Best Ever Albums

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Hayden — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 19:53:12 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/20/2022 00:53

hwcolum wrote:

The most impressive boost from the end-of-year lists, by far, is for Rosalia's MOTOMAMI. It took forever for the album to climb into the top 10K; now, it's in the all-time top 5,000 and top 20 for the year. As it should be.

Not to look ignorant, but I was surprised by this— I thought most critics kinda passed it with a shrug (which, is not true), but MOTOMAMI's popping up fairly high on almost every year-end list. If it weren't for Beyonce, it'd be #1 on AOTY's aggregate. For some reason the album's public/cultural/critical impact flew over my head. I think it's a solid album— definitely some highlights anyway— but I prefer her previous two.

That aside, does anyone have any links to some interesting lists for best songs of the year?

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

hwex9000 — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 11:05:51 GMT

Author: hwex9000

Posted: 12/19/2022 16:05

The most impressive boost from the end-of-year lists, by far, is for Rosalia's MOTOMAMI. It took forever for the album to climb into the top 10K; now, it's in the all-time top 5,000 and top 20 for the year. As it should be.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

albummaster — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 04:16:02 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 12/19/2022 09:16

theblueboy wrote:

It looks like Midnights has been given a bit of a boost on the BEA charts since critics lists have been added.

Midnights appears in ~20 of those lists. BEA top 6 of 2022 unchanged since last month (68 external lists added during that time). Arcade Fire now slipped outside BEA's top 10...

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 05:29:54 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/17/2022 10:29

albummaster wrote:

35 of these lists now added to BEA, including most of those mentioned in this thread, but not had a huge impact on the rankings here. One anomaly is We by Arcade Fire, which doesn't appear in any of the 35 added charts, but is ranked #7 here for 2022.

It looks like Midnights has been given a bit of a boost on the BEA charts since critics lists have been added.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

LedZep — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 08:10:06 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 12/11/2022 13:10

Gorilla vs Bear. Pretty good list imo, it's great to see Billy Woods at number 2.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

LedZep — Fri, 9 Dec 2022 17:51:29 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 12/09/2022 22:51

Agreed, Bandcamp lists >>>

Although this particular one actually isn't all that exciting now that I think of it.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Tha1ChiefRocka — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 23:37:07 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 12/09/2022 04:37

I wish I could find something new that I truly enjoy. I don't feel like I've heard anything in the last few years that has been something that that sticks with me after 1 listen.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

RockyRaccoon — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 21:39:32 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 12/09/2022 02:39

Skinny wrote:

Well, that and the likelihood that it’s a pompous, bloated, faux-earnest, wannabe-U2 mess. (I don’t know, I obviously didn’t listen to it and certainly never will.)

Personally, I think it’s good, but it’s definitely their weakest album yet. Still, for me, even a weak Arcade Fire album is still pretty solid

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

EyeKanFly — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 18:47:16 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 12/08/2022 23:47

Hayden wrote:

My favourite list for the last 4-5 years has been Bandcamp's. Although it's now unranked, you can start to comb through it here.

Ditto this, bandcamp consistently recommend great stuff, and often stuff I wouldn't have listened to otherwise. Something that's not true of lots of magazine lists for me.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Tap — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 16:10:40 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 12/08/2022 21:10

Skinny wrote:

Well, that and the likelihood that it’s a pompous, bloated, faux-earnest, wannabe-U2 mess. (I don’t know, I obviously didn’t listen to it and certainly never will.)

Giving them too much credit lol, they loved that aspect

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Skinny — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 16:01:55 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 12/08/2022 21:01

RockyRaccoon wrote:

I'm betting with all the stuff around Win Butler that came out this year, most magazines probably don't wanna come within 40 feet of touching that album

Well, that and the likelihood that it’s a pompous, bloated, faux-earnest, wannabe-U2 mess. (I don’t know, I obviously didn’t listen to it and certainly never will.)

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

RockyRaccoon — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 15:55:53 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 12/08/2022 20:55

albummaster wrote:

I'm betting with all the stuff around Win Butler that came out this year, most magazines probably don't wanna come within 40 feet of touching that album

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

albummaster — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 14:35:13 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 12/08/2022 19:35

35 of these lists now added to BEA, including most of those mentioned in this thread, but not had a huge impact on the rankings here. One anomaly is We by Arcade Fire, which doesn't appear in any of the 35 added charts, but is ranked #7 here for 2022.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

RockyRaccoon — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 11:56:52 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 12/08/2022 16:56

Few other lists are out:

Slant Magazine's top 50 - which is actually a halfway decent list and I think the first one I've seen to include Beach House's album

Billboard's list, which includes the Elvis soundtrack lol

And Vulture's top 10 list, which is pretty run of the mill

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

LedZep — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 06:23:43 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 12/08/2022 11:23

Hayden wrote:

Loud And Quiet also have their list out

Huh they have Szun Waves, Daniel Avery and a bunch of other cool stuff there. I haven't heard the King Cobra album, looking forward to that. Jockstrap as number 2 warms my heart and Caroline being that high is a welcome surprise. Not even mentioning Dawson, They Hate Change, Danger Mouse and Pusha. I'm really not sure if Charli and Rina needed to be on the list and if Alt J is something that belongs on any year end list, but ok. I do like this list a lot, which is a rarity.

RockyRaccoon wrote:

Looks like The Quietus's top 100 list is out, theirs is always SUPER interesting, usually the best list of the year. Loads of stuff on that list that I need to check out

Again, Jockstrap, Caroline and Dawson. Is there a pattern? 😁 I do love all 3, so no complaints from me. Broken Gargoyles was good, but I don't personally see it as some kind of a career statement or a masterpiece. IDK, borderline top 100 on my chart. LOVE to see Širom up there, as well as Persher. You're right Rocky, it's one of the best lists easily. However their metal list is... not terrible, not even bad, but it feels like it's made by someone who's not a metal fan but likes to turn things up to 11 from time to time.

Tap wrote:

They're not gonna get me to listen to Devin Townsend lol

🤣

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Hayden — Wed, 7 Dec 2022 20:39:02 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/08/2022 01:39

MadhattanJack wrote:

I'd say 250.

5 a week.

Helps if you have a commute to work.

Ultimately, you do you though. Absolutely nothing wrong with listening to 100 records from a year— by all means, listen to 0. Whatever. If you listen to 1000 records and don't like any of them, you're far worse off than someone who listened to 10 and enjoyed them all on repeat for months on end.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Hayden — Wed, 7 Dec 2022 20:31:28 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 12/08/2022 01:31

RockyRaccoon wrote:

Aaaaaand here's Pitchfork's list

Renaissance at #1 is kinda boring, Alvvays in the top 5 is interesting, Big Thief in the top 10 is cool. Definitely surprised to see The Weeknd higher than Kendrick.

Haven't heard 8, including the #1 (I'll... get around to it).

I mean... it's a fair list. Makes sense.

I hate to say this about The Quietus, but I might (half) agree with Tap— not their most exciting year-ender. I think the last few lists have been a bit more dig-able.

My favourite list for the last 4-5 years has been Bandcamp's. Although it's now unranked, you can start to comb through it here.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

Tap — Wed, 7 Dec 2022 02:46:11 GMT

Author: Tap

Posted: 12/07/2022 07:46

The Quietus list really hasn't been doing it for me the past few years, like it's hard for me to really see what I need to pull from it. But I thought The Wire had a pretty solid one this year. Though maybe it's just cause they overlap with my taste so much (like 8 of the top 10 are all things that I think are pretty great, and the other 2 I just haven't heard yet and would probably appreciate). But that makes me a lot more sure that I should dig into some of these ones I haven't heard yet. Though actually if I look closer, it's mostly the stuff I already knew I wanted to listen to, like that Ishmael Reed one. They're not gonna get me to listen to Devin Townsend lol

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/1963-the-wires-releases-of-the-year-2022/

MadhattanJack wrote:

Which brings me to what might be an interesting question: How many new, or new-ish, albums should I be able to listen to in the course of a year, if I'm trying to give each one that I listen to a chance to "grow on me" or otherwise impress me in some way? This is my first full calendar year on BEA, and now it's winding down, and I've probably only listened to 50 (give or take) 2022 albums all the way through more than once — which is probably double what I would have listened to ten years ago. Giving a fair-chance listen to 100 albums seems pretty daunting to me, but am I just too old or something? I guess I might have listened to more albums when I was in my 20's and had much better brain plasticity, but 100 still seems like a really high number for just one person, at almost any age.

I've heard a little over 500 this year and have a pretty good handle on what the deal is with about half of em. But there'll still be a lot of understanding to develop over the years as I return to some of them. I think it takes too long to give a fair chance to everything and so I'm ok with allowing them to just end up being fleeting experiences if that's where they're gonna land.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

MadhattanJack — Tue, 6 Dec 2022 21:50:57 GMT

Author: MadhattanJack

Posted: 12/07/2022 02:50

RockyRaccoon wrote:

I get that. Only caveat I will make is The Quietus's list each year. It tends to be far and away the most interesting list and way different from everything else

Frankly, if this year is any indication, "far and away" may be an understatement. And I too would rather trust a BEA member chart over most (if not all) of these magazines...

I did really like the Ethel Cain album, though (sorry if I'm not supposed to reveal it here). It's basically double-LP, almost double-CD length, which is bad, and it lacks the one or two "lighter" numbers that might have helped make it less of a slough for people trying to get through the whole thing. I realize they might have picked it partially because she's trans, and that's fine by me... but in all fairness, if there's anything I've learned about music critics it's that they're impressed by something they call "raw emotional resonance," which this album has in spades. They're less impressed by craftsmanship, cleverness, and sheer musicality, which I've always assumed is due to their listening to too many albums that emphasize form over content, if not too many albums in general. Still, there's plenty of musicality on that Ethel Cain album. Maybe not enough for me to rank it highly in what's been a pretty good year, at least to my ears, but I'll probably end up ranking it in the Top 30.

Which brings me to what might be an interesting question: How many new, or new-ish, albums should I be able to listen to in the course of a year, if I'm trying to give each one that I listen to a chance to "grow on me" or otherwise impress me in some way? This is my first full calendar year on BEA, and now it's winding down, and I've probably only listened to 50 (give or take) 2022 albums all the way through more than once — which is probably double what I would have listened to ten years ago. Giving a fair-chance listen to 100 albums seems pretty daunting to me, but am I just too old or something? I guess I might have listened to more albums when I was in my 20's and had much better brain plasticity, but 100 still seems like a really high number for just one person, at almost any age.

Re: Best Albums of 2022 Lists

RockyRaccoon — Tue, 6 Dec 2022 13:16:40 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 12/06/2022 18:16

Speaking of The Quietus, their best metal of 2022 list is out. Always nice seeing metal represented at least SOMEwhere.