[rkm]

I made this chart, which shows two sets of data... #1 Album Overall Rank for each year, and the Top Ten Albums Overall Rank Average for each year.

Based on this, the best years are: 1967, 1969, 1971, 1994, 1991, 1968, 1977.
The worst years are: 2015, 2014, 1981, 2013, 1966, 1990, 1965.

I found it interesting, so I thought I'd share it.

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[Anti]

I mean, I guess a lot of the data makes absolute sense since more recent albums have not had the same amount of time to crystallize themselves into a higher ranking and you get a bit of a hill during the dad-rock 80's, but does averaging out the top ten albums' over ranks really show anything?

That's just off the top of my head with no deep analysis so I could be completely off.
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...and for dessert!

[rkm]

Other stuff I've read about formats informs this:
- 1967 was the first year that albums outsold singles, as artists began using the LP format to make larger artistic statements.
- 1999 was the peak year for albums sales (CDs)
- in 2003, albums sales began to decline and singles sales began to rise, due to downloads. By 2009, singles outsold albums again, marking the end of the album era.

[rkm]

Sales figures and music criticism aren't the same thing, but this chart largely lines up with my other chart, with spikes for 1977, 1984, 1991, 1994, and 1999, and then a decline from 2003 to 2009.

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[RoundTheBend]

Interesting stuff.

[rkm]

So, why is it that artists still produce albums, when the public mostly are only interested in singles?
I guess it's still the desire to make larger artistic statements.

[RoundTheBend]

[rkm]

[RoundTheBend]

Ashamedly I'm thinking of this album, but I'm pretty sure I've come across maybe 3-5 more from the 2010s that aren't EPs, but albums like this.

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Ghost Stories by Coldplay

[rkm]

Ray LaMontagne's "Ouroboros" is 8 tracks