I feel this was the year where our music tastes were dictated to us, given how that was the trade-off for preventing those awful viral hits from YouTube from clogging up our charts. It was a temporary solution to that conundrum as it resulted in rather soulless music from artists who likely would’ve failed to crossover the year prior.
P!nk was on a roll with her fifth album as it retained the popularity of her fourth album right to the end of the decade worldwide as well as being a massive worldwide success in its own right. It’s also a project that saved her marriage despite it being a breakup album given the problems her and her husband was going through during its production, however they patched things up prior to its release.
While this wasn’t her debut album (that honour goes to her self-titled from 2006) this was the album which made Taylor Swift into an international superstar thanks to its theme of her being a Disney princess which connected with the teenage girls of the world back when no one had an issue with the Disney princess brand. It led to her becoming the biggest pop star in the world the following decade.
This had more of an immediate success for Lady Gaga internationally than it did in her native America, similar to her obvious influence Madonna who only found success in her homeland once the rest of the world made her a household name in the 80’s. The similarities between the two pop divas led to them being compared with over the years, although Madonna certainly grew tired of these comparisons rather quickly.
Although she found success with her albums prior to this release, it wasn’t until this album from her alter ego Sasha fierce that Beyonce’s albums became a household name for her worldwide (I don’t want to look over the popular albums of the 2010’s, trust me, you don’t want me to.) The album has been widely criticised for being misandrist, obviously it was her way of responding to albums from the likes of Eminem and 50 cent with reverse sexism.
This was a band that was pipped for great things going into the 2010’s given how inescapably popular their debut album was, alas they were a rock group (well more an EDM group with rock elements to them) so this album was their only success here given how rock music was unfairly shunned once the new decade rolled around. Still at least Triple J loves them to this day given how well promoted they are on there.
It goes to show that rock music was still inescapable in the mainstream even when the decade was coming to an end, it’s a pity its popularity would all but disappear going into the 2010’s given how the club boom took over all aspects of the mainstream that decade. Here we have one of the last rock albums to be inescapable which came from Kings of Leon thanks to their anthemic tracks on the album.
Many consider this to be the final decent album to come from Coldplay given how their fans from the 00’s have felt that their 2010’s material doesn’t hold up to what they released this decade, they’re kind of like the British equivalent of Maroon 5 in that regard (right down to me never being a fan of either group.) In any case, this was the album which finally broke them through over in America given how big its title track was.
Regardless of what your opinions are on the Twilight saga (I haven’t seen any of it, nor do I plan on doing so) there’s no denying that the soundtracks are at least well received given that they largely consist of alternative rock to fit in with the themes of the franchise. The first soundtrack in particular is what launched the popularity of Paramore internationally due to their theme song becoming a massive hit for them.
This debut album form Duffy was a hit twice in Australia, the first time was upon its initial release whilst the second was a year after its release for reasons I can’t seem to deduce as it’s not like any of the singles were used in anything throughout 2009 here. I’d say Duffy would’ve been the British voice of the 2010’s had Adele not stolen her crown with her second album 21 early in that decade.
This was the only successful album to come from MGMT, it was their debut album and one that promised them a healthy run in the 2010’s that didn’t come to be due to rock music being blacklisted in the mainstream of music in favour of the club boom. Still, they had acquired a healthy fanbase with this album likely due to the psychedelic imagery in their videos as well as Triple J heavily promoting them.
The last time that these guys bothered the charts was at the start of the decade, so to see them back in the spotlight nearly ten years later was a bit of a surprise to say the least. This didn’t spawn any hit singles for the band, however considering their existence was pushing forty years at this point, the fact they were able to have a bestselling album was impressive in of itself.
Given how the lead single managed to become a massive worldwide hit, it only makes sense that this second album from Leona Lewis would follow suit and also be a massive hit outside of her native UK as opposed to her debut which was only a hit over there due to her winning the 2005 season of UK X factor. She would release her third album by the end of the decade; however, it was a massive worldwide flop.
This was another album that only became a success thanks to the singles performing well on the Triple J year end list, as such it allowed both the singles and the album to be a massive success for the Australian duo Empire of the sun which helped them become a mainstream success just as the decade was coming to an end. They remain a one album wonder due to the 2010’s being unkind to them like other rock bands from this list.
Jason Mraz was a no name outside his native America prior to releasing this breakthrough album of his, or more specifically, when the lead single finally became a massive success for him which led many to accuse him of becoming like Jack Johnson or James Blunt with this album. It remains his only successful album outside of America even though he’s seen sound success over the years since this came out in his homeland.
One of the most popular Broadway musicals of all time is Mamma Mia, mainly due to the renditions of Abba’s catalogue as many will tell you that its story is a bit jumbled even for a Broadway musical. The theatrical version made nine years after it first premiered was a commercial success despite a mixed critical reception due to the plot and also the song renditions not being as good as the stage version.
While their popular had begun to dwindle by this point in time (thanks largely to the internet) Nickelback were still widely successful worldwide with this album proving that it would take the death of rock in general for them to be seen as yesterday’s news in the mainstream. Even when that happened in the new decade, their next album was still a modest success, proving that wasn’t even enough to kill their popularity.
This is the final successful album to come from Pete Murray, at least it was a hit upon immediate release as it was unfortunately unable to spawn a massive hit like his previous two albums from earlier in the decade. Like many artists on this list, he’s continued to try and recreate the success of what he achieved this decade to minimal results in the 2010’s.
This was the only successful album to come from Gabrielle Cilmi, mainly for its lead single becoming a surprise hit throughout the world given how people found it to be sickly sweet and innocent despite the song claiming that she was anything but. A massive controversy involving her being intoxicated at the ARIA awards this year (despite being underage) prevented her from finding any further success.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of what many consider to be the greatest album of all time, MJ decided to release Thriller with some additional remixes from musicians of the moment to ensure that it would stand the test of time no matter what would happen to him (he was still alive when it was released after all.) Indeed, the album has stood the test of time given how the original recharted once he died.
There was a good chance that Newton Faulkner was going to be the British folk singer of choice going into the 2010’s, however Ed Sheeran stole that thunder away from him just like Adele took away any chances of either Duffy or Leona Lewis from being the British pop diva of that decade.
This was the album which introduced the world to Katy Perry, an artist that would become very divisive upon its initial release for a multitude of reasons that I won’t list on here as few if any of them paint her in a positive light. Instead, I’ll bring up why it was successful as though it does have its songs that even back then were meant to be seen as offensive, the rest of the album is a harmless pop jam that was adored by the general public.
This was released the previous year to deafening silence for Kate Miller, likely because it was deemed too quirky for the mainstream and also wasn’t promoted on Triple J due to her being on a major label. It was given a second chance when one of the singles was chosen as the bumper theme to this year’s season of Neighbours which in turn helped audiences check out what all the fuss was about on this album.
One of the most popular shows during the last stretch of the decade was Packed to the rafters, so much so that it managed to spawn a hit exclusively in the southern hemisphere from an American artist who never had any success in his homeland due to it appearing on the soundtrack.
While the Hannah Montana albums were only minor hits at best here in Australia, that didn’t mean we Aussies weren’t interested in hearing an album form Miley Cyrus that was made for the real world as her first album as herself was a massive success for her here like it was worldwide. It’s the bridge to what she made on the show and the type of music she always wanted to make later in her career.
This was a success twice here in Australia, the first time was upon its initial release thanks to the hype these women had going into this album that their previous album had given them earlier in the decade. The second came when it rebounded several months after its initial release thanks to them appearing on the Slumdog millionaire soundtrack with an Oscar winning song that was included on the deluxe edition of this album.
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu originally began his career as a member of Yothu Yindi from the early 90’s, meaning he found success with them all the way back then with their breakthrough album as a vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist on the album, making him one of the first aboriginal (or first nations if you prefer) to find success in the Australian music scene. Fast forward seventeen years and he finally scored a hit with his first solo album.
This is the final successful album that the Killer’s had in their career, again this was due to rock music taking a massive back seat to the likes of the club boom and indie pop going into the 2010’s which sadly didn’t have much room for the likes of these guys and many other bands on these last few lists of mine.
This is the final successful album that Jack Johnson has had in his career, although this hasn’t been for a lack of trying as he’s released plenty of new music in the new decade which is on the same level of quality as his work throughout the 00’s.
This is the final successful album to come from Britney Spears, an album that remains divisive amongst her fans to this day as they feel that it’s another step back from her earlier work in favour of pandering to the popular zeitgeist of the moment. It did spawn a few gigantic hits for her worldwide, so it was at least a huge commercial success for the princess of pop.
Her victory album from two years prior might have been a complete dud (mainly because she only came in second place in Australian idol despite the album being called the Winner’s journey) however that didn’t mean that Jessica Mauboy would be yesterday’s news as she managed to find success with her official debut album this year thanks to it spawning multiple hits for her throughout the year.
This was proving to be a highly successful year for metal given how Disturbed were able to make an appearance on this list despite having three albums throughout the decade that found very minimal success worldwide for them. It would be their penultimate album during their first run together as their final album was only a modest success in 2010, however they reformed five years later where they found massive success again.
It appears KD Lang was still able to find success this far into her career, then again, given how Michael Bublé and Rod Stewart were able to find success with music catered to the mothers of our world, it makes sense that KD Lang would also be the perfect choice for Mother’s Day given that’s when this album became a success for her.
This was released the previous year to deafening silence, this is despite the fact that this greatest hits album was different depending on where in the world you’re from in order to capitalise off of MJ’s fiftieth birthday. It became a success this year the same reason why his other appearances did, the fact that he was no longer with us and people were celebrating his life’s work.
Following the success of their single that Timbaland “presented” to the world on his album (which curiously also appears on this album) OneRepublic released their debut album which was an instant success worldwide which put them on the map during a time where rock and roll was still one of the biggest genres in music. They would initially struggle to retain their popularity in the 2010’s however they would eventually survive the rock purge of that decade.
This is the third throwback album that David Campbell released in the third consecutive year, it was technically a bigger hit than his previous two efforts, although it didn’t chart as long on the upper echelons of our charts which is why it has a lower ranking on these lists than those two entries.
This was the third and final High school music soundtrack to the third and final film of the franchise, it’s worth noting that the film was the only one out of the trilogy to be released in cinemas given how popular the other two were as Disney channel originals (the pre streaming equivalent of Disney +.) Although these were massive hits for Disney, they were torn apart by critics for their weak acting and storylines.
This was originally released the previous year to deafening silence here in Australia, after all, we Aussies had no interest in the works of Kid Rock given how we were thoroughly unimpressed with his brand of rap rock from earlier in his catalogue. We briefly changed our stance this year when he scored a surprise hit thanks to the power of nostalgia which in turn fuelled this album’s success.
While their previous album wasn’t a flop by any means, it was a critical disaster which led fans to wonder if there would ever be a return to form given how it was at least not the commercial rock they released throughout the 90’s. They wondered no longer when the band released their follow up five years later which was a return to form both artistically and critically which led to its commercial success.
This is the only appearance that Andre Rieu will be making on this site, I bring this up because the Dutch violinist was inescapably popular during the last stretch of the decade thanks to appealing to the classical music scene of the day. Here he recruits Australian opera singer Mirusia to provide vocals for his classical pieces which would explain its popularity here in Australia.
There were no signs of these guys slowing down here in Australia, OK there were some signs given how this was nowhere near as successful as their previous two albums here, however it was obvious they still had a massive fanbase who likely comprised of a lot of the other entries on this list given how popular classical music had become at this point in time.
From what I can gather, Juno was a popular coming of age film where a young woman (played by Elliot Page before he transitioned) gets knocked up and needs to navigate the burdens of life that comes with unplanned pregnancy. The film doesn’t interest me in the slightest (its casting has nothing to do with this disinterest) however it did appeal to a lot of people back in the day as did the soundtrack which is indie fans dream playlists.
Following the success of the theatrical adaptation of Mamma Mia this year, this greatest hits package managed to become a success in Australia for the fourth time proving how much we Aussies truly loved the Swedish quartet from the 70’s.
I guess this guy was able to have some success with his career following his controversial victory on the fourth season of Australian idol, here he has a covers album with some of the biggest songs from the twentieth century that managed to find enough of an audience to justify his win on the reality show two years prior.
The first Step up film was such a critical and commercial dud that the soundtrack didn’t even appear on the charts here in Australia, let alone become a hit like its sequel did. Then again, I feel the only reason why this album did so well was due to the runaway success of the film’s theme song which became the biggest hit of the year for its performer Flo Rida.
Well, he did score one of the biggest hits of the decade with his previous album, so it makes sense that this follow up would achieve some level of success here in Australia even if it was a mere fraction of what its predecessor achieved four years prior. At least he would bounce back with his next album even if that was more due to the runaway success of one of its singles.
I really believe that these guys were done dirty by with the digital piracy throughout the 00’s as I refuse to believe that they didn’t have much success with their earlier material throughout the decade given how much airplay it all received back in the day. In any case, we have this album from Living end which won’t be qualifying for my comeback list due to my stance that their popularity didn’t fade away where it counted.
Hamish and Andy are a comedy duo who are best known for their stint on radio, however they became so well liked in their native Melbourne that they released a comedy album which proved to be a massive success for the pair all across Australia.
I bet you were beginning to wonder just what happened to Vanessa Amorosi following the success of her debut album from the start of the decade, it turns out she had label issues which resulted in her second album only being released in certain parts of Europe which meant she had to go back to the drawing board with her third album. This was that album which thankfully saw the light of day here.
It appears we Aussies had enough love for the Offspring to give them one more successful album in their catalogue, although I get the feeling this was more due to rock music being at the height of its popularity now that digital downloads had made the genre mainstream once more. It’s hard to say if their previous album would’ve succeeded if downloads were a thing, although there is a possibility it would’ve.
This is sort of a best of album from Human nature as it does contain their back catalogue from when they were a boy band, however they’ve reimagined all of their previous hits in their new style which proved to be a bit more of a success for them than their previous album which was more of the same from their first two albums.
This was the final successful album to come from Madonna, it was mainly for the lead single becoming a massive worldwide hit for the queen of pop but also due to her having good will from her previous album which was one of the bigger hits of the decade for her. Unlike most artists who failed to find further success in the 2010’s, her failure was due to her conforming to the internet culture of the decade to dire results.
This was the first of three collaborative albums between husband-and-wife duo Shane Nicholson and Kasey Chambers, the latter of which was already one of the biggest names in Australian music whilst the former was a mere critical darling prior to the release of this album. It was a massive success thanks to her artist momentum as well as it being a good year for a bluegrass album like this to do well in.
This guy was completely inescapable this year, so much so that one of his earlier albums managed to become a modest success here in Australia which further boosted his popularity.
I never watched Sex and the city nor will I ever watch a single second of this franchise (because contrary to what you might think of me on this site, I’m actually not into vacuous chick media and everything about this franchise makes me wish I was more into Sylvester Stallone flicks than I am) I do know the first theatrical film was a massive success partially due to the soundtrack, hence why we’re looking at it here.
We haven’t seen many Christmas albums make it big in recent memory, indeed one of the more successful entries comes from Enya who scored a surprise hit with this album proving that the new age genre of the 90’s still had some commercial appeal this far into the new millennium.
This was far less popular than Fall out boy’s previous album here in Australia, although at least it was a success here which is more than I can say for the rest of the band’s output given how their earlier catalogue failed to find an international audiences and their post breakup material from the 2010’s fell victim to rock being exiled from the mainstream as well as their fanbases disappointment in the band by that point.
This will be the only album from Slipknot to appear on this site as it was the only album of theirs to find any sort of success in the southern hemisphere, their earlier work somehow didn’t find much of a success here likely due to audiences finding their image too frightening to get into whilst their later work was released during rock and roll’s exile from the mainstream throughout the 2010’s.
It had been a while since the Whitlams were a force to be reckoned with in our music scene, however that didn’t mean that fans weren’t ecstatic when they released a greatest hits package this year given that it was a massive success for the band a decade after their big breakthrough.
This was the sophomore album from Birds of Tokyo as well as the first to garner them any sort of attention due to it being a favourite on Triple J, it failed to spawn any hits for them like their 2010’s material did, however it lasted long enough on the upper echelons of our charts to qualify for this list.
