Oh yeah, sorry, for the tree view/browser part, click on the 'Browse by' drop-down arrow. Scroll to the bottom, and choose 'More views...'.

Click the Drop-down presets tab and then choose the 'new' button'.

Add 'Artist' to the right-hand column first, and then tick the 'no tracks' check box.

Then add 'Year'

Save the preset with a description. Now you will be able to choose the 'Artist (no compilations)+Year' Browse by preset to sort by year.

HTH