Kid A — Radiohead

Kid A is the defining album of the 2000s, topping both Pitchfork and Rolling Stone's decade-end lists. Radiohead's radical departure from guitar rock into electronic textures and orchestral arrangements sold over 5 million copies worldwide, a volume that outperforms #2's first-week sales by a factor of three. Its experimental sound, featuring the eerie vocoder of 'Everything in Its Right Place,' set a benchmark that no other album on this list has matched for ambition.