DL and Evil Jimmy go deep on the best and worst albums of 2001 — a year that somehow produced Gorillaz's self-titled debut, The Strokes' Is This It, System of a Down's Toxicity, Tool's Lateralus, Jay-Z's The Blueprint, and Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American all at once. They build a collective top 10, trading picks and hot takes: Gorillaz at number one, Toxicity at two, Is This It at three — plus arguments for Opeth's Blackwater Park, Converge's Jane Doe, Tool's Lateralus, Muse's Origin of Symmetry, Jay-Z's The Blueprint, White Stripes' White Blood Cells, and Neurosis rounding out the list. Along the way: why Nickelback and Creed represent everything wrong with 2001 mainstream rock, the case for Built to Spill's Ancient Melodies of the Future, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the Toadies' Hell Below Stars Above, Ben Folds' Rockin' the Suburbs, Tenacious D's self-titled, and Tupac's Until the End of Time. Plus favorite songs of the year, a Stone Temple Pilots deep cut, Andrew W.K.'s She Is Beautiful, and a Clint Eastwood / Morgan Freeman life philosophy detour courtesy of the Gorillaz track. Part of Verse Chorus Verse's year-by-year and album-by-album music coverage. 2001 music,Gorillaz,The Strokes,System of a Down,Tool,Jay-Z Blueprint,Jimmy Eat World,album rankings,year in music,indie rock,metal,music podcast