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