With the year of 2010 coming to a close, avid music listeners are left with something to desire. Coming off of a pretty great 2009 with the likes of Passion Pit’s, Manners and Bon Iver’s EP, Woods. One hoped for a great 2010 as well. With lots of artists releasing their second or third albums, many hoped they would live up to their first albums, however, many were left disappointed. New music was also in high demand this year, and unfortunately, we were all left wanting a little more.

Fans of initially popular artists such as MGMT, Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire were eager to hear what these brilliant talents would come up with next. MGMT’s second album, Congratulations, was nothing like the pop-rock, pump-it-up, dance songs that graced their first album Oracular Spectacular. Congratulations, took a very different turn. The music wasn’t necessarily bad, it just lacked the spark and flare that their original “Kids” and “Electric Feel” listeners crave. Congratulations did not even make Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of 2010.

Even artists like Sufjan Stevens, whose 2005 album Illinios, continues to reverberate in many fans ears, came out with albums that were just not up to the caliber of their previous releases. I saw Sufjan Stevens perform his 2010 album The Age of Adz, and while I wasn’t completely disappointed by any means, I was certainly there to see the artist that created the true ear candy that was Illinois, who, unfortunately, was not necessarily present that night.

This is not to say that 2010 was a complete dud. One genre of music that had a great year; the rap industry not only impressed its already avid fans, but raked in a few more. Pitchfork, a website that is dedicated to reviewing underground or independent music, makes a Top 50 albums list at the end of every year. In 2010, they gave Kanye West’s, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the number one spot, shortly followed by Big Boi’s Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty at number four. I was never a big follower of the rap scene, but these two albums have enlightened me to a whole new side of music.

As 2010 came to a close, I, and other music fanatics alike are relieved that another musical year has begun. 2011 has already begun with a bang and produced The Decemberists, The King is Dead, and Iron and Wine’s Kiss Each Other Clean. Not to mention artists like Bon Iver and Lady Gaga set to release in new albums in 2011. It should be a year with great improvements, although the same could have been said about 2010 as well.