1. Wasting Light-Foo Fighters (2011)

This record came out when I was in High School and it’s been one of my all time favorite records ever since. I can tie down so many of these songs to an equal number of amazing and terrible moments in my life, and I feel like that is one of the hallmarks of a truly personal and great album. With 2007’s excellent Echos, Patience, Silence and Grace Dave Grohl and company took a very nice step forward from the good but very bloated 2005’s In Your Honor, but heading into Wasting Light they knew there was still more to do to get the Foo Fighters back to the basics that made them so successful. They decided to record Wasting Light on analogue with no pro tools and in Dave Grohl’s garage. Yes, Grohl’s garage is nicer than yours and also doubles as a very nice studio, but the ambition and decision to forgo they typical recording sessions was a smart one. It also gave us easily the Foo Fighters’ best work since 1997’s seminal The Color and the Shape. “Walk” and “These Days” are two of the Foo Fighters biggest and most anthemic singles. “Rope” was the lead single and it does a fantastic job of showcasing Taylor Hawkins at the top of his game and shows how Grohl can still create some really interesting arrangements. “Bridge Burning” starts the album and it sets the tone for the rest of the record with the kind of hard charging alternative rock that made Foo Fighters famous in the first place. “Back and Forth” and “A Matter of Time” are two of the better b-sides in the entire Foo Fighters catalogue. All together Wasting Light is the best front to back record that the Foo Fighters released since The Color and the Shape, it never drags and everything sounds positively huge. This is Foo Fighters at the top of their game and at their most creative, it’s also unquestionably my personal favorite album of the decade.