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Blender’s Top 33 albums of 2008

1:23 p.m. · November 24, 2008 · by Andrew Winistorfer

It’s no surprise that Blender picked Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III as their number one alum of the year, considering they did everything they could to make sure he appeared in nearly every issue. However, it’s surprising whose albums they picked as the other 32 best albums of 2008 (Why 33 you ask? No one knows.), namely, Randy Newman, Usher, Mariah Carey, and Metallica.

I can give them Usher and Mariah Carey (they need to flesh their list out with an appropriate number of R&B albums, and those two fit the bill), but why Randy Newman and Metallica in the top ten? The Metallica picks seems like a concession to the backwards baseball cap set that usually reads Blender, but Randy Newman’s album is a pick more fit for the confines of Rolling Stone.

I also can’t co-sign on Death Cab, Jenny Lewis, Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, or Girl Talk making this list, because those albums are mostly noticeable for how terrible they aren’t. That’s the point of these things I suppose. Here’s the full list:

33 Hayes Carll: Trouble In Mind
32 Taylor Swift: Fearless
31 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
30 Young Jeezy: The Recession
29 Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It
28 Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks: Real Emotional Trash
27 Mariah Carey: E=MC²
26 Usher: Here I Stand
25 Santogold: Santogold
24 The Roots: Rising Down
23 The Cool Kids: The Bake Sale
22 Coldplay: Viva La Vida
21 Erykah Badu: New Amerykah: Pt. One (4th World War)
20 Wale: The Mixtape About Nothing
19 Katy Perry: One Of The Boys
18 Ponytail: Ice Cream Spiritual
17 Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst
16 Be Your Own Pet: Get Awkward
15 Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
14 Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue
13 Al Green: Lay It Down
12 My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
11 Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs
10 Fall Out Boy: Folie A Deux
09 Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
08 Randy Newman: Harps and Angels
07 of Montreal: Skeletal Lamping
06 Robyn: Robyn
05 Hot Chip: Made In The Dark
04 Metallica: Death Magnetic
03 TV On The Radio: Dear Science
02 Girl Talk: Feed The Animals
01 Lil' Wayne: Tha Carter III
[via Stereogum]