BEST ALBUM OF EACH YEAR OF THE 2010s
It's that time to do what everyone else is doing: rounding out the music of the 2010s. To do this, I've decided to choose 10 albums, one from each year of the 2010s, that are my favourite of the year.
Obviously, it's pretty difficult to choose a single album from each year, so I've sprinkled in a few honorable mentions too.
I'm not about to pretend my opinion is wildly different than anyone else. There's a reason these albums are widely considered some of the best of the decade: and it's because they're pretty damn good. However, there is a variety of different reasons for every pick here, so if you want to read these reasons, carry on reading!
2010: MY BEAUTIFUL, DARK, TWISTED FANTASY - KANYE WEST
I'm sure this pick will surprise nobody. It's a shame that Kanye West has become an incredibly controversial figure, because My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy is an incredible album, which many people say is the single greatest album of the decade. West's confidence and ego shines through on this album and somehow it works, and makes this album incredible. he truly believes he is the best on this album, and this incomparable confidence almost makes you believe it to. This album was a complete detour from his previous releases. It was daring, it was controversial, but it worked, and it made this album one of the greatest of the decade.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Robyn - Body Talk
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
2011: CEREMONIALS - FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
Florence and The Machine are undoubtedly one of the most unpredictable and ~different~ bands that have made it to the rock-indie mainstream in a long time. Their whimsical nature is almost Stevie Nicks-esque but to a brand new level, and the album Ceremonials really showed us this. With iconic tracks such as Shake it Out and Spectrum, Florence and the Machine brought their individual sound to a brand new decade and did nothing but increase their success and make Florence Welsh a household name. Ceremonials is a truly great album that was a little bit different from anything else on anyone's radar at the time, and that sense of originality really made Florence and The Machine and Ceremonials stand out from the rest of the albums from this year.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Lady Gaga - Born This Way
2012: CHANNEL ORANGE - FRANK OCEAN
Frank Ocean's iconic debut Channel Orange had to feature in this list. The album tells a story that you can't stop listening to. With the era of streaming and fast fame, people often don't release albums as a complete piece of art, but rather a string of singles that simply aim to get to number one. The genre-confused (in the best way) and whimsical tracks really make Channel Orange a one of a kind album that has a real impact on the listener. The way that people were begging Ocean for new music years after this album, shows the way that Ocean influenced music and the people that listened to the tracks he created. if an album has that kind of effect on the listener, then it certainly deserves a place on this list.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Tame Impala - Lonerism
The XX - Coexist
2013: AM - ARCTIC MONKEYS
AM was an album that defined an entire year of my life, and many other people's too. The Arctic Monkeys produced another album that was just hit after hit. It moved away from the aggressive harder rock that the younger Arctic Monkeys were known for and into a cooler, calmer version of their sound which most people responded incredibly well too. With punching basslines and lyrics that sound like poetry (quite literally with the song I Wanna Be yours which was originally a poem by John Cooper Clarke) it's no surprise that AM was a bit but it had an unexpected cultural impact on the UK. Every teenager I knew was listening to this album, having their clothing choices inspired by this album, every moment of their lives somehow being described by one of the
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Haim - Days are Gone
Disclosure - Settle
2014: 1989 - TAYLOR SWIFT
Pop perfection is the only way to describe Taylor Swift's 4th Album. 1989 showed how pop can be clever and brilliant. During a time where pop was looked down upon and the non-mainstream was seen as the epitome of music, Swift came in and said 'Hey, Pop music can still be great'. With massive hits like 'Blank Space', which addressed the media's perception of Swift and dream-like pop synth in the shape of Style, it's difficult to think of an album from 2015 that had quite as big of an impact as this one. I know the success of singles isn't a good measure of an album's quality, but Swift has managed to have both: success and quality.
As far as pop goes, it really doesn't get much better than 1989.
PS: On a completely personal level, this is one of my favourite albums of all time.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
FKA Twigs - LP1
Aphex Twin - Syro
2015: TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY - KENDRICK LAMAR
Kendrick Lamar is a household name now, but back in 2015 with the release of his debut album to Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar was just an up and comer who released an absolutely incredible album. To Pimp A Butterfly is much like Channel Orange in the sense that it tells a story with characters and plotlines, much like a written novel. The album takes rap to different avenues and messes around with it in ways that shouldn't work but do. The album has meaning and a message, which isn't necessary for a great album but does make this one the incredible work of art that it is. The album is fearless and relentless and put Kendrick Lamar on a pedestal as one of the greatest rappers to come out of the 2010s.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Tame Impala - Currents
2016: BLACKSTAR - DAVID BOWIE
With his final album, David Bowie proved why he is one of the most iconic music artists of all time. He wrote and released an album all about him dying, and nobody realised that's what it was about, until the news of his passing. Maybe Blackstar wasn't Bowie's personal best, but it does represent the groundbreaking and whimsical vibe that Bowie was most well known for. Sonically, Blackstar in inherently Bowie in the sense that it's unpredictable but if you ever heard it without knowing who the person was that created it, you'd know it was Bowie. You don't know how you'd know, but you would. The fact that not-his-best is still, in my opinion, the best album of 2016, and the fact that it's different but still recognisably Bowie proves the effect that this man has had throughout his career. Bowie didn't release much music in the 2010s compared to other decades, but it didn't matter, because he still made one hell of an impact anyway
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Beyonce - Lemonade
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
2017: GANG SIGNS AND PRAYER - STORMZY
Stormzy rose to fame with his run and aggressive raps but captured the hearts of the British public when the full album, Gang Signs and Prayer, revealed a soft and honest side to the rapper. In particular, the song, Blinded By Your Grace really showed the versatility that Stormzy had. With his strong views on politics and his variety of scholarships and schemes to help young unfortunate children, Stormzy really is brining forward a kind side of grime and rap that the genres have always had, but is bringing it to the general public who may not always see these genres in this way. This album is representative of a change in opinion of the scene in general, with Stormzy as it's leader. The tracks are beautiful, heartbreaking, angry and raw, and as far as debut albums go, Stormzy really did create a masterpiece.
I will say there are two significant other contenders in the shape of melodrama, Lorde and Tyler The Creator, but I don't think my father, a Stormzy superfan, would have ever forgiven me if I'd chosen either of those.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Lorde - Melodrama
Tyler The Creator - Flower Boy
Wolf Alice - Visions of a Life
2018: DIRTY COMPUTER - JANELLE MONAE
Dirty Computer was the album I didn't expect to love but ended up loving more than most albums of the 2010s. You often get hard-hitting lyrics combined with slow and sad instrumentals, but Janelle Monet takes the realities of hardships of being a black woman in America and puts them on top of tunes you can bop and dance to, and somehow, it works perfectly Dirty Computer is a great album, with some great collaborative songs. that's critically acclaimed for a good reason. Janelle Monae's album was an absolute smash, and one of my favourites to listen to regularly.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Golden Hour - Kasey Musgraves
A Brief Enquiry into Online Relationships - The 1975
2019: CUZ I LOVE YOU, LIZZO and FINE LINE - HARRY STYLES
Lizzo suddenly rocketed to the top of the music scene with her empowering anthem 'Truth Hurts', which became a worldwide anthem for the brokenhearted and non-broken hearted alike. Cuz I Love You is an exceptional song, with every song being an unequivical hit. These incredible songs combined with Lizzo's no nonsense attitude and unpredictable performances (often featuring flute-playing) make Lizzo a rap/pop star that's interesting to follow. With her 8 Grammy nomintations in th upcoming 2020 ceremony, it's clearly Lizzo has won the heart of the music scene, and her album certainly won me over.
Harry Styles released 'Fine Line' was a late entry of album of the year, but having listened to the album a fair amount, I believe it deserves to be here. I want to be as unbias as possible, and I thought about not including this album for that reason, but if someone who's been one of my favourite artists of the decade full of releases an incredible album, then why shouldn't I include it? Fine Line is a varied and often confusing album that tells the story of love and heartbreak and trying shrooms for the first time. It embodies Styles' free-spiritedness and shows that he's very much settling into himself as an artist, rather than trying to be heavily influenced by other artists. The album is honest, unapologetic, and truly represents a specific time in Styles's life. You always hope that an album by your favorite artist is going to be good, because you don't want to dislike it, and luckily I had nothing to worry about.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Norman Fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey
When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? - Billie Eilish
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So that's my summary of the decade in 10 of the greatest albums.
I apologise it's been a while since posting, but I plan to improve my posting rate significantly in the new year since I've settled into my job more.
To go with this list I've created a playlist that features songs from these top albums, as well as the many tracks that didn't quite make this list. It's a miscellaneous jumble but it represents what this decade has been: a miscellaneous jumble of emotions.
Comments
Post a Comment