Top 50 Music Albums of the 2010s
by 
ForegroundNoise 
December 2020.
A year late and completely unasked for, but today was finally the day I rated fifty albums by fifty artists from the last decade worthy of being on this list. As with my 2000s list this is an extreme WIP; I'll add short bios and other notable releases (ONR), solo records, or projects by related artists that are worth checking out are mentioned in each entry's notes when I finally open a wormhole find some time in there. Please leave your suggestions in the comments below! Never someone to turn down the recommendation of a passionate music fan.
Below are my favourite short releases of the decade, and below that any stand-out albums that do not qualify as contemporary (retrospective compilations, live albums etc.). As for the term 'short release' this refers to anything that falls under less than half an hour in length, a distinction I prefer to the outdated classifiers of traditional LP/EP boundaries (also makes for more exciting individual lists).
Top 5 Short Releases of the 2010s
1. Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs (2018) [US]
abstract hip hop • experimental hip hop (Tan Cressida, 24:48) - 9/10
2. Murmuüre - Murmuüre (2010) [FR]
atmospheric black metal • ambient (Cold Void Emanations, 29:13) - 8/10
3. Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour / Golden Mile (Warp, 23:07) [US]
indie folk - 8/10
4. The Brave Little Abacus - Okumay (2012) [US]
emo (Quote Unquote, 14:48) - 8/10
5. Mach-Hommy - Fête des Morts aka Día de las Muertos (2017) [US]
abstract hip hop (n/a, 16:57) - 8/10
________________________________________________________________
Retrospective/Archival
Neutral Milk Hotel - Ferris Wheel on Fire (2011) [US]
indie folk (NMH, 24:25) - 8/10
S.E.M. Ensemble / Julius Eastman - Femenine (2016) [US]
minimalism • chamber music (Frozen Reeds, 72:37) - 7.5/10
- Chart updated: 01/12/2026 11:45
- (Created: 04/15/2018 08:29).
- Chart size: 50 albums.
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____________________________________________________________________________
conscious hip hop • jazz rap
(Top Dawg, 78:51)
9.5/10
"I'm African-American, I'm African
I'm black as the heart of a fucking Aryan"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
conscious hip hop • jazz rap
(Top Dawg, 78:51)
9.5/10
"I'm African-American, I'm African
I'm black as the heart of a fucking Aryan"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
Year of Release:
2015
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,520
Rank in 2015:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
ambient • drone • electroacoustic
(Kranky, 48:54)
9.5/10
ONR:
Ravedeath, 1972 (2011)
ambient • drone (Kranky, 52:23) - 8.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
ambient • drone • electroacoustic
(Kranky, 48:54)
9.5/10
ONR:
Ravedeath, 1972 (2011)
ambient • drone (Kranky, 52:23) - 8.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
Year of Release:
2013
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,360
Rank in 2013:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
chamber folk • progressive folk
(Drag City, 124:02)
9/10
"Will you tuck your shirt?
Will you leave it loose?
You are badly hurt
You're a silly goose
You are caked in mud
And in blood, and worse
Chew your bitter cud
Grope your little nurse"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
chamber folk • progressive folk
(Drag City, 124:02)
9/10
"Will you tuck your shirt?
Will you leave it loose?
You are badly hurt
You're a silly goose
You are caked in mud
And in blood, and worse
Chew your bitter cud
Grope your little nurse"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
Year of Release:
2010
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,692
Rank in 2010:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
neoclassical darkwave • death industrial
(Profound Lore, 66:01)
9/10
"I'll only say this once
Life is cruel, and time heals nothing
And everyone you love will leave you
But not me
So will you join me?
Will you join me?
If you lay your life down, no man can take it"
Heavy metal’s relationship with explicit content has always been something that intrigues me. Much of the genre feels pulled in two directions at once, in that its ethos wants to identify with horror, yet more often that not, the musicians’ own morbid fascination stems from the luxury of having little to no brushes with genuine human suffering (Metallica wrote this zinger about living in a sanatorium - “They keep me locked up in this cage/Can't they see it's why my brain says ‘rage’?” - after watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest).
It’s in contrast to these vapid estimations at true horror that Hayter’s power as a songwriter lies. Metal has a rich history of male provocateurs describing sadistic violence upon women under the guise of shock value; Hayter repurposes this language to convey the much more frightening prospect of being the one undergoing that violence.
ONR:
Let the Evil of His Own Lips Cover Him (2017)
neoclassical darkwave (n/a, 42:24) - 8/10
All Bitches Die (2017)
death industrial • neoclassical darkwave (n/a, 42:24) - 8.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 11/27/2019]
neoclassical darkwave • death industrial
(Profound Lore, 66:01)
9/10
"I'll only say this once
Life is cruel, and time heals nothing
And everyone you love will leave you
But not me
So will you join me?
Will you join me?
If you lay your life down, no man can take it"
Heavy metal’s relationship with explicit content has always been something that intrigues me. Much of the genre feels pulled in two directions at once, in that its ethos wants to identify with horror, yet more often that not, the musicians’ own morbid fascination stems from the luxury of having little to no brushes with genuine human suffering (Metallica wrote this zinger about living in a sanatorium - “They keep me locked up in this cage/Can't they see it's why my brain says ‘rage’?” - after watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest).
It’s in contrast to these vapid estimations at true horror that Hayter’s power as a songwriter lies. Metal has a rich history of male provocateurs describing sadistic violence upon women under the guise of shock value; Hayter repurposes this language to convey the much more frightening prospect of being the one undergoing that violence.
ONR:
Let the Evil of His Own Lips Cover Him (2017)
neoclassical darkwave (n/a, 42:24) - 8/10
All Bitches Die (2017)
death industrial • neoclassical darkwave (n/a, 42:24) - 8.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 11/27/2019]
Year of Release:
2019
Appears in:
Rank Score:
822
Rank in 2019:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
emo • experimental rock
(n/a, 44:33)
9/10
"This is not universal
Kid is not he who abandoned that auditorium and no, I do not want to become him anymore
But yes, I do want him to become what I believe he once was, my best friend
And stop that, he still is
I don't really think about it that way, no, I don't really ever think about it that way"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 11/25/2018]
emo • experimental rock
(n/a, 44:33)
9/10
"This is not universal
Kid is not he who abandoned that auditorium and no, I do not want to become him anymore
But yes, I do want him to become what I believe he once was, my best friend
And stop that, he still is
I don't really think about it that way, no, I don't really ever think about it that way"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 11/25/2018]
____________________________________________________________________________
post-rock
(Constellation, 53:07)
9/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
post-rock
(Constellation, 53:07)
9/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,672
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
indie folk • contemporary folk
(P.W. Elverum & Sun, 41:30)
8.5/10
"You were probably inside
You were probably aching, wanting not to die
Your body transformed
I couldn't bear to look so I turned my head west
Like an early death
Now I can only see you on the fridge in lifeless pictures"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
indie folk • contemporary folk
(P.W. Elverum & Sun, 41:30)
8.5/10
"You were probably inside
You were probably aching, wanting not to die
Your body transformed
I couldn't bear to look so I turned my head west
Like an early death
Now I can only see you on the fridge in lifeless pictures"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/01/2018]
Year of Release:
2017
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,300
Rank in 2017:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
experimental rock • post-rock
(Young God, 121:12)
8.5/10
"Pink little lamb, on a granite slab
Black chasm creeping, forever leaking
Oh universe
Sing in reverse"
ONR:
The Seer (2012)
experimental rock • post-rock (Young God, 118:58) - 8.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 02/09/2020]
experimental rock • post-rock
(Young God, 121:12)
8.5/10
"Pink little lamb, on a granite slab
Black chasm creeping, forever leaking
Oh universe
Sing in reverse"
ONR:
The Seer (2012)
experimental rock • post-rock (Young God, 118:58) - 8.5/10
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 02/09/2020]
Year of Release:
2014
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,143
Rank in 2014:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
____________________________________________________________________________
neoclassical darkwave • avant-folk • post-industrial
(Nancy Jo, 79:43)
8.5/10
"The lie of the future, the myth of the past
In moment the sad never ending new place
The feel of a real incision
So cheap
The bruised interaction
You make me feel so cheap"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 10/06/2025]
neoclassical darkwave • avant-folk • post-industrial
(Nancy Jo, 79:43)
8.5/10
"The lie of the future, the myth of the past
In moment the sad never ending new place
The feel of a real incision
So cheap
The bruised interaction
You make me feel so cheap"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 10/06/2025]
____________________________________________________________________________
ambient pop • ambient
(Asthmatic Kitty, 43:44)
8.5/10
"Rolling with my rag top down
Rolling with my rag top down
Rolling with my rag top down"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/11/2018]
ambient pop • ambient
(Asthmatic Kitty, 43:44)
8.5/10
"Rolling with my rag top down
Rolling with my rag top down
Rolling with my rag top down"
____________________________________________________________________________ [First added to this chart: 05/11/2018]
Total albums: 50. Page 1 of 5
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Top 50 Music Albums of the 2010s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6 | 12% | |
| 2011 | 4 | 8% | |
| 2012 | 5 | 10% | |
| 2013 | 4 | 8% | |
| 2014 | 3 | 6% | |
| 2015 | 7 | 14% | |
| 2016 | 8 | 16% | |
| 2017 | 5 | 10% | |
| 2018 | 5 | 10% | |
| 2019 | 3 | 6% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Danny Brown | 1 | 2% | |
| Mount Eerie | 1 | 2% | |
| Anna Von Hausswolff | 1 | 2% | |
| Julia Holter | 1 | 2% | |
| Yellow Swans | 1 | 2% | |
| Xiu Xiu | 1 | 2% | |
| Swans | 1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
28 | 56% | |
| |
8 | 16% | |
 |
4 | 8% | |
 |
2 | 4% | |
 |
2 | 4% | |
 |
1 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 50 Music Albums of the 2010s chart changes
There have been no changes to this chart.Top 50 Music Albums of the 2010s similar charts
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Other decade charts by ForegroundNoise
ForegroundNoise has shared 6 more decade charts with the community. Browse them all here.| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 50 Music Albums of the 2020s | ForegroundNoise | 2020s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 50 Music Albums of the 2010s | ForegroundNoise | 2010s decade chart | 2026 | |
| Top 50 Music Albums of the 2000s | ForegroundNoise | 2000s decade chart | 2026 | |
Top 50 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).
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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 all 2 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/12/2021 20:06 | DJENNY | 4,338 | 100/100 | |
| 12/17/2020 09:59 |  desh79 | 1,274 | 93/100 |
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We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
