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Gibson Top Albums of 2010 List

12/30/2010
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(Gibson) 2010 was the year the album died � that is, according to music bloggers, critics and even certain musicians. Why just last week, no less a musical authority than Elvis Costello declared the end of the album era on this very website. The Beatles are on iTunes now, the three-minute MP3 is the thing and no one has the attention span for a 40-minute musical journey, right? If that's truly the case, someone forgot to tell the artists below, who made some of the best albums of this, or any, year. Just because most people won't pay for an album doesn't mean that they're not worth listening to. Here are the Top 10 Albums of 2010:

10. Slash, Slash: Although Slash has been a member of some of the biggest bands in rock, it took until 2010 for the legendary guitarist to step out as a solo musician. His self-titled solo debut paired his thrilling guitar work with some of the most famous voices in music (including Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie and Iggy Pop) and reminded everyone what a true guitar hero can do.

3. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs: Saying that it's a loose concept album about growing up in urban sprawl, or that it's Neil Young-meets-Depeche Mode (as frontman Win Butler characterized the record), doesn't due The Suburbs justice. It's a towering, sweeping achievement that loses a lot when compartmentalized or shuffled, despite each song being as strong as the next. But this is an album made to be listened to as such, made to take you on a ride that lasts from track 1 to 16. It's a big hunk of complicated feelings, of good memories and bad, of gray areas (literally and figuratively), of punk and folk and dirges and anthems. It all culminates in the synth-pop of "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)," in which Regine Chassagne, so desperate for escape, broadcasts her keening voice to the wasteland of "dead shopping malls" that envelops her existence, hoping to reach a kindred spirit. The Suburbs debuted at #1 in August and is up for an Album of the Year Grammy. Arcade Fire certainly have found their kind. Check out the full top 10

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