The Best Bands Released an Album in 2003 or 2004

TL;DR: I agree with my friend. Bands that released an album in 2003 or 2004 are the best bands.

A friend of mine and I typically share a song with each other at the beginning of the week (Monday) and at the end of the week (Friday). These songs can vary quite a bit. Sometimes they match how we are feeling about work, life, etc. Other times, it might just be a song that we are really vibing with at the time.

This small impromptu, accidental ritual (habit?) or whatever you want to call it has become one of my favorite things to look forward to during the week.

A lot of times, these songs will spark pretty random conversations. Sometimes they involve stories from 10+ years ago (we were long-time roommates); other times, they will initiate a deeper conversation on life.

You never know where these messages will lead, and I have really grown to love that. In an age where genuine engagement is predominantly vacant in people’s lives, when you have a glimpse into a connection with someone you care for, you take it.

As I am writing this, my mind is still blown about what this week’s Monday song led to. I shared my Monday song, “The Years” by Fiddlehead, and was planning on letting it lay that way. However, and I am not sure where this came from, I thought of the cover of The Killers’ 2004 album “Hot Fuss” and had to follow up my Monday song with a message praising the cover of that album. For whatever reason, it is one of my favorite album covers.

My friend shared the same sentiment (surprise, surprise). Another aside: I have come to find that the best friends share a lot of fundamental things in common (love for music, baseline ethics, etc.) but can diverge to challenge your outlooks and provide the honest feedback you need. This friend has done that in so many ways for me over the years.

Anyway, his response to The Killers’ “Hot Fuss” album cover comment blew my mind. He simply replied, “The Killers are time travelers, (they) used AI to generate it in 2050.” He went on to say, “Music peaked in 2003/2004.”

Now, I know what you are thinking. This highly subjective and hyperbolic statement can send some (or perhaps many) of you shaking your heads and yeeting right out of this post, but bear with me.

His point was that he realized that all of his foundational favorite bands and albums were predominantly released in 2003 or 2004. Now, this could be because we are in our early 30s now and were approaching peak pre-teen angst at the time. However, I think it is more than that. These albums have helped me form friendships I still have 20+ years later; some of these people were in my wedding, these were the albums and bands and the soundtracks to the days and nights without responsibility. They were on the radio when I met my wife and helped me through life’s ups and downs.

You can never plan on when the good and bad will happen, but sometimes it’s the intangibles you discover that become part of the big picture.