Wait, didn’t I already review the 2010s? Indeed I did! See here for my picks for the best albums of the 2010s from that first review. But we’re not quite done, and the reason why involves 2024…
It turns out that 2024 was the 25th year of the millennium. And that is just too rich a symbolic target for me to forgo- the chance to discover the 25 best albums of the first quarter century of a new millennium! I have all the source material I’ll need: I’ve reviewed the 2000s in several venues, did the above-mentioned 2010s review, and have top 20-23 lists for 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023, with the search for 24 for 2024 now underway.
But my 2010s list is a little light comparatively. While my 2000s list from various sources sports around 60 entries, my 2010s review of 52 of the the critic’s top-ranked albums resulted in 34 picks. In order to balance that out a bit decade by decade, I’ve decided to go ahead and review the next tier down of 2010s albums per my original source lists. That will give us 36 more albums to review, which I’ll do in 6 blocks of 6. And hopefully thereby have a few more picks for my aspired Grand Review of 2000-2024!
Okay, but wait. We did it! Here they are: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
So we’re done now, right? Well… You know what you should never do in this kind of venture? Have “Maybes”! Keep it to “Yes” and “No”, and it’s all very straightforward. But once you throw in some maybes, you have to re-listen to them. I had six, so that’s what we gotta do now!
Once we’ve taken these six maybes through an elimination dance-off, then we will have our final list of additions to the best of the 2010s list. So let’s do it!
Malibu (Anderson .Paak, 2016)– Okay, here I am halfway through the re-listen, and I can’t fathom why I didn’t just have this as a “yes”! The beautiful production flows like liquid gold, there’s just enough touches of structure/concept to hold it together, and his wit is so sharp throughout. The sonic reference points are impeccable too- a kind of throwback to classic soul, combined with the more dynamic side of the sample-heavy school of 2010s hip-hop, and neo-soul. What were my hang-ups? Hmmm. Apparently, “The best songs here are flat out great, but it doesn’t sound or feel totally together, which you need to make an hour+ album work. Still, there isn’t a track along the way that I was unhappy to be there for.” Yes, Christopher, there isn’t an off track here! And I’m clearly feeling it more as a held-together unit this listen round. In my defense, it was the second album of 36 I listened to for this 2010s revisit, so I may not have had enough sense of relative quality yet at that point. Whatever the difference is, I’m now a “yes”!
Teens of Denial (Car Seat Headrest, 2016)– I can see what I liked about this lat time- it’s like a peak of 21st century indie rock band. I can also see why I questioned it- does it do more with that genre than others? Is it a true “best of era”? I’m still coming down on the side of “maybe”, which at this stage means no. Time is running short!
Pop 2 (Charli XCX, 2017)– I can definitely hear what I’m sure I liked the first time around- it’s like an apotheosis of 2010s dance music, super catchy, and her personality comes through and makes it even more fun. I’m more wondering what cautions I had. At a guess, I would suspect I was leery of the autotune, not totally sold on the track by track coherence that makes an album, and wondering if the occasional male vocal guest was too out of tone. Let’s go look at that review… Okay, back now! it was the high sheen of the production and the autotune that got me, but I actually raved over it pretty hard. On this listen, I have to say the tuning and the full EDM bag of tricks actually feels like an instrument in service to the point, and the point is high energy dance music that keeps on moving! I’m keeping this one!
Watch the Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West, 2011)– I had pretty much exactly the same reaction to this listen as I did to my previous one. Between them, Jay-Z and Kanye West were responsible for five of my favorite albums from the 00s, so i wanted to really like this. And, to be sure, it isn’t bad by any means. But it doesn’t really have the coherence that makes a truly proper album, and it isn’t up to their best work. A fan of either won’t go wrong by listening to this, but it’s not a decade’s best.
Clean (Soccer Mommy, 2018)– She’s great, and I still appreciate the lyrical sharpness, and way she brings together 90s rock, EDM, and something singer-songwritery. And it certainly is a sound that’s emblematic of the decade, and continues to be into the 2020s. But by that some token, there’s been a lot of it, and is this the best of the best of that vein of music? I couldn’t quite get beyond “maybe” on that.
House of Balloons (The Weeknd, 2011)– I wanted it to be more than maybe on the first listen, and I still felt that way on the second. And, at his best, The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) is best of decade material. Heck, he may even have an album that is. But it’s not quite this one, it’s just a little too uneven for that.
All right, so our elimination dance-off has added Malibu and Pop2 to our list. That, along with the thirteen new picks from Parts 1-6 of this revisit, and the 34 from the original 2010s list now leaves us with 49 albums that are, quite possibly…
The Best Albums of the TwentyTeens! :
- 21 (Adele, 2011)
- 1989 (Taylor Swift, 2014)
- A Seat At The Table (Solange, 2016)
- Acid Rap (Chance the Rapper, 2013)
- AM (Arctic Monkeys, 2013)
- Art Angels (Grimes, 2015)
- Beyoncé (Beyoncé , 2013)
- Blackstar (David Bowie, 2016)
- Blonde (Frank Ocean, 2012)
- Born to Die (Lana Del Rey, 2012)
- Brothers (The Black Keys, 2010)
- Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Angel Olsen, 2014)
- Carrie & Lowell (Sufjan Stevens, 2015)
- Celebration Rock (Japandroids, 2012)
- Channel ORANGE (Frank Ocean, 2016)
- Ctrl (SZA, 2017)
- DAMN (Kendrick Lamar, 2017)
- Daytona (Pusha T, 2018)
- Dirty Computer (Janelle Monáe, 2018)
- good kid, m.A.A.d city (Kendrick Lamar, 2012)
- I Love You Honeybear (Father John Misty, 2015)
- If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (Drake, 2015)
- In Colour (Jamie xx, 2015)
- Invasion Of Privacy (Cardi B, 2018)
- Lemonade (Beyoncé, 2016)
- Let England Shake (PJ Harvey, 2011)
- Light Up Gold (Parquet Courts, 2013)
- Lonerism (Tame Impala, 2012)
- LP1 (FKA Twigs, 2014)
- Malibu (Anderson .Paak, 2016)
- Melodrama (Lorde, 2017)
- Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (Sturgill Simpson, 2014)
- Modern Vampires of the City (Vampire Weekend, 2013)
- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Kanye West, 2010)
- Norman Fucking Rockwell! (Lana Del Rey, 2019)
- Pop 2 (Charli XCX, 2017)
- Puberty 2 (Mitski, 2016)
- Pure Heroine (Lorde, 2013)
- Red (Taylor Swift, 2012)
- Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (Courtney Barnett, 2015)
- Take Care (Drake, 2011)
- The ArchAndroid (Janelle Monáe, 2010)
- The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw (Fiona Apple, 2012)
- The Monitor (Titus Andronicus, 2010)
- The Pinkprint (Nicki Minaj, 2014)
- The Suburbs (Arcade Fire, 2010)
- This Is Happening (LCD Soundsystem, 2010)
- To Pimp a Butterfly (Kendrick Lamar, 2015)
- Yeezus (Kanye West, 2013)
If you’d like a playlist of all of these albums, I’ve got that for you here.
And with that, we’re done with our re-review of the 2010s! Now to finish up the Best 24 Albums of 2024, and get on with our New Millennium Review!
