My Top 5 Albums of the Last Two Decades
I would like to start this website on a high note by recalling my top five albums of the last couple decades and a few reasons why these albums hold this prestigious award. Let me first say that these are not necessarily the most prolific nor philosophical picks, but personally they are very sentimental and I have listened to them within an inch of their lives.
So without further ado, #5 is Dangerous by Morgan Wallen. Does it fall into every country song trope of blonde girls, pickup trucks, cold beer and heartbreak? Yes, yes it does. But it does so proudly and with an unmistakable charm that Wallen has made his own. The tunes are catchy, the words play into each other, and there is an authenticity that Wallen brings to these songs and subjects that is often lacking in modern country music. He pens a heartfelt letter about his Silverado for goodness sake!
#4 is Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey, a name you will no doubt hear again soon. The first song I heard from this album was Black Beauty, which highlights her love for someone who is incapable of seeing the brighter side of life. This song talks about her need to dim her own light in order to fit in with her lover’s world view and her frustration at his incapability to see the simple beauty in life, such as the blue of the ocean. Black Beauty alone could have made Ultraviolence a great album but other songs like West Coast with its entrancing tempo change, Brooklyn Baby’s airy vocals, and the title song Ultraviolence make this album into a dark twisted tale of love and rebellion that established Lana as not only a catchy hit-maker but an alluring story-teller as well.
Beach House’s Depression Cherry ranks at #3. For those who have not heard Space Song yet, please do. Put on your headphones and close your eyes. No really, I’ll wait… Now that you are back can we agree that it changed your life? Well I think it changed mine. I still remember exactly where I was when I first heard it, the Buffalo Wild Wings bathroom. When I got back to my table I grabbed my brother’s phone and Shazamed that mofo like nobody’s business. And since then I have not been completely alone, on my loneliest nights and my most awe-struck moments I have had a companion in the form of a song singing to me of wide-eyed girls and flashing lights with a melody made for another world. Apparently, I am not the only one who feels that way though, because there are over a billion streams of this song on Spotify. This album is also the home of another standout song, PPP. Speculated to stand for piss poor planning, the melody for this one is reminiscent of a lullaby as the words speak about the unknown of love and the trust one must blindly give to it. These are just a couple of the songs on this almost flawless album that breathes new and unforgettable life into dream-pop.
I know someone is going to hate me for this, but #2 is 1989 by Taylor Swift. Perhaps not the life altering experience of some of the other albums on this list, but these songs carried my teenage self on their back. Let’s start with my all-time favorite pop song: Style. The first few recognizable riffs tells you about the 80s inspiration sprinkled throughout this album just like the synth accompanying the rest of the song. Style combines all the right pieces of a standard pop song, such as repetition and a strong catchy beat, with expressive words and vocals. It is also not a very long song which makes it perfect for repeating. Or maybe that’s just me. Blank Space, Out of the Woods, and Shake It Off have undeniable shaking and grooving qualities that even a room full of avid Taylor Swift deniers have succumbed to. A song I believe does not get as much credit as it deserves is You Are In Love, a soft pop ballad about the small and simple signs that you are, in fact, in love. I am not typically a big fan of pop, but Taylor is my weakness and I have been dancing to this album for over a decade now and still can’t shake it off.
My #1 Album
Post is soon to come.