AROUSE’s Best Albums of the Past 25 Years (1996-2021)
As voted by our DJs and members!
Alex Mangel
Last month, the popular internet music publication Pitchfork released a list of the best 200 albums of the last 25 years, as voted by their readers. While it featured a variety of beloved and critically acclaimed albums, of the list’s top four spots, three were claimed by Radiohead, and didn’t feature a female artist until #17, with Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell!. There was also a large number of repeat artist features, including the aforementioned Radiohead, as well as Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West taking up multiple top-20 spots before any women were featured. A common criticism of “Best” lists like these is that featuring multiple projects from the same artist takes away well-deserved recognition from other musicians and genres, and I happen to agree with this position. When compiling this list, I did my best to combat these problems while still highlighting the opinions of the AROUSE populace.
The list was initially created by making a call for album nominations. Albums that received at least two nominations, or those I felt were justified to be called the “Best” of the last two-odd decades, made it to the voting round. Justifications could be based on my own opinion, the wider opinion of critics and friends, or the Rate Your Music community consensus. Apart from those who received many nominations for multiple albums, I purposely tried to include only one album per artist. To me, lists like these generate more valuable conversation when they have more variety. Aside from these criteria, I did my best to leave this input of ranking to AROUSE consensus.
Without further ado, here are AROUSE’s favorite albums of the past 25 years. Stick to the end to see some cool statistics about the results.

Alternative R&B, art pop, neo-soul

Conscious hip-hop, progressive rap

Neo-soul, alternative R&B

Indie rock, garage rock revival, neo-psychedelia

Synthpop, art pop, alt-pop

Pop soul, blues rock

Indie rock, garage rock revival

Dream pop, indie pop, shoegaze

Pop rap, hip hop

Video game music, ambient

Electropop, art pop, hip hop

Alternative rock, art rock

Experimental hip hop

Psychedelic soul, funk, R&B

Indie rock, lo-fi

Indie folk, indie rock

Hyperpop

French house, electro-disco, dance pop

Art pop, indie rock

Indie folk, chamber pop

Alternative hip hop, jazz rap

Pop punk, alternative rock

Indie folk, indie rock

Neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock, indie rock

Experimental hip hop

Art rock, alternative rock

Pop rock, post-punk revival

Pop punk, alternative rock

Bubblegum pop, art pop, electronic

Experimental hip hop

Dance-pop, electropop

Neo-soul, R&B

Art pop, bedroom pop

R&B, pop rap

Chamber pop, soft rock, art pop

Soft rock, bedroom pop

Indie rock, post-punk revival

Midwest emo, math rock

Indie rock, chamber pop, post-punk revival

Hardcore hip hop, industrial, experimental hip hop

Art pop, dream pop, soft rock

Indie folk, lo-fi

Country pop, soft rock, dream pop

Garage rock revival, indie rock, post-punk revival

Trap, hip hop

Neo-soul, hip hop, funk

Alt-pop, indie rock, art pop

Dance-punk, electronic, indie rock

Indie pop, indie rock

Art rock, experimental rock, electronic

Psychedelic pop, neo-psychedelia, electronic

Indie pop, neo-psychedelia

Experimental hip hop, hardcore hip hop

Indie folk, chamber pop

Indie rock, indie folk

Indie folk, neo-psychedelia

Drill ‘n’ bass, electronic, ambient

Dance-pop, R&B

Indie pop, dance-pop, alt-pop

Art pop, alternative rock, chamber pop

Indie rock, post-punk

Hip hop, neo-soul, funk

Alternative R&B, neo-soul, art pop

Alternative metal, nu metal

Slowcore, lo-fi, post-rock

Indie folk, psychedelic folk, lo-fi

Pop punk, alternative rock, power pop

Alternative R&B, neo-soul, art pop

Alternative rock, power pop, emo

Alt-country, indie pop

Bubblegum pop, hyperpop

Indie rock, art rock

Pop rock, alternative rock

Math rock, noise rock, experimental

Plunderphonics, dance, disco

Alternative metal, nu metal, shoegaze

Indie rock, garage rock, power pop

Indie pop, psychedelic pop, electronic

Garage rock revival, alternative rock

Art rock, experimental rock

Art rock, neo-psychedelia, sea shanties

Indie rock, lo-fi, garage rock

Psychedelic rock, garage rock

Hip hop, pop rap

Post-punk, shoegaze

Hardcore hip hop, experimental hip hop

Experimental rock, noise rock, drone

Indie rock, post-rock, Midwest emo

Chamber folk, folk-pop

Jazz rap, instrumental hip hop

Art pop, electronic

House

Post-rock, ambient, drone

Alternative R&B, art pop

Third Stream (jazz and classical fusion), electronic

Art pop, electropop

Synthpop, pop rock, alt-pop

Electropop, alt-pop, alternative R&B

Neo-psychedelia, psychedelic pop, dream pop

Indie rock, art rock, neo-psychedelia
Cool Stats:
Starting with the number of album pics per year:
We have a little bit of recency bias here, but that’s to be expected. There’s at least one album for every year, and a pretty decent spread!
Here is a pie chart of all the genres represented:
The previous chart is a little hard to read, so I simplified it to one genre per album with this next pie chart:
How does our list compare to Pitchfork’s? Any albums you love that were snubbed? DM us on Instagram at @arouseosu to let us know what you think!