"Some are meant to sing, some are meant to talk and some aren’t meant to say a thing"

For the better part of the last decade I have released my list of the Top 10 CD's each year. Instead of doing a list for 2009, I decided to put together an All Decade list. Now this list is obviously going to leave out quite a few deserving releases. This is a function of both my bad memory and of the limitations of only having 10 spots to fill. Long time readers (re: the other 4 guys and a lady I like to call "mom") will notice some incongruities between this list and where I had some of these albums ranked in the year that they were released. Sometimes the overall influence and staying power of an album can't be fully measured until several years later. Some albums simply "hold up" better than others. You'll also notice that some genres, most notably hip hop and country, lack representation. Again, I only have 10 spots and a finite number of hours in the day to listen to music. Of course Eminem should be represented for his influence in early part of the decade. So should Chris Knight and Gary Allen on the country side. I also offer my most sincere apologies to Jay-Z and Carrie Underwood. I just couldn't get to everyone. So here they are, the Top 10 CDs of the Aughts.

10. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Self Titled

In 2008, former Drive By Trucker guitarist and songwriter Isbell and his newly assembled band followed up his debut solo offering with a set that illustrates the flip side of Americana. With influences that range from Sam Cooke to Rolling Stones to Jackson Browne, Isbell and the 400 Unit put craft songs so perfect that they alternately tug at the heart strings and lift the spirit. And if you know anything about me, you'll know this is also a bit foreshadowing.

9. The Airborne Toxic Event - Self Titled

2009's only entry on the list gained recognition on the strength of lead single "Sometime Around Midnight". The L.A. based quintet blend standard rock guitars and drums with a combination of strings, tambourines, smart lyrics, and entrancing vocals. Each song on the CD builds to a soulful crescendo that leaves you longing for more.

8. Oukast - "Stankonia"

While I have included very little Hip Hop on previous lists, 2000's Stankonia is the perfect representation of Dre's singing and Big Boi's rapping, reminding us that before the acting careers and the growing distance between their musical styles, Outkast was an important musical voice, taking on cultural and social issues in a way that no other artist in the genre could. Single Mrs. Jackson still holds up a decade later.

7. The Whitestripes - "Elephant"

In the past I have panned The Whitestripes as, among other things, "A weirdo with a guitar and a drummer that can't play the drums", but in hindsight there is no doubting Jack White's substantial talent. On Elephant, Jack and Meg craft songs so complex and edgy that it becomes nearly stupifying that there are only two of them. In 2002 it was impossible to escape the juggernaut of single "Seven Nation Army" as it was eventually covered (with reverence) by everyone from Audioslave to Robert Goulet.

6. Kings of Leon - "Only By The Night"

The Followills (three brothers and cousin) of Leon county Tennessee began gaining steam early in the decade with "Aha, Shake, Heartbreak" and their mythology grew around subsequent releases as the story of their tent revival evangelical upbringing spread. They were already one of the biggest bands everywhere in the world except America in 2008 when "Only By The Night" vaulted them to the mainstream in their home country. On bonafide smash hit singles "Sex On Fire" and "Use Somebody" Caleb's vocals finally caught up with the impressive rock chops of the rest of the band.

5. My Chemical Romance - "The Black Parade"

In 2006 I referred to My Chem's mainstream breakthrough as "the defining album of a generation". I suppose that I am prone to hyperbole. While "The Black Parade" has not weathered the years as well as some of the other albums on the list, it still speaks in a way that no other band in the Alternative genre has been able to accomplish with their music. Gerard's anguished vocals and the band's thundering support on songs like "Sharpest Lives", "When You Go", and "Famous Last Words" perfectly tell the story of a band realizing the full power of their potential while on the brink of total collapse.

4. The Killers - "Hot Fuss"

Las Vegas based quartet The Killers burst into America's stream of conscience in 2004 with unescapable single "Somebody Told Me" and quickly followed it up with the even more popular "Mr. Brightside". Blending European synth with American rock influences and topping it off with an ambivalently cool panache solidified The Killers as one of the most unique bands to come along in years, and Hot Fuss one of the most defining CDs of the decade.

3. Bruce Springsteen - "The Rising"

In 2002, after 14 years since his last album with the E Street band, and inspired by the events September 11th, Bruce Springsteen got Little Steven, Nils, Patti, Clarence, Danny, and Max back in studio to craft a heart wrenching and powerful opus to America's struggle to overcome tragedy. Songs like "My City Of Ruins", "The Rising", and "Counting On A Miracle" uplift by imploring Americans to rise up and overcome in a way that only Bruce could pull off without sounding cheesy.

2. Rilo Kiley - "Under The Blacklight"

Rilo Kiley's 2007 swan song was also their most complete and accessible effort. Former child star and current singer Jenny Lewis weaves stories of the less sunny side of life on the fringes of Los Angeles. Covering everything from hook ups, break ups, abuse, and even the seedy inter workings of the porn industry, "Blacklight" paints an adventurous picture of all that is both good and bad with a culture obsessed with celebrity.

1. Drive By Truckers - "Decoration Day"

Over the years The Truckers have endured multiple line up changes with only Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and Brad Neff being the constants, but 2003's "Decoration Day" featured the full compliment of their collective talents with newly added songwriter/guitarist Jason Isbell and bassist Shonna Tucker rounding out the group. With Hood, Cooley, and Isbell all contributing songs, vocals, and guitars, DBT crafts the most powerful collection of songs in their impressive catalog. From stark anthems to powerful rockers, "Decoration Day" explores every facet of the "duality of the Southern thing".

Honorable mention:

-Gavin DeGraw, "Chariot"

-Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible"

-The Wallflowers, "Rebel, Sweetheart"

-Chris Isaak, "Mr. Lucky"

-Brand New, "Deja Entandu"