The release of Twenty One Pilots’ demo for their song “Doubt” on April 9th, a song originally appearing on the album Blurryface all the way back in 2015, offers an opportunity to revisit some of the most influential alternative albums for 2010s teens. Referenced in countless memes both criticizing and poking fun of emo culture, these four albums created a specific subset of alternative music and provided a new sound that teenagers were eager to hear. All four are about to reach their 10th anniversary this year, and examining the way that they shaped alternative music and culture helps proves their staying power all these years later.
Some of these artists never reached the same level of success after the release of these albums, while others have since found themselves embroiled in controversy. Regardless, we will be looking at these albums from a cultural standpoint, not as a critique or commentary on the artists themselves. Acknowledging the pure power these albums had over 2010s culture is necessary and they deserve to be appreciated as they are.
Blurryface by Twenty One Pilots
Blurryface was released on May 17, 2015, following the moderate commercial success of Twenty One Pilots’ previous album, Vessel. While songs like “Car Radio” and “House of Gold” from Vessel gained popularity on radio stations and across the internet, nothing could compare to the incredible dominance Twenty One Pilots had over the airwaves with the release of the songs “Stressed Out” and “Ride.”
Constantly used in commercials, viral online trends and department store playlists, “Stressed Out” became one of the popular songs of the summer. It topped the Billboard Top 100 at number 2, as well as the US Billboard Hot Rock Songs for a record 23 weeks, and was further certified 13× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over thirteen million copies. The song catapulted Twenty One Pilots into a household name and emboldened radio stations to play another single from their album, “Ride”, which would peak at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Blurryface was extremely interesting conceptually, driving fans to dive into the backstory of the character Blurryface and explore the world Tyler Joseph had created through his lyrics and his performances. Kids were painting their necks black, using pops of red for their usually all black eyeliner looks, and posting clips of the band all over the internet. You couldn’t escape this album if you tried to in the last half of the 2010s.
Crybaby by Melanie Martinez
Crybaby, Melanie Martinez’s debut album, was released on August 14, 2015. It was released right after her success on the singing competition show The Voice. Her album leaned into darker themes but stuck to a pastel and childish aesthetic throughout. Her album’s playful aesthetic offered a new visual take for the alt genre, which gave those who related to the themes of depression and anxiety but not necessarily the stereotypical “all black and angry” look a frontman and made them feel seen. Specifically, her songs “Dollhouse,” “Cry Baby” and “Soap” were all commercial hits, with all three going viral on Musical.ly (now TikTok).
In the United States, the album was certified 2x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after earning 2 million album-equivalent units (consisting of sales, streaming, and track sales). Crybaby is yet another visual concept album, this time about the character Cry Baby, who is a fantasy version of Martinez that details her issues with varied types of abuse in her songs.
Crybaby made lace, pink hearts, baby bottles, pacifiers, and other signifiers of innocence staples of the alternative wardrobe. It changed the game for those who only saw alternative style as dark, punk, or gothic. Moreover, many people connected with the overarching narrative of the album, leading to many sharing personal stories on the internet about their struggles with mental health and abuse. Even if you were not personally into her music, the effects of her aesthetic bled into every part of pop culture in the 2010s.
Badlands by Halsey
Badlands was released on August 28, 2015. It is Halsey’s debut album and launched her to fame almost instantly. Another conceptual album, Badlands is a metaphor for Halsey’s mental state as she wrote her own songs at 19. The album explores themes of drug use, depression, and alcoholism, assessing and criticizing party culture in the United States.
The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with a total of 115,000 equivalent units and was later certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of two million units in the United States. Her songs “Gasoline” and “Colors” both went viral on Musical.ly and were inescapable in the alternative music scene.
The album benefited greatly from the use of several songs in different media, with a version of the song “Castle” released as the album’s fourth single to promote the feature film The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016). The song “Roman Holiday” was featured in the second season of the American TV series Younger.
Blue Neighbourhood by Troye Sivan
Blue Neighbourhood was released on December 4, 2015. It is Troye Sivan’s debut studio album, released after he found fame making song covers and vlogs on YouTube. His album explores the concepts of heartbreak, growing older, yearning, and his experiences as a gay man in Australia.
The album’s most popular song was by far “Youth”, which in early 2016 reached the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Blue Neighbourhood debuted at number six in Australia and seven in the United States, selling 65,000 album-equivalent units.
The success of this album was incredibly important to Sivan’s largely queer fanbase, who felt they finally had songs talking about the kind of love they felt in a world often hostile to LGBTQ+ perspectives and experiences. Blue Neigbourhood provided a space for many people to come together and have honest conversations about queer issues and how to find community.
While I was not a listener to all pf these albums when they came out, recognizing the impact they had on the alternative-pop scene is easy because of just how integral these albums were to my own middle school experience. All of my friends enjoyed at least one of these albums, and it helped me learn about the issues each album was about. I felt the music helped me get through the rollercoaster of emotions that middle school created, and as cringe-worthy as some of those old photos may be, I’m glad that I got to experience such a cultural phenomenon and can reminisce each time I hear ”Ride” on the radio.