Welcome to 2000!

We are officially in the new millennium of music! Suddenly the 90s have fallen away and the musical world is opening itself to new and different ideas!...only in some cases. In many respects, the turn had been coming for some time, but we can still happily pretend that it's a brand new era just when the clocks clicked over and the Y2K bug didn't end us all.

Today we ring in the new millennium with a wide array of ambitious Essential Albums and possibly some surprising conspicuous absences. We are officially in the era when 80s sounds are beginning to find their way back to the fold in retro movements, creating a nice overlap for us with Season 1, and bands are still trying to figure out how to untether themselves from what the 90s bestowed upon us. It's a busy moment!

Join us as we explore this new world of the 2000s, giving us exploratory 80s sounds, 90s sounds that were just on the cusp of getting big, and some ancient sounds that are having a solid third run. This era has layers!