#2 – The Photo Album (2001)

Putting The Photo Album so high on this list feels like a risk, but I feel that this album does not get enough credit. 

Compared to the timidness of We Have the Facts (2000), The Photo Album takes a surprisingly large leap in musical sound. The twinkly and spinning guitar of “A Movie Script Ending,” followed by the commanding drumbeat and atmospheric acoustics of “We Laugh Indoors” are two strikingly different songs. Gibbard’s ode to Los Angeles, “Why You’d Want to Live Here” is an upbeat, overdramatic, excuse-ridden request to try to not get a significant other to move away: “You can’t swim in a town this shallow / you will most assuredly drown tomorrow.”

As if the band did not already use enough crescendos, the bitter and eventually vociferous escapade of “Styrofoam Plates” is filled with spitefulness towards a deceased family member at their funeral: “You’re a disgrace to the concept of family / You can deck out a lie in a suit but I won’t buy it.” 

Nearly every song on this album is perfect. They all sound sonically different while still maintaining the band’s uniqueness. 

An outstanding record overall.

Best Song: A Movie Script Ending

Worst Song: Information Travels Faster