newer releases, older stuff, albums just on the cut off, cult classics, etc. that I believe deserve a shout out

Rock:

• Paramore: This is Why (2023) – Potentially the turning point for the band
• Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation (1988) – essential indie/post-rock
• IDLES: Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018) – Fantastic modern post-punk album
• Nirvana: In Utero (1993) – One of the most harrowing records ever
• Gaslight Anthem: The ’59 Sound (2008) – heartland pop punk
• Creedence Clearwater Revival: Cosmo’s Factory (1970) – The best southern-rock album ever made
• Television: Marquee Moon (1977) – Insanely fantastic record written as post-punk was turning into nu-wave
• Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies (2006): Very very cool dream poppy indie rock album that’s heavily influenced by shoegaze
• Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory (2012): this album RIPS and is modern post-rock/punk

Pop & singer/songwriter:

• Charli xcx: BRAT (2024) – Will probably be the most influential work in pop this decade
• Donna Summer: Bad Girls (1979) – Disco CLASSIC
• Cocteau Twins: Heaven or Las Vegas (1990) – probably the best dreampop album ever
• David Bowie: Blackstar (2016) – a sensational album about embracing death
• Kate Bush: Hounds of Love (1985) – Kate Bush’s masterpiece
• Michael Jackson: Bad (1987) – Lives in the shadow of Thriller, it’s fantastic!
• Jeff Buckley: Grace (1994) – This album made me reconsider what pop music could be

Electronic:

• underscores: Wallsocket (2023) – “hyperpop” gone ballistic
• Kraftwork: Trans-Europe Express (1977) – an electronic album made in the 70s
• Iglooghost: Neo Wax Bloom (2017) – modern industrial dance music turnt to 11
• Brian Eno: literally any of his albums in the Ambient: series, or anything from the 70s. Just about all of them are absolutely insanely fantastic. If you *need* a recommendation, Ambient 1: Music For Airports broke me from it’s melodies the first time I heard it.

Hard rock/metal/hardcore:

• Sleep: Dopesmoker (2003) – maybe the silliest metal album ever made
• Alexisonfire: Crisis (2006) – generational talent on clean vocals, generational talent on screams. Their 2022 album Otherness is also *insane*
• Jeff Rosenstock: HELLMODE (2023) – one of the coolest modern punk albums
• Bring Me the Horizon: Sempiternal (2013) – the best full album from the myspace era
• In Flames: The Jester Race (1996) – one of the best melodic death metal albums ever
• Disarmonia Mundi: The Isolation Game (2009) – a studio metal supergroup that made some of the best solos, riffs, breakdowns, and vocals I’ve ever heard.
• Fires in the Distance: Air Not Meant for Us (2022) – genuinely shocked death metal/black metal can make an album this gorgeous in this decade
• Ice Nine Kills: The Silver Scream (2018) & The Silver Scream 2 (2022) – a hardcore/metalcore band decides to make not one but TWO concept albums about horror movies. They’re *both* very good.

Hip-hop & rap:

• SZA: SOS (2022) – a true benchmark for modern R&B
• Massive Attack: Blue Lines (1991) – banger, banger, banger, banger
• Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Pinata (2014) – Just a fantastic collab album
• Travis Scott: Rodeo (2015) // A$AP Rocky: Long Live A$AP (2013) – psychadelic hip hop at it’s absolute peak. Rocky hasn’t gotten his flowers for that record yet (it’s fantastic), and Rodeo was one of the best records of the 2010s.
• JID: The Forever Story (2022) – Ungodly fantastic album about JID’s upbringing
• Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Forever (1997) – I’m assuming you’ve already heard Enter 36, but if you haven’t listen to their victory lap record. They knew they struct gold twice.