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Best albums of 2003
For my other Best albums lists for this decade, please visit my Best albums of the 00s list. All videos chosen for quality of sound, rather than visuals.
 164  8.1 Clearly, At the Drive-In breaking up wasn't all bad.
Favorite song: "Televators"  the giraffe's rating:
 
11 9.1 One of my all-time favorite albums, perfect from start to finish.
Favorite song: "End of the Line" the giraffe's rating:
26 8.3 Better than Reinventing Axl Rose, and almost as good as Searching for a Former Clarity. This was my introduction to AM!, and I think it's a perfect album to get into them.
Favorite song: "Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists" the giraffe's rating:
216 8.1 I can never decide which Placebo album is my favorite between this one, Meds, and Without You I'm Nothing.
Favorite song: "Protect Me from What I Want" the giraffe's rating:
3 9.5 Mark E. Smith is a genius, and The Fall should be more popular.
Favorite song: "Mountain Energei" (or whichever I'm listening to) the giraffe's rating:
11 6.7 Quite possibly the most important voice in hip-hop, this album finds Immortal Technique speaking out on politics in ways most artists wouldn't have the balls to (save perhaps Rage Against the Machine). As you'll hear in the song below, he also has serious thoughts on other subjects too.
Favorite song: "The Message & the Money" the giraffe's rating:
12 8.5 This album really makes me want to break things.
Favorite song: "Floater" the giraffe's rating:
21 7.6 Mike Patton does it again.
Favorite song: "Rotgut" the giraffe's rating:
10 8.1 One of my favorite underrated bands. Prior to this album I liked what they were doing, but wasn't that crazy about the vocals. Here their singer finally opened up & did some solid singing, though it's possible that this was simply the first album where they had people running the boards who knew exactly how to pull the best sound out of them. Whatever the case, this album solidified my love for PTW & the albums that followed have only reinforced it.
Favorite song: "Meeting Again for the First Time" the giraffe's rating:
19 7.7 The album that got me into Blood Brothers, & I would eventually go back & pick up their previous albums.
Favorite song: "The Shame" the giraffe's rating:
 
8 7.6 Favorite song: "Mary the Ice Cube"
the giraffe's rating:
2 9 Underrated, short-lived band. Vaux were one of the more interesting 00s hardcore acts, and they always put on great live shows.
Favorite song: "Shot in the Back" the giraffe's rating:
23 7.4 Favorite song: "This Is Our Emergency"
the giraffe's rating:
23 6.6 I really wish this had been released as two separate albums. To be honest I only ever listen to Andre 3000's half (The Love Below) which is easily a perfect 10. Big Boi's disc does nothing for me.
Favorite song: "Behold a Lady" the giraffe's rating:
8 8 This EP was released shortly after their excellent album Source Tags & Codes, and this was another case where my expectations weren't in the right place for me to appreciate it at the time. I remember seeing at least one review that referred to it as a hangover album compared to the party of Source Tags, which seems about right. Where Source Tags was bombastic and focused, this EP was mellow and seemed really dull at first. Favorite song: "Crowning of a Heart" the giraffe's rating:
Killer soundtracks
It's not often I find soundtracks I enjoy listening to from start to finish, but these 3 were noteworthy exceptions.
Runners-up
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Soundtracks have often been a good way for me to get into new bands too. For whatever reason 2003 was the only year out of the 00s that there was more than 1 soundtrack I liked though. Maybe I just didn't pick up the right ones.
Only albums I own on this list are Fever to Tell (epically awesome!) and 13th Step, which I should probably revisit. It kinda disappointed me when I first bought it. (Though not as much as Lateralus did a year or two earlier.)
Happy to see Pretty Girls Make Graves here. Saw them open for someone or another, long before I really knew who they were. Later they became a favorite on 89.3 the current-- the only radio station I've listened to for the past 5 or 6 years. Indeed sucks that they split.
Obviously I should've gotten into Against Me! years ago. Honestly have no idea how I missed that boat. Now what I hear from them on Pandora or whatever it may be is mostly ordinary. Highly listenable, but nothing that's ever wowed me.