5.The Sophtware Slump-Grandaddy
In 2000, most bands were trying to equal the critical success of OK Computer. Of these, many were ignored completely or simply regarded as derivative, but this stood out. What it is that differentiates this from the sea of Radiohead imitators is the uniqueness of it. Not many of the Coldplay/Muse/Travis bores would have responded by making it a concept album about an alcoholic robot and the impact of technology on the soul with numerous tracks spanning over 6 minutes in duration. God bless them for it, and for proving that pop music could still be unique and challenging.The music's very good too.
4. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea-PJ Harvey
Having spent the 90's moving constantly from one genre to another, creating some of the best albums of the decade, it came as something of a surprise when Miss Harvey released this startlingly straightforward guitar-pop record in 2000. However, it may just be her best work, on the grounds that it's easily her most accessible, and functions as a meditation on the relation between love and lust, alienation, and place. Whilst that sounds like heavy going, the album is also tremendously enjoyable to listen to, and contains several of her strongest songs. It also paved the way, along with the success of Cat Power, for a number of intelligent, articulate female performers to acheive commerical and critical success, and as a result I feel it more than earns it's place here.