At the time of writing, suicide remains the UK’s most common cause of death for men aged 20-49. AT, “Are you done digging your grave yet?” If ‘The Hunter’ seems a little on the nose today, it’s worth bearing in mind that ‘Are You Satisfied?’ arrived in 2015 – right on the precipice of Brexit, Trump and real panic about climate change. They were magpies, of course, but they were good at it. ‘She Lays Down’. How do you begin to distil a decade’s worth of music into any kind of list? From the fiery sparks and wolf-like howls of ‘Bonfire’ to the undeniable ‘Sucker’, ‘Love in the 4th Dimension’ had hard-whacking indie anthems up its sleeves for days. The Oxford quintet’s second album landed at a crossroads. K-SW, An album that flees from ferocious Texan rattlesnakes and racks up gigantic lines in a Berlin toilet cubicle with Prince Johnny, ‘St Vincent’ even fits in a cheeky wank after putting the bins out (“take out the garbage, masturbate” remains one of this decade’s best lyrics). 16. Goosebump moment: The nightmarish turbo-charged ‘Kill V Maim’ – about a gender-switching space-travelling vampire – which sounds like a bunch of cheerleaders gone feral. Forget wallowing in misery – the New Yorkers built a record filled with messages of resilience, hope, and defiance, delivered through glam-rock stomps (‘Crisis Fest’) and swooning dream-pop (‘Only A Moment’). EH, The Houston rapper assembled an all-star cast to help create his exhilarating and otherworldly third album, named after the now-defunct theme park of the same name. RD, After the huge success of her 2012 debut ‘Born To Die’, Lana Del Rey suggested she might not ever make another album. ‘The Louvre’. 14. The best album covers of the 2010s accomplish the same aesthetic magic as classics like Joni Mitchell’s Blue and My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. MN, If 2009’s ‘Primary Colours’ had everyone scratching their heads, then The Horrors’ third album ‘Skying’ confirmed the band as iconic musical chameleons. 17. Classic albums. RD, There’s a very obvious thing about debut albums and that’s that you only get one crack at your first mission statement. 28. Nick Cave – ‘Push The Sky Away’ (2013). ‘I Want It All’. David Bowie – ‘The Next Day’ (2013). Soon after, the album, ‘channel ORANGE’, was released. At the beginning of the 2010s many predicted the slow death of the album -- but at the decade's end, the format seems forever changed, but still absolutely vital. Like so much of Lamar’s work to follow, it combined dense lyricism and incredibly intricate delivery (listen to the beautiful tumble of words that unspools on ‘good kid’) with a neat conceit that threaded the whole thing together in an unfussy way. Compiled of troubled anthems for tortured souls and broken hearts, ‘High Violet’ searched for meaning during breakdowns and breakups on songs so candid and crushing that it felt intrusive to listen. Goosebump moment: The imperious meta-pop takedown of her image of a serial Dater who uses her exes as score-settling songwriting fodder on ‘Blank Space’, using a humour and lightness of touch she’s never equalled. 9. I started to feel like I was channelling spirits. Ths dramatic shot, taken at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida by William V. 'Red' Robertson, captures him in a full, convention-defying flow. Initially based solely on the sales of albums in the vinyl and CD formats, digital albums began being included from April 2006. “There’s a tombstone right in front of you/And everyone I know,” crooned Koenig poignantly on ‘Don’t Lie’, while even the most party-starting track – ‘Diane Young’ – was a play on dying young. You can spot the Run The Jewels aesthetic immediately. RD, There are thousands of break-up records, but falling-in-love records are harder to come by for some reason. It became the soundtrack for countless nights out, hook-ups and comedowns in every town and city of this country. ‘Skying’ showed that there was nothing The Horrors couldn’t master. “This album is an attempt to be vulnerable to our audience and to encourage vulnerability; a brave naked smile in this shitty new world,” said singer Joseph Talbot. Artwork by: Dave Konopka (Battles bassist), 19. As you’d expect from someone whose debut album showcased a deep thinker and a dreamer full of wisdom and sharp observations, ‘Melodrama’ was the kind of album that dissected the end of a relationship in precise, gut-wrenching pen strokes. If you’re Kendrick Lamar, you don’t even try. ‘A Change Of Heart’. Aphex Twin – ‘Syro’ Artwork: The Designers Republic, 13. Half Light II (No Celebration) 9. Somebody should have called the police. Never! Best album covers of the 1990s. It’s unsurprising though, as ‘Lemonade’ is a genre-defying masterpiece. Hit hop album covers don't come more iconic than Public Enemy's 'it Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back'. She banked everything on becoming Grimes, a decision that cost her friendships and relationships and left her without a permanent home for a time. The latter spared for the former’s life in a robbery and, two decades later, they all reaped the rewards. As a note, the scores listed throughout the piece were accurate at the time of publication but are subject to change. Swoon-a-rama. And their one and only album ‘Go Tell Fire To The Mountain’ was a hungering slab of supercharged indie rock, lorded over by Ellery Roberts’ feral and unholy snarl. Her debut album ensured that those 15 minutes – which started with the release of her viral hit ‘Bodak Yellow’ – wouldn’t be over any time soon, either. As suggested by the painstakingly detailed map of New York City that covers So ... spaciness that recalls the decade’s best hip-hop. ‘In The Dark Places’ 9. 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