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