Listed below are the best albums of 2021 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 3 hours ago).
"(Cool alt/indie rock album. Ellie on the vocals is the star, but the band is solid throughout.) I say this a lot but it’s particularly true here: I don’t have much to say about this. It’s a very solid and at times gorgeous indie rock album. It bounces so often from one sound to another, I can’t p...""(Cool alt/indie rock album. Ellie on the vocals is the star, but the band is solid throughout.)
I say this a lot but it’s particularly true here: I don’t have much to say about this. It’s a very solid and at times gorgeous indie rock album. It bounces so often from one sound to another, I can’t pin down what Wolf Alice’s sound or distinctive quality is based off this mostly very good batch of songs.
The heavy rocking tracks few but they sound cool as hell. The more somber and introspective tracks also work really well. This comes down I think to the vocalist, Ellie Rowsell. She totally kicks ass on most of these tracks (not a fan of the corny kinda sorta rapping on “Smile” but the heavy track saves that song) and I just really love her style.
The album is a solid one start to finish. I can’t say I am blown away by it, but I enjoy the hell out of it. Very memorable melodies and some really dope tracks litter this one. Glad I listened that is for sure. "[+]Reply
"Heard it 3 times here is my reaction after each listen: 1st- Nice heartland rock (its ok) 2nd- damn some of these tracks are getting me emotional. I think i understand the themes of the albums a bit more. 3rd- Give me War on Drugs music straight in my veins! Try not to get teary eyed! Favorite al...""Heard it 3 times here is my reaction after each listen:
1st- Nice heartland rock (its ok)
2nd- damn some of these tracks are getting me emotional. I think i understand the themes of the albums a bit more.
3rd- Give me War on Drugs music straight in my veins! Try not to get teary eyed! Favorite album of the year so far
Let me just listen to the first track, change and I dont live here anymore for the tenth time"[+]Reply
"(Dense, knotty, complex, scatter-brained, grief-filled, lost, anguished, layered Experimental Hip Hop record with lots of noisy blasts of strange random beats, glitching disorientation, fabulous and varied vocal performances and just generally a frightening and inspired and inspiring new musical ...""(Dense, knotty, complex, scatter-brained, grief-filled, lost, anguished, layered Experimental Hip Hop record with lots of noisy blasts of strange random beats, glitching disorientation, fabulous and varied vocal performances and just generally a frightening and inspired and inspiring new musical realm in album form. Give it 2 or 3 spins before writing it off.)
My prior experience with really experimental or unorthodox hip hop was very limited. I love Atrocity Exhibition, enjoy some Death Grips and clipping and Dalek, never could get into Some Rap Songs or Lil Ugly Main or Coin Locker Kid. And I suppose I did also really like that Moor Mother + Billy Woods album last year…. The point is, I am not familiar with this genre, this sort of amorphous, boundary-pushing, strange, experimental side of hip hop. 90% of my favorites in the genre are from the mid 90s. Needless to say, this doesn’t bear any resemblance to Liquid Swords.
On first listen I was confused. I thought the album was equal parts dense/hard to follow as well as beautiful/intriguing/weirdly addictive. After I heard it once and was sort of dumb struck, I felt a compulsion to push play and try again to unravel what the fuck this is. Now, after 3 full listens and the 4th in progress, I am getting more and more familiar with it without losing that wonder at the density of the noises and elements and soundscapes created.
There are parts of this album that are sad and beautiful (“Knees”, “Top Picks for You, “Postpostpartum”). There are frightening and mentally ravaged moments (“Outside”, “Footwork in a Forest Fire”, “Wild Wild West”). There are glitchy, seemingly random noisy bits (“Superman That”, Ground Zero”) and there are even a couple honest-to-goodness songs that I can follow along with in almost traditional music listening ways (again, “Knees”). And perhaps most importantly, there aren’t clear distinctions between these sounds and emotions. Within one song there is a mixing and melding and an almost infinite variety of potential emotional responses. As a cohesive album, this succeeds in never fully showing or making clear what is the appropriate take-away from the track, whatever track you are hearing at the moment.
By The Time I Get To Phoenix album is a journey, a fucked up, lost, aimless voyage through some grimy and miserable world. I keep hearing in comments from fans of IR that this album is deeply rooted in grief and loss. And that would make sense considering the death of founding member of the group Stepa J. Groggs in June of last year. However, either I just haven’t fully unpacked the lyricism here or perhaps its people projecting the emotions onto the album that aren’t fully or exclusively here. There are no on-the-nose and obvious odes or ballads or laments clearly about the loss of Groggs. There IS a distinct hazy, disorienting, vibe throughout this whole project. It feels like the mental state of the members of Injury Reserve are constantly on the edge of fully splintering and breaking apart. This head space is expressed throughout here masterfully. It feels uncomfortable being in these guys’ heads and they fully flesh out the beats and sonic spaces so that you are thrown fully into this state-of-mind. Fabulous and, yes I’ll say it, genius brilliant amazing production now that I have gotten used to it.
And listening now to the closing track “Bye Storm” and I am getting emotional. It feels like the slight twinkle of light through the oppressive smoky sky, with that weird and exultant guitar sound. This closer along with the pained grief and apathy of the penultimate track “Knees”, make for a perfect and all-time classic closer to this album. Okay, maybe that is a bit hyperbolic. It is just a truly moving way to cap off this experimental and crushing album is what I’ll say.
The production of Parker Corey is going to get most of the ink and praise, understandably. As, despite beats of sounds like this being around in Hip Hop for 15 years, somehow he took the level of detail and wooziness and expansiveness and just expanded it exponentially. Perhaps this isn’t a completely brand new never been remotely heard sound (nothing like that ever drops and comes out of the blue) – but it is, to these admittedly not fully educated ears, a new bar set in terms of detail and expansiveness and layered noisy experimentation.
Moving to the vocal performances here, they are similarly impressive. Schizophrenic, sad and lost, slurred and drunken and in pain, cutting and fully embodying the words and living in the soundscapes. Especially the varied vocal sounds in “SS San Francisco (feat. Zelooperz)”. The deep grumbling vocal and the weird high-pitched singing set the table for some playful, sardonic, griefy bars. But its not just here, wherever the rap verses come in (and that is strangely rare, this seems to be an album where the rapping is somewhat sparse and instead there are long stretches of instrumental table-setting before Ritchie with a T comes in with the perfect vocal intonation and flow to complement the beat and sinic space.
Random, fly-by thoughts:
-The Yeezus-esque screams on “Footwork in a Forest Fire” is awesome and really the whole track and every phase of it is cool, but for some reason those screams got me.
-Smoke Don’t Clear” is, as of now, one of the few tracks here that I don’t fully like. But I will say it works well in the context of the album more than its own noisy mess of a thing.
-The way “Top Picks for You” with that dramatic melody on that… whatever sound that is… with the whispery singing and the sadness of the verses, its incredible. The whole song is great. One of my faves.
-“Knees” was weird and fabulous in isolation as a single, but it feels so much deeper and more moving and beautiful within the context of the LP. One of the best tracks here, or perhaps the best.
In closing, I am listening a 5th time, and it grows and grows on me. This is a dense and brilliant experimental and emotionally gripping and profound album. I recommend a couple listens or 3 before making final judgement. I had a similar arc with Atrocity Exhibition, where I was very VERY disoriented and kind of unimpressed on first listens and then over time I understood its dense complicated and knotty brilliance with further listens. Recommend the same for this.
Note: This is an album that I am sure I am only scratching the surface with. I hope I listen enough to unravel it more. This comment ain't final. This 5th listen is making me hear other details and that is just really exciting."[+]Reply
"This album is brilliant. It’s harsh like you would expect from her but also incredibly beautiful with elements of folk. Not to mention the incredible journey she takes you through the lens of Christianity that’s just as beautiful as it is horrifying. This is a must listen for sure whether you hav...""This album is brilliant. It’s harsh like you would expect from her but also incredibly beautiful with elements of folk. Not to mention the incredible journey she takes you through the lens of Christianity that’s just as beautiful as it is horrifying. This is a must listen for sure whether you have listened to her before or not.
Covered in the Blood of Jesus/10"[+]Reply
"(Not sure why I am putting in a paranthetical opening statement for this comment considering how short and insubstantial this comment is, boiling down to "Not MY Hardcore! grrrr...". Maybe its just a habit. Anyway, yeah I am not a fan of this uber clean, big, anthemic version of post hardcore and...""(Not sure why I am putting in a paranthetical opening statement for this comment considering how short and insubstantial this comment is, boiling down to "Not MY Hardcore! grrrr...". Maybe its just a habit. Anyway, yeah I am not a fan of this uber clean, big, anthemic version of post hardcore and hardcore.)
Personally, I'm not feeling this. I sure hope this ultra modern production isn't influential on Hardcore and post-hardcore for years to come because, man, I hate it/ a lot. The anthemic shouts are cool but to say they lean on them would be an understatement. The riff work is alright, but just the way they sound is rubbing me the wrong way. After the first 2 or 3 tracks I was thinking "Yep, this is gonna be top 100 of year for me at least." Even at that point there were some production choices which I was a bit ish about. But the power of the performances were getting me hyped up. But as the album progressed there was a steady and consistent decline in affinity for the album and the band and the sound. Don't like the Alternative Metal sounds, synth sounds, pop sounds, me no like any of it lol. Okay, that's not true, I liked maybe 1 in 5 production choices. whatever I'm rambling.
I respect that they are "pushing forward the form" and so forth. That is cool and should be commended. But in this case, to my ears, they are pushing it somewhere but I'm not sure its forward. Not backward either. Maybe they are just kinda nudging it sideways or something. (that analogy died fast upon my fingertips.)
EDIT: coming back to say that "Hate" is the wrong word. I don't hate this. I think if this album was playing I would have a good time hearing it. There have been a few albums this year that I "Hated" and this ain't it. However, I guess I just don't like it, and on a scale of hate to love, this would be almost dead center and slightly leaning over into dislike. Okay, that's all. "[+]Reply
"It might not be as epic as her debut but it's really close, especially after multiple listens. Love how NDA goes right into Therefore I Am. Was worried at first how much I'd like this since her debut was my favorite album of 2019 and the singles on that first one just slapped harder but dang some...""It might not be as epic as her debut but it's really close, especially after multiple listens. Love how NDA goes right into Therefore I Am. Was worried at first how much I'd like this since her debut was my favorite album of 2019 and the singles on that first one just slapped harder but dang some of Happier Than Evers best moments were the non singles like I Didn't Change My Number, Oxytocin, Halley's Comet and Overheated. "[+]Reply
"Thanks, Melon! Seriously, as much as we've been discussing on this site whether Fantano is too influential on people's taste, I probably wouldn't have discovered this album without him! It's a beautiful piece of work, evoking artists such as Kate Bush, Joanna Newsom and Stevie Wonder, while at th...""Thanks, Melon! Seriously, as much as we've been discussing on this site whether Fantano is too influential on people's taste, I probably wouldn't have discovered this album without him! It's a beautiful piece of work, evoking artists such as Kate Bush, Joanna Newsom and Stevie Wonder, while at the same time being entirely unique. Gets a bit more abstract in the second half, but throughout it's vital, with gorgeous arrangements, production, and songwriting. The lyrics are political but also universal, applicable to a number of interpretations. It is it's own world, and it's the best album I've heard this year - although I haven't been keeping up with new releases as much as I'd like, so it's perhaps not saying much."[+]Reply
"sorry in advance for the following: (Basically, I liked it. Everyone or nearly everyone reading this knows who this band is and what Post rock is and that this band and that genre are linked inextricably. It's a solid album. Leave now unless you want to read my unending comment which starts in 3....""sorry in advance for the following:
(Basically, I liked it. Everyone or nearly everyone reading this knows who this band is and what Post rock is and that this band and that genre are linked inextricably. It's a solid album. Leave now unless you want to read my unending comment which starts in 3... 2... )
1... ---------I don't know how I feel about this album. Not exactly. Same goes for this iconic band. And, as this band's work encompasses all existence and transcends life and is up in the ether hobnobbing with Infinity itself per their most ardent fans, I suppose this means I don't know what to think of life, the universe, or anything. Which, come to think of it, is true.
But, to elaborate, I don't know where my thoughts fall yet after 2 listens to this album about urine of god ending states. As with all GY!BE albums, this is a detailed and many-layered beast, grasping for questions and answers rarely asked or sought in rock music. All this without saying a thing. On first listen I was transfixed and transported and when the album ended I said "well, shit" and wondered if this was going to be my end-of-year number 1 album. On second listen my subjective response was a bit muted. Although, certain crescendos (they sure do love their crescendos and builds... don't worry this won't be yet another annoying nerdy asshat rant about "Crescendocore" and "oh, oh, this has been done, like, a million times, gosh!" or "wtf can't anyone hear that this is not gooood? it's nothing compared to Tortoise." blah blah blah. Don't worry, I can't stand those people as much as you can't stand them. ) and moments are just as mindboggling on second and now third listen as they were in my first. The things that maybe I was less engaged with were the shorter and less "buildy" songs, or, rather, parts or pieces. Although without exception each one of these tracks/parts, short and long, are rich and well-conceived, some of the hors d'oevre tracks left me less than blown away. I suspect this is an opinion that will change or at least develop with repeat listens and perhaps I'll start mentally stitching this newest Godspeed conception together. For now though some of the sounds at the beginning of the 2 main 20 minute pieces didn't engage me a whole lot.
But see, as I write this I am listening a third time, and you know what? I'm already starting to feel my opinions shift mercurially as I type. Damn you, Godspeed! Now I'm wondering again if this is AOTY contender. And this vacillation is making for a REALLY shitty comment. (Future self, 1 hour after typing last sentence, I end up yet again in between Really solid and AOTY, as of now, after 4 listens, its like top 10 album of year, okay lets continue and see what other crazy shit this wild ginger says...)
Let me talk through a couple of these tracks here and see if that helps clarify my opinions... Okay, starting with the end, "OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN (for D.H.)" is a pitch perfect, tear-inducing, muddy, noisy, serene and haunting ambient piece and a perfect closer to the album. The last minute of this thing made me feel like Frodo rolling out of Rivendell with the boys.
Now going back toward the beginning, I thought the opening bit with the word Military in the name, wasn't particularly special even 4 listens in, but finally 20% into "Job's Lament" shit starts getting tense and maybe i'm just too simple for this post rock stuff, but I get most hyped about those HEAVY bass notes and that staticy guitar as it builds up to the muscular close of that track. This leads into the first "Holy Shit...is you angels?" moment of the album for me, when the guitar comes searing in with the faint sound of voices melded in, that is a nice moment. Brilliant, really. Only lasts for a couple minutes, then some cool down from that high and then some gunshot noises annnnndddd close first big suite. The in-between track that follows and is jammed betwixt the 2 MEGA post rock suites "Fire At Static Valley" is quite nice. Its not the same level as the closer, but quite gorgeous.
Okay, and then as for the second big suite, I probably won't go into detail what I thought of each piece within like I did with the first, but I can say that almost everything about "GOVERNMENT CAME pretentious coordinates or something" is dope. Almost all 11 minutes of it was candy to me ears. The first 5 minutes are build up and pretty good build up as it has that dark power that is what I loved about F#A# Infinity, but its all foreplay to the moment when the soaring guitars, well, when the guitars soar. lol. Then they do that post rock thing where it gets intense and then more intense and then more and at some point you notice you're not breathing, you're eyes are squinting unflatteringly, and you're mumbled "Stop, No, I can't take it!" turns into euphoric shouts of "No, don't stop! don't STOOOOPPPP!!!!". Its orgasmic is what I'm saying. And just like orgasms, despite being played out and ever so familiar, they're quite good. From there there is more slow noodling as if they're getting themselves ready for another go-round, followed by another (less impactful, yet still gorgeous) epic crescendo. And then BOOM! We are back to where we started, which was the end, and that final god-tier ambient closing track.
The name is silly, but Idk maybe I am just basic. Seems pretty weird. The cover is, on first glance, underwhelming - BUT, I like it now that i look at it. has a certain circular, symbolic meaning. Said symbolism and cover maybe influenced my hackneyed attempt at such a round-about structure to this comment and track break down.
And as far as how this fits/ranks in their discog, well I'm far from a mega fan of this band. I like/love their 1997 album because it has the word blues in one of its songs and that is an instant winner in my books. I love their 2000 album, but of course I'm contractually obligated to say that on this site and on this internet. But in all seriousness I haven't listened to Lift Yr Skinny Fists in years, but there was a time when I was in love and thought I'd discovered the holy grail of music when i heard that. Never heard Yanqui I don't think, and I really like their legendary 1999 EP although I've only heard it once and can't say what I liked about it. When I first joined this site in 2012, I was caught up along with almost every other BEA member in the recent release of Allelujah... Don't Bend Ascend. As a matter of fact, I believe that was the VERY FIRST album comment I ever made on this site. I loved it and still do tbh. I adore how fucking brutally heavy that album is. Haven't heard their 2015 or 2017 offerings. All that is to say I don't really feel I have any strong context or freshness to any relative quality assessments. I will say that I really really liked this album. It hit me at the right time and I am very glad its in my life. I am still not someone who will get excited about Post Rock when placed as a genre on an album, as a matter of fact I kinda avoid such albums. Not sure why. Maybe I like music that is more immediate and less drawn-out than what that genre tag evokes.
Anyway, this will end up being the most unstructured (aka least structured) of all my 2021 chart/album comments and my longest and my most deserving of ridicule and the one with the most bad English (which is saying something). I will close by saying, "cool album". The highs are heaven, the lows sound like somewhat by-the-numbers GY!BE things analogous to a nice serene Nebraska cornfield.
Oh and one final added comment, regarding the general darkness or vibe of this album, I felt like it was the least dour, apocalyptic of the albums I've heard by them. All their albums have some moments of soaring beauty, but I felt this had several that felt almost religious and not in a end-of-days type of way either. Anyway, I have seen comments saying this has a a deeply dark atmosphere, and maybe that is just a personal reaction thing, but I personally found it refreshing how GY!BE sounded a little less morbid this time around.
cool album"[+]Reply
"(A near-perfect Indie Folk album that is so much more than just an indie folk album that it feels silly dropping that name/genre/tag on it. It’s still peak-Sufjan - somehow after over 20 years and it’s just a life-affirming, beautiful, escapist work of intense beauty) It’s a good feeling having a...""(A near-perfect Indie Folk album that is so much more than just an indie folk album that it feels silly dropping that name/genre/tag on it. It’s still peak-Sufjan - somehow after over 20 years and it’s just a life-affirming, beautiful, escapist work of intense beauty)
It’s a good feeling having another Sufjan Stevens work to digest and listen to over and over. Also the harmonies and the input from his musical partner here, De Augustine, are excellent. The two of them have made a spiritual, beautiful in every way, gem of an indie folk album. I love it.
My appreciation grows each time I listen. Sufjan has always been an artist that I considered to be a melodic genius. Specifically in his more low key releases, and more acoustic albums, such as Carrie & Lowell and Seven Swans and big chunks of Michigan, he has always had this brilliant way of creating melodies and harmonies that are unabashedly beautiful. His more epic, huge sounding songs and albums are also brilliant, just not quite as much my personal taste/preference.
The only artist I always thought was Sufjan’s equal in being able to create memorable, familiar, warm and engaging melodies seemingly forever and with ease, was Elliott Smith. And this connection is more clear than ever on this album. Specifically on songs like “Murder And Crime” and “Lost in the World”. The former really does sound like peak Smith, it’s incredibly sad and moving. I also find it fascinating that despite having a somewhat similar style melodically (especially on those more Smith-esque tracks) it’s clear that Elliott and Sufjan are VERY different people and artists. There is not the same abyss-dark sadness on these or any Sufjan song. He is more optimistic and whimsical even at his darkest. Just a thought, and a detour.
On the whole, in sort of bland general terms, this album is great. It’s beautiful, it works as a complete album experience, it’s consistent and it’s a beautiful length as well. If you know me you know I have a bias for shorter and more compact albums generally. While I recognize the genius at work with Illinois, Michigan, Age of Adz etc, each of those classic Sufjan albums just - for me - felt too long. This album is a breezy, beautiful escape. It has its emotional highs and lows and its struggles and it’s loves and it’s fantasy themes and all that…. All in 46 or so minutes. Brilliant.
I don’t know what the distribution of contribution was betwixt Sufjan and Angelo. Otherwise, I would make more mention of Angelo’s work. He has a fine voice and creates beautiful harmonies and if this album is any indication, he can stand up alongside a GIANT in modern music quite well. Which is impressive. I plan on learning more about what this collab actually entailed.
The stand tracks are numerous and again the album as a whole works damn well. I actually feel like the second half is stronger ( despite the first half being absolutely stunning with that opener, “Return to Oz” “Olympus” and the brilliant gem of a title track.). Or l, at least the second half is equal and more to my taste vibe-wise. On side 2 “Murder and Crime” and that run of 4 yea is to end the album are just… *chef’s kiss-mixed-with-a-swoon*
In closing, this album is just about the most bracing breathe of fresh air I can imagine. Right as the beautiful Autumn coolness started setting in, I got this life-affirming album, this deep, musically and lyrically rich album, and I will never forget the feeling of listening to it the first couple times while sitting outside in a breezy 60 degree afternoon. It was magical. And the magic hasn’t gone away after 6-7 listens. I think this is an album I will come back to a lot and move higher and higher in my personal rankings and opinions as I do. It’s maybe, close to, my fave Sufjan Album. This and Carrie & Lowell personally are my faves of his - while having love and respect for most of his other projects (that I’ve heard… he has done ALOT). I just have a soft spot for soft, folkie, harmony-rich, almost S&G-style Sufjan. Anyway, What a beautiful, heavenly album. "[+]Reply
Mercury | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
pjohnsongolf | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
ExTeaSea | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
indieshins | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
