By Jonah Bayer

Despite the endless bitching about how the quality of music has been steadily declining, 2010 was actually a pretty amazing year for music. Even better news is the fact that 2011 looks to be another year of great releases, ranging from musical legends to tomorrow’s superstars. While we can’t promise that all of these discs will be out in the next 12 months (as you’ll notice there are a handful of repeat offenders from last year’s list — Dr. Dre, we’re looking in your direction), many of them already have concrete release dates, so don’t blow all that holiday money just yet.  Here are the top 30 upcoming albums that we’re most looking forward to, in order of expected US release…

Iron & Wine — Kiss Each Other Clean (Release Date: 1/25)

There’s a lot of anticipation surrounding the major label debut for Iron & Wine — and not just because Sam Beam’s 2007 full-length The Shepherd’s Dog seemingly made everyone’s “Best Of” list that year. The bearded Beam has promised that Kiss Each Other Clean has an element of ‘”seventies FM-radio pop music to it,” though if it’s anything like his previous releases, you can count on it being more of a progression than a throwback.

James Blake — Self-Titled (Release Date: 2/8)

Production guru James Blake released three EPs last year: The Bells Sketch, CYMK and Klavierwerke, so one measly album should be no problem for him, right? The bigger question mark is that, since Blake combines everything from dubstep to soul to electronica into his eclectic sound, we have absolutely no idea what his debut full-length will sound like. Fortunately, if the musical output on his full-length is anywhere near as soulful as his prior releases, Blake’s got nothing to worry about. Come on, don’t you want to brag about how you were into this dude before he got huge?

Cut Copy — Zonoscope (Release Date: 2/8)

We have no idea what a Zonoscope is supposed to be — but if it’s coming from the Australian alternative dance act Cut Copy, it’s got to be pretty high-tech, like something you’d buy from one of those SkyMall catalogues. 2008’s In Ghost Colours, the band’s last album, was a huge step up from their 2004 debut Bright Like Neon Love, so if the pop-centric first single “Take Me Over” is any indication, Zonoscope looks be another sonic step forward for these technologically savvy Australians.

The Boxer Rebellion — The Cold Still (Release Date: 2/8)

The Boxer Rebellion’s 2009 full-length Union made headlines in England when the acclaimed album’s download-only release disqualified it from entering the official UK charts. The Cold Still will be given a full release on both sides of the pond — and if it’s anywhere near as engaging as the band’s past releases, it could finally be the disc that makes the Boxer Rebellion’s soaring music a household presence. 

PJ Harvey — Let England Shake (Release Date: 2/15)

We love PJ Harvey for many reasons — and partly because, unlike a lot of artists on this list, instead of just talking about making a new album over the past few years, Harvey was actually doing it. Let England Shake, the Dorset alterna-blueswoman’s first “solo” album since 2007’s White Chalk, is being released with little or no fanfare…something you can only get away with when your name is PJ Harvey. Produced by Flood (Depeche Mode, U2) with a production contributions from ex-Bad Seeds member Mick Harvey (no relation), the album will hopefully find Polly Jean back in guitar-slinging, nation-shaking mode.

Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows — Abigail Will Be Born With Four Friendly Eyes (Release Date: 2/22)

Fans of former Chiodos frontman Craig Owens have patiently been waiting for him to release some new music since he was “let go” from his previous band back in 2009…and the good news is that the wait is almost over. By combining elements of metalcore, pop and hardcore, D.R.U.G.S. — which also features members of Story Of The Year, From First To Last and Matchbook Romance — teamed up with production icon John Feldmann for Abigail Will Be Born With Four Friendly Eyes, a cathartic record that doesn’t abandon the melodicism or fire of the participants’ previous post-hardcore acts.

Adele — 21 (Release Date: 2/22)

English singer-songwriter Adele may technically be 22 years old right now, but most of 21, her follow-up to 2008’s 19, was recorded when she was just hitting our legal drinking age. Don’t let her age fool you though; 19 was an uncommonly soulful debut, and the first single from 21, “Rolling In The Deep,” has been described by Adele herself as a “dark bluesy gospel disco tune.” The album was mostly produced by Rick Rubin (Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers), meaning listeners should have a very interesting sonic treat in store for them.

Lil Wayne — Tha Carter IV (Release Date: March)

Let’s face it: While he’s extremely talented, Lil Wayne doesn’t seem like the most reliable guy in the world. (For example, he’s not the first person we’d ask for a ride to the airport). So although the word on the street is that Weezy’s first post-prison album, Tha Carter IV, will be released in March, the fact that there have been scant details surrounding the release — not to mention that the album was initially supposed to come out on November 5, 2010, the day he was released from Riker’s Island — makes us think that maybe Tha Carter IV isn’t quite as finished as he may have initially claimed. Then again Lil Wayne is also full of surprises, so he could have already announced another new release date by the time we’re finished typing this sentence.

The Strokes – Title TBA (Release Date: March)

The Strokes reportedly started work on their fourth full-length in January 2009 and two years later we still don’t have a new album from the NYC quintet. The good news? We’re getting closer. Although the successor to 2006’s First Impressions Of Earth has been pushed back more times than The Hobbit movie, Julian Casablancas posted on Twitter in November that the recording process of the album was finished, and bassist Nikolai Fraiture recently said that “sonically, I feel the record should have been made between Room On Fire and First Impressions Of Earth." If that’s true, you’ll probably be seeing this album again on our Best Of 2011 list.

Rise Against — Endgame (Release Date: March)

Rise Against’s profile might be even bigger now than it was when they released Appeal To Reason in 2008, but they’ve decided to go with the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach with the follow-up, Endgame. Descendents’ drummer Bill Stevenson will once again produce the disc at his studio Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado. Frontman Tim McIlrath says the album deals with the end of humankind as we know it, so expect plenty of politically-charged anthems with references to Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill imbedded in their catchy hardcore breakdowns. 

Wiz Khalifa — Title TBA (Release Date: March?)

One of the most popular rappers around right now, Wiz Khalifa is reportedly putting the finishing touches on his third full-length and first album for a major label. Last month, Khalifa debuted a new high-energy song called “Taylor Gang” — and if that track is any indication of what else will be on the disc, we think Khalifa has the chance to transcend the success of 2009’s and become hip-hop’s next chart-topping hero.

Britney Spears — Title TBA (Release Date: March?)

Can you believe it’s been three years since Britney Spears released Circus? Yeah, we can, too. While Spears has made a lot of headlines during that time for non-music-related activities, rumors say that she started recording her next album, which will be produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke, almost a year ago — and Luke has used adjectives like “electronic” and “grimier” to describe the music.  Then again, that’s the same guy who produced Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” and Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok,” so the results may be far more poppy than grimy.

Kanye West/Jay-Z — Watch The Throne (Release Date: March?)

The New Year’s Eve Times Square ball drop ultimately paled in comparison to the bombshell Kanye West dropped that night at Las Vegas’ Marquee Nightclub, when he blurted out that his Watch The Throne collaboration with Jay-Z would be out in a week. Originally slated to be a five-song EP released back in October, West has since confirmed that the album will be a full-length release featuring two of modern hip-hop’s biggest icons. The record isn’t out yet, but even if Kanye’s release prediction wasn’t right on — industry insiders are speculating that it’ll be more like March — he’s still got nearly 12 months to make Watch The Throne a reality in 2011.

My Morning Jacket – Title TBA (Release Date: May?)

If you haven’t heard much from My Morning Jacket since their five night/five album stand in New York City last October, it’s because the group have been hunkering down in an old church in Louisville, Kentucky to work on the successor to 2008’s Evil Urges. Frontman Jim James is reportedly co-producing the disc alongside the Decemberists’ longtime producer Tucker Martine. "I'm really excited," James has said about the new songs, five of which were already allegedly finished by last September. "It's all live, so the vibe is really, really good, really wholesome. There's something about it."

Lady GaGa — Born This Way (Release Date: 5/23)

Lady GaGa has been called a lot of things over the past two years, but it’s hard to deny one of them: “workaholic.” In addition to performing on her elaborate and lengthy Monster Ball Tour and posting on Twitter every 10 seconds, Gaga has already posted a title, release date and album art for her second full-length. Additionally Gaga has confirmed that the album’s first single, Born This Way’s title track, will be released on February 13, 2011. Party on, little monsters!

Beastie Boys — Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2 (Release Date: Spring)

We know what you’re thinking: How can Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2 come out this year when its long-awaited prequel hasn’t even been released yet? A few months ago, the NYC hip-hop trio addressed that very issue with a cryptic message to the Beastie Boys' fans, telling them that the songs from Pt. 1 were being re-assigned to Pt. 2, which would in turn be out this spring. "I know it's weird and confusing,” the message read, “but at least we can say unequivocally that Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2 is coming out on time, which is really is all that matters in the end.” Indeed.

Death Cab For Cutie — Codes And Keys (Release Date: Spring)

Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and bassist Nick Harmer have been quoted comparing the band’s follow-up to 2008’s Narrow Stairs to Brian Eno’s Another Green World, and that their seventh full-length will be “a much less guitar-centric album than we’ve ever made before.” That sounds great guys, but what we want to know is if it’s going to contain any songs as depressing as “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” If so, we’ll need to start stocking up on Kleenex now.

Fleet Foxes — Title TBA (Release Date: Spring)

Fleet Foxes don’t seem to be in a huge rush to release the follow-up to their 2008 debut Fleet Foxes — and considering the shelf life and amount of acclaim the band attained with that disc, we can’t really blame them. Originally slated to come out in 2009, then 2010, the as-yet-untitled is coming out in 2011…maybe even this Spring, if a recent interview with frontman Robin Pecknold is to be believed. Although there are plenty of new song titles floating around the Internet, it’s still possible they could scrap all of these songs and head back to the drawing board, as they’ve done during past attempts at making this album.

Christina Perri — Title TBA (Release Date: Spring)

Fine, we’ll admit it: Christina Perri won us over last year when her tough-but-tender piano ballad “Jar Of Hearts” was featured on So You Think You Can Dance. Atlantic Records then released a five-song EP called The Ocean Way Sessions that showed Perri can hold her own with a full band, too. Both of these facts bode well for her upcoming full-length — plus, as a bonus, we won’t have to watch an embarrassing television show to hear her music.

Foo Fighters  — Title TBA (Release Date: Spring)

Between his side-project Them Crooked Vultures and publicly feuding with Courtney Love, Dave Grohl has been pretty busy over the past few years. That said, Grohl recently reported that the band’s seventh studio album is finished, and that the successor to 2007’s Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace will be out sometime in the spring. Grohl added that these songs were recorded over a four-month period in his garage, and that the ballad-less album sounds “massive.” It’s also the first collaboration with Butch Vig since 1991, when Vig produced a little album called Nevermind by Grohl’s former band, Nirvana.

Jane’s Addiction — Title TBA  (Release Date: Summer)

We’ll be the first to admit that we were a little disappointed when former Guns N’ Roses Duff McKagan parted ways with Jane’s Addiction last year after spending six brief months in the band. However, once we learned that TV on the Radio mastermind Dave Sitek had been added as part of the “creative team” for the influential alternative act’s first album since 2003’s Strays, we got all giddy again. Hell, we don’t even care if this thing is good or bad, we just want to hear it. Perry, don’t let us down!

Aphex Twin — TBA (Release Date: TBA)

We know it’s been 10 years since Aphex Twin — aka Richard David James — released his last full-length, 2001’s Druqks, but that doesn’t mean he’s lazy. Instead, he claims he spent the last decade writing and recording and has six albums ready to go. While James has yet to elaborate on which album will see the light of day first, Warp Records has been reportedly ready to release a new Aphex Twin album since March 2009, and there’s word that it could come out as early as March.  

Blink-182 — Title TBA (Release Date: TBA)

Blink-182 have already made us wait eight years for their sixth full-length, so what’s a few more months? Blink’s co-frontman Mark Hoppus recently called the band’s upcoming disc “expansive,” and as of December he said the group had three or four songs finished that ranged from the band’s early pop-punk days to the their more experimental, Refused-influenced swansong Blink-182. We just hope the fact that Travis Baker is releasing a solo recording next month doesn’t interfere with them getting the tracking done, because we haven’t heard a good musical fart joke in a while.

Coldplay — Title TBA (Release Date: TBA)

Chris Martin originally spoke of wanting to have Coldplay’s fifth full-length out as early as 2009, but the success of 2007’s Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends apparently came with a lot of other obligations. Regardless, Martin recently described the band’s upcoming disc as “a concept album but it's supposed to be very personal within a big framework". That may sound pretty ambitious, but keep in mind that the group have been working with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs on these sessions — and if anyone can pull off a grandiose concept album, it’s this group of collaborators.

J. Cole — Title TBA (Release Date: TBA)

J. Cole isn’t yet a well-known name outside of the rap community, but we’ve got a feeling that’s going to change pretty quickly once he drops his first studio album. Cole has said that he’s kept his best 14 songs off his mixtapes and saved them for this release, which will feature production help from Pharrell, Salaam Remi and Jim Jonsin. Better yet, word on the street is that Jay-Z is already a fan of the album. Hey, if it’s good enough for Hova, it’s good enough for us.

Dr. Dre — Detox (Release Date: TBA)

Dr. Dre should get some kind of award for being included in this ShockHound feature every single year since we launched. Have there been any updates in the past year for hip-hop’s answer to Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy? Sadly, not really — aside from Dre’s comment that performing alongside Jay-Z and Eminem in Detroit last year has inspired him to finally get Detox finished. Sadly he didn’t give a timeline, so “soon” could be by the time Jay-Z is elected President (which we’re guessing will be 2020, in case you were wondering).

No Doubt — Title TBA (Release Date: TBA)

Like the Strokes, No Doubt have had plenty of time to work on their upcoming album, considering the fact that they got back together in 2008. While there hasn’t been a steady flux of information from the Orange County alternative act, guitarist Tom Dumont recently posted to Twitter that the band have finished tracking 10 songs for the album and are going to start on the mixing process soon. In other words, we don’t think this will actually come out until the second half of 2011, but we wouldn’t be surprised if No Doubt’s first album since 2001’s Rock Steady was out by Labor Day.
 

Radiohead — Title TBA (Release Date: TBA)     

If you had told us over the summer if there would be a new Radiohead album coming out in 2011, we would have believed it without a doubt. Back then, guitarist Ed O’Brien was going on record saying the band’s follow-up to 2007’s In Rainbows would be completed in “a matter of weeks” and speculating it would be out in 2010. However, drummer Phil Selway said in September that the band were going back into the studio to “take stock” of the new material and how they would want to release it. In other words, there’s a chance we could see new Radiohead music in 2011, but these guys are so deliberate that we could also see them still hemming and hawing over the details of this release well in 2012.  

U2 — Songs Of Ascent (Release Date: TBA)

Between Bono’s back injury and the disastrous press that the Broadway production of Spider Man: Turn Off The Dark has been getting lately (Bono and the Edge wrote the score), it seems as if the biggest rock band in the world could really use a break. Details surrounding Songs Of Ascent have been difficult to come by, but the tracks on the album have been described as “danceable,” which isn’t necessarily a good thing. The good news, however, is that Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells) has been working with them on several of the album's tracks. Let’s just hope instead of making us wait this long and then giving us Pop II, U2 take as long as they need to make another classic album.

Outkast — Title TBA (Release Date: TBA)

Fans who have been patiently waiting for the follow-up to Outkast’s 2006 album Idlewild, we’ve got good news for you: we’re halfway there. That’s right, since Big Boi finally released his solo debut Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty last year, all we need to do is wait for Andre 3000 to release his solo album and then they can start work on their next set of recordings together. Unfortunately, while Dre is reportedly recording his solo disc right now, the chances of both that and a new Outkast album hitting the streets in 2011 is about as likely as Andre 3000 blending in at your next corporate staff meeting.