Best albums of the decade. This task is literal madness. There’s no way we could properly encapsulate 2009-2019 musically. It’s been one of the wildest musical decades ever. We lost some of the titans of this industry and some of the most unlikely artists broke records with the most unlikely hits (we’re looking at you Lil’ Nas X). We saw EDM soar to the highest of heights. Jam bands and the entire jam genre became a huge money hit fueling more festivals than you have fingers and toes. Hip hop, country, and pop became the prestigious musical stalwarts — generating the biggest revenues, the most streams, and firmly embedding themselves in the cultural lexicon (and yes, we’re looking at you Lizzo, you fabulous human being). Artists of a certain age (read: classic rock) didn’t exactly light the world on fire with albums but proved that their high priced tickets still make them the biggest moneymakers in the world.
Oh, and lest we forget the explosion in vinyl sales, the massive decline in CDs, somehow cassettes became a thing again, and our smart phones and streaming service supplanted our Mp3 players. So that makes Best Albums of the Decade even harder to pick — as we have sort of moved away from the album and moved to more of a playlist culture.
So yes, Best Albums of the Decade. Our staff got together and picked the records they deemed the best to them on a personal level. It’s a spiritual, and emotional choice instead of a cultural one. So, this list will undoubtedly frustrate many, but hey maybe there’s something here we can turn you onto and you can love like we did.
thank u, next by Ariana Grande
I won’t front. There are very few albums I’ve listened to all the way through. There are a handful of exceptional pieces like Sgt. Pepper, Pet Sounds, Billy Joel’s The Stranger, and Genesis’ Abacab that have kept me along for every track. And that’s precisely why thank u, next sits at the top of my list best albums of the decade.
Though I always found Ariana’s vocal impressive, I never found much depth to her work. Sweetener has some great tracks, as does Dangerous Woman but neither contained much for me beyond the chart toppers.
That all started with the initial rollout of singles — “thank u, next”; ‘7 Rings”; and “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” — which made history as the first time a solo artist held the top three chart spots. They’re each incredibly complex songs, unique in style and content.
The title track is a self-empowering exploration of failed relationships, that rather than feed into media speculation, shows her personal growth from her public breakups. “Break Up” is a fantastic companion piece of infidelity in modern dating and hookup culture set to a slick trap beat. And “7 Rings” is a wonderfully grande celebration of friendships that were by her side in all of those situations.
But those aren’t even the most impressive moments. “NASA” is perhaps the most lyrically fun track, comparing space in a relationship to exploring the universe. It’s an absolute knockout bop and the highlight track for me, closely followed by the reggae-inspired “Bloodline” that uses a sound bite from Ariana’s grandmother to set up a guide to a friends with benefits relationship opposed to looking for a soul mate.
There aren’t any misses. Ariana and her producing team make so many daring decisions, mixing in a variety of genres to absolute success.
thank u, next changed my entire perception of Ariana both as an artist and a person. The album is pure therapy through art and art through therapy both for the artist and audience. Masquerading as a collection of bops, it’s an introspective ode to modern relationships and personal insecurities. Put it on from start to finish.
-Sean Cordy
