number 4 (picking 4-10 was tougher than picking the first 3?)
4. Silverchair - Young Modern
While the U.S. was busy admiring the return of the Smashing Pumpkins (a short-lived admiration, unfortunately) and the U.K. was busy figuring out how much they wanted to pay for the new Radiohead album, my eyes were on Australia, as a band that rocked the hell out of a good chunk of my teenage years landed their fifth number one album (in Australia, that is), breaking all kinds of records in the process. I think the reason that it has not quite caught on in the states is that it does not rock the hell out of anything, let alone anyone's teenage years. That being said, it is one of the more intriguing listens to come around in a while, certainly the most challenging effort yet from the band.
Definitely more Modern than Young, Silverchair continues to develop and mature musically more than any other band on the planet. The loud and raucous guitars are pretty much abandoned and in their place you have a wide variety of instruments, yes even wider than the array they had on Diorama. The vocals hit higher notes and tend to be much more playful, there is hardly an air of sadness to be found at any point in the album. This does not mean to say that they are devoid of mood and introspection ("Reflections of a Sound") or even a bit of angst ("Mind Reader"), but the music throughout will flow through your ears rather than beat you over the head.
Basically the best thing Young Modern has going for it is that it is highly experimental and manages to stay together and interesting at every turn. Cynics might say that it is a completely different band than the one that produced Frogstomp, but in reality, that would probably be construed as a compliment. Although it has been quite a radical transformation, it would a much more depressing thought if Silverchair had not progressed to the level of sophistication of Young Modern, and it is quite remarkable.