Counting Down The '00s: The Best Of 2002

Part three of our tribute to the best music of the '00s and this time we turn the bright lights on 2002, a year dominated by the stunning debut of Interpol, the blitzkrieg rock of Queens Of The Stone Age and the epic, apocalyptic noise of … And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.

Here’s what I wrote about "Turn on the Bright Lights" at the unveiling of C.M.C.’s "Best Albums of 2002" list: “For a second consecutive year, the "Album of the Year" title is awarded to a newcomer from New York City. Last year it was The Strokes who took the top honor by reinventing '70s punk and reintroducing vital underground rock music into the mainstream. This year the honor goes to Interpol, who are taking inspiration from early '80s new wave stalwarts like Joy Division and The Smiths and putting their own spin to the dark atmospheric sound frequently associated to that era. What’s important though (and what separates the inspired artists from the plagiarists), is that they’re able to make that sound their own and give us a debut album that feels as inspired and timeless as those of their heroes.”

As for Queens Of The Stone Age and … And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, both delivered their best albums for this decade. The former had turned into a bona fide supergroup with the addition of Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan to the fold for "Songs for the Deaf" and rocked harder than common sense and common law should allow, giving us no choice but to join the deaf club. The latter raised their elaborate wall of noise to new levels with "Source Tags and Codes", adding more texture and nuance to the brutal intensity of their explosive sound. "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots", the psychedelic masterpiece of The Flaming Lips, and the ambitious and sophisticated punk of Sleater-Kinney’s "One Beat" complete the list of the most memorable records of the year.

Top 30 Albums of 2002

1. Turn on the bright lights - INTERPOL
2. Songs for the deaf - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
3. Source tags and codes - ...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
4. One beat - SLEATER-KINNEY
5. Yoshimi battles the pink robots - THE FLAMING LIPS
6. Evil heat - PRIMAL SCREAM
7. Highly evolved - THE VINES
8. Original pirate material - THE STREETS
9. You can't fight what you can't see - GIRLS AGAINST BOYS
10. Title TK - BREEDERS
11. They threw us all in a trench and stuck a monument on top - LIARS
12. Gotham! - RADIO 4
13. Fantastic damage - EL-P
14. Murray street - SONIC YOUTH
15. Suicide invoice - HOT SNAKES
16. Chat and business - IKARA COLT
17. Good health - PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES
18. Plastic fang - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
19. Kill the moonlight - SPOON
20. Walking with thee - CLINIC
21. All artists are criminals - CHA CHA COHEN
22. Phrenology - THE ROOTS
23. The remote part - IDLEWILD
24. One by one - FOO FIGHTERS
25. The way I feel today - SIX BY SEVEN
26. Scorpio rising - DEATH IN VEGAS
27. To everybody - 90 DAY MEN
28. Free so free - J MASCIS + THE FOG
29. Universal truths and cycles - GUIDED BY VOICES
30. Since we've become translucent - MUDHONEY

Top 30 Singles Of 2002

1. Hands around my throat - DEATH IN VEGAS
2. Losing my edge - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
3. Miss Lucifer - PRIMAL SCREAM
4. Interpol EP - INTERPOL
5. Everywhere with helicopter - GUIDED BY VOICES
6. House of jealous lovers - THE RAPTURE
7. Emerge - FISCHERSPOONER
8. Black rooster EP - THE KILLS
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
10. Speakers push the air - PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES
11. Get free - THE VINES
12. Fell In love with a girl - THE WHITE STRIPES
13. Relative ways - …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
14. No one knows - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
15. Sister surround - THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES
16. Do you realize?? - THE FLAMING LIPS
17. Jonathon Fisk - SPOON
18. Love burns - BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
19. Someday - THE STROKES
20. Hate to say I told you so - THE HIVES
21. Morning has broken - THE EIGHTIES MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER
22. Ghetto mom - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
23. Come on - THE D4
24. Walking with thee - CLINIC
25. Let's push thing forward - THE STREETS
26. Dance to the underground - RADIO 4
27. Attack of the ghost riders - THE RAVEONETTES
28. We laugh indoors - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
29. All my life - FOO FIGHTERS
30. Used for glue - RIVAL SCHOOLS