Warning: Some of the albums listed here contain explicit lyrics. Reader discretion is advised.

The 2010s were an amazing collection of musical efforts from some of the world’s most talented creators. Let’s get down to the final ten entries in the best albums of the decade countdown! Here’s the highly anticipated finale to the decade’s best.

10) Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City (2013)

When the third Vampire Weekend album was announced, lead singer Ezra Koenig said it’d be the final album in a trilogy of sorts. Rather than simply grouping the albums together in substance or sound, these would be the works associated with early Vampire Weekend. As they started avoiding college references and maneuvered to more serious subjects, the group found itself a comfortable place in not-so-serious rock and roll. With a great feeling for layering sounds and the mix of uptempo pop songs and slower, more deliberate indie anthems, the band put its best album out in its short career. The amazing thing is that four albums in, which of course includes their 2019 release, the band feels more likely to thrive in the 2020s than ever before.

9) Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle (2015)

When you look at the influx of female solo artists in indie music during the second half of the decade, it’s easy to pinpoint why labels were more willing to bet on sad girl, minimalistic artists. Julien Baker’s 2015 debut is cathartic and a total crucifixion of what it means to be an indie artist in the 2010s. WIth songs about feeling the grace of God in the same moment that you want to die, there’s this sudden realization when you listen to the record that nearly anybody can arrive at on the first listen. The dread of everyday life isn’t a replacement for feeling good, if even for a brief moment. So, what are we to do? The album’s offered solution is to stop worrying about what to do, and just be. No judgement, no criticism: just be.

8) Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

There is no modern hip hop sound as we know it without Kanye’s magnum opus. For an artist so hellbent on tanking his career in the name of willful ignorance, this album feels so focused and purposeful. While people act like they are into his gospel album from 2019, it’s a fraction of a sliver of the artistry and talent we hear on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. With MAGA hats and disoriented rants being a norm at this point, it’s hard considering this an album of the decade while the artist who recorded it torches his career on gimmicks and the limelight. The album, now 10 years removed from its release, is a reminder of what could have been for an artist who fell apart before our eyes.

7) Alvvays – Alvvays (2014)

There is no indie critic worth their words who can overlook the sheer force behind the debut Alvvays record. Written while the lead singer, Molly Rankin, worked a summer job, the Australian outfit was poised to be one of the most promising acts of the decade with their 2014 release. The pop stylings and monotone vocals of Rankin are almost hypnotic, and you feel like you’re stuck in the best movie intro of your life for 32 minutes. There are songs about love, loss, and even just literally trying to stay afloat, but it’s all upbeat, uptempo, and undeniably catchy. Usually melody sacrifices something at one moment or another, be it lyrics or tone. Instead, Alvvays crafted 9 songs worthy of humming along and non-stop listening.

6) Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (2016)

2011’s The King of Limbs was a disappointment in many ways after 2007’s In Rainbows. I think everyone sort of held their breath for A Moon Shaped Pool, wondering if we’d get another landmark Radiohead record, or be stuck with another album that can be summed up with the phrase well at least they’re still making music. The 2016 record was a great leap forward for a band who had already transformed alternative rock 3 times in its career. As a more mature, orchestrated band than ever before, Jonny Greenwood’s time composing for Hollywood films come in clutch on this album. There are a lot of songs of loss, seeing as lead singer Thom Yorke had just broken up with a 19-year partner. It’s not overly sad-sounding or overwhelming; just a great record to get into your feels with. Plus, that Radiohead vibe to their style just can’t be copied.

5) Bon Iver – Bon Iver (2011)

When For Emma, Forever Ago released, I wondered if Bon Iver could ever make a perfect record again. He’s actually made three, and four if you count the experimental 22, A Million as a win as well, which I don’t. 2011’s self-titled piece takes the cake, however. Indie would never be the same after this record, as more and more artists explored spacial, atmospheric songwriting. Honestly, the best aspect of the album is the voids of sound, not what you actually hear. The emptiness makes it feel like this album is a large room only filled with 4 or 5 pieces of furniture. They’re really nice, but think about all the things you can do with this space. That gives your brain time to wander as you listen to this record, and it’s as close to dreaming while you’re awake as you can get. It’s flawless, and all top 5 albums on this list are as well.

4) Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)

Courtney Barnett is a great guitarist, and her instrumental tone and ear for sonic touches make her music timeless. Oh, and she’s an incredible lyricist, writing songs in a poetic storytelling style I don’t know exists in any one else’s music. Did I mention she’s also an incredible vocalist? The point I’m making with this almost annoying line of thinking is that every aspect of Courtney Barnett is better than the last, and every listen of 2015’s Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit gets better too. She’s a master of her craft, and this record helped bring a lot of attention to Australia’s music scene. There’s great music in that area of the world, but nobody is like Barnett. Nobody ever will be, either; 2015’s effort is a prime example of that.

3) Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)

Spoiler alert: the next two albums after his aren’t hip hop records. That means, (and I really do mean it,) this is the best hip hop or rap album of the decade. From meaningful lyrics to incredible production and vision, Kendrick Lamar is more than a musician. He wins awards outside of music because his art is beyond a specific sort of experience. You can hear this album, but you can feel it too. There are a lot of things to unpack on this album, but in nearly 80 minutes, Lamar covers all pressing issues of the decade in a single record, and shows his perspective on the world’s worries. He’s poignant and hands down the most impressive solo artist of the decade. He’ll go down as a GOAT, both in music and social circles concerned with the issues of the day.

2) The National – Trouble Will Find Me (2013)

The National had their magnum opus by the time Trouble Will Find Me came out. Boxer is about as perfect as an album can get, so what could possibly come next? High Violet was a transition record into this more straightforward, serious tone the band would adopt. By the time Trouble Will Find Me released, the band was all about their comfort zone: sad, looming songs about the horrors of everyday adult life. From losing love to loving even the slightest bit of recognition from a friend or coworker, there are some scary things on this record. The scariest part is how observational the record is about what runs our world nowadays. We’re all numbing to the point of losing feeling, and it feels really good on a bad day to hear this record. It’s a comfort I’ve enjoyed since its release, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

1) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (2011)

The opening to Helplessness Blues is one of the most incredible lyrics I’ve heard in my life.

So now I am older
Than my mother and father
When they had their daughter
Now what does that say about me?

From here, the thematic structure of Fleet Foxes’ 2011 record is a perfect collection of songs. The actual words behind these songs are wonderful. The sounds, though; the sounds make this the best album of the decade. Sweeping four-six part harmonies crowd the background of lead singer Robin Pecknold’s lead vocals. Josh Tillman, better known now as Father John Misty, was playing drums, bringing a top tier talent to a band already stacked with amazing artists. The album’s darker tones when compared to their debut record weren’t alienating in terms of their dreamy sound. In fact, you feel like listening to the album front to back is a journey. You’re seeing a portion of your life play out in front of you.

From selfish youth to worrisome adulthood, the album carries the listener through everything we can’t control about life. It’s heartwarming to hear these songs in 2019, as the world slowly tears itself apart and the people living on it following suit. There’s a hope to this album, and it’s found in the sheer uselessness of trying to be too much of one thing or another. With music as complex as the themes explored on this record, Helplessness Blues is the album of the decade. It fits our reality today, just like it did in 2011, and always will down the road.

As you can probably tell, I love music, and I’m really glad to share these thoughts with you. Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments if you agree with my choices, disagree, or have some ideas of things I might have missed. I might not agree, but I certainly want to hear from you!

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Editor’s Note: Check out the previous lists – 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11 to round out the decade!