Tangled Up in Blue

Ten of the best breakup albums, records made out of a relationship ending. The name is the first song on Blood on the Tracks and also points to Joni Mitchell's Blue, so those two open the set; the rest run roughly by era, from the 1970s to Björk in 2015.

The endings vary a lot. Dylan wrote Blood on the Tracks as his marriage was coming apart, re-recorded half of it in Minneapolis at the last minute, and has said the songs are not about him. Blue followed Mitchell's split from Graham Nash. Rumours was made by two couples breaking up inside the same band. Richard and Linda Thompson made Shoot Out the Lights as their marriage ended and toured it after they had separated. Marvin Gaye's Here, My Dear was part of his divorce settlement, with its earnings going to his ex-wife Anna Gordy. Beck's Sea Change, Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black are the 2000s versions: one hushed, one recorded alone in a Wisconsin cabin, one built on 1960s soul. 808s & Heartbreak came after Kanye West's mother died and his engagement ended, and its Auto-Tune changed how a lot of rap sounded. Björk ordered the songs on Vulnicura in time, before and after her separation.

If you only have time for one, play Blood on the Tracks. Nothing else here is as specific and as hard to pin down at the same time.