In the second installment of our tribute to the zeros we take a look at the best albums and tracks of 2001, a year that will always have a futuristic glow in the eyes of 20th century children since this was the year that usually signified the future in sci-fi literature and cinema.
But the new music that dominated in 2001 was anything but futuristic, with influences deeply rooted in last century's rock sounds: garage echoes from the '60s, punk energy from the '70s, new wave and electropop from the beginning of the '80s. That was the foundation that the new crop of bands, led by The Strokes and White Stripes, used to build their sound upon, a sound which prevailed for the most part of this decade. The major difference from bands of previous eras that based their sound on similar influences was that this time around there were more people willing to listen, leading to hit singles and big sold-out concerts. A new generation of listeners who grew up in the '90s listening to Nirvana was ready to accept and push groups like The Hives or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in the charts, a commercial success that was unthinkable for most older bands that influenced 2001's new rock generation.
Top 20 Albums of 2001
- Is this it - THE STROKES
- Group sounds - ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT
- Isolation drills - GUIDED BY VOICES
- All is dream - MERCURY REV
- Let it come down - SPIRITUALIZED
- Stephen Malkmus - STEPHEN MALKMUS
- White blood cells - THE WHITE STRIPES
- Black rebel motorcycle club - B.R.M.C.
- The argument - FUGAZI
- Iron flag - WU-TANG CLAN
- Ancient melodies of the future - BUILT TO SPILL
- Are you are missing winner - THE FALL
- No more shall we part - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
- Ease down the road - BONNIE PRINCE BILLY
- It'sa wonderful life - SPARKLEHORSE
- Get ready - NEW ORDER
- 604 - LADYTRON
- Souljacker - EELS
- Change - THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN
- Behind the music - THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES
- Glad girls - GUIDED BY VOICES
- Whatever happened to my rock 'n' roll (punk song) - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
- Hard to explain - THE STROKES
- Hotel Yorba - WHITE STRIPES
- Street gang - A.R.E. WEAPONS
- Emerge - FISCHERSPOONER
- NYC's like a graveyard - THE MOLDY PEACHES
- Souljacker pt.1 - EELS
- Piano fire - SPARKLEHORSE
- Capitalism stole my virginity - THE (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY
- The hook - STEPHEN MALKMUS
- Love detective - ARAB STRAP
- Fifteen feet of pure white snow - NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
- Imitation of life - R.E.M.
- Crystal - NEW ORDER
- Clint Eastwood - GORILLAZ
- Nite and fog - MERCURY REV
- Out of sight - SPIRITUALIZED
- Hate to say I told you so - THE HIVES
- Furniture - FUGAZI
Song of the week : Glad Girls from Guided By Voices. The kings of lo-fi from Ohio, one of the most influential bands of the American underground in the last couple of decades (they count The Strokes among their fans) were in top form in 2001 and in a more power-pop mood than usual. Glad Girls is one of the gems found in Isolation Drills, an excellent album that didn't get the recognition it deserved at the time. But it's never too late to discover great music.
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