Manchester Orchestra's Mean Everything to Nothing won 2009. A new decade and the year I started using this dumbass site. Let's see who wins 2010. Billboard chart-topping albums of 2010: Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream (cont. from 2009) Kesha - Animal Vampire Weekend - Contra Various Artists - Hope for Haiti Now Lady Antebellum - Need You Now Sade - Soldier of Love Ludacris - Battle of the Sexes Justin Bieber - My World 2.0 Usher - Raymond v. Raymond Glee - The Power of Madonna B.o.B - The Adventures of Bobby Ray Godsmack - The Oracle Glee - Showstoppers Jack Johnson - To the Sea Glee - Journey to Regionals Drake - Thank Me Later Eminem - Recovery Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare Arcade Fire - The Suburbs Katy Perry - Teenage Dream Disturbed - Asylum Sara Bareilles - Kaleidoscope Heart Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give Kenny Chesney - Hemingway's Whiskey Toby Keith - Bullets in the Gun Lil Wayne - I Am Not a Human Being Sugarland - The Incredible Machine Taylor Swift - Speak Now Susan Boyle - The Gift Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Billboard chart-topping singles of 2010: Kesha - Tik Tok (cont. from 2009) The Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart Rihanna - Rude Boy (cont. from 2009) B.o.B - Nothin' on You Usher - OMG Eminem - Not Afraid Katy Perry - California Gurls Eminem - Love the Way You Lie Katy Perry - Teenage Dream Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are Far East Movement - LIke a G6 Kesha - We R Who We R Rihanna - What's My Name Rihanna - Only Girl Pink - Raise Your Glass Katy Perry - Firework What are your top three albums for 2010? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor 2. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 3. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later? YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm
rest of the top 12: 4. Spoon - Transference 5. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks 6. Ceremony - Rohnert Park 7. The National - High Violet 8. A Great Big Pile of Leaves - Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex? 9. Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do 10. Deftones - Diamond Eyes 11. The Walkmen - Lisbon 12. Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life honorable mentions: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs Bad Books - Bad Books Beach House - Teen Dream Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot The Black Keys - Brothers The Chariot - Long Live Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise Colour Revolt - The Cradle The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis Drake - Thank Me Later Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang Gorillaz - Plastic Beach Kvelertak - Kvelertak Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can Los Campesinos - Romance is Boring Midlake - The Courage of Others My Chemical Romance - Danger Days Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz Superchunk - Majesty Shredding The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt Taylor Swift - Speak Now Tera Melos - Patagonian Rats Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Mojo Underoath - Ø Vampire Weekend - Contra Wavves - King of the Beach Wolf Parade - Expo 86 The Young Veins - Take a Vacation stuff to check out: Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit Best Coast - Crazy for You Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest Intronaut - Valley of Smoke Kylesa - Sprial Shadow Katy Perry - Teenage Dream Robyn - Body Talk The Roots - How I Got Over Sade - Soldier of Love Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way Ted Leo - The Brutalist Bricks
Officially into the "these albums feel like they came out last week" range now. Also, I don't think I knew Kaleidoscope Heart topped the charts. That's cool.
1. 65daysofstatic – We Were Exploding Anyway 2. Murder By Death – Good Morning, Magpie 3. Amia Venera Landscape – The Long Procession Kesha – Animal / Cannibal Los Campesinos – Romance is Boring Yeasayer – Odd Blood Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History Jonsi – Go Kayo Dot – Coyote Minus the Bear – Omni Foals – Total Life Forever Kvelertak - s/t Sleigh Bells – Treats Drake Thank Me Later Tera Melos – Patagonian Rats Robyn – Body Talk Dessa – A Badly Broken Code Sage Francis – Li(f)e Stars – The Five Ghosts Girl Talk – All Day Envy – Recitation God is an Astronaut – Age of the Fifth Son The Saddest Landscape – You Will Not Survive Laura Viers – July Flame https://rateyourmusic.com/list/ecirht/best_of_10/
1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 2. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang 3. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker ALSO Jimmy Eat World - Invented Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager Four Year Strong - Enemy of the World Wiz Khalifa - Kush & Orange Juice Gorillaz - Plastic Beach Minus the Bear - OMNI Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life A Day To Remember - What Separates Me From You Deftones - Diamond Eyes Drake - Thank Me Later The Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits My Chemical Romance - Danger Days Rick Ross - Teflon Don Bomb the Music Industry! - ADULTS!!!! The Wonder Years - The Upsides Mac Miller - K.I.D.S Pretty Lights - Glowing in the Darkest Night Kendrick Lamar - Overly Dedicated Beach House - Teen Dream Arcade Fire - The Suburbs Lil Wayne - I Am Not A Human Being Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma The Black Keys - Brothers Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns Vampire Weekend - Contra Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites J. Cole - Friday Night Lights
1. letlive - fake history 2. beach house - teen dream 3. underoath - disambiguation ------------------------------- four year strong - enemy of the world the morning benders - big echo envy on the coast - low country pmtoday - in medias res oceana - clean head the black keys - brothers seahaven - ghost tokyo police club - champ now, now - neighbors big boi - sir lucious left foot lydia - assailants colour revolt - the cradle land of talk - cloak and cipher tides of man - dreamhouse such gold - pedestals deerhunter - halycon digest bad books - s/t small black - new chain trophy scars - darkness, oh hell hellogoodbye - would it kill you? kanye west - my beautiful dark twisted fantasy the chariot - long live circa survive - blue sky noise
Can everyone please do my a favor and listen to this album. I seriously think it is perfect in every conceivable way. It just makes me feel every emotion.
This year is ridiculous. 1. Kanye - MBDTF 2. Tallest Man - The Wild Hunt 3. Vampire Weekend - Contra HM: The Walkmen - Lisbon I think this is as good of an album as I’ve kept out of my top 3 in any of these, there are absolutely years around here where it could be 1 for me. It was pretty well praised at the time if I remember right but it feels a little underappreciated 12 years later. Beach House - Teen Dream LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening Katy Perry - Teenage Dream Titus - The Monitor Shoutout to Dancing On My Own, a top 10 song all time. Anti shout out to three of the four most disappointing albums of my lifetime (Adz, burbs, HV. At least the latter has grown on me!)
Some all-times on this list for me 01) AGAINST ME! - White Crosses Controversial in the Against Me catalog but this is by far the most personal album Laura Jane Grace (then Tom Gabel) ever wrote with big glossy shiny production disguising the torment going on underneath. "Because Of THe Shame" still gives me chills. 02) THE NATIONAL - High Violet Some ultimate "sad bastard" music, The National build a tragic soundtrack to the slow decay of adulthood. 03) LINKIN PARK - A Thousand Suns The nu metal "Kid A" where Linkin Park stopped worrying about hit singles and went and made their own version of an art-rock record. 04) MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - Danger Days A futuristic color-drenched energetic blast of rock their somehow was a commercial dud. 05) MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK - My Dinosaur Life A last hitch effort on a major label to breakthrough, this might not have made MCS stars but might be their best work. 06) THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM - American Slang Some bands you don't want to change that much and TGA streamlined their approach on The 59 Sound to make a rousing and bluesy rock album. 07) YEASAYER - Odd Blood Williamsburg hippies tone down their arty weirdness and make a pop record full of psychedelic hooks without sacrificing too much of their quirks. 08) VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Contra If the backlash to Vampire Weekend influenced the band they certainly didn't show it as they made their logical next step, silencing the haters and cranking out note-perfect indie pop. 09) THE ARCADE FIRE - The Suburbs I was fairly agnostic on Arcade Fire until this album. A fantastic sprawling (no pun intended) big-sounding indie rock album that rightly desrves all the praise it got. 10) SLEIGH BELLS - Treats While they've had diminished returns since, this was a fantastic debut and a brilliant mix of hyper pop with hardcore-based guitar riffing 11) DEFTONES - Diamond Eyes Doing this best to rebound from tragedy, Deftones bring themselves into the new decade and courted a new audience with their most song-focused album to date. 12) BEACH HOUSE - Teen Dream This is where Beach House hit upon the winning formula that they've been refining ever since. 13) BUTCH WALKER & THE BLACK WIDOWS - I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart Even at hist most efortless, Butch Walker still turns out pop/rock ear-candy with a good sense of humor and flashy playing. 14) CIRCA SURVIVE - Blue Sky Noise Another scene band got one stab at a major label debut which found them emphasizing more traditional song structures with great results 15) SCISSOR SISTERS - Night Work NYC night life faves go full-on camp with sharp hooks and humor-filled romps. 16) LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - This Is Happening Often mislabled as "Electronic" this album was the logical conclusion (at the time at least) of LCD's 00's dominance which does everything the band does well on steroids. 17) FOXY SHAZAM - Foxy Shazam Fun, campy yet also tragic Queen-style big stadium rock that unfortunately never made it out of small clubs 18) JIMMY EAT WORLD - Invented Coming off a commerical disappointment, Jimmy Eat World expanded their pallet a bit and made one of those rare records where the back half is superior to the first half. 19) HOT CHIP - One Life Stand UK nerds continue cranking out the dance-rock jams while adding enough variation to maintain interest for a full album. 20) ANBERLIN - Dark Is The Way, Light Is The Place Major label album #2 from Anberlin finds them going deeper and darker, seemingly not so concerned with radio success while crafting some huge emotionally-heavy songs. 21) FRIGHTENED RABBIT - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks Speaking of dark and emotionaly-heavy songs, this is one of those listens that just gets more brutal as the years pass. 22) BAD RELIGION - The Dissent Of Man It's a reductive statement to say all BR records sound the same as the band always makes a point to slightly vary their winning style. Dissent Of Man still has plenty of ragers but also some nice melodic mid-tempo tunes that stand out in their catalog. 23) THE BLACK KEYS - Brothers Garage rock goes R&B, this was rightfully the breakthrough for this band. 24) THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS - Together Effortlessly hooky indie pop, this album finds The New Pornographers continuing their winning streak 25) SPOON - Transference I can't really ever find a BAD Spoon song and while this album had a bit more muted response than others, still so many jams on here. 26) BROKEN BELLS - Broken Bells Danger Mouse joining forces with Jamer Mercer of The Shins finds him bringing Mercer's melodies more to the front with a melancholic production feel. 27) MIDDLE CLASS RUT - No Name No Color Another two-man duo of guitar and drums that makes a good melodic racket. 28) BAND OF HORSES - Infinite Arms This album has since been memory-holed but, like a lot of other acts on this list, this was a major label debut that found a long-running indie band streamlining their sound slightly for a more accessible record. 29) OK GO - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky Power-pop goes Prince with the addition of the usual amazing music videos 30) MINUS THE BEAR - Omni A slight switch in style for the long-running band embracing a funky R&B side.
Wow. We were listening to the same stuff in 2010 for sure, haha. Because of the Shame fucking rocks and I'd argue that "Closer" is as radio-grabby of a song as Anberlin ever wrote, but the rest of the album is not that way for sure.
1. Kanye West - MBDTF 2. How to Dress Well - Love Remains 3. Bomb the Music Industry - Adults!!! Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt Taylor Swift - Speak Now The Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits Los Campesinos - Romance is Boring Nana Grizol - Ruth The National - High Violet Perfume Genius - Learning Weezer - Hurley The Flatliners - Cavalcade Waka Flocka Flame - Flockaveli The Roots - How I Got Over Rick Ross - Teflon Don Black Milk - Album of the Year Shad - TSOL Diddy/Dirty Money - Last Train to Paris The Holy Mess - Benefit Sesh EP
This won't be in my top three but I need to get someone into Agent Fresco. Amazingly technically proficient melding of math rock, prog, pop influences, alternative metal. Great musicians and as a pure singer, Arnor's the closest to a male Björk that I can think of.
1. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt 2. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues 3. Gil Scott Heron - I’m New Here 4. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me 5. Beach House - Teen Dream 6. Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread 7. Caribou - Swim 8. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song 9. Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer of the Void 10. Anais Michell - Hadestown 11. Deer Tick - The Black Dirt Sessions 12. Josh Ritter - So Runs The World Away 13. Nas & Damien Marley - Distant Relatives
1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs 2. The National - High Violet 3. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang First two are a couple of my favorite albums ever. I've really fallen in love with American Slang again. The Monitor from Titus Andronicus just misses the cut.
1. Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns 2. Sara Bareilles - Kaleidoscope Heart 3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 4. I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business - The World We Know 5. My Chemical Romance - Danger Days 6. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream 7. Taylor Swift - Speak Now 8. The Black Keys - Brothers 9. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach 10. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr Rager 11. Drake - Thank Me Later 12. Hellogoodbye - Would It Kill You? 13. Deftones - Diamond Eyes 14. Eminem - Recovery 15. Sade - Soldier of Love 16. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs 17. Against Me - White Crosses 18. Vampire Weekend - Contra 19. The National - High Violet 20. Bruno Mars - Doo Wops & Hooligans Honorable mentions: She & Him, Kings of Leon, MGMT, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj
Good year, definitely still feels like an industry in transition to me. 1. Marianas Trench - Masterpiece Theater I wanted to pick something a little different for my number 1 this year. I definitely did not know about this album until a few years later, but it's about as ambitious and consistent as pop punk can get. I really love the heavy dose of harmonies and the variation from song to song. I personally like Ever After just a touch more, but there are few flaws to be found in this bombastic level-up. 2. Jimmy Eat World - Invented My first new Jimmy Eat World album as a fan! I learned how to drive to this album and whenever I hear "My Best Theory," I think back to asking my dad to go log hours driving with me solely so I could turn on Alt Nation in hopes of hearing the track. I remember when Alt Nation debuted Stop as well and after that I was hooked. 3. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach Though there are some in the honorable mentions I arguably like more than this, I picked this for my number 3 because of the re-eval I gave it a few years ago. When it came out in 2010, I sure didn't hate it, but it was not the Demon Days pt. 2 that I was looking for. When Humanz was announced, I did a discog run and was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed this album. I love Empire Ants and I truly think the production is as immaculate as Gorillaz ever got. Honorable Mentions Vampire Weekend - Contra It was the Zach Galifianakis-hosted episode of SNL's 35th season where I realized I like Vampire Weekend. They performed "Cousins" and "Giving Up the Gun" and were a much-needed jolt of energy to an episode mired in the mediocre recurring sketches of the era (this was the best sketch of the episode). I didn't connect with this entire album at the time, but I do now and it's a good one! Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns This and Plastic Beach share a same story. Not at all what I wanted from the band at the time, but I've re-evaluated it in recent years and found a lot to love. I think it showcases some of Mike's best swagger and the album literally sounds like a movie trailer stretched out to album length. Their best? Probably not. Their most ambitious? Certainly. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy I guess I was just behind on music at the time because I also didn't listen to his album until college, where I fell in love with it. Pretty handily his best album in my eyes, it's a shame to look back on in hindsight. Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life I remember buying this at Hot Topic after AltPress gave it a five-start review. Still love it and think there are 2-3 weak songs, but this also contains a ton of their best material. They lost the plot after this though (and I kinda like Go). The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang Technically my first Gaslight album, but I didn't get it at the time and would not get the band until Handwritten released two years later. I still think this album is a little slighter than those around it, but not a bad song to be found on here. My Chemical Romance - Danger Days This must've been the year of hating albums by bands I loved. Like those mentioned above, I re-visited this one years later and like it WAY more than I did at the time. hellogoodbye - would it kill you? What a great album. Not a miss on here. Against Me! - White Crosses One of my fav Against Me! albums. The gloss has never bothered me because I jumped onto the bandwagon with New Wave. Some incredible songs here and I wish more fans would go back and give it a fair shake. Butch Walker - I Liked It Better... Some top-tier Butch mixed in with some middle-tier Butch. Foxy Shazam- Foxy Shazam The best Foxy Shazam album by a long shot. Every single song soars and this is the only album where they distilled their strangeness into something entirely palatable. People like to waffle about why this band never got huge and I think it's pretty obvious. This is theater rock for the weirdos and an album that starts with the frontman melodically barking like a dog is never going to take off. Anberlin - Dark Is The Way, Light Is The Place My favorite Anberlin album for a long time because it was the first new one to come out after I became a fan. I still love it and think it is their best sounding album. Bad Religion - The Dissent Of Man A middle-tier Bad Religion album with some awesome mid-tempo jams. Drops off in the back half, unfortunately. Ok Go - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky My more indie friends were obsessed with this album and it took me a long time to come around to it, but I'm glad I did. Easily the band's most complete work. Jukebox the Ghost - Everything Under the Sun A banger of a piano pop album that is solid front to back. Ludo - Prepare the Preparations My favorite Ludo album because they lean completely into the pastiche and also show off their technical abilities. You, Me, & Everyone We Know - Some Things Just Don't Wash Out Perfect power pop. Have loved this album for a long time and even did a little one-on-one songwriting workshop with Ben at the start of the pandemic. Steel Train - Steel Train Not quite up there with Trampoline for me, but so obviously set the course of where Jack would be headed. Bo Burnham - Words, Words, Words Some of Bo's best work ("Art Is Dead," "Rant") mixed in with some of his most blatantly offensive. Others The Black Keys - Brothers Who didn't hear this album? The singles are STILL unavoidable. Weezer - Death to False Metal Meh. Weezer - Hurley The first of my two least favorite Weezer albums that also happened to be released the same year. I know folks stump for this one, but I think outside of maybe 2 songs that it is the most plasticine, inauthentic work the band has put out. Alkaline Trio - This Addiction The worst Alkaline Trio album still has some good songs on it! Neon Trees - Habits Didn't get into the band until the next album, but there's some great stuff on here and "Animal" still goes hard. Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels Baroque power pop? Not sure what to call it, but it sure is fun.
I somehow forgot about Danger Days and Omni, though those wouldn't be top 3 probably would have been top 10.