HGWTY returns to the 21st Century after 1977 scored deservedly well.
I was 18/19 during 2001 so this was quite a formative time for me, and I imagine I’m not alone here given the demographics of the site. So I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing what you rated then and what you make of it now!
A reminder of the premise of the thread
After a number of days of posting and reminiscing, we’ll be rating the music of the year out of ten, based on the albums, singles, gigs, whatever that stand out for you that year, and voting for our favourite nominated albums and songs.
Everyone can nominate one album and one song from the year which will then be collated into side-polls two days before the thread closes - please make it clear when you post a nomination for the poll (as opposed to just posting clips or lists of songs and albums you like, which are very welcome).
Leaderboard
| Rank | Year | Rating | Top Album | Top Song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1991 | 8.98 | Slint - Spiderland | Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy |
| 2 | 1997 | 8.6 | Radiohead - OK Computer | The Beta Band - Dry The Rain |
| 3 | 1967 | 8.48 | Love - Forever Changes | Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning |
| 4 | 1977 | 8.41 | Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express | Donna Summer - I Feel Love |
| 5 | 1992 | 8.29 | Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted | Pulp - Babies |
| 5 | 2013 | 8.29 | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Jubilee Street |
| 7 | 2019 | 8.14 | Self Esteem - Compliments Please | Big Thief - Not |
| 8 | 1975 | 8.13 | Neil Young - Tonight’s the Night / Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks | Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Cortez the Killer |
| 8 | 2007 | 8.13 | LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver / Radiohead - In Rainbows | LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends / M.I.A. - Paper Planes |
| 10 | 2004 | 8.1 | Madvillain - Madvillainy / Arcade Fire - Funeral | The Walkmen - The Rat |
| 11 | 1981 | 8.06 | The Cure - Faith | New Order - Ceremony |
| 12 | 1982 | 7.76 | The Cure - Pornography / Kate Bush - The Dreaming | Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding / The Associates - Party Fears Two |
| 13 | 2014 | 7.69 | FKA Twigs - LP1 | FKA Twigs - Two Weeks |
| 14 | 2010 | 7.66 | Kanye West - MBDTF / Joanna Newsom - Have One One Me / Beach House - Teen Dream | Robyn - Dancing On My Own |
| 15 | 1970 | 7.61 | Neil Young - After the Goldrush | Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up |
| 16 | 1990 | 7.47 | Sonic Youth - Goo | The Cure - Pictures of You |
| 16 | 1976 | 7.47 | David Bowie - Station to Station | Bob Dylan - Hurricane |
| 18 | 1986 | 7.42 | Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring | New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle |
| 19 | 2005 | 7.39 | Sufjan Stevens - Illinois | Amerie - 1 Thing |
| 20 | 1965 | 7.38 | The Beatles - Rubber Soul | Frank Wilson - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) |
| 21 | 1999 | 7.3 | Mogwai - Come On Die Young | Björk - All Is Full Of Love |
| 22 | 2009 | 7.1 | Fever Ray - Fever Ray | Animal Collective - My Girls |
| 23 | 1974 | 6.95 | Neil Young - On The Beach | Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - The Bottle |
| 24 | 1985 | 6.53 | Tom Waits - Rain Dogs | Prince and the Revolution - Raspberry Beret |
| 25 | 1960 | 6 | Howlin’ Wolf - Howlin’ Wolf | Dick Dale - Misirlou |
| 26 | 1961 | 5.16 | John Coltrane - My Favourite Things | Roy Orbison - Crying |
2001 was the year two hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center towers in New York. It was also the year of the launch of iTunes, the foot-and-mouth disease crisis in the UK, Goran Ivanesivic became the first wild card to win a Major in tennis when he won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon and the Harry Potter movie series launched in cinemas.
We said goodbye to Aaliyah, George Harrison, Perry Como, Joey Ramone, Jack Lemmon, Douglas Adams and John Lee Hooker, and hello to Billie Eilish, Bukayo Saka and lots of social media stars apparently.
How good was the music?
You have ten days until 22nd November to nominate one album and one song which will then go into a poll along with a number rating poll for year overall out of 10, which will close a few days later.
Some lists for inspiration:
Best Albums of 2001 : Best Ever Albums
https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/2001/
Top 20 Albums of 2001 | Pitchfork
100 Greatest Albums of 2001
DiS Album of the year? you must be joking! - The Best of 2001 / In Depth // Drowned In Sound
https://www.albumoftheyear.org/ratings/6-highest-rated/2001/1
The 50 best albums from 2001 | Kerrang!
NME's best albums and tracks of 2001
100 Greatest Songs From 2001
Nominations will be tallied here as the week goes on:
Album Nominations
Song Nominations
