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.
There are 2 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s has an average rating of 87 out of 100 (from 6 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 53,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 2014. (Remove this filter)
D’Angelo doesn’t want anything overshadowing his music, not even himself. For some artists that’s exactly what they want. People like Bowie or Prince built careers on their star power. Don’t get me wrong here, those guys had tunes, but they also found a way to heighten their work through their personalities. They built entire mythologies around alter egos and world conquering star power. D’Angelo had everything he needed to do the same. Coming up as an R&B star (a genre often glamourized for sex appeal) with a voice and a body like his, it seemed inevitable that people would flock to him more for who he was than for what he created. So, after his sophomore effort Voodoo, he went on a fourteen-year hiatus. Then, in a year where returning from hiatus was apparently grounds for flying self-branded blimps over major metropolitan areas, D’Angelo dropped Black Messiah completely out of the blue. It was a smart move. If journalists were given any advance, you can bet your ass they’d be writing thinkpieces. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a well-articulated thinkpiece, but without new music to discuss, the spotlight would be on D’Angelo one hundred percent. That’s not what he wanted. The music comes first, and he delivered it first. Not only that, but Black Messiah came out on December 15th, and as is tradition, music journalists had jumped the shark; listmas was already over. There was no need to compare it to everything else. Black Messiah was left to stand entirely alone. All that mattered was the music.
So let’s discuss the music. From the rollicking revolt of 1000 Deaths to the suave flamenco of Really Love, D’Angelo covers a lot of ground here without ever straying too far from his roots. Every note on Black Messiah is beautiful and lush. The liner notes read… “No digital ‘plug-ins’ of any kind were used in this recording. All of the recording, processing, effects, and mixing was done in the analog domain using tape and mostly vintage equipment.” As elitist as that statement sounds, it’s not misguided. The analog treatment provides a warmth and intimacy to the recording that digital struggles to replicate. Stylistically, Black Messiah is lost in time. It would be equally at place in the archives of 1960s Motown as it is in the modern era – another trait bolstered by analog. Even lyrically, D’Angelo keeps things topical while expertly skirting around any specificity that could tether him to 2014. It’s a protest album on par with Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On that speaks to then as well as it does to now. It’s frightening that this is where we’re at. In a better timeline we wouldn’t be dealing with the same struggles for the better part of a century. But here we are, and we couldn’t ask for a better musician on the frontlines. [First added to this chart: 02/04/2015]
Ought exemplifies everything punk rock does best. The rhythm section drives the songs along with a propulsive vigor. Guitars crunch and shimmer with clever interplay and searing riffs. The music is energetic and bright, but they know exactly how and when to undercut it with violinist Tim Keen’s dissonant drone. They build from a crawl to an anthem on Today More Than Any Other Day. They lose the song to noise entirely only to snap back into place in an instant on Pleasant Heart. On Around Again they abruptly hit the brakes for a trademark vocal aside then dive back in to an entirely different groove. It’s this energy that keeps the audience perpetually on their toes, and perhaps nothing carries this impact as well as vocalist Tim Darcy’s lyrics. Equal parts humorous, profound, and mundane, Darcy is always bringing something fresh to the table. Pseudo-title track Today More Than Any Other Day, culminates in a conclusion that we’re all the same. As defeatist as that sounds, it’s quite the opposite in the hands of Ought. The statement is a celebration of equality. We all deal with the same shit. We run errands, we struggle with choosing which milk to buy, and we get excited by the small victories. It’s typical of Darcy to present even these little things in a way that’s empowering. No matter how strange and abysmal things can be, he places us in control. We steer our own lives. It’s the way punk should be. We’re not rebelling against the system because they’ve ruined everything. We’re rebelling because we won’t let them. [First added to this chart: 09/11/2015]
It’s impressive how much character Norwegian house producer Terje Olsen can convey without singing a single word. After a decade of working in the background, mostly reimagining the songs of others, Terje was ready to bring a full LP of his own work to the forefront. It was album time indeed. That title, and the accompanying cover, set up a lot of the basis for the character he’s playing here. It’s album time and Terje is here with his debut, but he already has the vibe of a beleaguered old showman, appropriately posed leaning against his grand piano with three cocktails on deck. The music within is as lively and energetic as the colors on the cover, but it carries an established calm to it, like this all comes naturally to Mr. Olsen. It’s a subtle act of playful sophistication. Song titles like the one two punch of Leisure Suit Preben and Preben Goes to Acapulco only serve to further that ambiance. Terje’s inviting you to kick back with him and live in luxury, if only for the hour. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Richard D James, most commonly known as the man behind the moniker Aphex Twin, has created work all across the electronic spectrum. He’s an endless tinkerer with a longstanding reputation for being one of music’s most idiosyncratic innovators, constantly pushing the capacity of the tools he works with. James’ array of releases in and around the nineties (his last Aphex Twin album before Syro was released back in 2001) is functionally a showcase for his unending creativity. Syro doesn’t serve that same purpose; Syro is a different sort of showcase. This isn’t a new offshoot; it’s a point of convergence. Some might view Syro as a retread, but it’s really more of a refinement. He could have released this album anonymously (as he infamously did with several hundred previously unheard Aphex tracks throughout 2015) and it still would have unmistakably been James’ work. All of his classic hallmarks are here, but this time there’s an extra coat of high gloss paint. Syro is immediate and approachable to a degree that Aphex has never been before. It’s precision tuned and razor sharp. If Richard James continues on his current trend of EPs only, and Syro ends up as the last Aphex Twin LP, it sure is one hell of a capstone. [First added to this chart: 05/23/2016]
Safe Mode: On Certain images on this site may contain adult content and are flagged as 'unsafe'. BestEverAlbums.com does not display these images by default, but you may choose to show or hide these images from your profile page. If you choose to hide these images, you'll see an image with a warning message instead of the actual image. If you choose to show them, you'll see these images no differently than regular (safe) images.
Everything Ariel Pink does well is turned up a notch on Pom Pom. Saying that about some artists would simply imply that they’ve finely tuned their craft to perfection. That’s certainly the case with Pom Pom, but I want to throw a little extra emphasis on the “everything” here. Most would typically hone in on a set array of aesthetics for an album, but on Pom Pom, the aesthetics include everything and the kitchen sink. It’s a radical blend of Ariel’s entire career to date. Pom Pom starts off with the carnivalesque Plastic Raincoats in the Pig Parade and by the third track, Ariel is launching into a triptych of goth rock opulence. This shift could have been a tonal nightmare, but the crucial second track White Freckles sets us up for that transition by fusing the two styles in a way that makes it hard to realize anything changed. Continuing forward in the track listing, Pink gives us that classic hypnagogic pop he’s most well known for on lead single Put Your Number in My Phone. Here Ariel does go for the sudden jump, but he knows how to make it refreshing rather than jarring. In the wake of the swirling madness of the record’s longest track, Not Enough Violence, Put Your Number in My Phone manages to stand apart as a light and effortless affair. Back and forth across these seventeen tracks, Ariel continually demonstrates how well he understands pacing and sequencing. Each new turn brings another delightfully bizarre facet of Pink. Many albums over the hour mark crumble under their own weight without a strong conceptual backbone, but Pom Pom is kept confidently afloat by Ariel Pink’s endless eclecticism. [First added to this chart: 02/04/2015]
On paper, there isn’t much out there more boring than Benji, besides maybe other Mark Kozelek albums. On Benji, the middle aged Kozelek sings about hearing the news, attending a funeral, loving his parents, going to a friend’s concert, having conversations, and watching a documentary. As ordinary as it sounds, it’s anything but. When talking about Benji, most people are understandably quick to talk about death. Death looms over most of these songs as either a primary or secondary subject, but the morbid implications of “an album about death” don’t apply to Benji. Kozelek mourns, but that is hardly the album’s sole purpose. More than anything, Benji is an affirmation of life. The universe is fickle and chaotic. Serial murderers can live long enough to die of natural causes and innocents can die any day from accidents beyond their control. That thought frightens Kozelek, but it doesn’t cripple him. He takes the opportunity to celebrate what’s there and move past what isn’t. Yes, our death is beyond our control. Aspects of our life are beyond our control too, but we aren’t helpless. We do what we can and we find the good in it. For every Carissa or Pray For Newtown on Benji, there’s a Ben’s My Friend or I Love My Dad. There’s always light to be found. [First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!
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% | |
Ought | 2 | 2% | |
Fleet Foxes | 2 | 2% | |
Spoon | 2 | 2% | |
LCD Soundsystem | 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 |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s similar charts
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by AvalancheGrips (2022)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by jdizzle123456 (2024)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by Mattdup279 (2020)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by LosWochos (2020)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by Chicken4Sale (2020)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by iamthewalrus (2022)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by TheNowhereGuy (2020)
- The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by Montpejo (2024)
- Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by benfitzuk (2020)
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Why register?
- Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Have your say in the overall rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Register now - it only takes a moment!
Other decade charts by FlorianJones
Top 50 Music Albums of the 2020s by FlorianJones (2022)Top 80 Music Albums of the 2000s by FlorianJones (2017)
Top 26 Music Albums of the 1990s by FlorianJones (2020)
Top 30 Music Albums of the 1980s by FlorianJones (2020)
Top 30 Music Albums of the 1970s by FlorianJones (2020)
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s ratings
where:
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 | 448 | 87/100 | |
06/28/2017 17:14 | weston | 78 | 87/100 | |
02/20/2017 19:20 | Seab | 2,017 | 93/100 | |
06/01/2015 22:53 | Applerill | 976 | 75/100 | |
04/15/2015 13:21 | andy_hunter | 87 | 88/100 |
Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s favourites
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a favourite
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s comments
Showing all 2 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Nice! I agree 2015 was the strongest year so are. And I like the stuff you've thrown at the end.
Excellent Chart!
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment
Your feedback for Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
Email Address | |
---|---|
Forgotten passwords and other site notifications are sent to the email address saved on your profile. If you've changed your email address recently, please remember to update it on your profile page. (If you can't remember your password, and your email address is out of date, please contact us for assistance getting back into your account). |