The concept behind making a list of the decade's top 100 records is without a doubt a bad one. No matter what you do to create the list, it's still going to upset people by leaving off albums they thought should have made it. Music simply isn't something that can transcend the personal tastes of the whole, unless it is viewed as a commodity more than an art form.

      I've seen several of these lists, and there hasn't been a "perfect" one yet, and nor do I think there will ever be one. At one point I was hoping that, somehow, due to the attempted variety of participants in this, there would be a mix of lesser-known albums which we hold dear, and the staple albums simply have to be there. What I didn't realize is that there's about 100 staple albums, so there's no way you can make a list with any flavor and retain all of the critically renowned albums of the last decade.

      Instead of being taken aback by the inclusion of albums you may not be familiar with, try to familiarize yourself with them. The goal of this magazine is to try to promote albums you may not normally run into, and while some of the ones in question on this list might not fall into this category, they still have a slim shot at making anyone else's list.

      The massive amount of people that assisted me on this list cannot go unaccredited, as I bugged them for not only a ballot of their personal top 25 albums, but also to write a few, or in the case of myself and Western Homes, around 30. The write-ups were what kept this list from going up on time, and while it definitely could have gone up as a mere list, insight into why the albums were chosen might make you more likely to want to check them out. We tried to get the write-ups from people who voted for the album and really love it, hence the appearance of some non-Signal Drench names.

      The fifty people that submitted ballots included not only Signal Drench staff members, but members of bands, writers, scenesters, and the pope. Well, not the pope, but if you can guess which four bands that were on the Top 100 had band members submit lists, I'll be impressed. Since you never will, the bands were Mogwai, Girls Against Boys, Castor, and Braid. People who write for online magazines such as Pitchfork, Lost at Sea, Rocket Fuel, and Ink Blot helped out as well. Not to mention the assistance of friends, and my team of trained monkeys. Through all of this, I had nothing to do with their opinions, as I just sat back and hoped to God they wouldn't pick Deion Sanders' Prime Time.

      By now you're probably scratching your head and wondering when I'm going to show you the albums so that you can live the rest of your life in peace, and here you go. This list may not be the 100 greatest pieces of music chosen by the omniscient god of rock (For that, see Ted Nugent's "100 Albums to Kill To" piece in the newest issue of Rifleman), but I can assure you that these albums are at least a sliver of the important music released in the previous decade.

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