'00s Hits

It's nearly impossible to narrow the '00s down to one tidy list of Top 40 hits. That's why we've done the work for you, sifting through the decade's greatest singles — a steady stream of rock, pop, country, rap, and R&B. Up first, a shot of bright, life-affirming electro-pop from Empire of the Sun ("Walking On a Dream"), the Motown melodies and soulful strut of Amy Winehouse ("Rehab"), Katy Perry's button-pushing breakthrough ("I Kissed a Girl"), Gabriella Cilmi's tie me up, tie me down, spin me round chart-topper from 2008, "Sweet About Me," and enough indisputably stellar tracks to keep your speakers busy for years to come. Especially when you factor in the Akon-to-U2 range of our Next Steps.

The Dixie Chicks in the same playlist as Linkin Park, James Blunt, and Akon? Indeed, and that barely scratches the surface of our Next Steps — a complete rundown of '00s Hits, from the surfer dude jams of Jack Johnson ("Flake") to the euphoric leftfield balladry of the Flaming Lips ("Do You Realize??"), with loony loops ("Get Low"), crystallized power chords ("Times Like These"), and Modest Mouse ("Float On") lurking somewhere in between. Throw in a Death Cab for Cutie side project that's driven by shuffled beats and shimmering synths ("Such Great Heights"), and a couple of American Idols, and your '00s set really starts to fill out. As for our Deep Cuts, they drop the Pussycat Dolls in the same room as the Presets, like a radio dial in a permanent tailspin.

What a difference a decade makes. In the case of the '00s, we're talkin' about Damon Albarn's post-Blur crack at creating a cartoon band for the iPod age ("Feel Good Inc."), the tipping-point tracks of MGMT ("Time to Pretend"), the ever-electrifying West Coast funk-rock of the Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Dani California"), and the densely layered Canadian indie soundscapes of Arcade Fire ("Wake Up"). The Boss finds hope in the decade's dark side with his 9/11-inspired "The Rising," Jamie Foxx channels Brother Ray, with some Kanye overlay, on "Gold Digger," and Guy Sebastian reminds us why he triumphed in the first Australian Idol season with "Angels Brought Me Here."

Like the freshly cracked pages of a long-buried yearbook, our genre-jumping '00s Hits Essentials playlist is bound to jostle and jab your brain until music-synced memories start pouring out. And we're not just talking about the first time you heard "SexyBack" or the strict Lady GaGa soundtrack that fuelled the summer of '09. Try any of the following A-list tracks: the sprawling punk-rock operas of My Chemical Romance ("Welcome to the Black Parade") and Green Day ("American Idiot"); the Fergie-backed pop era of Black Eyed Peas ("Boom Boom Pow"); a club-clobbering rap/R&B crossover from Usher, Lil' Jon, and Ludacris ("Yeah!"); and such instant classics as "Lose Yourself," "Hips Don't Lie," and "Toxic." The '00s may be history, but these tracks are timeless.