If you’re of a certain age, it’s hard to believe the following albums are turning 20 this year. The artists below were well into their careers, yet far from complacent when they reinvented and emerged with new sounds.
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What happened? Two Britpop titans returned, a shape-shifting Los Angeles musician wrote another slacker anthem, and an alt-country pioneer built one of the best live bands on the planet.
Yes, 2005 was really that long ago. George W. Bush was president of the United States, Tom Brady won his third Super Bowl, Carrie Underwood won season four of American Idol, and these four great albums also dropped.
‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ by Oasis
Ten years after “Wonderwall” broke Oasis in America, the Manchester band released the best of its post-Britpop albums. Don’t Believe The Truth opens with an Andy Bell-penned banger (“Turn Up The Sun”), which also became the band’s tour opener.
Other highlights include the no. 1 hit “Lyla” and one of Noel’s finest tunes, “The Importance Of Being Idle”. Oasis released one more album (Dig Out Your Soul) before breaking up in 2009. However, the Gallagher brothers have since reunited for a 2025 stadium tour.
‘Kicking Television: Live In Chicago’ by Wilco
Jeff Tweedy expanded Wilco’s evolving lineup to include guitarists Nels Cline and Pat Sansone. And if you want to show off a stellar band, recording a hometown live album is the way to do it.
The six-minute epic “Misunderstood” reaches an ecstatic peak when Tweedy shouts: “I’d like to thank you all for nothing!” His band punctuates “nothing” repeatedly as if to drive the point home in a furious bit of rock and roll gratitude.
‘Guero’ by Beck
Following his folk masterpiece Sea Change, Beck returned to a more familiar sound on his ninth album Guero. “E-Pro” recalls the alternative hip-hop of Odelay and features Beck’s lazy rap atop Dust Brothers’ distorted and funky production. Check out the rubbery bass groove on “Go It Alone” featuring Jack White.
‘Demon Days’ by Gorillaz
Blur frontman Damon Albarn collaborated with hip-hop legends De La Soul and made what became his virtual band’s biggest hit. “Feel Good Inc.” made several year-end lists and is nearing two billion streams on Spotify. Also, don’t miss “Dare” and Albarn’s full circle moment with Happy Mondays and Black Grape singer Shaun Ryder. Ryder helped inspire Blur’s pre-Britpop debut and the Madchester single “There’s No Other Way”.
Photo by Fryderyk Gabowicz/Getty Images
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