Top 88 Music Albums of 2021
by 
babyBlueSedan 
My new year's resolution, besides stopping all the pollution, is to create a happy, positive 2021 year chart. Nice critiques only! Well, at least as far as I can without saying nice things about bad albums, because positivity without realism is worthless. But in a positive way!
Also putting more effort into nonsensical genres because what's more fun than that?!
May update: well so much for positivity - I feel like my rating has gotten even harsher. My optimistic side thinks it's because I've heard so much good music that it's harder for new things I hear to stand out, but my pessimistic side thinks it's because I'm too old and can no longer enjoy new music. I guess in both cases it just means I'm even pickier now.
- Chart updated: 02/12/2022 23:15
- (Created: 01/24/2021 03:31).
- Chart size: 88 albums.
There are 2 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 88 Music Albums of 2021 has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 3 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from The Hold Steady. (Remove this filter)
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65/100
Indie pub
The Hold Steady's last album was really a collection of singles, and it felt like a revelation after over a decade of the band sounding tired. It's somewhat surprising then that this intentionally cohesive, story-driven album feels less vital.
First off, the lyrics here are pretty great. Craig Finn is always a detailed writer and this might be his most cohesive, fleshed out lyrically. The songs seem connected and his one liners are as clever as ever. Highlight is the "Happy Easter!" aside on "Spices." The flip side of this is that what made the storytelling on albums like Separation Sunday and Stay Positive great was how obtuse it was - the stories seemed disconnected but on subsequent listens you'd pick up on things that were connected. This is much more linear, and I think it suffers just a bit for it. But not too much.
Musically this isn't exactly a cosmic shift but it is a step back from the mostly upbeat Thrashing Through the Passion. It feels like a middle aged record by a rock band, which sounds like a dig but can be a compliment if the band feels like they're settling into an older, wiser comfort zone. I think the band is there, and yet this album really would have benefitted from more energy. So many of these songs sound like ballads and there are hardly any of the big pub rock moments that drew me to the band in the first place. One of the big reasons people like Trashing was that the band's keyboard player was back, but the keys feel much less vital here, almost driving some of these songs instead of providing those exhilarating extra touches.
My first listen to this was slightly disappointing because I was expecting something bigger, so I gave it another spin when I was in the headspace where a moderately paced rock album would sound good. And I was still a bit underwhelmed. So settling at a 65 for now, which is a bummer. The highlights are great - "Spices" is a classic, "Family Farm" is great (the first four songs are the best). But songs like the opener and closer feel like they're building up to and down from something big, and that something big just never happens. [First added to this chart: 03/05/2021]
Indie pub
The Hold Steady's last album was really a collection of singles, and it felt like a revelation after over a decade of the band sounding tired. It's somewhat surprising then that this intentionally cohesive, story-driven album feels less vital.
First off, the lyrics here are pretty great. Craig Finn is always a detailed writer and this might be his most cohesive, fleshed out lyrically. The songs seem connected and his one liners are as clever as ever. Highlight is the "Happy Easter!" aside on "Spices." The flip side of this is that what made the storytelling on albums like Separation Sunday and Stay Positive great was how obtuse it was - the stories seemed disconnected but on subsequent listens you'd pick up on things that were connected. This is much more linear, and I think it suffers just a bit for it. But not too much.
Musically this isn't exactly a cosmic shift but it is a step back from the mostly upbeat Thrashing Through the Passion. It feels like a middle aged record by a rock band, which sounds like a dig but can be a compliment if the band feels like they're settling into an older, wiser comfort zone. I think the band is there, and yet this album really would have benefitted from more energy. So many of these songs sound like ballads and there are hardly any of the big pub rock moments that drew me to the band in the first place. One of the big reasons people like Trashing was that the band's keyboard player was back, but the keys feel much less vital here, almost driving some of these songs instead of providing those exhilarating extra touches.
My first listen to this was slightly disappointing because I was expecting something bigger, so I gave it another spin when I was in the headspace where a moderately paced rock album would sound good. And I was still a bit underwhelmed. So settling at a 65 for now, which is a bummer. The highlights are great - "Spices" is a classic, "Family Farm" is great (the first four songs are the best). But songs like the opener and closer feel like they're building up to and down from something big, and that something big just never happens. [First added to this chart: 03/05/2021]
Total albums: 1. Page 1 of 1
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Top 88 Music Albums of 2021 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Lana Del Rey | 2 | 2% | |
| R.A.P. Ferreira | 2 | 2% | |
| Tyler, The Creator | 1 | 1% | |
| Wiki | 1 | 1% | |
| Kaatayra | 1 | 1% | |
| Genesis Owusu | 1 | 1% | |
| Sturgill Simpson | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| |
55 | 63% | |
 |
14 | 16% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 88 Music Albums of 2021 chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 3 from 6th to 3rdInpariquipê by Kaatayra |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 3rd to 4thGlow On by Turnstile |
| Down 1 from 4th to 5thSeek Shelter by Iceage |
| Down 1 from 5th to 6thNafs At Peace by Jaubi |
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Top 88 Music Albums of 2021 ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
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N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing all 3 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 02/09/2022 19:45 | DJENNY | 4,365 | 100/100 |
| ! | 06/06/2021 13:24 |  travelful | 208 | 99/100 |
| ! | 05/18/2021 08:34 |  Purplepash | 1,694 | 88/100 |
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Top 88 Music Albums of 2021 comments
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From travelful 06/06/2021 13:29 | #270425
travelful 06/06/2021 13:29 | #270425
Glad you liked Mach-Hommy! He's one of the most underrated rappers currently, and its primarily his fault for making his music so inaccessible. His best album in my opinion is "Haitian Body Odor" (HBO) and thankfully it's on SoundCloud. Similar to "Pray For Haiti" it released under Griselda Records. It was his Griselda debut back in 2016 before him and Westside Gunn had a falling out due to creative differences. I think it's a top 10 hip-hop album of the last decade, maybe it would interest you.
Always love following your charts.
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