Tag: favorite albums

My Top 60 Albums of the 2010s

In addition to my normal post on the top albums of the year, that will be posted this coming Wednesday, Dec. 11 as part of #AMonthofFaves, I am putting up this bonus post on “My Top 60 Albums of the 2010s”. I shortened the title in Spotify to “My 2010s Top 60 Albums” so that you wouldn’t see ellipses. Five artists, Father John Misty, FKA Twigs, Grimes, James Blake, and Vampire Weekend, have two albums each; and one, Beyoncé, has three albums on the list.

I chose one song from each album, with the playlist not being a countdown, but organized alphabetically by first name of artist or group with album title. Since on the playlist it doesn’t show the title of each album, I am including the full list here along with the year each album was released:

  1. Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color (2015)
  2. Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness (2014)
  3. Arcade Fire – Reflektor (2013)
  4. Arctic Monkeys – AM (2013)
  5. Beach House – Bloom (2012)
  6. Beyoncé – Beyoncé (2013)
  7. Beyoncé – Lemonade (2016)
  8. Beyoncé – Homecoming: The Live Album (2019)
  9. Björk – Vulnicura (2015)
  10. Bon Iver – 22, A Million (2016)
  11. Burial – Rival Dealer (2013)
  12. Caribou – Our Love (2014)
  13. Chris Stapleton – Traveller (2015)
  14. CHVRCHES – The Bones of What You Believe (2013)
  15. D’Angelo – Black Messiah (2014)
  16. Darkside – Psychic (2013)
  17. Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan (2012)
  18. Eric Church – The Outsiders (2014)
  19. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (2015)
  20. Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer (2018)
  21. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (2012)
  22. FKA Twigs – LP1 (2014)
  23. FKA Twigs – Magdalene (2019)
  24. Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic (2013)
  25. Frank Ocean – Channel Orange (2012)
  26. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost (2011)
  27. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (2012)
  28. Grimes – Visions (2012)
  29. Grimes – Art Angels (2015)
  30. Hamilton: An American Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2015)
  31. James Blake – James Blake (2011)
  32. James Blake – The Colour in Anything (2016)
  33. Jamie XX – In Colour (2015)
  34. Jon Hopkins – Immunity (2013)
  35. Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour (2018)
  36. Kanye West – Yeezus (2013)
  37. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)
  38. Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo (2018)
  39. Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019)
  40. Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker (2016)
  41. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (2011)
  42. Mitski – Be The Cowboy (2018)
  43. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven (2013)
  44. Parquet Courts – Wide Awake (2018)
  45. Powder – Powder in Space (2019)
  46. Real Estate – Atlas (2013)
  47. Solange – A Seat at the Table (2016)
  48. Spoon – They Want My Soul (2014)
  49. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy (2011)
  50. Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014)
  51. Tame Impala – Lonerism (2012)
  52. The War On Drugs – Lost in the Dream (2014)
  53. The Weeknd – Trilogy (2012)
  54. Thundercat – Drunk (2017)
  55. Todd Terje – It’s Album Time (2014)
  56. Tierra Whack – Whack World (2018)
  57. tUnE-yArDs – W H O K I L L (2011)
  58. U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited (2018)
  59. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
  60. Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride (2019)

At least three on the list technically aren’t albums on their own: Rival Dealer is an EP; Whack World, a mixtape, and The Weeknd’s Trilogy, remixed and remastered versions of his 2011 mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. However, I still counted them as albums for simplicity.

I also including a graphic below that has a list of all the albums and breakdown by year. If for some reason, you can’t read the graphic or link to the graphic, the breakdown is as follows: 2010, 0; 2011, 5; 2012, 8; 2013, 12; 2014, 9; 2015, 8; 2016, 5; 2017, 1; 2018, 7; and 2019, 5.

Much of the music I discovered in the 2010s was in large part thanks to Pitchfork, so a tip of the hat to the folks there for introducing me to so many great artists and bands.

What were the albums that you had on heavy rotation during the 2010s that you couldn’t live without? Share in the comments below or link to your own list on your blog or a playlist on the music service of your choice.

My 48 Favorite Albums For The 48 Years Of My Life

48

In celebration of my 48th birthday earlier this month, I am doing three special posts: one on my 48 favorite books for the 48 years of my life, which published this past Sunday; then, my 48 favorite movies, this past Wednesday; and my 48 favorite albums, here today.

I compiled this list roughly from elementary school to high school to college to the present. I tried to think of the albums that I’ve listened to a lot, either on the school bus when I was a kid or in the car (whichever one I or we had at the time). When I was a teen, I went through a phase of Christian rock, which is represented, as well as metal. Much of the latter part of the list can be attributed to finding music via Pitchfork. As much as possible, I also tried not to include collections, but had to include a few that were too important not to exclude.

  1. Kenny Rogers – 20 Greatest Hits
  2. Elvis Presley – His Hand in Mine
  3. Styx – Paradise Theater
  4. Michael Jackson – Thriller
  5. Prince – Purple Rain
  6. RUN-DMC – Raising Hell
  7. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet
  8. Petra – More Power to Ya
  9. Mylon Lefevre & Broken Heart – Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing
  10. Stryper – Soldiers Under Command
  11. Tonio K – Romeo Unchained
  12. The Call – Reconciled
  13. The Beatles – The White Album
  14. U2 – The Joshua Tree
  15. R.E.M. – Green
  16. Vinnie Moore – Mind’s Eye
  17. Joe Satriani – Surfing with the Alien
  18. Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime
  19. Metallica – …And Justice For All
  20. Temple of the Dog – Temple of the Dog
  21. Soundgarden – Superunknown
  22. Pearl Jam – No Code
  23. King’s X – Dogman
  24. Lone Justice – Shelter
  25. Dwight Yoakam – This Time
  26. John Mellencamp – The Lonesome Jubilee
  27. Larry Norman – Something New Under The Son
  28. Etta James – The Essential Etta James
  29. Donna Summer – On The Radio – Greatest Hits
  30. Blind Willie Johnson – The Complete Blind Willie Johnson
  31. Grateful Dead – American Beauty
  32. Pink Floyd – The Wall
  33. Terence Trent D’Arby – Symphony or Damn
  34. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
  35. Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska
  36. Johnny Cash – American Recordings
  37. Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
  38. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
  39. Burial – Rival Dealer
  40. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
  41. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra – Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
  42. Todd Terje – It’s Album Time
  43. Kanye West – Yeezus
  44. Bon Iver – 22, A Million
  45. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
  46. Beyoncé – Lemonade
  47. Beach House – Bloom
  48. Max Richter – Sleep

And here is one song from each album, minus one: Beyoncé’s Lemonade, which isn’t available on Spotify.

If you had a list of favorite albums for the number of years for every year of your life, what would be some of those you’d have to include? Any crossovers?