The Top Five Albums of 2002

2002 was a diverse, multifaceted year for music with classic records being made in all genres. There were watershed moments for rap, rock, pop, alternative, R&B and more. Let's send up this wonderful year celebrating its 20th anniversary by counting down the five best albums that defined the year!

Let's get it going!

#5: When I Was Cruel - Elvis Costello & The Imposters (1 hour and 2 minutes, Alternative Rock/Singer-Songwriter)

Elvis Costello’s first album of the new millennium was both a radical shift and more of the same from new wave’s sharpest songwriter. Here he reunites with two of his old bandmates and one new bass player for form his first stable backing band since the mid-80s and that full band chemistry helps him deliver one of the most electrifying and intense sets of his career, letting loose with some vicious rock muscle as well as some of Costello’s sharpest lyrical barbs in years. In many ways it feels like a return to his late-70s and early-80s heyday, but with new more mature twists, both in the songwriting and in the sonic palette, which drifts more contemplative and tropical at points. Elvis has never been afraid to try new things and that is evident here, easily his best work of the whole decade and some of his most ambitious and eclectically unhinged songs period.

Key Tracks: "When I Was Cruel No. 2" and "Episode of Blonde"

#4: Songs About Jane - Maroon 5 (45 minutes, Pop/Rock)

Maroon 5 were never quite the hip or cool band to like, but on their debut album they were absolutely a band to watch, a gloriously melodic pop-rock band that blended the funky easy-going grooves of The Red Hot Chili Peppers with the effortless melodies and crooning falsetto vocals of a spry pop act. They split the difference between guitar driven rockers and plush acoustic ballads better than they ever would again, but the key is that the instrumental work exhibits the band’s ample chops and chemistry, not letting Adam Levine’s pretty boy schtick take over too much. This is the group’s only album that truly feels like a band project and for that it is a success and is easily one of the best slick arena pop-rock records of the year.

Key Tracks: "This Love", "She Will Be Loved" and "Sunday Morning"

#3: Phrenology - The Roots (1 hour and 7 minutes, Neo-Soul/East Coast Hip-Hop)

The Roots are a band that’s almost impossible to categorize as purely hip hop, they bridge jazz, funk, Neo-soul, rock and so much more than purely rap, even though they are home to Black Thought, one of the game’s most skilled and thought provoking MCs and on this album they show the breadth of their talent and skill as a musical collective by leaving rap behind for the most part and taking part in vast ambitious genre excursions like ten minute jazz epics, funky rock songs and straight up punk screeds alongside their usual brew of Neo-soul and hip hop. As usual the band’s murderer’s row of collaborators show up to take the band to the next level, but the synergy between Black Thought and drummer and producer extraordinaire Questlove is at its best. While this is far from the group’s most representative LP it might be their most impressive and wide ranging.

Key Tracks: "Water", "Thought @ Work" and "The Seed 2.0"

#2: Under Construction - Missy Elliott (56 minutes, Hip-Hop)

Missy Elliott and Timbaland were two collaborators that were perfectly suited to each other and this record is a true testament to what happens when they bring out the best in each other. Missy, as always, is dropping hilarious and braggadocios rhymes that flow effortlessly from her charismatic voice and ebullient personality but this album is mainly a love letter to the music that raised her, both musically and lyrically paying homage to early hip hop, with Missy and her friends Ludacris, Jay-Z and Method Man sending up the golden age of rap while Timbaland’s beats transform and chop up old samples into beats that feel nostalgic yet relentlessly forward thinking in a way only he can, while still packing the dance floors. Missy and Timbo have never made a more fun or consistently engaging LP, there’s almost no filler, a rarity for an early 00s rap record, and every track boasts quotable and head knocking beats. Missy and Timbo’s peak as the dynamic duo of the turn of the century.

Key Tracks: "Gossip Folks", "Funky Fresh Dressed" and "Work It"

#1: Kill the Moonlight - Spoon (34 minutes, Indie/Alternative Rock)

Indie rock is a genre where many bands burn bright for a short time, seizing a moment, capturing the zeitgeist for a year or two and then fading, but Spoon were never that sort of act. Spoon were in it for the long haul, and over their twenty five year career they’ve dropped quality project after quality project, always shifting their unique brand of indie rock so each album feels fresh. This album though is special in their catalog, their fourth record, was where Britt Daniel and the band delivered their first true masterpiece, an album with no filler and just muscular indie rock songs with catchy, hook laden guitar riffs and piano work that make this feel incredibly cohesive while still packing in creative standouts throughout. Almost every song has a unique element to help it stand out, from beatboxing to piano to glassy synth work, but best of all is that this is some of the highest, most forceful songwriting to grace any indie record. Daniel and company would go on to make even stronger albums but this is where they made the leap from a good indie band to arguably the best there ever was. If you want to start with this band, I can’t think of a better introduction than this excellent record.

Key Tracks: "The Way We Get By", "Stay Don't Go", "Small Stakes" and "Jonathan Fisk"

Thanks for going on this musical journey through 2002 with me to celebrate 20 years of these amazing albums! Look out for the Top Five Albums of 2012 very soon! A big thank you to every artist who made the list and many more who could have (honorable mentions below)! Happy 20th anniversary to all these truly classic records that have impacted my life for the better!

Honorable Mentions:

Justified - Justin Timberlake (1 hour and 3 minutes, R&B/Pop)

Heathen - David Bowie (51 minutes, Art Rock)

Brainwashed - George Harrison (47 minutes, Rock/Singer-Songwriter)

Dap-Dippin' with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (37 minutes, R&B/Soul/Funk)