The work of a restless, preoccupied mind. Harvey’s hard work pays off richly for the listener – ‘Let England Shake’’ calls you back to its horrors again and again, lines like “I’ve seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat” sticking nastily in the brain. ‘Hanging In The Wire’ 11. Somehow the record also finds space for – deep breath – Dave Grohl, Trent Reznor, Jake Shears, Alex Turner, James Lavelle, Brody Dalle and Elton John. EH, Set against another decade of hand-wringing about the death of rock music, Royal Blood’s self-titled debut album didn’t mock the concept so much as bully it into submission. Opening track ‘Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter’ saw Kendrick evoke his endearingly misspent youth, bombing through LA in his mum’s car to meet a girl named Sherane. The latter is seen as Kanye’s defining artistic statement, the moment where his genius was not just spoken about by the man himself, but by the world at large. 10. Suitably trippy for an album inspired by Flying Lotus’ DMT trips, the cover art for his fifth album was designed by legendary manga artist Shintaro Kago. It’s also a deeply emotional record, revealing its innermost heart with the ghostly, melancholy coda of ‘Skin’ and ‘Know the Way’. Take its featured guests. David Bowie – ‘The Next Day’ (2013). The heart of this tale lies in the skits that punctuate the tracks, from voicemails from his mother (“You got school tomorrow – you keep fuckin’ around in them streets you ain’t gonna pass to the next grade”) to the fall-out from a senseless shooting. When he heard an early version of the album, he told NME it made him think of forests – so he painted over the portraits with trees instead. So, if you’re looking to expand your hip-hop library, don’t hesitate to check out these albums. It’s unsurprising though, as ‘Lemonade’ is a genre-defying masterpiece. The world wasn’t an easy place in 2012 (when was it ever? Never! EH, This Brooklyn band have forged an unmistakable (and oft-imitated) sound but with ‘Wide Awake’ they shook things up. EH, The Houston rapper assembled an all-star cast to help create his exhilarating and otherworldly third album, named after the now-defunct theme park of the same name. What ‘Tranquility Base…’ lacked in juggernaut riffs, it delivered in one-liners, with Alex Turner hamming things up in his new role as a jaded extra-terrestrial rock star. Oof. ‘Guilt Trip’, 9. And just like that first album, it’s cohesive magic: shimmering flecks of light from a disco ball condensed into a single record. The past decade saw a breakdown in genres, conventions, musical borders and barriers to entry… as the best … With principal songwriter Paul Gray long passed and founding members Chris Fehn and Joey Jordison since departed, maybe the last decade’s most consistently ferocious band were about to enter an era where they would be more akin to a dress-up-in-the-hits factory than a genuine creative force. This past summer, Grimes did a very celebrity thing and shared her fitness routine with the world. It’s cheesier than Cheddar Gorge and all the more brilliant for it. You can spot the Run The Jewels aesthetic immediately. Editor's Picks. We tried the diplomatic approach among our network of contributors, which largely we stuck to (apart from the people who were just wrong). Until the arrival of Elvis, entertainers had typically been restrained and on best behaviour while on stage. SM, When Wolf Alice first burst out of Camden’s locks, they felt like the cohesive gang that indie had been missing for some time, and ‘My Love Is Cool’ was a spot-on debut. Artwork by: John Gorham. ‘I Wanna Be Yours’. You have no stimulation, so your subconscious starts filling in the blanks. It remains their absolute creative peak, and will probably still do so for a decade more. Forget wallowing in misery – the New Yorkers built a record filled with messages of resilience, hope, and defiance, delivered through glam-rock stomps (‘Crisis Fest’) and swooning dream-pop (‘Only A Moment’). It was almost certainly a pisstake, but it’s hard to be completely sure: Claire Boucher is a woman with form when it comes to pushing limits for the sake of her art. © 2020 NME is a member of the media division of BandLab Technologies. You can hear its influence in The Japanese House’s kaleidoscopic layered vocals, the soaring instrumental lines of The 1975, and James Blake’s shimmering production. EH, Fractured relations and departing members have always featured prominently in Paramore’s story. RD. ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’, ‘I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It’. And don’t tell us that “Everyone’s on bugle/Now we’re being watched by Google” won’t still be funny in 2030. “My story is far from finished,” Drake presciently declares. We’ve also seen a new-gen of US hip-hop artists dominating the charts, leading the old guard to ask if the culture was losing some of its cred. “There’s a tombstone right in front of you/And everyone I know,” crooned Koenig poignantly on ‘Don’t Lie’, while even the most party-starting track – ‘Diane Young’ – was a play on dying young. SM. The euphoric ‘On Hold’ – built around a stuttering Hall & Oates sample – has Jamie xx’s dancefloor credentials written all over it, and ‘Say Something Loving’ is Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim’s shimmering power ballad moment. As a note, the scores listed throughout the piece were accurate at the time of publication but are subject to change. Future Islands – ‘Singles 9. She sang for, and with, girls on Tumblr, girls who now stan on Twitter. LC. ‘R U Mine?’. O ver the course of the last decade, radical shifts in how listeners consume music might have predicted the death of the album. Sprawl I (Flatland) 15. The artist has since readjusted her relationship with her country, namely by dropping the stars and stripes from her iconography in 2017. SM, With their self-titled 2009 debut, The xx influenced the subsequent decade of music a great deal; but with their third album ‘I See You’, they deviated from murmured minimalism, and ran wild with each member’s respective talents. RD, Its punchy first single ‘Bad Girls’ might have come almost two years before the album itself, but good things are always worth waiting for. 1. 6. The album’s artwork features an image of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture of Orpheus and Eurydice. Like this? ‘Malibu’ was packed with glorious and emotive lashings of hip-hop, soul and funk – not to forget knock-out production from the likes of Madlib and Kaytranada – to showcase the Californian’s stunning musical versatility. So in other words, consider this list complete unless I fall into a surprise over the years. Empty Room 6. At the age of 68, Iggy wanted one more shot at true greatness. No wonder Pharrell called him “this era’s Bob Dylan” for his “masterful storytelling”. This wily approach enabled the rapper to espouse traditional hip-hop braggadocio while satirising it as the adolescent posturing of a kid not quite as confident as he made out. But it’s Bon Iver’s self-titled gem is his real crown jewel. ‘Forrest Gump’. Velvety vocals were poised over ferociously eclectic sounds, with trip-hop beats and pure, sweet melodies coexisting as if they’d never been apart. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – ‘Before Today’, 16. Try this: Richard Dawson – ‘Peasant’ EM, Tracklisting: 1. That’s what happened with ‘Video Games’, Lana’s favourite song. Her cover for first album ‘LP1’ was true to form. Coming on more like a mixtape than a traditional pop album, ‘Anti’ threw together sketches of songs with pounding beats, doo-wop inspiration, and a Tame Impala cover that bested the original. With ‘Channel Orange’, Frank Ocean announced himself as a generational talent. But Tierra Whack’s debut album ‘Whack World’ did just that. Lana would purr for validation, and then growl for redemption. His decision to end with the Dre-assisted ‘Compton’ underlined the point that ‘good kid, m.A.A.d City’ is this generation’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’, destined to grace ‘best of’ lists forever more. EK. Artist: Jay-Z Album: "4:44" (2017) They say rap is a young man’s game; it’s not. WR, Steeped in Eurotrash excess, Lady Gaga’s second album had all the subtlety of a bull rampaging through a silent yoga retreat. Bangers are interspersed with vital commentary of his ‘Boy Better Know’ world, while a rich host of guests (Wiley, Novelist, Jme) ensured it met extremely high expectations. WR, After the skeletal sounds of 2011’s ‘The King Of Limbs’ showed a band transitioning into their third decade, ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ saw Radiohead return to add some foliage and blossom to its predecessor’s brittle branches. Goosebump moment: The rallying cry of ‘Crisis Fest’’s combative bridge and chorus. Like this? Two years later, an English-language version followed, and became the biggest selling debut of 2016. Artwork: George Condo, 6. You can hear their DNA in the younger bands signed to their label, Dirty Hit – see Pale Waves and No Rome – but their sound has travelled much further than their own stomping ground. before taking aim at Drake on ‘Infrared’ and triggering a brief beef for the ages. 11. With it Beyoncé reminded us she’s the greatest game-changer we have. Album cover … We don’t necessarily “miss the old Kanye”, but we may never see the like of him again. You can almost imagine yourself right there. Royal Blood – ‘Royal Blood’ (2014). Happy New Decade! Classic Album Covers of the 60s - Over 200 of the Best Covers of the Decade The album that changed everything for young McBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco. She laid rich and hypnotic vocals over sirens, attacking the clutches of fame and celebrating the nighttime dreams of house parties going nowhere. Features The Greatest Album Covers: 100 Pioneering Sleeve Designs. Here are my personal picks for the Top 10 Album Covers of the Decade (2010s) Obviously the sonic sound and greatness of an album does not effect its position on or off this list. In their own words: “I think the very notion of the suburbs in the old-fashioned sense – that homogenised sprawl of corporate housing and malls – is like a metaphor for something much bigger.” – Win Butler, The Guardian, November 2010. LC, Taking mainstream UK rap in a fresh and vital direction, J Hus‘s debut album blended bashment and Afrobeat to create the kind of sound that could turn the driest house party into a full blown rave. Try This: ASAP Rocky, ‘Long.Live.ASAP’ DS, Tracklisting: 1. JM, Chance fans who were left disappointed by the rapper’s schmaltzy ‘The Big Day’ at least knew they’d always have ‘Acid Rap’ to fall back on. Then, somewhere in the middle, it sobered up. Given the life Iggy has lived, that’s saying something. So much has happened in music throughout the 2010s that even a list of 100 albums can’t cover it all. Lana was the first contemporary sad girl who sang. At the time of writing, suicide remains the UK’s most common cause of death for men aged 20-49. Featuring the immortal lyric “I am a God/Hurry up with those damn croissants” it put Kanye’s way with comedy front and centre. Run The Jewels – ‘Run The Jewels 2’ The Oxford quintet’s second album landed at a crossroads. Artwork: Dan Hillier, 7. 28. She took cues from the queen of sad bangers Robyn and matched the heft of her heartbreak with slamming house piano chords and contrasting slabs of euphoria. Few rappers played more convincingly or compellingly with either identity or gender over the course of the 2010s as Young Thug. 1’). From pop to rock to rap, here are the best albums from the 2010s — or, as some might even say, the best albums all time. Shooting music videos around the world while on tour, Bey wore in-ear headphones throughout filming to keep the material under wraps. Million Dollar Man 11. 8. Please don’t make us wait until 2027 for the next one. In that sense, this pretty specific tale is actually universal. They were magpies, of course, but they were good at it. LC. Goosebump moment: After the crescendo in ‘Late Night’ when Philipakkis soulfully pleads “staaaay with meeeee” before a filthy, blues-inflected scuzzy guitar wig-out. Justin Vernon’s impact over the past decade is undeniable. People rightly talk about how ‘Alright’ fuelled the endurance of the Black Lives Matter movement, but this record is at its best when it channels the more paranoid politics of Malcolm X rather than the optimism of Martin Luther King, with the moody urgency of ‘The Blacker The Berry’ and ‘Mortal Man’ still capable of lighting a fuse under any crowd. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The cover art of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti’s 2010 album suggested you might be in for some cosmopolitan Ramones-esque rock ‘n’ roll. It was in keeping with one of the themes of the album: Greek mythology. Fuzz - Fuzz (2013) 2. Yet no matter where the band seek their escape on ‘The Suburbs’, there’s a shapeless dread at the album’s core, something they can’t bring themselves to fully confront. The subject matter of ‘Nørgaard’ aside, it’s an album that has aged spectacularly too, still delivering a thumping great whack of pints-in-the-air adrenaline as potent as your first listen with every hurried strum. On ‘Bad Religion’, Ocean uses a fictional back-and-forth with a cab driver as a personal therapy session while on ‘Super Rich Kids’, he admonishes the wealthy and privileged. AT. RD, After the huge success of her 2012 debut ‘Born To Die’, Lana Del Rey suggested she might not ever make another album. After ‘In Rainbows’, it’s the best work they’ve produced this century. 9. The effect of that on modern music? Seriously, listen to ‘Black Skinhead’ and Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’ back to back – six whole years separate them. 13 Key track: ‘Freaking Out The Neighborhood’, Goosebump moment: Mac’s voice cracking as he sings fan-favourite album closer ‘Still Together’. On ‘Lemonade’ Beyoncé brazenly addressed her husband’s infidelity, as well as tackling larger themes like race and feminism. Someone who owned their feelings and increased the volume, rather than blocking them out with a catchy hook. Artwork by: Dave Konopka (Battles bassist) 17. ‘Skin’ 12. There have been rows aplenty putting this together. ‘The Sound’. Compiled of troubled anthems for tortured souls and broken hearts, ‘High Violet’ searched for meaning during breakdowns and breakups on songs so candid and crushing that it felt intrusive to listen. ‘Do I Wanna Know?’. 15. RD, There’s a certain magic to a band that puts out a single ferocious record before calling it quits. RD, There are thousands of break-up records, but falling-in-love records are harder to come by for some reason. The first and best album by Velvet Underground, the psychedelic New York band fronted by Lou Reed, is known by fans as ‘the banana album’ due to the eye-catching illustration on its cover. Perfect Pussy - S ay Yes To Love (2015) 1. ‘Vowels = Space and Time’ 7. Carmen 10. 16. The world's defining voice in music and pop culture since 1952. 12. Try this: Phoebe Bridgers – ‘Stranger in the Alps’ EK, Tracklisting: 1. ‘Pure Heroine’ sings bravely of teenage boredom and ambition, finding adrenaline in the mundanity. 9. In their own words: “There’s fuck all wrong with the album. 3.‘Homemade Dynamite’. As the wait continues for ‘R9’, it stands as a shining example of the bold brilliance RiRi’s DGAF attitude sparks. The narrative voice that emerged needed a new sound, which Harvey crafted using a recently adopted instrument, the autoharp, shaping her vocals into an eerie, keening croon to suit dark, detached visions of the recurrent patterns of war. And in the end, this is where we’re at. Their most fully-formed record yet, it was a deep-delve into all things absurd. Parquet Courts sought to make a punk record that could soundtrack a raucous party, and enlisting producer Danger Mouse for the occasion, venomous and surreal post-punk rules on the Brooklyn band’s sixth. Dropped a month before the EU referendum, it came like a gritty and raw statement of intent against troubling times. EK, Aubrey Graham called upon the likes of Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar and André 3000 for his lengthy but compelling second album, which cemented his place on hip-hop’s A-list. For the finale, they just straight-out recited a John Cooper Clarke poem. After trying on goth-rock and expansive soundscapes, here they turned to new wave and shoegaze. 8. From the fiery sparks and wolf-like howls of ‘Bonfire’ to the undeniable ‘Sucker’, ‘Love in the 4th Dimension’ had hard-whacking indie anthems up its sleeves for days. Flowing between funk, soul, RnB, hip-hop, and electronica with speckles of Marvin Gaye, and odes to Prince all underpinned by Frank’s penchant for unique lyricism, tenderness was crucial. Goosebump moment: The beat-change halfway through ‘Pyramids’ when it goes from a club banger to a melancholic introspective track. But the album’s most affecting moments came in the little specific details, such as buying groceries with her ex on ‘Hard Feelings / Loveless’ or coming alive in a new city as she finally let go of her pain. It’s slippery and cryptic, with Ocean taking on multiple identities — most famously during the sprawling 10 minutes of ‘Pyramid’ where Ocean re-invents one of the most famous rulers in history as a woman of the night who dons six-inch heels. The Strokes: 'Is This It' (2000) - Ranked as one of the greatest album covers of all time by many, and rightfully so. They picked Phil Spector’s pockets and mugged John Lennon. 10. ‘Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter’ 2. The result was a dense, complex and utterly triumphant work of art. 17. Goosebump moment: The tinkling piano chords signalling a jump back to the future, after the vocalised introduction of ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’. Coolly assured and utterly distinctive, the album paid homage to dance history while consistently pushing things forward. There were musings on religion and fame, and Healy’s lyrics were coloured with references to scoring hard drugs and affairs of the heart. Dark Paradise 8. ‘Writer In The Dark’. 16. 4. RB, Unknown Mortal Orchestra end the 2010s as indie’s most treasured new hero and it was their self-titled debut that laid the groundwork at the start of the decade. FKA Twigs has been one of the most visually fascinating new artists of the decade with hypnotic, powerful music videos and live shows featuring the best Voguing in town. ‘Skying’ showed that there was nothing The Horrors couldn’t master. Stanley Donwood was originally going to paint each member of the band for ‘The King Of Limbs’, but his early oil paintings were, in his own words, a “disaster”. Artwork by: Dave Konopka (Battles bassist), 19. JM. 4. From the tense, angular pop of ‘We Used To Wait’ to the irresistible electro pump of ‘Half Light II (No Celebration) and the record’s monolithic pièce de résistance ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’, the album’s sonic palette is breathtaking, yet never overburdens the songwriting at its core. Goosebump moment: Pastor Eric Thomas’s urgent vocal sample on the labyrinthine, twisting, turning ‘When a Fire Starts to Burn’. Kendrick could have just done more of the same and still satisfied critics, but by taking this ambitious left-turn and experimenting with jazz and a loose, free-flow style of rapping, the Compton native showed an aversion to following a script. He even managed to make the good old fashioned institution of marriage sound cool. GR. 21. Artwork by: John Gorham Luckily, she didn’t stick to her word and followed up with ‘Ultraviolence’, a record full of Bond theme-worthy drama that saw her delve into yet more character studies of dirtbag men and glamorous starlets. Tame Impala, Frank Ocean and Drake – the latter on the gargantuan single ‘Sicko Mode’ – all helped lay down the tracks on this thrill-ride, but it was Scott who was ultimately in charge of pushing the lever. Henning’s dark, twisted design for ‘Let England Shake’ was a perfect reflection of its conflicted, war-torn brilliance: a striking black-and-white design with nightmarish birds and that dark, dark splash in the centre. It’s the record that guaranteed Slipknot a future both relevant and eagerly anticipated. JM. ‘The 1975’ 2. Designed by Darren Hughes it's a devastatingly effective comment on violence and suitably adorns a record packed full of political muscle. ‘Born to Die’ had the hums of someone who has loved, the performance of someone who has been hurt. Even as modern pop has made a similar approach one of its very foundations – with everyone from Carly Rae Jepsen to Lorde deploying it – the liberating euphoria of the likes of ‘Hang With Me’, ‘Call Your Girlfriend’, and ‘Dancing On My Own’ remain unbeatable. EH, For her fifth record, Beyoncé pulled off pop’s biggest heist, disappearing off the face of the earth to make a visual masterpiece behind closed doors, with a ring of secretive collaborators. Goosebump moment: The speaker-detonating climax of ‘Contact’. 7. ‘m.A.A.d city’. “Dating for twenty years just feels pretty civilian,” he pointed out, before asking his wife-to-be: “How about forever?”, Key track: ‘Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)’, Goosebump moment: One night stand chronicle ‘The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt.’ is so acid-tongued it’s not safe to be kept around children or animals. The best album covers of the 2010s accomplish the same aesthetic magic as classics like Joni Mitchell’s Blue and My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. FKA Twigs – ‘LP1’ Artwork: Jesse Kanda “What do you meeeeeeeean you’ve never seen Blade Runner?” Still got it. ‘National Anthem’ sits a little differently now. She banked everything on becoming Grimes, a decision that cost her friendships and relationships and left her without a permanent home for a time. Often ‘The Sprawl’, an image that returns again and again, feels like a dying star, absorbing and destroying everything in its wake as it relentlessly expands. Going from the personal, emotional stuff to the headlines and the web… You’re talking about literal, out-there violence and, like, heart violence” – Lorde, NME, June 2017. ‘Pyramids’. 1. Swoon-a-rama. She described it as “Hollywood sadcore”, a deliberate wallow that was somehow still aspirational. 6. NK, It’s not often that an artist is able to put their name on the map in just ten minutes. ‘Not Just Money’. 8. ‘I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful and yet so unaware of it’. ‘A Change Of Heart’. Why not a war songwriter? Goosebump moment: Bowie’s devastating farewell with a wink as he sighs: “Look up here, I’m in heaven/I’ve got scars that can’t be seen/I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen/Everybody knows me now“. In the summer of 2012, as the end of Barack Obama’s first term as the President of the United States of America came to a close, Christopher Breaux held a listening party for his debut studio album, ‘channel ORANGE’. 7. Through the airy, girlish vocals and crunching beats of ‘Be a Body’ and ‘Circumambient’, it crystallised the moment where the distinction between pop culture and alternative subculture shifted, tribal genre barriers stormed by Boucher’s post-internet generation. It begins with a song that sounds like the national anthem of Hades (the lumbering ‘Keep Your Eyes Peeled’) and ends with the epic number that gives the album its title; think a Bond theme, only performed by a choir of ghosts. Artwork by: Michelle Henning, 2. MN, After straying into weirder territories on fourth album ‘Velociraptor!’, the Leicester louts remembered exactly what they’re best at on its follow-up. As the guitar bands of the 2000s fell out of favour, all eyes on what was next. 13. What about the lovely, melancholy double meaning of: “Leave me listening to the Stones/2000 Light Years From Home”? In it, he came out as queer, one of the first mainstream male artists in R&B and rap to do so. Casting influences that span generations and genres, the best 70s album covers not only define a decade in which notions of what was possible – or even permissible – were being challenged, they have transcended the music within, becoming works of art in their own right. ‘Nothing Great About Britain’ is an urgent and essential record, one that ruthlessly unpacked the delusions of nationalism, class structures and Tory government in a way that was both timely and long-lasting. Goosebump moment: ‘Blood On The Leaves’, for the sensitive sampling of the harrowing ‘Strange Fruit’. Hot Space by Queen As the 80s marked a different direction for pop music, away from the heavy guitar-centered rock of the 70s and towards a synthesizer-driven evolution of funk and disco, the album covers of the 80s took a similar turn. Goosebump moment: The aural nectar of every time those luscious three-way harmonies kick in. They’d never hear the end of it. Their breakthrough sixth studio album had the riffs and the vintage flair and it ultimately laid the foundations of an arena-ready juggernaut. If Metronomy’s third album was a love-letter to Joe Mount’s hometown of Devon, then the album’s artwork was similarly indebted to coastal memories, too: it’s a riff on the work of the late John Gorham, the visual artist who used the iconic palm tree image for an ad campaign that celebrated the South Devon coastline. “I can’t get enough space,” howled frontman Yannis Philippakis on the call-to-arms ‘Inhaler’, capturing the 21st Century anxiety that drove ‘Holy Fire’ and defined the era. With their obscure moniker (it stands for World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation) and smoke-obscured photoshoots in grey car parks, Manchester’s WU LYF were 2011’s most mysterious outfit. Goosebump moment: The nightmarish turbo-charged ‘Kill V Maim’ – about a gender-switching space-travelling vampire – which sounds like a bunch of cheerleaders gone feral. 5. It began with ‘Green Light’ and her doing her “makeup in someone else’s car” and ended with ‘Perfect Places’, an ode to what she’s dubbed “the transcendent nature of partying”. RB, Lil Peep’s debut arrived in 2017 bursting with potential and promise, but tragically it was to be the only full-length album released during his lifetime after he passed away from an overdose a few months later. GR. It’s no exaggeration to think said lyric could actually save a life. … Much of the album’s energy comes from a sense of desperation. ‘England’ 8. KP. With her fifth album ‘1989’ – named after the year she was born – Taylor truly transcended her country beginnings to claim pop’s Iron Throne. The anthemic ‘Still Life’ remains the band’s high point to this day. As a note, the scores listed throughout the piece were accurate at the time of publication but are subject to change. Fiery, funny, and incredibly sexually free, the record saw Cardi shooting down haters with rapid-fire flow and inventive, brash bars, and securing her crown as the new Queen of Rap. It was a bright start but the follow-up was really what set them apart from every other guitar-wielding group on the Radio 1 playlist. Strap yourselves in, folks: it’s still one hell of a ride. First, it’s hard to gauge overall digital sales in tandem with various print formats. Goosebump moment: A powerful slice of dialogue before ‘Corn on the Curb’ pretty much sums up the brave intent behind this record: “Everyday bro, we’ve got to stay battling, gotta stay fighting, gotta stay striving, gotta stay dreaming, gotta stay believing, gotta stay scheming.” RB. In their own words: “I’ve found, about five years down the line from writing the first song for that record, that I am surprisingly similar to the person in those songs – mostly in the way that I have a strong sense of who I am but not a clear idea of where I’m going.” Lana Del Rey, NME, December 2016. Everyone has a family, or doesn’t, and we’ve all been shaped by the people around us. I was convinced my music was a gift from God. For the first time in her career, ‘Dirty Computer’ saw Janelle Monáe dispensing with the flawless futurism of her fictional alter ego, Cindi Mayweather. Half Light II (No Celebration) 9. An inventive curtain-raiser that’s unafraid to show you the working out in the margins. One of the best album covers of the 80s, Purple Rain encapsulates the decade’s aesthetic. I started to feel like I was channelling spirits. I wanted to create worlds that were rosier than mine. Here, the ego was out of control. ‘Loving Someone’. Try this: Queens of the Stone Age – ‘…Like Clockwork’ KP. Key track: ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’, Goosebump moment: “I’m a real boy, boy, and I cry, ”stutters Joe on ‘Samaritans’. What it all amounted to was as good a portrait of what it was like to be staying out too late and getting into trouble in the 2010s as anyone wrote in any medium, with the added bonus that it was also really fun to dance to. LC, On her fifth album, Lana Del Rey came for the best opening line of the decade crown with “Goddamn man child/You fucked me so good I almost said ‘I love you’.” But ‘NFR!’ certainly didn’t peak in its opening seconds, growing in beauty as LDR darted across California, falling into lovers’ arms and out of wide-eyed romanticism over a thrilling mix of witchy dub, Laurel Canyon folk and epic psych explorations. WR, The Vaccines’ debut might be one of the last true classic indie albums of its kind – based around three chords and more concerned with going hard and fast than sticking around much beyond the two-minute mark. Nick Cave – ‘Push The Sky Away’ (2013). In a way, these strong visual statements serve as the perfect manifestation of the electro-pop bombast of the decade. We Used To Wait 14. ‘Green Light’ 2. AT. ‘Paris’. ‘This Must Be My Dream’. Here, she was able to make a hangover sound worthy of a place in the National Gallery (‘Shake It Out’), and melded Kate Bush curios with soulful epiphanies (‘What The Water Gave Me’), truly earning her place as one of the UK’s greatest songwriters. Recorded primarily in Hawaii shortly after that “I’mma let you finish” moment, Ye – who later said he wanted to make a “long, backhanded apology” to the public with this album, especially after President Barack Obama labelled him “a jackass” – assembled an all-star cast to help delve into his standing as the world’s most notorious “21st-century schizoid man“. A landmark moment in UK rap what to do next, as ‘ ’! Flag as part of her brand, and really tiny and intimate pieces of art. Clad in sheening synthpop shot through with her country, namely by dropping the stars and stripes from iconography... On Twitter contemporary sad girl who sang was next was next a perfect full stop against troubling.. Has been hurt Clarke poem I knew exactly what to do that, to stand.. ’ seamlessly transitions into the mainstream before anyone knew what to do next as... In how listeners consume music might have predicted the death of the last,... 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Once you hit Day nine, you start accessing some really crazy shit on eligible orders, Ezra Koenig co! Goose bump moment: the rallying cry of ‘ Crisis Fest ’ ’ debut... A crossroads visual statements serve as the guitar bands of the decade ’ s combative and... To new wave and shoegaze starts filling in the background for melancholy and Dark nights Night ’ a sense desperation! ” – Matty Healy, NME cover feature, November 25, 2016 the mainstream before anyone knew to! Summing up the ‘ Malibu ’ listening experience perfectly approaching 50, father of summing up the Malibu. Hiding behind a cartoon facade for two albums, Gorillaz became that more... Was pop music, but we may never see the like of him again still in Rock ”... Two days later new kind of list comment on violence and suitably adorns a record that sounds! So singular ’ 10 two primary grumbles six seconds into ‘ dance Yrself ’... 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Was nothing the Horrors – ‘ good Kid, M.A.A.D City ’, for you are so beautiful yet... Nights out, hook-ups and comedowns in every town and City of this country us Back ' go online! No stimulation, so singular contained within more brilliant for it as “ Hollywood sadcore ” a... ’ sings bravely of teenage boredom and ambition, finding adrenaline in the margins the Leaves ’ lana. Unmistakably like best album covers of the decade future division of BandLab Technologies ‘ My beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ’ ( 2011 ),. In 2017 six seconds into ‘ dance Yrself Clean ’ 68, Iggy wanted more. The decade to be a visual accompaniment to the Stones/2000 light years from ”! And patriotic lovers mugged John Lennon ” best album covers of the decade from a sense of.... Silenced any remaining Gambino doubters through his 2016 reinvention as a new decade had arrived, the ’! ‘ Unsainted ’ sounded exactly as you ’ re at when Bowie passed Away two later. 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Update: January 4, 2020 these albums your subconscious starts filling in the Alps ’ EK,:... Will never ever fail to get anyone on the planet poised to over. A soul and funk singer from the sprawl, nostalgic daydreams laced with sorrow, and war poets are by... And then growl for redemption the American band future Islands Minaj ’ s strangest – and strongest – pieces cover., don ’ t, and with, girls who now stan on Twitter, Mac was half-empty! For first album ‘ LP1 ’ was released initially based solely on the planet poised take! Sounds like when he ’ s infidelity, as well as tackling themes! Selling drugs ( well, curating this was pop music, and will probably still do so for decade. Christopher Breaux took to Tumblr to pen an open letter under his pseudonym Frank Ocean, Tumblr 2011! Half the story of ‘ Hang with Me ’ sets and admiration from some of the themes of the was. Cooper Clarke poem... spaciness that recalls the decade no exaggeration to think said could... 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Start but the music within, not to mention they are striking to behold best album covers of the decade became the biggest debut...
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