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: In Your Head, Tears, Monsters Under The Bed
Much of what I’ve written for this list is retrospective. That’s the point of it after all. I’m looking back on the decade, and in some cases that means looking back nearly the whole ten years. In the case of Miss Universe, it means looking back less than ten months. This album is still too fresh to contextualize retrospectively, and I can’t frame it in the context of a discography either, because this is the discography. Miss Universe is Nilüfer Yanya’s debut album, and it’s just about as fully realized as debuts come. The cover is unassuming (not much more than two small photographs amidst a broad swathe of beige) but the music paints Nilüfer as larger than life. These songs are big. If you didn’t know what the singles were, I reckon you’d be hard pressed to guess them. That isn’t because the choices are surprising, but because each is legitimately worthy in its own right. There’s also the question of which iteration of Nilüfer would her label see as most marketable. In pseudo-opener In My Head she’s guitar rock’s next big riff slinging virtuoso. On Tears, the album’s most jittery pop tune, guitar takes the backseat to infectiously danceable percussion. That song is immediately succeeded in the tracklisting by Monsters Underneath My Bed. Stripped of the frills found on most other tracks, Monsters Underneath My Bed serves as an elegant display of Nilüfer’s diverse vocal capacity. She flits between rich textural lows and elegant highs with incredible dexterity. Paradise and Melt take that vocal depth and place it atop a jazzy saxophone backdrop for songs that glide and swerve around the listener. As eclectic of a listen as Miss Universe is, every track still distinctly belongs to Nilüfer. These songs are undeniably hers, and that is perhaps the biggest surprise of all – she’s so fresh on the scene that she’s just now releasing a debut, and her artistic voice is already just as finely tuned as her physical one. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Much of what I’ve written for this list is retrospective. That’s the point of it after all. I’m looking back on the decade, and in some cases that means looking back nearly the whole ten years. In the case of Miss Universe, it means looking back less than ten months. This album is still too fresh to contextualize retrospectively, and I can’t frame it in the context of a discography either, because this is the discography. Miss Universe is Nilüfer Yanya’s debut album, and it’s just about as fully realized as debuts come. The cover is unassuming (not much more than two small photographs amidst a broad swathe of beige) but the music paints Nilüfer as larger than life. These songs are big. If you didn’t know what the singles were, I reckon you’d be hard pressed to guess them. That isn’t because the choices are surprising, but because each is legitimately worthy in its own right. There’s also the question of which iteration of Nilüfer would her label see as most marketable. In pseudo-opener In My Head she’s guitar rock’s next big riff slinging virtuoso. On Tears, the album’s most jittery pop tune, guitar takes the backseat to infectiously danceable percussion. That song is immediately succeeded in the tracklisting by Monsters Underneath My Bed. Stripped of the frills found on most other tracks, Monsters Underneath My Bed serves as an elegant display of Nilüfer’s diverse vocal capacity. She flits between rich textural lows and elegant highs with incredible dexterity. Paradise and Melt take that vocal depth and place it atop a jazzy saxophone backdrop for songs that glide and swerve around the listener. As eclectic of a listen as Miss Universe is, every track still distinctly belongs to Nilüfer. These songs are undeniably hers, and that is perhaps the biggest surprise of all – she’s so fresh on the scene that she’s just now releasing a debut, and her artistic voice is already just as finely tuned as her physical one. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Year of Release:
2019
Appears in:
Rank Score:
228
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
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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:
2,502
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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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:
1,196
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
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Top Tracks: Straight Outta Mumbai, Genevieve, BTSTU
Jai Paul never completed “Bait Ones”. If you know anything about the album or Jai Paul, that’s probably the first thing you heard. It’s made up of sixteen tracks – eleven marked unfinished, two marked demo, and three without disclaimer. According to Jai himself, “The leak consisted of a fairly random collection of tracks [he] had made over quite a long period of time (from roughly 2007 to 2013), in various stages of completion.” This music wasn’t made to be assembled in this order. These songs weren’t ready to be heard. Someone (still unnamed and unidentified) stole Jai Paul’s work from him and released it in his stead. Fans celebrated, but Jai mourned. His debut album, the grand would-be statement piece by which he would introduce himself to the world, was destroyed. In turn, he didn’t reenter public eye for the greater part of a decade.
But what effect (if any) do the release circumstances have on the music itself? Until Jai releases a full album on his own terms, we can’t know for certain what he’s capable of assembling, but we do know that the man is an undeniable perfectionist. Based on the earlier quote, some of his demos had been under construction for as long as six years when they were leaked in 2013. That attention to detail is evident throughout “Bait Ones” despite their unfinished nature. Each beat is a dense amalgam of disparate samples and textures in a constant state of metamorphosis. They twist and turn, never lingering on a single moment for too long. This is most prominent on album opener Str8 Outta Mumbai, the only presumably finished full length song on the album (as it lacks any disclaiming tag standing aside the title). To this extent one can only assume that this manic energy was one of Jai’s goals for the album. As much as Jai was clearly pained by the leak, I have to say, that the end result here was highly successful. The somewhat haphazard sequencing takes us all across the board one track to the next. In the space of five tracks we run from the bouncily ecstatic Genevieve to a surreal half minute interlude to a cover of a 90s pop mega hit to another half minute track that cuts off as soon as it gets going to the gentle and sultry Jasmine. It’s unclear how many of the numerous sub minute long tracks would have made a final cut without seeing some sort of expansion, but their presence feels almost critically urgent. Dozens of listens on, and those little diversions continue to make the album fresh. This isn’t the masterpiece Jai Paul wanted per se, but it is a masterpiece regardless. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Jai Paul never completed “Bait Ones”. If you know anything about the album or Jai Paul, that’s probably the first thing you heard. It’s made up of sixteen tracks – eleven marked unfinished, two marked demo, and three without disclaimer. According to Jai himself, “The leak consisted of a fairly random collection of tracks [he] had made over quite a long period of time (from roughly 2007 to 2013), in various stages of completion.” This music wasn’t made to be assembled in this order. These songs weren’t ready to be heard. Someone (still unnamed and unidentified) stole Jai Paul’s work from him and released it in his stead. Fans celebrated, but Jai mourned. His debut album, the grand would-be statement piece by which he would introduce himself to the world, was destroyed. In turn, he didn’t reenter public eye for the greater part of a decade.
But what effect (if any) do the release circumstances have on the music itself? Until Jai releases a full album on his own terms, we can’t know for certain what he’s capable of assembling, but we do know that the man is an undeniable perfectionist. Based on the earlier quote, some of his demos had been under construction for as long as six years when they were leaked in 2013. That attention to detail is evident throughout “Bait Ones” despite their unfinished nature. Each beat is a dense amalgam of disparate samples and textures in a constant state of metamorphosis. They twist and turn, never lingering on a single moment for too long. This is most prominent on album opener Str8 Outta Mumbai, the only presumably finished full length song on the album (as it lacks any disclaiming tag standing aside the title). To this extent one can only assume that this manic energy was one of Jai’s goals for the album. As much as Jai was clearly pained by the leak, I have to say, that the end result here was highly successful. The somewhat haphazard sequencing takes us all across the board one track to the next. In the space of five tracks we run from the bouncily ecstatic Genevieve to a surreal half minute interlude to a cover of a 90s pop mega hit to another half minute track that cuts off as soon as it gets going to the gentle and sultry Jasmine. It’s unclear how many of the numerous sub minute long tracks would have made a final cut without seeing some sort of expansion, but their presence feels almost critically urgent. Dozens of listens on, and those little diversions continue to make the album fresh. This isn’t the masterpiece Jai Paul wanted per se, but it is a masterpiece regardless. [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
Buy album
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Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
Year of Release:
2019
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,546
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
Year of Release:
2019
Appears in:
Rank Score:
969
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 06/14/2022]
Year of Release:
2019
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,932
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 15. Page 1 of 2
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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% | |
| 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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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
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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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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.
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SaulCortes1992 04/02/2015 20:04 | #138629
SaulCortes1992 04/02/2015 20:04 | #138629
Excellent Chart!
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