Which album of the year of the last 10 years is more deserving of its title?

Post by **Honorio** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:41 pm

Since it seems now very unlikey that other album could overtake "Blackstar" as album of the year, probably we could do a poll to compare the albums of the year of the last 10 years. In fact we could do a triple poll:
1. Which album do you think is more deserving to be called the album of its particular year? I mean the one better (in your opinion) than any other album of that year. You can vote up to three albums on the poll above.
2. Which are your favourite albums out of these 10 albums? Just rank these albums and I'll post the final results on this thread.
3. In case your favourite album of every year doesn't match with the one selected by the critics, which albums do you think it should have been considered album of the year instead? Just post them, I'll count the alternative albums so we could correct the critics' mistakes.

I will begin by saying that I voted on the first poll for David Bowie, Kanye West and Radiohead. I particularly consider "Blackstar" a masterpiece by now, an adventurous work that succeeded in foreshadowing Bowie's own death in a mysterious and subtle but ominous way. A work above of many others in a particularly strong year for albums (in my opinion).

And this is my rank (including my alternative favourites between brackets):
01 | David Bowie | Blackstar
02 | Kanye West | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
03 | Radiohead | In Rainbows
04 | Vampire Weekend | Modern Vampires of the City (Daft Punk | Random Access Memories)
05 | Frank Ocean | Channel Orange
06 | PJ Harvey | Let England Shake
07 | Kendrick Lamar | To Pimp a Butterfly (Sufjan Stevens | Carrie & Lowell)
08 | Portishead | Third (Fleet Foxes | Fleet Foxes)
09 | The War on Drugs | Lost in the Dream (Sun Kil Moon | Benji)
10 | Animal Collective | Merriweather Post Pavillion (The xx | xx)

BleuPanda · Post by **BleuPanda** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:09 pm

Here is my rank:
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly (#1 for year, 10/10)
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (#1 for year, 10/10)
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (#1 for year, 10/10)
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (#2 for year, 9.75/10) (Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city, 10/10)
David Bowie - Blackstar (#1 for year, 9.75/10)
Radiohead - In Rainbows (#2 for year, 9.75/10) (LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver, 10/10 and my #2 of all time)
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (#2 for year, 9.75/10) (The XX - xx, 9.75/10)
Portishead - Third (#3 for year, 9.25/10) (Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes, 9.25/10)
The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream (#3 for year, 9.25/10) (St. Vincent - St. Vincent, 9.75/10)
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (#6 for year, 9/10) (The Beach Boys - Smile Sessions, 9.75/10 or James Blake - James Blake, 9.5/10)

Listyguy · Post by **Listyguy** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:28 pm

I voted for Blackstar. I was also considering Lost in the Dream and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but overall I felt that Bowie had the largest gap between his album and the next best of the year, thus making it most deserving of its title. The albums I think are least deserving of their titles include:
-Vampire Weekend (I really hated that album)
-Animal Collective (xx was so much better)
-Radiohead (Sound of Silver was that year's album)

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:43 pm

There are three instances in the past ten years in which...

A) My AOTY is the same as the critic's AOTY

and

B) My AOTY is at least 100 ranks ahead of my #2 album of the year on my all time list

Here are those three instances, with my all time ranking on the right...

2009:
Merriweather Post Pavilion (#66)
Veckatimest (#330)
Difference: 264 ranks

2015:
To Pimp a Butterfly (#89)
Currents (#254)
Difference: 165 ranks

2016:
Blackstar (#139)
Hopelessness (#369)
Difference: 230 ranks

So with an impressive 264 rank difference between my #1 and #2 albums of the year, 2009 wins out.

jamieW · Post by **jamieW** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:02 pm

My vote goes to Kanye. Here is how I would rank them, plus my personal ratings. (I love the first 7, like the 8th, and 9-10 feature two of the rare highly-acclaimed artists that I've never been able to get into.)

1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 9
2. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly 8.69
3. David Bowie - Blackstar 8.29
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows 8
5. Portishead - Third 7.91
6. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream 7.9
7. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake 7.08

8. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange 6.36

9. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City 3.67
10. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion 3.64

andyd1010 · Post by **andyd1010** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:35 pm

Funny enough, my 3 favorite albums on this list are Modern Vampires of the City, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and In Rainbows. But I love Arcade Fire, and coincidentally, Arcade Fire released an album in each of those years. All four of their albums were my favorite of the year, but Modern Vampires of the City is very close to being as good as Reflektor, so it wins my vote.

1 Vampire Weekend | Modern Vampires of the City ( Arcade Fire | Reflektor )
2 Radiohead | In Rainbows ( Arcade Fire | Neon Bible )
3 Kanye West | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ( Arcade Fire | The Suburbs )
4 The War on Drugs | Lost in the Dream ( Lana Del Rey | Ultraviolence )
5 Animal Collective | Merriweather Post Pavilion ( Thrice | Beggars )
6 Kendrick Lamar | To Pimp a Butterfly ( Florence and the Machine | How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful )
7 Frank Ocean | Channel Orange ( Lana Del Rey | Born to Die )
8 David Bowie | Blackstar ( Beyoncé | Lemonade )
9 PJ Harvey | Let England Shake ( Thrice | Major/Minor )
10 Portishead | Third ( Vampire Weekend | Vampire Weekend )

Jackson · Post by **Jackson** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:41 pm

andyd1010 · Post by **andyd1010** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:42 pm

PlasticRam · Post by **PlasticRam** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:51 pm

My albums of the year:

2007: Kanye West - Graduation
2008: Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
2009: Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2010: Kanye West - MBDTF
2011: JAY Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
2012: Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
2013: Kanye West - Yeezus
2014: Africa Express - Africa Express Presents… Terry Riley's In C Mali
2015: Tame Impala - Currents
2016: M83 - Junk

I know it seems based on my AOTYs that I'm a huge Kanye fan, and I am, but it's also a case of some good luck as there are albums like RAM or Plastic Beach etc. that would've beaten WTT for example, but they were released in the wrong year to be AOTY.

2010 is the only year where I agree with the critics and think the album is a masterpiece. Also In Rainbows, Merriweather Post Pavillion and TPAB are included on my all-time list.

I think all critics' AOTYs within the last 10 years are okay or better, except Third cos I just don't like Portishead at all.

notbrianeno · Post by **notbrianeno** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:52 am

prosecutorgodot · Post by **prosecutorgodot** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:26 am

I initially misunderstood the question, so I just chose TPAB because it's my favorite of the bunch, but after understanding the question better, I decided there was no real reason to change my pick. For that year, there was no question.

Ranked (thx BleuPanda for the template):
2015: Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly (#1 for year, 9.5/10)
2010: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (#3 for year, 8.5/10) [My pick: Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns, electronic-rap-rock odyssey, 10/10]
2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows (#2 for year, 8.5/10) [My pick: Paramore - Riot!, personal fave emo-pop-punk, 9/10]
2016: David Bowie - Blackstar (#2 for year, 8.5/10) [My pick: Beyonce's Lemonade, 9/10]
2013: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (#8 for year, 8/10) [My pick: Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park, country version of good kid m.A.A.d. city, 9.5/10)
2011: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (#6 for year, 7.5/10) [My pick: Kendrick Lamar - Section.80, my fave hip-hop album of all time, 10/10]
2009: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (#2 for year, 7.5/10) [My pick: Janelle Monae - Metropolis: The Chase EP or Fever Ray - Fever Ray]
2012: Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (#7 for year, 7/10) [Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city, 9.5/10]
2008: Portishead - Third (no ranking, haven't listened closely enough) [My pick: Coldplay - Viva la Vida, lightly conceptual and colorful rock record, 8.5/10]

2014: [So I actually haven't heard Lost in the Dream yet, have no intention to. Not interested in heartland rock, to be honest. And if I was, I would just listen to Springsteen. My pick for the year is Run the Jewels 2, 8.5/10.]

My favorite years of these 10 are 2011 and 2013

Haha I only agreed with critics on one year. I might be overly harsh on scoring, or maybe I don't listen to a large enough array of music.

Nassim · Post by **Nassim** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:13 am

I think the album I like the most is not necessarily the one I think should be #1.
For instance I don't take much pleasure at listening to To Pimp a Butterfly, so it is very low in my personal list and among the 3 I enjoy the least in the bunch, but I still don't see any albums of its year more deserving of acclaim based on cultural impact, artistic achievement, capturing its era, political statement and, I would imagine, futur influence.

On the other hand, In Rainbows is my #2 favorite album of the list, but I still think it's one of the most undeserving of its title in the bunch as Sound of Silver seems to me, by any conceivable mean, to be the best album of 2007.

2007 : In Rainbows
My personal ranking of AM #1 : #2
#1 of the year should be : Sound of Silver
My favorite : Sound of Silver

2008 : Third
My personal ranking of AM #1 : #8
#1 should be : Third or Vampire Weekend for lack of a better option
My favorite : The Dodos - Visiter

2009 : Merriweather Post Pavilion
My Personal ranking of AM #1 :#7
#1 should be : MPP
My favorite : Fever Ray

2010 : My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
My Personal ranking of AM #1 : #2
#1 should be : MBDTF
My favorite : Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

2011 : Let England Shake
My Personal ranking of AM #1 : out of the top 30
#1 should be : House of Balloons ? Don't know, nothing in that year screams "classic" to me
My favorite : Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra

2012 : channel ORANGE
My Personal ranking of AM #1 : #14
#1 should be : good kid, m.A.A.d city
My favorite : El-P - Cancer 4 Cure

2013 : Modern Vampires of the City
My Personal ranking of AM #1 : out of the top 30
#1 should be : One of the 4 albums ranked below Modern Vampires of the City (though to be honest, I'm glad it's not Random Access Memories)
My favorite : Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap

2014 : Lost in the Dream
My Personal ranking of AM #1 : somewhere in the 20-30 range
#1 should be : LP1
My favorite : Run the Jewels - RTJ 2

2015 : To Pimp a Butterfly
My Personal ranking of AM #1 : out of the top 50
#1 should be : To Pimp a Butterfly
My favorite : Grimes - Art Angels

2016 : Black Star
My personal ranking of AM #1 : #9
#1 should be : Black Star or Lemonade
My favorite : Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

So my votes go to :
Merriweather Post Pavilion (#3 favorite among the 10)
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (#1 favorite among the 10)
To Pimp a Butterfly (ranked #9 among the 10)

Also deserving of its #1 place :
Black Star

Arguable due to lack of competition :
Third
Let England Shake

Top 3 but shouldn't be #1 :
in Rainbows
channel ORANGE

Undecided due to a year with very even albums at the top :
Modern Vampires of the City

Undeserving :
Lost in the Dream

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 8:37 pm

And I'll echo what a couple other posters have already said. As great as "In Rainbows" is, "Sound of Silver" is the true AOTY for 2007 (and my second favorite album from the past 20 years).

Sunwoo1213 · Post by **Sunwoo1213** » Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:19 pm

MBDTF. It's my third album of 21st century, only after Radiohead's Kid A, Sufjan stevens' Carrie & Lowell.

If 2015 AOTY was C&L, I would have picked it in this poll..

Jirin · Post by **Jirin** » Sat Jan 28, 2017 9:51 pm

My ranking of these:

PJ Harvey | Let England Shake (#56 AT)
Animal Collective | Merriweather Post Pavillion (#74 AT)
David Bowie | Blackstar (Unplaced so far, somewhere in top 100)
Radiohead | In Rainbows (#126 AT)
Portishead | Third (#253 AT)
Kendrick Lamar | To Pimp a Butterfly (#350 AT)
Frank Ocean | Channel Orange (#615 AT)
Kanye West | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (~1500)
Vampire Weekend | Modern Vampires of the City (~2000)
The War on Drugs | Lost in the Dream (Much farther down)

My #1s that are different from these:
2007: MIA - Kala
2008: Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (Fourth World War)
2010: The National - High Violet
2012: Julia Holter - Ekstasis
2013: My Bloody Valentine - mbv
2014: Fennesz - Becs
2015: Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love

So I would only agree with the top three. And High Violet is my #1 overall for last ten years.

DaveC · Post by **DaveC** » Sat Jan 28, 2017 10:29 pm

Rocky Raccoon · Post by **Rocky Raccoon** » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:13 pm

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