Best Albums of the 2020s (so far)

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231.

Laugh Track 

 The National

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"Look, I love First Two Pages of Frankenstein. It's a record that took time for me to appreciate, but that I love like pretty much all of The National's discography. But Laugh Track? The band is COOKING. Where the band's songs from High Violet on became bedded in moody textures, and even their sma...""Look, I love First Two Pages of Frankenstein. It's a record that took time for me to appreciate, but that I love like pretty much all of The National's discography. But Laugh Track? The band is COOKING. Where the band's songs from High Violet on became bedded in moody textures, and even their smallest songs could not help being cinematic, Laugh Track is their least precious collection of songs in the best way possible. The immediacy and warmth recalls Alligator or Boxer, although the refined performances are more akin to the latter. There's an easiness to Laugh Track that The National has only shown off sporadically, but that drives this record, going their hardest this consistently for the first time in over a decade. Hell, "Smoke Detector" is the first genuinely upbeat closer the band has put on an album since "Mr. November." There's still dense instrumentation, but all of it sits perfectly together--Aaron Dessner really going for the most tasteful aesthetic possible. Lyrically, there's a longing which is far less forlorn, but no less poignant. Matt Berninger still has it. I'll still need some time to really dig in there. But on the whole, if you've found The National to be a bit too slow and sleepy the last few albums, Laugh Track is a formidable and firm rebuttal. "  [+]  Reply

- HoldenM | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 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.

Year of Release:

2023

Appears in:

94 charts

Rank Score:

361

Rank in 2023:

38

Rank in 2020s:

231

Overall Rank:

4,017

Average Rating:

 75 (96 votes)

Comments:

5

232.

Little Oblivions 

 Julien Baker

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"(It's a Julien Baker album, it's a good album. One of the contenders for the championship belt of badass sad sack songwriters comes back with a whole lot more production punch than she had on her last couple albums. The result is a lush, at times overly so, but mostly gorgeous album that will abs...""(It's a Julien Baker album, it's a good album. One of the contenders for the championship belt of badass sad sack songwriters comes back with a whole lot more production punch than she had on her last couple albums. The result is a lush, at times overly so, but mostly gorgeous album that will absolutely have you sobbing in solidarity with her if you aren't careful.) This is easily my most anticipated album of 2021 thus far. I adore Julien's debut Sprained Ankle, and, while I found her second album considerably less cathartic and powerful, I still quite liked it. From her first 2 albums I felt that As a songwriter Julien is pretty miserable, not like she's bad, I mean she is very VERY good at just completely expressing utter despair and self-loathing like few songwriters I've ever heard. This is perhaps the main feature and most obvious aspect of her music in her career thus far. This aspect is so much on the forefront that sometimes I think her other strengths are overlooked. Lyrically she does know how to plunge the knife in and then twist it for maximum effect. Melodically she isn't an all time great, but she generally can write a good hook and a good and memorable melody. And she knows how to make just a very consistent and engaging emo album to sob along with. In the lead up to this album I was feeling kinda meh and in the dumps and as a result I was very eagerly anticipating this album. When I heard it the night it was dropped I was initially lukewarm. Then I woke up and listened a couple more times and I started to warm to it a bit more. Now as I write this and I listen yet again, I am starting to really quite like it. The obvious change in her production is what is probably going to get the most ink. And for good reason. Cuz this album is indeed MUCH more adorned with big synth parts and walls of electric guitar and keyboard and just a lot of embellishments that are trotting along beside Julien's familiar emotional voice and songwriting themes. This upscaling of musical...stuff... is generally well done. What the album clearly loses in terms of that intimacy and cathartic power that her first album had, it gains in terms of just a lot of beautiful moments of epic earcandy. The absolutely badass chorus of "Heatwave" is something that just couldn't happen without the new production angle and to say it works in enhancing the emotional punch of the song would be an understatement. There are other moments when the increased production touches work quite amazingly alongside Julien's songs. There are also songs which feel somewhat overproduced and made me briefly miss that stripped down sound featured in "Sprained Ankle". An example of this arguably over-adorned style somewhat hampering the impact of a song is on "Relative Fiction". That song for me is good but coulda been great if not for those damn silly percussion sounds. Maybe that touch will grow on me, but for now I don't love it, feels a bit much especially with the big bass sounds and the several guitars also being layered on top of it with Baker's vocals also being multitracked, idk it just kinda rubs me the wrong way. Still, the hits here and the overarching feel and flow of the album are indeed fabulous and there are some pristine and incredible moments sprinkled on this album. Tracks like "Heatwave", "Hardline", "Ringside", "Song In E", "Ziptie" are very powerful songs that are some of her best in her career thus far. While I don't love this like I love her debut, I think its a better album than her sophomore album and its great having a new Julien Baker album in my life to absorb when I'm feeling like my whole world has been bled of meaning and color. She's one of the best singer/songwriters of her generation and this album is quite solid and already has that familiar warmth connected with it in my mind that will make me revisit it often over the next long while. "Blacked out on a weekday Still something that I'm trying to avoid Start asking for forgiveness in advance For all the future things I will destroy That way I can ruin everything When I do, you don't get to act surprised When it finally gets to be too much I always told you you could leave at any time""  [+]  Reply

- Mercury | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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.

Year of Release:

2021

Appears in:

113 charts

Rank Score:

359

Rank in 2021:

50

Rank in 2020s:

232

Overall Rank:

4,022

Average Rating:

 71 (103 votes)

Comments:

5

233.

Hackney Diamonds 

 The Rolling Stones

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"Major props to guys for making a great album at their age. It isn't super original but it is a return to form."  Reply

- craab | 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.

Year of Release:

2023

Appears in:

129 charts

Rank Score:

359

Rank in 2023:

39

Rank in 2020s:

233

Overall Rank:

4,025

Average Rating:

 73 (131 votes)

Comments:

9

234.

Sinister Grift 

 Panda Bear

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"I think he’s finally released an album that might just rival Person Pitch. Every song offers something to wrap your ears around and I'm really enjoying the gorgeous longing in the penultimate track Elegy for Noah Lou."  Reply

- Strangel | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 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.

Year of Release:

2025

Appears in:

115 charts

Rank Score:

357

Rank in 2025:

15

Rank in 2020s:

234

Overall Rank:

4,046

Average Rating:

 76 (147 votes)

Comments:

9

235.

Ugly Season 

 Perfume Genius

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"The first thing to understand about this album is it really isn’t a “Perfume Genius album” as we we’ve come to know and love in the frame of fully accessible shimmering pop treats and more of a Mike Hadreas solo album. Secondly ‘Ugly Season’ is the soundtrack to a dance / performance piece Hadrea...""The first thing to understand about this album is it really isn’t a “Perfume Genius album” as we we’ve come to know and love in the frame of fully accessible shimmering pop treats and more of a Mike Hadreas solo album. Secondly ‘Ugly Season’ is the soundtrack to a dance / performance piece Hadreas directed dating back to 2019 which performed on stages and can be seen on YouTube [look up “Pygmalion’s Ugly Season - A Film”] and is a highly artistic dance sequence where the music takes a back seat to the visuals and choreography So if your expecting ‘Set My Heart On Fire Part 2” it ain’t here, instead wait for the next P.G album to come out whenever that may be "  [+]  Reply

- Brad1770 | 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.

Year of Release:

2022

Appears in:

109 charts

Rank Score:

354

Rank in 2022:

49

Rank in 2020s:

235

Overall Rank:

4,084

Average Rating:

 73 (112 votes)

Comments:

9

236.

The Greater Wings 

 Julie Byrne

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"Unbelievably sad but unbelievably beautiful. Lots of good tracks here. Be ready for a MOOD"  Reply

- corenfro | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 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.

Year of Release:

2023

Appears in:

93 charts

Rank Score:

350

Rank in 2023:

40

Rank in 2020s:

236

Overall Rank:

4,121

Average Rating:

 74 (58 votes)

Comments:

3

237.

Food For Worms 

 Shame

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"A great follow-up to Drunk Tank Pink. The record starts off strong (and fast) with Fingers of Steel and Six-Pack, before transitioning into Yankees, a slower-paced track that continues to grow on me more and more. The band also showcases some nice variety with songs like Adderall and Orchid. I th...""A great follow-up to Drunk Tank Pink. The record starts off strong (and fast) with Fingers of Steel and Six-Pack, before transitioning into Yankees, a slower-paced track that continues to grow on me more and more. The band also showcases some nice variety with songs like Adderall and Orchid. I think the album starts to slip a bit toward the back-end though, with Different Person and All the People. The exception there being Burning by Design, which is actually my favorite track on the record. Food for Worms probably won't surpass Drunk Tank Pink for me, but it's a highly-enjoyable record (with some of Charlie Steen's best songwriting to date), and a very worthy addition to the bands's catalog. Favorite Tracks: Fingers of Steel, Yankees, Orchid, and Burning By Design."  [+]  Reply

- tyleraepps | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 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.

Year of Release:

2023

Appears in:

118 charts

Rank Score:

350

Rank in 2023:

41

Rank in 2020s:

237

Overall Rank:

4,128

Average Rating:

 73 (126 votes)

Comments:

4

238.

Painless 

 Nilüfer Yanya

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"'PAINLESS' is spare and brooding, with crunching electronic drums and fizzing alkali guitar and synths. I enjoyed myself overall, as I thought Yanya's writing had a harsh beauty to it, Wilma Archer's exec production was very consistent and I have a soft spot for the flourishes Bullion added to th...""'PAINLESS' is spare and brooding, with crunching electronic drums and fizzing alkali guitar and synths. I enjoyed myself overall, as I thought Yanya's writing had a harsh beauty to it, Wilma Archer's exec production was very consistent and I have a soft spot for the flourishes Bullion added to the sonic palette. Overall however, I have to agree with Arthurknight that it's really very good but perhaps doesn't surpass that."  [+]  Reply

- jbentley3997 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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.

Year of Release:

2022

Appears in:

117 charts

Rank Score:

347

Rank in 2022:

50

Rank in 2020s:

238

Overall Rank:

4,150

Average Rating:

 72 (82 votes)

Comments:

4

239.

Friends That Break Your Heart 

 James Blake

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"Hearing Say What You Will got me more excited for this album than I'd ever have anticipated. Its one of the best tracks of the year and probably the best thing he's recorded, so to get to the album and have it be exactly the same as each of his other albums was absurdly disappointing. A good albu...""Hearing Say What You Will got me more excited for this album than I'd ever have anticipated. Its one of the best tracks of the year and probably the best thing he's recorded, so to get to the album and have it be exactly the same as each of his other albums was absurdly disappointing. A good album for sure, impeccably produced, but still feels like he's on autopilot in ways."  [+]  Reply

- Copeland | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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.

Year of Release:

2021

Appears in:

89 charts

Rank Score:

345

Rank in 2021:

51

Rank in 2020s:

239

Overall Rank:

4,166

Average Rating:

 75 (67 votes)

Comments:

4

240.

Inner Song 

 Kelly Lee Owens

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"This is the best album I have heard in 2020 with three months to go. I can't turn it off."  Reply

- mattoorog | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 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.

Year of Release:

2020

Appears in:

137 charts

Rank Score:

345

Rank in 2020:

49

Rank in 2020s:

240

Overall Rank:

4,172

Average Rating:

 73 (97 votes)

Comments:

2

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 24 of 100

Best Albums of the 2020s (so far) composition

Top 1,000 Top 500 Top 250 Top 100

Year	Albums	%
2020	197	20%
2021	200	20%
2022	194	19%
2023	169	17%
2024	143	14%
2025	97	10%
2026	2	0%

Artist	Albums	%
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard	12	1%
Taylor Swift	7	1%
Charli XCX	4	0%
Bad Bunny	4	0%
Nas	4	0%
Black Country, New Road	4	0%
파란노을 [Parannoul]	4	0%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	516	51%
	234	23%
	45	4%
	39	4%
	29	3%
	19	2%
	15	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	995	99%
Yes	7	1%

Live?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	14	1%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	999	100%
Yes	3	0%