Ok, I’m taking top 10 as some kind of nebulous mix of favorite and best, and skewing things slightly toward albums that I’ve been listening to for the longest. I’m going to put the year I discovered each in parentheses. In no particular order (other than the first 6 being automatic and the first 3 cemented at the top), and limiting myself to one album per artist:
The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1996) - If pressed, Adore is probably my favorite album, but I went with MCIS because it’s the most incredible era of output by anyone and basically got me into music. 21 years later I’m still appreciating new things about it. There’s nothing like it and probably never will be.
Counting Crows - August and Everything After (1994) - Ignore the band’s undeserved reputation, this is musical perfection start to finish. I can’t think of many people writing better lyrics than “Perfect Blue Buildings”, and “Round Here” and “A Murder of One” are probably the best album bookends ever.
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica (2004) - It’s a flat out masterpiece with one of the greatest ending sequences of all time. “Life Like Weeds” might even be their best song.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists (2012) - I can’t believe I had missed out on this for so long. I’ve never found anything that comes close to doing what it does.
Radiohead - OK Computer (1998)
Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (2001)
Built to Spill - Perfect from Now On (2002) - I wish more bands would use this album as a template. Eight long songs with multiple sections and twists without an unnecessary moment.
Elliott Smith - XO (2006)
The Eels - Electroshock Blues (2000) - I’ve listened to this one maybe twice in the past 12 or so years, the second coming yesterday when trying to figure out if I could put an album like that on this list. It’s still as brutal and moving and cathartic as it was the first time I heard it. I don’t know if living with depression has ever been addressed or captured so effectively.
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity (2001) - The surprise of the list, especially since I normally consider Sigur Ros to have made the best album of 1999. But Clarity has held up remarkably well, and every time I listen it’s lost none of its initial impact. Every time someone throws an automatic “pop genius” in Rivers Cuomo’s direction, they should be fined and forced to listen to “Blister” or “Table for Glasses” or that wall of noise in “Your New Aesthetic” or really anything on this album.
2017 ended up being a pretty good year but I can’t imagine anything pushing any of these out.
There are some more albums I’ve discovered in the past decade that now hit harder than some of these. I really wanted to include albums like The Antlers - Burst Apart (2012) or Sigur Ros - Ágætis byrjun (2013) or Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (2010). And The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) could have easily taken Perfect From Now On’s or XO’s spot, and Silversun Pickups - Carnavas (2007) could have taken Clarity’s. It’s also hard leaving off massive rock records like Soundgarden - Superunknown (1998) and Tool - Aenima (2000). It feels wrong leaving out The National, something by Josh Homme, something by Cedric / Omar, and even Pearl Jam. There are now dozens more I want to list, there’s basically just too much great music.
If you eliminate the one per artist rule, my list would probably get me banned from the forums: The original 7 Smashing Pumpkins albums, the first two Counting Crows albums, and The Moon and Antarctica. With Lonesome Crowded West, Lift Yr Skinny Fists, and OK Computer right up there fighting Gish, due to the insane live performances making the album recordings feel a bit controlled in comparison.
