Best Albums of the 2020s (so far)

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Listed below are the best albums of the 2020s (so far) as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 4 hours ago).

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2020s decade summaryThe best artists of the 2020s are Black Country, New Road, The Strokes, Charli XCX, Little Simz, Magdalena Bay, Fontaines D.C., Kendrick Lamar, Big Thief, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and The Smile.

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241.

O Monolith

Squid (2020s)

"‘O Monolith’ doesn’t quite reach the lofty peaks of ‘Bright Green Field’ in my humble opinion, but still proves itself as a worthy sophomore album nonetheless." Reply

- jbentley3997 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2023

Appears in:

126 charts

Rank Score:

393

Rank in 2023:

Rank in 2020s:

241

Overall Rank:

3,760

Average Rating:

74 (118 votes)

Comments:

242.

Ultimate Success Today

Protomartyr

"Such a cool band. This album doesn't disappoint. First track is one of those slow building songs which plays as a nice ramp up to their killer single Processed by the Boys. This release is just as cool as their older stuff but with a continuous spooky wind instrument type thing going on throughou..." [+] Reply

ExTeaSea | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2020

Appears in:

113 charts

Rank Score:

393

Rank in 2020:

Rank in 2020s:

242

Overall Rank:

3,762

Average Rating:

73 (120 votes)

Comments:

243.

The Million Masks Of God

Manchester Orchestra

"Manchester Orchestra from Atlanta Georgia release another excellent conceptual album coming on the heals of the previous ‘Black Mile to the Surface’ which explored Welsh Mining and Miners, this time around its death, dying and life Simply gorgeous release" Reply

Brad1770 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2021

Appears in:

60 charts

Rank Score:

392

Rank in 2021:

Rank in 2020s:

243

Overall Rank:

3,768

Average Rating:

71 (60 votes)

Comments:

244.

Night Palace

Mount Eerie

"Night Palace has been celebrated online as the Mount Eerie album that sounds the most like Phil Elverum's work in the Microphones. It's interesting that this would happen when the solo project has covered so much ground that builds on different aspects of the Microphones sound, whether that's the...""Night Palace has been celebrated online as the Mount Eerie album that sounds the most like Phil Elverum's work in the Microphones. It's interesting that this would happen when the solo project has covered so much ground that builds on different aspects of the Microphones sound, whether that's the quiet and intimate songwriting (Dawn, No Flashlight), the fuzzy loudness (Wind's Poem, Ocean Roar) and intensely personal lyrics (A Crow Looked At Me, Lost Wisdom), so why does Night Palace evoke these elements more? I think the key property of the record is its willingness to mix loud and quiet and to build on particular ideas. The first point in particular helps create that epic scope associated with Phil's 2000s era work, a completely loud album doesn't necessarily have this effect because there isn't a point of reference, whereas songs that include both create small and massive objects, with the former often swallowing up the latter. Think of the transition from the closing chords of I Felt Your Shape into the opening of Samurai Sword, that track would always sound noisy but after something so gentle it's like the loudest sound you've ever heard. The album Mount Eerie pushed this further, with fragile sounding vocals and acoustic guitars crashing up against thunderous drums, piercing electric guitars and walls of noise. It happens again here, the slow opening of Breaths is expanded by distorted drums and guitars, this is then ripped apart by Swallowed Alive (I'm still not 100% sure what we're even hearing on this track). I Need New Eyes is built around Phil's ever gentle vocals, but even the backing vocals are bolstered by an electric fuzz, making it all feel enclosed in something massive. Night Palace isn't just great because it recalls some great records from 20-25 years ago though. Many tracks have a cleaner sound and more straightforward progression, both of which work brilliantly as they never totally dominate the tracklist. The guitar work in Huge Fire is stunning, there's a beauty in the soft smoothness of I Walk and the quiet interplay between the piano and backing vocals at the start of I Heard Whales provides a strong counterpoint to the build up of noise. Like a number of Phil's recent records this one looks to and draws from the past without just emulating it, instead these ideas are reapplied to the less harsh and experimental music that he makes now. Maybe the biggest departure from previous work is the introduction of a political viewpoint regarding the land and nature that's always played a huge role in Phil's music. The land of the Pacific North West has often had this almost scared feel in the past, an unchanging landscape that creates a humility in how small it makes one feel. Night Palace deals with much tougher questions of how this land came to be what it is, observations like "only ten thousand years ago there were meadows here" and talk of mountains running like a stream that we are too short lived to see flow view this are as changing like everything else. It makes it as susceptible as anywhere or anyone else to the forces of greed (November Rain, Co Owner of Trees) and imperialism (Non Metaphorical Decolonisation and the mention of fighter jets on Demolition). Its a radical step into new territory for a project that's focused on the self and on the universe, without considering much of what's in between." [+] Reply

- JamesMowbray | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2024

Appears in:

104 charts

Rank Score:

392

Rank in 2024:

Rank in 2020s:

244

Overall Rank:

3,773

Average Rating:

75 (71 votes)

Comments:

245.

The Greater Wings

Julie Byrne

"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)

Year of Release:

2023

Appears in:

93 charts

Rank Score:

389

Rank in 2023:

Rank in 2020s:

245

Overall Rank:

3,805

Average Rating:

74 (58 votes)

Comments:

246.

K.G.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

"I don't know how they can put out so much quality but they do and this is no exception. Slap after slap with no filler. The sounds of a band with a complete mastery of their output and an ability to do pretty much whatever they want." Reply

mdbaxter | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2020

Appears in:

88 charts

Rank Score:

388

Rank in 2020:

Rank in 2020s:

246

Overall Rank:

3,810

Average Rating:

74 (132 votes)

Comments:

247.

2017-2019

Against All Logic

"Just as good if not better than 2012-2017. Fantasy, Penny, and With an Addict are the standouts but there isn't a single bad track on here." Reply

- Scoott | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2020

Appears in:

115 charts

Rank Score:

386

Rank in 2020:

Rank in 2020s:

247

Overall Rank:

3,821

Average Rating:

73 (194 votes)

Comments:

248.

My 21st Century Blues

Raye

"Raye demonstrates a complete and total command of R&B, Soul, Blues, Rap, and EDM. What makes her stand apart from legions of other A-level performers is the way she blends these styles with a deeper understanding of what the music is saying, then combining it with her own original perspective, fu..." [+] Reply

- alexandermause | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Year of Release:

2023

Appears in:

64 charts

Rank Score:

386

Rank in 2023:

Rank in 2020s:

248

Overall Rank:

3,822

Average Rating:

74 (47 votes)

Comments:

249.

Little Oblivions

Julien Baker

"(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)

Year of Release:

2021

Appears in:

114 charts

Rank Score:

384

Rank in 2021:

Rank in 2020s:

249

Overall Rank:

3,844

Average Rating:

71 (104 votes)

Comments:

250.

Inner Song

Kelly Lee Owens

"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)

Year of Release:

2020

Appears in:

138 charts

Rank Score:

384

Rank in 2020:

Rank in 2020s:

250

Overall Rank:

3,846

Average Rating:

73 (98 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 25 of 100

Best Albums of the 2020s (so far) composition

Year	Albums	%

2020	199	20%
2021	204	20%
2022	193	19%
2023	158	16%
2024	148	15%
2025	98	10%
2026	5	1%

Artist	Albums	%

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard	12	1%
Taylor Swift	7	1%
Nas	5	0%
Bad Bunny	4	0%
Charli XCX	4	0%
Black Country, New Road	4	0%
파란노을 [Parannoul]	4	0%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	502	50%
	242	24%
	46	5%
	40	4%
	31	3%
	19	2%
	15	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	999	99%
Yes	6	1%

Live?	Albums	%
No	991	99%
Yes	14	1%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	1,002	100%
Yes	3	0%

« View best albums of the 2010s

Best Artists of 2024
1. Magdalena Bay
2. Charli XCX
3. Vampire Weekend
4. The Cure
5. The Smile
6. Fontaines D.C.
7. Kendrick Lamar
8. The Last Dinner Party
9. Geordie Greep
10. Tyler, The Creator