Remember Y2K? Yeah, pretty much everyone thought it would be the end of everything.

We worried that computers would go haywire and the economy would crash. Some even believed that the apocalypse was on the horizon. Though the Four Horsemen never reared their ugly heads, the first few years of the early ’00s were unsettling as the U.S. dealt with the aftermath of a terrorist attack and launched two new wars.

Everyone needed an escape, and TV provided it with shows like The Office, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Community, Parks and Recreation and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

But the early ’00s also ushered in a more progressive era of television, with shows such as Mad Men, Shameless, The Wire and The West Wing that provided equal parts entertainment and social commentary. Though all of these shows have unique traits that make them noteworthy, one thing rang true for them all: The theme songs were incredible.

Artists: carole king, Cheap Trick, DoMaJe, Explosions in the Sky, Jane's Addiction, Jeff Richmond, Lazio Bane, Malvina Reynolds, Massive Attack, Ozzy Osbourne, Phantom Planet, Randy Newman, RJD2, Steve Earle, The 88, The Barenaked Ladies, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The High Strung, The Neville Brothers, They Might Be Giants, Tom Waits, W.G. "Snuffy" Walden