If we are being pedantic (which we often are here), the end of 2025 marks the end of the first quarter of this century. Those of us who still vividly remember the hullabaloo around the millennium and Y2K are going to feel incredibly old as we realize this fact, but the truth is the truth. Time marches on, and nothing we do can stop the calendar from moving on to the next page. We can neglect the paper, we can pray the glue holds stronger as we pull one date from the next, but the sands of time will fall whether we invert the hourglass or not.
Reaching this milestone, what is fascinating is to see not that time continues, but that culture has stagnated. Looking back at the 20th century, every decade had an identity all its own; the flapper 20s, the depression in the 30s, WWII in the forties, the beginning of rock and roll in the 50s, hippies and Beatlemania in the 60s, classic rock and disco in the 70s, synths and electronics in the 80s, grunge and the pop machine in the 90s, and then....
And then culture began to slow. We got pop/punk, nu-metal, and the rise of hip-hop in the nascent days of the new millennium, but that was the last punctuated equilibrium of music that has stayed with us. There could be a case made for bro-country, but I'm not sure a male-centric version of the pop-country boon of the 90s should count as its own distinct movement. For the most part, whether you turn on pop or rock radio, the music you hear today is very much the same as the music we were listening to in 2000. That's if those stations are playing new music at all, as many of them still play as much if not more music from the past. The point remains that time feels fluid to us, perhaps inconsequential, because the cultural dividing lines we used to put up signposts in our lives have been knocked down by the cosmic wind.
These years might have felt stagnant, and it might be difficult to remember one from the next, but it has still been a time with great music that means great things to many of us. With that in mind, here are my picks for twenty-five albums from these twenty-five years that have most come to define these years for me, as well as myself, as my thoughts turn to reflection.
Bloodbound - Tabula Rasa (2009)
There was a brief moment when I thought I had heard the future of metal. Bloodbound had taken the sound of Swedish death metal, fused it with power metal, and created a new approach that was a perfect blend of razor-sharp heaviness and super slick melody. The record still sounds fresh, because even as a strain of power metal tried to go down this path, it never truly caught on, and no one has ever done it better. This is a one-off record that feels like those stories of time travelers who get caught on camera as an artifact of science that should not exist.
Bob Catley - Immortal (2008)
Power metal was my entry to the vast world of heavier music, and I suppose it retains a soft spot in my heart, even as I feel like the genre has largely passed me by. I'm reminded of the feeling it originally gave me when I listen to this record, which is perhaps the epitome of the genre. Bob Catley brings a grit and gravitas, while the songs ride the line between being earnest and cheesy, between crunchy guitars and unforgettable melodies. There's a metaphor about my personality in there.
Dave Matthews Band - The Lillywhite Sessions (2001)
Technically, this was never released, but there is a sad magic to these recordings that the altered and polished versions on "Busted Stuff" could never match. The very reason this album was scrapped is what makes it so damn important. This is a record of lonely depression, of feeling the edges of the hole collapsing before we even try to start climbing out. It is DMB's most moving music, surely, which comes from the honesty contained in the songs, and the stripped-down veneer that eschews any of the cornball camp they trade in.
Dilana - Beautiful Monster (2013)
For many years, I was convinced I lacked the capacity for emotions, to the point that such a condition was the conceit when I finally sat down to write a novel. The truth was not as interesting, which was that rather than not being capable of feeling, I had never been given reason to. Dilana changed that with this record, which I have often cited as a turning point in my life, because it was hearing her soul bleeding through every note is what finally broke me free of my self-constraint. She, and this album, were the reason I needed.
Dilana - InsideOut (2009)
Dilana is one of only two double entrants on this list, because she is doubly important. While the previous entry moved me like no other, it was only possible because this album came first. I have repeatedly called her a case of 'love at first hearing', which blossomed when I was able to hear this record explaining to me who she was, rather than her singing the songs of others. I did not know what the years would entail, but I knew I was hearing something special, which I have never been able to explain better than saying her voice resonates at the frequency of my soul. It still does.
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events (2011)
I went through a 'prog phase', but I'm not sure if it was because I was impressed by music I knew I would never be able to play, or because I was mired in an intellectual crisis. Regardless, that phase started with this Dream Theater album, which was the first instance I remember of progressive metal being able to balance the excesses of musical ego with bloody great songs. Dream Theater had something to prove, and prove it they did. They perfectly balanced every side of their musical personalities, and for a while convinced me this was the path I wanted to explore. It didn't last, nor did the magical moment that created the album, but I still hear traces of it now and again.
Edguy - Tinnitus Sanctus (2008)
Power metal was my entry to heavier music, and Edguy was the vehicle. They peaked with this album, which was an attempt to play their goofiness with a straight face. They tuned down the guitars, turned down the brightness, and made an album that completely belied the comedy found within the lyrics. Who else could write a thick and heavy song about God creating the aardvark, and telling it to be proud of how absurd it looks? Edguy mastered their craft here, but also killed their career, as there was no going back to being 'happy metal' again after this. I think it might be the very moment when I also moved on from power metal as a genre.
Elvis Costello - When I Was Cruel (2002)
After discovering this album, I went deep down the rabbit hole of Elvis Costello's career. What I found is a writer who could match my cynicism and flair for wordplay. Littered throughout his songs are lines that cut people down to size, and phrases that are meant to kick the legend of Bob Dylan square in the balls. I learned and took much from Elvis, and none of that could have happened if it wasn't for this album bringing me into his world. While the one-man aesthetic of this acerbic collection might wear thin, it remains essential for everything it led to. The flavor may be tart, but it leaves a sweet memory.
Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree (2005)
Anyone who has read my attempts at comedy will know I am a snark. Cutting barbs and clever wordplay are the tools I use to avoid being honest, even with myself, and there is definitely a lot of that to be found from Fall Out Boy's glory days. On the one hand, the album is simply a masterclass of that era of emo, perhaps never matched on a song-for-song basis. On the other hand, the album is a fascinating projection of irrational self-confidence that both tells me that bluster and bullshit work wonders, but also that avoidance is a form of honesty. I enjoy knowing some people will always mistake a kiss-off for a symbol of affection. That can come in handy.
Graveyard - Hisingen Blues (2011)
If you ask me who the best new band of these last twenty-five years is, the answer very well might be Graveyard. I did not think that the first time I heard this record, as their gritty and vintage blues rock was something foreign to me. Only later would I revisit this album and hear it for the masterpiece it is. Graveyard are the masters of simplicity, delivering songs that sound so easy, yet are so rare to find. Joakim Nilsson is a revelation of a singer, and the end result is a band I have described as being a time machine that gives me a facsimile of what it must have felt like to live through the classic rock era. Graveyard are rather timeless like that.
Halestorm - Vicious (2018)
Only a handful of voices have ever elicited a visceral and electric reaction in me, and Lzzy Hale is one of them. She echoes in my head as if she is a part of my psyche, or at least the missing piece I wish I could graft onto the fragments I possess. She is one of those rare people who emit a musical pheromone, and I am likely powerless to resist. Some people believe everyone gets one love in their life, but thankfully that isn't true when it comes to music. I may have few true loves, but Lzzy not only reminds me I am capable of it, but I am not so bereft as to only have room for one in my heart. That's a pretty damn important lesson to be reminded of.
Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death (2003)
When I say I love Iron Maiden, I mean something different than most people. Their 80s material is good, no doubt, but their reunion with Bruce Dickinson kicked off what I find is their best era. Within the self-indulgence and the testing of our patience is a band that had refined their melodic songwriting and gotten better with age. But as much as I love the first four albums of this run, the real reason "Dance Of Death" is so important is that it led me to Bruce Dickinson's solo albums, the trilogy of which ("Accident Of Birth", "The Chemical Wedding", and "Tyranny Of Souls") I will always maintain are better than any run of Iron Maiden's career.
Jimmy Eat World - Futures (2004)
Unquestionably, this is my favorite album of all time. The growth was slow and steady, much like my own process of self-realization. As I learned about myself, I discovered how much of myself was reflected in the sound and tone of this record. There is a deep sense of longing, or regretting both the choices we made and the choices we didn't make, and a need to remind ourselves the future is still in our control. From the powerful blasts of down-tuned guitars to the sing-along choruses, culminating in the epic swell of the closing ballads, the album is a reminder that youth does not define who we are, but it is the time when we figure out the definition that already existed. It's a strangely comforting thought to know I was always this way, and "Futures" reminds me I have never wavered on what my dreams are reaching for.
Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light (2007)
"Futures" was a dark record with a vein of hope found at the end, which was followed by this sunnier record. I spent fifteen years ignoring it, because I didn't hear the underlying theme; searching for the little bits of joy hidden in the folds of the veil. This record is bright and fun, it's a rosy hue on the band's emo sound, but there are still hints of those roots bleeding through around the edges. That comes mostly in the form of the closing "Dizzy", which is now one of my favorite songs ever, and a plea for us to be honest with one another so we can know when we need to put our attention toward moving on to new, and hopefully better, possibilities. "If you only knew the truth, then the world would spin around you, are you dizzy yet?" is a damn perfect lyric.
Katatonia - Sky Void Of Stars (2023)
Moonlight can shimmer with a beauty the sun is incapable of, turning blood into a luscious ink that writes chapters of our story. Katatonia had often mastered the beauty of the dark, but never the shine. That changed on this album, as they injected just enough energy to make the music feel vibrant and alive, the perfect soundtrack to a lonely night walk through the woods that reaffirms our belief in nature's path. It's hard to see the bright side in the tough times, but that is what this album shows us how to do. I needed that badly when it arrived, and I imagine it will continue to resonate. It's a special record.
Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (2004)
If there is such a thing as a perfect pop album, this is my choice. On this one, Kelly Clarkson shredded any doubts about reality tv personalities being real artists, as she delivered an album that put to shame anything done by the stars of the day. While much of that music felt manufactured, Kelly's music was slick and perfect, but her voice gave it a raw honesty that felt like someone breaking free of expectations. "Since U Been Gone" was a revelation, but it was a whole record of the perfect blend of pop hooks and crunchy guitars that made me think I was hearing something legendary. It was, at least for the one record.
Killswitch Engage - The End Of Heartache (2004)
There was something quaint in learning about bands from away messages on AOL Instant Messenger. That is where an emo friend introduced me to Killswitch Engage, which was a defining piece of the college experience. I found a kindred spirit in the booming melodrama of Howard Jones, who wrung as much emotion out of every simple line as possible. I don't know if I realized I was sad in the same way back then, but in hindsight the fit is natural. Killswitch did the screaming my voice was incapable of, and flushed much of my frustration with every listen.
Meat Loaf - Couldn't Have Said It Better (2003)
You never know the last time someone who means the world to you is going to be that person/artist. Meat Loaf was my first musical love, and this album is the last one I can call a classic. Half of the album is masterful copying of the Steinman sound, and half of the album is absurd in a different way. Meat would make a few more albums, but this was the epilogue on him being the most important voice in my life. As long as I forget that he sang a sex ballad with his own daughter, this is the perfect closing of a chapter I continue to re-read more than anything to this day.
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (2006)
I've asked myself many times what the 'album of my generation' is, and I think I've settled on "The Black Parade". "American Idiot" was the bigger seller, but the petri dish level depth of that one has waned as My Chemical Romance's melodrama has stuck with us far longer, and far stronger. There is an emotional core to the record that wasn't captured by anything else in the emo sphere at the time, and the first two notes of the title track are enough to tell us exactly what it is. As we get older, the animosity toward teenagers makes more sense, and the contemplations of life become more important. I didn't see it then, but I do now.
Soen - Lotus (2018)
Twice, I have thought I was hearing the future of metal. Bloodbound was one, and Soen is the other. This record is the one where they solidified their sound, bridging the gap between the technical and rhythmic complexity of djent and the beautiful melodies of lighter fare. They were streamlining and modernizing the various threads of metal, building the playbook I thought Opeth was going to play from when they ditched death metal. No one else has been able to blend heaviness, groove, and emotionally stirring vocals and melodies the way Soen has. More albums have followed, but they still feel like a future yet to come.
Taylor Swift - 1989 (2014)
Every time I think pop music and I have fully divorced, something happens to remind me that such paperwork doesn't erase the ties that were once there. Taylor Swift is the reason I remember that, as I hadn't given pop music any consideration for years when these songs started to infiltrate my world. Getting beyond the cringe of "Shake It Off", I heard songs that showed me evolution happens in branches, and just because pop music moved in a direction I cared little for didn't mean there weren't strands of greatness. There hasn't been much since then, but I have a blank space ready to write the next great one.
Tonic - Head On Straight (2002)
As someone who has long felt incomplete, if not broken, the mantra of "Take Me As I Am" was deeply important to me. Tonic's darkest and heaviest record solidified in my mind that they were my favorite band, and for twenty years I never questioned that fact about myself. Few albums have ever had that lasting a legacy, and every time I pull this one off the shelf, I remember the days when it felt like music was speaking directly to me. I may have changed my mind on Tonic's rank, but never their impact. This is one of those timeless records I never seem to tire of.
Trond Holter & Jorn Lande - Dracula: Swing Of Death (2015)
We all know of the cult classic, the piece of art we know is terrible, and yet we love it for exactly that reason. That is what this record is, as it embraces the camp and fantasy of the 1960s Batman television show, turning the story of Dracula into a pseudo-stage musical. There are sound effects of slurping blood, guitar solos that might be meant to represent Dracula soon... coming..., and an air of ridiculousness that has never once failed to be charming. I love this glorious bit of goofiness.
Weezer - The Green Album (2001)
At the time this record came out, I was intrigued by the intellectual and statistical analysis Rivers Cuomo went through to write it. The songs were blank platitudes that said absolutely nothing of importance, but they were delivered with precision and melodies that made songwriting seem like a code that could be cracked. That would all change over the years, and I now realize the importance of emotion and human connection in music, but perhaps I wouldn't have come to that conclusion if learning to understand Rivers hadn't shown me how much I hate loving early Weezer.
Yours Truly - Self Care (2020)
Dealing with our mental health is not something we always know how to deal with, but albums like "Self Care" step in to help us out. This album is a moment of catharsis, that uplifting feeling of being able to see hope beginning to crest over the horizon. It doesn't shy from the struggles and anguishes, but it focuses on the strength we show every day in being able to get through those moments and come out the other side stronger for it. There aren't many albums that make us feel good about being broken creatures, but this is one of them.
