Top 10 Albums of All Time

Another list that was just dying to be made I guess, another tough one to rank although less tough than songs. Again to preface this is my 10 favourite albums, and not the 10 critically best albums. There will always be recency bias as with any of my other lists, and there is plenty of music that I have yet to discover that will be staples in my rotation in the future. I also thought about doing only one album per artist on this list, but let’s be honest that wouldn’t be my actual top 10 list cause you know imma be racking up the Kanye albums. With that being said there are some honourable mentions to start off with, some real quality albums here that got cut:

• Continuum - John Mayor

• The College Dropout - Kanye West

• The Life of Pablo - Kanye West

• The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Jimi Hendrix

• Emotion - Carly Rae Jepsen

• Love at First Sting - Scorpions

• Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande

• Sept 5 - dvsn

• 2014 Forest Hills Drive - J. Cole

• FutureSex/LoveSounds - Justin Timberlake

10. III - BANKS (2019)

A serious banger to start this list. This is one of my favourite production styles to ever hit an album. The brand of synth and bass heavy alt pop that BANKS does just works so seamlessly to create an album whose sound you can really get immersed in. Yes her songwriting isn’t the best but I think the production alone can bump this one to number 10. It also helps that Gimme is one of the most enjoyably repeatable songs I have ever heard. I appreciate that while this is a heavily aesthetic album, the song material can still stay vulnerable and grounded. I also love that while listening through BANKS’ 3 studio albums, I feel tangible progression from each one. The Alter cleaned up on the messiness of Goddess, while also improving on tightening the generally unfocused tracklist to a more cohesive project. III took what Goddess had to offer and just turned that shit way up to produce a grand, hard hitting alt pop album while diversifying the types of sounds explored. Really looking forward to what her next project brings.

Favourite songs: Gimme, Propaganda, If We Were Made of Water

9. The Eminem Show - Eminem (2002)

Old Eminem is so nostalgic to me, I would definitely credit him with introducing me to my love of hip hop first, before I even knew my commitment to the genre. While I do love all 3 of his classic albums, the Eminem Show does stand out to me even though critically it may be the worst one, on the brink of his downfall. I think it may be because the subject matter he speaks on in this album is slightly more gentrified than his aggressive vivid honesty, and ironically it makes it more relatable to me. It also begins to introduce more vocals into the choruses which makes it more digestible. With all this, his lyrical prowess didn’t lose any of its energy, especially on songs like “Business” or the classic “Till I Collapse”. I especially have a soft spot for the verse on “Hailie’s Song”, and “Superman” is one of my favourite songs of all time.

Favourite songs: Cleanin’ Out My Closet, Superman, Hailie’s Song

8. To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar (2015)

Man these are hard to rank, I think between this album and the #1 place album, there is such miniscule difference between these and they’re all so important in my life. I cannot believe when I first started to write this list I had this as an honourable mention. My 2021 listening was truly dominated by this album straight up. I felt like every time I listened through it I would add another song to my library, I don’t think any album has grown on me like this one. I’ve come a long way from actually disliking it back in 2015 when I first listened. The tracklist is dense with gold, even the first interlude “For Free” hits you right in the face with brass aplenty and Kendrick contemplating his worth. I think part of the power of this album comes from how seamlessly and convincingly Kendrick explores elements of depression, racial injustice, and other pills that are particularly hard to swallow. The contrast of songs like “u” and “i” highlight growth not only in his lyrics, but also in the sound samples he chooses to include (the decision to use a live version of “i” is a decision I particularly enjoy). The strong funk influence is something that also took me some time to appreciate, but there’s no denying it now. This album contains 3 of my favourite prolly 20 songs of all time.

Favourite songs: King Kunta, Alright, i

7. Swimming - Mac Miller (2018)

I really wished I appreciated the artistry of Mac Miller while he was still alive. I was a fan but I didn’t think he would become my definitive second favourite artist. This was another album that I needed some time and several listens to come to terms with how much I loved it, I cannot believe I initially thought I liked Divine Feminine better. Not many better opening tracks exist than “Come Back to Earth'', a perfect acoustic intro into Mac’s mental state while recording this album. Through all it’s doom and gloom, Swimming provides a surprisingly optimistic take on depression by soberly accepting the sometimes absurd conditions we live with, and seeing them not as chains but as opportunities. Songs like “What’s The Use'' and “Self Care” highlight this perfectly. The beats used are packed full of various instruments that work in perfect harmony with one another, including horns, synths, basslines, keys, varying percussion, and more. “2009” feels like the emotional climax of the album, with Mac admitting that he “don’t need to lie no more”, a perfect goodbye to be remembered by.

Favourite songs: What’s The Use, Ladders, 2009

6. Yeezus - Kanye West (2013)

The audacity of Kanye to drop some shit like this man. This album and MDBTF have 2 of my favourite narratives surrounding the album stories. The BBC interview that came out around the same time where he talks about the same difficult entry into the fashion realm that he talks about on this album, it’s easy to see where his frustration and brashness came from that translated perfectly to Yeezus. The sounds used here are deconstructed, minimalist, and harsh, the bars so ambitiously cocky that they’re impossible to ignore. The entire story of the fall and rebirth of his Yeezus persona that is told throughout the album is nearly picture perfect, ending with the ambiguity of the pseudo love song “Bound 2”. Funny how he ended both MDBTF and this album with tributes to Kim K, a lil sad that they’ve gone their separate ways now. This album is also one that grew on me a ton, although it didn’t take as long as TPAB for me to come around to it. I’ve also preached that “New Slaves” is possibly my favourite Kanye verse of all time.

Favourite songs: New Slaves, Hold My Liquor, Blood on the Leaves

5. Days Before Rodeo - Travis Scott (2014)

I’m kinda cheating cause this is a mixtape, but it really is the ultimate, and I mean truly ultimate, aesthetic ‘album’. Back when I thought trap was going to be one of my favourite subgenres of hip hop before the mainstream got hold of it. This was when Travis was still Kanye’s protege and trap was incredibly experimental, this entire album was a level of dark and moody that I’ve never heard in hip hop before and have yet to hear since. The first organs you hear from the opening track “The Prayer” are overbearing and bring a heavy atmosphere. All throughout the album distant 808s and hard hitting bass drums give depth to the wonderfully layered sounds. This is definitely also a prime example of style over substance, since I can’t say this album is nearly as narratively significant as others this high, but damn does it make up for it with insane style. The features on this are maximized, with heavy coproduction from Metro Boomin, an amazing verse from Young Thug on “Skyfall”, even containing possibly Big Sean’s best verse of all time on “Don’t Play”.

Favourite Songs: Drugs You Should Try It, Don’t Play, Skyfall

4. Good Kid, MAAD City - Kendrick Lamar (2012)

This was an album that I really liked a bunch of it’s songs before I even seriously got into hip hop or began to think about music critically the way I do now. It’s just straight up so good as both critically acclaimed yet super digestible rap from Kendrick. It grew on me slowly, starting from songs like “Swimming Pools” being played on the radio or revisiting “Poetic Justice” around when TPAB was dropped. There’s a seriousness to how Kendrick portrays his life in all his albums, but especially in how he portrays his childhood growing up in Compton here. The best type of artists are able to take totally unrelatable situations (such as most of his Compton escapades) and inject a sense of relatability to the madness. I’ve never had people close to me die in my life but I still feel just as strongly about “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”, or dreamed the same type of dreams that Kendrick did at 16 in “Backseat Freestyle” but it’s still one of my favourite songs of all time because of how he can make be believe every word.

Favourite Songs: Backseat Freestyle, Money Trees, Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst

3. My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West (2010)

I hate to admit that going forward my top 3 albums are all Kanye albums, but really I’m not surprised at all, Kanye is the goat. I thought about it a while but really there’s no 3 albums I enjoy more than these last 3 Kanye albums. Starting with MDBTF, no Kanye album has prolly been talked about as much as this one, and almost universally beloved as one of the greatest albums of all time. The rollout and history of it as well; going from the Taylor VMA incident to self imposed exile in Hawaii while experiencing some of the lowest times in his life, only to redeem himself with this masterpiece of music is something out of a movie redemption arc. The way he shattered the depth of the production landscape in hip hop by incorporating such a variety of instruments and vocals layered in such complex ways is some true alpha shit. From the decadent vocal sample and guitar solo in “Devil in a New Dress”, to the haunting piano countermelody in “Runaway”, to how he spins Bon Iver into a full chorus in “Lost in the World”, there’s so much more to this album when you begin to unwrap every song. The way it also sequences according to the title, going from beautiful (tracks 1-4), to dark (tracks 5-9), to twisted (tracks 10-13) is something that isn’t mentioned enough. There’s already been so much said both critically and commercially about MDBTF, so I won’t keep beating a dead horse. Most importantly, it also contains my personal favourite song of all time “Gorgeous”.

Favourite Songs: Gorgeous, Power, Runaway

2. Late Registration - Kanye West (2005)

Alright, second on the list is another classic, a true old Kanye type of record. I don’t think I lean towards either old or new Kanye, I like them both equally, and I just appreciate the evolution of his sound over time. As phenomenal as College Dropout was (even making my honourable mentions list), Late Registration is just upgraded College Dropout. It took the more trendy, chipmunk soul gospel style production that Kanye used in his debut album and elaborated on those sounds. There are still female singers on hooks, still soul and gospel inspired vocals and choirs, but how their sounds are used is nowhere near as homogenous as College Dropout. You have songs like “Roses” that use singular somber vocals on the hook, and you also have songs like “Hey Mama” where he uses an upbeat repetitive vocal melody. There are horns, there are strings, there are keys, there’s so much packed into this album that I think stylistically this is my favourite album ever produced. There’s almost no skips here and in almost every song there are unique parts that make me go holy shit. A prime example is the spoken word outro of “Crack Music”, it legit (and I cannot stress this enough) has some of the most fire and meaningful wordplay I have ever heard. On a singular song count basis, this is prolly my most played album of all time.

Favourite Songs: Touch the Sky, Hey Mama, Diamonds From Sierra Leone - Bonus

1 Graduation - Kanye West (2007)

Alright here we have finally reached the top of the list. After much internal debate I think I have to give the crown to Graduation. I think there’s honestly so much leverage given to the power of nostalgia, especially when it comes to music and that’s prolly what pushed this over the edge to number 1. I remember being interested enough in this album to search up other songs that weren’t just the singles that played on the radio, which was a huge deal for me in 2007. Also considering that this album really paved the way for the mixing of traditional hip hop and mainstream pop music production, it’s been another one of Kanye’s truly revolutionary albums. I love that he and 50 cent had a competition for album sales, a contrast of new and old styles that saw Graduation destroy Curtis. There are so many classics on here, from one of my favourite opening tracks of all time “Good Morning”, to the radio banger “Stronger”, to “Good Life”, and “Flashing Lights”, some of Kanye’s most recognizable songs are found here. I will even die on the hill that I thoroughly enjoy “Drunk and Hot Girls” (although I will admit “Barry Bonds” is pree weak). There has never been a time in my life I didn’t listen to songs from Graduation, throughout all my different phases in music and I can’t think of a better album to crown as my favourite album of all time.

Favourite Songs: Good morning, I Wonder, Can’t Tell Me Nothing