Looking back at the year 2001 can be tough for a lot of people because of what happened on the eleventh day of September with the terrorist attacks on the United States. The world changed that year. The music world would begin to respond to the attacks a few months later in the year 2002. It was too early in 2001 to respond as the nation was in deep shock and mourning.
In the rock and roll world, 2001 saw the release of the debut album by John Mayer as well as the major label debuts by Andrew W.K. Ben Folds, Puddle of Mudd, Michelle Branch, and Hoobastank. Perhaps, what many older fans will take from the year 2001 was the release of Elton John’s Songs From The West Coast which was clearly the best album he had recorded in twenty years.
# 50 – Origin of Symmetry – Muse
# 49 – Strange Little Girls – Tori Amos
# 48 – The Argument – Fugazi
# 47 – Morning View – Incubus
# 46 – The Photo Album – Death Cab for Cutie
# 45 – We Love Life – Pulp
# 44 – Come Clean – Puddle of Mudd
# 43 – Underground Network – Anti-Flag
# 42 – Sing Loud, Sing Proud! – Dropkick Murphys
# 41 – American Hi-Fi – American Hi-Fi
# 40 – Human – Rod Stewart
# 39 – Hoobastank – Hoobastank
# 38 – Gorillaz – Gorillaz
# 37 – Mink Car – They Might Be Giants
# 36 – Sounding the Seventh Trumpet – Avenged Sevenfold
# 35 – Plan B – Huey Lewis and the News
# 34 – This Is Rock’n’Roll – The Quireboys
# 33 – Sinner – Drowning Pool
# 32 – Pneumonia – Whiskeytown
# 31 –God Bless The Go-Go’s – The Go-Go’s
# 30 – Trust No One – Dave Navarro
# 29 – Skin – Melissa Etheridge
# 28 – Rockin’ the Suburbs – Ben Folds
# 27 – The Spirit Room – Michelle Branch
# 26 – Dig – Boz Scaggs
# 25 – Killing Ground – Saxon
# 24 – Cuttin’ Heads – John Mellencamp
# 23 – I Get Wet – Andrew W.K.
# 22 – Phantom Moon – Duncan Sheik
# 21 – The Sinister Urge – Rob Zombie
# 20 – White Blood Cells – The White Stripes
# 19 – Everyday – Dave Matthews Band
# 18 – Beyond Good and Evil – The Cult
# 17 – Shangri-La Dee Da – Stone Temple Pilots
# 16 – Zoom – Electric Light Orchestra
# 15 – Lions – The Black Crowes
# 14 – Drops of Jupiter – Train
# 13 – Rock Steady – No Doubt
# 12 -Just Push Play – Aerosmith
# 11 -Amnesiac – Radiohead
# 10 – Is This It – The Strokes
# 9 – Love and Theft – Bob Dylan
# 8 – Reptile – Eric Clapton
# 7 – Room For Squares – John Mayer
# 6 – Lateralus – Tool
# 5 – Trouble in Shangri-La – Stevie Nicks
# 4 – Toxicity – System Of A Down
# 3 – Driving Rain – Paul McCartney
# 2 – Gold – Ryan Adams
# 1 – Songs from the West Coast – Elton John
Updated April 30, 2023
Best Rock Albums Of 2001 article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2023
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