The rock album theme of the "00s"? Consistency. There were unquestionably less amazing records this decade than any other decade in rock. I probably listened to 3000 or so discs that came out in the "oughts" and gave just 3 "perfect" scores. But that doesn't mean everything sucked. Good, even great, albums came out in droves. By the same artists. Year after year. Maybe it's just the way I listen to music (I'm pretty loyal to artists I like) but it was fascinating going through this exercise and seeing the consistency - for example, finding that all of the last 3 Mars Volta records were clustered together, along with the last 3 or 4 MMJ albums, TV On The Radio, Doves, Kings of Leon etc. It's pretty much the case down the line, from the few credible superstar bands like Green Day, U2, Radiohead, to the old warhorses like Dylan and Springsteen on down to the many excellent bands that never get airplay in these fractured times. And those bands are really the heart of the great rock of the decade - the mid-level Bonnaroo/Coachella/Lollapalooza draws. Highly credible bands that play theatres and put out a bunch of records that aren't quite "10s". Soon, when I have more time to actually play with my own website, I'll be ranking my whole record collection. With far fewer "10s" in this decade, will I find that the overall number of great records (9+ ratings) are also lower this decade than in the 70's, 90s, 60's and even 80's? I can't wait to find out. I'm pretty damn sure the 70's and the 90's will blow this decade away, but not sure if the breadth of great albums was quite as consistent in the 80's or the 60's (I don't count jazz on this list - hard to compare apples to apples - so the 60's are hampered in my book by getting a pretty late start). It's also fun to revisit records that - great as they may be - just don't seem a part of this last decade at all. Fatboy Slim? The last studio record from Rage Against The Machine? It also underscores how 2000-2001 frankly just had some more interesting stuff going on. Strange that 2001 feels like sooo long ago. Damn, making this list was fun. Wish I had time to write little blurbs about each record, but at the time of posting I just have too much going on. Blurbs/reviews will be trickling in. The rankings took a lot of time, even with the ultimate listmaking tool at my disposal. To clarify for you readers who have gotten this far- I listened to (and am pretty likely to own) the entire decade's output by all but about 2% of the bands on this list, so (if you care) you can safely assume that, for example, having Motorhead's "Inferno" on this list does not mean I'm just I am just some dude who scored the odd Motorheaad album, but rather that Inferno was a surprisingly high-quality album by a band that hadn't put out anything consistently memorable in a long time. And so on. I was originally planning a 200 or 250 item list, but some quality records would have gotten cut. So it's 300 - but in fairness, quality does start to drop around #275 or so. Criteria: Live albums and compilations of all sorts excluded. Had I included live albums, certainly Wilco, Warren Haynes, and many "official bootlegs" would have made the list. Other thoughts - Pearl Jam barely on the list, tho an absolute fave live band. Ditto for Phil and Friends, and Gov't Mule as well. Live versions are just better for these guys. When you make a list, you gotta have some rules (tho, when I do my 70's albums list, I don't see how I'll be able to exclude live albums - we humans are maddeningly inconsistent creatures). And when I find myself deep in the weeds of trying to slice whether, say, the Starsailor debut beats Gillian Welch's "Time", I ask "if i had to live without ever hearing one of these which would it be?". Not entirely fair, as one can burn out on a once-loved album so of course I try to take that into consideration as well. Such is how it goes, when Ranking

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Celebrities' quotes often make them all sound like Paris Hilton (who will obviously be on this list). This decade's dumbest celebrity quotes will make you feel a little better yourself, but a little bit worse about the world.

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Dear Parents doing your newborn products shopping: baby products are mostly evil, stupid and unnecessary. Out of all baby products these are the stupidest. Ever. We know that you are excited that your new little Missy of Jr is coming, but please stay away from these products and save your money for what you're going to need it for...a Divorce.

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Oh, the stupid things people do. Here are 9 stupid fire videos. Yes Skippy, fire does burn when you play with it...why are these people still in the gene pool?

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Best Rock Bands of Alltime isn't 100% accurate as this includes solo artists. The list does not include jazz or blues but does include soul, R&B, Americana, reggae, and classic country (yes, that is somewhat arbitrary, but for whatever reason i listen to blues and jazz differently than the rest, and would be too hard to compare Miles or Ornette or Hooker to, say, Aerosmith). Criteria is a combination of recorded albums, live shows I've seen, live recordings I've heard, radio songs, and even overall image/album covers/general coolness or uniqueness. I guess that was a way of trying to explain that the ranking is just a gut feeling. Obviously, this list will change over time. I'm adding commentary to items whenever i get a spare minute or something interesting comes to mind about a band.

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These are our partner sites and the links we love. Visit them, support them, rank them, love them.

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It could be that my most favoritest guilty pleasure is the consumption of disaster movies. Mostly because of what I learn so that I may be prepared when that next Meteor/Tsunami/Alien Invasion/Tornado/Earthquake/Monster/Climate Change comes along. How else are we going to be ready? I don't see any real guides out there. Who else do we have to turn to except these masterworks? Watch and learn... so the next time your windows start to shake or a giant fireball appears perfectly framed on the horizon, you will know just what you need to do to survive.

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If you're anything like me, you eat food on a regular basis. This is a roundup of some of the best recipes of the year. Whether you eat to live or live to eat, you'll find this list of the 10 most delicious Food Network recipes of 2009 very satisfying. Bon appetite!

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Mariah Carey Drunk at the People's Choice Awards reminded us of the reason we watch Awards Shows: we love watching as stars come out for a night of recognition--and booze. Lots of booze. Here are the best drunk awards show moments that celebrities wish we hadn't YouTubed.

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This list is a response to Stephen J. Vaughn-Nichols article by the same name on Linux Magazine. I respect Stephen's opinions, but here is my take on the topic. Reference: http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7651/1.html

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Recently, a devastating series of earthquakes rocked the small Third World country of Haiti. The country now lies in ruins because of this horrible event which has caused a still unknown number of deaths. The reason? According to TV's resident nut job Pat Robertson, it's because the Haitians entered into a pact with the devil and now he's asking them to pay up. But that's not the only time Pat has offered us some wizard-like insight. Here's a highlight of some of Pat Robertson's most shining moments, starting with the most recent.

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Staggering page numbers, an infinite amount of strange and fascinating characters buried in almost as many digressions, technical and obscure theoretical findings...that's what these masterpieces are all about. If your idea of a good (and in my opinion with these works, great) read is a true intellectual challenges that affords the careful and diligent reader with some pretty amazing ideas/insights, then bust out the reading glasses and try not to strain your brain. Understanding any one of these books on a first read might just be an exercise in futility, since I think the authors themselves might not even understand them fully, but they're all great in their own way.

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