Gray iTunes album tracks

As of iTunes 10 (or possibly 9), the main library window has the option to do exactly what you want. You need to have it in Album List mode (View menu -> as Album list; or the 2nd option in the view controller:

Then select the "Album by ..." pulldown and select Album by Artist/Year:

You should be all set and have a nice organized list of albums sorted by artist and year.

It's rather easier than these solutions. Click the icon view beside the search and select the Albums tab at the top so the icons show albums rather than Artists or Composers. Then when you hover over an album you can click "Play Album" to play it. You can also double click the album to see all the songs making sure they are ordered by song number (if necessary).

This way you can also by command or shift clicking select multiple albums.

Or you can show with the second icon ordered by album by artist. In this view an artist search will help: