2003 in music. • Page 2

This is so motherfucking true lol and I have a lot of work to do but it just ain't happening.

 

I think death cab has pretty much sucked for a decade, but it’s one of those scenarios where it hasn’t affected my appreciation of their classic run at all.

Not quite honorable mention, but as we reminisce about 2003, a few specific things stand out to me.

1) I’m not sure I ever was more excited for an album in my life than So Long Astoria. Shout out to my amb brethren brads one man band.

2) still remember hearing such great heights for the first time (might have even been a jt news post that did it) and how wild it felt to me, like this is nerdy am I supposed to like this wait I really do

3) Not a band I feel really delivered on their initial promise, but I have so much love for that run of initial Straylight Run demo drops. Felt like there was a new surprise every day and they all kicked ass. And those versions are the definitive ones to me (though I do like Nate ruess on whatever one that is on the album). Holding out hope for a cdq release one day, maybe on a debut 20 year deluxe edition next year.

 

Seems like a lock unless someone tells the Blink thread

 

Loud melodic post-hardcore with poetic lyrics. Dogleg is the most recent band to scratch that itch, but nobody really holds a candle to them.

Their reunion was very easily the best concert that I have ever been to, and probably the best that I'll ever go to

 

I will put on the whole record later today for sure - I listened to Ma Jolie in my queue just a few minutes ago and this is DEFINITELY my kind of sound. Not sure how I missed this in the mid 00s. Thanks!

 

1. bear vs Shark - Right Now…
2. King Geedorah - Take Me To Your Leader
3. Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain

List subject to change.

 

They only have two records, I prefer this one. Lead singer went on to form another band called Bars of Gold. Decent, but nowhere near BvS. Check out their Audiotree too!

 

1. FOB - TTYG
2. Brand New - Deja Entendu
3. MCS - I am the movie
4. Death Cab - Transatlanticism
5. Yellowcard - OA
6. OAR - In Between Now and Then

3-6 were very close.

 

Insane year. I think this is the year I started watching Fuse, at least on purpose. That channel single-handedly shaped my early musical tastes and led me to AP.net, which led me here!

1. Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers

• One of my favorite albums of all time. I loved half of it when I was a kid (I.E. the songs that are "fast" and "loud") and I learned to love the other half as I got older. Just absolute pop punk perfection that took on a new meaning for me when Adam Schlesinger became possibly the first high-profile COVID death. My best friend and I covered Mexican Wine remotely and you can see that here.

2. Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning

• Another one of my favorite albums of all time and definitely my favorite Alkaline Trio release. I could've put this at #1, but I didn't want to get Pat mad at me. Dan's best showing and Matt's near-best meld to make the most balanced Alk3 release. Weirdly enough I covered Continental in the same Sauna Sessions I linked to above. You can find that on your own if you'd like, it's not as good.

3. Blink-182 - Untitled

• Also one of my favorite albums of all time that I've cooled on a bit since I was a kid. Not quite my favorite Blink release, but I do love it and think it was a great note for the first era of the band to go out on.

Honorable Mentions:
Less Than Jake - Anthem

• My favorite Less Than Jake album because I am more of a pop punk than ska fan. Just banger after catchy banger on here.

Anberlin - Blueprints For the Black Market

• Like @SpyKi said, this is pretty juvenile compared to even their next album, but Naive Orleans is an excellent song worth the price of admission.

The White Stripes - Elephant

• When I first became aware of The White Stripes. This album keeps on giving. When Jack White revitalized the SNL stage in 2020 and interpolated Ball & Biscuit, it caused me to go back and listen and enjoy the hell out of it even more than I already did.

Motion City Soundtrack - I Am the Movie

• Not my favorite MCS, but there are enough catchy songs to keep it afloat.

Coheed & Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

• I'm a bad Coheed & Cambria fan. I do not like the prog rock songs or overarching stories/characters that influence their albums. I like this one because of Blood Red Summer and A Favor House Atlantic. The latter of which's music video made me think Claudio was 2 different people in when I was a kid because of the live section where he pulls his hair back.

The Format - Interventions & Lullabies

• Founding DNA of one of my favorite vocalists/songwriters for a few years there. I don't love this one, but it has some great songs for sure.

Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

• Overlong, bloated, indulgent, and responsible for one of the most classic pop songs of the 21st century so far. My hot take is that I enjoy Speakerboxxx way more than the other side.

Ludo - Ludo

• Lots of DNA-founding albums this year of bands who would go on to make better music later. This one hasn't aged great and is definitely pretty incel-y, but the songs and energy are there.

Linkin Park - Meteora

• Does everything Hybrid Theory does except catchier. I like this one slightly more because I think it is more consistent.

Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue

• Bought this for the singles, have never really moved past them. I laughed when Ryan puts the flower in the gun barrel in the "Only One" music video.

Fall Out Boy - Take This to Your Grave

• Lots of DNA-founding albums this year of bands who would go on to make better music later. This one hasn't aged great and is definitely pretty incel-y, but the songs and energy are there. Not my fav FOB by a long shot.

"Weird Al' Yankovic - Poodle Hat

• Not Weird Al's best, but contains some of his best. Genius In France and Hardware Store are legendary masterclasses in songwriting and production.

Gatsby's American Dream - Ribbons & Sugar

• Either the 2nd or 3rd best Gatsby's, depending on how I'm feeling. Excellent songs here and the production matches their ambition. A cosmic leap up from their debut.

The Ataris - So Long, Astoria

• Bought this for the singles, have never really moved past them.

Relient K - Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do

• Used to be my favorite Relient K album but it's got some filler for sure. What's not filler is certainly killer though and Over Thinking is still one of my favorite songs of theirs.

The Offspring - Splinter

• Half killer/half absolute dogshit. But the killer stuff is pretty damn good and the last time The Offspring didn't feel boomery.

Something Corporate - North

• Got into this one later in life and was surprised to find myself singing along to Space, which I knew already, apparently.

 

This is the start of the absolute unreal run that Daniel Dumile had. 5 albums in two years.

 

literally my favorite year of music, there are at least like 15 career/scene defining albums here. this is gonna take a while

 

Since my "most listened to" album of 2003 does not deserve any votes, I thought I would get some first place votes in for a super underrated band that still often gets considered a one-hit wonder, who made what I consider to be their best overall album in 2003. RIP Adam Schlesinger

1. Fountains Of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers
2. Thrice - The Artist In The Ambulance
3. 311 - Evolver
------------------------------
4. Deftones - Deftones
5. Blink 182 - Blink 182
6. Linkin Park - Meteora
7. Motion City Soundtrack - I Am The Movie
8. Every Time I Die - Hot Damn!
9. Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown
10. Kings Of Leon - Youth And Young Manhood
11. Muse - Absolution
12. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
13. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
14. Zwan - Mary Star of the Sea
15. Snow Patrol - Final Straw
16. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
17. John Mayer - Heavier Things
18. The White Stripes - Elephant
19. Outkast - Speakerboxx / The Love Below
20. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
21. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
22. Mae - Destination: Beautiful
23. Thursday - War All The Time
24. AFI - Sing The Sorrow
25. The Strokes - Room On Fire
26. Lucky Boys Confusion - Commitment
27. Third Eye Blind - Out Of The Vein
28. Fall Out Boy - Take This To Your Grave
29. Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day
30. The Postal Service - Give Up

Honorable Mentions:
***** Brand New - Deja Entendu ******
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
Against Me! - As The Eternal Cowboy
Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning
Anberlin - Blueprings for the Black Market
The Ataris - So Long, Astoria
Avenged Sevenfold - Waking The Fallen
Ben Harper - Diamonds On The Inside
The Black Keys - Thickfreakness
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Take Them On, On Your Own
Blur - Think Tank
Boysetsfire - Tomorrow Come Today
Coldplay - Live 2003
Copeland - Beneath Medicine Tree
Cursive - The Ugly Organ
The Dandy Warhols - Welcome To The Monkey House
The Darkness - Permission To Land
David Bowie - Reality
Dierks Bentley - Dierks Bentley
Eels - Shootenanny!
Evanescence - Fallen
Everclear - Slow Motion Daydream
The Exies - Inertia
Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
The Format - Interventions and Lullabies
Fuel - Natural Selection
Godsmack - Faceless
Guided By Voices - Earthquake Glue
Jack Johnson - On And On
Jane's Addiction - Strays
Jay-Z - The Black Album
Jet - Get Born
Korn - Take A Look In The Mirror
Live - Birds Of Pray
The Long Winters - When I Pretend To Fall
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Matchbook Romance - Stories And Alibis
MxPx - Before Everything & After
My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
The National - Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers
O.A.R. - In Between Now And Then
The Offspring - Splinter
Our Lady Peace - Live
Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs (B-Sides and Rarities)
Pete Yorn - Day I Forgot
Poison The Well - You Come Before You
Rancid - Indestructible
The Rapture - Echoes
Rise Against - Revolutions Per Minute
Rooney - Rooney
Saosin - Translating The Name EP
Shinedown - Leave A Whisper
Something Corporate - North
Story Of The Year - Page Avenue
Three Days Grace - Three Days Grace
The Thrills - So Much For The City
Vendetta Red - Between The Never And The Now

Checking Out in Full For First Time (holy shit so many just typing the artist names - whatever their '03 album is):
Animal Collective
The Appleseed Cast
Bear Vs. Shark
Biffy Clyro
Billy Talent
Belle and Sebastian
The Blood Brothers
Cave In
Dashboard Confessional
Dave Matthews
The Early November
Eve 6
The Exploding Hearts
Finger Eleven
Gavin DeGraw
Gojira
Grandaddy
Guster
Kamelot
Less Than Jake
Ludacris
M83
Mest
Metallica
Metric
Mew
Michelle Branch
The New Pornographers
Pennywise
Placebo
Rx Bandits
Saves The Day
The Sea And Cake
Sevendust
Silverstein
Static-X
Steely Dan
TV On The Radio
The Weakerthans
Ween
The Wrens
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

 

Holy shit, YES! Was still typing mine when you posted this. Multiple 1st Place votes for FoW - cheers my friend!

 

1. Deftones - S/T
2. The Bled - Pass the Flask
3. Brand New - Deja Entendu

 

Such a great album. Also good call on Three Days Grace, I was obsessed with the singles from that album. Just Like You still bangs tbh.

 

my all-time favorite from this year is/was deja entendu, and i assume ten years ago would have easily swept this contest. that said, here's everything else:

1. blink-182 – untitled
2. the early november – the room's too cold
3. thrice – the artist in the ambulance

4. thursday – war all the time
5. coheed and cambria – in keeping secrets of silent earth: 3
6. explosions in the sky – the earth is not a cold dead place
7. death cab for cutie – transatlanticism
8. the mars volta – de-loused in the comatorium
9. cursive – the ugly organ
10. the blood brothers – ...burn, piano island, burn
11. the postal service – give up
12. every time i die – hot damn!
13. afi – sing the sorrow
14. rise against – revolutions per minute
15. streetlight manifesto – everything goes numb
16. the movielife – forty hour train back to penn
17. alkaline trio – good mourning
18. mae – destination: beautiful
19. placebo – sleeping with ghosts
20. motion city soundtrack – i am the movie

this entire list consists of all-time favorite albums for me, and i could easily keep going. so stacked.

 

1. Biffy Clyro - The Vertigo of Bliss
2. AFI - Sing The Sorrow
3. Thrice - The Artist in The Ambulance

Vertigo of Bliss is a fuzzy, chaotic, art rock masterpiece, (recorded in just 24-hours!) with Biffy at their most ferocious, (Bodies In Flight, A Day Of..., Toys etc.), but also their most ambitious, (With Aplomb a baroque driven barnstormer, Diary of Always is essentially acapella, Now The Action is On Fire! sounds like the end of the world). It also contains their best song - All The Way Down, which I've must have heard a million times.

Both Sing The Sorrow and Artist have the same core strengths in that they are extremely catchy post-hardcore records that play with dynamics incredibly well, (and are both great to run to!). They were also two of the most important records for me digging further into the scene, and I've returned to them frequently over the last two decades.

I also adore(d) Deja Entendu, and feel weird not to include it as it's such a personal album to me, but tbh, fuck them

This was a great year!

 

Also, still pushing my pro-Will Young agenda, this is one of the best pop songs of the decade

 

1. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
2. Thrice - The Artist In the Ambulance
3. The Format - Interventions and Lullabies
4. Every Time I Die - Hot Damn!
5. Coheed & Cambria - IKSSL: 3
6. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
7. The Postal Service - Give Up
8. Fall Out Boy - Take This to Your Grave
9. The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
10. Funeral for a Friend - Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation

I was 17-18, still new to the scene. A few of these albums I discovered a few years later. At that point it was mostly Thrice, Coheed, Thursday, ETID, Funeral for a Friend, The Ataris, Silverstein, Rise Against...
Still not sure what to do with Brand New, a few songs don't sound right when they play on random...

 

Holy crap all your lists are reminding me how crazy this year was. Just thinking about what my top 3 will probably be, I'm like "oh...oh wow"

 

going to just rip the band aid off now and get it over with:

i will count your votes, if you choose to use them that way, in voting for a pedophile and child groomer, but i’m going to mention it every time someone votes for a pedophile and child groomer in this thread.

could have been brought up in the 70s threads as well - and probably should have been - but this one seems a bit more pertinent to this site for obvious reasons

 

Unless I missed it, I'm shocked that A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar hasn't made anyone's list yet.

 

it was an honorable mention for me. i probably haven’t listened to it in 5 years though, like many of these albums

 

I listened to the new Dashboard record and realized I've never liked them except on a spider man soundtrack

 

Aw man....Hands Down is such a classic sing a long.