Favorite Album from Each Year You've Been Alive

[ThePearDream]

Doing this was a ton of fun and offered me some real insights. First, certain years are absolutely PACKED with an insane amount of great music. The Y2K era was thick with great tunes. Second insight, I didn't trust my contemporaries to make good music in the 2000's 2010's and it shows. I pulled up a bunch of wikipedia lists of "blank year in music" and I see so many artists freshman or sophomore records who would go on to huge careers, and I was was just totally not interested. Most of the music I really love comes from well before I was even born.

Sadly a couple years, I have nothing at all.

I feel the same way. I'm still working on my list; there are some years with nothing, but a few years with ALL my favorite albums. Tough to pick favorites

This was my experience too. Some years, I'm picking between favorites, and other years settling on albums I don't even care about.
Then I got to 2013 and hit a wall.

[Shadoweclipse13]

Doing this was a ton of fun and offered me some real insights. First, certain years are absolutely PACKED with an insane amount of great music. The Y2K era was thick with great tunes. Second insight, I didn't trust my contemporaries to make good music in the 2000's 2010's and it shows. I pulled up a bunch of wikipedia lists of "blank year in music" and I see so many artists freshman or sophomore records who would go on to huge careers, and I was was just totally not interested. Most of the music I really love comes from well before I was even born.

Sadly a couple years, I have nothing at all.

I feel the same way. I'm still working on my list; there are some years with nothing, but a few years with ALL my favorite albums. Tough to pick favorites

This was my experience too. Some years, I'm picking between favorites, and other years settling on albums I don't even care about.
Then I got to 2013 and hit a wall.

Honestly, I won't pick a favorite for those years. If they're all good albums, then I've got multiple albums for a year I was born in 1986, and listening to entire albums is something I only started in the last 5-10 years. For a long time, I had a hard time liking everything on an album, with the exception of a very few albums. So, before 1994, there's nothing at all...

[Arthon]

Very hard to do for many years. Didn't find many great albums on my early years and in the 5-6 recent years. On the other side, really hard for me to pick one album between the end of the 80's to the beggining of the 00's. So much great music around that time. But it also match my youth, when my brain was forged by music I was listenning to (https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/bring-the-n ... 0identity.)

1984 Leonard Cohen Various Positions
1985 The Smiths Meet is murder
1986 Metallica Master of Puppets
1987 Dinosaur Jr You're Living All Over Me -
1988 Sonic Youth Daydream Nation
1989 The Stones Roses The Stones Roses
1990 Neil Young & Crazy Horses Ragged Glory
1991 Nirvana Nevermind
1992 Rage against the machine Rage against the machine
1993 Blur Modern Life Is Rubbish
1994 Oasis Definitely Maybe
1995 Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory
1996 Beck Odelay
1997 Bob Dylan Time Out of Mind
1998 Refused The Shape of Punk to Come
1999 Wilco Summerteeth
2000 Oasis Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
2001 Gorillaz Gorillaz
2002 Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2003 Super Furry Animals Phantom Power
2004 Arcade Fire Funeral
2005 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Howl
2006 Malajube Trompe l’Oeil
2007 Wilco Sky Blue Sky
2008 Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes
2009 Dinosaur Jr. Farm
2010 Karkwa Les chemins de verre
2011 PJ Harvey Let England Shake
2012 Gros Mené Agnus Dei
2013 Artic Monkeys AM
2014 Benjamin Booker Benjamin Booker
2015 Sleater-Kinney No Cities to Love
2016 Radiohead A moon shaped pool
2017 The War on Drugs A Deeper Understanding
2018 Iceage Beyondless
2019 King gizard & the Lizard Wizard Infest the rats'net
2020 Marie-Pierre Arthur Des Feux pour voir
2021 Mdou Moctar Afrique Victime
2022 Wilco Cruel Country
2023 Blur The ballad of Darren

[rhythmjones]

Sky Blue Sky and Rats' Nest were finalists for me for those years. Great albums.

[s_mcsleazy]

1991: spiderland - slint
1992: ignition - the offspring
1993: in utero - nirvana
1994: for your own special sweetheart - jawbox
1995: red medicine - fugazi
1996: fantastic planet - failure
1997: fake can be just as good - blonde redhead
1998: the shape of punk to come - refused
1999: keep it like a secret - built to spill
2000: no kill no beep beep - q and not u OR relationship of command - at the drive in (seriously don't make me pick between these 2 albums)
2001: leaves turn inside you - unwound
2002: i bought you my bullets, you bought me your love - my chemical romance.
2003: S/T - black eyes
2004: sweet heart dealer - scarling
2005: ignoto - yourcodenameis:milo
2006: blood visions - jay reatard
2007: in nothing we trust - reuben
2008: S/T - mass of the fermenting dregs
2009: hey everyone, watch this - dananananakroyd
2010: blood and fire - eighties matchbox b-line disaster
2011: ex military - death grips
2012:
2013: pup - pup
2014: WLFGRL - machine girl
2015: harmlessness - the world is a beautiful place and i am no longer afraid to die
2016: new skin for old children - nocturnal habits OR the bible 2 - AJJ
2017: melodrama - lorde
2018:
2019: morbid stuff - pup
2020: brave faces everbody - spanish loves songs
2021: we had good times together, don't forget that - sewerslvt
2022: hostile architecture - ashenspire

there's a few blanks because some years, i just can't bring myself to pick a favorite album. i also wanna say some years turned out to be really hard. 2000, 2004, 2006, 2016 were all difficult years.

[rhythmjones]

Yeah, that's the way it seems to go.

Love Pup btw

[s_mcsleazy]

Yeah, that's the way it seems to go.

Love Pup btw

seen them live last year and it was the best gig i've been to in a long time. i even got one of their "i don't give a shit" mario flags

[Sebastian]

Hi folks! I didn't post here for years, but this "favourite album/each year.." thing is a good topic to come back...

Tough multiple choices indeed, especially for the nineties. In the early 2000s I bought about 3 or 4 records a week, in recent years it's a mere 3 or 4 a year.

1981 The Police - Ghost In The Machine
1982 Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast
1983 The Police - Synchronicity
1984 Metallica - Ride The Lightning
1985 Einstürzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch
1986 New Model Army - The Ghost Of Cain
1987 R.E.M. - Document
1988 The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
1989 New Model Army - Thunder And Consolation
1990 Sonic Youth - Goo
1991 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
1992 Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
1993 Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
1994 Soundgarden - Superunknown
1995 Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory
1996 Kula Shaker - K
1997 Selig - Blender
1998 Jerry Cantrell - Boggy Depot
1999 Kula Shaker - Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts
2000 Placebo - Black Market Music
2001 John Frusciante - To Record Only Water For Ten Days
2002 Sonic Youth - Murray Street
2003 Justin Sullivan - Navigating By The Stars
2004 Incubus - A Crow Left Of The Murder
2005 Editors - The Back Room
2006 Mono - You Are There
2007 Kula Shaker - Strangefolk
2008 Triggerfinger - What Grabs Ya?
2009 Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind
2010 Kula Shaker - Pilgrims Progress
2011 Noel Gallagher - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
2012 Dr. John - Locked Down
2013 Lee Ranaldo - Last Night On Earth
2014 The Black Keys - Turn Blue
2015 My Sleeping Karma - Moksha
2016 Kula Shaker - K2.0
2017 Lee Ranaldo - Electric Trim
2018 Altin Gün - On
2019 Altin Gün - Gece
2020 Einstürzende Neubauten - Alles In Allem
2021 Selig - Myriaden
2022 Kula Shaker - 1st Congregational Church Of Eternal Love And Free Hugs
2023 Noel Gallagher - Council Skies

[Shadoweclipse13]

Happy to see 'Turn Blue' by The Black Keys. That's my favorite album by them as well, but you don't see it talked about much.

[rhythmjones]

Hi folks! I didn't post here for years, but this "favourite album/each year.." thing is a good topic to come back...

Welcome back! Thanks for participating!

[ThePearDream]

I allowed myself to double up during some of my teen years, which had some really good years. I'm perpetually behind on movies and music and don't have any picks for the last few years.

1979 - The B-52’s – The B-52’s
1980 - Talking Heads – Remain In Light
1981 - Kraftwerk - Computer World
1982 - Phillip Glass - Glassworks
1983 - Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues
1984 - Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
1985 - Hüsker Dü - Flip Your Wig
1986 - Slayer – Reign in Blood
1987 - Sonic Youth – Sister
1988 - Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
1989 - De La Soul ‎- 3 Feet High and Rising
1990 - Sonic Youth – Goo
1991 - My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
1992 - Sonic Youth - Dirty / Dr. Dre – The Chronic
1993 - The Breeders - Last Splash / Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
1994 - Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain / Nas - Illmatic
1995 - Pell Mell - Interstate / Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
1996 - Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister / Ghostface Killah - Ironman
1997 - Stereolab - Dots and Loops
1998 - Tortoise - TNT
1999 - Mogwai - Come on Die Young
2000 - Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
2001 - Pinback - Blue Screen Life
2002 - Trans Am - TA
2003 - Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
2004 - Madvillain - Madvillainy
2005 - Tristeza - A Colores
2006 - Cat Power - The Greatest
2007 - Battles - Mirrored
2008 - Deerhunter - Microcastle
2009 - The xx - xx
2010 - Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
2011 - Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler / The Dream
2012 - Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
2013 - Cate Le Bon - Mug Museum
2014 - Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
2015 - La Luz - Weirdo Shrine
2016 - Childish Gambino - Awaken, My Love
2017 - Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
2018 - Parquet Courts - Wide Awake
2019 - The Free Nationals - The Free Nationals
...

[copacetic]

I allowed myself to double up during some of my teen years, which had some really good years. I'm perpetually behind on movies and music and don't have any picks for the last few years.

1979 - The B-52’s – The B-52’s
1980 - Talking Heads – Remain In Light
1981 - Kraftwerk - Computer World
1982 - Phillip Glass - Glassworks
1983 - Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues
1984 - Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
1985 - Hüsker Dü - Flip Your Wig
1986 - Slayer – Reign in Blood
1987 - Sonic Youth – Sister
1988 - Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
1989 - De La Soul ‎- 3 Feet High and Rising
1990 - Sonic Youth – Goo
1991 - My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
1992 - Sonic Youth - Dirty / Dr. Dre – The Chronic
1993 - The Breeders - Last Splash / Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
1994 - Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain / Nas - Illmatic
1995 - Pell Mell - Interstate / Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
1996 - Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister / Ghostface Killah - Ironman
1997 - Stereolab - Dots and Loops
1998 - Tortoise - TNT
1999 - Mogwai - Come on Die Young
2000 - Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
2001 - Pinback - Blue Screen Life
2002 - Trans Am - TA
2003 - Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
2004 - Madvillain - Madvillainy
2005 - Tristeza - A Colores
2006 - Cat Power - The Greatest
2007 - Battles - Mirrored
2008 - Deerhunter - Microcastle
2009 - The xx - xx
2010 - Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
2011 - Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler / The Dream
2012 - Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
2013 - Cate Le Bon - Mug Museum
2014 - Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
2015 - La Luz - Weirdo Shrine
2016 - Childish Gambino - Awaken, My Love
2017 - Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
2018 - Parquet Courts - Wide Awake
2019 - The Free Nationals - The Free Nationals
...

Surprised but also not surprised by some of your choices. Cool to see that other OSGers enjoy rap/hip hop! illmatic, 3 feet high and rising, and good kid maad city are all timers for me too!!

[copacetic]

I'm jealous of all you guys getting some really great years for albums. Most of my favorites were made before i was born. I made up for it by letting myself pick two albums for some years
Mine:

1997: Portishead - Portishead
1998: System of a Down - System of a Down
1999: Mobb Deep - Murda Musik
2000: A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms
2001: System of a Down - Toxicity
2002: Audioslave - Audioslave or Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2003: The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
2004: My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (I was the perfect age to love this okay )
2005: System of a Down - Mezmerize/Hypnotize or Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, Its Morning
2006: Beach House - Beach House or Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
2007: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
2008: Beach House - Devotion
2009: Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon
2010: Beach House - Teen Dream
2011: Bon Iver - Bon Iver
2012: Beach House - Bloom or Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
2013: Tyler the Creator - Wolf
2014: Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence
2015: Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars and Depression Cherry or The Internet - Ego Death
2016: Frank Ocean - Blonde
2017: Thundercat - Drunk
2018: Beach House - 7
2019: Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
2020: Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
2021: Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny, Haha
2022: Beach House - Once Twice Melody
2023: Boygenius - The Record (though honestly ive barely listened to any new music this year)

[Sebastian]

Happy to see 'Turn Blue' by The Black Keys. That's my favorite album by them as well, but you don't see it talked about much.

Well, I actually rediscovered Turn Blue (and some more older albums) during compiling this list, that's why I love this thread.

If you like the Black Keys, then you should check out my entry for 2012, Dr. John - Locked Down. Dan Auerbach produced it in his studio and plays guitar. Brilliant album!

[ThePearDream]

Surprised but also not surprised by some of your choices. Cool to see that other OSGers enjoy rap/hip hop! illmatic, 3 feet high and rising, and good kid maad city are all timers for me too!!

There's a few of us on here, but we're definitely in the minority. As much as albums like Nevermind were critical building blocks for my musical taste, The Chronic, was equally important, and I still listen to it far more often than Nevermind. Those mid 90s years are so thick with absolute classic hip-hop albums, I can't imagine not including a few of them.

I didn't include 2021, but my current favorite from that year was - "Tyler, The Creator - Call Me if You Get Lost". And WOLF was my #2 or 3 for 2013. I might be the only OSGer who has seen Tyler The Creator live (at Red Rocks for Cherry Bomb).