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# The Top 10 Albums of 2011

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KZ4po7n1.m3u8" -->
## Video: The Top 10 Albums of 2011

[Watch (HLS stream): The Top 10 Albums of 2011](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KZ4po7n1.m3u8) (7:00)

![The Top 10 Albums of 2011](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KZ4po7n1/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2011-12-07. From Kanye to PJ, Claire Suddath presents TIME's ten favorite  albums of the year_


---

Jul 27, 2023 3:20 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[Top 10 Albums of 2012](/video/QWQtLSFt/)

### Top 10 Albums of 2012

[Who Should Be TIME's Person of the Year 2011?](/video/3UapJ6fe/)

### Who Should Be TIME's Person of the Year 2011?

[Grammy Nominees: Album of the Year](/video/jsvXQKSa/)

### Grammy Nominees: Album of the Year

---


## Transcript

[ MUSIC ] From songs about World War one. [ MUSIC ] The one album that wasn't even officially released. I'm Clair Suddeth and this is Time's magazine Favorite Albums of 2011. [ MUSIC ] This album is an exercise in garage rock that's just as dirty and dingy as the band's used 1994 Chevy Coupe for which it's named. [ MUSIC ] Plus, the Lonely Boy video is absolutely hilarious. [ MUSIC ] On their debut album, the Nashville songwriters, Joy Williams and John Paul White create bold harmonies so attention grabbing that at first you don't even notice their sparse. Acoustic accompaniment. [ MUSIC ] References to burning coal, preachers, and winding roads create an idealized, dreamy vision of a rural South that you intuitively recognize, even if you've never been there yourself.

[ MUSIC ] Number eight. The Beastie Boys with Hot Sauce Commitee Part Two. [ MUSIC ] In less than three seconds, the beats of Make Some Noise, the opening track on the Beastie Boys' first proper album in seven years proved that the middle aged rappers can produce rhymes with just as much verve and energy as they did decades ago. [ MUSIC ] Hot Sauce is hip hop done the Beastie Boy way. Goofy, funny, and terribly addictive. [ MUSIC ] Caitlin Rose is a 24 year old woman with an acoustic guitar and a deep appreciation for country sounds written long before she was born. [ MUSIC ] Here she mixes traditional country techniques with Alt- country flourishes to create a sound that somewhere between Indie folk and the classic 1950s Nashville sound.

[ MUSIC ] The one- woman project by Merill Garbus mixes musical genres the way stylists mix and match clothes. [ MUSIC ] On Tune Yards second album, she blends R & B, folk, African beat, and pop, to create a bold brightly patterned outfit that should clash, but somehow doesn't. [ MUSIC ] This is a very. Unusual, even experimental albums that you definitely need to hear. [ MUSIC ]. On this album, which Frank Ocean made available for free on his tumbler earlier this year. The singer offers up bleak but appealing R & B tracks, many of which sample, remix or otherwise borrow from songs ranging from MGMT's Electric Feel to The Eagles' Hotel California.

[ MUSIC ] The British Alt- rock queen's 10th studio album is mostly about the horrors of World War one. [ MUSIC ] In her song, Harvey raps its atrocities in muted melodies so beautiful and trippy that at times you forget that she's singing about a tragedy that claimed millions of lives. [ MUSIC ] Most of Kanye West and Jay- Z's opulent collaboration deals with ideas of wealth, status, and religion. [ MUSIC ] Watch the Throne isn't just an exercise in luxury rap. The rappers explore urban violence and murder to excellence, and their own socio- economic achievement in Made in America. [ MUSIC ] Number two.

Florence and the Machine, Ceremonials. [ MUSIC ] On Ceremonials, Florence Welch's signature, ethereal, folk- rock sound reaches new height. Her ballads are replete with passion, aided by the momentum of pounding drums, lush piano and the occasional harp, not to mention her full bodied wail. [ MUSIC ] Despite her penchant for emotive gloom. Florence's tales of heartache can be oddly uplifting. When she sings about darkness and demons, we know she will ultimately conquer them. [ MUSIC ]. This album will probably make you cry. [ MUSIC ] Full of gospel- tinged pain, remorse, and longing, 21 is a nuanced Breakup album that's steeped in sadness but never veers into cornball territory, not even on her biggest tearjerker, Someone Like You.

[ MUSIC ]

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