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Hey Scott, this is an interesting question. Do you see the way bands tour changing in the future? - Scott from San Jose We’re so used to injuries in sports, but now it seems like music is experiencing its own DL. The financial pressure to keep these tours going must be immense. Fans are obviously bummed, especially with “destination” shows like Red Rocks. Now Rage Against The Machine canceled their European tour due to Zack De La Rocha’s torn achilles. Recently, My Morning Jacket had to cancel shows due to Jim James contracting Covid. I personally was present for Pearl Jam’s recent Oakland shows where Matt Cameron had Covid and they had a rotating cast of drummers helping them out. I can’t say it’s the best based on the aforementioned criteria, but it’s the one I’ve played the most, and maybe that’s enough.Īs we’ve watched tours from 2020 finally get off the ground in 2022, I can’t remember a time when so many bands face possible tour-destroying injuries. 1, followed by Post Malone’s Beer Bongs And Bentleys, Dua Lipa’s Dua Lipa, Post Malone’s Hollywood Bleeding, and Ed Sheeran’s x.įinally, I guess I’ll just go with my gut: My favorite album of the 21st century so far is probably Lost In The Dream by The War On Drugs. How’s that for a list to make you regret that music continued to exist after Y2K? The list of most streamed albums is somewhat better: Ed Sheeran’s ÷ is No. How about the populist angle? If we judge “best” strictly on the basis of record sales - an insane proposition, I know, but let’s proceed with the thought experiment anyway - then the top record is easily Adele’s 21 - it’s moved a staggering 31 million units! - followed by Eminem’s The Eminem Show, Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me, Adele’s 25, and Evanescence’s Fallen.
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If we’re talking strictly about Kanye West records, you could make a case that 808s And Heartbreak changed hip-hop more profoundly than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, paving the way for Drake, Kid Cudi, Post Malone and so much Soundcloud rap.
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This is an imperfect metric, I know, but anecdotally those two records (along with Beyonce’s Lemonade and Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black) seem like the most canonical records of recent times.īut what about influence? I’m not sure if any of those records are as influential as Daft Punk’s Discovery or Frank Ocean’s Blonde in terms of how pop music in general sounds in our era. 17 and 19 respectively) of all the albums released this century. I’m basing this on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time, published in 2020, in which those two albums placed the highest (No. If the standard then for “best album” is wider critical consensus, I would say that the best album of the 21st century is a toss up between Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. Didn’t British rock bands stop impacting culture in a major way after the last century ended? I can’t say I have a compelling argument to refute that. Kid A to me fits the bill better than any other album released during the 21st century.īut I am only one person! Clearly, there are people for whom the idea of a British rock band making the best album of this century is laughable. It’s understood that for an album to be designated “best” it must have the following qualities (aside from being musically great, of course): cultural import, widespread influence, lasting relevance across generations, an ineffable “meatiness” or “weightiness” that suggests a certain towering stature. What I’m arguing, I suppose, is that it’s the most important album of the past 22 years, which is usually how music critics contextualize a “best album” for a particular period of time. (Have I somehow not mentioned this before? It is still available wherever you buy books!) The thesis of This Isn’t Happening is that Radiohead’s fourth album is an overture for the 21st century, in that it captures how it feels to be alive during this moment in history better than any other record I can think of. That is a big question, Kenny! And one that I feel like is impossible to answer definitively, because it can be answered in so many different ways.įor instance, I wrote a book a few years ago called This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ And The Beginning Of The 21st Century. Also: Lists! Here’s a big question for you: What is the best album of the 21st century so far? - Kenny from Little Rock, Arkansas It’s been a pretty weird couple of decades! But rather than dwell on the many disasters of our era, I’m going focus on something positive: Music. Please keep them coming at are now almost 22 years into the 21st century. Welcome to another installment of Ask A Music Critic! And thanks to everyone who has sent me questions.