The Best Rock Albums of the 2010s, Ranked

Rock spent much of the 2010s supposedly dying, which was awkward considering how many excellent rock records kept coming out. The decade had fewer monoculture guitar heroes, but it gave you Arctic Monkeys turning lounge music sinister, Queens of the Stone Age making mortality catchy, and David Bowie releasing one final album that nobody could shake.

Ranking the decade means stretching “rock” far enough to include indie, alternative, punk and art rock, while keeping the guitars, bands and general sense of danger intact. These are the 10 albums that made the strongest case.

10. The War on Drugs, Lost in the Dream (2014)

Lost in the Dream sounds enormous without getting loud for the sake of it. Adam Granduciel built songs such as “Red Eyes” and “Under the Pressure” from layers of guitars, keyboards and motorik rhythms that seem designed for a highway at 1 a.m.

Released in 2014, the album turned The War on Drugs from an acclaimed indie band into something much harder to ignore. If you think “heartland rock” means dusty old records your dad owns, start here.

9. IDLES, Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018)

By 2018, plenty of rock bands could sound angry. IDLES sounded angry about specific things.

The Bristol band’s second album tackles masculinity, immigration, grief and class while still finding room for ridiculous jokes and huge choruses. “Danny Nedelko” became its most immediate calling card, but “Colossus” is the better introduction to what IDLES do: tension, release, then complete chaos.

It’s abrasive. It’s also far warmer than its clenched-fist reputation suggests.

8. Tame Impala, Lonerism (2012)

Kevin Parker recorded much of Lonerism himself, but the result feels bigger than plenty of albums made by five-piece bands. Psychedelic guitars smear into synthesizers, drums sound like they’re coming through a wall, and Parker sings about isolation while making music built for crowds.

“Elephant” provides the obvious riff. “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” provides the melody you’ll still be humming tomorrow.

The album also caught rock at an interesting moment. Synths and studio manipulation weren’t replacing guitars. Parker was showing how comfortably they could live together.

7. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City (2013)

Vampire Weekend’s first two albums made being clever look easy. Their third made it sound exhausting.

Released in 2013, Modern Vampires of the City digs into religion, ageing and death without sacrificing the band’s gift for hooks. “Diane Young” is frantic and distorted; “Hannah Hunt” barely raises its voice before reaching a gorgeous breaking point.

And yes, an album this polished can still count as rock. Genre borders were already becoming less useful by the middle of the decade.

6. Parquet Courts, Wide Awake! (2018)

Few 2010s records make anxiety this much fun.

Produced by Danger Mouse, Wide Awake! jumps between wiry post-punk, funk and garage rock while Andrew Savage fires off observations about violence, consumerism and modern exhaustion. The title track sounds like a party happening while somebody reads the bad news out loud.

That contradiction is the point. Parquet Courts understood that political rock works better when you actually want to replay it.

5. Arctic Monkeys, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018)

Arctic Monkeys could've spent the rest of their career rewriting “Do I Wanna Know?” and filling arenas. Instead, Alex Turner bought into the idea of a fictional hotel on the moon and made a piano-heavy record about technology, celebrity and modern boredom.

The first listen can be baffling. The fifth can be addictive.

Released five years after the massively successful AM, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino was the riskier move. Songs such as “Four Out of Five” proved the band could abandon their obvious strengths without losing their personality.

4. Fontaines D.C., Dogrel (2019)

Dogrel arrived near the decade’s finish and immediately sounded like a band with somewhere to be.

The Dublin group’s 2019 debut runs on sharp guitars, pounding rhythms and Grian Chatten’s half-sung, half-spoken delivery. “Boys in the Better Land” is the obvious rush, while “Dublin City Sky” reveals how much tenderness sits underneath all that momentum.

Plenty of debut albums promise potential. Dogrel already sounded complete.

3. Arctic Monkeys, AM (2013)

Yes, Arctic Monkeys get two spots. They earned them by making two records that barely sound related.

AM took the band’s guitar music and rebuilt it around hip-hop-influenced drums, falsetto backing vocals and riffs thick enough to survive terrible nightclub speakers. “Do I Wanna Know?”, “R U Mine?” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” turned the album into the defining commercial rock record of its moment.

More than a decade later, those songs haven't become period pieces. That matters.

2. Queens of the Stone Age, ...Like Clockwork (2013)

Josh Homme nearly died following complications from surgery before making ...Like Clockwork, and the experience hangs over the record without swallowing it.

“I Appear Missing” is devastating, “My God Is the Sun” hits with familiar Queens of the Stone Age force, and the title track closes things in exhausted slow motion. Guests included Elton John, Trent Reznor and Alex Turner, but the album never feels like a celebrity roll call.

Released in 2013, it debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200. More importantly, it proved a veteran rock band could make its darkest record without becoming dull or self-important.

1. David Bowie, Blackstar (2016)

Blackstar was released on January 8, 2016, Bowie’s 69th birthday. He died two days later.

That timing permanently changed how people heard the album, but reducing it to a farewell would undersell the music. Bowie worked with jazz musicians, stretched the title track to nearly 10 minutes and made “Lazarus” feel unsettling even before listeners understood its context.

It’s strange, difficult and occasionally beautiful. Bowie had spent decades escaping whatever version of himself audiences wanted back, and his final studio album kept doing exactly that.

For a decade accused of having nothing new to say with rock music, Blackstar is a difficult exhibit to argue against.

Why You Should Care

You don't need to know every Arctic Monkeys B-side or own a turntable to get something from these records. Together, they show what happened when rock stopped being the automatic centre of popular music and musicians gained more freedom to mess with its boundaries.

Start with AM if you want immediate hooks, ...Like Clockwork if you want something heavier, and Blackstar when you've got an uninterrupted hour. The 2010s didn't kill rock. They made it less predictable.

What to Listen to Next

If these 10 leave you wanting more, try Wolf Alice’s Visions of a Life (2017) for a record that jumps confidently between shoegaze, punk and dream pop. Then play Car Seat Headrest’s Teens of Denial (2016), a sprawling guitar record full of messy thoughts and killer payoffs.

And if Blackstar is the one you can't stop thinking about, go backwards to David Bowie’s Station to Station (1976). Forty years separate the two records, but you can hear the same instinct in both: never give the audience the easy next move.