Ranking Every Black Keys Album Ever

In 2010, I had just begun my Rolling Stone subscription as I attempted to inculcate myself with sub-mainstream pop culture and music knowledge. The hipster train was just starting to leave the station, and I, while decidedly NOT one of them, still found their tastes in culture to be suited to my own. Rolling Stone was a good magazine for me, because while it is decidedly at the fore-front of pop culture in America, it constantly gives a nod to the toiling indie generation of music, without casting shame on the bands that make it big, like Pitchfork does. One of the first articles I read was on the Ohio-band The Black Keys, who had just released their album Brothers and, as the magazine fortune-told, were on the brink of becoming an A-List, arena-filling act. I, as an eager teen looking for an edge in pop-culture conversations, watched the video for "Tighten Up" on YouTube and decided they were my new favorite band. This occurred approximately two weeks before "Tighten Up" could be heard on your local radio station every hour. Thus, I officially "was a Black Keys fan before everybody else", and I had accomplished my first mission of liking a band "before they became popular". My pretentiousness about them, and the rest of pop culture pretty much, has died down gradually since I've entered college, but The Black Keys remain my default answer for my favorite band of my generation. I've listened to every one of their songs countless times, and their live show at Merriweather last May was the finest concert I've ever been to.

With that introduction, here's my rankings of each of their albums. It's in order from least-favorite to favorite, not worst to best. Because The Black Keys have never made an album that could be considered "worst" - so this is only my personal preference of each of them in relation to one another.

7. thickfreakness (2003)

Thickfreakness is one of the band's bluesiest albums. And I do love it - some of the riffs on this album are my favorites that they've done. "Thickfreakness" and "Set You Free" are two fantastic songs, but like other albums in the band's repertoire, the album is pretty front-loaded.  I absolutely love the first three songs on the album, while the rest of it dips down a level. It also lacks the power of their debut. That said, while it lacks the excitement that others deliver, this album is one I could listen to over and over again without complaint.

6. The Big Come Up (2002)

The debut of The Black Keys, The Big Come Up is thirteen songs of raw, unrefined energy. It's straight-up blues produced in a basement, giving the album - and the band - its trademark garage sound. While the explosive, pure energy is fantastic, it also lacks the experience of their follow-up albums, but is still a great listen from start to finish. The songs are a bit shorter on this album than most of the other albums as well, and I'm personally a greater fan of their ability to stretch songs to four and five minutes. But if The Big Come Up was a stock, I would have invested it due to the clear potential of the band evident in 2002.

5. Attack & Release (2008)

Attack & Release is the clear turning-point of the band's transition into the mainstream. This was the first instance of their collaboration with producer Danger Mouse, and the result is a much smoother sound with some of the catchiest riffs the band has done. "I Got Mine" is one of their best songs, and watching them stretch it to eight minutes live was an amazing thing to see. "Strange Times" is another great track. The album lacks flow from start to finish and the best songs occur at the beginning, but Attack & Release shows the flashes of mainstream music that catapulted the band to stardom on their next albums.

4. Brothers (2010)

The album that launched The Black Keys into the mainstream, Brothers is one of the best albums of the decade so far and proof that great rock music can still be popular. The band ditched Danger Mouse for the lyric-heavy, darker album about love and friendship, with the exception of "Tighten Up". It's a great listen, though my only real problem with it is its length of 16 songs, some of which on the b-side aren't as fantastic as "Tighten Up", "Next Girl", and "Howlin' for You". "Black Mud" is a brilliant instrumental song as well.

3. Magic Potion (2006)

So I was actually going to rank Magic Potion at the bottom of the list. But then I listened to it again today. The major-label debut of the band, Magic Potion delivers some of the most underrated music the band has ever made. "Your Touch" and "Goodbye Babylon" are two of my favorite songs, and the rest of the album provides the steady blues that makes The Black Keys great. The album loses its way in the middle I think, but once "Goodbye Babylon" comes on, the album finishes extremely powerfully.

2. El Camino (2011)

If Brothers is the album that got people to notice The Black Keys, El Camino is the album that made people stay. It's their acknowledgement of being in the mainstream and their roaring success to appeal to the masses. It's much less outwardly bluesy and highly produced (Danger Mouse came back for this one), but the band keeps to their roots and delivers a tour-de-force of an album from start to finish. "Little Black Submarines" is a hell of a song, and was maybe the best performance of a song I've ever seen live.

1. Rubber Factory (2004)

Rubber Factory isn't as built for the masses as El Camino. It's back before the band made it big, when they recorded in an old, abandoned tire factory. But the album is a true masterpiece from start to finish. What Rubber Factory lacks in high fidelity sound, they make up with catchy riffs and strong, bluesy lyrics. It's definitely the most listenable of the band's independent era, and lord knows what it would have sounded like if recorded in a professional studio. But the actual rubber factory gives the album its soul - its sound is authentic and real. It may not be for everybody, but Rubber Factory is pure dynamite and one of my favorite albums of all time.