THE 250 BEST ALBUMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY...SO FAR

THE 250 BEST ALBUMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY...SO FAR

Rolling Stone posted a feature on the 250 Best Albums of the 21st Century...So Far. To me–a diligent, obsessive list-maker–them's fighting words. At first, I thought, "already?" But oops, we're 25 years into the century so maybe it's not too soon to take a first look at all the great albums already out. I haven't counted them up, but my list is substantially different from RS. I've got more jazz, more world music, certainly more cast albums (Not even Hamilton? Really, Rolling Stone!) and let's face it, more NPR-type music for adults.

Are they right? Am I wrong? Nope. It's just a reflection of how much terrific music is released (literally, thousands of albums worth every week and I'm not even counting A.I.-generated crap!) Plus, we've all got our biases. Rolling Stone needs to be hip and reflect the radio, the kids, the cool stuff. Not me. I'm so old fashioned I listen to albums–not playlists and certainly not random singles. So enjoy this list for what it is, a grab-bag of music from the past 25 years I've loved, some of which I've been playing and enjoying for longer than you've been alive (if perhaps we're talking about one of the older albums and you're, say, 21.) Unlike Rolling Stone, I am allowing only one album per act so I can offer up as many different artists as possible. (But I cheat a little.) So enjoy! And let me know what albums are missing from this list!

They're not in any particular order, though perhaps my initial ten picks are ten of my absolute favorites. But to prove they're not ranked, I end with Joni Mitchell's magisterial covers album Both Sides Now and I'm not about to tell Joni Mitchell one of her albums ranks #250 out of 250. Uh-uh. It's great and I could easily put it at the top. So there.

Pro tip: if you get to the bottom, you'll find a bonus list of the best reissues/boxed sets and a bonus bonus list of the best Christmas albums.

First, if you're interested, I've also got a list naming my favorite album for every year from 1924 to the Present. Yes, 100+ years of great albums! And then I list all of my favorite albums for each year. What great albums came out the year you were born? Have you heard them all? Check it out!

The Best Albums of the Year: 1924 to the Present

If you prefer to stroll through my library or wonder exactly how crazy I am about Paul McCartney or Prefab Sprout or Joni Mitchell or whomever, here are a bunch of albums I've listened to over the years, arranged by artist, going from ABBA to ZZ Top, as well as lists of cast albums, soundtracks, Christmas music and various artist compilations. 

Michael's Music Library: Arranged By Artist From A to Z

Like I said, I like lists!

Okay, let's get streaming! Here are my picks for...

THE 250 BEST ALBUMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY...SO FAR

SUFJAN STEVENS – (Come On Feel The) Illinoise  

MANU CHAO -- Proxima Estacion: Esperanza

CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT -- Dreams And Daggers 

GREEN DAY -- American Idiot

SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS -- 100 Days 100 Nights

PAUL MCCARTNEY -- Chaos and Creation In The Backyard 

MAXWELL -- BLACKsummers'night /blackSUMMERnights (two albums in a trilogy)

RUMER -- Seasons Of My Soul

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST -- We've Got It From Here...Thank You For Your Service

JOHN LUTHER ADAMS -- Become Ocean

ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS -- Raising Sand 

KAMASI WASHINGTON -- Heaven And Earth 

KATE BUSH -- Aerial 

ORCHESTRA BAOBAB -- Specialist In All Styles

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT -- Want One

KENDRICK LAMAR -- To Pimp A Butterfly

AMY WINEHOUSE -- Back To Black

ESLABÓN ARMADO -- Nostalgia 

AIMEE MANN -- Bachelor No. 2 or, The Last Remains of the Dodo

VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Music from The Singing Detective And More 

EMINEM -- The Marshall Mathers LP

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- Spring Awakening

JOHNNY CASH -- American IV: The Man Comes Around

SOLANGE -- A Seat At The Table

WILCO -- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

FLOATING POINTS AND PHAROAH SANDERS -- Promises 

COURTNEY BARNETT -- Sometimes I Just Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit

THE WHITE STRIPES -- Elephant

ALI FARKA TOURE AND TOUMANI DIABATE – In The Heart Of The Moon

KING CREOSOTE AND JON HOPKINS -- Diamond Mine 

BRANDI CARLILE -- In These Silent Days (In The Canyon Haze edition) 

BRIAN ENO AND ROBERT FRIPP -- The Equatorial Stars 

KANYE WEST -- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

DOLLY PARTON -- Little Sparrow

GRUPO FRONTERA -- El Comienzo 

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- Hamilton 

TINARIWEN -- Aman Iman: Water Is Life

RYAN ADAMS -- Gold 

IMMANUEL WILKINS -- Omega

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH -- The Wild Hunt/Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird ep

STURGILL SIMPSON -- Metamodern Sounds In Country Music

PJ HARVEY -- Let England Shake 

ARCTIC MONKEYS -- Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

ALLEN TOUSSAINT -- The Bright Mississippi

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- Hadestown (Off Broadway production) 

PESO PLUMA -- Génesis 

PETER GARLAND -- The Basketweave Elegies (performed by William Winant) 

KASEY CHAMBERS -- Dragonfly

WILLIE NELSON AND WYNTON MARSALIS -- Two Men With The Blues

BEASTIE BOYS -- Beastie Boys Music  

FIONA APPLE -- Fetch The Bolt Cutters 

OUTKAST -- Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

DIXIE CHICKS -- Home

AMADOU AND MARIAM – Dimanche a Bamako 

RICHARD SWIFT – The Richard Swift Collection, Volume One  

BRANFORD MARSALIS -- Four MF's Playin' Their Tunes

THE EELS – Blinking Lights and Other Revelations 

BETTYE LAVETTE – I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise 

JOSH ROUSE -- 1972 

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- The Scottsboro Boys

BRIGHT EYES – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning 

YOUSSOU N'DOUR -- Nothing's In Vain

LEONARD COHEN -- You Want It Darker

ERYKAH BADU -- New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) 

JOSHUA REDMAN AND BRAD MEHLDAU -- Nearness

LORETTA LYNNE -- Van Lear Rose

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE -- The Black Parade

LINA RODRIGUEZ -- Lina_  Raül Refree

NAS -- Nas

TEDDY THOMPSON AND KELLY JONES -- My Love of Country/Once More (w Jenni Muldaur)

MIDLAKE -- The Trials of Van Occupanther

IRMA THOMAS -- After The Rain

BRIAN WILSON -- Brian Wilson Presents Smile

THE ROOTS -- The Tipping Point

RADIOHEAD -- Kid A 

KENNY BARRON -- Book Of Intuition

PAUL BUCHANAN -- Mid Air

BOUBACAR TRAORE -- Mali Denhou 

MADELEINE PEYROUX -- Bare Bones

BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD -- Backhand Deals 

THE STROKES -- Is This It?

EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL -- Fuse  

THE LEMON TWIGS -- A Dream Is All We Know 

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS -- Genuine Negro Jigs

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- Avenue Q

BAD BUNNY -- X100PRE

TONY BENNETT AND BILL CHARLAP -- The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern

iLe -- Almadura

JASON ISBELL -- The Nashville Sound

JOHANN JOHANNSSON -- The Miners' Hymns 

KAISER CHIEFS -- Education, Education, Education and War

BECKY G -- Esquinas 

KEITH JARRETT -- Somewhere

BOYGENIUS -- The Record 

CHANCE THE RAPPER -- Coloring Book

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- Billy Elliot

LIZZO -- Cuz I Love You

DWIGHT YOAKUM -- 3 Pears 

C. TANGANA -- El Madrileño 

BARRY MANILOW -- Night Songs 

MAVIS STAPLES -- Live: Hope At The Holdout

BOB DYLAN -- Fallen Angels 

BOMBINO -- Agadez

CAT POWER -- The Greatest 

D'ANGELO -- Voodoo

THE MAVERICKS -- En Español 

TERENCE BLANCHARD -- A Tale of God's Will

LINDA THOMPSON -- Won't Be Long Now

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS -- 50 Song Memoir

THE FEELING -- Boy Cried Wolf

WILLIAM BASINSKI -- The Disintegration Loops

SAULT -- Untitled (Black Is) and Untitled (Rise)

JOAN BAEZ -- Day After Tomorrow

BALLAKE SISSOKO AND VINCENT SEGAL -- Chamber Music

TRACEY THORN -- Love and Its Opposite

CHRIS STAPLETON -- Traveller 

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- Grey Gardens 

SONNY ROLLINS -- Road Show Vol. 1

TANYA TUCKER -- Sweet Western Sound 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – I Believe To My Soul 

A GIRL CALLED EDDY -- Been Around 

WYNTON MARSALIS -- Standards and Ballads

FLEET FOXES -- Helplessness Blues

SOLOMON BURKE -- Nashville

DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES -- Do It For Love 

ROSEANNE CASH -- Black Cadillac 

MAX RICHTER -- The Blue Notebooks 

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- The Wild Party (Michael John LaChuisa)

KONONO NO. 1 -- Congotronics

PETER WOLF -- Midnight Souvenirs

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN -- We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions American Land Edition

JILL SCOTT -- Woman 

RON SEXSMITH -- Long Player, Late Bloomer

BASSEKOU KUYATE AND NGONI BA -- Segu Blue

SUZANNE VEGA -- Beauty and Crimes 

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE -- Welcome Interstate Managers

kd lang -- Hymns Of The 49th Parallel

BRAD PAISLEY -- American Saturday Night

ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM -- The Band's Visit

BRAD MEHLDAU -- Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles

WEYES BLOOD -- Titanic Rising 

ELO aka Electric Light Orchestra -- Zoom

CASSANDRA WILSON -- Thunderbird

NEIL DIAMOND – 12 Songs 

THE LICKERISH QUARTET -- Threesome 

MARGO PRICE -- All American Made

AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE -- A Trip To Bolgatonga

CLARICE JENSEN -- The Experience Of Repetition As Death 

PANIC! AT THE DISCO -- Pray For The Wicked

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT -- High, Wide And Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project 

NORAH JONES -- Come Away With Me

DAVID BOWIE -- Heathen

THE JOHN SALLY RIDE -- Now Is Not A Great Time 

PATTY GRIFFIN -- Children Running Through 

FATOUMATA DIAWARA -- Fatou

JAMES HUNTER -- People Gonna Talk

ANDY BEY -- American Song

REGINA SPEKTOR -- Begin To Hope

VARIOUS ARTISTS -- O Brother, Where Art Thou?

THE MONKEES -- Good Times!

GILLIAN WELCH -- The Harrow and the Harvest

BECK -- Sea Change

THE AVETT BROTHERS -- I And Love And You 

DIANA KRALL -- The Look Of Love

THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS -- The Age Of The Understatement

JOHN MORELAND -- Big Bad Luv

DR. JOHN -- Locked Down 

M. WARD -- Hold Time 
CHUCK PROPHET -- The Land That Time Forgot

MUDCRUTCH -- Mudcrutch 2 

JANELLE MONAE -- The Electric Lady

THE WHIFFS -- Take A Whiff 

COWBOY JUNKIES -- Notes Falling Slowly

KALI MALONE -- The Sacrificial Code

VAMPIRE WEEKEND -- Modern Vampires Of The City

JUDY COLLINS -- Silver Skies Blue

JAMES COTTON -- Cotton Mouth Man

LORDE -- Pure Heroin(e)

JESSE WINCHESTER -- Love Filling Station

BOZ SCAGGS -- But Beautiful 

JOHN MAYER -- Born And Raised

CAROLINE SHAW -- Orange

THE CORAL -- Coral Island 

SHELBY LYNNE -- The Servant

JAMEY JOHNSON -- Living For A Dream: A Tribute To Hank Cochran

TAME IMPALA -- Currents

CHARLIE GABRIEL AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND -- 89 

ALLISON RUSSELL -- Outside Child  

CHEAP TRICK -- The Latest 

VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood  original soundtrack 

NELLIE MCKAY -- Normal As Blueberry Pie: A Tribute To Doris Day 

BETA RADIO -- Seven Sisters 

TOM WAITS -- Bad As Me 

IRIS DEMENT -- The Trackless Woods 

ANDY BURROWS AND MATT HAIG -- Reasons To Stay Alive

JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST -- Watch the Throne

RICK SPRINGFIELD -- The Snake King 

BETTY BUCKLEY -- Ghostlight

STEVE EARLE -- Ghosts Of West Virginia 

SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA -- Across 110th Street

JOE JACKSON -- Mr. Joe Jackson Presents Max Champion in "What A Racket!"
KEITH JARRETT AND CHARLIE HADEN -- Jasmine
MIRANDA LAMBERT, JACK INGRAM, JON RANDALL -- The Marfa Tapes
OLAFUR ARNALDS -- Some Kind Of Peace
ELVIS COSTELLO -- The Boy Named If  
MELODY GARDOT -- My One And Only Thrill

THE FRATELLIS -- Eyes Wide Tongue Tied

MANDY PATINKIN -- Diary: January 27, 2018/April May 2018

AMY LAVERE -- Runaway's Diary 
NICK HEYWARD -- Woodland Echoes 

HARRY STYLES -- Harry's House 

TONY BENNETT & k.d. lang -- A Wonderful World

IKE REILLY -- Born On Fire 

GLEN CAMPBELL -- Ghost on the Canvas 

WET LEG -- Wet Leg 

BEYONCÉ -- Cowboy Carter

RICHARD THOMPSON -- 13 Rivers 

BON IVER -- For Emma, Forever Ago

THE VINES -- Wicked Nature

ANGELIQUE KIDJO -- Remain In Light 

NICK CAVE -- Ghosteen 

MARIA MCKEE -- La Vita Nuova 

PAUL KELLY -- Songs From The South: Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits 1985-2019 

KRONOS QUARTET AND TRIO DA KALI -- Ladilikan

MATTHEW SWEET AND SUSANNA HOFFS -- Under The Covers Vol. 1

MARCUS KING -- Mood Swings

TIM CHRISTENSEN -- Honeyburst

BUDDY GUY -- Living Proof

PET SHOP BOYS -- Super

THE FINN BROTHERS -- Everyone Is Here 

CORINNE BAILEY RAE -- Corinne Bailey Rae 

THE SMILE -- Wall of Eyes / Cutout 

KELLY WILLIS -- Cheater's Game (w Bruce Robison) 

ARI LENNOX -- Shea Butter Baby 

TOUMANI DIABATE'S SYMMETRIC ORCHESTRA -- Boulevard De L'Independance

FRANK TURNER -- Tape Deck Heart

BILL FAY -- Life Is People

BONES -- Skinny and Rotten and Seabeds (all 2014)

WYNTON MARSALIS AND ERIC CLAPTON -- Play the Blues

ELLIOT BROOD -- Town and Country  

THE CURE -- Songs Of A Lost World

SZA -- Ctrl

FRANK OCEAN -- Channel Orange 

DAVID BYRNE AND BRIAN ENO -- Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

LADY BLACKBIRD -- Slang Spirituals

KASEY CHAMBERS AND SHANE NICHOLSON -- Rattlin' Bones 

HOWARD TATE -- A Portrait Of Howard

ADELE -- 21 

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO -- Songs From a Zulu Farm

JONI MITCHELL -- Both Sides Now

BONUS! THE 20 BEST REISSUES/BOX SETS OF THE 21ST CENTURY...SO FAR 

ELLA FITZGERALD -- Twelve Nights In Hollywood 

BOB DYLAN -- Another Self Portrait 
BOBBIE GENTRY -- The Girl From Chickaswaw County 

JOHNNY ADAMS -- South Side Of Soul Street (The SSS Sessions)/Only Want To Be With You comp 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Does Anybody Know I’m Here? Vietnam Through The Eyes of Black America 

JOHNNY CASH -- Unearthed

VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Night Train To Nashville: Music City Rhythm And Blues 1945-1970 Vol. One/Two
THE WATERBOYS -- Fisherman Box 

BARBRA STREISAND -- Live At The Bon Soir

THE REPLACEMENTS -- Tim: Let It Bleed Edition

GARNET MIMMS -- Looking For You: The Complete United Artists and Veep Singles

THE BEACH BOYS -- The Smile Sessions boxed set 

LINDA LEWIS -- Reach For The Truth: Best Of The Reprise Years 1971-1974)

EDDIE CONDON -- The Eddie Condon Collection 1927-1961

VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds And Nigerian Blues 1970-1976

ROLLING STONES -- Live At The El Mocambo

LONE JUSTICE -- Viva Lone Justice 

EMMYLOU HARRIS, DOLLY PARTON, LINDA RONSTADT -- Trio: The Complete Collection

TABU LEY ROCHEREAU -- The Voice Of Lightness 

THE BEATLES -- 1962-1966 (The Red Album expanded)/1967-1970 (The Blue Album expanded) 

BONUS BONUS! THE 13 BEST CHRISTMAS ALBUMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY...SO FAR 

SIA -- Everyday is Christmas
SUFJAN STEVENS -- Songs For Christmas/Silver & Gold boxed sets

AIMEE MANN -- Drifters in the Snow

LOS LOBOS -- Llegó Navidad 

TRACEY THORN -- Tinsel and Lights

WYNTON MARSALIS/JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER BIG BAND -- Big Band Holiday 

JUDY COLLINS -- Winter Stories  

BRISTOL BRASS CONSORT -- Festive Brass

TORI AMOS --  Midwinter Graces

ROBBIE WILLIAMS -- The Christmas Present 

STILE ANTICO -- A Spanish Nativity  

THE LIVING SISTERS -- Harmony Is Real: Songs For A Happy Holiday 

VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Where Will You Be Christmas Day