As this year was the last year of its decade, it felt more like a last hurrah of the big artists of the 00s more than anything else, pair that with the rise of the club boom this year and we have an overall annoying and rightfully forgotten year in music.
Although her debut album did decently well in Australia earlier in the decade, it wasn’t the juggernaut like her second album was which spawned multiple hit singles here and in her native UK just as the decade was coming to an end. Despite being compared to P!nk during the 00’s, her popularity didn’t translate to the 2010’s likely due to her failing to crossover to America like some of her other fellow Brits.
The acronym for this album is “the energy never dies,” this seemed to be the case for the quartet when they released their third album together given how it seemed like their party jams weren’t going to die going into the 2010’s thanks to how inescapable they were. Of course, their time in the spotlight did eventually die out when they released their next album which was critically panned for being lazy and repetitive.
There didn’t seem to be any signs of Michael Bublé slowing down in the mainstream as this was his fourth album in a row to achieve massive worldwide success for him, in fact this was so popular that it even spawned a genuine hit for the Canadian crooner in the form of its lead single which is something none of his other albums have done in his catalogue.
Although this was a moderate success for Mumford and Sons this year, its true success came the following year when the lead single was crowned the best of the year according to listeners of Triple J which allowed it and the album to rebound on our charts. This ushered in a new wave of alternative music that did quite well on our charts throughout the 2010’s at the expense of traditional rock and roll.
This was originally meant to be an E.P that Lady Gaga released to cash in off the success of her earlier entry on this list, however she decided to bundle that album with said E.P which resulted in it becoming a massive success for her just as the decade was coming to an end. Naturally it was more of a hit throughout the 2010’s due to how late it was released this year.
Given how Paul Potts made headline news when he won Britain’s got talent in 2007, it only makes sense that his female equivalent would do the same two years later even if she somehow lost on her season to some dance troupe that faded into obscurity once the competition was over. Indeed, this was only the first of three massive albums she released which found massive success worldwide.
This was originally released earlier in the decade as a part of Sony’s lucrative Essential collections, it was only a modest success back in the day due to these being little more than albums to assist modern audiences in finding out where to start their journey of becoming fans of the artists in question. It became a massive hit this year thanks to MJ’s untimely death and everyone celebrating his life achievements.
These guys had been finding more and more success with each album this decade, the peak of their popularity coming when this album became a massive success in the 2010’s due to it finally spawning them a hit in the form of its second single here in Australia. Even as early as 2010, it was a rare victory for a rock track even if the band has Triple J to thank for its popularity down under.
While I’ve never been a fan of the show, I have seen a few episodes of Hannah Montana and remember thinking they were OK for what they were, basically a teenage girl leading a double life of an ordinary high schooler and a worldwide pop star. The film on the other hand looks absolutely terrible which of course didn’t prevent it from being a massive commercial success as was the soundtrack (it was likely that Taylor Swift cameo.)
This is another album that saw most of its success in the following decade (this fact didn’t impact its ranking on this list) even so it was an instant hit upon its initial release thanks to the big names that David Guetta managed to convince to collaborate with him, making this feel like more of a compilation album than a studio release.
There were no signs of Foo Fighters slowing down exiting the decade here in Australia, so much so that they were one of the few rock bands to retain their popularity throughout the 2010’s largely thanks to the success of this greatest hits package they released as the 00’s was coming to an end.
This was the first of many soundtracks to come from Glee, it was predictably a success here in Australia given how the show was a cultural phenomenon upon its premiere this year.
This is the second solo album to come from Rob Thomas, it wasn’t quite as successful as his earlier entry due to it getting lost in the shuffle with all of the commotion that was happening this year, but it was a massive success regardless and proof that he was all set for a successful run in the 2010’s. Indeed, his final album with Matchbox 20 would be a massive success despite the mainstream’s aversion towards rock music.
This was more of a success the following year; however, it was a modest hit upon its initial release which makes it qualify for this list even if it’s considered to be more of a 2010’s release. This was mainly because its success didn’t take off until “Sweet disposition” became a surprise hit in the UK as the decade was coming to an end, which in turn fuelled the success of his album back here for Temper trap.
This was one of the bigger sleeper hits of the year thanks to it becoming a hit twice during its chart run, the first was when the third single became a surprise hit in Australia and the second was when the deluxe edition came out which spawned a second minor hit for the trio on our charts. They would be one of the few rock bands (well more pop rock in this case) to find success throughout the 2010’s.
This is the final album that Powderfinger released before they went their separate ways at the start of the 10’s, they agreed this would be their final album regardless of success given how Bernard Fanning wanted to pursue his solo career which didn’t reach the dizzying heights of success of his debut album or his bands work throughout the 00’s.
Although they had moderate success throughout the decade with their earlier albums, it was this album from the Hilltop hoods that finally made them a household name as well as finally putting Australian hip hop on the map as it allowed fellow rappers such as 360 and Illy to find success throughout the 2010’s. The trio themselves would also find a ton of success with their subsequent material as a result of this album’s success.
It took five years for them to follow up American idiot, however Green day was able to retain some of their success as the decade was coming to an end with this entry proving that their fanbase hadn’t abandoned them despite how long they had to wait for another album from them. It’s lucky they didn’t delay this album to the new decade considering how rock music became poison to the mainstream in the 2010’s.
Much like the essentials collection from earlier on this list, this was also a mere modest success for MJ upon its initial release earlier in the decade that became a best seller this year due to his untimely death. The title is a bit of a lie since nowhere in the world did all of the tracks become a chart topper for him, but honestly who cares when they remain bangers to this day?
This was the only notable success that indie pop darling Sarah Blasko was able to achieve in the mainstream, mainly because of how much love this album of hers received from Triple J which was a good source of alternative artists making it big in the mainstream throughout the decade down under. Even though indie pop thrived throughout the 2010’s, she unfortunately didn’t have much success then.
This is the final Motown album that Rod Stewart found success with, rather coincidentally, it was his final album of the decade, which meant that going forward he needed to come up with new ways of retaining his fanbase which he of course managed to do.
I guess Robbie Williams managed to retain some of his popularity after the disaster that was Rudebox after all, this wasn’t even his final successful album here as he would release a sequel to his 2001 effort in 2013 that did decently well over here that year.
This was far less successful than the first volume from the end of the 00’s for Glee here in Australia, I guess it didn’t have a genuine hit like that album did which had it suffer in the rankings back in the day.
Well, the films might have been critically panned (as were the source material mind you) however at least the music was still well received which is perhaps why the soundtrack to the second film was a massive worldwide success for the franchise.
After a four-year hiatus, Eminem was back bigger than ever with his album which much like his previous effort, was panned by critics for being just as shocking and tasteless as Encore. His fanbase was a bit kinder to this album as it did see him be as juvenile as ever which they appeared to like; however, he would return to form the following year with Recovery.
This is the second project where Dave Grohl teams up with Josh Homme from the Queens of the stone age (Homme’s band of course being the first) so naturally it was bound to be a success for them here in Australia just as the decade was coming to an end. They’ve yet to collaborate after this due to a multitude of scandals that have followed Josh over the years that caught up with him in the #metoo movement.
This is an RNB album that comes from the Soul deep projects that Jimmy Barnes was making throughout his career, it proved to be a success because there’s a dedicated fanbase to this type of music that the pub rocker makes throughout his career.
This was released along with the film as a compromise to fans who were hyped to see the This is it tour that had plenty of rehearsals for that never wound up coming to be, it became a massive hit worldwide due to the sudden death of the king of pop earlier in the year and ensured that his legacy would live on regardless of all the hearsay about who he was as a person during his lifetime.
While this album wasn’t as popular as their previous effort from earlier in the decade, it made up for its comparatively lacklustre sales here in Australia by spawning the Fray’s biggest hit in the form of its lead single which no doubt boosted its sales following that song’s success here. Like I said, rock music suddenly found itself unwelcome in our mainstream once the 2010’s began which resulted in the band fading into obscurity after this.
Mark Vincent was the winner of this year’s season of Australia’s got talent, as such his debut album proved to be a massive success for the tenor opera singer which makes it yet another opera album to appear on this list alone.
This is the final successful album that Pearl jam had in their catalogue, again because rock music had little to no impact on the music scene throughout the 2010’s despite them continuously putting out new music to diminishing returns with each release (this is why I’m not covering the 2010’s albums.)
This had a very tepid response upon its initial release this year, in fact it only makes this list due to it having a rebound in the new decade thanks to the success of its second single as well as the other tracks doing a much better job in connecting with us Aussies than its lead single did on the radio.
One of the more critically acclaimed films of the decade was the Boat that rocked, a film that looks over the issues of radio piracy back in the 60’s in the UK which resulted in the music industry facing a serious decline due to how much money the artists were losing from the practice. Naturally the film featured a who’s who of 60’s legends, which explains why it was a massive hit this year.
Given how her third album My December was a critical failure and only a fraction as successful as Breakaway, Kelly’s management had to convince her to give them back full creative control over her music direction which resulted in this fourth album that can best be described as a Veronicas’s project. It wasn’t a bad thing given how successful it was without compromising her core appeal from earlier in the decade.
We have another entry from Sony’s lucrative Essential series, although this time it’s with a limited edition of John Farnham’s entry which I’m guessing ARIA bundled with the standard edition as it somehow managed to chart for quite a while despite clearly being a collector’s item.
This is the last successful album that U2 had in their catalogue, partially due to rock music struggling to have mainstream appeal throughout the 2010’s but mostly due to the controversy they caused with their next album by uploading it to everyone’s iTunes account without anyone’s permission.
The last time we looked at an album from Ronan Keating, it was with his second solo album from seven years prior which was a far cry from this covers album he dedicated to the mothers of the world this year. He conveniently released it in time for Mother’s Day which is why it managed to become a success this year.
Following her departure from the Rogue traders, Natalie Bassingthwaighte decided to embark on a solo career which was off to a good start with her solo debut album given how it not only spawned two giant hits as the decade was coming to an end but was also a massive success in its own right given its appearance on this list. Alas this was the full extent of her popularity away from her meal ticket band.
This is the final nail in the coffin that was Australian idol, so much so that it was barely a success here in Australia for Stan Walker despite it being a massive success for him in his homeland and the catalyst for a highly successful career over there that he couldn’t replicate over here despite initially finding success in our music scene.
This is Keith Urban’s only appearance on this site given how he didn’t start finding massive success here in Australia until this album became a hit for him, although for what it’s worth, he would find massive success throughout the 2010’s likely due to his presence on the Voice Australia as well as country music doing quite well that decade down under.
This was the victory album for Wes Carr, although unlike the victory albums from Australian Idol’s previous two winners, he was given a proper studio album as opposed to a live album that captured all of his performances on the show which explains why A: it had its released delayed to this year and B: why it spawned more than one hit from the album.
This was the debut album for Lisa Mitchell, an English born Australian folk singer who saw massive success with this album thanks to Triple J picking it up and heavily promoting it for her which allowed a multitude of her fellow Aussies to make it a success this year and even into the new decade. Sadly like most alternative artists from the 00’s, her subsequent follow ups flopped due to how the mainstream worked in the 2010’s.
For the most part, this was just another John Mayer album that underperformed on the charts worldwide given how his heyday had long since passed since his breakthrough six years prior. This album only makes the cut due to its refusal to drop off our charts during the early stretch of the 2010’s likely due to strong radio fare that the singles had down under.
