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.

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Top Tracks: Ain’t That Easy, The Charade, Betray My Heart

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]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,518
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Top Tracks: Today More Than Any Other Day, Habit, Around Again

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]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
897
Rank in 2014:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Top Tracks: Svenk Sas, Alfonso Muskedunder, Inspector Norse

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]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,094
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
51. (42) Down9
Buy album United States
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Top Tracks: minipops 67 [120.2] [source field mix], Papat4 [155] [Pineal Mix], aisatsana [102]

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]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,041
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 02/04/2015]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
907
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
61. (26) Down35
Buy album United States
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Top Tracks: White Freckles, Not Enough Violence, Black Ballerina

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]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,012
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
72. (48) Down24
Buy album United States
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Top Tracks: Carissa, Jim Wise, Ben’s My Friend

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]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,904
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
86. (100) Up14
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,597
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 01/20/2015]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
459
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 9. 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%
Frank Ocean 3 3%
Tame Impala 3 3%
Ought 2 2%
Fleet Foxes 2 2%
Spoon 2 2%
LCD Soundsystem 2 2%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 66 66%
Canada 13 13%
United Kingdom 12 12%
Australia 6 6%
Mixed Nationality 2 2%
Norway 1 1%
Compilation? Albums %
No 98 98%
Yes 2 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 41 from 52nd to 11th
Black Up
by Shabazz Palaces
Climber Up 34 from 82nd to 48th
Reflections
by Hannah Diamond
Climber Up 26 from 99th to 73rd
Moth
by Chairlift
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 35 from 26th to 61st
Pom Pom
by Ariel Pink
Faller Down 28 from 21st to 49th
The Age Of Adz
by Sufjan Stevens
Faller Down 24 from 48th to 72nd
Benji
by Sun Kil Moon

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s ratings

Average Rating: 
87/100 (from 6 votes)
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85/100
From 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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 04/02/2015 20:04
Excellent Chart!
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