24. Red Hot Chili Peppers-I’m With You (2011)
23. Soundgarden-King Animal (2012)
22. Green Day-Uno! Dos! Tre! (2012)
21. Faith No More-Sol Invictus (2015)
20. Radiohead-The King of Limbs (2011)
Radiohead’s work this decade exists outside of
traditional or mainstream sounds, both in production as well as performance,
and the band continued to blaze their own trail into the unknown with both this
and another album era, five years later. Adding layers of drums, guitars, and
electronics that would require members of the group to jump between instruments, and for the addition of a second drummer in order to perform the songs live,
this short but dense album packs a blend of reflective but uneasy tones into
its 8 songs, most notably on the minor hit, “Lotus Flower,” but also heard on
tracks like, “Bloom,” “Codex,” and “Give Up the Ghost.” Vocalist, Thom Yorke’s,
fragile ache throughout the album is supported with beds of musical texture
from the rest of the band on these songs and the many related singles and bonus
tracks that were released around it.
19. Beastie Boys-Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
(2011)
Returning to vocal-based hip hop after a jazz-funk
instrumental album in 2007, the legendary Beastie Boys present themselves as
the wise elders they were by this time, cracking jokes about their age and
dated references but with an old school execution missing from most 21st
century hip hop. Joined by guests like Nas and Santigold, but predominantly
focusing on the interplay between MCA, Mike D, and Ad Rock (and their DJ, Mix
Master Mike), this collection of songs was finished nearly two years prior but
continued to be reworked and remixed by the group while MCA underwent cancer
treatment. Tracks like, “Make Some Noise,” “Too Many Rappers,” and “Long Burn
the Fire” introduce modern production and mixing to the group’s traditional
musical styles, creating a sort of digital psychedelia, possibly by accident. Unfortunately,
the Beasties were unable to tour to support the album, and MCA passed away
under a year after its release, making it the group’s final work.
18. Pearl Jam-Lightning Bolt (2013)
The only album released in the 2010’s by these legendary
Seattle rockers carried with it heavy emotion and commentary on both aging and
the passage of time but also the frustration and dissatisfaction with many
elements of modern life, making it not dissimilar to most of Pearl Jam’s other
releases. Aside from rockers like, “Mind Your Manners,” and “Lightning Bolt,”
the album’s strongest moments come in the form of love songs from a wiser,
experienced perspective, including “Sirens,” “Sleeping by Myself,” and the
gorgeous closer, “Future Days.” As Eddie Vedder and company embark on a new
album era in 2020, and continue to experiment with newer, modern sounds, albums
like this one, made up mostly of traditional rock elements, may continue to
appreciate even further.
17. Radiohead-A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)
Radiohead’s hauntingly beautiful ninth and most recent
album, A Moon Shaped Pool, reminded the music world of what they can do and dug
deeper, emotionally, than ever before. Aside from the opener, “Burn the Witch,”
and the live favorites, “Ful Stop,” and “Identikit,” the album’s other eight
songs present soft, quiet meditations on loss, painted densely with unease and
reminding other artists who dabble in this sort of electronic alternative rock
who did it first and best. “Daydreaming” is one of the most chilling tracks the
band has ever produced, and the long-awaited studio treatment of a live
standard for many years, “True Love Waits,” could not cut any deeper. Johnny
Greenwood’s continued experimentation with guitars, percussion, and various
electronics lays sonic groundwork upon which others will undoubtedly build, and
Thom Yorke’s falsetto floats above and through each song like a vocal specter.
16. Nine Inch Nails- EP Trilogy (2016, 2017, 2018)
Returning after three years that followed 2013’s
Hesitation Marks, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross presented
Not the Actual
Events, the first EP in a trilogy that would see release over the two years
that followed. Each varying in tone and texture, the three collections combined
add up to a strong and far-reaching album’s worth of music, most of which
harkens back to Nine Inch Nails’ grungy, industrial ‘90s material. Dave Navarro
and Dave Grohl join Reznor and Ross on the first EP, which includes the intense,
“Branches/Bones” and the slithering, “She’s Gone Away.” 2017’s,
Add Violence,
rocked with “Not Anymore” and with the electronic, “Less Than.” The final
installment, 2018’s,
Bad Witch, saw the tone reach to the stars and into
the darkness of the unknown on “God Break Down the Door” and “I’m Not from This
World,” recalling some of David Bowie’s excellent, later work. While Nine Inch
Nails will certainly return to a standard album format, hopefully very soon,
this
EP trilogy will remain a creative and unique chapter in the project’s
colorful history and was the best industrial rock of the decade.
15. Metallica-Hardwired…to Self-Destruct (2016)
The thrash metal legends’ only new material last decade
was a much-anticipated double LP (that is short enough to fit onto one CD),
which saw them building on the style they re-established on 2008’s superior, Death
Magnetic. The more-accessible production and writing on Hardwired…to
Self-Destruct led to a stronger reception from fans and rock radio alike, with
“Hardwired,” “Atlas Rise,” “Moth into Flame,” and “Now That We’re Dead” all
receiving ample airplay. The core team of Hetfield and Ulrich led the way
through the album in all respects but are well supported by guitarist, Kirk
Hammett, and bassist, Robert Trujilio. The album’s second half isn’t quite as
strong as it’s first, but Metallica saves the fastest and most brutal track,
“Spit Out the Bone,” for last, similar to the way they ended two of their
classic ‘80s albums. The rock and metal worlds alike welcome new Metallica
music whenever they can get it, and this particular album was easily one of the
very best metal records of the decade.
14. They Might Be Giants-Join Us (2011)
New Wave stalwarts, They Might Be Giants, released 8
studio albums in the last decade alone (!), and considering their continued
songwriting genius, narrowing those down to the best one or two is a challenge.
The music TMBG wrote and recorded in the earliest days of the 2010’s became
some of their most engaging and avant-garde ever, partly by design and partly
by accident. A necessary period of rebirth that followed several years of
focused work on children’s music projects, Join Us, and the related
songs released shortly afterward, introduced the creative engagement of the
band and their signature style to a new generation of college and alternative
radio listeners. Upbeat tunes like, “Can’t Keep Johnny Down,” “Celebration,”
and “When Will You Die?” are balanced by experimental numbers like,
“Cloisonne,” “Protagonist,” and “Spoiler Alert.” Vocal effects and production
tricks aside, the hooks and sprinkles of comical or ironic references
throughout the album make Join Us one of the band’s strongest and most
memorable records.
13. Desert Sessions Vol. 11 & 12 (2019)
Modern rock virtuoso, Josh Homme, often busy with Queens
of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures, or any of a
number of other collaborations, revived his long-dormant mix-tape series this
year with two short but excellent volumes of new music featuring guests that
range from Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Les Claypool of Primus to Jake Shears of
Scissor Sisters and Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint. The punky drive of “Crucifire”
makes it a perfect centerpiece of this set while the variety of the dynamic,
“Move Together,” the random insanity of “Noses in Roses, Forever,” and the
bizarre comedy of the awkward, “Chic Tweetz,” provide something for nearly
everyone, with tones and vocalists changing every few minutes throughout. Both
a worthy addition to the long-running Desert Sessions series and to Homme’s
varied catalog, Desert Sessions Vol. 11&12 packs the most engaging,
experimental variety into a short span of time of any of the decade’s best
releases.
12. MGMT-Little Dark Age (2018)
The alternative, psychedelic, synth-pop duo returned from
a five-year break in 2018 with Little Dark Age, 10 songs full of nostalgia,
regret, and haunted reflection run through the filter of ‘80s pop production.
Simultaneously returning to a more-accessible sound and taking their music down
new and interesting roads, MGMT build something new out of some of their first
musical memories. The sounds of “She Works Out Too Much” and “Me and Michael”
provide the strongest throwback connections, but the slower-tempo of “James” and
the closer, “Hand It Over,” also recall styles from bygone eras of top 40 radio.
The equally strong “Little Dark Age,” “When You Die,” and “TSLAMP” blend these
tones with psychedelic reflections on relationships, death, and cell-phone
obsession. With Little Dark Age, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser
provide a post-modern commentary on life from an elder millennial perspective
through the classic styles of music from just after they were born.
11. Jack White-Lazaretto (2014)
One of the most consistently prolific artists of the 21st
century as a whole, much less the last decade, is Detroit’s own Jack White, who
released 6 albums in total during the 2010s, with his many various projects, and this solo LP,
his second, was a jagged blend of sounds and tempos. Blending blinding rock guitar and blazing
solos with acoustic folk-influenced country and blues, Lazaretto remains
engaging throughout, partly because the musical styles change from song to
song. The rocking title track stands out the most, but “High Ball Stepper,”
“Just One Drink,” and “That Black Bat Licorice” stand among White’s best songs
(for any project). The quieter but curmudgeonly “Alone in My Home,”
“Entitlement,” and “Want and Able” are more revealing of White’s personal life
and outlook and are probably more autobiographical than anything he’d
previously released. Short and focused, these 11 songs kept alternative rock
going in the summer of 2014.
10. Kanye West-Yeezus (2013)
Kanye West, one of the most
talented, creative, original, and yet divisive figures in modern music and
culture, released his two strongest and best albums this decade, back-to-back.
Before devolving into the post-post-modern parody of himself, the source of
jokes and ridicule from all corners for various reasons, West plateaued
with My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy (considered by some
to be the album of the decade) and followed it up with Yeezus, a
shorter, more-focused, and even more-daring and experimental look into the
artist’s mind and heart. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album is built around a
fusion of West’s trademark, often obscure soul, blues, and classic rock samples
with avant-garde industrial and electronic sounds and production that recalls
the 21st century work of Saul Williams, Nine Inch Nails and others more than
the styles employed on any of his previous releases. Standout tracks such
as “Black Skinhead,” “New Slaves,” “Blood on the Leaves,” and “Bound 2,” revisit
themes of social and racial injustice, historical reflection, and West’s own
perspectives on life early in the decade after achieving his slow-building,
all-star status. Featuring collaborations with and contributions from EDM
legends, Daft Punk, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, and
Charlie Wilson, this 10-song set is both an exclamation point on the first ten
years of West’s career and an unexpected final release of this nature, as
West’s subsequent LPs and EPs have not received a physical format and have only
been able to be streamed or downloaded, and none of them have come anywhere
close to this challenging but brilliant album.
9. MGMT-Congratulations (2010)
Defying
expectations from fans and critics alike, MGMT’s second album goes a million
different directions, almost at the same time, and none of them sound like
their breakthrough debut LP, 2008’s Oracular Spectacular. Recorded with
their sharp touring band, Congratulations engages throughout by being
adventurous and by blending and switching between genres, often within the same
song. “Flash Delirium,” the album’s lead single, was a distilled representation
of the entire record, which kicks off with the colorfully disorienting, “It’s
Working,” both presenting a modern, electronic-influenced psychedelia that
advanced their sound while confounding some in their fan base. The highlight
comes half-way through on “Siberian Breaks,” a 12-minute genre-hopping blur of
song segments that recalls the great medleys of rock history but twists that
concept to fit the MGMT style. The album closes with the title track, which
sounds like a forgotten ‘70s slow jam with lush keyboards cascading over warm,
rich bass and a crisp, dry drum kit. While each of MGMT’s releases ventures to
new and interesting places, Congratulations is their most successful
experiment, firmly imprinting an updated take on traditional psychedelia on the
world of 21st century alternative rock.
8. Jack White-Boarding House Reach (2018)
Always stretching for new heights and challenging himself
with new restrictions, Jack White’s third and most recent solo album is the
weirdest and most experimental of any album by any of his many bands. In spite
of a heavy promotion upon its release, many were puzzled by the abstract nature
of much of Boarding House Reach and its combination of hip hop and electronic
elements along side traditional rock and blues sounds, interrupted by dialog
and spoken word between and during various tracks, most notably on the funky
rallying cry of “Corporation” and the confrontational, “Everything You’ve Ever
Learned.” Singles like “Connected by Love,” “Over and Over and Over,” and “Ice
Station Zebra” kept the rock elements of the album in focus, but experiments
like “Hypermisophoniac” and “Get in the Mind Shaft” find White continuing to
explore new sounds, textures, and technologies even 20 years into his
professional career. The album closes with a quieter falling action in “What’s
Done is Done,” a country ballad set to a plodding electronic beat, and
“Humoresque,” a piano ballad originally thought by White to have been written
by Al Capone while imprisoned in Alcatraz, but later found to have been simply
performed by him and a band of other inmates there. Boarding House Reach is
challenging but rewarding and full of variety and adventure that is sorely
lacking from the albums by many of White’s contemporaries.
7. They Might Be Giants-Glean (2015)
TMBG hit it hard in 2015, releasing a new song AND video
once per week for the entire year! While fans could subscribe for MP3 delivery
and other goodies, the band also uploaded each video to YouTube for free
viewing the same day each week. As the year progressed, they also grouped most
of the songs into three LPs, Glean being the first and best of the
three. The songwriting on this album is some of the best of the band’s career,
and the sharpness of the mix and production are constantly impressive
throughout, especially on “Erase,” “I Can Help the Next in Line,” and “Unpronounceable,”
each a chance for Keyboardist/mutli-instrumentalist, John Linnell, to show off his unique brand of witty and ironic
lyricism set to often staccato or generally unconventional musical accents. Guitarist, John
Flansburgh’s, best tracks include “Music Jail,” “All the Lazy Boyfriends,” and “Let
Me Tell You About My Operation,” each featuring elements not found elsewhere on
the record, making each one memorable. With over 50 songs to choose from
when deciding which to feature here, this focused, 15-song collection stands
among the best of the band’s catalog and maintained a high bar for the few
remaining early ‘80s alternative rock projects to reach.
6. The Raconteurs-Help Us, Stranger (2019)
Returning after an 11-year break, The Raconteurs roared
into a heavy garage rock mode last summer with their
excellent third LP, producing
singles like “Sunday Driver,” “Bored and Razed,” and “Now That You’re Gone,”
whose distorted guitars and hard-hitting drums were some of the very few songs
on the radio in 2019 to feature those once-standard sounds. Jack White’s collaboration
with fellow Detroit singer-songwriter, Brendan Benson, and members of The
Greenhornes, the band that was originally a White Stripes side project gained a
following of its own with two successful albums in 2006 and 2008. Previously
having featured a blend of styles, but generally leaning toward a blues-based
folk and country sound, it is both impressive and refreshing to hear The Raconteurs
work just as well, if not better, when focusing almost exclusively on their
garage rock side. The heavier and faster songs, like White’s “Don’t Bother Me”
and Benson’s “Live a Lie,” stand out the most, but the rocking cover of Donovan’s
“Hey Gyp,” and the deeper, mid-tempo tracks throughout maintain a balance as
well as a theme. The songwriting and the production are both essentially flawless,
and even the imperfections come out perfectly.
5. Tool-Fear Inoculum (2019)
Alternative/psych-rock legends, Tool, finally returned
with their first album in 13 years late last summer, and the epic,
Fear Inoculum, did not disappoint.
11
pieces of music, but only 6 fully realized songs, the 97-minute collection was
released in various formats, both physical and digital, and will undoubtedly
take a decade or so for fans to really absorb and decode. The blazing title track and
lead single set the pace for the album from the top, and the band explored all
manner of tones, textures, and vibrations throughout. The deeply emotional and
spiritual, “Pneuma,” represents the depth to which Tool has grown over their
many years together, a topic seemingly at the center of “Invincible,” as ruminations
on mortality shift in perspective from one song to the next. The album’s second
half beings with the strong and rocking “Descending,” which allows the group to
embrace their love of prog rock within the context of psychedelic hard rock (or
even metal, as some might describe it). Drummer, Danny Carey, shines during his
drum and synthesizer solo, “Chocolate Chip Trip,” and everything comes together
on the closing number, the raging “7empest,” easily one of the best rock songs
of 2019. Vocalist, Maynard James Keenan, keeps very busy with a variety of
projects, both musical and of personal interest, but it all pales in comparison
to the magic and the power of Tool’s unique sound and delivery, on their albums
and especially on stage.
4. The Dead Weather-Sea of Cowards (2010)
The very best album of the decade by any of Jack White’s
many projects was released only six months into it. The second album by The
Dead Weather, White’s partnership with Alison Mosshart of The Kills, along with
members of The Raconteurs and Queens of the Stone Age, is a much darker and
sometimes even goth-leaning band, soaked in murk and existing almost
exclusively in the palest of all possible blue and purple lights. White leads
the group (and occasionally adds vocals) from behind the drum kit here, leaving
most of the guitar duties to the multi-talented Dean Fertita, also a Detroit
native. Likewise, most of the lead vocals are supplied by Mosshart, allowing White
to continue to explore as a songwriter and producer without the pressure of
being the front man, which leads to creative and very interesting results. The one-two
punch of “Blue Blood Blues” into “Hustle and Cuss” set the tone for the album
while taking the band’s sound into new territory, drawing on metal, goth,
electronic, and blues elements throughout. The intensity of “The Difference
Between Us,” “I’m Mad,” and “Jawbreaker” add a sense of unease, and White’s
experiments later in the album, “Looking at the Invisible Man” and “Old Mary,”
recall some of his stranger work with The White Stripes and simultaneously preview
some of his more adventurous solo output to come. The focused catchiness of these
songs, despite their darkness, makes them stand out long after listening and
leads to repeat spins.
3. Gorillaz-Plastic Beach (2010)
Gorillaz, the partnership between Blur singer, Damon
Albarn, and artist, Jamie Hewlett, began as a satire of the hollow pop music
that had overtaken the charts in the late ‘90s and ended up becoming one of the
most eclectic and forward-thinking acts of the 21st century. In Gorillaz,
no genre, era, instrument, or sound is off limits, and embracing the mash-up of
hip hop and electronic elements with various world music sounds and guests from
across the entire music spectrum fills each of their releases with a variety no
other group or project can really match. The band itself, made up of four
animated musicians, can, does, and has sounded like almost any kind of music
one can imagine (cartoons can sound like anything, after all), which leaves the door open for amazing guest collaborations
from track to track, including Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, De La Soul,
Lou Reed, and members of The Clash, just on this record alone. This particular
album, the Gorillaz third and best, overall, focuses on an environmental
awareness theme that runs through each track, sometimes in serious, reflective
ways, such as in, “On Melancholy Hill” and “Cloud of Unknowing,” and other times
in a more sarcastic and satirical style, such as on “Sweepstakes,” and “Superfast
Jellyfish.” In the very first year of the decade, among several excellent and
notable albums by other artists, Plastic Beach stood out as the very
best, setting a high bar that was almost impossible to beat.
2. Foo Fighters-Wasting Light (2011)
Only outdone by one other album, Foo Fighters came
together to make the best of their 6 LPs released in the 21st
century, reuniting with Nirvana bassist, Krist Novoselic, and Nevermind
producer, Butch Vig in the process. Dave Grohl and company rip through 11 songs
in 48 minutes, all rockers/no ballads, with a song cycle chronicling the stages
of heartbreak (“Bridge Burning,” “Rope,” “Arlandria,” “These Days”…almost all
of them, really!) bottoming out on “I Should Have Known” and closing with the optimistic
epilogue of “Walk.” Husker Du’s Bob Mould guests on “Dear Rosemary,” but most of
the tracks feature only the core members of the band, some of whom have worked with
Grohl as far back as 1993, and each perfectly covering their positions. These
songs, whether taken as a concept album or as individual tracks, represents
some of Foo Fighters best work ever and contains a tone of honest vulnerability,
sincere heartbreak, and courageous personal recovery, and the old school,
analog production makes this album one of the last of its kind in an era when digital
had already become the order of the day. Wasting Light is magnificent rock and
roll and was nearly the very best album released in the 2010s.
1. Queens of the Stone Age-…Like Clockwork
(2013)
After considering everything else released in the past
decade, it is clear that Josh Homme’s nearly flawless, post-grunge alternative
rock band, Queens of the Stone Age, are responsible for the 2010’s best LP. The
band’s sixth album overall and first of only two this decade, …Like Clockwork both
summarizes the state of the project in 2013, with three different drummers
participating in the recording, the inner conflicts and ruminations of
singer/songwriter, Josh Homme, and considerations to possibly end the band,
based on some of the lyrical themes and tones within the album and specifically,
its conclusion. …Like Clockwork was also the first QOTSA album to feature contributions
from bassist, Mikey Shuman, and guitarist, Dead Firtita, who had both joined
the band in 2007, and from drummer, Jon Theodore, who joined as the recording sessions were wrapping up. Participation on a handful of songs from former drummer, Dave
Grohl, one of which also featured former members, Nick Oliveri and Mark
Lanegan, served as a salute to an earlier era for the band while continuing to
dive deeper into new and usually unsettling areas. Supported most by the singles,
“My God Is the Sun,” “I Sat by the Ocean,” and “Smooth Sailing,” this 10-song,
46-minute album is note-perfect and arguably flawless. Guests on other tracks
also include Trent Reznor, Jake Shears (of Scissor Sisters), Alex Turner (of
Arctic Monkeys) and Sir Elton John, who contributed both vocals and piano to “Fairweather
Friends,” contacting Homme originally to offer his services “as an actual
queen.” Deep cuts such as “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” and “I Appear Missing” carry
the emotional weight of the album, almost in a load-bearing way, one at each
end of the record, and each track contributes to the overall, unclean feeling
of the collection. Much like they did in 2002 on Songs for the Deaf, possibly
the best album of the 21st century so far, the often-witty lyricisms
and blazing guitar work of Homme throughout put the finishing touches on what
became the very best album of the 2010s.
