Since Ultimate Classic Rock did the best classic rock albums by year, Loudwire, did several lists of the best metal, hard rock, and metal subgenre albums by year, and god knows how many sites have done the best hip-hop albums by year, I was wondering what a list of the best alternative rock albums by year would look like. These are just by objective importance to music history, though I also thought of a few alternatives (pun unintended) for some of the picks. I decided to start with 1966, since that was the year "Freak Out!," one of the first very off-the-beaten-path rock albums was released.
1966: Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
1967: The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
1968: The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
1969: The Stooges - The Stooges (see also: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica, The Mothers of Invention - Hot Rats, The MC5 - Kick Out the Jams)
1970: The Stooges - Fun House
1971: David Bowie - Hunky Dory (see also: Can - Tago Mago)
1972: David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (see also: Lou Reed - Transformer)
1973: Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power (see also: New York Dolls - New York Dolls, Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure)
1974: Big Star - Radio City
1975: Patti Smith - Horses
1976: Ramones - Ramones
1977: Television - Marquee Moon (see also: Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, The Clash - The Clash)
1978: Elvis Costello - This Year's Model (see also: Blondie - Parallel Lines, Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food)
1979: The Clash - London Calling
1980: Talking Heads - Remain in Light (see also: Joy Division - Closer, Pretenders - Pretenders, Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables)
1981: Black Flag - Damaged
1982: The Cure - Pornography (see also: Laurie Anderson - Big Science)
1983: R.E.M. - Murmur (see also: Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones, Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes)
1984: Husker Du - Zen Arcade (see also: The Smiths - The Smiths, The Replacements - Let It Be)
1985: The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy (see also: The Replacements - Tim, Kate Bush - Hounds of Love, Tom Waits - Rain Dogs, The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, Husker Du - New Day Rising)
1986: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (see also: Peter Gabriel - So)
1987: U2 - The Joshua Tree
1988: Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989: Pixies - Doolittle (see also: The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses, Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique)
1990: Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (see also: Sonic Youth - Goo, Pixies - Bossanova, Depeche Mode - Violator)
1991: Nirvana - Nevermind
1992: R.E.M. - Automatic for the People (see also: Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted)
1993: Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (see also: Nirvana - In Utero, Bjork - Debut)
1994: Jeff Buckley - Grace (see also: Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York, Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral, Green Day - Dookie, Blur - Parklife, Soundgarden - Superunknown)
1995: Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (see also: Radiohead - The Bends, Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Pulp - Different Class)
1996: Beck - Odelay
1997: Radiohead - OK Computer (see also: Bjork - Homogenic, Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out)
1998: Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
1999: The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin (see also: Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun, The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs)
2000: Radiohead - Kid A (see also: PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea)
2001: The Strokes - Is This It
2002: Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2003: The White Stripes - Elephant
2004: Arcade Fire - Funeral (see also: Green Day - American Idiot)
2005: Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
2006: Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (see also: TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain)
2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows (see also: LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver, MGMT - Oracular Spectacular, Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago)
2008: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (see also: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend)
2009: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (see also: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion)
2010: The National - High Violet (see also: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs)
2011: PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2012: Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
2013: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
2014: The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
2015: Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
2016: David Bowie - Blackstar (see also: Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree)
The Best Alternative Rock Album of Each Year Since 1966
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The Best Alternative Rock Album of Each Year Since 1966
Post by StevieFan13 »
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