, sweet throwback pop and soul tunes so damn effortlessly. Everything sounds so tossed off, as many of their tunes are not-quite-perfect, but ultra-confident first takes. “The Modern Age” magnificently gallops along like a beaten up old’ Volkswagen van that’s on it’s last legs, and “Hard To Explain” was retro-space folk-rock before retro-space folk-rock was cool. It’s funny to look back now and think of The Strokes being lumped in with all th hype and with the other “The [Blank]” bands at the time. But The Stokes, and the White Stripes, transcended the label and are now at near legendary status.

3. At The Drive-In – Relationship Of Command
I was ever so pleased to see that our own Audrey Leon had Relationship Of Command in her top 10 from 2000 – 2009. In my opinion, it’s one of the more overlooked albums of the past 10 years. Finally, At The Drive-In made a great sounding album after a number of albums where the production left much to be desired. At The Drive-In too often get lumped into the early days of fast emo-post-punk that was made famous by Sunny Day Real Estate and carried on my many bands to this day. But their sound was too distinct – it ranged from frenzied punk to electro-dub to soulful Latin balladry to everything in between. “Arcarsenal” opens the record with such intensity as tribal drumming gives way to an even more frantic beat and a connect-the-dots guitar line. “Quarantined” gets moving via a big Jane’s Addition bass roll and “One-Armed Scissor” finds singer Cedric Bixlar-Savala at his most perturbed. The members of At The Drive-In keep busy in their current projects (The Mars Volta, Sparta), but nothing they’ve done so far has has the same fiery energy of their old Texas outfit. In recent interviews, the members of Mars Volta are beginning to warm to an At The Drive-In reunion. Make it happen. Now.

2. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Yep, Wilco – again. I really can’t write much more about this album seeing how much has already been written. From the opening wobble of “I Am Trying To Break Your heart” to the sprawling narrative of “Ashes Of American Flags” and the Neil Young guitar flourishes of “I’m The Man Who Love You, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is so great that it almost instills a sense of national pride in the listener. Sure, Britain’s got their Radiohead, and their admittedly brilliant in their own right, but the United States of America has Wilco. And that may be just as well. Radiohead often play too far to the serious side of the coin, but Wilco walk the fine line between serious musicians and silly rock band. Radiohead could never write a song titled, “Radiohead (The Song)” and even use “Radiohead” in the lyrics. They’d be torn a new one by the post-pitchfork music blogosphere instantly. But Wilco can. And did. And it was great. But back to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the fact that their label dropped them because this album wasn’t marketable is laughable now. I hope all those record execs that passed on this got fired. Seriously, I do. Wilco is consistently great, but Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was their greatest of all. And if there aren’t enough reasons to be a Wilco fan, just remember, they’re from Chicago.

1. Fugazi – The Argument
Okay, so we’ve talked about a couple of bands going out on a high note…Sleater-Kinney, At The Drive-In…Fugazi’s last album before their indefinite hiatus was a bit different. The band were pretty much already solidified as post-hardcore legends with their popular underground songs like 1989′s “Waiting Room” and or 1990′s “Repeater.” They were known for their DIY attitude and staunchly in favor of easily accessible shows and low ticket prices. If there ever was a band constantly fighting ‘the man,’ it was Fugazi. Then beginning 1995′s Red Medicine, the band began doing a bit more experimentation and incorporating other elements besides heavy and fast punk-riffs into their music. This gradual move culminated with the classic 2001 album, The Argument. The album is so musically brilliant that it’s hard to believe it’s actually Fugazi. “Epic Problem” opens with a start-stop noise verse section before unwinding into a melodic power-rock bridge. Fugazi even experiment with strings on the album’s centerpiece, “Strangelight,” while “Nightshop” offers whimsical synthesizer breakdown that’s practically electronic jazz. But it’s not just the amount of genres they easily glide through, the songs are so tightly crafted that all the changes sound effortless and completely organic. However, in the end the heaviest and gritty songs are the album’s highlights such as the bass groover “Oh” or the anti-gentrification anthem, “Cashout.” Like our own Andy Kondrat stated in his list, it’s a shame that the band called it quits when they had opened a new musical chapter in their storied careers. But who knows? Maybe their hiatus will eventually end and Fugazi will once again treat us with something fantastic. Until then, The Argument is a powerful testament that getting older doesn’t mean a band has to phone it in. A band can challenge themselves into creating something new and unique to them, and that’s exactly Fugazi did on The Argument and that’s why it’s my top album from the last decade.