Ten Years Gone: Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

This entry is part of an ongoing series in where I take a look back at landmark films and albums released 10 years ago.

When I think about what it was like during the time Outkast's fifth album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, was released, I can't recall ever sharing such a huge amount of optimism and trepidation concerning a project. Coming off the smash Stankonia, which was so hugely popular that it became one of the few hip hop albums up until then to be nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys, expectations were stratospheric. Outkast had managed to make each successive album contain fewer borders, rarely taking a step backward when it came to trying new things. By the time Speakerboxxx/The Love Below came around, the dusty, buttermilk-battered funk of their debut Southerplayalisticadillacmuzik was but a distant memory and only served as a slight reference point to the foundation of their sound. The increasing eclecticism no doubt helped to expand their audience and it was reasonable at the time to expect that their latest double album would be nothing short of mind-blowing.

Ten Years Gone: Kylie Minogue - Fever

This entry is part of an ongoing series in where I take a look back at landmark films and albums released 10 years ago.

While gaining international success throughout the '80s and '90s comparable to her fellow pop icon, Madonna, at the beginning of 2002 Kylie Minogue's lasting legacy in the U.S. was her 1988 hit "The Locomotion" and small roles in viciously panned flops such as Bio-Dome and Street Fighter. Her status in the States forever changed course with the release of "Can't Get You Out Of My Head," the lead single on Fever. With its infectious chorus of "la la la" and a velvety robo-disco track, Minogue had her biggest hit ever in America. Not only did it peak at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it found its way onto several year-end lists, even managing a top ten placement in the yearly Pazz and Jop poll from The Village Voice.

Ten Years Gone: The Roots - Things Fall Apart

This entry is part of an ongoing series in where I take a look back at landmark films and albums released 10 years ago.

Before Things Fall Apart, The Roots were merely respected artists that true hip hop heads name dropped to be in the know. Today, they've reached such notoriety and fame that even your mom will probably know who they are now that they'll be Jimmy Fallon's house band when he takes over Late Night on NBC. It all started with the lead single, "You Got Me," featuring neo-soul poster child, Erykah Badu. The track was something uncommon in hip hop, a love song with genuine affection that dealt with more than just bedding someone and even explored the paranoia that often arises in relationships.

Ten Years Gone: Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

This entry is part of an ongoing series in where I take a look back at landmark films and albums released 10 years ago.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill may very well be the last great artistic statement that Ms. Hill will ever make. A series of bad decisions and unfortunate events have made a follow-up look less and less likely with each year. Think about that; it's 2008 and we have yet to receive a second studio album. Considering all the critical acclaim and commercial success, a sophomore album seemed inevitable. If a follow-up album were announced today, it would immediately become one of the most anticipated albums of the year, which says a lot for the quality of Miseducation.

Ten Years Gone: Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty

This entry is part of an ongoing series in where I take a look back at landmark films and albums released 10 years ago.

You usually have to wait an eternity between Beastie Boys albums. Nowadays if you wait more than three years between albums, that's usually it for your career unless you have a Mariah-sized fanbase that will never go away. While the Beasties have had their fair share of success, they've never been at a Mariah level in terms of popularity, yet after a decade-plus in the industry, their albums still debut at #1.

Ten Years Gone: The Truman Show

This entry is part of an ongoing series in where I take a look back at landmark films and albums released 10 years ago.


In 1998, the concept of The Truman Show seemed inconceiveable. How could the entired world be caught up in a television show that claimed to be real, but was in fact artificial and manufactured? And how could a program that tracked the life of a man 24/7 even make it onto the air in the first place? Indeed, at the time, it did feel like a fantasy. Flash forward 10 years later and we find ourselves not all that far from a Truman Show-esque world. Two years after The Truman Show, a little show called Survivor captured the attention of a nation. It surprisingly kickstarted a genre and gave birth to a new phrase: reality television.

Ten Years Gone: Madonna - Ray Of Light

This entry will be the first in what I hope will become a regular thing on this blog. I'm going to take a look back at certain albums and movies on their 10 year anniverseray and examine the impact they've made. First up is Madonna's Ray of Light.

So why Madonna as the first entry? Well, after looking at the list of '98 albums and films that I enjoyed, Ray of Light's release date was the earliest and I want these entries to coincide with their respective 10 year anniversaries.

So you still might have the question: Why Madonna?

Ray of Light is a very special album in the catalogue of one the world's most beloved pop icons. Madonna's work has always been provocative and ever-changing, but never before had she let us this deep into her personal life. A lot of Madonna songs have a narrative that could be ambigiuosly biographical ("Papa Don't Preach", "Secret"), but there is no confusion that Madonna herself is the subject for most of Ray of Light.