2001

Weezer – The Green Album (American alternative/power pop)

Modest Mouse – Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks (American indie rock, EP consisting of their 1999 Night On The Sun 12" and outtakes from their 2000 album The Moon And Antarctica)

Bob Dylan – Love And Theft (American folk rock/roots rock)

Chris Clark – Clarence Park (British electronic music/IDM)

They Might Be Giants – Mink Car (American alternative rock)

System Of A Down – Toxicity (Armenian-American alternative metal/nu-metal)

The Strokes – Is This It (American garage rock/indie rock, full length debut)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Yeah Yeah Yeahs (American post punk/indie rock, debut)

Rob Zombie – The Sinister Urge (American industrial metal/groove metal by former White Zombie singer)

Ozzy Osbourne – Down To Earth (British heavy metal by former Black Sabbath singer)

Pig Destroyer – Prowler In The Yard (American grindcore)

Low – Things We Lost In The Fire (American dream-pop/slow-core)

Jay-Z – MTV Unplugged (American hip-hop, live album with instrumentation by The Roots)

Frank Black And The Catholics – Dog In The Sand (American alternative rock by band fronted by Pixies vocalist)

Gorillaz – Gorillaz (Alternative dance/hip hop by “virtual band” led by Blur singer Damon Albarn, debut)

Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott – Miss E… So Addictive (American hip-hop/ r and b)

Daft Punk – Discovery (French house)

White Stripes – White Blood Cells (American garage/blues rock)

Staind – Break The Cycle (American post-grunge/nu-metal, Soundscan’s #8 best-sellng album of the year)

Alicia Keys – Songs In A Minor (American r & b/ nu soul, debut, Soundscan’s #9 best-selling album of the year)

Hikaru Utada – Distance (Japanese pop, Soundscan’s #6 best-selling album of the year)

Drowning Pool – Sinner (American nu metal, debut, only album featuring the late Dave Williams on vocals)

Slayer – God Hates Us All (American thrash metal)

NSYNC – Celebrity (American boy band pop, their last album, Soundscan’s #4 best-selling album of the year)

Slipknot – Iowa (American nu metal)

Four Tet – Pause (British folktronica)

Michael Jackson – Invincible (American Pop/ R and B, last album released during his lifetime, Soundscan’s #1 best selling album of the year)

Spoon – Girls Can Tell (American indie rock)

New Order – Get Ready (British synthpop/alternative dance, last album with both Gillian Gilbert and Peter Hook in the official lineup, guest vocals by Billy Corgan and Bobby Gillespie)

Radiohead – Amnesiac (British alternative rock, recorded in the same sessions as their previous album Kid A)

Bjork – Vespertine (Icelandic experimental pop)

Jennifer Lopez – J. Lo (American r and b/latin pop, Soundscan’s #10 best selling album of the year)

Sigh – Imaginary Sonicscape (Japanese avant garde black metal)

Mogwai – Rock Action (Scottish post-rock)

REM – Reveal (American adult alternative)

The Fall – Are You Are Missing Winner (British post-punk/garage rock)

Tomahawk – Tomahawk (Debut of American alternative metal/noise rock group featuring members of Mr. Bungle, The Jesus Lizard, and Helmet)

Mogwai – My Father My King (Scottish post-rock, EP consisting of one 20 minute song)

Prefuse 73 – Vocal Studies And Uprock Narratives (American instrumental hip hop)

Ayumi Hamasaki. - A Best (Japanese pop, best-of album featuring some new material and remixes, Soundscan’s #7 best-selling album of the year)

Tool – Lateralus (American progressive metal)

Stone Temple Pilots – Shangri-La Dee Da (American alternative rock)

BS 2000 – Simply Mortified (American jazz-funk/synth-punk/hip hop, Beastie Boys side project consisting of Adam “Ad-Rock” Horowitz and Avery “AWOL” Smith)

Pete Yorn – Musicforthemorningafter (American adult alternative, debut)

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – No More Shall We Part (Australian alternative rock/post-punk)

Fugazi – The Argument (American post-punk, their final album)

Buckethead – Somewhere Over The Slaughterhouse (American techno-rock/industrial metal by Guns N’ Roses and Praxis guitarist)

The Dismemberment Plan – Change (American indie rock)

Ozma – Rock And Roll Part Three (American power pop, self-released in 2000 with a wider release in 2001)

Weedeater - …And Justice For Y’all (American stoner metal)

Opeth – Blackwater Park (Swedish progressive metal)

The Moldy Peaches – The Moldy Peaches (American lo-fi anti-folk, compilation of previously released material)

Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein (American hip-hop, debut)

Crowbar – Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form (American sludge metal)

Dntel – Life Is Full Of Possibilities (American electronic music, guest vocals by Mia Doi Todd, Meredith Figurine, Rachel Haden, and Ben Gibbard – Jimmy Tamborello, the main member of Dntel, would later form the group The Postal Service with Gibbard)

The Crystal Method (American “big beat” techno, includes guest vocal appearance by Scott Weiland)

Jay-Z – The Blueprint (American hip-hop)

Ladytron – 604 (British synth-pop/electroclash, debut album)

Cake – Comfort Eagle (American alternative rock)

 Notes:  

I've been including some top 40 material in these listening sessions in order to have a more accurate picture of what people were listening to in a given year, but this time I took a different approach by listening to eight of Soundscan's top 10 selling albums of 2001 (because two  out of ten were from the previous year).

I used to have a solid rule that everything I cover absolutely has to have been first released that year; I allowed myself a little leeway with Ozma's Rock And Roll Part Three because I missed it when I listened to music from 2000, and I might do it again in situations where an album had a small release in a year I previously covered and a larger re-release a year later.

 I've decided I'm going to start putting down my 10 favorites for the year when I'm done. May go back and start adding these to previous lists too:

10. Gorillaz - Gorillaz

9. Radiohead - Amnesiac

8. The Strokes – Is This It

7. White Stripes - White Blood Cells

6. Daft Punk – Discovery

5. Four Tet – Pause

4. Bjork - Vespertine

3. Fugazi - The Argument

2.Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein

1.  Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies And Uprock Narratives