Assessing what happened in the 2010s is a difficult task. Due to changes in the culture and shifts in fashion, the back half of the decade felt nothing like its first few years, a divide that becomes fairly apparent when combining albums from both periods in one list. Part of the problem could also be that it's difficult to see an era that you're living through, especially one as chaotic as the last few years. In any case, this list doesn't feel set in stone to me, particularly once the list gets past number 15 or so. Nevertheless, I think there is merit in assembling a decade-end list at the end of a decade since it's the first step in trying to figure out what happened.
One important note for this list: unlike my year-end lists, where I try not to duplicate artists between Album and Song lists (or try to duplicate artists on the Album list), I decided to not limit myself to one record by one artist. This makes it pretty clear that Pistol Annies, as a group and as solo artists, dominated my decade.
Less important note: Sometimes, an album's position on this list may not match its position on my original year-end list. It also may not jibe with my original review, too. That's just the way of the world.
Pistol Annies—Hell on Heels (2011)
Eric Church—Mr. Misunderstood (2015)
Fiona Apple—The Idler Wheel… (2012)
A Tribe Called Quest—We got it from Here...Thank You 4 Your service (2016)
Miranda Lambert—The Weight Of These Wings (2016)
David Bowie—Blackstar (2016)
Jenny Lewis—The Voyager (2014)
Maren Morris—Hero (2016)
Kendrick Lamar—To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)
Vampire Weekend—Contra (2010)
Courtney Barnett—Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)
Carly Rae Jepsen—EMOTION (2015)
Queens of the Stone Age—...Like Clockwork (2013)
Taylor Swift—Red (2012)
Purple Mountains—Purple Mountains (2019)
PJ Harvey—Let England Shake (2011)
Beyonce—Lemonade (2016)
Turnpike Troubadours—Goodbye Normal Street (2012)
Pistol Annies—Interstate Gospel (2018)
St. Vincent—Masseduction (2017)
Vampire Weekend—Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
Ex Hex—Rips (2014)
Low Cut Connie—Hi Honey! (2015)
Ke$ha—Animal (2010)
Paul Simon—So Beautiful Or So What (2011)
Eric Church—Chief (2011)
Pistol Annies—Annie Up (2013)
Miranda Lambert—Platinum (2014)
Margo Price—Midwest Farmer's Daughter (2016)
Kacey Musgraves—Same Trailer, Different Park (2013)
Mike & The Moonpies—Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold (2019)
Paramore—Paramore (2013)
The Monkees—Good Times! (2016)
Brandy Clark—12 Stories (2013)
Charli XCX—Sucker (2014)
Dwight Yoakam—3 Pears (2012)
Low Cut Connie—Dirty Pictures, Pt 2 (2018)
The Regrettes—Feel Your Feelings Fool! (2017)
Vampire Weekend—Father of the Bride (2019)
Margo Price—All American Made (2017)
Chris Stapleton—Traveller (2015)
Juliana Hatfield Three—Whatever, My Love (2015)
Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey—Going Back Home (2014)
Whitney Rose—Rule 62 (2017)
Robert Plant—Band of Joy (2010)
Kip Moore—Slowheart (2017)
Taylor Swift—1989 (2014)
Norah Jones--Little Broken Hearts (2012)
Lorde—Melodrama (2017)
Jamey Johnson—Guitar Song (2010)
Robyn—Body Talk (2010)
Lana Del Rey—Ultraviolence (2014)
Haim—Days Are Gone (2013)
Kacey Musgraves—Golden Hour (2018)
Arctic Monkeys—AM (2013)
Daft Punk—Random Access Memories (2013)
EMA—The Future's Void (2014)
Beastie Boys—Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two (2011)
John Mayer—The Search for Everything (2017)
Alabama Shakes—Sound & Color (2015)
The Hotrats—Turn Ons (2010)
Robyn—Honey (2018)
Kamasi Washington—The Epic (2015)
Kendrick Lamar—DAMN. (2017)
Savages—Silence Yourself (2013)
Sleater-Kinney—No Cities to Love (2015)
Taylor Swift—Speak Now (2010)
Wild Flag—Wild Flag (2011)
My Bloody Valentine—mbv (2013)
Sara Bareilles—Kaleidoscope Heart (2010)
Aaron Freeman—Freeman (2014)
Black Keys—Brothers (2010)
Sam Hunt—Montevallo (2014)
Sky Ferreira—Night Time, My Time (2013)
Superchunk—What a Time To Be Alive (2018)
Donald Fagen—Sunken Condos (2012)
Brandi Carlile—By The Way, I Forgive You (2018)
Beyonce—Beyonce (2013)
Against Me!--Transgrender Dysphoria Blues (2014)
Suede—Bloodsports (2012)
Soccer Mommy—Clean (2018)
Arcade Fire—The Suburbs (2010)
EMA—Past Life Martyred Saints (2011)
Miranda Lambert—Four The Record (2011)
Ex-Hex—It's Real (2019)
St. Vincent—Strange Mercy (2011)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers—Hypnotic Eye (2014)
Carly Rae Jepsen—Kiss (2012)
Lady Gaga—Born This Way (2011)
Norah Jones—Day Breaks (2016)
Cam—Untamed (2015)
Ashley Monroe—Like A Rose (2013)
The Rolling Stones—Blue & Lonesome (2016)
Low Cut Connie—Call Me Sylvia (2012)
Kendrick Lamar—good kid, m.A.A.d. City (2012)
Joanna Newsom—Have One On Me (2010)
D'Angelo—Black Messiah (2014)
Angaleena Presley—American Middle Class (2014)
Ashley Monroe—The Blade (2015)
Iggy Pop—Post Pop Depression (2015)
FKA Twigs—LP 1 (2014)
Miguel—Kaleidoscope Dream (2012)
Tune-Yards—whokill (2011)
LCD Soundsystem—This Is Happening (2010)
The Beach Boys—That's Why God Made The Radio (2012)
Tanya Tucker—While I'm Livin' (2019)
that dog—Old LP (2019)
Miranda Lambert—Wildcard (2019)
Yola—Walk Through Fire (2019)
Robert Ellis—Texas Piano Man (2019)
Charley Crockett—The Valley (2019)
Sharon Van Etten—Remind Me Tomorrow (2019)
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks—Mirror Traffic (2011)
Gruff Rhys—Hotel Shampoo (2011)
Bob Mould—The Silver Age (2012)
Brothers Osborne—Port Saint Joe (2018)
Danny Brown—Old (2013)
The Sonics—This Is The Sonics (2015)
Aubrie Sellers—New City Blues (2016)
The Breeders—All Nerve (2018)
Chirstine & The Queens—Chris (2018)
Beak> — >> (2012)
Robert Plant—lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar (2014)
Eric Church—Desperate Man (2018)
Squeeze—Cradle to the Grave (2015)
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks—Wig Out at Jagbags (2014)
Turnpike Troubadours—Diamonds & Gasoline (2010)
Elvis Costello—National Ransom (2010)
Bob Dylan—Tempest (2012)
Billy F Gibbons—The Big Bad Blues (2018)
Nikki Lane—All Or Nothing (2014)
Blur—The Magic Whip (2015)
Turnpike Troubadours—A Long Way From Your Heart (2017)
Jack White—Lazaretto (2014)
Jason Isbell—Southeastern (2013)
Taylor Swift—Lover (2019)
Ashley Moore—Sparrow (2018
Natalie Prass—Natalie Prass (2015)
Lee Ann Womack—The Way I'm Livin' (2014)
Ke$ha—Warrior (2012)
Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen—Hold My Beer, Vol. 1 (2015)
Peter Buck—I Am Back to Blow Your Mind Once Again (2014)
Sharon Van Etten—Are We There (2014)
Brothers Osborne—Pawn Shop (2016)
Paul Weller—Sonik Kicks (2012)
Black Keys—El Camino (2011)
The Who—WHO (2019)
Maddie & Tae—Start Here (2015)
Primal Scream—More Light (2013)
Elvis Costello & The Roots—Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs (2013)
Aubrie Sellers—New City Blues (2016)
The Good, The Bad & the Queen—Merrie Land (2018)
Kacey Musgraves—A Very Kacey Christmas (2016)
Sons of Kemet—Your Queen is a Reptile (2018)
Robert Glasper Experiment—Black Radio (2012)
Pink Floyd—Endless River (2014)
Liz Phair—Funstyle (2010)
Turnpike Troubadours--Turnpike Troubadours (2015)
Bob Dylan—Shadows in the Night (2015)
Sturgill Simpson--Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014)