✅ Stereogum : The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s

[Donchano]

https://www.stereogum.com/featured/best ... 010s-list/

100. Future – Pluto
99. Car Seat Headrest – Teens Of Denial
98. PUP – The Dream Is Over
97. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
96. Colleen Green – I Want To Grow Up
95. Wye Oak – Civilian
94. Purity Ring – Shrines
93. Hop Along – Painted Shut
92. Jim O’Rourke – Simple Songs
91. Japanese Breakfast – Soft Sounds From Another Planet
90. Charly Bliss – Guppy
89. Young Thug, Birdman, & Rich Homie Quan – Rich Gang: Tha Tour Part 1
88. Cobalt – Slow Forever
87. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
86. Eric Church – The Outsiders
85. Sleigh Bells – Treats
84. Vampire Weekend – Father Of The Bride
83. Priests – Nothing Feels Natural
82. Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
81. Japandroids – Celebration Rock
80. Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold
79. Big Thief – U.F.O.F.
78. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
77. SZA – Ctrl
76. (Sandy) Alex G – DSU
75. Charli XCX – Pop 2
74. The National – Sleep Well Beast
73. Björk – Vulnicura
72. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
71. Low – Double Negative
70. D’Angelo And The Vanguard – Black Messiah
69. Taylor Swift - 1989
68. Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains
67. Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
66. Jenny Hval – Apocalypse, girl
65. James Blake – James Blake
64. Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe
63. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life
62. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
61. The 1975 – I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It
60. Kamasi Washington – The Epic
59. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
58. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here … Thank You 4 Your Service
57. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris
56. Cardi B – Invasion Of Privacy
55. Rosalía – El Mal Querer
54. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
53. The Knife – Shaking The Habitual
52. Tame Impala – Currents
51. Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
50. Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 2
49. Panda Bear – Tomboy
48. Snail Mail – Lush
47. Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt
46. Rihanna – ANTI
45. Pusha T - Daytona
44. Slowdive - Slowdive
43. Perfume Genius – No Shape
42. Ariana Grande – Sweetener
41. Chance The Rapper – Acid Rap
40. Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
39. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
38. Drake - Take Care
37. Bon Iver - 22, A Million
36. FKA Twigs - LP1
35. Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked At Me
34. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
33. Beyonce - Lemonade
32. Beach House - Teen Dream
31. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
30. Danny Brown - Old
29. Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
28. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
27. Mitski - Puberty 2
26. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City
25. Deafheaven - Sunbather
24. The War On Drugs – Lost In The Dream
23. Vince Staples – Summertime ’06
22. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
21. Solange - A Seat at the Table
20. Robyn - Body Talk
19. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel…
18. My Bloody Valentine – mbv
17. Lorde - Melodrama
16. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
15. David Bowie - Blackstar
14. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
13. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
12. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
11. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
10. Taylor Swift - Red
09. Carly Rae Jepsen - EMOTION
08. Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time
07. Beyonce - Beyonce
06. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city
05. Frank Ocean - Blonde
04. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
03. Grimes -Art Angels
02. Kanye West - Yeezus
01. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly

[charliepanayi]

The music press needs to stop trying to make Carly Rae Jepsen happen

[Jimoincolor]

The music press needs to stop trying to make Carly Rae Jepsen happen

No lies spotted.

[Soz]

The music press needs to stop trying to make Carly Rae Jepsen happen

She happened quite some time ago though?

Even setting the quality of the music aside, I’d contend EMOTION was the biggest musical moment for the LGBT+ community this decade, aside from maybe Born This Way. Critics would be remiss to ignore it completely.

[Elder]

The music press needs to stop trying to make Carly Rae Jepsen happen

She happened quite some time ago though?

Even setting the quality of the music aside, I’d contend EMOTION was the biggest musical moment for the LGBT+ community this decade, aside from maybe Born This Way. Critics would be remiss to ignore it completely.

Have you been introduced to Frank Ocean?

I'm not criticizing you, it's just my doubt. Why do you consider Carly Rae Jepsen the most important LGBTQ+ act of the decade?

[Soz]

Have you been introduced to Frank Ocean?

I'm not criticizing you, it's just my doubt. Why do you consider Carly Rae Jepsen the most important LGBTQ+ act of the decade?

I didn’t say Carly Rae Jepsen is “the most important LGBTQ+ act of the decade” (and I wouldn’t, considering she’s not even LGBTQ+)

In my experience Frank isn’t as wholeheartedly embraced by the LGBTQ+ community as you might think; in general the community gravitates more toward women of any sexuality than queer men, for better or worse. Ocean’s coming out and the subsequent release of channel ORANGE were both certainly big events but his music doesn’t attract the same level of queer fanfare as Jepsen’s. Put another way, I see Ocean as a queer artist for straight people and Jepsen as a straight artist for queer people. That’s not a knock against either, and both rightfully have their places on these lists, but I think there’s something to be said for the music that actually does reach and unite a historically disenfranchised group of people.

Anyway, putting that aside, I do think the music stands on its own; EMOTION’s a great album. AM’s userbase might just not be its target audience.

[Setherex]

I'm deeply allergic to Carly Rae Jepsen slander, and this thread has made me break into hives.

[Nassim]

Stereogum is usually my 2nd favorite source for lists (after treblezine) so I am a teeny bit disappointed : probably my favorite list so far, but mostly by lack of competition.

Very disappointed to see Teens of Denial so low (but I guess it's better than it not showing) but I'm happy to see The Dream is Over (even just one place higher), Painted Shut and Slow Focus as I'm not sure those will make a lot of lists (though I think Painted Shut is doing ok so far). I expected a tiny bit more punk and metal from them though.

I made the prediction at the end of 2017 that DAMN wouldn't appear much in end of decade list due to it being the third wheel and not that interesting imo compared to GKMC and TPaB but I have been proven wrong multiple times already. Also thought Bon Iver's self titled would be slowly forgotten and that the Age of Adz would be positively reevaluated, good thing I didn't bet any money on any of that.

[Jackson]

Stereogum is usually my 2nd favorite source for lists (after treblezine) so I am a teeny bit disappointed : probably my favorite list so far, but mostly by lack of competition.

Very disappointed to see Teens of Denial so low (but I guess it's better than it not showing) but I'm happy to see The Dream is Over (even just one place higher), Painted Shut and Slow Focus as I'm not sure those will make a lot of lists (though I think Painted Shut is doing ok so far). I expected a tiny bit more punk and metal from them though.

I made the prediction at the end of 2017 that DAMN wouldn't appear much in end of decade list due to it being the third wheel and not that interesting imo compared to GKMC and TPaB but I have been proven wrong multiple times already. Also thought Bon Iver's self titled would be slowly forgotten and that the Age of Adz would be positively reevaluated, good thing I didn't bet any money on any of that.

You should have instead bet your money on female pop acts!

This list is more or less the same as many of the others so far (it's almost like they compared notes with Pitchfork writers when you see specific things like Beyonce's self-titled over Lemonade and ANTI in the top 50). At least they remembered m b v, which I would have bet would've been forgotten, Sunbather, and David Comes to Life.

[Chris K.]

Did I miss something? How are albums like Red and Pop 2 showing up on so many lists when they received very little acclaim when they came out (they aren't even bubbling under on AM)? I could ask the same question, to a lessor degree, about EMOTION and Anti. It's almost like the same writers write for all of the American lists.

[Donchano]

Did I miss something? How are albums like Red and Pop 2 showing up on so many lists when they received very little acclaim when they came out (they aren't even bubbling under on AM)? I could ask the same question, to a lessor degree, about EMOTION and Anti. It's almost like the same writers write for all of the American lists.

Some albums need more time to get fully dissected. Radiohead "Kid A" was not universally acclaimed upon release yet it was considered as one of the best albums of the 2000s. Same thing can be said for Green Day "American Idiot".

- Taylor Swift "Red"
- Taylor Swift "1989"
- Lana Del Rey "Born To Die"
- Rihanna "Anti"
- Carly Rae Jepsen "Emotion"

These albums didn't get enough love during their time of release but it looks like critics start appreciating them.

[Chris K.]

Some albums need more time to get fully dissected. Radiohead "Kid A" was not universally acclaimed upon release yet it was considered as one of the best albums of the 2000s. Same thing can be said for Green Day "American Idiot".

- Taylor Swift "Red"
- Taylor Swift "1989"
- Lana Del Rey "Born To Die"
- Rihanna "Anti"
- Carly Rae Jepsen "Emotion"

These albums didn't get enough love during their time of release but it looks like critics start appreciating them.

I see your point, but Kid A was always in the top 10 for the 2000's on AM and even American Idiot did fairly well on EOY lists. Kid A may have been divisive when it was originally released but there were several publications that were praising very heavily whereas Red was virtually missing on EOY lists.

[Sweepstakes Ron]

Red was released before poptimism was the kewl new thing. Now that poptimism is in full force, they went back and reevaluated it, since Taylor has been a major icon throughout the decade.

Either that, or they're being paid to promote her. Either one is pretty likely.

[Elder]

I don't know why critics start to like Taylor Swift I just know she has some better compositions than The National.

[Pauler]

I'm deeply allergic to Carly Rae Jepsen slander, and this thread has made me break into hives.

CONCUR. I will not stand for the slandering against Queen of the Gays. EMOTION is just a top-to-bottom excellent album: the iconic "Run Away With Me" with its saxophone intro spanning a thousand memes, the lush, romantic Prince-indebted "All That", and don't even get me started on "Let's Get Lost". But why is everyone surprised though? I remember in 2015, aside from Pitchfork in their initial review, most publications sang high praises of the album and eventually ranked it quite high in their year-end lists.

Well damn, no Benji again? I know Mark is a dick and all but that record is just sublime.

[Donchano]

Some albums need more time to get fully dissected. Radiohead "Kid A" was not universally acclaimed upon release yet it was considered as one of the best albums of the 2000s. Same thing can be said for Green Day "American Idiot".

- Taylor Swift "Red"
- Taylor Swift "1989"
- Lana Del Rey "Born To Die"
- Rihanna "Anti"
- Carly Rae Jepsen "Emotion"

These albums didn't get enough love during their time of release but it looks like critics start appreciating them.

I see your point, but Kid A was always in the top 10 for the 2000's on AM and even American Idiot did fairly well on EOY lists. Kid A may have been divisive when it was originally released but there were several publications that were praising very heavily whereas Red was virtually missing on EOY lists.

Red actually made it into several EOY lists including Idolator, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Pazz &Jop but since pop music was not well-respected in the music industry back in early 2010s, the album was missing in many lists. In my opinion, 1989 did pave the way for poptimism hence many critics started putting their attention on pop music since that. In 2017, Spin called Red as one of the best pop albums of our generation, and last year Rolling Stone included All Too Well in their list of the best songs of the 21st century.

[charliepanayi]

Poptimism is garbage and is about as patronising as dismissing all pop music in the first place

Also if I'm going to rave about a LGBT-centric Canadian pop album, I have the brilliant Heartthrob by Tegan and Sara

[Jimoincolor]

Despite personal dramas and her annoying fan base, Taylor Swift is an amazing songwriter and has given us some pretty solid albums. Im glad she is finally getting the recognition she deserves by music critics.

On the other hand, Adele being shutted out of many of these lists is such a win for music fans. I have no idea how she/ her team managed to trick the GP with the idea that she is this amazing singer-songwriter talent, when in reality her music is as beige as it gets. Completely bamboozled.

Anyway, now that pop/R&B is finally getting some respect by music critics after the 2000s (when these genres were treated like a disease), I fully expect to see some revaluation of the consensus towards some of the albums of that time in the upcoming years.

[Bruno]

I’m glad that pop music is being well represented in some publications so far.

Also, Adele is a great artist and “21” is an amazing album. I hope she will appear more often in the next lists.

[Soz]

Did I miss something? How are albums like Red and Pop 2 showing up on so many lists when they received very little acclaim when they came out (they aren't even bubbling under on AM)? I could ask the same question, to a lessor degree, about EMOTION and Anti. It's almost like the same writers write for all of the American lists.

Pop 2 was labeled as a mixtape on its release but I think critics have decided to overlook that mostly meaningless designation for their decade-ends. Also it came out about two weeks before the end of 2017, too late for inclusion on the 2017 lists and too early for consideration on most 2018 lists.

Re: Adele: The two big 21 singles are deserved inclusions on these lists in my eyes but seeing 25 on quite a few of these is more than a little eyebrow-raising.

[Harold]

Despite personal dramas and her annoying fan base, Taylor Swift is an amazing songwriter and has given us some pretty solid albums. Im glad she is finally getting the recognition she deserves by music critics.

On the other hand, Adele being shutted out of many of these lists is such a win for music fans. I have no idea how she/ her team managed to trick the GP with the idea that she is this amazing singer-songwriter talent, when in reality her music is as beige as it gets. Completely bamboozled.

Although I don't dislike Adele, I'm in complete agreement re: the reevaluation of both artists. I distinctly remember seeing more than one article around mid-decade based on the theme, "Can you believe Taylor Swift and Adele are the same age?!?!?" The implication, of course, being that Adele was a mature, sophisticated-beyond-her-years "old soul in a young body" while TS was this giggly, flirty teenybopper who would obviously fade from view as her fanbase outgrew her. Cut to end of decade, and people (including me) are realizing that it's Swift who's built - and continues to build - a sturdy body of work that looks like it will stand the test of time quite well, thank you very much. I do find it interesting that, although 1989 was Swift's critical breakthrough album, it's Red that seems to be the retroactive consensus pick as her best work.

[Elder]

In addition to the arguments already stated in the topic, I think the fact that the first lists are all American may be a cause for the biggest highlight of Pop / R & B artists.

Probably with the English critique ratings + various alternative and irrelevant lists from countries like Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Saudi Arabia, the overall list may resemble the AM rating again.

Anyway, all this completely pointless discussion made me interested in Carly Rae Jepsen for the first time in this decade. Yesterday I heard a lot of "Run Away With Me"...

[Sweepstakes Ron]

I've been on the Carly train ever since Emotion was released, and at one point was rather disappointed that all of my high school classmates genuinely had no idea that she'd done anything since "Call Me Maybe".

[acroamor]

I think poptimism has been getting a little excessive with many of these end of decade lists, but I will happily recognize EMOTION, 21, or Red as a masterpiece of a an album any day.

I do question the value of poptimism at a certain point, like, aren't these publications supposed to cover independent music? Rather than just serving as an ad department for the biggest pop stars on the planet? It's especially egregious when you see fawning coverage of manufactured artists that typify themselves as "independent", like Clairo or Billie Eilish or Chance the Rapper. That COS list with Eilish at 15 was particularly unfortunate.

[charliepanayi]

I think poptimism has been getting a little excessive with many of these end of decade lists, but I will happily recognize EMOTION, 21, or Red as a masterpiece of a an album any day.

I do question the value of poptimism at a certain point, like, aren't these publications supposed to cover independent music? Rather than just serving as an ad department for the biggest pop stars on the planet? It's especially egregious when you see fawning coverage of manufactured artists that typify themselves as "independent", like Clairo or Billie Eilish or Chance the Rapper. That COS list with Eilish at 15 was particularly unfortunate.

Sorry, but how is Chance the Rapper 'manufactured'?

[acroamor]

I think poptimism has been getting a little excessive with many of these end of decade lists, but I will happily recognize EMOTION, 21, or Red as a masterpiece of a an album any day.

I do question the value of poptimism at a certain point, like, aren't these publications supposed to cover independent music? Rather than just serving as an ad department for the biggest pop stars on the planet? It's especially egregious when you see fawning coverage of manufactured artists that typify themselves as "independent", like Clairo or Billie Eilish or Chance the Rapper. That COS list with Eilish at 15 was particularly unfortunate.

Sorry, but how is Chance the Rapper 'manufactured'?

I mean, he's been pulling production from major producers via family connections, he's usually only one of 5-6 writers on most of his songs, he's been committing category fraud by labeling almost all of his albums "mixtapes", and he's had his management pressure a journalist into deleting a negative review. I respect him for the good work he does for Chicago and I enjoy some of his songs, but I don't need to pretend like he's some sort of underdog to do that.

[Nassim]

I mean, he's been pulling production from major producers via family connections, he's usually only one of 5-6 writers on most of his songs,

His music was much better when he had less writers, Acid Rap is infinitely better than the following 2 albums.

Did I miss something? How are albums like Red and Pop 2 showing up on so many lists when they received very little acclaim when they came out (they aren't even bubbling under on AM)? I could ask the same question, to a lessor degree, about EMOTION and Anti. It's almost like the same writers write for all of the American lists.

I think pop was unfairly treated until very recently, so those albums have been overlooked when they came out. On the other hand, I think poptimism is overcompensating too much... I guess some balance will be found as years go by.

[Nick]

This is something I posted elsewhere on the internet that seems relevant here:

I don't mind poptimism. In fact, poptimism can be a great thing. There's nothing inherently inferior about pop when compared to rock, or to jazz, or to hip-hop, or to any other sort of music. But it's when poptimism goes so far as to reward pop artists just for existing, treating bland surface level pop music like it's a work of musical genius, that it becomes worthy of scorn. For a long time certain circles of the critical community had a bias against pop and judged it too harshly. Now I'd argue that the pendulum has swung the entire opposite way, where the critical community has gone too soft on pop, and every other genre suffers for it when these lists come out.

[Jimoincolor]

On the subject of pop music being overestimated or not recently, I want to say one thing. Leave the discussion of an album being good or bad based only on it's content and awswer this: which albums released this decade had the bigger impact in culture and molded the progression of music as the years went by: Blonde and Ctrl or To Be Kind and Random Access Memories? I think the awnser is pretty clear that are the first two. For that reason alone, the importance given to pop/R&B albums this decade is justified.

And it doesn't end there. For example, when Pitchfork updated their list of the best albums of the 80s, we saw albums like Purple Rain, Thriller, Control and Hounds of Love receving much more respect than their previous list, which almost only praised albums by rock acts. And, when you think about it, these albums had a major impact on modern music and more than deserved this change of heart. The landscape is changing and I don't think it's going to stop.

[charliepanayi]

which albums realesead this decade had the bigger impact in culture and molded the progression of music as the years went by

So by this logic the best films of the decade should just be all the MCU films?

[Harold]

which albums realesead this decade had the bigger impact in culture and molded the progression of music as the years went by

So by this logic the best films of the decade should just be all the MCU films?

Please tell me you're not implying that Blonde and Ctrl are the musical equivalents of MCU films...

[Nick]

On the subject of pop music being overestimated or not recently, I want to say one thing. Leave the discussion of an album being good or bad based only on it's content and awswer this: which albums realesead this decade had the bigger impact in culture and molded the progression of music as the years went by: Blonde and Ctrl or To Be Kind and Random Access Memories? I think the awnser is pretty clear that are the first two. For that reason alone, the importance given to pop/R&B albums this decade is justified.

And it doesn't end there. For example, when Pitchfork updated their list of the best albums of the 80s, we saw albums like Purple Rain, Thriller, Control and Hounds of Love receving much more respect than their previous list, which almost only praised albums by rock acts. And, when you think about it, these albums had a major impact on modern music and more than deserved this change of heart. The landscape is changing and I don't think it's going to stop.

Well I wholeheartedly reject the idea that "influence" or "cultural relevance" should be a determining factor in lists like these, but I recognize that puts me at odds with the prevailing critical consensus.

[Jimoincolor]

which albums realesead this decade had the bigger impact in culture and molded the progression of music as the years went by

So by this logic the best films of the decade should just be all the MCU films?

I don't follow the film industry so I can't mesure the impact of these movies. But, if they end influencing several other movies, creating sub-genres of films and changing how movies are made and consumed, sure, they deserve to be hightlighted.

Now, just to make things clear, I'm not saying that, if something is commercially succesful, it means that it should be praised, I'm talking about the influence of a piece of work on the long run.

[charliepanayi]

which albums realesead this decade had the bigger impact in culture and molded the progression of music as the years went by

So by this logic the best films of the decade should just be all the MCU films?

Please tell me you're not implying that Blonde and Ctrl are the musical equivalents of MCU films...

Seriously? That's not what my post said at all. I don't have any criticisms to make of the likes of Frank Ocean

[Cold Butterfly]

I started a discussion on RYM about poptimism a while ago, and i'm going to reaffirm what I said about poptimism. The reason why poptimism exists is because there's a rightful place for "pop" music to be given equal consideration to "rock" or any other genre. End of story. If you don't like artists such as Billie Eilish or Rihanna, then it's fine. But thirty years from now, their music is going to be considered better and more important than artists such as Swans and Car Seat Headrest ever were (just some examples of highly-praised rock bands).

Pop entered a very innovative stage this decade, and it can't be denied.

[acroamor]

Nobody considers Frank Ocean or SZA to at all be artists that only get praise due to poptimism and it's pretty disingenuous to imply that they are. But there are lists coming out claiming Billie Eilish or Ed Sheeran or Katy Perry or Ariana Grande or Chance's Coloring Book or Rihanna's Anti and, in my opinion, they're being given untoward attention that should go to artists making more interesting music. Just because a work is influential doesn't mean it should be spotlighted, because sometimes the net influence it has is negative. The Transformers movies have had an enormous influence in how films are made this century. Ed Sheeran has had an enormous influence on how music is made. And both of them have made things worse for their respective media.

[Jimoincolor]

Nobody considers Frank Ocean or SZA to at all be artists that only get praise due to poptimism and it's pretty disingenuous to imply that they are. But there are lists coming out claiming Billie Eilish or Ed Sheeran or Katy Perry or Ariana Grande or Chance's Coloring Book or Rihanna's Anti and, in my opinion, they're being given untoward attention that should go to artists making more interesting music. Just because a work is influential doesn't mean it should be spotlighted, because sometimes the net influence it has is negative. The Transformers movies have had an enormous influence in how films are made this century. Ed Sheeran has had an enormous influence on how music is made. And both of them have made things worse for their respective media.

I never said that Blonde or Ctrl are being recognized only because of their influence or poptimism. In fact, Blonde is my favorite album of the decade and Ctrl is in my top 10. My point was that the influence of an album should be heavily weighted because it translates the importance of such work in culture, and this is a factor that is considered by these lists.

As for Ed Sheeran, is his music really influential? Sure, he had enormous commercial success, but what has he brought to the table that hasn’t been done and defined before him? Using Blonde and Ctrl again as examples, these albums were fundamental to define and reinvent Contemporany R&B, also reverbing on other music genres like Hip Hop and Pop. I don’t see how Ed’s music is comparable to this. I’m not very familiarized with his career, so I could be missing something about his impact, though.

[Cold Butterfly]

Nobody considers Frank Ocean or SZA to at all be artists that only get praise due to poptimism and it's pretty disingenuous to imply that they are. But there are lists coming out claiming Billie Eilish or Ed Sheeran or Katy Perry or Ariana Grande or Chance's Coloring Book or Rihanna's Anti and, in my opinion, they're being given untoward attention that should go to artists making more interesting music. Just because a work is influential doesn't mean it should be spotlighted, because sometimes the net influence it has is negative. The Transformers movies have had an enormous influence in how films are made this century. Ed Sheeran has had an enormous influence on how music is made. And both of them have made things worse for their respective media.

Or maybe it's because many people (including I) think artists such as Grande and Eilish make fantastic music, which are highlights of this decade in music?

I'll start with the Eilish claim - i've heard a lot of people dismiss When We All Fall Asleep as a "typical pop album". Typical? Hell, the top forty isn't supposed to sound like Eilish! Musically, Eilish is bringing an adventurous sense to "pop" music by blending in styles such as industrial, trap, and r&b which adhering to a minimalist aesthetic. By doing that, she has almost revolutionized the way a "pop song" could sound. Songs like "bad guy" and "bury a friend" are really some of the most ambitious of the year, in their adventurism and sophistication. It might sound like a typical radio song to you, but in all honesty, it's amazing how music this popular can be so unconforming. On When We All Fall Asleep as well, the lyrics dive into the pressures and anxieties that many people sadly have to face, varying from depression, suicide, climate change, and drug abuse. Does that sound like "typical pop"? Oh, and not to mention that the songs are fucking great. Btw, Sigmund Freud also asked a hundred years ago where we all went when we fell asleep

Ariana Grande's another example of a mainstream pop artist who takes chances with her music - while she has also incorporated the now-everywhere trap sound in her music, she also has been incorporating more free-form influences in her music, with lyrics that are also meaningful and substantial. I really think that thank u, next is one of this decade's greatest albums (it's my #2 of the year so far, behind When I Get Home). The way she talks about things such as heartbreak and money on that album are really relatable to everyday people, despite it being spoken from the view of one of the world's most famous musicians.

Like I said, i'm glad that these lists are recognizing the expansions that pop music has made this decade. Yes, all the Transformers movies have been terrible. However, the masterworks of Grande, Eilish, and Rihanna are art, just like every other work of creation. And once again, pop music deserves to have the same acclaim as any other genre.

And by the way, being influential is highly crucial for a work's legacy. Electric Light Orchestra may have been very sophisticated musically, but are they considered to be better than the Ramones? No, because the Ramones' music was highly substantial, and influenced legions of bands, while Electric Light Orchestra lacked much in the department of either. The Velvet Underground are my favorite band of all time, but let's be honest, The Velvet Underground And Nico's legacy is defined as much by it's influence on rock music's past fifty years as it is by the amazing music on that album. Citizen Kane is considered to be one of cinema's greatest films, but would it's legacy be the same without it's influence?

There are many works of art which would have been forgotten if it weren't for it's impact on many others - Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson both died unknown, but their works ended up touching so many that it's influence was able to establish the fact that they made great and important works. When many people look up to something, and get inspired enough to look at that particular work at a source of inspiration, it highlights that source of inspiration even more than it already has.

[andyd1010]

But there are lists coming out claiming Billie Eilish or Ed Sheeran or Katy Perry or Ariana Grande or Chance's Coloring Book or Rihanna's Anti and, in my opinion, they're being given untoward attention that should go to artists making more interesting music.

To Billie Eilish: "You’re the only one doing anything fucking interesting nowadays.”

[PlasticRam]

I prefer 1989 to Red.

[Chris K.]

And by the way, being influential is highly crucial for a work's legacy. Electric Light Orchestra may have been very sophisticated musically, but are they considered to be better than the Ramones? No, because the Ramones' music was highly substantial, and influenced legions of bands, while Electric Light Orchestra lacked much in the department of either. The Velvet Underground are my favorite band of all time, but let's be honest, The Velvet Underground And Nico's legacy is defined as much by it's influence on rock music's past fifty years as it is by the amazing music on that album. Citizen Kane is considered to be one of cinema's greatest films, but would it's legacy be the same without it's influence?

There are many works of art which would have been forgotten if it weren't for it's impact on many others - Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson both died unknown, but their works ended up touching so many that it's influence was able to establish the fact that they made great and important works. When many people look up to something, and get inspired enough to look at that particular work at a source of inspiration, it highlights that source of inspiration even more than it already has.

To that end, any guess as to what will be the most influential or affecting artists of the decade when others look back fifty years from now is pure speculation. I seriously doubt too many critics would have pegged the Velvet Underground as one of the most influential artists of the 60's back at the end of 1969, even if they were fans at the time (the same could be said for Melville or Dickinson, regarding their respective eras). I think it's a little disingenuous for a critic to base their list on what they project the legacy of the 2010's to be. I think as long as the list reflects the albums that had the most impact on the writers' personally, it's meaningful. After all, this debate has proven how subjective this conversation really is. I think some of these lists just appear to be posturing, which is annoying (but since I'm not in the writers' heads, even that is speculation).

[Cold Butterfly]

And by the way, being influential is highly crucial for a work's legacy. Electric Light Orchestra may have been very sophisticated musically, but are they considered to be better than the Ramones? No, because the Ramones' music was highly substantial, and influenced legions of bands, while Electric Light Orchestra lacked much in the department of either. The Velvet Underground are my favorite band of all time, but let's be honest, The Velvet Underground And Nico's legacy is defined as much by it's influence on rock music's past fifty years as it is by the amazing music on that album. Citizen Kane is considered to be one of cinema's greatest films, but would it's legacy be the same without it's influence?

There are many works of art which would have been forgotten if it weren't for it's impact on many others - Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson both died unknown, but their works ended up touching so many that it's influence was able to establish the fact that they made great and important works. When many people look up to something, and get inspired enough to look at that particular work at a source of inspiration, it highlights that source of inspiration even more than it already has.

To that end, any guess as to what will be the most influential or affecting artists of the decade when others look back fifty years from now is pure speculation. I seriously doubt too many critics would have pegged the Velvet Underground as one of the most influential artists of the 60's back at the end of 1969, even if they were fans at the time (the same could be said for Melville or Dickinson, regarding their respective eras). I think it's a little disingenuous for a critic to base their list on what they project the legacy of the 2010's to be. I think as long as the list reflects the albums that had the most impact on the writers' personally, it's meaningful. After all, this debate has proven how subjective this conversation really is. I think some of these lists just appear to be posturing, which is annoying (but since I'm not in the writers' heads, even that is speculation).

I don’t think any of these lists have been “posturing” or what not. In the case of Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep has already proven to be a heavily influential work in pop music - the high COS placement was just acknowledging that (although I myself wouldn’t rank it that high for the decade, despite it being an excellent album)