Listed below are the best albums of 2020 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 1 hour ago).
"Yes that is the same sample White Town used, and being able to recognize it immediately makes me feel really fucking old. Anyways I actually really dig this! maybe doesn't quite have enough of the "Future" that's promised early on at least sonically (except on "Don't Start Now", which feels like ...""Yes that is the same sample White Town used, and being able to recognize it immediately makes me feel really fucking old.
Anyways I actually really dig this! maybe doesn't quite have enough of the "Future" that's promised early on at least sonically (except on "Don't Start Now", which feels like a laser'd-up version of one her earlier hits), but with nostalgia that for once sounds this, yes, fresh and purposeful it's hard to complain. Maybe because it takes more of it's ideas from late 70s disco-1980 disco and that turn of the millenium-to-early '00s stage when the dance hits had a more noticeable house influence, it doesn't just melt into another tired 80s pastiche that felt promised (except on the the aptly-titled "Physical", which is engaging enough to forgive anyways).
In many ways I'm reminded of last year's Dedicated, another album with a similar sultry-yet-sinewy sound that had a lot of similar influences and that musically was very attractive... but always felt like it was missing something, or that it just wasn't a good album for Carly Rae personally, as much as I love her dearly. Now it seems clear that it needed that kind of larger-than-life swagger that's also slyly circumvent about when to push the music deeper into the surface that Dua provides here. It's one snappy velvet-rope of a release, with only one truly forgettable moment ("Hallucinate"), that works pretty seamlessly as a singular sound but also (I can't stress this enough) how it finally reminds the pop world about the beauty of brevity. This is not some turgid 18 track dumping ground, trying to tick as many streams and find it's way onto the highest number of playlists as possible, at 37 minutes it almost never loses it's steam or feels un-neccessarily flabby, where nearly every moment she knows exactly what she's doing and how best to maximize the potential of each track without over-doing it....
... well, usually. Unavoidably it feels like we just can't have a constiently immaculate pop release that can simply announce it's importance based on the music alone, now everything has to have it's obligatory Very Important Message moment. The problem here (the offending number "Boys Will Be Boys") is that it feels like it both wants to be a button-pushing conversation starter but also end up feeling as blandly inspirational as a latter-day Pink or Alessa what'shername track, which means you get big orchestral arrangements (yes, and a fucking choir too) with simplified sloganeering lyrics- delivered in Dua Lipa's coolly detached prescence that hitherto has worked so well but at this moment guarantees any attempt at a provocation useless. Even if it was secretly intended as the most basic cheeky kiss-off. When the album should've been enjoying an ecstatic victory lap or a more organic swell to a thundering closer, this becomes a limp attempt at political relevance that brings nothing new to the table and hammers the ending flat in the process (in many ways the album could've ended with the more early 00s hip-hop influenced "Good in Bed", not dissimilar in themes but less blandly preachy and a far more congenial way to go out).
While that might be a bit of a dissapointing post-script (nobody goes to the club awaiting a scrapped-together lecture at 1:57 am), it doesn't destroy the appeal of what came before it. I think it's best to temper expectations somewhat as the over-praise has been a bit unavoidable (in these apocalyptic times anything this sleek and sexy and well-produced and get-the-bootstraps-kicking is bound to get that treatment), and whether this does end up delivering on the initial promise of being the start of something big or just a great little pop capsule in it's own right I can't imagine it will ever stop sounding this exquisite in the... *tongue out* Future. "[+]Reply
"It is as if the limitations of the English language are a barrier on this album, because there is so much weight and significance put on every syllable of every word, and it still doesn't feel enough. You have to listen to this with the same intensity as Mike puts into it to get on the same wavel...""It is as if the limitations of the English language are a barrier on this album, because there is so much weight and significance put on every syllable of every word, and it still doesn't feel enough. You have to listen to this with the same intensity as Mike puts into it to get on the same wavelength.
This album just goes on to prove that Perfume Genius is one of the most important queer artists in music right now."[+]Reply
"Well, Bob's back for the first time since 2012 (excluding three covers releases) and while this album features some of Dylan's finest work in years it is, as often with Dylan, being completely overrated by critics. Yes, it does feature some lovely songs (and a sublime epic) but it also includes t...""Well, Bob's back for the first time since 2012 (excluding three covers releases) and while this album features some of Dylan's finest work in years it is, as often with Dylan, being completely overrated by critics. Yes, it does feature some lovely songs (and a sublime epic) but it also includes the usual generic blues rockers which have been filling up Dylan albums for decades. Anyway, opener 'I contain multitudes' is a fairly harmless introduction, a fair track to be honest and featuring predictable generic rhymes (another latter day Dylan habit) but it's okay. 'False prophet' is a bluesy rocker but it never really picks up and just goes round and round without anything approaching a chorus in sight. Things improve with the acoustic based 'My own version of you' and hit a tremendous high with the beautiful 'I've made up my mind to give myself to you'. Absolutely lovely. 'Black rider' is another strong and atmospheric cut. 'Goodbye Jimmy Reed' is enjoyable enough but it's a just an average twelve bar blues. Dylan has thousands of these. 'Mother of muses' though is wonderful, one of Dylan's best songs since 'Mississippi' back in 2001. 'Crossing the rubicon' is another twelve bar blues. A bit dull. Then we get the superb 'Key west (philosopher pirate) probably the best track on the album. Excellent stuff. Then, on a second disc for some reason, we get the epic 'Murder most foul'. It's a brooding masterpiece and will undoubtedly become a Dylan classic. A review of the Kennedy assassination featuring a wealth of cultural references from Queen to Nat King Cole And there we have it. Altogether 'Rough and Rowdy ways' is a very good record. Two thirds of it is great but it's just let down by three average blues tracks. So, will it be Dylan's final album? Who knows. But if it is it's a decent lp to end his stunning career on. Just not as great as the usual over praising critics tell you."[+]Reply
"I have been in awe of this album this past week. I don't think its on the level of Illinois but I also think its unreasonable to always compare an artist's output with their opus. As a piece of music in the grand design of Sufjan's world though, this album has delivered spectacularly. The way you...""I have been in awe of this album this past week. I don't think its on the level of Illinois but I also think its unreasonable to always compare an artist's output with their opus. As a piece of music in the grand design of Sufjan's world though, this album has delivered spectacularly. The way you can draw a thematic line between Carrie and Lowell and this album through everything he released between them is, I believe, the most underappreciated thing about Sufjan's discography. Its just sooo delicate, almost surgically precise.. and it has landed so beautifully, so theatrically on this excellent album. Its masterful. A fulfilled vision of an artist in complete control of his art.
There is no one making music right now, who is in the same league as Sufjan. I don't mean that he's that good that no one can touch him (though he makes a solid case for it), but the way he has a handle on his career and his sound and the unhinged, unrestricted creative vision he displays. Its a treat to be witnessing his music career in real time. "[+]Reply
"Masterfully written and engaging. I'm not even a huge fan of things on the fringe of folk/country, but I love almost every song on this album. This is probably my favorite release from Waxahatchee, and Fire might be my song of the year so far. Favorite tracks: Fire, Ruby Falls, Arkadelphia, St. C...""Masterfully written and engaging. I'm not even a huge fan of things on the fringe of folk/country, but I love almost every song on this album. This is probably my favorite release from Waxahatchee, and Fire might be my song of the year so far.
Favorite tracks: Fire, Ruby Falls, Arkadelphia, St. Cloud"[+]Reply
"There are albums I like. There are albums I love. There are albums I consider masterpieces. There are albums that I have a personal connection to and, when thought of, make me smile. There are these things and then there are albums like songs by Adrianne Lenker. There are very, VERY few albums th...""There are albums I like. There are albums I love. There are albums I consider masterpieces. There are albums that I have a personal connection to and, when thought of, make me smile. There are these things and then there are albums like songs by Adrianne Lenker. There are very, VERY few albums that mean quite as much to me as this one here. A handful perhaps. And there are absolutely no other albums, or pieces of art, even that have affected me or been as integral to my life during these last 2 brutal and heartbreaking years as this album. So, as you perhaps can imagine, it is daunting trying to write something about this album. I am too close to it and too fond of it. It’s like talking about your spouse and trying to explain what you love about them. Damned challenging.
And, yet, I shall try to convey my thoughts here in brief. I am thinking I will not do this album justice. I also think that I likely will not attempt to write some grand and professional essay on the merits of this folk album. Instead, I will try to touch on some of the things I like the most, some of the charms that this album has, and some of the lyrics and lines and moments that seem to set this album apart in my mind.
The atmosphere of this record is marvelous and drips from every song and every note. The whole concept of a folk artist going through some shit in life and going to a somewhat remote cabin and isolating oneself to record a reflection of their state-of-mind is perhaps one you’ve heard before. Bon Iver’s debut is perhaps the most famous example of this. And there are many similar instances in history. While I do have a healthy respect for For Emma, Forever Ago and Nebraska and so many of these other similar solo albums recorded in isolation, I feel like songs takes the cake as the best. At least it is, by far, the one that most readily and consistently grabs me. When I hear this woman with a guitar on these recordings, it feels like all the cliches you can name: like I’m in the room with her, or like I am uncomfortably close to someone who should be alone in their hour of working their thoughts out. The album’s start is the sound of a tape recorder starting or clicking into operation, a guitar picked up, then a second later the melancholy yet detailed and beautiful guitar riff of “Two Reverse” and with that I am already on board and there for this album. It’s rare for an album to envelop me with so much atmosphere so consistently and quickly. And the fact that this is done with an adept and beautiful guitar, a brilliant singer and some occasional nature sounds added alone, is brilliant.
The songs themselves on this album called… songs, are…stunning. They are clear emotionally yet when looked at closer line by line, there are mysteries and there are abstractions and little details that are only fully or remotely understood by Adrianne herself. And yet each song has a line or lines that cut right through and make me feel like I have made some deep connection due to how relatable they are.
“Is it a crime to say I still need you?” captures that push and pull of self-conscious analyzing after a break up when so much media and so many people seem to say that in this day and age relationships are fickle and unimportant and nothing to get hung up on, and yet you still long for and need that person.
“Everything eats and is eaten. Time is fed” is a line that always makes me think about how everything is feeding off of other things and things are evolving perpetually and always NOW. Simple line, with a million tons of force behind it.
“Standing in the yard, dressed like a kid. The house is white and the lawn is dead. The lawn is dead” is a line that evokes for me similarly vivid memories and dreams reoccurring of strange things that only seem strange in hindsight. This type of visual comes up all over this album, and it consistently blows me away how Lenker is able to incorporate these visions or scenes into songs and make them come across as they do – just random flashes of recollection.
“Come, help me die, my daughter…” is equal parts heartbreaking, brilliantly evocative as an opening line to the song “come”, and delivered with such ghostly sadness, that the cumulative effect of this is just absolutely stunning. The rest of the song builds on this opening statement, a fragile, dark and deathly track where every line holds so much emotional power it can be overwhelming.
“Oh, emptiness… Tell me ‘bout your nature. Maybe I’ve been getting you wrong. I cover you with questions. I cover you with explanations. Cover you with music.” – This is a lyric which kind of kicks my ass personally because this seems about right. Through questions and agitations and music and distractions and all these things we (or I do at least) attempt to understand the void and the nothingness at the center and at the back of all experience and life as well as, usually, try with all our hearts to not stare directly at the fact that that emptiness and that void is there always at the back of all things.
“And your dearest fantasy is to put a baby in me. I could be a good mother. And I wanna be your wife. So I hold you to my knife. And I steal your letter. Not a lot, just forever.” – here is a line that makes me cry. Or, several lines, really. And I don’t know exactly why. It just strikes me as real. I have nightmares/dreams of women I’ve been with but haven’t seen in years and these similar visions of having children and settling down haunt me. And the way she says those words just kills me and strikes a very personal nerve.
And of course, perhaps the greatest song of all time, or, rather, perhaps my favorite song of all time or at least top 10, the track “anything” is a tumble of scenes from a relationship now long gone. The lines here are each one vivid and personal and yet universal and striking and the chorus… my god that chorus… it’s the most romantic and heartbreaking of choruses – so real and so honest and so direct and yet so poetic – in most songs and in most artists’ and singers’ hands it may come out as trite or sappy, but here? Nope. It comes out as one of the best songs ever. – “I don’t wanna be the owner of your fantasy. I just wanna be a part of your family. And I don’t wanna talk about anything, I don’t wanna talk about anything. I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again. I wanna witness your eyes looking. I don’t wanna talk about anyone, I don’t wanna talk about anyone. I wanna sleep in your car while you’re driving. Lay on your lap when I’m crying.” – jesus christ.
…. And the list goes on and on. I love this album’s lyrics and the way they are delivered. Which brings me to Adrianne’s singing. I think I’ve seen here and there that some find her voice a bit grating or trying, a bit off and a bit weird. Well, I actually can understand and hear where that thought is coming from. As I have pointed out in other comments on her earlier albums, Lenker has a beautiful voice and when she so chooses she can sing a song as clearly and traditionally as a songbird. But in recent years there is a trend with her singing toward an idiosyncratic, ghostly, almost unvarnished and wavy and wavering and floating and unstable brittle beauty. That new sound and delivery reaches its pinnacle with this album. These are songs full of remembrances and indecision and grief and loss and heartbreak and tender one-on-one moments and so many human experiences and the way Adrianne chooses to express this vocally is, to me, one of the fundamental joys of this album and her music more generally. On some songs she is just floating like a ghost. On others she is almost conversationally talking about dreams and memories, and in others it sounds like her voice may crack at any moment due to the internal strain of trying not to break down. This all works to convey the emotions on songs.
Musically, it is easy to say this is a simple sound – an acoustic folk guitar sound, with some bird noises added in post sometimes, some finger picked stuff, some warm acoustic chords, etc etc… and that is true. But I feel like there are some really special musical moments and melodies here. The production is soooo stripped down and this production style works for this album with this vibe. Still, it isn’t an accident that those opening guitar lines on track 1 “Two Reverse” sound so crisp and distinct and so much better than almost any other simple woman+guitar type song. The production is doing some good work but it knows to not be intrusive even a little. The song structures and the writing musically here are perfect, not a note or chord feels wrong. And as a result, despite this being “just boring ol’ folk guitar music” this album never feels remotely derivative or boring or unengaging in the slightest. Every tone and sound fits and contributes to the power of the album, the messages being communicated, etc.
More broadly, what does this whole album and all of its parts mean to me? Well, I, like many, many around the world, had a tough time in 2020. This album was first heard by me in December 2020 and right from the jump it felt like I was hearing something bracing and needed on a spiritual level. This is an album that, when I don’t have any urges or motivations generally in life and I am feeling a bit stymied and lost, I often will play and the sound of these songs always picks me up a bit. It captures how I feel so often. Sad, lost, almost beaten, but never quite. And the fact that I can always come back to this statement and this record no matter what else is happening, and know that my friend (although I don’t know her at all and only know her music – she feels like a peer and friend) is here always with these songs and these images and this strange reassuring artistic statement gives me great peace. And it has given me much peace and succor over these hellish and heartbreaking last 16 or so months since I first heard it.
To say I love and appreciate this artist and this album would be an understatement. It is, without a doubt, one of the most important and loved pieces of art of my life and I will always ALWAYS feel a fondness and appreciation to it and the artist responsible. Thank you, Adrianne. You have no idea how much your music has helped me these last couple years and will continue to help me over the next many years as well.
10/10… of course. This is a pantheon, upper tier, all time great album. There is no more obvious 10/10 I could ever give."[+]Reply
"This is the Gorillaz album I’d been waiting fifteen years for. Demon Days felt like the ultimate pleaser and the best, most distilled record Gorillaz could have released. I loved Plastic Beach and has some real moments of genius, but just seems a little high concept and disjointed in places. Huma...""This is the Gorillaz album I’d been waiting fifteen years for. Demon Days felt like the ultimate pleaser and the best, most distilled record Gorillaz could have released. I loved Plastic Beach and has some real moments of genius, but just seems a little high concept and disjointed in places.
Humanz and The Now Now had decent moments but were not great albums.
With Song Machine, Damon has truly perfect the craft of what Gorillaz should be in 2020. Playful, daring and the bi-monthly “single” format allows them to fully immerse on a single track - carefully curated guest stars, artwork and a video to tie it together.
The only real criticism I have is the artwork and title... if it read less like a compilation and had a great Jamie Hewlett cover then I strongly feel it would’ve charted higher in end of year lists."[+]Reply
"Laura's gotten better with each album, and so it is here, as this may be her strongest set of songs so far, despite lacking the experimentation of Semper Femina or her side project LUMP. It's a lush, melodic set of songs, on which I personally feel that Laura conveys more vulnerability than she e...""Laura's gotten better with each album, and so it is here, as this may be her strongest set of songs so far, despite lacking the experimentation of Semper Femina or her side project LUMP. It's a lush, melodic set of songs, on which I personally feel that Laura conveys more vulnerability than she ever has before - though there is sass and fire to be found too, particularly on the track Strange Girl. Case in point is the closer, For You, a simple acoustic ballad with a gorgeous, understated melody that takes the album out on a floaty cloud of warm feelings. Great album!"[+]Reply
"So much of this years music has been a struggle to listen to, not this one, difficult second album it is not, spilling confidently from one track to another. Sounding distinctly more Alternative than last years Dogrel, a more morose tone is struck. Grian’s vocals are once more an oasis of origina...""So much of this years music has been a struggle to listen to, not this one, difficult second album it is not, spilling confidently from one track to another.
Sounding distinctly more Alternative than last years Dogrel, a more morose tone is struck. Grian’s vocals are once more an oasis of originality in a desert of fakers. Let me put that again, refreshingly original.
A Hero’s Death will see scenesters leave in droves as with most buzz-bands, but it proves Dogrel was no fluke and there’s more in the tank. Fontaines DC are gonna be with us for a while yet, they ain’t going anywhere."[+]Reply
"Circles is everything a posthumous album should be: fulfilling an artist's intended vision and completing the important final touches to a closing chapter when they're spiritually not with us."Reply
cestuneblague | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (5 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
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Vatsal | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Mercury | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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indieshins | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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johnner | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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