If you thought choosing a Best Music Scene was hard, how about trying to narrow down the Best Year for Music in history?! KEXP did just that on Thursday, counting down the eras which cranked out the best tunes, artists and genres according to you. The results are in, and 1991 is officially the best year ever, featuring artists like Nirvana, Soundgarden and My Bloody Valentine (figured it would have to be, right?). Second place goes to 1966, a revolutionary time period bringing about more than just social and political change. Music was shifting as well, with artists like James Brown, The Beatles and Johnny Rivers. And, believe it or not, our current year, 2009, placed fourth in the countdown and was voted number one out of the nine years of the new millennium so far. We’re not just living in the moment -- this year has seen amazing albums from Visqueen, Sonic Youth, Andrew Bird, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and we still have almost three months left!
Here are the best musical years in history as voted on by you, the listeners:
| Rank | Year | Sample Artists | Album |
| 12 | 1968 | Love | Forever Changes |
| Marvin Gaye | I Heard It Through the Grapevine! | ||
| Sly & The Family Stone | Dance To the Music | ||
| The Doors | Waiting For the Sun | ||
| James Brown | Live at the Apollo | ||
| Johnny Cash | Folsom Prison Blues | ||
| The Zombies | Odysessey + Oracle | ||
| Elvis Presley | 68 Comeback Special | ||
| Rolling Stones | Beggars Banquet | ||
| Van Morrison | Astral Weeks | ||
| Bob Dylan | John Wesley Harding | ||
| The Beatles | The White Album | ||
| The Beatles | The White Album | ||
| 11 | 2005 | Beck | Guero |
| Sufjan Stevens | Come On Illinois | ||
| The Mountain Goats | The Sunset Tree | ||
| Death Cab For Cutie | Plans | ||
| Sigur Rós | Takk... | ||
| And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead | Worlds Apart | ||
| Kasabian | Kasabian | ||
| Cloud Cult | Advice From the Happy Hippotamus | ||
| Okkervil River | Black Sheep Boy | ||
| The National | Alligator | ||
| 10 | 1993 | Afghan Whigs | Gentlemen |
| Radiohead | Pablo Honey | ||
| Nirvana | In Utero | ||
| Liz Phair | Exile In Guyville | ||
| Björk | Debut | ||
| Snoop Doggy Dog | What’s My Name? | ||
| Frank Black | Frank Black | ||
| James | Laid | ||
| Catherine Wheel | Chrome | ||
| U2 | Zooropa | ||
| The Breeders | Last Splash | ||
| Belly | Star | ||
| New Order | Republic | ||
| 9 | 1992 | Lemonheads | It’s A Shame About Ray |
| Buffalo Tom | Let Me Come Over | ||
| Pavement | Slanted & Enchanted | ||
| Sonic Youth | Dirty | ||
| The Jesus and Mary Chain | Honey’s Dead | ||
| L7 | Bricks Are Heavy | ||
| Alice In Chains | Dirt | ||
| 8 | 1997 | Old 97′s | Too Far To Care |
| Modest Mouse | The Lonesome Crowded West | ||
| Pavement | Brighten the Corners | ||
| Richard Buckner | Devotion + Doubt | ||
| Built To Spill | Perfect From Now On | ||
| Elliott Smith | Either/Or | ||
| Cornershop | When I Was Born For The 7th Time | ||
| Sleater-Kinney | Dig Me Out | ||
| Yo La Tengo | I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One | ||
| 7 | 1979 | AC/DC | Highway To Hell |
| Sex Pistols | The Great Rock and Roll Swindle | ||
| Cheap Tricks | Dream Police | ||
| The Undertones | Kicks | ||
| The Police | Regatta de Blanc | ||
| Joy Division | Unknown Pleasures | ||
| Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Rust Never Sleeps | ||
| The B-52′s | The B-52′s | ||
| The Clash | London Calling | ||
| The Jam | Setting Sons | ||
| Gang of Four | Entertainment! | ||
| 6 | 2004 | The Mountain Goats | We Shall All Be Healed |
| Ted Leo & The Pharmacists | Shake The Sheets | ||
| Rilo Kiley | More Adventurous | ||
| Loretta Lynn | Van Lear Rose | ||
| Elbow | Cast Of Thousands | ||
| The Walkmen | Bows + Arrows | ||
| TV On The Radio | Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes | ||
| The Roots | The Tipping Point | ||
| Pinback | Summer in Abaddon | ||
| 5 | 1977 | The Jam | In The City |
| Ramones | Rocket To Russia | ||
| The Stranglers | No More Heroes | ||
| Iggy Pop | The Idiot | ||
| Richard Hell & the Voidoids | Blank Generation | ||
| Elvis Costello | My Aim is True | ||
| Bob Marley & the Wailers | Exodus | ||
| Wire | Pink Flag | ||
| Television | Marquee Moon | ||
| Talking Heads | Talking Heads: 77 | ||
| 4 | 2009 | Sonic Youth | The Eternal |
| Visqueen | Message To Garcia | ||
| Neko Case | Middle Cyclone | ||
| Wilco | Wilco (The Album) | ||
| Andrew Bird | Noble Beast | ||
| Mos Def | The Ecstatic | ||
| The Juan MacLean | The Future Will Come | ||
| Yeah Yeah Yeahs | It’s Blitz! | ||
| 3 | 1994 | Sugar | File Under Easy Listening |
| Beastie Boys | Ill Communication | ||
| Veruca Salt | American Thighs | ||
| Portishead | Dummy | ||
| Guided By Voices | Bee Thousand | ||
| Pavement | Crooked Rain Crooked Rain | ||
| Built To Spill | There’s Nothing Wrong With Love | ||
| Beck | Mellow Gold | ||
| 2 | 1966 | Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall |
| The Beatles | Revolver | ||
| The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds | ||
| The Sonics | Boom | ||
| ? Mark & the Mysterians | 96 Tears | ||
| The Troggs | Wild Thing | ||
| James Brown | I Got You (I Feel Good) | ||
| Swinging Medalions | Double Shot | ||
| Bobby Fuller Four | I Fought The Law | ||
| Johnny Rivers | And I Know You Wanna Dance | ||
| 1 | 1991 | The La’s | The La’s |
| Teenage Fanclub | Bandwagonesque | ||
| Nirvana | Nevermind | ||
| Soundgarden | Badmotorfinger | ||
| Throwing Muses | The Real Ramona | ||
| My Bloody Valentine | Loveless |
Soundgarden “Rusty Cage” from Badmotorfinger
James Brown “I Got You (I Feel Good)” from I Got You (I Feel Good)
Sonic Youth “Sacred Trickster” from The Eternal live 2009
The Ramones “Teenage Lobotomy” from Rocket To Russia
TV On The Radio “Staring At The Sun” from Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes live on the Late Show 2004
Kasabian “Club Foot” from Kasabian live at Hyde Park London, Wireless Festival 2005
