'00s Greatest Hits

Pop was supposed to explode into a thousand, glittering, loosely connected splinters in the '00s, right? The decade of the mash-up, the rock 'n' roll re-hash, the grime/pop crossover and the gargantuan non-stop talent show could have made for one mighty, blistering mess . . . but these tracks suggest that the legend "Pop is dead — long live pop" stands as a fairly accurate summary. After all, who can resist the soaring magnificence of Take That on "Rule the World" which positively glistens with the confidence of a triumphant come-back; or the polished retro-soul of Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse ("Rehab"); or the poetic gift-of-the-gab possessed by Eminem ("Stan") . . .

. . . our selection of Noughties stand-outs continues in Next Steps.

Everyone and their brother, it seemed, tried surfing the clean, futuristic waves of electro-pop during the '00s, but few matched the technique and artistry of La Roux (Ben Langmaid and Elly Jackson), whose "In for the Kill" injected passion into a genre more often associated with ironic detachment. Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" raised the bar for girl groups back in 2002, with its jungle-like bpms and pulse-quickening surf guitar; Michael Andrews & Gary Jules breathed new life into "Mad World"; and Madonna sampled ABBA on the club-thumpin' "Hung Up" while Lady GaGa ("Just Dance") offered hints that she was worthy of Madge's mantle.

More queens of pop made a big impression, in Deep Cuts.

Young women with something to say made a massive impact on the '00s popscape, and prominent among them was our own Lily Allen, who first got herself heard as a social networker then proved all the buzz was entirely justified with tracks like "The Fear" from outstanding second album "It's Not Me, It's You". Katy Perry steamed into the fray, bold and brassy, from over the Pond with "I Kissed a Girl" and Shakira proved herself a vital link to the Latin pop empire with Wyclef Jean collaboration "Hips Don't Lie". Equally flamboyant, in his own way, was Mika, whose pop ancestry owed as much to Freddie Mercury as to the Eurovision cheese-mongers of the '70s.

The return of the soul diva; the meteoric rise of the talent show winner; the reinvention of the girl group; the return to glory of the boy band . . . the Greatest Hits of the '00s drew liberally from all these modern phenomena, through the work of Duffy and Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Girls Aloud, and Take That. Arctic Monkeys helped to remind us that fresh rock n roll still has the power to thrill with "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor"; Black Eyed Peas only went from strength to strength during the decade, delivering their most successful ever single in 2009 ("I Gotta Feeling"); and James Blunt joined David Gray at the head of a new crew of sharp, abundantly talented singer-songwriters. Oh yes, the '00s had it all, and we've gathered all the best bits right here.