New music has lost a lot of hold on me over the last few years. And six years ago I decided that instead of trying to keep up with it all, I’d look back at music history and listen to the albums celebrating milestones. Some of these I’d heard before, but many I had not. This made it much more enjoyable to discover and rediscover classics instead of just whatever was being dumped onto Spotify every Friday.
So below are my top 10s from each year I covered, along with some honorable mentions.
1974
- Big Star – Radio City
- Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now
- Randy Newman – Good Old Boys
- Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark
- Sparks – Kimono My House
- Genesis – The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
- Tangerine Dream – Phaedra
- Kraftwerk – Autobahn
- Roxy Music – Country Life
- Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets | Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Jorge Ben – A Tábua de Esmerelda
- Cluster – Zuckerzeit
- Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco – Celia & Johnny
- Al Green – Al Green Explores Your Mind
- Gil-Scott Heron & Brian Jackson – Winter in America
- Bob Marley and the Wailers – Natty Dread
- The Meters – Rejuvenation
- Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
- Richard & Linda Thompson – I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
- Tom Waits – The Heart of Saturday Night
- Barry White – Can’t Get Enough
- Stevie Wonder – Fulfillingness’ First Finale
- Various Artists – Phantom of the Paradise (Original Soundtrack Recording)
1984
- Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
- The Replacements – Let It Be
- U2 – The Unforgettable Fire
- R.E.M. – Reckoning
- Metallica – Ride the Lightning
- Madonna – Like a Virgin
- Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade
- Harold Budd & Brian Eno – The Pearl
- Manuel Göttsching – E2-E4
- The Smiths – The Smiths
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields – Amadeus (Original Soundtrack Recording)
- The Blue Nile – A Walk Across the Rooftops
- Bruce Cockburn – Stealing Fire
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Welcome to the Pleasuredome
- Bob Marley and the Wailers – Legend
- Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime
- Pretenders – Learning to Crawl
- Run-D.M.C. – Run-D.M.C.
- Sade – Diamond Life
- Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.
- The Time – Ice Cream Castle
- Vienna Art Orchestra – The Minimalism of Erik Satie
2004
- Arcade Fire – Funeral
- Keane – Hopes and Fears
- Rilo Kiley – More Adventurous
- Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
- Loretta Lynn – Van Lear Rose
- Steve Harris – Above Our Heads the Sky Split Open
- The Killers – Hot Fuss
- Stars – Set Yourself on Fire
- Green Day – American Idiot
- Jimmy Eat World – Futures
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Kelly Clarkson – Breakaway
- Danger Mouse – The Grey Album
- The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike
- Madvillain – Madvillainy
- The Magnetic Fields – i
- Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News
- Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill
- The Secret Machines – Now Here Is Nowhere
- Straylight Run – Straylight Run
- The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free
- U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
- Kanye West – The College Dropout
- Brian Wilson – SMiLE
- Various Artists – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Original Soundtrack)
- Various Artists – Garden State (Music from the Motion Picture)
2014
- Hans Zimmer – Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Spoon – They Want My Soul
- Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues
- Todd Terje – It’s Album Time
- Tanya Tagaq – Animism
- D’Angelo and the Vanguard – Black Messiah
- Taylor Swift – 1989
- Various Artists – Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1
- Aphex Twin – Syro
- St. Vincent – St. Vincent
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Beck – Morning Phase
- FKA twigs – LP1
- Sarah Jaffe – Don’t Disconnect
- Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire for No Witness
- Sturgill Simpson – Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
- Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
- The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream
- “Weird Al” Yankovic – Mandatory Fun