The 40 Best 10th Albums of All Time

I don't even go over to Rolling Stone anymore, but today I got an ad for the magazine's 50 Best 10th Albums of All Time. I was stupid and clicked on the link.

Every list Rolling Stone comes out with is worse than the one before and this was no different. Only 5 albums on their list were released after the year 2000 and the entire list is slanted toward Rock bands from the 1960's and 70's.

So, in the interest of uniqueness for the search engine, I shifted my list to the Top 40 Best 10th Albums (to honor Casey Kasem).

Albums where we agreed upon are in Red, with Rolling Stone's rank in parenthesis.

1. The White Album (1968) by The Beatles (3)

2. Animals (1977) by Pink Floyd (9)

3. The Maggot (1999) by the Melvins - Not only is the album a sludge-metal cornerstone, but it helped build the Ipecac record label. The Melvins just released their 28th album earlier this year.

4. Murder of the Universe (2017) by King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard - Few bands are on an upward trajectory on their 10th release, but King Gizzard just released their 27th album earlier this month. Most of those kids are still in their 30's, could the band release 50 albums? If they keep up their own breakneck pace.

5. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) by the Flaming Lips (12)

6. Crossings (1972) by Herbie Hancock - A jazz fusion classic, AllMusic gave it a perfect review. Hancock would go on to release 30+ more albums and, other than Miles Davis, may be the most important figure in both jazz and jazz fusion in the modern era.

7. Exile on Main Street (1972) by the Rolling Stones  (1)

8. Private Eyes (1981) by Hall and Oates - Private Eyes found Hall and Oates at the peak of their popularity with two # 1 singles on one of their most complete albums. Private Eyes ultimately went Platinum.

9. Ghosts V-VI (2020) by Nine Inch Nails - Technically, Ghosts V is the 10th release and Ghosts VI is the 11th release, but they were released on the same day. Ghosts V is the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist, while Ghosts VI is soundbites of subtle dread.

10. All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt (2006) by Nomeansno - Nomeansno's 10th release was gritty punk laced with despair. Few punk bands make it to release 10, most blow apart long before that milepost. The Sex Pistols didn't even make it to album 2. The only thing that Ausfahrt lacked was an appreciative audience.

11. Freeze Frame (1981) by the J. Geils Band (44)

12. I/O (2023) by Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel is simply a visionary. The album peaked at # 1 in the UK, only at # 99 in America. (!???!!!???!)

13. Weasel's Ripped My Flesh (1970) by Frank Zappa and the Mother's of Invention - In 1970, Zappa was just warming up with Release # 10. Zappa's estate released 60+ more albums AFTER HE DIED.

14. Lightning Bolt (2013) by Pearl Jam - Very few tenth albums were as well-reviewed as Lightning Bolt. It was the band's last # 1 album.

15. Honor Found in Decay (2012) by Neurosis - Produced by Steve Albini, the album received 5 of 5 stars from the Metal Sucks website while garnering "universal acclaim."

16. Bucketheadland 2 (2004) by Buckethead - Bucketheadland 2 was nominated for the Shortlist Music Prize in 2004. What's that, you ask? An alternative to the Grammys, it was an award for the best album that sold under 500,000 copies. Since no albums sell at those numbers today, I'm sure you guessed that the award was discontinued long ago. (In 2007).

17. It's Hard (1982) by The Who - Pete Townsend said it should have never been released. Reviews ranged from terrible to brilliant. Rolling Stone Magazine ironically gave the album 5 out of 5 stars at its release, but missed the album for their list.

18. My Bloody Underground (2008) by the Brian Jonestown Massacre - It's hard to tell exactly what's going on with the BJM. With Anton Newcombe self-sabotaging everything the band does, I can't even print the names of the songs from the album on the website. My Bloody Underground was scorched by critics, but the fans of the band loved it. I kept coming across the term "the Cult of the BJM" in relation to its fans. I liked it, but liked album # 11 better, "Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?" For those who are unaware, the BJM starred in the greatest music documentary of all time DIG!

19. Grace Under Pressure (1984) by Rush (41)

20. Whomp That Sucker (1981) by Sparks - In the year 2021, Edgar Wright released the Sparks Brothers documentary. It refocused the artistic lens on a band that's been around for over 50 years. Sparks just notched their 28th album earlier this year.

21. Rio Grande Blood (2006) by Ministry - Not my favorite Ministry album, but it had songs that were nominated for Grammys (LiesLiesLies) and were in Academy Award winning films (The Hurt Locker).

22. Voivod (2003) Self Titled - The band was basically re-born on their 10th release with the return of Denis "Snake" Belanger and the addition of Jason "Jasonic" Newsted. The album garnered nearly across the board critical acclaim.

23. Fleetwood Mac (1975) by Fleetwood Mac (10)

24. Hardwired to Self Destruct (2016) by Metallica - Metallica could have ended with the death of Cliff Burton in 1986, but 30 years beyond his passing, the band continued to churn out quality original material.

25. Christ Illusion (2006) by Slayer - With all four original members back on board, it was hailed as a "return to form" for the band. Surprisingly, it was the Slayer's second highest charting album.

26. Hot Space (1982) by Queen - Though not received well in America, it was a Top 10 Album in nearly every other country in the Western World. It yielded 7 singles, if you include the Cool Cat single, released 40 years after the album itself.

27. Kamikaze (2018) by Eminem - Average reviews be damned, the album went Platinum and was the # 1 album across nearly all tracking charts, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

28. One Nation Under Groove (1978) by Funkadelic (8)

29. World Peace is None of Your Business (2014) by Morrissey - People forget that Morrissey is still (mostly) beloved in the UK. WPINOYB charted at # 2 in Great Britain and yielded 5 singles. Since Morrissey's tenth album, every single album has continued to make it to the Top 5 overseas, but in America, the albums have tanked.

30. Lovesexy (1988) by Prince (30)

31. The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect (1982) by Todd Rundgren - Todd Rundgren, as an independent artist, had the freedom to lampoon himself on his 10th release. Rundgren continues to tour today, he's coming to Cleveland next month.

32. Elegantly Wasted (1997) by INXS - The wheels were falling off of the INXS wagon, Michael Hutchence was already working on a solo album, and there were multiple in-band tensions. Yet they pulled together to write a few last hits before Hutchence's death later in that same year.

33. Rock of the Westies (1975) by Elton John (34) - Side Note. I was NOT going to include this album on the list. As far as I'm concerned, it had two good singles: Island Girl and Don't Go Breaking my Heart (included on all re-issues past 1995). But Rolling Stone called Island Girl one of the most offensive singles ever released. That is very upsetting to your author who, at 8 years old, thought the song was high art.

34. Something for Everybody (2010) by Devo - We slipped this one on the list on a technicality. Devo's 9th album was Devo 2.0, the almost farcical effort where the members of Devo re-wrote and re-recorded their work for a Disney audience. In regards to Devo 2.0, Jerry Casale said this: "This is proof of devolution. This is it." That made Something for Everybody Devo's 10th, and final, album.

35. Enclosure (2014) by John Frusciante - Despite average reviews, Frusciante called the album the culmination of 5 years of musical goals. The Chili Peppers' guitarist's entire solo discography is underrated and he will be remembered as one of the Top 10 guitarists of the Rock Era.

36. Running with Scissors (1999) by Weird Al Yankovic - At some point, Yankovic should get some credit for even releasing a second album, let alone a 10th album. Though uneven, it yielded one of the funniest videos of all time (All About the Pentiums) and an absolute cult classic (Albuquerque).

37. To Whom it May Concern (1972) by the Bee Gees - Their 10th album was recognized as "a farewell to the old Bee Gees," The Bee Gees' brand of soft rock was disappearing as the band would go on to fully embrace disco. That was a great move for 1977, but by 1985 the Bee Gees had become the scapegoats for the disco era. People forget that the Bee Gees had over a dozen Top 40 singles before Jive Talkin' in 1975.

38. Digital Garbage (2018) by Mudhoney - My son said Mudhoney has never put out a bad album. I am taking his word for it as I include this well-reviewed album for my kid.

39. Everythang's Corrupt (2018) by Ice Cube - The album got average reviews, and didn't do very well on the charts, but Ice Cube gets points in my book for his political single "Arrest the President." Many artists whine about President Trump, but few actually turn their view points into art. Everythang's Corrupt may not be Ice Cube's best work, but at least he stood up for what he believed in, instead of going to Bluesky and crying about Trump with the other X refugees.

40. Blue Hawaii (1961) by Elvis Presley (15)

These are the Top 10 I considered for the list but disregarded:

1. Hot Streets (1978) by Chicago - It's funny, Hot Streets (Chicago X) was nominated for a Grammy, but was technically the band's 8th studio album. Chicago XII was the band's 10th album (and not very good).

2. 90125 (1983) by Yes - 90125 is one of my favorite albums of the 1980's. It would have been in the Top 5 on the list above, but it was the band's 11th album.

3. McCartney II (1980) by Paul McCartney - Not great.

4. Gone Troppo (1982) by George Harrison - Really not great.

5. Double Fantasy (1980) by John Lennon - Really, really terrible.

6. Black Rain (2007) by Ozzy Osbourne - The lead single was "I Don't Want to Stop." Someone should have stopped him.

7. Creatures of the Night (1982) by KISS - The album where KISS stopped being a band and became a corporation.

8. Too High to Die (1994) by the Meat Puppets - I was POSITIVE the Meat Puppets broke through on their 10th album, but it was their 8th. Their 10th album was 2000's Golden Lies. Where's Chris Kirkwood? Where's Derrick Bostrom?

9. The Essentials (2005) by Foreigner - This entry is strictly tongue-in-cheek. Throughout their career, Foreigner only released 9 studio albums, but the Essentials was the bands 10th Greatest Hits album. Yes, you read that right, Foreigner had 9 albums of original material and 18 Greatest Hits albums.

10. The Threat is Real (1998) by Anthrax - And this is where we'll end. In the year 1998, Anthrax put out this GREAT metal album. Of the bands in the Big 4, it was, by far, the best album of the late 90's. Why have you never heard of any songs from the Threat is Real? Because Ignition Records went bankrupt before they could promote it. Anthrax put out an unpromoted metal album in a Nu Metal landscape and it ran into the screaming buzzsaw. By studio album # 10, 2011's Worship Music, which I did NOT like at all, I was just grateful that Anthrax existed at all. Unless you're Frank Zappa or Prince, it's really quite an accomplishment just to get to a 10th studio album, whether it's good or not, especially if you're a band.

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