Just turned 50... no particularly insightful reflection to offer, although I try to do some degree of introspection on every birthday :-)
The milestone has, however, been a good excuse to look back through the years and think about albums that have influenced me... so here goes:
1970s
- '71 - Bill Withers - Just As I Am
- '72 - Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill
- '73 - Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
- '74 - Minnie Riperton - Perfect Angel
- '75 - Earth Wind & Fire - That's the Way of the World
- '76 - Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
- '77 - Rufus - Ask Rufus
- '78 - Chic - C'est Chic
- '79 - Michael Jackson - Off The Wall
1980s
- '80 - Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July
- '81 - Quincy Jones - The Dude
- '82 - Luther Vandross - Forever, For Always, For Love
- '83 - The Police - Synchronicity
- '84 - Art of Noise - Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise
- '85 - Sade - Diamond Life
- '86 - Anita Baker - Rapture
- '87 - Prince - Sign O' The Times
- '88 - New Edition - Heartbreak
- '89 - Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
1990s
- '90 - Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
- '91 - Nirvana - Nevermind
- '92 - Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of...
- '93 - Cassandra Wilson - Blue Light Till Dawn
- '94 - Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
- '95 - D'Angelo - Brown Sugar
- '96 - De La Soul - Stakes is High
- '97 - Kurt Elling - The Messenger
- '98 - Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Qweli are Black Star
- '99 - Basement Jaxx - Remedy
2000s
- '00 - Lucy Pearl - Lucy Pearl
- '01 - Zero 7 - Simple Things
- '02 - Raphael Saadiq - Instant Vintage
- '03 - Meshell Ndegeocello - Comfort Woman
- '04 - Kanye West - The College Dropout
- '05 - Common - Be
- '06 - J Dilla - Donuts
- '07 - Burial - Untrue
- '08 - Matthew Halsall - Sending My Love
- '09 - Maxwell - Blacksummers'night
2010s
- '10 - Scuba - Triangulation
- '11 - Feist - Metals
- '12 - Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City
- '13 - Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
- '14 - D'Angelo and the Vanguard - Black Messiah
- '15 - Kamasi Washington - The Epic
- '16 - Solange - A Seat at the Table
- '17 - Sampha - Process
- '18 - Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings
- '19 - Jamila Woods - Legacy! Legacy!
2020s
- '20 - Little Dragon - New Me, Same Us
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