I didn't much care for the music of this decade.
There was good, interesting stuff out there, but you had to dig for it. I think it was Rolling Stone who said that pop music was more ambitious than ever these past ten years: and that's true. But it was not any more innovative, and that's troubling. What made it ambitious was mingling with a few other existing forms, but the synthesis never created something boldly new.
The best example of this I can think of is Rihanna's album "Anti". Like many of the highly-praised pop albums, there's some interesting diversity on there. But the tracks that got all the attention, and radio-play, were the inane ones, like "Work". The lyrics are awful, as is the music. Of these offerings Beyonce's "Lemonade" was probably the best, and, consequently showed up near the top of many of the End of the Decade lists. From the list of albums I passed on, it may be one of the highest.
Still, my own list will have some of those mainstream offerings, of course. I mean, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" was incredible. Beyond the pop offerings, though, I went deeper in my search. Which musicians won MacArthur awards? Pulitzer prizes? The Pazz and Jop polls? Mercury prize?
Instead of ranking, I'm just going to drop a bunch of albums here that I actually liked, and then a whole bunch that I didn't. The hope then, is that you can see this final list is based off of careful consideration, and depth of research.
Albums of the Past Decade I Liked
21, Adele - This has held up well, and will be seen as the 'Tapestry' of our era.
Art Angels, Grimes - If I am going to listen to pop, I want it to be trippy, dream-pop.
Channel Orange, Frank Ocean - A nice concept album that holds up lyrically and sonically.
Damn, Kendrick Lamar - "Pimp" may be the more important album, but for now "Damn" is the magnum opus, with all the benefits that implies.
The Electric Lady, Janelle Monae - As usually the case, the interludes add nothing, but the rest of the work is so strong it's okay.
Floral Shoppe, Macintosh Plus - One of the few interesting little innovations of the decade was this vaporwave classic. But it was more curiosity than movement.
Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens - Very good folk/Americana offering in an otherwise blah decade for that genre.
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves - Rightfully heralded, the first interesting album to come out of country music in a long while.
Hadestown, Anais Mitchell - I loved this concept album, with guest appearances from people like Bon Iver and Ani Difranco. Not to be confused with the Broadway album, which I've not heard.
Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda - Deserves all the love it got.
Heaven and Earth, Kamasi Washington - One of the more interesting jazz albums of recent years.
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Florence + The Machine - A great tribute to the singer-songwriters of an earlier era: Ronstadt et al.
Ism, Steelism - A fun, relaxing, album by an underappreciated duo.
...Like Clockwork, Queens of the Stone Age - A solid blast of unpretentious California rock.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West - An indisputable masterpiece.
Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spalding - A nice jazz crossover; all in all a strong LP.
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire - This increasingly feels like the last great hurrah of the preceding decade.
Universal Beings, Makaya McCraven - Another of the interesting jazz albums of the decade.
The Untouchables, Casey Hurt - I saw this show in San Francisco and liked the music, so I got the cast album. It is the most idiosyncratic of all the choices.
And now, the research:
Albums of the Past Decade I Didn't Like
1989, Taylor Swift
American Dream, LCD Soundsystem
Anti, Rihanna
The Archandroid, Janelle Monae
Be the Cowboy, Mitski
Black Messiah, D'Angleo and the Vanguard
Blackstar, David Bowie
Blond, Frank Ocean
Blunderbuss, Jack White
Body Talk, Robyn
Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Born to Die, Lana Del Rey
Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper
Ctrl, SZA
Dirty Computer, Janelle Monae
El Camino, The Black Keys
Ghosteen, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
I Like It When You Sleep..., The 1975
Idler Wheel, Fiona Apple
Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B
It's Album Time, Todd Terje
Lemonade, Beyonce
Let England Shake, PJ Harvey
Life of Pablo, Kanye West
LP1, FKA Twigs
El Mal Querer, Rosalia
Masseducation, St. Vincent
Matangi, M.I.A.
Melodrama, Lorde
Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend
A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead
Morning Phase, Beck
My Woman, Angel Olson
Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey
Puberty 2, Mitski
Pure Heroine, Lorde
Random Access Memories, Daft Punk
Red, Taylor Swift
Run the Jewels 2, Run the Jewels
A Seat at the Table, Solange
Settle, Disclosure
Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
St. Vincent, St. Vincent
Take Care, Drake
Tell Me I'm Pretty, Cage the Elephant
Teen Dream, Beach House
Thank U Next, Ariana Grande
This Is Happening, LCD Soundsystem
To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Wasting Light, Foo Fighters
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Billie Eilish
Whokill, The Tune-Yards
Yeezus, Kanye West
There were more, that I'm forgetting, but that says more about the albums than their being on this list. Some of these were fine, just not anything special, some were very nearly good (Solange, Nick Cave, and Eilish got really close), and some were just bad.
There was good, interesting stuff out there, but you had to dig for it. I think it was Rolling Stone who said that pop music was more ambitious than ever these past ten years: and that's true. But it was not any more innovative, and that's troubling. What made it ambitious was mingling with a few other existing forms, but the synthesis never created something boldly new.
The best example of this I can think of is Rihanna's album "Anti". Like many of the highly-praised pop albums, there's some interesting diversity on there. But the tracks that got all the attention, and radio-play, were the inane ones, like "Work". The lyrics are awful, as is the music. Of these offerings Beyonce's "Lemonade" was probably the best, and, consequently showed up near the top of many of the End of the Decade lists. From the list of albums I passed on, it may be one of the highest.
Still, my own list will have some of those mainstream offerings, of course. I mean, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" was incredible. Beyond the pop offerings, though, I went deeper in my search. Which musicians won MacArthur awards? Pulitzer prizes? The Pazz and Jop polls? Mercury prize?
Instead of ranking, I'm just going to drop a bunch of albums here that I actually liked, and then a whole bunch that I didn't. The hope then, is that you can see this final list is based off of careful consideration, and depth of research.
Albums of the Past Decade I Liked
21, Adele - This has held up well, and will be seen as the 'Tapestry' of our era.
Art Angels, Grimes - If I am going to listen to pop, I want it to be trippy, dream-pop.
Channel Orange, Frank Ocean - A nice concept album that holds up lyrically and sonically.
Damn, Kendrick Lamar - "Pimp" may be the more important album, but for now "Damn" is the magnum opus, with all the benefits that implies.
The Electric Lady, Janelle Monae - As usually the case, the interludes add nothing, but the rest of the work is so strong it's okay.
Floral Shoppe, Macintosh Plus - One of the few interesting little innovations of the decade was this vaporwave classic. But it was more curiosity than movement.
Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens - Very good folk/Americana offering in an otherwise blah decade for that genre.
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves - Rightfully heralded, the first interesting album to come out of country music in a long while.
Hadestown, Anais Mitchell - I loved this concept album, with guest appearances from people like Bon Iver and Ani Difranco. Not to be confused with the Broadway album, which I've not heard.
Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda - Deserves all the love it got.
Heaven and Earth, Kamasi Washington - One of the more interesting jazz albums of recent years.
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Florence + The Machine - A great tribute to the singer-songwriters of an earlier era: Ronstadt et al.
Ism, Steelism - A fun, relaxing, album by an underappreciated duo.
...Like Clockwork, Queens of the Stone Age - A solid blast of unpretentious California rock.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West - An indisputable masterpiece.
Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spalding - A nice jazz crossover; all in all a strong LP.
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire - This increasingly feels like the last great hurrah of the preceding decade.
Universal Beings, Makaya McCraven - Another of the interesting jazz albums of the decade.
The Untouchables, Casey Hurt - I saw this show in San Francisco and liked the music, so I got the cast album. It is the most idiosyncratic of all the choices.
And now, the research:
Albums of the Past Decade I Didn't Like
1989, Taylor Swift
American Dream, LCD Soundsystem
Anti, Rihanna
The Archandroid, Janelle Monae
Be the Cowboy, Mitski
Black Messiah, D'Angleo and the Vanguard
Blackstar, David Bowie
Blond, Frank Ocean
Blunderbuss, Jack White
Body Talk, Robyn
Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Born to Die, Lana Del Rey
Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper
Ctrl, SZA
Dirty Computer, Janelle Monae
El Camino, The Black Keys
Ghosteen, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
I Like It When You Sleep..., The 1975
Idler Wheel, Fiona Apple
Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B
It's Album Time, Todd Terje
Lemonade, Beyonce
Let England Shake, PJ Harvey
Life of Pablo, Kanye West
LP1, FKA Twigs
El Mal Querer, Rosalia
Masseducation, St. Vincent
Matangi, M.I.A.
Melodrama, Lorde
Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend
A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead
Morning Phase, Beck
My Woman, Angel Olson
Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey
Puberty 2, Mitski
Pure Heroine, Lorde
Random Access Memories, Daft Punk
Red, Taylor Swift
Run the Jewels 2, Run the Jewels
A Seat at the Table, Solange
Settle, Disclosure
Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
St. Vincent, St. Vincent
Take Care, Drake
Tell Me I'm Pretty, Cage the Elephant
Teen Dream, Beach House
Thank U Next, Ariana Grande
This Is Happening, LCD Soundsystem
To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Wasting Light, Foo Fighters
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Billie Eilish
Whokill, The Tune-Yards
Yeezus, Kanye West
There were more, that I'm forgetting, but that says more about the albums than their being on this list. Some of these were fine, just not anything special, some were very nearly good (Solange, Nick Cave, and Eilish got really close), and some were just bad.
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