By Anissa Jousset
Arts & Culture Editor
As you all know, UCR was founded in 2004. Where were you then? More importantly: what where you listening to? Take a step back from the Top40 and try and remember those albums that may have become the soundtrack to your childhood. In case you were sleeping, here is a list of 10 albums that came out 10 years ago. (Listed in no particular order)
Kanye West – College Dropout
Remember that album with the mascot teddy bear sitting in the bleachers looking sad? Enter the College Dropout, Kanye’s debut album. Forget the Kanye you think you know today, this pre-Kardashian album is sure to take you back. It borrows some old school sound-stylings reminiscent of the dawn of hip-hop and spoken word. Its songs like Through the Wire and Jesus Walks remind where Mr.West comes from.
Green Day – American Idiot
Needless to say, this is the album that triggered many a teenagers’ love for red white and black. American Idiot is the album of a generation. A rock opera for all of us born too late for the Who’s Tommy and a slight reminder that punk is not dead. With songs like Holiday and Boulevard of Broken Dreams Green Day stepped away from their earlier albums and set the bar for a new generation of punk rockers to come.
Keane – Hopes and Fears
“I walked across an empty land; I knew the pathway like the back of my hand”
Keane’s debut album is beautiful from head to toe. Their top hits Somewhere Only We Know and Everybody’s Changing can be found on this album, and, in case you have not heard it yet, everything around and in between these two songs make Hopes and Fears one of the ultimate albums of the past decade.
The Roots – Tipping Point 
You may know the Roots as the house band that accompanies Jimmy Fallon in his television antics. You may not even know them at all. All you need to know is this: there is no other band like them. This is not just another rap album. The Tipping Point will take you deep into levels of jazz, funk and… just listen to Questlove’s drumming for the rest. When it comes to lyrics, the Roots are on point and politically astute as always. (Note the Malcolm Gladwell reference in the album title). If you haven’t heard this album yet, get on it. Nuff said.
The Killers – Hot Fuss
“Open up my eager eyes, cause I’m Mr.Brightside”
Indie rock wouldn’t be what it is today without The Killers. Their debut album Hot Fuss spread the fire of indie synth pop like no other band in the year 2004. The songs Mr.Brightside, Smile Like You Mean It and Somebody Told Me were something of a combo breaker for the boys from Vegas and set the standard for every Killers album to come. Classic.
Arcade Fire – Funeral
2004 was a good year for indie rock and Funeral is a product of that bounty. Although branded as indie rock, Arcade Fire really stretches beyond the genre and gets borderline orchestral sometimes. If you thought their more recent albums were great, take a few steps back and give Funeral a listen, this is where it all began.
Gwen Stefani – Love Angel Music Baby 
“This sh** is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S”
What you Waiting For. Rich Girl. Hollaback. Girl. Cool. They were all somebody’s anthem at some point. No doubt Gwen Stefani became a pop idol with this album. She praised Harajuku style throughout the whole album and created a bubble gum fantasy world, mixing vintage retro feels with the party undertones from her time with No Doubt. You know it’s cool.
Jay-Z & Linkin Park – Collision Course
You have probably heard Jay-Z and Linkin Park on separate occasions, but together, now that is another story. The title says it all; this is the mash up of titans. 10 years later and Numb/Encore hasn’t aged a bit. The songs on this album tend to mutually perpetuate themselves as being hits in their respective genres and remind those who have forgotten, that rock and hip-hop are essentially brothers. If you haven’t heard this one yet: What the hell are you waiting for?
Kasabian – Kasabian
Another indie band, another debut album. The specific energy Kasabian generates will make you get up and move without really even knowing why. Their music is packed with adrenaline and groovy bass lines. They haven’t stopped delivering since, and, until you’ve danced (and sang along) to Club Foot, you haven’t really danced at all. Give this one a whirl and process the beats: you won’t regret it.
Tom Waits – Real Gone
Nobody really does it like Tom Waits. He will never cease to delight listeners with his stories based on questionable truths and tales of renegades and outcasts. Waits is more than just a musician, he is a storyteller of the ranks of the medieval bards. It seems he has released an album for every generation for the past 40 years, and so, Real Gone worked its magic on the year 2004.
Anissa Jousset, class of 2014, is a Film and Philosphy major from New York City, New York, United States.
