Top 59 Music Albums of 2020 by 
benpaco 
- Chart updated: 01/05/2021 05:15
- (Created: 01/18/2020 21:39).
- Chart size: 59 albums.
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"Rest in peace to the Information Age, those days are now long dead and gone"
In September 2018, AJJ released "Night of the Long Knives", a single I'd assumed would be the first release from this, their first real release in some years. I was excited for this release, as I'd seen them perform the track live sometime before and was really impressed by the way they handled an anti-Trump song with more than the surface level sorts of things protest music had gone into. That song's actually not here, but "Mega Guillotine 2020", the first track I heard off of this record, started to have me worried that the care with which AJJ had been writing was fading. Suddenly, I was scared this would be an exclusively anti-Trump record - something admirable but often ill-executed, and something which I couldn't help but feel would be clunky to listen to at best.
In the end, this is definitely a somewhat heavy-handed protest album, but what else could you expect from AJJ? What I was more impressed by is the musical depth they achieve here, and the genuinely broad dystopia they paint. "Body Terror Song" could easily be about any of transphobia, dysphoria, dysmorphia, misogyny, ableism, chronic disease, gun violence, war, or all of the above, and is an incredible lyrical endeavor masterfully executed with a beautiful simplicity. "Your Voice, As I Remember It" is an interesting piece here, as it glorifies the technological advances towards archival that I think are often demonized in similar projects as more evidence society is losing direct connection. "No Justice, No Peace, No Hope" features some lyrics I was equally impressed by and rolled my eyes at slightly (see especially: "The lake of dead black children that America created is getting fuller than the Founding Fathers even wanted" - a fantastic sentiment delivered so clunkily it feels more like a college open mic's Slam Poet of the Night than a professional and well loved musician). This is not just an anti-Trump album, and I think its broader fears and hopes serve it well.
To make any album about a dystopia which fails to sound dystopian is generally an intentional creative choice, and one I can admire. However, it's a herculean task to also make that album not either a total drag, a self-pity fest, or a tonally conflicted nightmare. "We Thank You For Your Service ..." was a beautiful look at how to make an impactful protest album, to paint a bleak picture of the world we live in, but not to fall for easy songwriting traps, or sound cheesy, disconnected, or defeatist.
AJJ have done some incredible things, and I believe wholeheartedly this album came from a genuine place, but there's so much schlock, so many references to tweeting or pussy-grabbing, I struggle to fully attach to it. If you didn't speak English, or couldn't hear lyrics, this is a sweet enough, semi-baroque pop take on folk punk. As is, it's an album which occasionally flexes incredible songwriting depth, and at other times sounds as clunky as my amateur attempts to review music in any interesting way.
Unlike these reviews, though, this album doesn't really overstay its welcome, and is likely one I'll revisit as a result. [First added to this chart: 12/09/2020]
In September 2018, AJJ released "Night of the Long Knives", a single I'd assumed would be the first release from this, their first real release in some years. I was excited for this release, as I'd seen them perform the track live sometime before and was really impressed by the way they handled an anti-Trump song with more than the surface level sorts of things protest music had gone into. That song's actually not here, but "Mega Guillotine 2020", the first track I heard off of this record, started to have me worried that the care with which AJJ had been writing was fading. Suddenly, I was scared this would be an exclusively anti-Trump record - something admirable but often ill-executed, and something which I couldn't help but feel would be clunky to listen to at best.
In the end, this is definitely a somewhat heavy-handed protest album, but what else could you expect from AJJ? What I was more impressed by is the musical depth they achieve here, and the genuinely broad dystopia they paint. "Body Terror Song" could easily be about any of transphobia, dysphoria, dysmorphia, misogyny, ableism, chronic disease, gun violence, war, or all of the above, and is an incredible lyrical endeavor masterfully executed with a beautiful simplicity. "Your Voice, As I Remember It" is an interesting piece here, as it glorifies the technological advances towards archival that I think are often demonized in similar projects as more evidence society is losing direct connection. "No Justice, No Peace, No Hope" features some lyrics I was equally impressed by and rolled my eyes at slightly (see especially: "The lake of dead black children that America created is getting fuller than the Founding Fathers even wanted" - a fantastic sentiment delivered so clunkily it feels more like a college open mic's Slam Poet of the Night than a professional and well loved musician). This is not just an anti-Trump album, and I think its broader fears and hopes serve it well.
To make any album about a dystopia which fails to sound dystopian is generally an intentional creative choice, and one I can admire. However, it's a herculean task to also make that album not either a total drag, a self-pity fest, or a tonally conflicted nightmare. "We Thank You For Your Service ..." was a beautiful look at how to make an impactful protest album, to paint a bleak picture of the world we live in, but not to fall for easy songwriting traps, or sound cheesy, disconnected, or defeatist.
AJJ have done some incredible things, and I believe wholeheartedly this album came from a genuine place, but there's so much schlock, so many references to tweeting or pussy-grabbing, I struggle to fully attach to it. If you didn't speak English, or couldn't hear lyrics, this is a sweet enough, semi-baroque pop take on folk punk. As is, it's an album which occasionally flexes incredible songwriting depth, and at other times sounds as clunky as my amateur attempts to review music in any interesting way.
Unlike these reviews, though, this album doesn't really overstay its welcome, and is likely one I'll revisit as a result. [First added to this chart: 12/09/2020]
2Total albums: 1. Page 1 of 1
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Top 59 Music Albums of 2020 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| tricot | 2 | 3% | |
| Taylor Swift | 2 | 3% | |
| Matt Berninger | 1 | 2% | |
| The Avalanches | 1 | 2% | |
| The Flaming Lips | 1 | 2% | |
| Fiona Apple | 1 | 2% | |
| Idles | 1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 59 Music Albums of 2020 chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
 Up 1 from 22nd to 21stIt Is What It Is by Thundercat |
| Up 1 from 21st to 20th Sawayama by Rina Sawayama |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 2 from 20th to 22nd Homegrown by Neil Young |
| Down 2 from 49th to 51st Evermore by Taylor Swift |
| Down 2 from 50th to 52nd Man On The Moon III: The Chosen by Kid Cudi |
| New entries |
|---|
 Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timezby Gorillaz |
| We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches |
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Top 59 Music Albums of 2020 ratings
87/100 (from 1 vote)
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| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
100/100  | 11/14/2022 20:05 |  craola | | 96/100 |
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We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.