RollingStone (US) - The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s

[Elder]

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... st-item-50

100 The War on Drugs, ‘A Deeper Understanding’
99 Lana Del Rey, ‘Ultraviolence’
98 John Prine, ‘The Tree of Forgiveness’
97 Rich Gang, ‘Tha Tour Part 1’
96 Low Cut Connie, ‘Call Me Sylvia’
95 Future, ‘Monster’
94 Sheer Mag, ‘Need to Feel Your Love’
93 U2, ‘Songs of Innocence’
92 Vampire Weekend, ‘Father of the Bride’
91 Tierra Whack, ‘Whack World’
90 Neil Young and Crazy Horse, ‘Psychedelic Pill’
89 Joanna Newsom, ‘Have One on Me’
88 Arctic Monkeys, ‘AM’
87 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, ‘Ghosteen’
86 Angel Olsen, ‘My Woman’
85 Metallica, ‘Hardwired … to Self-Destruct’
84 Jamie XX, ‘In Color’
83 Eric Church, ‘Chief’
82 Kamasi Washington, ‘The Epic’
81 Brandi Carlile, ‘By The Way, I Forgive You’
80 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, ‘Mirror Traffic’
79 Kesha, ‘Rainbow’
78 Soccer Mommy, ‘Clean’
77 The Highwomen, ‘The Highwomen’
76 Frank Ocean, ‘Nostalgia Ultra’
75 Father John Misty, ‘I Love You, Honeybear’
74 Pusha T, ‘Daytona’
73 Jenny Lewis, ‘On the Line’
72 Jack White, ‘Blunderbuss’
71 Grimes, ‘Art Angels’
70 Drake, ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’
69 Lizzo, ‘Cuz I Love You’
68 Florence + the Machine, ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’
67 Bad Bunny, ‘X 100Pre’
66 Kendrick Lamar, ‘Good Kid…m.A.A.d City’
65 St. Vincent, ‘St. Vincent’
64 Sharon Van Etten, ‘Are We There’
63 Janelle Monáe, ‘Dirty Computer’
62 Paul McCartney, ‘Egypt Station’
61 Waxahatchee, ‘Cerulean Salt’
60 Nicki Minaj, ‘The Pinkprint’
59 Harry Styles, ‘Harry Styles’
58 Miranda Lambert, ‘The Weight of These Wings’
57 Alabama Shakes, ‘Boys & Girls’
56 Sky Ferreira, ‘Night Time, My Time’
55 Daft Punk, ‘Random Access Memories’
54 Japandroids, ‘Celebration Rock’
53 Fiona Apple, ‘The Idler Wheel …’
52 Khalid, ‘American Teen’
51 Arcade Fire, ‘The Suburbs’
50 Carly Rae Jepsen, ‘Emotion’
49 Jay Z and Kanye West, ‘Watch the Throne’
48 Leonard Cohen, ‘You Want It Darker’
47 Bon Iver, ’22, A Million’
46 Bruce Springsteen, ‘Wrecking Ball’
45 ‘Hamilton’ Original Broadway Cast Recording
44 Haim, ‘Days Are Gone’
43 Bob Dylan, ‘Tempest’
42 Miranda Lambert, ‘Platinum’
41 Sturgill Simpson, ‘A Sailor’s Guide to Earth’
40 SZA, ‘CTRL’
39 Rosalía, El Mal Querer
38 Chance the Rapper, ‘Coloring Book’
37 Frank Ocean, ‘Channel Orange’
36 Randy Newman, ‘Dark Matter’
35 D’Angelo, ‘Black Messiah’
34 Cardi B, ‘Invasion of Privacy’
33 Mitski, ‘Be the Cowboy’
32 Lana Del Rey, ‘Norman Fucking Rockwell!’
31 Billie Eilish, ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’
30 Ariana Grande, ‘Thank You, Next’
29 Car Seat Headrest, ‘Teens of Denial’
28 Jason Isbell, ‘Southeastern’
27 Kendrick Lamar, ‘Damn’
26 Beyoncé, ‘Beyoncé’
25 Rihanna, ‘Anti’
24 Vampire Weekend, ‘Modern Vampires of the City’
23 Robyn, ‘Body Talk’
22 Radiohead, ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’
21 Courtney Barnett, ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’
20 Solange, ‘A Seat at the Table’
19 Taylor Swift, ‘1989’
18 Paul Simon, ‘So Beautiful or So What’
17 Chance the Rapper, ‘Acid Rap’
16 Parquet Courts, ‘Light Up Gold’
15 J Balvin, ‘Vibras’
14 The Black Keys, ‘Brothers’
13 Kanye West, ‘Yeezus’
12 Frank Ocean, ‘Blonde’
11 Kacey Musgraves, ‘Golden Hour’
10 LCD Soundsystem, ‘This Is Happening’
9 Pistol Annies, ‘Interstate Gospel’
8 Adele, ’21’
7 Lorde, ‘Melodrama’
6 Drake, ‘Take Care’
5 David Bowie, ‘Blackstar’
4 Taylor Swift, ‘Red’
3 Kendrick Lamar, ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’
2 Beyoncé, ‘Lemonade’
1 Kanye West, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’

[Monte]

Yikes.

[Live in Phoenix]

Kind of early on their part. The presumption is they won't miss anything in December, but they would have failed the London Calling test (Dec. 14, 1979), and for that matter Let It Bleed (Dec. 5, 1969).

Other famous albums released late in the year (although not at the end of the decade) include Rubber Soul (December 3), Beggars Banquet (December 6), John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (December 11), and Hunky Dory (December 17). I generally advise against what I might call having Christmas a few weeks early just 'cause you can't help yourself.

As far as the list, I'm impressed that only one old name besides Bowie is in the top 35, and not the most obvious one.

[Future Critic]

Yikes.

It's actually much better than I was expecting. I figured some U2 album would be number one.

[PlasticRam]

There's a few good picks that I originally missed.

[acroamor]

Pretty much what we all expected, although I'd have imagined Kacey Musgraves above Pistol Annies. Glad to see Waxahatchee, Sturgill Simpson, and Jason Isbell appear so high.

Also, it's going to be remarkable to see how high Red will place when the next update occurs. I'm guessing the record will go from not even bubbling under to top 500, easily. Got to be one of the highest debuts of any album that isn't added with an EOY update.

[Live in Phoenix]

Yikes.

It's actually much better than I was expecting. I figured some U2 album would be number one.

I assume Jann Wenner's ass-kissing has finally been taken out of the equation.

[charliepanayi]

Kind of early on their part. The presumption is they won't miss anything in December, but they would have failed the London Calling test (Dec. 14, 1979), and for that matter Let It Bleed (Dec. 5, 1969).

Other famous albums released late in the year (although not at the end of the decade) include Rubber Soul (December 3), Beggars Banquet (December 6), John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (December 11), and Hunky Dory (December 17). I generally advise against what I might call having Christmas a few weeks early just 'cause you can't help yourself.

As far as the list, I'm impressed that only one old name besides Bowie is in the top 35, and not the most obvious one.

The only promising album out this month is Stormzy, and I can't see Rolling Stone being big fans of him. They're not missing much by printing the list now.

[StevieFan13]

Putting Bob Dylan ahead of good kid, m.A.A.d city and Dirty Computer makes me roll my eyes a little, but this isn't actually that bad a list. Lost of interesting takes.

[Cold Butterfly]

43 Bob Dylan, ‘Tempest’
66 Kendrick Lamar, ‘Good Kid…m.A.A.d City’

ok boomer

[acroamor]

5 David Bowie, ‘Blackstar’
4 Taylor Swift, ‘Red’

ok zoomer

[Sweepstakes Ron]

71 Grimes, ‘Art Angels’
36 Randy Newman, ‘Dark Matter’

ok doomer

I just wanted in on the joke

[Chris K.]

5 David Bowie, ‘Blackstar’
4 Taylor Swift, ‘Red’

ok zoomer

Funny enough, my parents (both boomers) are big fans of Red and Blackstar (but especially Red) and I seriously doubt they've even listened to Tempest.

[Monte]

Yikes.

It's actually much better than I was expecting. I figured some U2 album would be number one.

They still shamelessly included that horrible album lol
You gotta love RS and U2 history. List sucks imo

[Donchano]

They gave Adele '25' a perfect 5 star yet the album nowhere to be found on the list

[PlasticRam]

They gave Adele '25' a perfect 5 star yet the album nowhere to be found on the list

Rightly so. Album is mid.

[Chambord]

8 Adele, ’21’
29 Car Seat Headrest, ‘Teens of Denial’

ok mom

[Rob]

Tempest is very good, regardless of the place it should be. There is this weird tendency in music criticism (completely absent in pretty much any other art form) to focus extremely on the young and even somewhat ridiculing the old (rock and roll is actually to blame for this development, now almost ironically). There are exceptions, like Nick Cave (perhaps because he was never that big; maybe he is at his most popular now) or when David Bowie and Leonard Cohen managed to turn their death into an event album, but these prove the rule. There have been quite a few albums made by artists of age that got great reviews, but they will hardly make an appearance in any of the End of Decade lists. Think not just of Tempest, but some of the Neil Young ones (Psychedelic Pill, Le Noise and Colorado), Dr. John's stunning Locked Down, all efforts by Paul Simon, the two Leonard Cohen albums preceding You Want It Darker (though admittedly, YWID is the best of the bunch), the last by Marianne Faithful, some by Paul Weller and many more. They do not have to dominate these lists, but it would be nice if outside of Rolling Stone Magazine other publications weren't embarrassed to acknowledge that they gave them high reviews. But apparently liking a musician of age makes you a boomer...

[StevieFan13]

A fine little list. A bit stupefied that good kid, m.A.A.d city isn't a top 50 album for them, but taste is subjective.