I wrote last week about how few women cracked my top ten albums of 2001 (few as in one, Lucinda Williams). Is that because I wasn’t as open to female artists back then or was it not a great year for women in music?
Probably more the former than the latter, but I will submit that the most acclaimed release by a woman that year was Björk’s Vespertine, and I’ve heard enough of it to know that it definitely wouldn’t have won me over then, and it sure isn’t going to win me over now either.
The White Stripes’ third album, White Blood Cells, was released in 2001 to universal acclaim and a rising tide of publicity. Music critics were going gaga over the “brother/sister” band that was actually a former married couple, who wore only black, red and white, who performed with guitar and drums but never a bass, and who made a living resurrecting the blues.
The scrutiny was wearing on Jack and Meg White during the recording of White Blood Cells, and they nodded to it with the album’s cover photo, which depicts them surrounded by shadowy figures wielding cameras and microphones.
My musical landscape was so narrow at the turn of the millennium that Destiny’s Child somehow completely escaped my attention. The trio’s 2001 album Survivor was a massive hit but not one I listened to even once.
One great thing about the streaming era is the freedom it gives you to listen to any number of different genres without the monetary risk. In fact, the more new music you consume the more of a bargain you’re getting for the $10-15 per month you’re spending with Apple, Amazon or Spotify. Back in 2001, I wouldn’t have dropped $12 to buy an R&B album on spec. Today, I’d at least give it a shot.
After counting down my own favorite albums of 2001, I now turn my attention to ten albums from that year that I don’t know well. This is the part of the Decades series that is usually both reassuring and disappointing for me.
The fact is, I almost never unearth any albums in this process that break into my regular rotation. So that tells me I must be doing a pretty good job rooting out the things I like in the first place. But on the flip side, I’d really like to find some new gem that has a real chance of cracking my own list of favorites.
U2’s 2014 album Songs of Innocence is best remembered as the record Apple uploaded for free to every iTunes user, a move Tim Cook described as “the largest album release of all time.”
It was also a move that revealed just how little relevance U2 had to the new generation, as the predominant reaction by millions of young people was “What the hell is a U2 and why is it on my phone all of a sudden?”
Meet Me In Montauk 