You just can't plan these things
But sometimes
A certain year
overwhelms us with the sheer amount
of great music that comes out
Welcome to WatchMojo.com
and today we're counting down our
picks for the Top 10 years in music
For this list
we've selected years
based on important album releases,
memorable hits songs,
band debuts
and musical or cultural revolutions
Our picks from each year
touch on
only very significant albums and songs
and are in no way maint as an all encompassing history
If your favorite song,
album
or artist
didn't make the cut
that's ok
just crank it up later
and jam
Number 10
1995
in this year
Tupac became the first artist
to have a number one album while in prison
Kiss semi reunited
and Def Leppard played three shows on three continents in a single day
The Beatles dominated our musical attention
with the Anthology Collection
but more contemporary canadian women
also dominated with Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill"
peacked at number one on the Billboard 200
And
Shania Twain's "The Woman In Me" peacking at number five
Number 9
2001
2001 began with a major game changer for the music industry
iTunes was introduced
followed by the iPod in october
Although the year started off well
by building on the pop new Metal
and rap rock scenes that it come a vage in the previous decade
the talent of the year was marked by heavy radio censoship
from clear channel communications
following the september 11th attack
this year also saw the released of The Strokes popular single "Last Night"
signaling a shift in mainstream rock music away from new metal and rap rock
number 8
1999
1999 marked the year of returns
Santana returns to the top of the charts with Supernatural
The Red Hot Chili Peppers reunited with guitarist John Fruscante,
made a comeback with Californication
and Bruce Dickinson
yes THE Bruce Dickinson
returned to Iron Maiden after a 6 year abscence
The year also marked the begining of digital piracy
with the appearence of Napster
wich devided both music fans
and the music indstry
number 7
1970
1970 was a year of changes
not the least of which
with Paul McCarthney announcing
his departure from The Beatles
in april of that year
and
the deaths
of both Jimi Hendrix
and Janis Joppelin
a number of high profile musicians had solo releases this year
including Eric Clapton
Curtis Mayfield of the impressions
Randy Bachman from The Guess Who
and Pink Floyd founder Syd Barret
Black Sabbath also released both their eponymus first album
and Paranoid within the year
number 6
1984
1984 was a socially conscious year
with the Band Aid charity song
"Do They Know It's Christmas"
becoming one of the biggest selling singles in history
In theaters
Spinal Tap turned it to eleven
and Prince's Purple Rain won an Academy Award
Later that year
Bruce Springsteen earned his most succesful album
with Born In The USA
And Madonna nabbed her first number one record
with "Like a Virgin"
number 5
1977
1977 was the year that punk blew up
and Elvis died
wich is probably symbolic of something, right ?
although disliked by younger punk fans
big arena rock bands
only got bigger in 1977
with Pink Floyd releasing their monumental
Animals album
The Eagles "Hotel California"
won the 1977 Grammy Award for Record of the Year
Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours"
was also released in '77
and spent 31 non consecutive weeks
at the top of Billboard 200
number 4
1979
By 1979 disco had reached an apex
with the infamous disco demolition night
causing a near riot at a major league baseball game
this year also saw the arrival of the first rap song
to gain widespread recognition
"Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang
punk meanwhile spond new wave
with both The Police and Blondie
scoring major hits in 79
the year also saw the first major use
of digital recording
with Stephen Stills and Ry Cooder
each taking advantage of the new technology
number 3
1991
saw the irreversible replacement of hair metal
as the most popular form of hard rock
as Nirvana crashed the music scene
with their timeless single "Smells like teen spirit"
and
old rock fans celebrated the first Lollapalooza tour
country music expanded in mainstream popularity
and sparked a line dancing craze
and boy bands lost a bit of innocence
when New Kid On The Block Donnie Wahlberg
was arrested for allegedly setting fire
to a hotel room
number 2
1987
after a bit of a slump in the 80s proper
guitar based rock was back
thanks to Guns N' Roses
whose 1987 debuts "Apetite for Destruction"
would go on to sell 18 million copies
meanwhile U2's "The Joshua Tree" released in 1987 as well
sold 14 million copies by the end of 1988
Michael Jackson released "Bad"
an album that produced 5 number one singles
But it was Pink Floyd's world tour this year
that made 16 million dollars
which was more than U2's and MJ's touring incomes combined
before we unveil our top pick
here are a few honorable mentions
number one
1969
though 1967 was also notable for its music
two years later we saw the occurence
of two lengendary festivals
Woodstock
and The I Love White festival
the latter of which saw the return of Bob Dylan
after his 1966 motorcycle accident
elswhere fans were stabbed to death
by Hell's Angels at a Rolling Stones concert
in Altamont, California
Jonh Lennon asked us to give peace a chance
notable debuts came from Elton John,
Led Zeppelin,
The Jackson 5
and The Stooges
highlighting the diverse sounds rock would take in the next decade
Do you agree with our list ?
what's your favorite year in music ?
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