Thursday Tracks: HIM, Priestess, Marina and the Diamonds, Demi Lovato

Tuesday Tracks just didn't happen this week, so here's Thursday tracks, as I showcase four of the hottest songs around just now.

First up on Thursday tracks this week is the return of Finnish love metal superstars HIM. The band's seventh album "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice" hits shelves (and download sits) on February the 8th and looks set to be their best yet if lead single "Heartkiller" is anything to go by.

HIM - Heartkiller

Secondly this week are Canadian stoner metal architects Priestess. Second album "Prior to the Fire" is out on February the 1st, having already seen a limited release in Canada at the tail end of last year. Following on from the brilliant "Hello Master", here's a taster with the excellent "Raccoon Eyes"

Priestess - Raccoon Eyes

24 year old Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, aka Marina and the Diamonds has been making waves for a while now with a couple of EPs and singles already released and coming in runner up in BBC's Sound of 2010 poll, hings are starting to look up. Debut album "The Family Jewels" is due for release on February 22nd, and is preceeded next week by the brilliant "Hollywood" single. It might take a couple of listens, but you will love it.

Marina and the Diamonds - Hollywood

Finally this week is Disney teen princess Demi Lovato, and one of the most surprising songs of the year. Due for release on February 15th, and co-written by self confessed metalhead Lovato, "Remember December" is a spiky rock song with pop sensibilities aplenty shining through. An unexpected pleasure, and a song that will stick in your brain for quite sometime.

Demi Lovato - Remember December

Monday Mashup

After a week of problems with uploading and stuff, Melody and Drama returns with the Monday Mashup. Classic songs as you've never heard them before.

These tracks really take very little explaination, just enjoy.

Iron Maiden vs The Monkees - Trooper Believer

Queen vs Outkast - Hey (We Will Rock) Ya!

Apologies

Updates coming soon. Having some uploading problems.

Nine Inch Nails - Free DVD!

The lovely people at This One Is On Us - a pretty damn great Nine Inch Nails fansite have released "Another Version of the Truth: The Gift" a completely gratis DVD (with Blu-Ray coming soon).

The DVD features some frankly excellent live footage, great sound, and is well worth the download. Cheers guys

Download Here

There is a Friday megapost coming tomorrow featuring Monday Mashup, Tuesday Tracks, The Young and the Restless and Friday Remix Corner! 8 tracks, all free to sample from Melody and Drama. Stay tuned.

Friday Remix Corner: Kasabian, Delphic, Regina Spektor, The Strokes

It's Friday remix corner here on Melody and Drama, as we take an alternative look at some of the best known bands.

First up is Kasabian, and superstar DJ Zane Lowe's reworking of their new single "Vlad the Impaler". A warped take on an already bizarre song, check it out.

Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler (Zane Lowe Remix)

Next up is hotly tipped Manchester collective Delphic, who's new single "Doubt" is given a dark electronic reworking by Cryptonites.

Delphic - Doubt (Cryptonites Remix)

Piano toting New York singer songwriter Regina Spektor has been passing off quirky pop tunes for a number of years now, and mcDj's bizarre interpretation of "Us" is a brand new look.

Regina Spektor - Us (mcDj Remix)

Finally it's The Strokes. This is a drum n bass version of "Reptilia. Nuff said.

The Strokes - Reptilia (Remixed by Zagk Gibbons)

The Young and the Restless: New Device, Poppy and the Jezebels, Young Guns

Right, let's ignore the fact I called yesterday's post Tuesday tracks when it was clearly Wednesday, we'll call that an oversight and get onto todays music, from three young, up and coming bands who really need to be heard.

First up are New Device, a straight up rock band from South East England who formed in London in 2007. They've steadily built up a following around the UK, and recently blew joint headliners Heaven's Basement and Dear Superstar clean off the stage on a UK tour. Their debut album, "Takin' Over" is available now, and you can test out a couple of tracks below. Make sure you buy the record.

New Device - In the Fading Light
New Device - Takin' Over

Secondly today are Birmingham's Poppy and the Jezebels. Four teenage girls who met at school in 2005/6 and have formed a quirky, effervescent girl band all of their own. A string of singles and a fantastic EP already under their belts, the girls release their debut album later this year. Check out the tracks below before taking a look into their back catalogue.

Poppy and the Jezebels - Frank Chevallier
Poppy and the Jezebels - Rhubarb and Custard (Live Almost Acoustic)

Finally today are High Wycombe's Young Guns. Fresh from supporting Lostprophets around the UK, they're currently touring on the Kerrang Relentless Energy Drink tour and by all accounts tearing the tour up. Their debut EP "Mirrors" was a minor iTunes hit last summer, and they have another EP scheduled for this summer. Make sure to check out the two tracks here.

Young Guns - The Weight of the World
Young Guns - Winter Kiss

Tuesday Tracks: Alkaline Trio, Amy MacDonald, Hadouken, Lostprophets

Alkaline Trio release their new album "This Addiction" in February, promising a sound harking back to their punk rock roots. The first single, the album's title track certainly seems to showcase this.

Alkaline Trio - This Addiction

Scottish singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald returns with her second album, as yet untitled on March 8th. If you don't fancy waiting that long, here's a taster, with first single "Don't Tell Me That It's Over"

Amy MacDonald - Don't Tell Me That It's Over

Hadouken!'s sophmore effort "For the Masses" is unleashed later this month, and has been preceeded by the frankly brilliant single "Turn the Lights Out". The London techno-punks have turned up the heat with this storming track.

Hadouken! - Turn the Lights Out

It's hard to believe that Lostprophets' forthcoming album "The Betrayed" is their fourth full length, but the Welsh band continue to turn out quality tunes. "Where We Belong" is one of their trademark catchy rock tracks that will lodge in your head for days.

Lostprophets - Where We Belong

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 1

Number 1

Mastodon

"Crack the Skye"

Released: March 24th 2009

Key Tracks: "Oblivion" / "The Czar" / "The Last Baron"

The album I've named the best of the last ten years is "Crack the Skye" by Mastodon. There's several reasons for this, the main one being, it fucking rocks. It really fucking rocks.

This is how you make a progressive metal record. In fact this is just how you make a record full stop. It's technical, ethereal, brutal, tender, agressive, melodic, just about everything. From the opening note of "Oblivion" to the closing note of "The Last Baron", you have fifty minutes of brilliant music, lyrics that tell a story and a sound that can allow you to escape reality and visualise the whole thing.

"Crack the Skye" is something else. It's just incredible. There have been a lot of great records over the past decade, but this one stands atop all of them. Sensational doesn't quite do it justice. Make sure you track it down if you don't already have it.

Mastodon - Oblivion

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 2

Number 2

Machine Head

"The Blackening"

Released: March 26th 2007

Key Tracks: "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" / "Now I Lay Thee Down" / "Halo"

Their ill advised late nineties foray into rap-metal was already erased with 2003's "From the Ashes of Empire" but it was in 2007 that Machine Head defined their career with "The Blackening". Their magnum-opus, 8 tracks, a shade over an hour long and absolutely outstanding.

Make no mistake, "The Blackening" is the greatest thrash metal album of all time. It eclipses"Master of Puppets" and "Peace Sells". Seriously. The groove metal stylings are still audible, but this is balls out thrash. From the opening "Clenching the Fists of Dissent", through the journalist baiting "Aesthetics of Hate" and the genre defining "Halo" to the closing "A Farewell to Arms", the power, speed and emotion doesn't once let up.

"The Blackening" is the finest album of it's kind,a nd only a very very special record has kept it from the number one spot.

Machine Head - Now I Lay Thee Down

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 3

Number 3

Black Stone Cherry

"Folklore and Superstition"

Released: August 18th 2008

Key Tracks: "Blind Man" / "Peace Is Free" / "Devil's Queen"

Black Stone Cherry's second album carried on where they left off with their self titled debut, and improved on their sound even further. Their southern tinged hard rock sound expanded, included some soft, poignant ballads and long, drawn out jams, which moulded perfectly together to create the highly accomplished finished article.

Chris Robertson's gravelly vocals boom over his and Ben Wells' sublime guitar work, with John Fred Young and Jon Lawhon's tight as tight can be rhythm section. The songs are fantastic, the musicianship shown is second to none,a nd the whole thing just sits brilliantly.

The deluxe edition of the album adds an entire disc to the mix, but it's the original album that really stands out. "Folklore and Superstition" is an album that everyone should hear.

Black Stone Cherry - Devil's Queen

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 4

Number 4

At the Drive-In

"Relationship of Command"

Released: September 12th 2000

Key Tracks: "One Armed Scissor" / "Invalid Litter Dept." / "Rolodex Propaganda"

"Relationship of Command" is simply put, the greatest post-hardcore record ever recorded. Brutally agressive yet emotional and melodic, everything you could want is right here on the band's third, and ultimately final album.

From the sheer adrenaline rush of "One Armed Scissor" to the reflective "Invalid Litter Dept." At the Drive-In convey so much emotion and power through their songs and lyrics. There's an edge to the music which perhaps hinted at the eventual and inevitable implosion, and it only heightens the impact.

Their dissoluion left us with the not very successful Sparta and the overly prog Mars Volta, but as a final document of their work, "Relationship of Command" was the perfect way for At the Drive-In to go out.

At the Drive-In - One Armed Scissor

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 5

Number 5

The Strokes

"Is This It"

Released: July 30th 2001

Key Tracks: "The Modern Age" / "Last Nite" / "Hard to Explain"

"Is This It" is one of the most important albums released in the last ten years. It spearheaded the garage rock revival - admittedly short lived - but also paved the way for scores of bands to make the big time. Can you imagine Kings of Leon, The Vines, The White Stripes etc having the amount of exposure they have without The Strokes? It wouldn't have happened.

And the beauty behind "Is This It" is that it's so simple. Two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. No tricks, no gimmicks, no frills, just straight up rock music. The way it should be. Eleven tracks, thirty six minutes of pure rock music. And the songs were brilliant. The false ending in "Hard to Explain" still brings a smile to my face, "Last Nite" pretty much soundtracked the autumn of 2001 and "The Modern Age" is one of my personal favourite songs.

"Is This It" was, and still is a truly magnificent album, one of the best of the decade, and one of the best ever made.

The Strokes - The Modern Age

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 6

Number 6

Dream Theater

"Train of Thought"

Released: November 11th 2003

Key Tracks: "As I Am" / "Endless Sacrifice" / "In the Name of God"

Dream Theater's heaviest album to date. Dream Theater's best album to date. A progressive metal masterpiece, seven songs, seventy minutes, absolutely outstanding.

From the opening bars of "As I Am" to the closing notes of "In the Name of God" the album is nothing short of stunning. The diverse and precise musicianship, always present in a Dream Theater release, is as good as ever, and it's hard to believe that such a vast and wonderful soundscape has been made by just five men.

"Train of Thought" is an utterly incredible album, one of the finest metal albums ever recorded. Make sure you check it out.


Dream Theater - As I Am

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 7

Number 7

Bloc Party

"Silent Alarm"

Released: February 2nd 2005

Key Tracks: "Helicopter" / "Banquet" / "So Here We Are"

It was the release of "Silent Alarm" in early 2005 that finally alerted most of the population to Bloc Party's eclectic, genre-hopping sound. Five years later, it's hard to think what modern music would sound like without them.

Mixing indie rock with dance, punk with electro and ballads with electronica, "Silent Alarm" was a record not quite like any other. Until their next one. "Banquet" is a classic single, an infectious riff in a strange key, and Kele Okereke's infectious vocals over a mesmerising drum loop. The rest of the album doesn't fall far from the apple.

"Silent Alarm" is an album which still sounds fresh today, five years after it's release, and still will in another ten years time and beyond.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 8

Number 8

Shinedown

"Us and Them"

Released: October 4th 2005

Key Tracks: "Heroes" / "I Dare You" / "Shed Some Light"

Shinedown's second album, and second album to feature on this countdown, is equal part post-grunge hard rock and epic rock balladry, creating a truly special listening experience throughout.

Brent Smith's vocals soar from start to finish, gravelly on the hard rock smash of "Heroes", clean on the acoustic "Shed Some Light" and somewhere in the middle on the frankly incredible "I Dare You". The band shines as well, their instrumentation tight and frank, making "Us and Them" as technically good as the songs themselves.

A great album by a great band, and worthy of its place inside the top 10.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 9

Number 9

Metallica

"Death Magnetic"

Released: September 12th 2008

Key Tracks: "That Was Just Your Life" / "The Day That Never Comes" / "All Nightmare Long"

After the disappointment that was 2003's "St Anger", Metallica returned in style with their ninth studio album "Death Magnetic". A hark back to the thrash days of old, with elements of modern Metallica thrown in, "Death Magnetic" proved to be the band's best work in almost twenty years.

The guitar solos so painfully lacking on "St Anger" returned with a vengenance on "Death Magnetic", both Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield being given their chance to shine, and on Rob Trujillo's first official release as a member of the band, the bass rumbles exactly the way it should.

"Death Magnetic" is a definite return to form, and will leave a lasting legacy as one of the outstanding metal albums of the noughties.

Eminem vs Miley??

I have no idea where this actually came from, but it's utterly fantastic. Take Dido out of "Stan", replace her with Miley Cyrus and you've got one of the strangest, yet most pleasing mashups I've heard in a long time.

Check it out, and let me know what you think.


Eminem vs Miley Cyrus - Stan (The Climb Remix)

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 10

Number 10

Jimmy Eat World

"Bleed American" (Retitled "Jimmy Eat World" for some copies)

Released: July 18th 2001

Key Tracks: "Bleed American" / "The Middle" / "Get It Faster"

Is this emo's defining album? Probably. The stunning forty-six minutes which launched Jimmy Eat World into the bigtime. Their fourth, most successful and ultimately best album, truly one of the ten best of the last ten years.

The hard rock of "Bleed American" mixes with the pop-punk gold nugget "Sweetness" while wrestling with the tender and heartbreaking "Hear You Me" to create a thrilling, diverse album, worthy of multiple listens.

"Bleed American" is simply put, brilliant. There's something for everyone, and more. Fantastic.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 11

Number 11

Kasabian

"Kasabian"

Released: September 13th 2004

Key Tracks: "Club Foot" / "Processed Beats" / "L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)"

Kasabian's self titled debut album exploded the Leicester band onto the British rock scene in the biggest possible way.

A psycadelic romp through several different rock styles merging into one of the best crafted debuts in recent memory seems like a pretty accurate way to describe listening to "Kasabian". The opening gambit, "Club Foot" sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the record, while "L.S.F>" will go down as one of the modern classics of British rock music.

With Oasis' late 2009 disbanding, Kasabian have been left as the sole heirs to the rock n roll crown in the UK. Listening back to "Kasabian" it's clear they deserve that place.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 12

Number 12

Green Day

"American Idiot"

Released: September 21st 2004

Key Tracks: "American Idiot" / "Jesus of Suburbia" / "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

Green Day's big 2004 comeback consisted of a fifty-seven minute rock opera about the anti-hero "Jesus of Suburbia". "American Idiot" was born, and it stands up as one of the best records the band has released.

No longer punk, but still unmistakably rock, the record opens with the three minute blast that is "American Idiot" and what follows is a glorious mix of hard rock and supreme balladry from one of the finest bands of their generation.

"American Idiot" set the standard for mid-noughties rock albums, and can be listened to again today and enjoyed every bit as much as the first time.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 13

Number 13

Queens of the Stone Age

"Songs for the Deaf"

Released: August 27th 2002

Key Tracks: "No One Knows" / "First It Giveth" / "Go With the Flow"

The band that recorded this album read like this: Josh Homme; Nick Oliveri; Mark Lanegan; Dave Grohl; Alain Johannes. Is it any wonder that "Songs for the Deaf" is an absolute classic?

As well as having essentially a grunge all-stars line up, "Songs for the Deaf" contained some of the Queens' best songs. "Go With the Flow" was pretty much as close to a pop song as the band get, while "No One Knows" is a stoner rock anthem for the ages.

Queens of the Stone Age created a masterpiece of an album, one of the finest pure rock records of the decade.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 14

Number 14

AFI

"The Art of Drowning"

Released: September 19th 2000

Key Tracks: "Sacrfice Theory" / "The Days of the Phoenix" / "Morningstar"

AFI's fifth album exploded onto stereos in the first year of the decade, and ten years later still ranks as their defining work.

"The Art of Drowning" harked back to their early days with songs like "Sacrficie Theory" while bringing them up to date with "The Days of the Phoenix" and foreshadowing what was to come with "The Despair Factor". Without a doubt the Calfifornia boys' most complete album, AFI have gone on to become one of the biggest punk bands on the planet, but until 2009's "Crash Love" had never come close to the heights of "The Art of Drowning"

This is a great album, the entire sound of a band crammed into a little over forty minutes. Absolutely stunning.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 15

Number 15

MGMT

"Oracular Spectacular"

Released: October 2nd 2007

Key Tracks: "Time to Pretend" / "Kids" / "Future Reflections"

"Oracular Spectacular" is an album quite unlike any other. Electronic, psychedelic, bizarre, beautiful, all of the above. Every song is different, the lyrics are great, and the sometimes minimal, sometimes in your face instrumentation is as hypnotic as you'll hear.

MGMT crafted a unique listening experience which became an unexpected top 10 hit in the middle of 2008. Listening back, it's not hard to see how it happened, "Oracular Spectacular" is just that. Spectacular.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 16

Number 16

Audioslave

"Audioslave"

Released: November 19th 2002

Key Tracks: "Cochise" / "Show Me How to Live" / "I Am the Highway"

There seems to be a bit of a supergroup pattern emerging here, but let's face it, when the music is this good, who cares if the guys have been in bands before?

Audioslave was Rage Against The Machine with Soundgarden's Chris Cornell on the vocals. It may sound like a bizarre combination on paper, but on record, it just worked. "Cochise", the perfect choice of lead single was as rocking as they come, and through the album, they hit some beautiful ballads, all the while Tom Morello's distinctive guitar shining through.

"Audioslave" was a great album, and two more good albums followed before the inevitable split. Great musicians, great songs, great record.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 17

Number 17

Velvet Revolver

"Contraband"

Released: June 8th 2004

Key Tracks: "Do It For the Kids" / "Fall to Pieces" / "Slither"

Another supergroup, another top class album. Members of Guns N Roses unite with Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots to create full frontal hard rock, blaring guitar solos, and great all round tunes.

From the hard rocking - "Do It For The Kids", "Slither" et al - to the moving balladry of "Fall to Pieces" and "You Got No Right", the band showed their range throughout the fifty-seven minute running time, while Slash got to do what Slash does best. Shred out solos.

One more album followed before the inevitable fall out. Currently seeking a new singer, Velvet Revolver nevertheless leave us with the seventeenth best album of the last decade.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 18

Number 18

The Darkness

"Permission to Land"

Released: July 7th 2003

Key Tracks: "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" / "Growing on Me" / "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"

There's one problem with releasing a debut album that runs like a greatest hits. You can't top it. And while they quickly fizzled out and dissolved into other bands, there was a time in 2003 and 2004 when The Darkness ruled the world of rock.

The songs were self-parodying, but bloody entertaining. In fact, just about everything on "Permission to Land" is a storming rock song with lashings of humour thrown in. Call it cheesy if you will, but let's face it, you loved it at the time.

"Permission to Land" is the only relevant output from the band, the less said about the follow up "One Way Ticket..." the better, but it still stands out as an absolutely classic album.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 19

Number 19

Justin Timberlake

"Justified"

Released: November 4th 2002

Key Tracks: "Like I Love You" / "Cry Me a River" / "Rock Your Body"

What a way to break away from the boyband mould. Justin Timberlake had spent the previous six years of his life in *NSYNC, a putrid manufactured five headed shit. "Like I Love You" hit airwaves in August of 2002 and Timberlake immediately bacame a star.

Funky, fresh, catchy, this album had it all. From the Britney baiting "Cry Me a River" to the dancefloor smash "Rock Your Body" to the Latino influenced "Senorita", it was difficult to find something that you didn't like.

"Justified" is without a doub the best "pop" album of the last decade, in fact nothing even comes close. A brilliant, diverse album, from a very diverse man.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 20

Number 20

Megadeth

"Endgame"

Released: September 14th 2009

Key Tracks: "This Day We Fight" / "1,320" / "Head Crusher"

Forty-five minutes of sheer thrash. Dave Mustaine, Chris Broderick, James LoMenzo and Shaun Drover turn the clocks back twenty-five years and produce the best Megadeth album since "Rust in Peace". "Endgame" is the sound of eighties thrash reborn, and it honestly couldn't be any better.

Forget subtlety, its quite frankly not required here. Or wanted. "Endgame" is sheer brutaliy. Fast, frantic and never anything less than exciting. Mustaine's politics shine through once again in his lyrics, while the musical backdrop is just sheer power.

"Endgame" along with Metallica's "Death Magnetic" may well signal the era of modern thrash metal. What an age that could be.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 21

Number 21

Them Crooked Vultures

"Them Crooked Vultures"

Released: November 16th 2009

Key Tracks: "Dead End Friends" / "Elephants" / "Caligulove"

The very definition of supergroup. Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones come together in supersonic fashion to create a supreme blues rock stormer, worthy of all the greatness that the three men have done before.

Songs like "Elephants" are effortless, the sound of three amazingly talented guys letting loose and having fun. Homme's vocals are immense throughout, Grohl's drumming is as powerful as anyone could have hoped. And well, it's John Paul Jones on the bass. And the keys. And backing vocals. Just brilliant.

A treat to fans of any of the component bands. A treat to rock music fans. "Them Crooked Vultures" is just a great album. That is all that can be said.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 22

Number 22

Weezer

"Maladroit"

Released: May 14th 2002

Key Tracks: "Dope Nose" / "Keep Fishin'" / "Fall Together"

While it might suprise some that I've ranked "Maladroit" ahead of 2001's triumphant comeback "Weezer (The Green Album)" the simple fact of the matter is, I just think "Maladroit" is just a better album. All sides of Weezer from the hard rock - "Dope Nose" and "Slob" - to the cartoonish - "Keep Fishin'" and "American Gigolo" - to the quietly introspective - "Fall Together" and "December" - the album simply has it all.

Rivers Cuomo is quite simply one of the finest songwriters of his generation, and in a little over half an hour on "Maladroit", he shows off every single one of his talents.

Weezer released five albums this decade, and making a best of those five wouldn't be the easiest of tasks. But of those five, "Maladroit" is the most complete, start to finish great album. Hail Weezer.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009 - Number 23

Number 23

Gallows

"Orchestra of Wolves"

Released: September 25th 2006

Key Tracks: "Abandon Ship" / "In the Belly of a Shark" / "Will Someone Shoot That Fucking Snake"

Punk lives.

"Orchestra of Wolves" is a masterpiece, a truly devastating hardcore punk assault on the senses which united the old punks and the new punks in joy. Frank Carter's vicious vocals track over thrashing punk rhythms while the whole thing sounds like it was designed purely to be played at full volume.

The follow up "Grey Britain" was very nearly as good, but as an introduction, with "Orchestra of Wolves", Gallows left their mark. And a bloody good mark it was too.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 24

Number 24

Kings of Leon

"Youth and Young Manhood"

Released: July 7th 2003

Key Tracks: "Red Morning Light" / "California Waiting" / "Molly's Chambers"

Before they became the polished radio hitmakers we know today, there was a time when Kings of Leon were four hairy southern sons of preachers, who really knew how to put a dirty, scuzzy rock n roll song together.

Still in their teens and early twenties, Kings of Leon's "Youth and Young Manhood" is a red raw garage rock record, still sounding as fresh as a daisy, yet could have come straight from the late sixties at the same time. If "Red Morning Light" didn't make you believe in rock n roll again, you seriously must have lost your soul.

The band have become more polished, and less raw over the years, but this debut shows the real, naked talent that the band had back then, and still do to a certain extent now.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 25

Number 25

System of a Down

"Toxicity"

Released: September 4th 2001

Key Tracks: "Prison Song" / "Chop Suey" / "Toxicity"

System of a Down's "Toxicity" stands up as one of the most manic, schizophrenic albums of the last ten years. It's metal at it's core, but weaves in elements of funk, folk and symphony to create a unique sound which hasn't quite been matched since.

The album's starkly political lyrics shine over a backdrop of sonic noise, frantic drumming, and at times utterly mesmorising harmonies. The fact is that "Chop Suey" the album's lead single is one of the single greatest songs of this generation is no surprise, it still retains the instant thrust and charm it had in 2001.

System never reached the heights of "Toxicity" again - although side project Scars on Broadway did their best to come close - but this documents a band who were at their ultimate peak, and deservedly takes its place among the classics.

Only one month to go. Oh yeah!

Can't actually wait!

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 26

Number 26

Shinedown
"The Sound of Madness"

Released: June 24th 2008

Key Tracks: "Devour" / "Second Chance" / "Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide"

Shinedown's third album gave the world stone cold killer rock songs sitting right beside tender ballads. It's a Shinedown album by the book, but the sheer quality of the songs is what makes it really stand out.

"Second Chance" finally gave them the breakthrough success that they've thouroughly deserved, while lead single "Devour" showed that there's much more to Brent Smith and the boys than just slow songs.

Showing signs of both fragility and brutality, "The Sound of Madness" is from start to finish a great album.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 27

Number 27

Girls Aloud

"Chemistry"

Released: December 5th 2005

Key Tracks: "Biology" / "Long Hot Summer" / "Swinging London Town"

Having already released two stone cold pop classics in "Sound of the Underground" and "What Will the Neighbours Say?", it was with their third album "Chemistry" that Girls Aloud finally found their sound.

There have been few better pop songs in living memory than "Biology", both Girls Aloud and producer/writer team Xenomania's greatest three and a half minutes. And the rest of the album follows suit, with wonky beats, a lack of proper choruses, yet extremely catchy songs.

Girls Aloud may not be everyone's cup of tea, but with "Chemistry" they made an essential pop record, and that's why it's made the countdown.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 28

Number 28

Manic Street Preachers

"Journal For Plague Lovers"

Released: May 18th 2009

Key Tracks: "Peeled Apples" / "Jackie Collins Existential Question Time" / "She Bathed Herself In A Bath Of Bleach"

14 years after his disappearance, Richey Edwards made a remarkable return to the Manics. An album made up purely of lyrics left in a notebook by the now presumed dead "guitarist" over angry punk and scuzzy guitars is the band's most dynamic work since "The Holy Bible" and showed that there's still life in the old dogs yet.

Despite being written in the early nineties, the lyrics hold up to the modern day, James Dean Bradfield's vocals have never sounded better.

It's been a long time coming, but it's incredible just how great this album sounds. A late decade classic from one of the best bands around.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 29

Number 29

Eminem

"The Marshall Mathers LP"

Released: May 22nd 2000

Key Tracks: "Stan" / "The Way I Am" / "Kim"

1999's "The Slim Shady LP" introduced the world to Eminem. 2000's follow up "The Marshall Mathers LP" showed exactly why he would be hailed as the most important rapper of his generation.

"Marshall Mathers" was angry, bitter, dark and beautiful over 72 minutes, the Detroit man's incredible lyrics shone through in abundance, from the harrowing "Stan" to the even more harrowing "Kim" and everything in between.

Without a doubt the best rap album of the decade, probably of all time. Absolutely incredible.

Top 30 Albums of the Decade 2000-2009: Number 30

Number 30

Linkin Park
"Hybrid Theory"
Released: October 24th 2000Key Tracks: "One Step Closer" / "Crawling" / "In The End"
Limp Bizkit may have done it first, but there's no doubting that "Hybrid Theory" nu-metal like no other album before or since. Chester Bennington's clean as a whistle vocals meshed with Mike Shinoda's husky raps over electronically aided traditional metal beats.
From the moment you heard the first single "One Step Closer" you knew that this was a band that was going to define a genre. Further albums expanded their sound in ways no-one could have imagined, but it's "Hybrid Theory" that stands out as their finest hour. The sonic songs, thought provoking lyrics and a truly original sound, this album most certainly is one of the best of the noughties.