FTM's Top 20 Albums from Each Year of its Existence

I collected these lists for my own interests earlier this week and realized it might

be something good to post, in case anyone wants to easily (without having to dig through the archives)

look over FTM's Top 20 Albums lists since our inception.

No links, no pretty album covers, just lists. Who knows? 

Maybe you'll see something you've been forgetting to check out.

2014
1. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
2. The War on Drugs - Lost In the Dream
3. Adam Faucett - Blind Water Finds Blind Water
4. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers
5. Old 97's - Most Messed Up
6. Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else
7. Run the Jewels - RTJ2
8. Kelsey Waldon - The Goldmine
9. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
10. Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'
11. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Dereconstructed
12. Stoney Larue - Aviator
13. Tami Neilson - Dynamite!
14. Cory Branan - The No-Hit Wonder
15. Fire Mountain - All Dies Down
16. St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Half the City
17. Don Williams - Reflections
18. Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain
 19. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives - Saturday Night/Sunday Morning
20. Jimbo Mathus - Dark Night of the Soul

2013
1. John Moreland - In the Throes
2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern
3. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain
4. Arliss Nancy - Wild American Runners
5. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener
6. Run the Jewels - RTJ
7. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
8. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless
9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes and Angels
10. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
11. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
12. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park
13. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life
14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
15. Ha Ha Tonka - Lessons
16. Son Volt - Honky Tonk
17. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You
18. Possessed by Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely
19. Vince Gill and Paul Franklin - Bakersfield
20. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - All Our Heroes Live in Vans

2012
1. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There is a Bomb in Gilead
2. Marty Stuart - Nashville, Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down
3. Chris Knight - Little Victories
4. The Pollies - Where the Lies Begin
5. Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street
6. The Departed - Adventus
7. Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
8. Uncle Lucius - And You Are Me
9. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, M.A.A.D. City
10. The Trishas - High, Wide and Handsome
11. John D. Hale Band - More Than I Can Handle
12. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
13. Lindi Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops
14. Shooter Jennings - Family Man
15. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
16. Arliss Nancy - Simple Machines
17. Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home
18. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven
19. Matt King - Apples and Orphans
20. Lucero - Women and Work

2011
1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch
2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest
3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods
4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO
5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha
6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs
7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade
8. The Black Keys - El Camino
9. Adele - 21
10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival
11. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World
12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog
13. Stoney Larue - Velvet
14. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea
15. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
16. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
17. Wilco - The Whole Love
18. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous
19. Mastodon - The Hunter
20. Will Hoge - Number Seven

2010
1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song
2. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer
3. Two Cow Garage - Sweet Saint Me
4. Austin Collins & The Rainbirds - Wrong Control
5. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
6. Joe Pug - Messenger
7. Trampled by Turtles - Palomino
8. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights
9. Rodney Hayden - Tavern of Poets
10. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
11. Paul Thorn - Pimps and Preachers
12. Truth & Salvage Co. - s/t
13. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual
14. The Black Crowes - Croweology
15. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
16. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
17. Randy Houser - They Call Me Cadillac
18. Hellbound Glory - Old Highs and New Lows
19. The Black Keys - Brothers
20. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do

2009
1. Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day
2. Ben Nichols - Last Pale Light in the West
3. Buddy and Julie Miller - Written in Chalk
4. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine
5. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park
6. BettySoo - Heat Sin Water Skin
7. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let the Lead Fly
8. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
9. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'em What Your Name Is
10. Drew Kennedy - An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel
11. The Black Crowes - Before the Frost...Until the Freeze
12. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
13. Son Volt - American Central Dust
14. The Devil Makes Three - Do Wrong Right
15. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away
16. Joshua James - Build Me This
17. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
18. Miranda Lambert - Revolution
19. Krizz Kaliko - Genius
20. Mastodon - Crack the Skye

2008 

1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

2. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song

3. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones

4. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers

5. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind

6. Sun Kil Moon - April

7. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

8. The Felice Brothers - s/t

9. Two Cow Garage - Speaking in Cursive
10. Fleet Foxes - s/t
11. NQ Arbuckle - XOK
12. Blitzen Trapper - Furr
13. Chris Knight - Heart of Stone
14. Metallica - Death Magnetic
15. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
16. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
17. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
18. Bruce Robison - The New World
19. The Steeldrivers - s/t
20. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way

Top Albums Every Year of Our Existence

It's almost Year-End List season, (Our 2021 albums list should be ready around mid December) so it's time for a recap of which albums topped our lists in past years. 

----------

No links, no summaries, no pretty album covers, just lists.

Who knows? 

Maybe you'll see something you've been forgetting to check out.

———

2020

1. American Aquarium - Lamentations

2. The Wilder Blue - Hill Country

3. Tennessee Jet - The Country

4. Zephaniah Ohora - Listening to the Music

5. Chris Stapleton - Starting Over

6. Ward Davis - Black Cats & Crows

7. Ruthie Collins - Cold Comfort

8. Futurebirds - Teamwork

9. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Reunions

10. Tami Neilson - Chickaboom!

11. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. I

12. Run the Jewels - RTJ4

13. Waylon Payne - Blue Eyes, The Harlot…

14. Arlo McKinley - Die Midwestern

15. Jaime Wyatt - Neon Cross

16. Ashley McBryde - Never Will

17. Jesse Daniel - Rollin’ On

18. Margo Price - That’s How Rumors Get Started

19. Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath

20. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom

2019

1. Vandoliers - Forever

2. Ian Noe - Between the Country

3. Tyler Childers - Country Squire

4. Charles Wesley Godwin - Seneca

5. Mike & The Moonpies - Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold

6. Kelsey Waldon - White Noise / White Lines

7. Jade Bird - s/t

8. Jason Hawk Harris - Love and the Dark

9. Dalton Domino - Songs From the Exile

10. Whiskey Myers - s/t

11. Molly Tuttle - When You’re Ready

12. Cody Jinks - The Wanting

13. Sturgill Simpson - Sound and Fury

14. Black Pumas - s/t

15. The Highwomen - s/t

16. Caroline Spence - Mint Condition

17. Emily Scott Robinson - Traveling Mercies

18. (Tie) Tom Russell - October in the Railroad Earth

18. (Tie) Left Lane Cruiser - Shake and Bake

20. Hayes Carll - What It Is

2018

1. Lucero - Among the Ghosts

2. Jamie Lin Wilson - Jumping Over Rocks

3. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

4. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

5. Cody Jinks - Lifers

6. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox

7. American Aquarium - Things Change

8. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star

9. Whitey Morgan & the .78s - Hard Times & White Lines

10. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk

11. Shooter Jennings - Shooter

12. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers - Years

13. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon

14. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere

15. Caleb Caudle - Crushed Coins

16. John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness

17. Great Peacock - Gran Pavo Real

18. Blackberry Smoke - Find a Light

19. Sleep - The Sciences

20. High on Fire - Electric Messiah

2017

1. Tyler Childers - Purgatory

2. Turnpike Troubadours - A Long Way From Your Heart

3. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound

4. Colter Wall - s/t

5. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 2

6. Gregg Allman - Southern Blood

7. Jason Eady - s/t

8. John Moreland - Big Bad Luv

9. Shinyribs - I Got Your Medicine

10. Travis Meadows - First Cigarette

11. The Steel Woods - Straw in the Wind

12. J.D. McPherson - Undivided Heart & Soul

13. Chris Stapleton - From A Room, Vol. 1

14. Zephaniah OHora - This Highway

15. Steve Earle - So You Wannabe An Outlaw

16. Lee Ann Womack - The Lonely, The Lonesome and The Gone

17. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Youth Detention

18. Hellbound Glory - Pinball

19. Lillie Mae - Forever and Then Some

20. Margo Price - All American Made

2016

1. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide to Earth

2. Cody Jinks - I'm Not the Devil

3. Lori McKenna - The Bird and the Rifle

4. Brent Cobb - Shine On Rainy Day

5. Austin Lucas - Between the Moon and the Midwest

6. Justin Wells - Dawn in the Distance

7. Flatland Cavalry - Humble Folks 

8. Drive-by Truckers - American Band

9. Blackberry Smoke - Like an Arrow

10. Caleb Caudle - Carolina Ghost

11. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it From Here…

12. (tie) Jeff Shepherd & the Jailhouse Poets - s/t

12. (tie) The Sword - Low Country

14. Luke Bell - s/t

15. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial

16. Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town

17. Elizabeth Cook - Exodus of Venus

18. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - Bomber Heights

19. Arliss Nancy - Greater Divides

20. Quaker City Night Hawks - El Astronauta

2015

 (2015 was the first year we did a staff-voted list)

1. Turnpike Troubadours - s/t

2. James McMurtry - Complicated Game

3. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free

4. Chris Stapleton - Traveller

5. Whitey Morgan - Sonic Ranch

6. American Aquarium - Wolves 

7. The Yawpers - American Man

8. Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune

9. John Moreland - High on Tulsa Heat

10. Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes

11. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (tie)

William Clark Green - Ringling Road (tie)

Jason Boland and the Stragglers - Squelch (tie)

2014

1. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

2. The War on Drugs - Lost In the Dream

3. Adam Faucett - Blind Water Finds Blind Water

4. Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers

5. Old 97's - Most Messed Up

6. Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else

7. Run the Jewels - RTJ2

8. Kelsey Waldon - The Goldmine

9. Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

10. Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'

11. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Dereconstructed

12. Stoney Larue - Aviator

13. Tami Neilson - Dynamite!

14. Cory Branan - The No-Hit Wonder

15. Fire Mountain - All Dies Down

16. St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Half the City

17. Don Williams - Reflections

18. Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain

 19. Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives - Saturday Night/Sunday Morning

20. Jimbo Mathus - Dark Night of the Soul

2013

1. John Moreland - In the Throes

2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

3. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain

4. Arliss Nancy - Wild American Runners

5. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener

6. Run the Jewels - RTJ

7. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories

8. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless

9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes and Angels

10. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose

11. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

12. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park

13. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life

14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork

15. Ha Ha Tonka - Lessons

16. Son Volt - Honky Tonk

17. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You

18. Possessed by Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely

19. Vince Gill and Paul Franklin - Bakersfield

20. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - All Our Heroes Live in Vans

2012

1. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There is a Bomb in Gilead

2. Marty Stuart - Nashville, Vol. 1 Tear The Woodpile Down

3. Chris Knight - Little Victories

4. The Pollies - Where the Lies Begin

5. Turnpike Troubadours - Goodbye Normal Street

6. The Departed - Adventus

7. Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears

8. Uncle Lucius - And You Are Me

9. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, M.A.A.D. City

10. The Trishas - High, Wide and Handsome

11. John D. Hale Band - More Than I Can Handle

12. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music

13. Lindi Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops

14. Shooter Jennings - Family Man

15. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

16. Arliss Nancy - Simple Machines

17. Darrell Scott - Long Ride Home

18. Jason Eady - AM Country Heaven

19. Matt King - Apples and Orphans

20. Lucero - Women and Work

2011

1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch

2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest

3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods

4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO

5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha

6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs

7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade

8. The Black Keys - El Camino

9. Adele - 21

10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival

11. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World

12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog

13. Stoney Larue - Velvet

14. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea

15. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire

16. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels

17. Wilco - The Whole Love

18. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous

19. Mastodon - The Hunter

20. Will Hoge - Number Seven

2010

1. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song

2. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer

3. Two Cow Garage - Sweet Saint Me

4. Austin Collins & The Rainbirds - Wrong Control

5. Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

6. Joe Pug - Messenger

7. Trampled by Turtles - Palomino

8. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights

9. Rodney Hayden - Tavern of Poets

10. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way

11. Paul Thorn - Pimps and Preachers

12. Truth & Salvage Co. - s/t

13. Dirty Sweet - American Spiritual

14. The Black Crowes - Croweology

15. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

16. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

17. Randy Houser - They Call Me Cadillac

18. Hellbound Glory - Old Highs and New Lows

19. The Black Keys - Brothers

20. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do

2009

1. Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day

2. Ben Nichols - Last Pale Light in the West

3. Buddy and Julie Miller - Written in Chalk

4. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine

5. Lucero - 1372 Overton Park

6. BettySoo - Heat Sin Water Skin

7. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Let the Lead Fly

8. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels

9. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Tell 'em What Your Name Is

10. Drew Kennedy - An Audio Guide to Cross Country Travel

11. The Black Crowes - Before the Frost...Until the Freeze

12. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies

13. Son Volt - American Central Dust

14. The Devil Makes Three - Do Wrong Right

15. Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away

16. Joshua James - Build Me This

17. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane

18. Miranda Lambert - Revolution

19. Krizz Kaliko - Genius

20. Mastodon - Crack the Skye

2008 

1. Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

2. Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song

3. Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones

4. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers

5. Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind

6. Sun Kil Moon - April

7. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

8. The Felice Brothers - s/t

9. Two Cow Garage - Speaking in Cursive

10. Fleet Foxes - s/t

11. NQ Arbuckle - XOK

12. Blitzen Trapper - Furr

13. Chris Knight - Heart of Stone

14. Metallica - Death Magnetic

15. Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof

16. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

17. Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life

18. Bruce Robison - The New World

19. The Steeldrivers - s/t

20. Drag The River - You Can't Live This Way