Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by 
FlorianJones 
Anything with a write-up was in my top 50 at the end of the decade, in December of 2019.
As of today (June 14, 2022), 6 of those original top 50 have dropped into 51-100. None of them have dropped off the list entirely.
- Chart updated: 06/14/2022 23:15
- (Created: 11/26/2014 05:57).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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Top Tracks: Penal Colony, China Steps, Locust Valley
On Public Strain, Women really refined the sounds that have made post-punk great in the past, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for much of what the genre would see for the rest of the decade. There are sharp and angular riffs most prominent on songs like Heat Distraction and Eyesore. Narrow with the Hall showcases the band’s proclivity for burying otherwise poppy bits like the irrefutably infectious bassline behind a wall of abrasive feedback. Then there are subdued and almost dreamy ramblings on Penal Colony and Venice Lockjaw. There are perfect contrasts at play here. Take as an example, the decision to follow the frenzied cacophony of Drag Open up with Locust Valley – the most refined and approachable track on the album – where Women take everything that they do best and sand off the more jarring edges. What’s most surprising about Public Strain is how reserved of an affair it is. You won’t find the searing howls of Preoccupations, the spastic effervescence of Ought, or the rumbling noise of Protomartyr. On Public Strain, Women are calmer than their contemporaries, but it’s that calm that makes them feel so collected and self-assured. With that confidence, the listener feels that Women have nothing to prove. They know exactly what they’re doing. [First added to this chart: 07/03/2016]
On Public Strain, Women really refined the sounds that have made post-punk great in the past, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for much of what the genre would see for the rest of the decade. There are sharp and angular riffs most prominent on songs like Heat Distraction and Eyesore. Narrow with the Hall showcases the band’s proclivity for burying otherwise poppy bits like the irrefutably infectious bassline behind a wall of abrasive feedback. Then there are subdued and almost dreamy ramblings on Penal Colony and Venice Lockjaw. There are perfect contrasts at play here. Take as an example, the decision to follow the frenzied cacophony of Drag Open up with Locust Valley – the most refined and approachable track on the album – where Women take everything that they do best and sand off the more jarring edges. What’s most surprising about Public Strain is how reserved of an affair it is. You won’t find the searing howls of Preoccupations, the spastic effervescence of Ought, or the rumbling noise of Protomartyr. On Public Strain, Women are calmer than their contemporaries, but it’s that calm that makes them feel so collected and self-assured. With that confidence, the listener feels that Women have nothing to prove. They know exactly what they’re doing. [First added to this chart: 07/03/2016]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
563
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Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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9
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Top Tracks: Here Is The Thing, The Chuckler, Don’t Go To Anacita
When Protomartyr’s Joe Casey performs, he staggers around the stage in a suit coat: mic in one hand and beer in the other. He spits and sneers his lines into the mic as though he’s writing them on the spot. His demeanor is that of a disillusioned smalltime businessman getting unconscionably drunk on a weeknight. Protomartyr’s music is thunderous, frequently eschewing the playful riffs of their contemporaries in favor of something more robust and muscular. It’s all very masculine in a traditional don’t give a shit punk fashion. The thing is, Casey really does give a shit, and Relatives in Descent’s second single, Male Plague, makes it clear how hesitant he is to oversell the band’s masculinity. Sonic masculinity is fine, but the moment it becomes something ideological, Casey knows to step back. Almost simply by nature of title, Male Plague is the most overt political indictment on Relatives In Descent, but the entire album is political.
Each song orbits around a central premise, but Casey’s writing creates branches of interwoven tangents. Up The Tower recounts an imagined tale of violent revolution, defenestrating the fascists from their ruling positions. On My Children, Casey laments not the future of our literal children, but figurative ones. He frames thoughts, actions, and overall legacy as the child we’ll leave behind. Pessimistically speaking, the human legacy is the Anthropocene era – the “clouds of poison in the sky and poison in the dirt” that The Chuckler’s narrator nihilistically laughs about breathing in. Album opener A Private Understanding and follow up Here Is The Thing both make reference to the Flint water crisis, another horrific human legacy, this time one that hits very close to home for the Detroit based band. Those same two tracks also decry the age of the twenty-four-hour news cycle. “Dread 2017 18, air horn age, age of horn blowing.” Reporting outlets have realized in the pursuit of profit, that saying something provocative is better than saying something truthful. That thought is carried through, and given deeper inspection on Caitriona, in which Casey questions scenarios where truth seems unattainable. On album closer Half Sister, he doubts whether anyone will accept the truth when they find it, pointing to moments where people historically have not. It could take hours to break down every line and reference scattered throughout Relatives In Descent. Protomartyr have written what may very well be America’s defining political punk record of the decade. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2018]
When Protomartyr’s Joe Casey performs, he staggers around the stage in a suit coat: mic in one hand and beer in the other. He spits and sneers his lines into the mic as though he’s writing them on the spot. His demeanor is that of a disillusioned smalltime businessman getting unconscionably drunk on a weeknight. Protomartyr’s music is thunderous, frequently eschewing the playful riffs of their contemporaries in favor of something more robust and muscular. It’s all very masculine in a traditional don’t give a shit punk fashion. The thing is, Casey really does give a shit, and Relatives in Descent’s second single, Male Plague, makes it clear how hesitant he is to oversell the band’s masculinity. Sonic masculinity is fine, but the moment it becomes something ideological, Casey knows to step back. Almost simply by nature of title, Male Plague is the most overt political indictment on Relatives In Descent, but the entire album is political.
Each song orbits around a central premise, but Casey’s writing creates branches of interwoven tangents. Up The Tower recounts an imagined tale of violent revolution, defenestrating the fascists from their ruling positions. On My Children, Casey laments not the future of our literal children, but figurative ones. He frames thoughts, actions, and overall legacy as the child we’ll leave behind. Pessimistically speaking, the human legacy is the Anthropocene era – the “clouds of poison in the sky and poison in the dirt” that The Chuckler’s narrator nihilistically laughs about breathing in. Album opener A Private Understanding and follow up Here Is The Thing both make reference to the Flint water crisis, another horrific human legacy, this time one that hits very close to home for the Detroit based band. Those same two tracks also decry the age of the twenty-four-hour news cycle. “Dread 2017 18, air horn age, age of horn blowing.” Reporting outlets have realized in the pursuit of profit, that saying something provocative is better than saying something truthful. That thought is carried through, and given deeper inspection on Caitriona, in which Casey questions scenarios where truth seems unattainable. On album closer Half Sister, he doubts whether anyone will accept the truth when they find it, pointing to moments where people historically have not. It could take hours to break down every line and reference scattered throughout Relatives In Descent. Protomartyr have written what may very well be America’s defining political punk record of the decade. [First added to this chart: 09/24/2018]
Year of Release:
2017
Appears in:
Rank Score:
734
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Overall Rank:
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Top Tracks: Near DT MI, bmbmbm, Years Ago
Not many classics have been made by people born after me: not yet anyway. Age brings experience – which is beneficial in more ways than one – but if there’s one perk often taking up residence in youth’s corner, it’s energy, and the band of fresh out of music school kids known as Black Midi have energy in spades. In 2018, The band managed to garner significant buzz (before they had any readily available studio recordings) based solely on the caustic energy displayed in the live shows they were playing all about London. I’ve yet to experience the pleasure of seeing them live in concert, but based on the footage available (of which there is a sizeable amount) these boys can really play. Geordie Greep imbues his vocal performances with a manic impromptu vigor while his guitar lines skitter and weave through those of fellow guitarist Matt Kelvin. On the odd song where bassist Cameron Picton takes the vocal lead, he poises himself as a foil to Geordie’s otherworldly absurdities with a more grounded temperament, while still maintaining the ability to erupt into a howl at any moment. Drummer Morgan Simpson is an absolute machine, flailing about with virtuosic intensity. Translating that kinetic stage presence in the studio isn’t the simplest task, but on Schlagenheim, Black Midi do more than enough to get the spirit across. They’ve expressed an intent to never repeat themselves as a band, discontented with the idea of artistic stagnation, and I must say that when their first attempt is this refined, I can hardly blame them for wanting to move forward. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Not many classics have been made by people born after me: not yet anyway. Age brings experience – which is beneficial in more ways than one – but if there’s one perk often taking up residence in youth’s corner, it’s energy, and the band of fresh out of music school kids known as Black Midi have energy in spades. In 2018, The band managed to garner significant buzz (before they had any readily available studio recordings) based solely on the caustic energy displayed in the live shows they were playing all about London. I’ve yet to experience the pleasure of seeing them live in concert, but based on the footage available (of which there is a sizeable amount) these boys can really play. Geordie Greep imbues his vocal performances with a manic impromptu vigor while his guitar lines skitter and weave through those of fellow guitarist Matt Kelvin. On the odd song where bassist Cameron Picton takes the vocal lead, he poises himself as a foil to Geordie’s otherworldly absurdities with a more grounded temperament, while still maintaining the ability to erupt into a howl at any moment. Drummer Morgan Simpson is an absolute machine, flailing about with virtuosic intensity. Translating that kinetic stage presence in the studio isn’t the simplest task, but on Schlagenheim, Black Midi do more than enough to get the spirit across. They’ve expressed an intent to never repeat themselves as a band, discontented with the idea of artistic stagnation, and I must say that when their first attempt is this refined, I can hardly blame them for wanting to move forward. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Year of Release:
2019
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,501
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
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[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,309
Rank in 2013:
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Overall Rank:
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Top Tracks: Hey Ma, Naeem, RABi
When Bon Iver’s debut For Emma, Forever Ago saw initial release back in 2007, Justin Vernon was a nobody. It wasn’t his first band or first album, but it was the first to garner a noteworthy degree of attention. That album’s creation story birthed its own indie rock cliché. The music was a near immediate classic. Over the years, Justin Vernon put out two more Bon Iver records, each a universally acclaimed sonic reinvention of the Bon Iver brand. He became a frequent collaborator with a slew of other artists, forming a handful of new bands along the way. His popularity shot up to festival headlining and arena touring. Quality expectations for new Bon Iver in 2019 were assuredly high, but content expectations are much harder to pin down.
All of Bon Iver’s music is defined by emotionally earnest lyrics cloaked in obtuse imagery and metaphor. Even the electronic glitchfest that was 22, A Million maintained that intangible human element of the first two albums. But the sounds of those first three records were spread so far across the board that it was hard to envision where Justin Vernon would turn next, and for the first time, the path wasn’t forward. Vernon has described i,i as a fall record to accompany the winter, spring, and summer of the first three. As that explanation implies, i,i marks the close of a chapter in the Bon Iver discography. Rather than further expansion, i,i is the point at which those previous three albums converge, and that leads to music that feels at times both familiar and entirely new. It’s large and adventurous, but never at the expense of comfort. In a way, that’s how Bon Iver has always sounded. It’s one of Vernon’s strongest qualities as a songwriter, and it’s nice to hear him really lean into it. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
When Bon Iver’s debut For Emma, Forever Ago saw initial release back in 2007, Justin Vernon was a nobody. It wasn’t his first band or first album, but it was the first to garner a noteworthy degree of attention. That album’s creation story birthed its own indie rock cliché. The music was a near immediate classic. Over the years, Justin Vernon put out two more Bon Iver records, each a universally acclaimed sonic reinvention of the Bon Iver brand. He became a frequent collaborator with a slew of other artists, forming a handful of new bands along the way. His popularity shot up to festival headlining and arena touring. Quality expectations for new Bon Iver in 2019 were assuredly high, but content expectations are much harder to pin down.
All of Bon Iver’s music is defined by emotionally earnest lyrics cloaked in obtuse imagery and metaphor. Even the electronic glitchfest that was 22, A Million maintained that intangible human element of the first two albums. But the sounds of those first three records were spread so far across the board that it was hard to envision where Justin Vernon would turn next, and for the first time, the path wasn’t forward. Vernon has described i,i as a fall record to accompany the winter, spring, and summer of the first three. As that explanation implies, i,i marks the close of a chapter in the Bon Iver discography. Rather than further expansion, i,i is the point at which those previous three albums converge, and that leads to music that feels at times both familiar and entirely new. It’s large and adventurous, but never at the expense of comfort. In a way, that’s how Bon Iver has always sounded. It’s one of Vernon’s strongest qualities as a songwriter, and it’s nice to hear him really lean into it. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Year of Release:
2019
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,151
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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Top Tracks: Men for Miles, The Combo, Beautiful Blue Sky
Full disclosure: I didn’t write about these albums in list order. It wasn’t even close. I started with A Moon Shaped Pool, and I’ve ended up here. I always wrote about whatever felt natural to write about next. Sometimes that meant lumping similar albums together, and other times the exact opposite. It has all been a matter of inspiration. Top 50 album of the decade isn’t an inconsequential level of praise, so obviously all these records inspire me, but it can be hard to pin down why. That’s an important thing to note. Sometimes we tend to think that criticism drains the enjoyment out of art, as if critics hold off on judgement until taking in an entire work, at which point they nitpick through to decide what it’s worth. I doubt anyone out there actually consumes art in this way. Art consumption is about instinctive reaction. To this end, criticism is not a task for understanding if I like something, but why I like it. Critical evaluation can fine tune that gut impression, but it’s unlikely to cause a sea change of opinion.
Sun Coming Down is one of those albums where I don’t have much to say to justify my preference. I’m not completely empty here. Arriving just a year after Ought’s debut, Sun Coming Down succeeds on the same strengths the band showed on that record. Unfortunately, in the context of this list, I’ve already voiced my feelings on what makes Ought excel. There’s not much new to say on my second Ought summary, but sometimes that’s okay. In the end, even the most well-versed critics will have preferences and biases they can’t explain. What’s important is that art speaks to us. Ought speaks to me. [First added to this chart: 11/14/2015]
Full disclosure: I didn’t write about these albums in list order. It wasn’t even close. I started with A Moon Shaped Pool, and I’ve ended up here. I always wrote about whatever felt natural to write about next. Sometimes that meant lumping similar albums together, and other times the exact opposite. It has all been a matter of inspiration. Top 50 album of the decade isn’t an inconsequential level of praise, so obviously all these records inspire me, but it can be hard to pin down why. That’s an important thing to note. Sometimes we tend to think that criticism drains the enjoyment out of art, as if critics hold off on judgement until taking in an entire work, at which point they nitpick through to decide what it’s worth. I doubt anyone out there actually consumes art in this way. Art consumption is about instinctive reaction. To this end, criticism is not a task for understanding if I like something, but why I like it. Critical evaluation can fine tune that gut impression, but it’s unlikely to cause a sea change of opinion.
Sun Coming Down is one of those albums where I don’t have much to say to justify my preference. I’m not completely empty here. Arriving just a year after Ought’s debut, Sun Coming Down succeeds on the same strengths the band showed on that record. Unfortunately, in the context of this list, I’ve already voiced my feelings on what makes Ought excel. There’s not much new to say on my second Ought summary, but sometimes that’s okay. In the end, even the most well-versed critics will have preferences and biases they can’t explain. What’s important is that art speaks to us. Ought speaks to me. [First added to this chart: 11/14/2015]
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Top Tracks: March of Progress, Bunker Buster, Death
There are seven tracks on Viet Cong. For those counting, that ties it with David Bowie’s final opus Blackstar for fewest tracks in an album on this list. Although, neither of those two albums hold the position of shortest runtime, which goes to Earl Sweatshirt’s sub twenty-five minute Some Rap Songs. Earl benefits from brevity, cutting songs off as soon as his verse is up. That’s how he fits fifteen tracks into such a concise record. Preoccupations operates best by doing the complete opposite, yet still achieving similar results. On both records, change comes when you least expect it. For Earl, those changes are track divisions. For Preoccupations, they’re merely shifts within the track, and the longer they push a track out, the more powerful it gets. They can take a riff or a beat and explore every facet of it. What happens when the bassline drops out? How about introducing a synth here? Can we speed it up or slow it down?
March of Progress, Viet Cong’s centerpiece, develops linearly. It opens with three repetitious minutes of booming drums. It’s cold and foreboding with an impenetrable static hum. When the full band appear, the production finds a distinct clarity, but the song still slowly churns. Vocalist Matt Flegel sounds grizzled and downtrodden, delivering lines as though they were a funereal chant. March of Progress’ third act pushes the clarity further. The pace quickens. Guitars begin to shimmer and glisten. Matt’s singing is melodic and impassioned. For a minute there, they’re almost making a pop song. The eleven-minute closer Death is more sporadic. Here the segments rise and fall, with no telling where Preoccupations will push next. There’s still a general trend of upward movement as the band pushes towards the album’s sudden and explosive climax, but there are also detours and fakeouts. It’s an unpredictable chaos, that in some of their live performances can be pushed upwards of twenty minutes. We’re fast approaching Viet Cong’s five-year anniversary, but there are still moments here as spontaneous and exhilarating as ever. [First added to this chart: 09/11/2015]
There are seven tracks on Viet Cong. For those counting, that ties it with David Bowie’s final opus Blackstar for fewest tracks in an album on this list. Although, neither of those two albums hold the position of shortest runtime, which goes to Earl Sweatshirt’s sub twenty-five minute Some Rap Songs. Earl benefits from brevity, cutting songs off as soon as his verse is up. That’s how he fits fifteen tracks into such a concise record. Preoccupations operates best by doing the complete opposite, yet still achieving similar results. On both records, change comes when you least expect it. For Earl, those changes are track divisions. For Preoccupations, they’re merely shifts within the track, and the longer they push a track out, the more powerful it gets. They can take a riff or a beat and explore every facet of it. What happens when the bassline drops out? How about introducing a synth here? Can we speed it up or slow it down?
March of Progress, Viet Cong’s centerpiece, develops linearly. It opens with three repetitious minutes of booming drums. It’s cold and foreboding with an impenetrable static hum. When the full band appear, the production finds a distinct clarity, but the song still slowly churns. Vocalist Matt Flegel sounds grizzled and downtrodden, delivering lines as though they were a funereal chant. March of Progress’ third act pushes the clarity further. The pace quickens. Guitars begin to shimmer and glisten. Matt’s singing is melodic and impassioned. For a minute there, they’re almost making a pop song. The eleven-minute closer Death is more sporadic. Here the segments rise and fall, with no telling where Preoccupations will push next. There’s still a general trend of upward movement as the band pushes towards the album’s sudden and explosive climax, but there are also detours and fakeouts. It’s an unpredictable chaos, that in some of their live performances can be pushed upwards of twenty minutes. We’re fast approaching Viet Cong’s five-year anniversary, but there are still moments here as spontaneous and exhilarating as ever. [First added to this chart: 09/11/2015]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,450
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
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Top Tracks: Futile Devices, The Age of Adz, Impossible Soul
There was a point in time where one of Sufjan Stevens’ defining traits was his prolificity. Three of Sufjan’s most widely acclaimed albums, still beloved to this day, were released back to back in 2003, 2004, and 2005. He didn’t exactly stop. The man has worked on various live experiments, compilations, EPs, and side projects in the interim, but it wasn’t until 2010’s The Age of Adz that Stevens released his studio album follow up to that mid aughts trifecta. Futile Devices, the album’s opening track, is a wispy acoustic ballad accompanied by the sort of delicate fingerpicking upon which Sufjan built his name. It’s a welcome invitation back to the music of a man that audiences had sorely missed. It’s also a total bait and switch.
The moment Futile Devices ends, the swirling gurgling synths of Too Much enter, and for the proceeding 70 minutes, The Age of Adz runs the gamut of cacophonous and frenzied electronics. Stevens’ typically delicate vocals are at times heavily processed. The title track is a skronky tune loaded with horns and whistles that can only be described as the sound of malfunctioning steampunk. Sufjan’s changes of pace don’t rest solely in the arrangements. The Age of Adz is also more urgent in its messaging than the dense historical allegories of his previous work. Driven by a viral infection that caused Sufjan to suffer from chronic pain, and step away from music for a while, The Age of Adz is thematically dreary, and the bleakest of his works. Towards the end of the title track he recites “I’ve lost the will to fight, I was not made for life.” It’s hopeless, and almost suicidal in notion. The penultimate I Want To Be Well concludes with overlapping chants of “I want to be well” and “I’m not fucking around.” That word, one that so often loses all potency through overuse, hits like a ton of bricks in the context of Sufjan’s otherwise PG discography. Then, in a classic setup of penultimate and closing tracks that complement each other as perfect inversions, he gives us Impossible Soul. Clocking in at one third of an already lengthy album’s total runtime, Impossible Soul is a multi-suite epic culminating in perhaps the most triumphant point in Sufjan’s career. “Boy we can do much more together. It’s not so impossible.” [First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
There was a point in time where one of Sufjan Stevens’ defining traits was his prolificity. Three of Sufjan’s most widely acclaimed albums, still beloved to this day, were released back to back in 2003, 2004, and 2005. He didn’t exactly stop. The man has worked on various live experiments, compilations, EPs, and side projects in the interim, but it wasn’t until 2010’s The Age of Adz that Stevens released his studio album follow up to that mid aughts trifecta. Futile Devices, the album’s opening track, is a wispy acoustic ballad accompanied by the sort of delicate fingerpicking upon which Sufjan built his name. It’s a welcome invitation back to the music of a man that audiences had sorely missed. It’s also a total bait and switch.
The moment Futile Devices ends, the swirling gurgling synths of Too Much enter, and for the proceeding 70 minutes, The Age of Adz runs the gamut of cacophonous and frenzied electronics. Stevens’ typically delicate vocals are at times heavily processed. The title track is a skronky tune loaded with horns and whistles that can only be described as the sound of malfunctioning steampunk. Sufjan’s changes of pace don’t rest solely in the arrangements. The Age of Adz is also more urgent in its messaging than the dense historical allegories of his previous work. Driven by a viral infection that caused Sufjan to suffer from chronic pain, and step away from music for a while, The Age of Adz is thematically dreary, and the bleakest of his works. Towards the end of the title track he recites “I’ve lost the will to fight, I was not made for life.” It’s hopeless, and almost suicidal in notion. The penultimate I Want To Be Well concludes with overlapping chants of “I want to be well” and “I’m not fucking around.” That word, one that so often loses all potency through overuse, hits like a ton of bricks in the context of Sufjan’s otherwise PG discography. Then, in a classic setup of penultimate and closing tracks that complement each other as perfect inversions, he gives us Impossible Soul. Clocking in at one third of an already lengthy album’s total runtime, Impossible Soul is a multi-suite epic culminating in perhaps the most triumphant point in Sufjan’s career. “Boy we can do much more together. It’s not so impossible.” [First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,190
Rank in 2010:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Top Tracks: Dance Yrself Clean, I Can Change, Home
As much as we’d all love to believe that the music industry is a perfect meritocracy, we know it isn’t. Building a persona can be as essential as building a solid oeuvre. LCD Soundsytem’s James Murphy probably knows this, and yet, he’s pretty bad at it. There’s nothing remarkable about his physical appearance. He was never the exciting young talent. He has historically been well behind the times, drawing heavily on the sounds of his youth for musical inspiration. (On This Is Happening, that trend continues with songs often accused of knocking off Iggy Pop’s Nightclubbing, The Pool’s Jamaica Running, and Bowie’s Heroes.) He’s desperate to earn clout by reciting his bona fides, but also the first to roast himself with a bit of self-deprecating humour. (I always get a sensible chuckle out of “love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry… and this is coming from me” in I Can Change.) James is the frontman and brains behind a band popular enough to sell out Madison Square Garden, but thanks to a stint as a self-proclaimed loser that lasted throughout his twenties, he may always struggle to feel like he’s made it. He’s fallible and there’s nothing wrong with that. James is always looking to the next thing in earnest – ready to just keep doing what he can.
It’s that dedication that really makes me wonder why after This is Happening, the conclusion of one of modern music’s best album trilogies, James Murphy announced his retirement. Plenty of past musicians have settled into early retirement. Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum was a private man who never loved fame. He called it quits to get out of the spotlight. That’s not a fitting reason for Murphy – a man who once penned a blog post begging his fans to buy sophomore LP Sound of Silver on release week in a go for broke attempt at topping the charts. As a disseminator of undeniable dance grooves, Murphy revels in performing for an audience, so fame was never the issue. Given that much of history’s great rock, and particularly punk rock (dance-punk included) was written by people barely out of high school, quitting before you lose touch is justifiable. Many bands should have retired early to keep from tarnishing their track record as they aged. Yet again, in James’ case this reasoning doesn’t jive. The man released his debut album on the eve of his 35th birthday. He lost touch before he ever began. I’m not saying that to be rude either. It’s the thesis of his career. LCD Soundsystem’s debut single Losing My Edge is an eight-minute diatribe on how out of touch he was. Sound of Silver is a full-length rumination on lost youth. Aging only ever worked in James’ favor. On This Is Happening, he reached a point in his life where he could put away everyone’s expectations and do exactly what he wanted to be doing. That’s what was happening. He riffed on the ideas of his elders because it’s what inspired him. He made a nine-minute piss take for anyone who thought he wasn’t a good enough hitmaker. He waited ‘til three minutes into the album to finally let the beat drop. I’m not even confident this is Murphy’s best album (that honor likely still goes to Sound of Silver), but it is probably his most self-assured, and that’s an alluring trait. Whatever Murphy’s reason was for leaving the spotlight, I’m glad he eventually returned. We need more albums like this one. [First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
As much as we’d all love to believe that the music industry is a perfect meritocracy, we know it isn’t. Building a persona can be as essential as building a solid oeuvre. LCD Soundsytem’s James Murphy probably knows this, and yet, he’s pretty bad at it. There’s nothing remarkable about his physical appearance. He was never the exciting young talent. He has historically been well behind the times, drawing heavily on the sounds of his youth for musical inspiration. (On This Is Happening, that trend continues with songs often accused of knocking off Iggy Pop’s Nightclubbing, The Pool’s Jamaica Running, and Bowie’s Heroes.) He’s desperate to earn clout by reciting his bona fides, but also the first to roast himself with a bit of self-deprecating humour. (I always get a sensible chuckle out of “love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry… and this is coming from me” in I Can Change.) James is the frontman and brains behind a band popular enough to sell out Madison Square Garden, but thanks to a stint as a self-proclaimed loser that lasted throughout his twenties, he may always struggle to feel like he’s made it. He’s fallible and there’s nothing wrong with that. James is always looking to the next thing in earnest – ready to just keep doing what he can.
It’s that dedication that really makes me wonder why after This is Happening, the conclusion of one of modern music’s best album trilogies, James Murphy announced his retirement. Plenty of past musicians have settled into early retirement. Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum was a private man who never loved fame. He called it quits to get out of the spotlight. That’s not a fitting reason for Murphy – a man who once penned a blog post begging his fans to buy sophomore LP Sound of Silver on release week in a go for broke attempt at topping the charts. As a disseminator of undeniable dance grooves, Murphy revels in performing for an audience, so fame was never the issue. Given that much of history’s great rock, and particularly punk rock (dance-punk included) was written by people barely out of high school, quitting before you lose touch is justifiable. Many bands should have retired early to keep from tarnishing their track record as they aged. Yet again, in James’ case this reasoning doesn’t jive. The man released his debut album on the eve of his 35th birthday. He lost touch before he ever began. I’m not saying that to be rude either. It’s the thesis of his career. LCD Soundsystem’s debut single Losing My Edge is an eight-minute diatribe on how out of touch he was. Sound of Silver is a full-length rumination on lost youth. Aging only ever worked in James’ favor. On This Is Happening, he reached a point in his life where he could put away everyone’s expectations and do exactly what he wanted to be doing. That’s what was happening. He riffed on the ideas of his elders because it’s what inspired him. He made a nine-minute piss take for anyone who thought he wasn’t a good enough hitmaker. He waited ‘til three minutes into the album to finally let the beat drop. I’m not even confident this is Murphy’s best album (that honor likely still goes to Sound of Silver), but it is probably his most self-assured, and that’s an alluring trait. Whatever Murphy’s reason was for leaving the spotlight, I’m glad he eventually returned. We need more albums like this one. [First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,427
Rank in 2010:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 5 of 10
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 2010 | 11 | 11% | |
| 2011 | 6 | 6% | |
| 2012 | 7 | 7% | |
| 2013 | 5 | 5% | |
| 2014 | 9 | 9% | |
| 2015 | 15 | 15% | |
| 2016 | 13 | 13% | |
| 2017 | 12 | 12% | |
| 2018 | 7 | 7% | |
| 2019 | 15 | 15% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Kendrick Lamar | 4 | 4% | |
| Frank Ocean | 3 | 3% | |
| Tame Impala | 3 | 3% | |
| Tyler, The Creator | 2 | 2% | |
| Car Seat Headrest | 2 | 2% | |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 2% | |
| Vince Staples | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 41 from 52nd to 11th Black Up by Shabazz Palaces |
| Up 34 from 82nd to 48th Reflections by Hannah Diamond |
| Up 26 from 99th to 73rd Moth by Chairlift |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 35 from 26th to 61st Pom Pom by Ariel Pink |
| Down 28 from 21st to 49th The Age Of Adz by Sufjan Stevens |
| Down 24 from 48th to 72nd Benji by Sun Kil Moon |
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FlorianJones (2020)Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s ratings
87/100 (from 6 votes)
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 6 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 95/100  | 02/17/2018 15:30 |  Davy | | 87/100 |
| 85/100 | 06/28/2017 17:14 | weston | | 87/100 |
| 100/100 | 02/20/2017 19:20 | Seab | | 93/100 |
| 70/100 | 06/01/2015 22:53 |  Applerill | | 75/100 |
| 95/100 | 04/15/2015 13:21 |  andy_hunter | | 88/100 |
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85/100
From weston 06/28/2017 17:15
Nice! I agree 2015 was the strongest year so are. And I like the stuff you've thrown at the end.
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SaulCortes1992 04/02/2015 20:04
SaulCortes1992 04/02/2015 20:04
Excellent Chart!
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| Best Artists of the 2000s | |
|---|---|
| 1. Radiohead | |
| 2. Arcade Fire | |
| 3. The Strokes | |
| 4. Coldplay | |
| 5. Sufjan Stevens | |
| 6. Arctic Monkeys | |
| 7. Wilco | |
| 8. Animal Collective | |
| 9. Muse | |
| 10. The White Stripes | |
| 11. Kanye West | |
| 12. Phil Elverum | |
| 13. Interpol | |
| 14. Modest Mouse | |
| 15. Queens Of The Stone Age | |
| 16. Madvillain | |
| 17. Godspeed You! Black Emperor | |
| 18. LCD Soundsystem | |
| 19. The National | |
| 20. The Flaming Lips |