'00s Adult Alternative

Don't be put off by fancy terminology: "adult alternative" is just another term for modern rock and pop that's got enough going on upstairs to appeal to those who've left childish things behind, but enough locomotion — with the accent on motion — for anybody who likes to crank it up and bounce around. U2 bursts into view like the first bold beams of morning sun to make it clear a big, bright "Beautiful Day" is on the way. You can shake a tailfeather to the funk-fortified R&B grooves of Maroon 5's "This Love," but it's also got enough pure-pop hooks to stock a bait-and-tackle shop. And whether or not you know Joni Mitchell's original version of "Big Yellow Taxi," Counting Crows' hip-swaying, finger-snapping cover brings the song's sneaky environmental message into a new era, with a coy, cooing vocal assist from Vanessa Carlton. How do we rock thee? Count the ways with unplugged powerhouses and revved-up remakes, in Next Steps.

If the first decade of the new millennium has shown us anything about music, it's the fact that there are more ways to rock than there are cat videos on YouTube. Scottish firebrand KT Tunstall proves you can unplug and still tear the house down with her thumping, pumping acoustic rocker "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." "A-Punk" shows how Vampire Weekend emerged from the blogosphere to devour the planet with a crafty cocktail of South African riffs, skanking rhythms, and indie-rock smarts. Eras collide when No Doubt reaches back to the '80s for Talk Talk's independence anthem "It's My Life" and paints it in big, bright new colors for another generation aching to stand up and be counted, and Feist weaves the dreamy melody of "1234" around a faithful banjo to sublime effect. In Deep Cuts enter the pop palace of the '00s with synth-pop saviours and bad-girl songbirds.

The adult alternative landscape of the '00s was about more than revved-up rockers; there was still plenty of room for sharp-eyed pop pioneers to make their mark. British "bad girl" Lily Allen loaded up sizzling slices of pop perfection, like "Smile," with ska-flecked beats, crafty, cutting lyrics, and a side helping of wisegirl attitude. Speaking of crafty lyrics, Beck left his behind — along with his hip-hop beats and cut-and-paste production — for the naked emotion and acoustic beauty of the sadness-soaked ballad "Lost Cause." And when Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard hunkered down with Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello as the Postal Service, they redefined synth-pop for the indie-rock age, with "Such Great Heights."

Decades from now, if your offspring come scooting up on their airboards and ask "What did you listen to in the '00s?" you can proudly pull up this playlist and let them know there was more to the era than teen pop and screamo. It's been a time where all was fair in rock and pop, whether it was the hyper-intelligent please-don't-call-it-emo of Panic! At the Disco, the arms-in-the-air post-Britpop anthems of Coldplay, the summery, blues-soaked, goodtime roots rock of Lone Star family band Los Lonely Boys, or the exquisite balladeering of Sarah McLachlan. In the '00s, if you wanted tunes that gave your brain something to chew on without ignoring your minimum daily requirement of head-bobbing, these were your go-to guys and gals, and now they're all in one place — this is what a spanking-new millennium sounds like.