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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2. (5) 3
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Top Tracks: Every Single Night, Werewolf, Anything We Want
The lyrical content of The Idler Wheel (full name The idler wheel is wiser than the driver of the screw and whipping cords will serve you more than ropes will ever do) is appropriately eloquent and verbose for an album penned by a woman using short poems as album titles. Take as an example “my cheeks were reflecting the longest wavelength” from Anything We Want, a line which strikes me as the most roundabout yet elegant possible way of saying “I blushed.” Fiona’s graceful lyricism is only one piece of The Idler Wheel’s whole. Also striking is how raw and confrontational The Idler Wheel feels – each song sung with an invigorating first take energy. Fiona manages to turn on a dime from an angelic whisper to a guttural howl. These vocal takes lack refinement, but that’s crucial to how brightly they shine. There are separate sets of traits that make great singers and great vocalists. A great singer can hit the notes, but a great vocalist can imbue each note with passion. Fiona Apple is that special breed capable of both. She sings with the best of them, but she also hones in on moments where embracing imperfection yields wondrous returns.
In instrumental terms, the ten compositions comprising The Idler Wheel are sparse, but each is formulated with precision. Fiona plays the piano with an authoritative hammering that lends the instrument a clamorous percussive feel. Throughout, Fiona leans into music that is considerably more rhythmic than standard singer-songwriter fare. Many of those tendencies are willfully abstract. Jonathan and Regret each open with chugging mechanical beats that feel instantly familiar, yet difficult to identify. Fiona welcomes nontraditional elements such as the gentle pitter-patter underscoring Daredevil billed in the liner notes as thighs, or the torn paper of Periphery. Every inch of The Idler Wheel, down to the smallest minutiae, shines with unbridled passion. Lyrics, vocals, instrumentation: regardless of the avenue in which one chooses to assess it, The Idler Wheel excels. [First added to this chart: 04/15/2015]
The lyrical content of The Idler Wheel (full name The idler wheel is wiser than the driver of the screw and whipping cords will serve you more than ropes will ever do) is appropriately eloquent and verbose for an album penned by a woman using short poems as album titles. Take as an example “my cheeks were reflecting the longest wavelength” from Anything We Want, a line which strikes me as the most roundabout yet elegant possible way of saying “I blushed.” Fiona’s graceful lyricism is only one piece of The Idler Wheel’s whole. Also striking is how raw and confrontational The Idler Wheel feels – each song sung with an invigorating first take energy. Fiona manages to turn on a dime from an angelic whisper to a guttural howl. These vocal takes lack refinement, but that’s crucial to how brightly they shine. There are separate sets of traits that make great singers and great vocalists. A great singer can hit the notes, but a great vocalist can imbue each note with passion. Fiona Apple is that special breed capable of both. She sings with the best of them, but she also hones in on moments where embracing imperfection yields wondrous returns.
In instrumental terms, the ten compositions comprising The Idler Wheel are sparse, but each is formulated with precision. Fiona plays the piano with an authoritative hammering that lends the instrument a clamorous percussive feel. Throughout, Fiona leans into music that is considerably more rhythmic than standard singer-songwriter fare. Many of those tendencies are willfully abstract. Jonathan and Regret each open with chugging mechanical beats that feel instantly familiar, yet difficult to identify. Fiona welcomes nontraditional elements such as the gentle pitter-patter underscoring Daredevil billed in the liner notes as thighs, or the torn paper of Periphery. Every inch of The Idler Wheel, down to the smallest minutiae, shines with unbridled passion. Lyrics, vocals, instrumentation: regardless of the avenue in which one chooses to assess it, The Idler Wheel excels. [First added to this chart: 04/15/2015]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,166
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Top Tracks: Endors Toi, Music To Walk Home By, Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control
It only takes a quick look at the liner notes for Lonerism to make perfect sense. “All songs written, produced, & recorded by Kevin Parker”…“All vocals & instruments performed by Kevin Parker”…“Recorded at home between 2010 & 2012”…“Cover photo by KP.” None of this should come as a surprise from the man whose debut album standout bore the title Solitude is Bliss. Kevin took what worked best from Innerspeaker, and he expanded upon it, delving deep into the reality of a loner. Crucial to this sentiment is that, while others might run with a title like loneliness, this album is Lonerism. There is loneliness here to be sure, but it’s more multifaceted than that, because surely the author of Solitude is Bliss knows there’s more to being alone than pure self-pity.
Lonerism finds Parker coming to grips with the effects of his self-isolating tendencies. He touches on his romantic struggles in the penultimate Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control by referring to his fighting and eventual split from then girlfriend Melody Prochet. On Why Won’t They Talk To Me Kevin vacillates between longing for social engagement and deciding he’s better alone as he falls prey to his own self-aggrandizing ego. These are the lyrics of a man realizing that he possibly oversimplified things a couple years back. This isn’t merely a lyrical realization either, because Lonerism also expands on the sound of debut album Innerspeaker. Innerspeaker thrived on Kevin’s ear for tight traditional verse chorus verse song structures. Lonerism hones in on those talents when necessary as on the commercially ubiquitous Elephant, but it also finds Kevin expanding Tame Impala’s sound outward. Instead of riveting the listener with concision, Lonerism opts to envelop the listener with grandeur. It’s an album replete with bombastic breaks and indulgent outros. Kevin loosens the structure, but he never loses sight of the meticulous planning that made his debut great. [First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
It only takes a quick look at the liner notes for Lonerism to make perfect sense. “All songs written, produced, & recorded by Kevin Parker”…“All vocals & instruments performed by Kevin Parker”…“Recorded at home between 2010 & 2012”…“Cover photo by KP.” None of this should come as a surprise from the man whose debut album standout bore the title Solitude is Bliss. Kevin took what worked best from Innerspeaker, and he expanded upon it, delving deep into the reality of a loner. Crucial to this sentiment is that, while others might run with a title like loneliness, this album is Lonerism. There is loneliness here to be sure, but it’s more multifaceted than that, because surely the author of Solitude is Bliss knows there’s more to being alone than pure self-pity.
Lonerism finds Parker coming to grips with the effects of his self-isolating tendencies. He touches on his romantic struggles in the penultimate Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control by referring to his fighting and eventual split from then girlfriend Melody Prochet. On Why Won’t They Talk To Me Kevin vacillates between longing for social engagement and deciding he’s better alone as he falls prey to his own self-aggrandizing ego. These are the lyrics of a man realizing that he possibly oversimplified things a couple years back. This isn’t merely a lyrical realization either, because Lonerism also expands on the sound of debut album Innerspeaker. Innerspeaker thrived on Kevin’s ear for tight traditional verse chorus verse song structures. Lonerism hones in on those talents when necessary as on the commercially ubiquitous Elephant, but it also finds Kevin expanding Tame Impala’s sound outward. Instead of riveting the listener with concision, Lonerism opts to envelop the listener with grandeur. It’s an album replete with bombastic breaks and indulgent outros. Kevin loosens the structure, but he never loses sight of the meticulous planning that made his debut great. [First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,596
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Top Tracks: Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe, M.a.a.d. City, Sing About Me I’m Dying of Thirst
It has been said that you have your whole life to make your debut album, and only a few years to make your follow up. Typically, this is used to explain the dreaded “sophomore slump”, an epidemic that has plagued many an artist throughout music history – but it explains quality debuts in equal measure. Now, whether this is Kendrick’s debut or not is up for debate. He’s been quoted saying that he approaches all projects, even mixtapes, with the pacing of an album, and he’s been making those since 2003. 2011’s Section.80 is technically an album (not a mixtape) making it his proper debut, and yet that doesn’t seem to be the typical public perception. To be fair, Good Kid M.A.A.D City was Kendrick’s major label debut, and it peaked at second on the Billboard charts, which positively dwarfs Section.80’s sub top-hundred peak. Of course, public opinion and sales don’t change facts, but the best case to be made for Good Kid M.A.A.D. City’s possible debut status goes back to that old saying. This is the album Kendrick took his whole life to make.
Good Kid M.A.A.D City is a story album in the truest sense. Even at a nearly seventy-minute runtime, this album is wholly devoid of fat. It’s been trimmed to be as lean as they come, with each song filling an essential role in the narrative. How much of said narrative is fact versus fiction may not be officially confirmed, but given what is widely known of Kendrick’s upbringing, it is at the very least plausible, that Good Kid M.A.A.D. City is all fact. Although, even if it was entirely fabricated, that wouldn’t hamper the way it resonates. It’s a story of a Compton kid written for the Compton kids. At its time of release this album felt monumental – later in his career, Lamar would look outward, speaking to the inequalities present in the nation at large – now in retrospect, Good Kid M.A.A.D City feels uniquely small for a Kendrick album. He made this for the kids growing up like him. It’s a message of hope written for those often raised without any. [First added to this chart: 03/14/2015]
It has been said that you have your whole life to make your debut album, and only a few years to make your follow up. Typically, this is used to explain the dreaded “sophomore slump”, an epidemic that has plagued many an artist throughout music history – but it explains quality debuts in equal measure. Now, whether this is Kendrick’s debut or not is up for debate. He’s been quoted saying that he approaches all projects, even mixtapes, with the pacing of an album, and he’s been making those since 2003. 2011’s Section.80 is technically an album (not a mixtape) making it his proper debut, and yet that doesn’t seem to be the typical public perception. To be fair, Good Kid M.A.A.D City was Kendrick’s major label debut, and it peaked at second on the Billboard charts, which positively dwarfs Section.80’s sub top-hundred peak. Of course, public opinion and sales don’t change facts, but the best case to be made for Good Kid M.A.A.D. City’s possible debut status goes back to that old saying. This is the album Kendrick took his whole life to make.
Good Kid M.A.A.D City is a story album in the truest sense. Even at a nearly seventy-minute runtime, this album is wholly devoid of fat. It’s been trimmed to be as lean as they come, with each song filling an essential role in the narrative. How much of said narrative is fact versus fiction may not be officially confirmed, but given what is widely known of Kendrick’s upbringing, it is at the very least plausible, that Good Kid M.A.A.D. City is all fact. Although, even if it was entirely fabricated, that wouldn’t hamper the way it resonates. It’s a story of a Compton kid written for the Compton kids. At its time of release this album felt monumental – later in his career, Lamar would look outward, speaking to the inequalities present in the nation at large – now in retrospect, Good Kid M.A.A.D City feels uniquely small for a Kendrick album. He made this for the kids growing up like him. It’s a message of hope written for those often raised without any. [First added to this chart: 03/14/2015]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
22,462
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
65. (81) 16
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[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,007
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,822
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,338
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 04/15/2015]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,673
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 7. Page 1 of 1
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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% | |
| Tame Impala | 3 | 3% | |
| Frank Ocean | 3 | 3% | |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 2% | |
| Vince Staples | 2 | 2% | |
| Earl Sweatshirt | 2 | 2% | |
| Angel Olsen | 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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Other decade charts by FlorianJones
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 50 Music Albums of the 2020s | FlorianJones | 2020s decade chart | 2022 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | FlorianJones | 2010s decade chart | 2022 | |
| Top 80 Music Albums of the 2000s | FlorianJones | 2000s decade chart | 2017 | |
| Top 26 Music Albums of the 1990s | FlorianJones | 1990s decade chart | 2020 | |
| Top 30 Music Albums of the 1980s | FlorianJones | 1980s decade chart | 2020 | |
FlorianJones has created 4 other 2010s decade charts - click here to explore them all.
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 6 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 02/17/2018 15:30 |  Davy | 441 | 87/100 |
| ! | 06/28/2017 17:14 | weston | 80 | 87/100 |
| ! | 02/20/2017 19:20 | Seab | 2,005 | 93/100 |
| ! | 06/01/2015 22:53 |  Applerill | 974 | 75/100 |
| ! | 04/15/2015 13:21 |  andy_hunter | 87 | 88/100 |
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s comments
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From weston 06/28/2017 17:15 | #193348
Nice! I agree 2015 was the strongest year so are. And I like the stuff you've thrown at the end.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
SaulCortes1992 04/02/2015 20:04 | #138629
SaulCortes1992 04/02/2015 20:04 | #138629
Excellent Chart!
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