If you could choose an album to define the last 20 years

[Blackout19 9,237]

If only one album, that of course you like.. could define the last 20 in music which one it will be?

For me, its easy: Blackout
In my opinion this is the best album ever made, and easy in the last 20 years none album even get close to Blackout

[Controversiaga 6,891]

oh wow yes Blackout is amazing.

Honestly, even some of those David Guetta and Calvin Harris, even THE END black eyed peas albums encapsulate the 2010s. but can't say they really capture an entire 20 years... 

Maybe even Sasha Fierce by Beyonce.  

[Poltergeist 2,818]

I don't think it's possible to summarize last 20 years with one album, there's too much going on.

[GypsyVida 5,871]

The Fame.

It was a turning point in pop music and subsequently in pop culture.

Nothing was the same after The Fame

[brizoda 3,109]

The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga

21 - Adele

[Retro Dance Freak 339]

In my personal opinion, Red (2012), Lemonade (2016) and Norman ****ing Rockwell! (2019)

[Cruelty 5,887]

13 minutes ago, Retro Dance Freak said:

In my personal opinion, Red (2012), Lemonade (2016) and Norman ****ing Rockwell! (2019)

Interesting that you mention NFR, because for my money I think the answer is Born To Die.

The album has always sat at the intersection of indie and mainstream – 400 weeks on the Billboard 200, but still resolutely claimed by outsiders and outcasts. A blueprint for the 2010s Tumblr generation (leading directly to the popularity of Lorde, Marina etc.). Era-defining singles that scooped up Grammys and positions on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. A polarised critical reception and multiple tabloid controversies. Renewed popularity on TikTok. Immense vinyl sales. The homemade music videos that prefigured the rise of the bedroom pop star. Glowing retrospective reviews from Pitchfork, Billboard and The Washington Post proclaiming Lana ‘one of the five people who helped shape the culture of the past decade’ and the album ‘one of the main catalysts for pop’s mid-2010s shift from brash EDM to a moodier, hip-hop inflected palette’.

Strings and beats; baroque pop and trip hop; the past and the future, united in one record by a singer who bridges the gap between old-school stardom and the image-conscious modern popstar. Of course no single album can represent the last 20 years of music, but Born To Die gets very close.

[Retro Dance Freak 339]

2 minutes ago, Cruelty said:

Interesting that you mention NFR, because for my money I think the answer is Born To Die.

The album has always sat at the intersection of indie and mainstream – 400 weeks on the Billboard 200, but still resolutely claimed by outsiders and outcasts. A blueprint for the 2010s Tumblr generation (leading directly to the popularity of Lorde, Marina etc.). Era-defining singles that scooped up Grammys and positions on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. A polarised critical reception and multiple tabloid controversies. Renewed popularity on TikTok. Immense vinyl sales. The homemade music videos that prefigured the rise of the bedroom pop star. Glowing retrospective reviews from Pitchfork, Billboard and The Washington Post proclaiming Lana ‘one of the five people who helped shape the culture of the past decade’ and the album ‘one of the main catalysts for pop’s mid-2010s shift from brash EDM to a moodier, hip-hop inflected palette’.

Strings and beats; baroque pop and trip hop; the past and the future, united in one record by a singer who bridges the gap between old-school stardom and the image-conscious modern popstar. Of course no single album can represent the last 20 years of music, but Born To Die gets very close.

I love this analysis! Such great insight and knowledge. I 100% agree with you.

I chose NFR! mainly because of bias, it is my favourite Lana album so I chose it over Born To Die. Also though, NFR! was so critically acclaimed, and I feel like it represents the closure and shift in focus in popular music throughout the album - especially finishing on ‘hope’. 
 

I guess Lana has two albums that fit in this category, and Born To Die would be the logical answer if you were going off a cultural impact basis. However if you were to look at the lyrical content and how well that reflects pop music in the last 2 decades, I’d say NFR! is fit for that title.