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2002



They Might Be Giants – No! (American alternative rock, their first album of “children’s music”)
Weezer – Maladroit (American alternative rock/power pop)
David Bowie – Heathen (English art rock)
Hot Hot Heat – Make up the Breakdown (Canadian indie rock / new wave, debut album)
Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (American indie rock/ post-punk, debut album)
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Vs the Pink Robots (American indie rock/dream pop)
Hella – Hold Your Horse Is (American instrumental math rock, debut)
Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton – Irony Is A Dead Scene (American math metal, collaboration with Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/etc. vocalist)
System Of A Down – Steal This Album! (American alternative metal, songs written during the sessions for the previous album Toxicity)
The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas (American indie folk)
Eminem – The Eminem Show (American hip hop)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – By The Way (American alternative rock/funk rock)
Rilo Kiley – The Execution of All Things (American indie rock)
Norah Jones – Come Away with Me (American vocal jazz/folk rock, debut album)
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (American alternative rock / art rock, completed in 2001 but commercially released a year later)
Bad Religion – The Process of Belief (American punk rock / melodic hardcore)
Richard Cheese & Lounge against the Machine (American musical comedy/lounge music, novelty lounge covers of rock, hip-hop and pop songs)
Cracker – Forever (American alternative rock/country rock)
The Vines – Highly Evolved (Australian alternative rock/neo-psychedelia, debut album)
Spoon – Kill The Moonlight (American indie rock)
Justin Timberlake – Justified (American r and b/dance pop, solo debut by former N*Sync member)
Mastodon – Remission (American heavy metal)
Joey Ramone – Don’t Worry about Me (American punk rock, posthumous solo album by former Ramones vocalist)
Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf (American hard rock / stoner rock)
Norma Jean – Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child (American metalcore)
Ladytron – Light & Magic (English electropop)
RJD2 – Deadringer (American instrumental hip hop, debut)
Foo Fighters – One By One (American alternative rock/post-grunge)
Beck – Sea Change (American folk-rock)
Missy Elliott – Under Construction (American hip hop)
Isis – Oceanic (American post-metal)
Audioslave – Audioslave (American post-grunge/alternative metal, debut by supergroup featuring members of Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden)
Taking Back Sunday – Tell All Your Friends (American emo, debut album)
Mclusky – Mclusky Do Dallas (Welsh noise rock/post hardcore)
Silverchair – Diorama (Australian art-rock/post grunge)
Box Car Racer – Box Car Racer (American emo/post-hardcore, first and so far only album by Blink-182 side-project)
The Residents – Demons Dance Alone (American avant garde/art rock)
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – Source Tags And Codes (American indie rock/ post-hardcore)
Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head (British alternative rock)
Papa Roach – Lovehatetragedy (American nu-metal)
Melvins – Hostile Ambient Takeover (American sludge metal/ noise rock)
Fantomas-Melvins Big Band (American experimental metal, live album featuring the members of Fantomas and Melvins performing songs from their catalogs together)
Otep – Sevas Tra (American nu metal, debut album)
Boards Of Canada – Geogaddi (Scottish electronic music)
Bright Eyes – Lifted: Or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (American indie folk)
Sigur Ros – ( ) (Icelandic post-rock sung in a fictional language)
Nada Surf – Let Go (American indie rock)
The Walkmen – Everyone Who Pretended to like Me Is Gone (American indie rock, debut album)
OK Go – OK Go (American power pop, debut)
Sonic Youth – Murray St. (American indie rock/experimental rock)
Piebald – We Are The Only Friends We Have (American emo/pop punk)
Peter Gabriel – Up (English art rock)
Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (Canadian indie rock)
Against Me! – Reinventing Axl Rose (American folk-punk, debut album)
Sparta – Wiretap Scars (American post-hardcore/emo, debut album for band featuring two members of At the Drive-In)
Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane (American pop-rock, debut)
The Mars Volta – Tremulant EP (American post-hardcore/progressive rock, debut EP for band featuring the other two members of At The Drive-In)
Rush – Vapor Trails (Canadian progressive rock)
The Raveonettes – Whip It On (Danish shoegaze/noise pop, debut EP)

 I'm somewhat surprised I stuck with this year as long as I did, because it's very much a mixed bag - some stuff I loved at the time held up well (Beck, Broken Social Scene, surprisingly Hot Hot Heat), some didn't so much (OK Go, The Vines), and I had a few good discoveries (Norma Jean, Against Me!, Taking Back Sunday).

 Top 10:

10. Missy Elliott - Under Construction
9. Beck - Sea Change
8. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Vs. The Pink Robots
7. Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas
6. RJD2 - Deadringer
5. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
4. Dillinger Escape Plan and Mike Patton - Irony Is A Dead Scene
3. The Residents - Demons Dance Alone
2. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
1. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

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