Panda Bear - Tomboy

9.9

taking responsibility, cumulonimbus, sea, what really matters, self-isolation

Standouts:
"Friendship Bracelet"
"Surfer's Hymn"
"Alsatian Darn"

Nirvana - Nevermind

9.9

frustration, cut-up, adrenaline, Gen X, counterculture

Standouts:
"On A Plain"
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"
"Drain You"

The Smiths - The Smiths

9.4

child abuse, breakup, refusing work, malaise, jangly

Standouts:
"Hand In Glove"
"Suffer Little Children"
"The Hand That Rocks The Cradle"

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

8.5

desperation, submission, objectification, sex abuse, salacious

Standouts:
"Canary"
"Dance of the Seven Veils"
"Girls! Girls! Girls!"

Kanye West - The College Dropout

8.4

emergence, South Side struggle, recovery, soul, the impracticality of college

Standouts:
"We Don't Care"
"Through the Wire"
"Slow Jamz"

The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die

9.3

underdog, mortality, crime, sensuality, slow jams

Standouts:
"Everyday Struggle"
"Juicy"
"Big Poppa"

The Clash - London Calling

9.5

capitalism, working-class, greed, consumerism, reggae

Standouts:
"Rudie Can't Fail"
"Revolution Rock"
"Train in Vain"

Kanye West - Yeezus

8.7

Jamaica, industrial, house, racial inequality, American Psycho

Standouts:

"I Am a God"

"Bound 2"

"Guilt Trip"

Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister

10

soul-searching, observations, school, obscurity, sorrow

Standouts:
"If You're Feeling Sinister"
"Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying"
"The Boy Done Wrong Again"

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead

10

discontent, alienation, anguish, loneliness, the mystery of death

Standouts:
"The Boy With The Thorn In His Side"
"I Know It's Over"
"Cemetry Gates"

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

10

transcendence, wilderness, rain, walking, as ominous as life itself

Standouts:
"Astral Weeks"
"Sweet Thing"
"Madame George"

Wild Nothing - Gemini

9.8

gloss, summer, Romantic, passion, youthful exuberance

Standouts:
"Gemini"
"O Lilac"
"Summer Holiday"

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

9.9

contentment, regret, perseverance, longing, frollicking

Standouts:
"Bluish"
"Guys Eyes"
"Brother Sport"

The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

9.8

misery, despondency, isolation, angst, misfits

Standouts:
"Disarm"
"Mayonaise"
"Soma"

Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city

9.7

pirus, crips, power struggles, salvation, responsibility

Standouts:
"Real"
"Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst"
"Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe"

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

9.6

collapse, Chicago, hesitation, radio frequency, insecurity

Standouts:
"Jesus, etc."
"Kamera"
"Radio Cure"

Panda Bear - Person Pitch

10

relaxation, living naturally, peace, self-acceptance, getting better

Standouts:
"Take Pills"
"Bro's"
"I'm Not"

Radiohead - OK Computer

9.6

Digital Age, paranoid, anxiety, crash, cosmic

Standouts:
"Karma Police"
"Lucky"
"No Surprises"

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

9.9

ballerinas, redemption, exile, confusion, nightmares

Standouts:
"Blame Game"
"Runaway"
"Lost In the World"

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

9.6

NYC, twentysomethings, mortality, uncertainty, unrequited affection

Standouts:
"Step"
"Ya Hey"
"Everlasting Arms"

The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

9.8

misery, togetherness, emptiness, nighttime, growing up 90s

Standouts:
"1979"
"Thirty-Three"
"Tonight, Tonight"

Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...

9.3

pain, breakdown, feeling, disappointment, obsession

Standouts:
"Werewolf"
"Periphery"
"Every Single Night"

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

9.5

Reagan 80s, dissolution, dissonance, apathy, flux

Standouts:
"Teen Age Riot"
"The Sprawl"
"Total Trash"

The xx - xx

9.7

whisper, nighttime, young love, comfort, patience

Standouts:
"Islands"
"Shelter"
"Intro"

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

10

nature, wonder, regret, wandering, sleeping and waking

Standouts:
"The Plains/Bitter Dancer"
"The Shrine/An Argument"
"Grown Ocean"

Feist - The Reminder

9.5

retrospect, obsession, dissatisfaction, self-discovery, soul

Standouts:
"1234"
"Honey Honey"
"Brandy Alexander"

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

 9.9

darkness, suburbia, abandonment, expiration, outcasts

Standouts:
"He Would Have Laughed"
"Sailing"
"Memory Boy"

Vampire Weekend - Contra

9.7

The Clash, winter, millennial doubt, impatience, urban haute bourgeois

Standouts:
"Horchata"
"Run"
"I Think Ur a Contra" 

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

9.9

coming of age, suburban chaos, reminiscence, wasting time, good arena rock?

Standouts:
"City With No Children"
"Half Light II (No Celebration)"
"Suburban War"

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy

9.8

saccharine, feedback, difficult romance, narcissism, submission

Standouts:
"The Hardest Walk"
"Just Like Honey"
"You Trip Me Up"

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

9.4

May 1968 riots, Madchester, The Beatles, jangly, acid

Standouts:
"Bye Bye Bad Man"
"She Bangs the Drums"
"I Wanna Be Adored"

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

9.9

disintegration, infatuation, fading, drenched, supernatural

Standouts:
"When You Sleep"
"Sometimes"
"I Only Said"

M.I.A. - Kala

8.8

immigrants, hussling, war, globalization, repping

Standouts:

"Paper Planes"

"Boyz"

"XR2"

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

8.9

 Cape Cod, college, Afrobeat, hipsters, dadaism

Standouts:
"M79"
"A-Punk"
"Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"