Valentine’s Day means a lot of different things for a lot of different people. For some, it means a romantic day full of love and excitement. For others, it’s a devastating reminder of the crippling loneliness that can envelop a single person.
The best albums to comfort these people happen to be breakup albums: records that can sympathize with the broken soul.
Artists who make breakup albums are just as incredibly sad as people who have been going through breakups. Often, lived experience can be the most powerful tool for empathetic communication.
But, enough of love — we have heard too much about that today. Time for some heartbreak. These are the best breakup albums from the last six decades.
1970s: “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac (1977)
Back in the height of COVID-19, people going through pandemic-induced breakups needed something to truly be sad to, yet not so sad that they would want to die. In comes the “Dreams” trend.
People isolated from each other, yet intricately connected through the internet, began to longboard and vibe to “Dreams” from Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album “Rumours.” Pretty soon a new generation began to discover the record for the very first time.
Now, a new appreciation for the record has fully brought Fleetwood Mac back into the mainstream and has cemented “Rumours” as a heartbreaking classic.
1980s: “The Queen Is Dead” by The Smiths (1986)
“I know It’s Over,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” are all classics from The Smith’s 1986 record, “The Queen Is Dead.”
Despite the lead singer Morrissey’s controversies, The Smith’s legacy as one of the best early britpop bands stands true to this day. Morrissey’s ballads about heartbreak and everything associated with it have a timeless quality to them.
The Smiths are the perfect soundtrack to 80s heartbreak. It’s glamorous, vain and a little overplayed — but it is incredibly sweet.
1990s: “13” by Blur (1999)
Moving on to the 90s, more specifically near the end of the decade, Blur comes in with arguably their best album to date — and definitely the best breakup album of the 90s.
Damon Alburn of both Blur and later Gorillaz fame, takes up the mantle of the somber knight on this album’s journey. Spanning over an hour, this album tackles basically every aspect of heartbreak: the highs, the depressing lows and the lame in-between periods.
Songs like “Coffee & TV” and “No Distance Left To Run” perfectly explain the hopeless melancholia one feels at the end of a failing relationship. Yet, the songs also act as a beacon — something to point toward and say, “ey, everything is going to be okay.”
2000s: “Give Up” by The Postal Service (2003)
This part is going to take a look at Ben Gibbard’s band, The Postal Service, and their 2003 album, “Give Up.”
This depressingly bitter indietronica record tackles the apathetic nature of breakups and love as a whole. Songs like “Such Great Heights” showcase the talent behind the band, as Ben Gibbard also heads Death Cab For Cutie — an equally melancholic band.
Gibbard recently went on tour, playing both the 2003 albums “Transatlanticism” and “Give Up” in their entirety — finally uniting fans of heartbreak and relationship-induced sadness.
2010s: “IGOR” by Tyler, the Creator (2019)
This is my favorite breakup album maybe of all time, but definitely for this decade. It effortlessly encapsulates the feeling of heartbreak in the 2010s.
Tyler explores the follies of being a third in a love triangle as a queer man. It’s what many call a “situationship” now.
From “New Magic Wand” to “Boy Is A Gun” to “Puppet” to “Are We Still Friends,” Tyler goes through all the stages of grief and still does not come out the other side a winner — a feeling many of us hopeless romantics feel.
2020s: “Punisher” by Phoebe Bridgers (2020)
This one is for the girlies. Phoebe Bridgers has been making sad albums for sad, sad women since 2017 and has recently won a couple of Grammys. Punisher, while also being about Bridgers’s relationship with her father, is also a great breakup album.
Songs like “Graceland Too” and “Savior Complex” toe the line between heartbreaking and devastatingly personal. They demonstrate what a strong songwriter Bridgers is.
Many people — including myself — are currently lauding this album as a modern classic not only for folk, but for albums that deal with love and all of the emotions associated with it.
