The Top Ten Albums of 2003

2003 brought some absolute heat to the music scene in a wide variety of arenas, with hip-hop popping off with countless classics, pop knocking out several gems from both new and established artists and the alternative scene which was blossoming into its post-golden age self quite beautifully. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of these landmark albums I've chosen to count down my ten favorite records that made the year such a magical time.

Let's get into it!

#10) This Is Not a Test! - Missy Elliott (56 minutes, Hip-Hop/R&B)

Missy Elliott's fifth album, and her last full length collaboration with legendary producer Timbaland feels like both more of the same from the hitmaking duo while also showing a desire from Missy to branch out from her typical Timbo-laced bangers into something more R&B focused. Missy sings on this record more than ever, delivering a few sultry ballads to mix up the tempo, but as always the best songs are where Missy's laid back, endlessly flexible flow meshes with Timbaland's punchy, rhythmic beats to craft banger after banger. There are more features here than ever before, namely from R&B and dancehall artists and while they bring diversity, they are the least functional aspect here. The album soars when it's just Missy on the mic. This record marks the definitive end of her imperial era as queen of rap, and it's damn fun victory lap for the dynmaic duo of the late 90s and early 00s.

Essential Tracks: "Pass That Dutch" "Wake Up" "I'm Really Hot"

#9) Take This to Your Grave - Fall Out Boy (39 minutes, Pop-Punk/Rock)

Fall Out boy's auspicious major label debut album is a jolt of energetic pop-punk, a shock to the system that introduces this devilishly lovable and idiosyncratic band to the scene, establishing their quirks and strengths with a set of memorable and hard-hitting slices of poppy rock. The synergy of Patrick Stump's inimitable caterwauling tenor voice and Pete Wentz' hyper-specific, smarmy lyrics and catchy, quickfire riffs are immediate, building the band a highly distinct identity from the first song. The song titles are ridiculously long and rarely have anything to do with the lyrics, in classic Fall Out Boy fashion, with their wicked sense of humor being a key strength. What makes this different from their later more polished efforts are those last vestiges of hardcore punk, with a few intermittent screams to give this a heavier approach than their most famous work. The group's next couple albums would improve on this approach, crafting near perfect pop-punk opuses, this debut is Fall Out Boy to a T, and it's a riot all the way through.

Essential Tracks: "Dead on Arrival" "Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy" "Saturday"

#8) Dangerously in Love - Beyoncé (1 hour, R&B/Pop)

After three albums from R&B girl group royalty Destiny's Child it was no question as to who the breakout solo star of the group would be. Beyoncé had the vivacious personality, the brilliant vocals and star quality to be a superstar, and this her, confident debut album proves that in spades. This album doesn't do a ton to deviate from the poppy R&B and danceable club fodder of her Destiny's Child era, but the songs do a lot to spotlight her voice, with her riffs being the absolute star here. The best songs are the more upbeat entries where Beyoncé flirts with hip-hop, showing how deftly she can dart between being a soulful balladeer and the queen of the dancefloor. She pulls out all the stops here, with great guest spots from icons like Missy Elliott, Big Boi, Sean Paul, Luther Vandross and Jay-Z but the star is always Bey herself dominating the proceedings. This, like most pop records of the time, is a little over long and heavy on ballads, but when this album hits it hits harder than most other pop star debuts tend to. Beyoncé arrives on the scene as a bonafide star, and she would only get bigger from here. The Queen's reign begins here.

Essential Tracks: "Crazy in Love" "Me, Myself and I" "Naughty Girl"

#7) Frank - Amy Winehouse (58 minutes, R&B/Jazz-Pop)

Amy Winehouse's debut is quite different from her much more acclaimed and popular breakout record "Back to Black", where that album harks back to the 60s Motown soul and pop that she loved so dearly all with a thick layer of irony and self-hatred, this is a much quieter, cynical record. Amy is most obviously influenced by the jazz greats on here, turning in acerbic yet beautiful ballads about her own romantic blunders and dismissals of unbelievably lame men. The genius here is in the way Winehouse's gorgeous crooning voice mixes with the forward thinking production from Salaam Remi who infuses the proceedings with hints of neo-soul and hip-hop to make it feel current. Amy is as hilarious and withering as ever with her pen, with barely a song going by that she doesn't land a knockout punch on someone else or mainly herself. These songs aren't quite the focused pop masterpices of her follow up, but as a debut album, Amy carved out a distinctly unique niche that no one else dared to try, cause they couldn't possibly do it better than her.

Essential Tracks: "You Sent Me Flying" "Fuck Me Pumps" "In My Bed"

#6) Room on Fire - The Strokes (32 minutes, Indie/Garage Rock)

The Strokes debut album was a breath of fresh air to a stale rock scene, injecting some much needed energy and attitude with their brash style of garage rock led by the enigmatic, marble-mouthed Julian Casablancas. On their second album they take the charm and immediacy of "Is This It" and replicate it but on a much bigger scale, creating an album that feels like their debut on steriods, with heavier riffs, more anthemic rockers and more intimate, soulful ballads. While the rockers are some of their most potent, featuring stellar guitar work and catchy hooks, it is the ballads that make this one of their best, showing off a more earnest side than their snotty debut let on. Casablancas proves himself a more than capable vocalist, with a range of emotion while the band also delivers some much needed versatility. Perhaps it was this success that made the group branch out a little too much in the future, but this is the perfect blend of original Strokes ramshackle genius and later experimentation.

Essential Tracks: "Reptilia" "The End Has No End" "12:51" "Under Control"

#5) Hail to the Thief - Radiohead (56 minutes, Alternative/Art-Rock)

Radiohead's sixth album takes everything from their previous work from the gorgeous soaring alternative rock ballads and scuzzy Brit-Pop meets grunge of "The Bends", the ambitious, epic experimental guitar rock of "OK Computer" and the ersatz ambient and electronic work of "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" and blends it into what could be seen as the ultimate Radiohead experience, the culmination of their first ten years. This album is all over the place, like a traditional double album, but it is that breadth and scope that makes this record feel so full and spirited. Yorke and the band haven't rocked this hard in years, with some of their most vital guitar-driven anthems in ages all with a vicious, political bent that gives them a reason to shout, yet the ballads are just as lovely, letting Yorke's voice shine in its unique, unsettling glory. The more electronic, experimental tracks falter in comparison to their last couple of albums, lacking the scope and cinematic approach of their best ambient pieces, but everything else shows the band delivering tons of inspired work. This album shows Radiohead transitioning from the young, upstart band that relentlessly pushed the genre forward to becoming alt-rock elder statesmen in a graceful and powerful way. Their career was far from over, they would continue to make utterly brilliant work, but in a way, this is the end of an era. A celebration of early Radiohead.

Essential Tracks: "Mxyomatosis" "2+2=5" "There There" "A Wolf at the Door"

#4) Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - OutKast (2 hours and 14 minutes, Southern Hip-Hop/Progressive Soul)

The double album, particularly in hip-hop, has a storied history. It is usually a signal of ultimate ambition, a rapper at the top of their proverbial game showing off for a marathon session of bars, or indulging in experimentation. OutKast was never a traditional rap group, so this is far from a regular rap double, it's an entity all its own, a cosmic gumbo of southern hip-hop, funk, R&B, jazz and so much more. In fact, it's really two albums. OutKast are a duo, and their first four albums showed how dazzling they could be when working together, but on this, we get to see Big Boi and André 3000 both flex as solo acts, turning in one half of the album and the result is both a showcase of their ridiculous individual talents but also shows that maybe they work better together. Big Boi's half of the record is a deeply groovy southern Hip-Hop record full of bars, luxuriously smooth flows and funky beats. It goes to show that when apart from his partner he really is a superb rapper, dropping relatable verses that feel far more grounded than his more offbeat friend. André 3000's half is a far different experience, in fact it is barely even an out and out rap record, while he spits a few fiery verses, the record is an experimental one where André turns into the modern day Prince crafting nutty funky jams, instrumental jazz grooves and full on pop bangers showcasing his great singing voice. These two albums don't really go together, but as a package deal they show both what an André solo career would have looked like if we were luckier, while also proving Big Boi is a damn great solo artist in his own right. OutKast might have been past their peak as a duo, but even when they are on their own, they knock it out of the park.

Essential Tracks: "Hey Ya!" "Roses" "Bowtie" "She Lives in My Lap" "GhettoMusick" "A Life in the Day of Benjamin André" "The Way You Move"

#3) The Diary of Alicia Keys - Alicia Keys (57 minutes, R&B/Neo-Soul)

If Alicia Keys is good at one thing, it is making lovely, warm soulful albums that feel remarkably intimate, in her best moments it feels like she's serenading you alone at her piano, and this album features plenty of those delightful moments. Alicia's songwriting here is earnest and deeply soulful, radiating her gorgeous sense of melody that suits her rich, smooth vocals. The piano ballads were the star of her debut record, and while the ballads here are superb and well-written she branches out here with a lush, more fully produced sound with subtle hints of hip-hop production giving the album an upbeat bounce that provides some stylistic diversity. Keys models the album off of her neo-soul idols like Erykah Badu and D'Angelo, balancing out the intimate ballads with spirited pop tracks and sultry grooves, making a record that can easily stand up to her peers. Keys truly peaked in her artistry with this album, delivering a consistently dazzling set of soulful compositions all meant to highlight her uncompromising, earnest performances.

Essential Tracks: "You Don't Know My Name" "If I Ain't Got You" "Heartburn" "Karma" "Diary"

#2) Elephant - The White Stripes (49 miuntes, Garage Rock/Blues Rock)

Jack White has always been a rock revivalist at heart, and in the wrong hands revivalism can be bland and reductive but the way Jack does it is absolutely invigorating, granting new life to long forgotten strands of garage rock, blues and straight ahead meat and potatoes rock. With Jack's sharp, memorable guitar work, delivering riff after bone-crushing riff as well as juicy solos and Meg White's basic, yet propulsive drumming the group is as simple a duo as rock gets, but the song craft is unmatched, taking the simplicity and immediacy of the group's earlier work and giving it a greater sense of stylistic diversity and ambition. Jack White mostly leaves behind the straight ahead blues rock and punky rock screeds for a more classic rock influenced sound, delivering Zeppelinesque arena-shakers to indie rock styled rave-ups, all sporting infectiously high energy. It's hard to describe this record because it feels so rooted in tradition, this is an archetypal rock album, showing us that Jack White might have been the last of a dying breed of rock stars. Tradition has never sounded so vital.

Essential Tracks: "Seven Nation Army" "The Hardest Button to Button" "There's No Home for You Here" "You've Got Her in Your Pocket" "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine"

#1) The Black Album - Jay-Z (55 minutes, East Coast Hip-Hop)

There's something about the end of something that tends to bring out the best in certain artists, and Jay-Z is no exception to the rule, with this, his supposed retirement album showing off a rapper who refuses to phone in a single performance, delivering banger after banger resulting in a triumphant showcase of his unmatched lyricism, infectious braggadocio and his charismatic flows. While it was doubtful that he ever was gonna hang it up forever, the conceit inspired Jay to drop what might be the most lyrical album of his career. These are some of his most dense and impactful verses and throwing out incredibly memorable punchlines in the process. The production suits him brilliantly, with HOVA getting laced with silky smooth beats from The Neptunes, rhythmically enthralling Timbaland romps, fantastic soul sample flips from Kanye and absolute heat from Just Blaze. Jay delivers bars about everything from detailing his meteoric rise to fame, his childhood, his girl problems, religion, racism, partying and just flowing about flowing in classic Rakim-esque style. The record pulls no punches, showing us exactly why nobody wanted Jay to leave, because the man is at the top of his game lyrically, and that made the proceedings all the more show-stopping. With this record, Jay delivers an "Encore" to die for.

Essential Tracks: "99 Problems" "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" "Encore" "Lucifer" "My 1st Song" "What More Can I Say"

Thanks for going on this musical journey through 2003 with me to celebrate 20 years of these amazing albums! Look out for the Top Fifteen Albums of 2013 very soon!

Happy 20th Anniversary to some truly great albums!