Best Albums of the 2010s

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Explore the best albums of the 2010s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 59,000 charts.
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2010s decade summaryThe best artists of the 2010s were Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Tame Impala, Arcade Fire, Beach House, Frank Ocean, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Radiohead and Nick Cave.

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181.

No Shape

Perfume Genius

"This entrancing, gorgeous, devastating record shows the extent of Mike Hadreas' songwriting talents. In fact, I wouldn't even say "shows". Standouts like "Slip Away", "Go Ahead" and "Die 4 You" prove Mike is just showing off at this point. Listen to this record, and *try* not to feel something. E..." [+] Reply

- vinnid127 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2017

Appears in:

282 charts

Rank Score:

1,405

Rank in 2017:

Rank in 2010s:

181

Overall Rank:

1,237

Average Rating:

78 (311 votes)

Comments:

182.

The Powers That B
Compilation

Death Grips

"For a while, The Money Store was Death Grips' best album. But The Powers That B (TPTB) is really contending for that spot. It's a bit of an unfair competition considering the fact that TPTB's two sides give it great variety. One really interesting pointer is that both sides feature someone who ha...""For a while, The Money Store was Death Grips' best album. But The Powers That B (TPTB) is really contending for that spot. It's a bit of an unfair competition considering the fact that TPTB's two sides give it great variety. One really interesting pointer is that both sides feature someone who has not directly worked with the band before. On the first part, Niggas on the Moon (NOTM) it's Icelandic singer Bjork. On the second half, Jenny Death (JD) it's guitarist Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos. While all the songs on NOTM feature Bjork's vocals (in fact, it features none of Flatlander's abrasive synths. Replacing that is Bjork's heavily edited vocals), only tracks 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 feature Nick's guitar. NOTM is another foray into the experimental side of Death Grips, more or less continuing on from the path they took starting from No Love Deep Web. While not nearly as abrasive and in-your-face as, say, Exmilitary and The Money Store, NOTM is still an entertaining listen, with Zach really pulling of some great drumming in each of the 8 tracks. However, NOTM's variety is, unfortunately, a bit too homogenous. Each track sounds very similar to the last, and none of them have MC Ride's infamous yelled vocals (although several songs hint at it). To put simply, all the songs are far softer and less abrasive. Instead a lot of the real content is in the lyrics, which thankfully are far more understandable due to MC Ride not shouting (this may possibly be the explanation for the lack of his shouted vocals). The songs' themes range from racism (Black Quarterback, Say Hey Kid) and paranoia (Up My Sleeves) to the lifelessness of modern sex (Billy Not Really, Have a Sad Cum, Fuck Me Out) and the idolization of celebrities (Voila). Either way the lyrical content on here is, as always, cryptic but has some sort of meaning behind it. JD, the much hyped second half, is quite literally the culmination of everything they've done. From the extremely loud, harsh and unforgiving I Break Mirrors With My Face in the United States to the almost ballad-like instrumentation of On GP (which stands for On General Principle by the way. It has absolutely nothing to do with their previous album Government Plates), this side has far more variety and content than the 32 minute NOTM (JD is 50 minutes, in comparison). It opens with the I Break Mirrors With My Face in the United States, which as I described earlier, is extremely loud, harsh and unforgiving. It features MC Ride's infamous yelled vocals, something which was completely absent from NOTM. The track is so quickly paced and short that despite how much there is going on, it goes by in a flash, as if it never happened. Then we get Inanimate Sensation, which is probably the most progressive song Death Grips has ever written. Although following the old "verse-chorus-verse" structure, each verse is drastically different from the other. The track opens with a chorus of voices ascending pitch. It's quite difficult to explain, really. The first verse is your average Death Grips verse, opening with the line "IN-ANIMATE SEN-SUH-A-TION", in MC Rides typical yelled rapping style. Then we get the chorus "BLOWNOUT, BASE", which leads to the second verse, which is rapped entirely in MC Ride's whispering voice, with the exception of the line "I'M NOT WITH YOU". Then we have the chorus again, and we move on to the third verse, which is rapped entirely with MC Ride's shouted vocals pitch shifted down. The third chorus continues with these pitch shifted vocals, and we have the fourth verse, where MC Ride makes multiple references to classic rock and popular music in general. Then we have the chorus again, and we have a miniature fifth verse which is quite similar to the first verse. And then we finally end with the chorus. Either way the entire 6 minute experience is extremely thrilling. The next song is Turned Off, which really does sound like a nu metal piece. Thankfully, it isn't terrible, in fact it's one of the best songs on the album. Then we have Why a Bitch Gotta Lie?, which follows the same nu metal style that Turned Off had. Although this song is less accessible than Turned Off due to the strange digital manipulation on MC Ride's vocals, it's actually pretty good once you get used to it. Then Pss Pss plays, a song about the lifelessness of sex. This song, quite interestingly, also references Have a Sad Cum early on. After that we get the title track, which is easily the loudest, sludgiest, heaviest, and most brutal thing Death Grips has ever put out. It's quite the experience, and really is quite indescribable. Then it's Beyond Alive, which would probably be my least favorite track on here if not for the final track (I'll get to that one later). It retains the nu metal style from tracks 3 and 4 but simply does not have the same magic that the aforementioned tracks have. Then we have Centuries of Damn, which, while good, has nothing too special about it to make it stand out. After this we have On GP, which in my opinion is one of the best tracks on JD as a whole, alongside Inanimate Sensation. Nick's guitar is extremely prominent on this track, and he really adds on to Flatlander's sound. It's also probably the closest Death Grips will be to a ballad or anything of the sort. The track glitches into the final (and most disappointing) track, Death Grips 2.0. From its name you'd expect some sort of amazing and revolutionary piece that will mark a complete change in Death Grips' style. But unfortunately, it isn't. It's just a repetitive instrumental track which was stretched out for way too long. Either way, the LP is abso-fucking-lutely phenomenal, perhaps even better than 2012's critically acclaimed The Money Store. Only time will tell if Death Grips can continue their streak of amazing albums. " [+] Reply

- | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2015

Appears in:

196 charts

Rank Score:

1,401

Rank in 2015:

Rank in 2010s:

182

Overall Rank:

1,241

Average Rating:

80 (379 votes)

Comments:

183.

Viet Cong

"Beautiful noise. This will take a few listens if post-punk isn't your thing. "Continental Shelf" is especially catchy. My favorite album of 2015 if Frank Ocean continues to be a no-show." Reply

- henrygreen0203 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2015

Appears in:

282 charts

Rank Score:

1,386

Rank in 2015:

Rank in 2010s:

183

Overall Rank:

1,251

Average Rating:

76 (404 votes)

Comments:

184.

All Mirrors

Angel Olsen

"This album is grand, sweeping, intentionally melodramatic. Lots of ups and downs. Which is exactly how a grand breakup album should be. When I was going through a big bad breakup Beck's Sea Change totally destroyed me (you know, in a good way, the way music should when you're the saddest). This a..." [+] Reply

rogue | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2019

Appears in:

314 charts

Rank Score:

1,383

Rank in 2019:

Rank in 2010s:

184

Overall Rank:

1,256

Average Rating:

78 (286 votes)

Comments:

185.

Ravedeath, 1972

Tim Hecker

"Some words to describe this album: ethereal, dense, stunning, introspective, dark, gorgeous. It's one of the seminal musical milestones in modern music as far as I am concerned. It wraps you up in sound and showers you with waves of beautiful noises. There is nothing quite like this that I have h..." [+] Reply

Mercury | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2011

Appears in:

245 charts

Rank Score:

1,382

Rank in 2011:

Rank in 2010s:

185

Overall Rank:

1,257

Average Rating:

77 (252 votes)

Comments:

186.

Science Fiction

Brand New

"The Townes Van Zandt-meets-Jason Pierce-tosses-in-some-large-dashes-of-Mineral&SunnyDayRealEstate-and-then-gets-gate-crashed-by-Isaac Brock affair we all didn't know we needed until now. Brand New goes completely for broke, consolidating every phase of their often shifting sound and then even rea..." [+] Reply

cestuneblague | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +11 votes (11 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2017

Appears in:

194 charts

Rank Score:

1,380

Rank in 2017:

Rank in 2010s:

186

Overall Rank:

1,259

Average Rating:

79 (313 votes)

Comments:

187.

Get To Heaven

Everything Everything

"This band is so underrated on here. This is a fantastic album and one of the best of this year. If it was released by an american band I reckon it would make the top 20 of this year." Reply

- altric13 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2015

Appears in:

178 charts

Rank Score:

1,379

Rank in 2015:

Rank in 2010s:

187

Overall Rank:

1,260

Average Rating:

77 (225 votes)

Comments:

188.

The Bones Of What You Believe

CHVRCHES

"A great pop record! Very refreshing, and packed full of great melodies with some angst in the lyrics. Tracks 6 and 12, sung by one of the keyboard players, don't match the quality of the other tracks, but despite this the record still stands strong. "The Mother We Share" is one of the best pop so..." [+] Reply

- mcgaff96 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2013

Appears in:

263 charts

Rank Score:

1,377

Rank in 2013:

Rank in 2010s:

188

Overall Rank:

1,261

Average Rating:

74 (364 votes)

Comments:

189.

Wildflower

The Avalanches

"I personally found this album much more enjoyable than Since I Left You. Hopefully we'll get the next one before 2032!" Reply

- kickerofelves | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2016

Appears in:

283 charts

Rank Score:

1,377

Rank in 2016:

Rank in 2010s:

189

Overall Rank:

1,262

Average Rating:

76 (401 votes)

Comments:

190.

Shaking The Habitual

The Knife

"I was particularly apprehensive to delve into this album. The running time and density that I had been hearing about certainly didn't inspire much confidence. And you know what? It turned out fine, because this album is incredible. Yeah, some of it is a bit self-indulgent and seemingly arbitrary,..." [+] Reply