That was an awful, awful, awful list. I suppose by using Metacritic scores, it at least attempts an objective criteria. But still…pretty dreadful. Spoon might be one of the smarmiest bands around.

Don’t listen to the list, Bob Dylan is the best singer songwriter of the decade, but Love and Theft… better than Modern Times? Modern Times is one of the top ten albums of all time and my personal pick for THE best album of all time.

Relax Francis, this is a great list. Because you don’t like Spoon they must be wrong? Please. If you don’t like critics’ choices don’t come to metacritic.

One thing though- the decade does indeed end with 2009! (2000-2009 = 10 years)

I was just looking at reviews for modern times… this list totally sucks, metacritic doesn’t account for outliers. An album can have great reviews and be bogged down by a 47 from NOW magazine. Seriously, NOW magazine?

Well Robert if you would take the time to look up the formula for how metacritic rates music then you would know that Now magazine doesn’t effect the overall score as opposed to allmusicguide.com

Forgot to add….as much as allmusicguide.com

Fleet Foxes definitely has the best debut.

While Spoon is extremely talented Radiohead and White Stripes are hands down in the 3 of this decade. MMJ ripoffs, I mean Iron and Wine do not belong on any top ten list and not sure about the Drive by Truckers ranking either.

Music is subjective. It also brings about strong feelings in people who are very opinionated in their music tastes, but please please stop harassing the list and just take it for what it is. They are not claiming that this list is definitive of what is truly the best music. They are simply putting together critics opinions in a well organized manner. If you don’t agree thats fine. Music wouldn’t be as powerful of an art if there wasn’t some form of individual interpretation. Just take the list for what it is. Thank you Metacritic i enjoyed reading this feature and look forward to more like it perhaps in the other mediums.

very pleased to see spoon and outkast up there. these are definitely two of the most talented artists of our time and spoon is just underrated. whoever called them smarmy is just some retard looking to use the word of the day from their bathroom calendar. four tet is equally amazing.

It seems that there is a mistake. A quick search shows that Tom Waits released 5 albums this decade, 4 of which are “great”. His highest isn’t Alice, it’s Orphans at 92.

Go Tye!! I liked your little review of the reviews. I do not understand why people get so angry at Metacritic, when they obviously know how it works and it’s imperfections. Music is subjective, and Metacritic does well to cater to everyone. If you disagree with the results based on multiple points of view then go consult a magazine that fits more closely with yours! Mojo, Uncut etc.

While i personally disagree with a few things, it was pleasing to see some of my favourite albums score so highly on the lists.

I was hoping Radiohead to be atleast on the top top 10. I guess the main problem comes from the critic. Many of them just listen to the record once and leave it at that. Amnesiac is an excellent album because it grows on you.

WAAAH MY FAVORITE BAND ISNT NUMBER 1 WAAAAH

Metacritic doesn’t make these up out of thin air these are the most critically acclaimed of the decade.

I cannot believe this list does not contain “my morning jacket”. Even though I like TV on the radio, and “spoon”?! WTF!

I gotta say, this list blows. Taste in music is so varied and ridiculous, it’s impossible to critique an album. Most of these highly reviewed bands come off as gross noise to me, and most people I talk to say I have excellent taste in music.

Dear metacritic: the word “decade” just means TEN YEARS. “We know the decade doesn’t really end until the conclusion of 2010″ is not only an annoying cliche, it’s completely false.

Brian Wilson’s ‘Smile’ truly deserves to be there on top – a unique, creative work from a true rock legend. Keep smilin’, Brian! :-)

An interesting list to say the least. Although I don’t believe them to be the BEST band of the decade, it was nice to see Spoon gain some recognition for being exceptionally consistent. I would argue that a few albums, such as The Field’s “From Here We Go Sublime”, do not have sufficient critical recognition to seriously be considered for a “Best of 2000’s” list. I would be much more impressed by (And look forward to!) a list compiling and averaging only these publication’s “Best of” lists. Improved Radiohead standings anyone? Haha, either way, well done. :D

You have your facts wrong. Britney Spears’s debut album was Baby One More Time NOT Oops!… I Did It Again.

The Arcade Fire and the Shins, two of the decade’s greatest indie bands, had 3 releases during the ’00s but couldn’t even be considered for the list because there’s no Metascore for The Arcade Fire EP and Oh, Inverted World. And Oops!… I Did It Again is not Britney Spears’ debut, as they wrote there. Fail fail fail fail.

Good job Brian Wilson

Smile was originally recorded back in 1967 and would have come out nearly 4 months before Sgt Pepper. Brian Wilson had already blown everybody’s minds, including the Beatles, with his previous album Pet Sounds whom many, including George Martin, believed to be a better achievement than the fab four’s aforementioned seminal work. To then be able to produce a body of work that actually topped Pet Sounds is indeed astonishing. It shows how far ahead of his time he really was by the very fact that this work still stands up for comparison afainst all his current contemporaries some 45 years later. No work of course is “better” than another as it all depends on personal taste, but what Metacrtic does is shows that more people who review music for a living, thought Smile was better than the others up for selection. That’s all. But it is indeed a monumental achievement in song writing.

I thought I had trawled metacrtic well, but have found a few nice surprises in this list, thank you!

Zach 2000-2009 is 10 YEARS! Therefore Metacritic is right! Chill out.

“Most of these highly reviewed bands come off as gross noise to me, and most people I talk to say I have excellent taste in music.”

You talk to the wrong people.

Just because your mom tells you that you have excellent taste in music doesn’t mean it’s true. The people who have reviewed these albums have a background in music and have some platform from which to speak. Just because Avril and Fall Out Boy don’t top this list doesn’t mean the list blows.

Ok, so there’s no Tool with Lateralus, there’s no Tears for Fears with Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, there’s no…

The poor qualitty of mainstream music in this decade is only surpassed by the low quality of the critics.

A little floored that Kid A didn’t make the list. As much as I hear “This topped our lists for the decade,” the publications and their ACTUAL scores for the album certainly don’t show that opinion…

THANK YOU for giving Sleater-Kinney’s ‘The Woods’ the respect it deserves!! Most definitely a powerhouse album that deserves all the hype.

[...] For those who don’t know, Metacritic is a site that analyses the critics scores from a number of magazines and websites and comes up with a combined score for movies, albums etc. Clearly it is difficult to always take a subjective piece of writing and assign a score, but it is probably the most scientific way available of gauging critical opinion. And on that basis, SMiLE is the number one album of the decade! Yes, indeed. See for yourself here. [...]

Im pretty sure Mastodon would have made this list easily if Metacritic had even included “leviathan” (one of the most critically acclaimed albums of this decade) on its webpage, it astounds me that they dont have a rating for it.

This list is utter garbage
Metacritic is a poor music critc aggregator when it comes to rapmusic
Where’s Nas on the rap artist list?
How can Rolling Stone’s “Artist of the Decade” be behind the likes of a pop sounding band like OutKast
The fact is this site use mainstream “white” music critcs that barely know anything about Hardcore rap music
Hiphop magazines like XXl HipHopDx and The Source(Sometimes) are where real non-pop audience rap heads should look to for reviews

Seriously Metacritic is only half-accurate when it comes to movies
everything else is the opposite of credible

It’s wonderful to see Brian Wilson getting his just desserts from the critics — “Smile” is a tremendous achievement, if only because of the struggle Wilson went through to record it after 37 years. Granted, arguments could be made that it only received the highest rating due to an overwhelming number of Baby Boomer critics living out their fanboy fantasies of playing the record on their turntables back in ‘67. Regardless, “Smile” is a brilliant symphony; a love of labor by a man for whom love and mercy are more than just a peacenik slogan.

you ipod toolbag, here’s a handy and timely list for your consumption

Yea I wanted to also point out the Tom Waits thing but maybe they are only counting albums albums, though really I would consider Orphans an album at 3 CDs with some songs that have already been released in the random nook and cranny maybe they considered it a “compilation” instead of an album, with Glitter and Doom being null because it is a live album. If not I assume he would be quite a bit higher though.

I think they missed one. LCD Soundsystem had 3 releases. All scored 86. That would make them number 1. I would be interested to hear why they were left out.

THIS is why Metacritic is a load of bull. Pretty much every music publication on the planet recognizes Radiohead’s Kid A as the decade’s best album, and as the decade’s best artist. This is a shameful list.

I have a question: As far as I can tell, the Animal Collective’s albums counted were Sung Tongs, Feels, Strawberry Jam, the Water Curses EP, and Merriweather Post Pavilion. The recently released Fall Be Kind EP currently holds an 87. If that was counted (technically released in 2009), what would their total score be for the decade? I think they would end up at #3 instead of #6. Just curious.

Blankshore…

You’re missing the point. Those lists are retrospective. This list is the opinions of the albums upon release. Which criticism is more valid is up to you, but this list is not meant to be the same as others.

Also, Radiohead is totally over rated.

Not a very good list, and not particularly indicative of what critics think b/c Metacritic selects a small sampling of major critics, but doesn’t really go worldwide or cast its net broad enough to get a good aggregate. In that way, this is very skewed.

Blankshore, did you even read the article? You would have seen their very logical justifications for organizing the list in the way they did. If you don’t like the idea of Metacritic, then WHY THE F*** ARE YOU ON THE SITE?

Hey…On the Best Reviewed Pop/R&b Artists, shouldn’t Shakira be in the top 10 list? Her three albums were rated 71-74-79, which is an average of 74.66, enough to be on the top 10

[...] For those not interested in keeping track, there is Metacritic and its Best Music of the Decade. [...]

Hell Yeah!! My faith in Metacritic’s system is restored! I’ve also loved many of the aforementioned artists and albums – but there can only be one winner. I cannot think of a more apt band to recieve this accolade than the immensly talented and hardworking spoon. Anyone puzzled by this choice need look (or listen as the case may be) no further than girls can tell, kill the moonlight, gimme fiction and ga ga ga ga ga.Brilliant!!

No Wilco, at all, anywhere? I know many critics find them overrated, and the backlash was expected, but seriously, nothing? Yes, I’d say it’s pretty flawed

Nice to see the Super Furries ranking so highly, one day a wider audience will appreciate their brilliance. Well done Go-Betweens and Yo La Tengo too! Thanks Metacritic, consider the myopia of subjectivity when reflecting on the majority of comments here! Not many end-of-decade lists will feature both Bob Dylan and Outkast.

Where is Amy Winehouse?????

[...] Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best Music of the DecadeDecember 15, 2009 [...]

How come you guys didn’t score reviews for “Leviathan” by Mastodon? I bet if you did they’d be one of the top artists of the decade. I mean, it was released in ‘04 so I think it’s a bit unfair to leave it out.

Cool lists, I like to see how things rated based upon reviews at time of release. Very interesting to see how things when nostalgia comes into play. Thanks for all the hard work, Metacritic.

One thing I’d like to mention: I am a bit bothered that Tom Waits’ Orphans wasn’t included; that it was considered a “compilation”. None of the songs on there were released as part of his other studio albums. It’s almost completely new music. It wasn’t recorded just before its release, and is a grouping of other songs that were recorded – is that why you called it a compilation? Brian Wilson’s SMiLE was mostly recorded decades ago, and there are many albums on here that have songs which were brought in from other places (EPs and what not). I do not think Tom Waits’ Orphans qualifies as a compilation at all. Would you be willing to reconsider?

How cool is it that Dylan can be in such a list, which if it had been around would be for the 5th decade running? (80s are debatable I guess, but other than that!)

“Madvillainy” is the album name but “Madvillain” (without a Y) is the artist. You’ve spelled it wrong. Not a big deal to most people, but for DOOM fanatics that drives us nutsss…

I guess Rock and Metal don’t exist as genres?

Metacritic is fantastic and right on point for movies, but for music it really is worthless. You very rarely see very disparaging music reviews and there certainly aren’t 30+ reviews for most albums. So you get pretty much everyone falling into the 60-80 range… even when it’s rubbish.

SLEATER-KINNEY rocks!! i miss them so much
Ladytron have the debut of the decade if you ask me
c-mon everybody loves SPOON

Brother Ali released four albums this decade, three of which are compiled on Metacritic with scores of 86, 83, and 74 – an average of 81. He should appear somwhere on the rap list.

Sorry, he’s released five albums: Shadows on the Sun, Champion, The Undisputed Truth, The Truth Is Here, and Us. Only the latter three have been compiled, however.

Artist of the decade?

No brainer!

Dan Bejar.

7 fantastic Destroyer albums this decade.
4 fantastic New Pornographers albums this decade.
2 fantasic Swan Lake albums this decade.

Wow!

I suppose I can respect that these are the most critically acclaimed artists. However, it’s hard to imagine a list without THRICE. These guys have put out some of the most masterful music of all-time (much less the decade). Thrice is not just a good band- just listen to the music, the lyrics, the evolution. It’s magic :)

I’m a little disappointed a this list and metacritic in general. It completely ignores the not so mainstream genres of music, aka my favorite ones. No metal? Not even hard rock? Not only does the list not include a single metal album (as other people have pointed out that it should with Mastodon), but metacritic doesn’t seem to even care about sources that review them. Baroness just barely got the seven reviews it needed to join the ranks of best albums of the decade, and it’s being praised by every reviewer of that kind of music. This is why I never bother at looking at metacritic music. It completely shits all over all of the music I like. Just because it’s not in Rolling Stone doesn’t make it any less valid!

[...] released their Best Music of the Decade list this week. They chose Spoon as their artist of the decade, calling them the “most [...]

hey dude,RS did review Mastadon and gave them 3.5 stars!

Obviously Spoon is not the artist of the decade. It’s Radiohead. This shows that the metascore is useful but has its flaws.

Why is Elliott Smith not on the list. Ok he is dead but he has published 3 albums in the respective timeframe and all are above 81. Is it because 2 albums are published posthumously ?

Against Me! would be somewhere up there if their worst album wasn’t the only one of theirs on Metacritic. They have to be the best slightly under-the-radar punk rock band of the past decade.

I’m sorry, and I have a ton of respect for your website, but that is a joke of a list! To place System of a Down above U2 is just blasphemy. Not even mentioning Ryan Adams in the singer/songwriter category. And Radiohead?? Were they not the best of this decade…period! I think that these lists are so slanted towards indie and obscure artists that doesn’t even make sense. Where is Bruce Springsteen? U2 recorded, “All That You Can’t Leave behind”, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” and “No Line on the Horizon” and weren’t even mentioned in the all-time top 25. Ryan Adams released I believe five albums in the last 10 years and “Cold Roses”, “Jacksonville City”, and “29″ which were masterpieces in the span of a year, and to not even be on the chart for singer-songwriter makes anything on this list null and void. Why not go on user reviews or give some weighted system rather than using the so-called “experts”. It makes a mockery out of music. You all have been hung up on TV on the Radio for years.

Sigur Rós is nice to see in the top 10 but where is Muse? And Bjork is irrelevant. I don’t even know a single person who’s ever heard of Lightening Bolt and I run in circles with a lot of people, who know their music even better than me. British Sea Power?? Who?? And seriously, no Bruce Springsteen, no Ryan Adams, no Alison Krauss. Need I go on? I still give you credit for collecting the scores and doing a lot of research which has helped me decipher between good albums and albums, but at some point album sales should be calculated as well.

“Cool lists, I like to see how things rated based upon reviews at time of release. Very interesting to see how things when nostalgia comes into play. Thanks for all the hard work, Metacritic.”

Great point. A lot of artists have staying power while other artists drop off the face of the map. I do thank all of you for your hard work, and of course you will never please everyone, but there are some serious omissions.

Hey I noticed that J Dilla isn’t on the top 10 rap artists of the decade when his average was clearly above 80. The man deserves some credit for his tremendous work.

[...] other worthwhile music links: First, Metacritic says that Spoon’s albums were the best-reviewed of the decade, which is fitting, because [...]

Dear Metacritic,

You do good work. The decade ends in 2009, not ‘10. The “rest of the internet” isn’t “impatient”, they’re on the ball. Otherwise the year 2000 would’ve been a bit of a freebie, wouldn’t it?

I’ve been saying Spoon was the band of the decade for a couple of years now. I’m glad Metacritic’s got my back!

Terrible list

one more SERIOUS omission — WILCO!!

2002 — Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2004 — A Ghost Is Born
2005 — Kicking Television (Live in Chicago)
2007 — Sky Blue Sky
2009 — Wilco (The Album)

Why is it I can’t get through 3 comments in a row without someone whining like a 5-year old about how THEIR choice for #1 isn’t #1 on this list, or something similar? This isn’t YOUR list. These aren’t even Metacritic’s choices, you morons. They are based on a variety of different publications’ reviews. So slam Pitchfork, Paste, Rolling Stone, Variety, GQ, whatever. And if you’ve got an issue with it, maybe you shouldn’t be putting so much stock in what other people say about albums. Oh, that’s right – you don’t care. That’s why you’re here.

Good grief, what a bunch of pretentious jackasses.

This is the best music? No jazz category, blues, country, bluegrass, folk, Americana, classical, so forth? Leading off with Indie/Alternative. No slaves to fashion you guys! No dedicated followers of the trendy! Nooooo, not Metacritic! To some of us, Alternative Music should be renamed Alternative to Music. And let’s see, Alternative is innovative, even though much of it’s influences go back to the 70s, 80s, and early 90s? Shh, let’s not admit that most Alternative just apes what went before. Not to mention most rap. There’s no formula in those genres. No attempts at commercialism. Indie/Alternative is one of the best selling genres but not commercial? ROTFL! How can you come up with such and extensive list of movie genres and such a myopic list of music? Let us know when you really do a best music list of the decade, will ya?

Critics’ lists and picks are fine for learning about music that is not mainstream but in the end I want to hear my favourite music that speaks to me personally, not albums that are technically better or more ‘original.’ Another thing about music critics is that they never, ever criticise awful singing. I mean, Tom Waits? Bob Dylan? Jack White? Seriously? When you think about it, what the hell is with that?

I thought this list was great! The list showed us bands that have a couple of albums and all of them were pretty good. At first, I was like “where are Peter Bjorn and John?” but then I realized, that some of their albums have kinda sucked. I don’t think an artist like that should be included. It asked for best overall artists, and not best albums.

btw, rage against the machine would have OWNED in this list if they had been around a bit longer (and stayed consistent in their awesomeness).

and to people complaining about the listing order where U2 is below something like animal collective, well it wasn’t taking in to consideration popularity.

The best thing about this list is how it’s causing me to double take at some bands that I passed up a few years back. COMPLETELY forgot about Four Tet and Super Furry Animals

okay…time to complain:

of montreal? it’s unfair since they’ve made TONS of albums. 1 of them is bound to be below 80.
wilco?
interpol? their 3rd album did fall off :(

Yes, yes, Radiohead is awesome, but Spoon is as well… Kudos to the boys for not putting out crap and being consistently great. Underrated is right.

C’mon people, don’t complain. Lists like these are obviously inherently flawed. It’s interesting to see who gets the highest scores sometimes, but you can’t go around saying things like “WTF my favorite band isn’t #1?!?!” It’s pretty much just opinion. For me, Radiohead has to be my favorite of the decade. Kid A was a fantastic and truly unique record. I can’t find anything like it, and believe me, I’ve looked. But just because this list says otherwise doesn’t mean I am wrong. the list can’t be “wrong” either. I think we should stop whining that our favorite bands aren’t high on the list and just use things like these to find new artists.

Where is Lady Gaga? Not even in the pop list? Or Madonna’s Confessions album? This is smelly

It’s tough to make an end of decade list based on reviews from the time. Isn’t the point of an end of decade list that a little bit of historical perspective changes things. An album that divided opinion wildly at the time, like say Kid A, is more respected now or rejected now there’s been more time. Also, you get a feel for what albums are influential as opposed to fashionable, which metacritic cannot measure. Maybe a better way to do artist of the decade would be to take the formula above but also take into account critics end of decade lists.

I don’t understand where LCD Soundsystem would fit into your lists, but they had three releases all with a score of 86, so I feel they should be on here somewhere. At least in the best artist category, maybe?

[...] of reflection taking place over the last decade – with reviews and articles on the people, music and events – that no one event has shaped the last decade than the war on [...]

a few artist that are taken out that list will become a completely the best HIPSTER Music of the decade..unless you change the title fellows, this list is rubbish.

Nice list but the decade doesn’t end until 12/31/2010.

Great to see the Super Furry Animals getting the recognition here. I imagine it is harder to keep the score up with so many releases (Gruff Rhys had 2 solo albums out too, as well as Neon Neon)

You could also argue they had an even better decade in the 90’s with Radiator, Guerrilla, Fuzzy logic, and Mwng

There’s no way MF Doom should be off this list per your criteria – was the list of aliases simply too much to keep up with?

Good list, surprised Arctic Monkeys and the Rapture weren’t on there but Animal collective definitely deserves its spot. Pretty fair.

Never too late to give Brian Wilson the credit he deserves. His music will continue to be played and respected long after the big names of rock and roll will have been forgotten.

Smile – SMiLE is #1

I for one find it HILARIOUS that Amnesiac is “holding back” Radiohead. Amnesiac/Kid A (both from the same recording session) were two of the best albums released in the decade.

why isn’t Radiohead in any of these lists, i mean they’re probably the best band of the decade

[...] Metacritic As above, this time it’s a detailed overview of the Best Music of the Decade [...]

[...] Considering all that data, it’s perhaps no surprise that Metacritic has compiled a list of the best reviewed bands and albums this decade. The list is organized by number of great albums, as well as mean greatness, while fully [...]

As a longtime fan of Brian Wilson, I am absolutely THRILLED his album, interrupted “SMiLE” got Best Album of the Decade. It is absolute genius and now ole stupid “don’t mess with the formula” Mike Love has gotta eat his words! Ha!

Madvillainy, Love and Theft and Get Behind Me Satan are probably my favorite albums of the decade and 2 of 3 are in the top 10. And Elephant is the next best thing to Get Behind Me, so I’m ok with the list. I understand not everyone in the world shares my opinion…

I own no albums by The Super Furry Animals, so maybe I should buy one super furry fast. “The Ghost of You Lingers” alone makes Spoon the band of the decade. A close second: The National. If you disqualified their EP and debut album, they’d shoot to the top, because “Alligator” and “Boxer” are, in the context of the past ten years, masterpieces.

I can’t believe how many people are treating the list as some sort of positive/negative revelation!! It is simply a concise, distilled version of information that has been on the site since any given album was released! Yeah there’s a few niggling ommisions and errors! (what the hell do you expect???) It’s still hands down the best site in the business for finding gems!

Drive By Truckers actually released more than 4 albums between 00-09. Southern Rock Opera was released in 01. Followed by Decoration Day, The Dirty South, Blessing and a Curse and Brighter than Creations Dark, and could even put in an argument for The Fine Print. So actually thats 6, and SRO, DD, TDS, BTCD and TFP are all great albums, so 5 out of 6 are great and probably should be #1, And anybody that questions DBT, like Alex on 12/15 and brings up White Stripes and Radiohead, is a poser.

I think it goes without saying but clearly metacritic is flawed when it comes to music reviews. For example, in the realm of hip hop there is no consistent selection of reviewers, therefore there is no real control. Also, how does one gauge the reliability of critics?

As for rap more specifically this list is clearly flawed. The albums on the list were all fantastic but the list of notable absences is glaring. Where are: The Blueprint, Below The Heavens, Viktor Vaughan, (the aforementioned brother ali lps), Supreme Clientele, Food and Liqour, Stillmatic, Boy Meets World, Train Of Thought, Be etc. are all considered hip hop classics and were omitted either due to poor review pooling or just straight up omission from review. If done retrospectively, the rap list as well as many others would likely be significantly different.

Where is Q tip and Mos Def on that rap list. Kanye is SOOOOOO over rated. And Zero 7 was way to low on the list.

[...] Metacritic’s best music list [...]

I’ve never heard of more than 90% of the groups listed. WTF is this??

This is NUTS! Why did they leave the best band of all bands for all time off this this list? If you haven’t listened to Jack and the Wackjobss- Frank & Fido’s Short Walk Throught the Minefield-you haven’t lived.

No, Matt, this technically isnt the end of the decade. The first year in our calendar was called year 1, not year 0. So the first decade was year 1 to the end of year 10. all decades technically start on the 1 and end at the end of 10
(year 1 – year 10 = ten years, 2001 – 2010 = 10 years)

shakira the queen of pop!!!!

shakira shakira!!

i love fijacion oral vol1!!!

Your right Victor, Vaudeville Villain isn’t even in Metacritic yet they have Venomous Villain. Whats up with that?

As you may notice this is a summation of a critics review of the decades albums collated by metacritic. as such it is a pointer of what each critic liked or disliked and scored accordingly to their particular criteria. wether your favorite album in the world made that list is down to personal taste and not a “but it is the best” attitude. where these sites are great is in they point you in directions you may not have gone before. the xx being a case in point as I am listening to them non stop now. damn you spotify lol!!!!

This was all number crunching, not opinions. If you hate the list, you should be questioning metacritic’s entire approach of assigning numbers to reviews. I find it inherently flawed esp. when comparing all good stuff, more useful in separating wheat from chaff. These “best” lists always seem to inspire stupid quibbling, and I imagine most artists rightfully scoff at the quantification of their art into “points.” It’s pretty disgusting that any decent art will now inevitably have the putrid afterbirth of fanboys arguing over canon-worthiness.

[...] the handle saying that Band X or Band Y put out WAY better material during this time, please read Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best Music of the Decade. Not only will this article provide you with metacritic’s full list of top reviewed artists [...]

everything sucks, everyone is stupid!!! band x should have been #1, not the crap you put there!! nobody knows as much about music as i do!! in my 14 years on earth, i have developed a deeper knowledge of music than ANY critic! i mean, i watch mtv like at least 14 hours a day, like, i think i know good music when i hear it….

Stopped reading when the list wasn’t just Radiohead and Wilco with an admission that modern music is horrendous.

who the fuck is SPOON?i’ve never heard about this band in my entire life,i’m shocked!!!
I think that the best album of the decade is Parachutes by Coldplay.

anyway, i think that the music is long dead…since 2005,2006 something like that.i mean,since then we have only perenial junk & minimal music for the junkies.,awful shame the 2nd part of the last decade.
in my oppinion,from now on the music must seize to exist because it’s pseudo-music since 2004,2005,now it gets worse & worse!the best example of the death of music in overall is soulja boy…the most idiotic & full of kitsch person from the music industry in history!followed by lady caca & others.
the rock nowaday is all about speed & screamo,that’s all-the faster,the most screamo means the better nowadays,terrible shame.
the movies are still good.the video game are even better.but the music is long gone.in fact,the music overall DIED once with the death of M.JACKSON.like the grunge died with KURT COBAIN…

Wow, apparently I was mistaken about the types of music people listen to. It looks like 00’s will also go down as a decade of SHITTY MUSIC, just like the 90’s and the 80’s. Also I am disturbed (no pun intended…wait, you people probably won’t even get that joke, judging by the bands listed here…) at the lack of a Rock/Metal category. Really? How can you deny Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Mudvayne, Five Finger Death Punch, or any of the fantastic Rock/Metal bands that have come about this decade? I figured at least Linkin Park would be here somewhere, since they were pretty radio-friendly, but no! The Rock/Metal genres are completely unrepresented here! Very disappointing.

It’s too bad Metacritic has largely ignored the band Wovenhand. They have been very prolific, and in my opinion have released some of the best music of the past decade.

What!?
How could you leave out Daft Punk, one of the most influential electronic groups of all time!?

Why do you all care about a list on the internet? You all rush to correct them with YOUR opinions.

WHO CARES!

where is coldplay?….

OMG were is afI? how r they not on the list do these guys even now anything? it rlly pisses me off to see this kindof bullshit oh well ill pretend i just didnt see this lol

[...] critical acclaim is almost comically universal. In December the online review aggregator Metacritic named Spoon the best artist of the decade, above acts like Radiohead and the White Stripes. In [...]

Thanks metacritic for putting all this together – using the web site has introduced me to some great new artists over the last couple of years, and have certainly found a few new things to investigate in this decade analysis.
However, it really surprises me that so many people are blaming metacritic for poor scoring of their favourite bands – that they are willing to trawl through these lists in so much detail but fail to understand the basics of how the scoring works. Anyway, I think it’s really interesting to see how albums stand up based on their reviews at the time of their release. Metacritic must do one of the few annual and decadal lists that isn’t completely subjective and retrospective. (you only need to look at the summary of the “end of year” lists for each publication to see how different retrospective reviews are from scores-at-the-time)
Also, those comments by Arnold just above are the funniest things I’ve read in such a long time! I laughed and laughed – Thanks!

List of my favorite 20 albums of the decade:
20. Playing The Angel (Depeche Mode)
19. Silent Cry (Feeder)
18. DevilDriver (DevilDriver)
17. Echo Park (Feeder)
16. Sounds Of The Universe (Depeche Mode)
15. By The Way (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
14. Brave New World (Iron Maiden)
13. Rosenrot (Rammstein)
12. Reise, Reise (Rammstein)
11. Exciter (Depeche Mode)
10. So Many Musicians To Kill (Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldiers)
9. St. Anger (Metallica)
8. Eat Me, Drink Me (Marilyn Manson)
7. The High End Of Low (Marilyn Manson)
6. Death Magnetic (Metallica)
5. Mutter (Rammstein)
4. Dark Days (Coal Chamber)
3. The Sinister Urge (Rob Zombie)
2. The Golden Age Of Grotesque (Marylin Manson)
1. Holy Wood (Marilyn Manson)

ruined by the rich kids singing junk, my pick Highly Evolved.

WTF Lil Wayne isnt on here thats BS he killed it

this list was rubbish. where are bands like coldplay or u2? not huge fans of either but some of their albums were among the most influential of the decade for sure. if you want to check out some rankings that actually take into account what the fans think check out http://www.GoRankEm.com

@Matt is Wrong:
While all you posted is technically (here we go again) correct, it’s valid to say a decade just ended.
When mentioning or talking about 80’s music for example, do you include 1990?
Didn’t think so.

[...] Metracritic … No. 1 album: Brian Wilson, “SMILE” … No. 1 indie album: The White Stripes, “Elephant” [...]

Jesus, this list shows how slanted the critics are in favor of indie-rock. It’s not even until about number 15 that the list becomes interesting and more diverse in terms of genre. The critics would have you believe that Spoon, Sleater-Kinney, Iron & Wine, etc. had a better decade than Kanye West, Radiohead, Beyonce, Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z or Dylan. It’s preposterous.

Wow…these lists really prove unequiviocally the theorem that opinons are like assholes. You know, everyone has one. It still amazes tho that so many are so willing to reveal their assholiness. Guess I’m fortunate that I don’t know it all like so many opinionators here. I can just use these listings as a reference to discover music that I never got to. And that’s a beautiful adventure.

[...] of sites and publications out there weighing in with their rankings of the last ten years. Metacritic’s broken and incomplete rankings paint a truly strange picture. More interesting are the [...]

[...] landlocked too long After nearly two and a half years the best band of the past decade, Spoon, has decided to release a new album and that album is called “Transference.” You [...]

[...] Fresh off winning the decade of the aughts – at least according to Josh and Metacritic – Spoon [m] [w] is gets a quick start on its title defense on Tuesday, releasing [...]

[...] named as Metacritic’s band of the decade (a decision based on the music media’s overall response to their 2000 releases) is proof that for those who actually follow the industry, Spoon is the most consistent band for [...]

It’s the triumph of the indie-geeks. Where is the Country, Latin, R&B, Techno, or Worldbeat?

Thats a crap list. Eminem was mentioned once, he is the top seller of the decade and had the 2 best selling albums in 20 years. Linkin Park is not mentioned once Hybrid Theroy sold over 15,000,000. Apart from the beetles greatest hits hybrid theroy is the best selling rock album of that decade.

RUBBISH LIST

at the end of next year when the first decade of the 21st century is over….then would be the correct time to make a “best-music-of-the-decade” article.

You only have nine years of music in the first decade of this century…or did you decide to make new rules on how the years are counted?

[...] two and a half years the best band of the past decade has released a new album and it’s [...]

Super Furries rule!!! Best band that most of the US know nothing of!!
Some say the future of cement is set in stone!!!
For perspective, my lineage of favorite bands: Beatles, Three Dog Night, The Who, Yes, Talking Heads, New Order, Squeeze, Orbital, Super Furry Animals, and now Dr. Dog

Doves??

Fantastic List, would even go as far as saying best of the best of lists!!
Why, because it’s the most accurate (or reflective of my personal taste)?? Not a chance. Probably more flawed than most of the lists I’ve seen out there. But just to read all the comments above has been hilarious (and often thought provoking). Surely a list that you don’t either dismiss as appalling immediately or conversely agree with everything it says is how it should be….

I’m Bob Dylan and even I think a lot critics over rated Love and Theft. But hey, I’m Bob Dylan.

[...] The aggregate criticism site Metacritic, forever on the lookout for new ways to crunch data, crowned Spoon as their best musical artist of the decade. This wasn’t an editorial choice; they received [...]

The sources may be many, but the results still somewhat meager. No hard rock/metal, no prog rock.

Here’s my top-50, bottom to top:

50. Beardfish “Destined Solitaire” 2009
49. Dream Theater “Black Clouds and Silver Linings “2009
48. Saga “Trust” 2005
47. Magic Pie “Circus of Life” 2007
46. Marillion “Happiness is the Road” 2008
45. Rolling Stones “A Bigger Bang” 2006
44. Ritual “Think Like A Mountain” 2003
43. The Flower Kings “The Sum of No Evil” 2007
42. Dio “Magica” 2000
41. Status Quo “The Party Ain’t Over Yet” 2005

40. Puhdys “Abenteuer” 2009
39. Moon Safari “Blomljud” 2008
38. Indukti “Idmen” 2009
37. King Crimson “The Construcktion of Light” 2000
36. Arena “Pepper’s Ghost” 2005
35. Roine Stolt “Wall Street Voodoo” 2005
34. Spock’s Beard “Spock’s Beard” 2006
33. Kaipa “Angling Feelings” 2007
32. Neal Morse “Sola Scriptura” 2008
31. Agents of Mercy “The Fading Ghosts of Twilight” 2009

30. Porcupine Tree “The Incident” 2009
29. The Cardigans “Long Gone Before Daylight” 2003
28. IQ “Dark Matter” 2004
27. Conspiracy “The Unknown” 2003
26. ACT “Last Epic” 2003
25. Puhdys “Zufrieden” 2001
24. Spock’s Beard “V” 2000
23. Transtalantic “SMPTe” 2000
22. Gene simmons “Asshole” 2004
21. Porcupine Tree “Deadwing” 2005

20. David Gilmour “On An Island” 2006
19. Trettioåriga Kriget “I början och slutet” 2007
18. Eggs and Dogs “You Are” 2009
17. Transatlantic “The Whirlwind” 2009
16. Helloween “The Dark Ride” 2000
15. ACT “Imaginary Friends” 2001
14. Status Quo “Heavy Traffic” 2002
13. Deep Purple “Bananas” 2003
12. Ayreon “The Human Equation” 2004
11. David Bowie “Reality” 2003

10. Transatlantic “Bridge Across Forever” 2001
9. Masterplan “Masterplan” 2003
8. Ritual “The Hemulic Volountary Band” 2007
7. Status Quo “In Search for the Fourth Chord” 2007
6. The Flower Kings “Paradox Hotel” 2006
5. Marillion “Marbles” 2004
4. Yes “Magnification” 2001

3: MAGIC PIE “MOTIONS OF DESIRE” 2005
2: THE FLOWER KINGS “SPACE REVOLVER” 2000
1: THE FLOWER KINGS “UNFOLD THE FUTURE” 2002

[...] Austin. But if Transference on the whole is deserving of its opening address, then Spoon’s decade-plus run of excellence may just glide forward another year. –Elias [...]

Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway” is missing from the database. I believe it’s a critic favorite and would’ve given her a much higher average rating had it been taken into account. On another side note, poor Bjork, now if she didn’t release those pointless soundtrack albums…

[...] of the year” and “best of the decade” lists – from fashion to games to music to film and everything in between. As someone who loves to watch films and is passionate about [...]

no my morning jacket on this list = (almost) no credibility

So when is metacritic going to round up all the decade ending best album lists? I think we’ll be seeing a new album at number 1 cough…Kid A…cough.

It seems strange that there is so much metacritic list bashing considering they put forward no opinion on the music they list themselves but just aggregate everybody else’s opinion, most of which is already numeric anyway. You can’t really hassle them for missing certain bands out. Aren’t I stating the obvious here?

This list without metal bands is like eating pizza just with cheese on it. It definitely lacks something! What about Nile, Suffocation, Opeth, Amon Amarth, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Neurosis, Dimmu Borgir, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, Anaal Nathrakh, At The Drive In, Between The Buried And Me, Enslaved, Deftones, Meshuggah, Gojira, Mayhem, System Of A Down, In Flames, Cryptopsy, Slayer… These bands are also reviewed in different media all around the world. Maybe it is just not interesting for Metacritic, because of their preferences for Indie stuff. Metacritic is good just partially speaking and so are the lists they publish.

The main and recurring problem with the ratings on metacritic is the fact that the number of reviews an album receives are not taken into account in the total Metascore.
For example in the electronic section No.1 was The Field, which received only 14 reviews, and No.2 was The Bug which received only 10 reviews, how can the top two electronic albums, for the decade mind you, only have 24 reviews between them?? Most other acts have 30+ reviews for a single album.

the selection of genres is rediculous, you can’t take people seriously if thats all they listen too , wheres general rock? metal? blues? Dance? world? etc

[...] The Guardian asks Britt Daniel if Spoon is really the best band of the 2000s. Daniel says: ”I think my mother might have had something to do with [...]

[...] the handle saying that Band X or Band Y put out WAY better material during this time, please read Ten Years of Metacritic: The Best Music of the Decade. Not only will this article provide you with metacritic’s full list of top reviewed artists [...]

did the 90s end at the end of 2000? no, a decade is only 10 years, so you were right to make a list.

I can’t seem to fing breaking benjamin anywhere on this site. Apparently they don’t exist

Nice to see Madvilliany on the list. MF Doom and Madlib made the best hip hop collaboration of the decade by a mile.

Where the fuck is Oasis in this list?
And what about Depeche Mode and other classic stuff like that?
This list just royally sucks in my opinion..

Comment by William Birkin on 1/10/10 at 5:29am | Link to this

List of my favorite 20 albums of the decade:
20. Playing The Angel (Depeche Mode)
19. Silent Cry (Feeder)
18. DevilDriver (DevilDriver)
17. Echo Park (Feeder)
16. Sounds Of The Universe (Depeche Mode)
15. By The Way (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
14. Brave New World (Iron Maiden)
13. Rosenrot (Rammstein)
12. Reise, Reise (Rammstein)
11. Exciter (Depeche Mode)
10. So Many Musicians To Kill (Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldiers)
9. St. Anger (Metallica)
8. Eat Me, Drink Me (Marilyn Manson)
7. The High End Of Low (Marilyn Manson)
6. Death Magnetic (Metallica)
5. Mutter (Rammstein)
4. Dark Days (Coal Chamber)
3. The Sinister Urge (Rob Zombie)
2. The Golden Age Of Grotesque (Marylin Manson)
1. Holy Wood (Marilyn Manson)

Dude.. I love you, there’s 3 times Depeche Mode in it!
They’re really my favorite band, too bad none of their albums made it to the list though..

I laughed out loud when I saw this list. Spoon??? Are you friggin’ serious? Where is Metacritic going to compile these lists? Any list that claims that Spoon and Sleater Kinney are in the top ten best bands of the past decade is a farce. Iron & Wine at number 9? This is surely a joke, right? I guess Metacritic is only counting fey, emo, folk outlets to compile their rating system. Where is Boards Of Canada, or any electronic artist for that matter?
Sufjan Stevens!!! HAHHHHAAAAA!!!! The laughs keep coming!!!

Brian Wilson is not an American composer. Yes, he is American and yes he is a composer, but Brian’s music is timeless perfection that has worldwide appeal and as the decades continue to pass, his work will continue to be on top. Brian’s music is love and that love is for the world!

where is Smog/bill Callahan?? and Of Montreal? and Liars? and Grizzlye Bear (2 albums and an album long EP) ? and Bonnie Prince Billy/Will Oldham?

So ecstatic the decade’s greatest album in my eyes, XTRMNTR, is getting the recognition it deserves. It pretty much eXTeRMiNaTes every other record of the past 10 years.

Primal Scream are one of the best bands of our time. Their other albums this decade (excepting Riot City Blues) have been phenomenal too. I was hoping to they’d make it into the top bands list but I’m guessing RCB’s lukewarm reception screwed it up for them. A damn shame.

It’s just a fun little list of music that critics like, it’s not the end of the world if your favourite band’s not on there, who cares. Music critics are, for the most part, just music fans with a strong opinion and good grammar.

[...] The 2000s, well … the “& the” band name construction seemed to have lost its luster in the 2000s. Admittedly, it was hard to find a decent list of even the hit songs for the years 2000 to 2009, but each one I checked failed to deliver an “& the” band. (Here’s one list I found for the 2000s.) [...]

LOL at list. In a perfect world a system that rated music based on critics’ opinion would never happen because who gives a fuck about critics’ opinions?

what a sh*tty ass list. seriously, i know it’s “cool” to like bands like these and even cooler to make lists like these but seriously i bet ya’ll listen to your old Journey and Megadeth cd’s ten times more than you listen to this crap. i wager none of these (except tom waits!) makes anyone real deserted island comps…

Btw, Leslie? DEATH MAGNETIC and ST. ANGER are two of the absolute *worst* albums. ever. i won’t even say worst metallica albums. they are just flat out worst. their inclusion on yoru list is proof nobody should care about your list. sorry.

I think this is an incredibly accurate list if you consider the years 2000 to 2009 criteria. Sleater Kinney is an incredible band. Other than Time magazine (who rated them the best band of the year in 2002) they recieved minimal recognition from mainstream media (like Spoon did recieve). Despite this, they remained on top in the indie world. I had a chance to see Janet drum with Quasi down at SXSW last week and the girl has definitely still got it. I can’t wait to see SK on stage again….and according to Carrie, it might happen sooner than we think.

Hmm, i guess it really helps to have a penis if you aim to get a good metacritic score.

I’m guessing the White Stripes are the only band that got the praise they deserved based on this list. I mean total crap crap crap the whole way through this list. I give this metacritic list a 5/100, and that certainly isn’t flawed.

[...] Spoon (April 1) – Metacritic proclaimed that Spoon was the most consistently critically acclaimed band of the last decade. Given the amount of solid work that it released, that’s just about right. Aragon Ballroom, 1106 [...]

I call shenanigans! Muse should be in the bottom part of the Indie/Alternative bands, they’ve received average reviews of 73 from their 3 albums that are on here.

Calling Spoon the artist of the decade is ridiculous to your credibility, you know that right? I mean come on, you can’t choose an artist of the decade based solely on reviews, and you can’t expect to have gotten every review ever.

White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Muse, all candidates for artist of the decade. Not Spoon.

it seems to me that you guys exclude metal from all of these features that you do on music. it is alienating a large group of people who enjoy that kind of thing.

[...] Best Bands: 1. Spoon, 2. Sigur Ros, 3. Super Furry Animals, 4. Sleater-Kinney, 5. The White Stripes. 6. Animal Collective, 7. Drive By Truckers, 8. Lightening Bolt, 9. Iron and Wine, 10. The Hold Steady. [...]

[...] Will Ferrell film “Stranger than Fiction.”  According to the review aggregation site Metacritic, Spoon were the best-reviewed rock band of the past decade, receiving “accolades from the [...]

wow people get all personal about this…music is so subjective that I don’t see how/why some freak out about their personal favorite bands being too low or a band that they dislike being so high. That’s why some fans get trolled hard by other fans–they invite it almost. For how its done I think this list is great, whether or not Spoon is “my artist” of the decade or not is completely irrelevant. Take it for what it is, a critical index of artists in this decade and it is perfect

no gorillaz?!!!! i love the gorillaz. but you din’t include the gorillaz!!!!!!????????????????????????????

I know this is technically the best metacritic scored albums of the decades, but their list fails as a best of the decade list simply because some of the greatest albums simply get better with time, so reviews from the point of release date may be inaccurate, which explains to me why the best album of the decade, Modest Mouse’s Moon and Antarctica, is excluded. On the other hand, time has shown that some albums, due to hype or some other zeitgeist, may be considered great originally, but as the years go by they may lose some of their quality. This is what I think will happen to Animal Collective’s MPP, by far their weakest album of the decade.

Also, I do love Spoon, but they are totally smarmy, in a good way.

Where in the fuck is all the metal?

What a great list. Good to see these artists getting recognition instead of the usual boring top 100 lists which always include really lame and daggy artists like U2, Madonna, Ryan Adams ??? lol etc.

As of today, LCD Soundsystem did truly put out three actual albums in this decade. The first two scored 86, while the latest one even has an average score of 88. So put James Murphy on the list, please. Now!

Oh wait, I just realized it’s 2010, so his Murphy’s latest album is a no go, as it’s from this decennium, while this list if for the last decennium, the one that we left behind about five months ago. Sorry about that. Great list indeed, by the way.

So, this is the list that Metacritic’s model produced. I suggest that the weighting attributed to reviewing publications needs to be modified because this list doesn’t represent the best albums or the best reviewed albums of the decade. I’ve always thought that Metacritic scores are too heavily influenced by Pitchfork but these results suggest a more serious issue in the model.

These comments are great fun to read–it turns out that everyone (what a shock!) is a critic. Perhaps Metacritic should do a meta-summary of the opinions included here.

Really, I want to give all kudos to Metacritic. The internet is all about accessing information, and I always learn something, discover some great music or movie from Metacritic’s aggregation of reviews. In fact, I routinely toggle back and forth between Metacritic and Netflix to update my queue with the latest/greatest dvd releases.

So thanks Metacritic.

“Where the fuck is Oasis in this list?
And what about Depeche Mode and other classic stuff like that?
This list just royally sucks in my opinion..”
I don’t get why you would assume these bands appear in a list of this decade on the strength of their 80’s and 90’s work.
For Oasis: Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants received universally horrible reviews. So did Heathen Chemistry. The other two albums generally got average reviews.
For Depeche Mode: All three albums got average reviews.

WOW THIS IS A JOKE! Spoon? WHERE IS LINKIN PARK? Linkin Park is one of the most successful bands of ALL TIME let alone the decade, and not even mentioned once. Im guessing this guy who wrote this is part of spoon because this list is fucking bullshit!

“Yo Kanye, we’re really happy for you, but OutKast had one of the best decades of all time.”

LOL.

Props to my band the Roots, made it onto Top 10 rap artists of the decade.

i like this list, but where WHERE is the ROCK list, i dont mean the shit indie/alternative i mean the real ROCK LIST, where is it? WTH!?

SMiLE is not only the best album of the decade, it’s the best album of the last 50 years (even unfinished)…. every artist on all these lists and those mentioned in the forum have been inspired by the man, so please stop bitching because your favorite artist’s favorite artist is number 1.

I weep for the future…

Thanks for the laugh buddy, that was golden.

JOKE! U2 won swept the grammys two albums in a row (All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), they should be in the top ten, period! But then again, based on the how much they are raking in from their record setting 360 Tour, I don’t think they care too much!

well now that SMILE is #1 of the decade why is it not up there with the all time albums? PET SOUNDS / Pepper/ SMILE

Oasis, Linkin Park, U2 – there are good reasons why these bands do not feature. The results here are based on the quality of the music (as per the critics) not how many copies the albums sell (which also reflects marketing, the success of individual songs and band image). Oasis had 2 excellent albums in the 90’s followed by a rapid downhill spiral, linkin park have in my opinion produced nothing beyond mediocre and U2 were an 80’s band.
It is good to see many real musical talents recognised here. How many people have actually heard the consistent quality produced by the likes of Gruff Rhys and the Super Furry Animals?

Indubitable, Kid A by Radiohead is the best cd of the decade…..

[...] Spoon – Transference Another Spoon album.  Another solid collection of Spoon songs.  They do nothing especially new here but that is fine.  I love Spoon.  The are consistent.  In fact, they were named the 00′s most consistently awesome band. [...]

[...] has been around since the mid-90′s… they actually own the distinction of being Metacritic’s “Top Overall Artist of the Decade,” which is a nice thing to put on their resume. How they came up with this is based on the following [...]

Outkast have been amazing since day one so no surprise to see them there. Though I’m amazed Lupe Fiasco hasn’t made this list, he is quite simply the most talented rapper I’ve heard in years, and has 2 great albums under his belt.

And all those people mentioning Linkin Park, jeez I used to like them when I was 16 at the turn of the decaded but looking back now their music is embarrassing beyond belief, totally cliched riffs, cliched lyrics, just awful fake “angst”. It would have been nice to see the Arctic Monkeys up there, Blur only released one album in the last decade in “Think Tank” but that was a masterpiece, the Chili Peppers’ “By The Way” was another record I’ll be playing for the rest of my life, should have had a mention on that list.

This is pretty much proof that music is dying…

And why is there no rock or metal? All I see is alternative rock

Not ONE decent rock band that isn’t some avante garde piece of shit that hipsters fondle each other to. Has rock and roll been fucking castrated? No Audioslave? Airbourne? Alice in Chains? Black Stone Cherry? Velvet Revolver? Metallica? Seriously? Probably for the better, music critics are the most full of shit and pretentious people on this planet- keep away from my music, you trendy nutless fucks.

It’s always funny to me that whenever anyone does a list for pop music compiling reviews, ultimately the bulk of rap albums end up lower than all the Rock/Singer-Songwriter/Electronic/Indie/whatever albums, and sooner than later here comes the “You’re all just a bunch of stupid white people,” argument. Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker experiences it every single time he makes the most slight critique- regardless of how much evidence in which he roots that critique.
My sense of irony is only further heightened by the awareness that white people are even more avid consumers of Rap music than black people since 2000 (meaning that white people are at least educated in the subject that apparently only they are criticizing, negatively); whereas Afro-Americans have been shown to consume primarily Rap and R&B as their music, and do not cross DuBois’s “color line” of musical production in their consumption.

IMO, stop being so fucking racist. Maybe Rap isn’t all that great.

To move on, Spoon on top of the list clearly indicates the shortcoming of this methodology of rating music. Every methodology has its shortcoming; if we were to use popular acclaim as our measuring stick, Eminem would sit on the throne here.

Clearly the best methodology lies somewhere in the middle. If you remove all the bands that really failed to sell a mainstream level of albums, you come up with a really short list:
1) The White Stripes
2) Outkast
3) Radiohead
4) Kanye West

I’d definitely prefer Radiohead on #1, and I find it retarded that the second half of Kid A is the album “holding them back”, but all in all, I’d say those are the 4 giants that affected their respective genres in almost every possible venue.

Pendulum isn’t even on Metacritic, even though they put out what is in my opinion some of the best electronic and drum & bass music of the decade.

Pendulum get some pretty diabolical reviews. Probably just as well they are not here for you to see. Glad you enjoy it though

They don’t even bother listing Bruce Springsteen? There’s something wrong with that picture…

Why are The Shins and Arcade fire left out of the list?

Neon Bible by The Arcade Fire (2007) – 87
Funeral by The Arcade Fire (2004) – 90
The Suburbs by The Arcade Fire (2010) 87

Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins (2003) – 88
Wincing The Night Away by The Shins (2007) – 79

Anyone who uses Metacritic for Music needs to visit Rateyourmusic.com and never use Metacritic for music again…

Metacritic is great for Movies, but horrible for Music. Spoon is a fine band but there’s no way they’re near the top of the decade, but it’s not offensive that they are at the top of the list knowing the way the list is calculated.

The scores are way too high on average across the board for Music. They should be more like the movie averages where Red and Yellow dominate with sprinkled Green. This is important given the current state of Music and Movies largely being made from purely a profit motive with little or no attention to art.

QOTSA should be higher, Rated R is not included on Metacritic’s website, which is a shame cause it has universal acclaim.