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: 3 hours ago).
"As of me writing this (February 1, 2022), this is my favorite album released in 2022. All but three songs ("The Man You Love to Hate," "The Death of Magic Thinking," and "Trick Out the Truth") are great, and it's on its way to becoming a classic (to me, at least)."Reply
"Sorry deliver the sleazy ennui soundtrack for the 20-somethings of today; an innovative patchwork of alternative goodness, mixing its sounds and words like a hazy drug-filled evening. Without ever fully giving the game away, Sorry maintain a prosaic mystery in their style, allowing the bands memb...""Sorry deliver the sleazy ennui soundtrack for the 20-somethings of today; an innovative patchwork of alternative goodness, mixing its sounds and words like a hazy drug-filled evening. Without ever fully giving the game away, Sorry maintain a prosaic mystery in their style, allowing the bands members to feel just as cool and non-caring as they come across on their debut. One of 2020's best records."[+]Reply
"I didn't expect Cudi to jump onto trap so eagerly, but it makes much sense - seeing long time fan Travis Scott surpassing him in success - and it complements his rapping style fine. I have to respectfully disagree with OstrichGoat below; I think besides extending the measures of the beats to 8 be...""I didn't expect Cudi to jump onto trap so eagerly, but it makes much sense - seeing long time fan Travis Scott surpassing him in success - and it complements his rapping style fine. I have to respectfully disagree with OstrichGoat below; I think besides extending the measures of the beats to 8 beats, he hasn't taken any production techniques from trap. The production is satisfying, surprising and subtle as I'm used to from Cudi; the translation into trap makes it very interesting rather.
In terms of vibe, vocals and production this is an album I've always wanted Cudi to make: leaning into the sadness and the rage. I respect his attempts at upbeat tracks, but I think the motivation is wrong if you do it so people won't see you as that sad rapper. He really sounds much more stable on this album, like someone who has his mind made up. But all in all I think music by someone who is still in search will always be superior, even if it's worse in all the parts. That is to say: the album is also very stable, so maybe this album simply came too late. Songs are rather static, which is not a surprise from Kid Cudi really, but every song really contains the same vibe, somewhere between the crippling depression of "Swim in the Light" and the ego trip of "Unfuckwittable". Not one song diverges from this, which makes the album barely bearable. But still he manages to make every song a trip full of surprises in the details of the productions, or his hums, or his rapping technique - because that's often forgotten about Cudi: that he is a great rapper too. There's nothing of "Solo Dolo part II" levels of rapping quality, but - again - he consistently stays on a level of 'pretty good'.
The lack of stand out tracks is the downfall of this album in the end. Something I also noticed on part two of this trilogy. Since it is part of the trilogy, I think there is more pressure on him to succeed, which prevents him from taking risks. That's why I was pretty content with him not finishing the trilogy at first, I understand he will probably not be in the same mood as 2009 since people grow. But still, I'm not mad at this."[+]Reply
"There is a charm hidden with this album. There is a great about of effort put into every song. Each songs theme will be represented with diverse samples and beats. Unfortunately, there is far too much material. This album could be split into three different albums. This just makes a lot of the sp...""There is a charm hidden with this album. There is a great about of effort put into every song. Each songs theme will be represented with diverse samples and beats. Unfortunately, there is far too much material. This album could be split into three different albums. This just makes a lot of the special little moments feel less special. "[+]Reply
"I absolutley loved the singles to this album and I think that every track here has its merits, but when put together as an album, I can't help but feel there is a lack in variety. I like the distorted, lofi sounds, but I wish there were significantly more quiet moments to give the album some chan...""I absolutley loved the singles to this album and I think that every track here has its merits, but when put together as an album, I can't help but feel there is a lack in variety. I like the distorted, lofi sounds, but I wish there were significantly more quiet moments to give the album some chance to breathe and to exentuate the intensity of the climaxes.
Still, the high-points of this record (such as Gold River, Painless) show an ever-increasing promise in Parannoul's ability to produce both experimental and beautiful shoegaze music."[+]Reply
"First listen thoughts: The Beggar is a lot less "epic" than the likes of The Seer or To Be Kind, and I can tell it's going to be a slow-burn, but I did really enjoy it even on my first listen. The Beggar Lover (Three) is the disjointed and manic centrepiece of the album, on Spotify anyway, as it'...""First listen thoughts:
The Beggar is a lot less "epic" than the likes of The Seer or To Be Kind, and I can tell it's going to be a slow-burn, but I did really enjoy it even on my first listen.
The Beggar Lover (Three) is the disjointed and manic centrepiece of the album, on Spotify anyway, as it's not listened on here, but it was by far my favourite track."[+]Reply
"So my copy of Peasant on vinyl arrived the other day, it's pretty cool – I really like Dawson and it's nice to have a slice of him in my collection. This one ain't getting in though, it's his weakest project in a while. The whole trilogy idea was always a pretty stale threadbare linking of his pr...""So my copy of Peasant on vinyl arrived the other day, it's pretty cool – I really like Dawson and it's nice to have a slice of him in my collection. This one ain't getting in though, it's his weakest project in a while. The whole trilogy idea was always a pretty stale threadbare linking of his projects, but it would be justified if The Ruby Cord – as the first two in their own respects accomplish admirably – offered a meaningful commentary about humanity's prospects and what that means for us now. Oddly, despite Dawson's characteristically shrewd and perspicacious social observations, it doesn't whatsoever. Or, if it does I have not been able to extract it with the same didactic ease with which Peasant and 2020 provide; this album loses itself in abstraction. It seems that Dawson didn't have anything trenchant to say about the 26th century after-all.
The essential quality of 2017's Peasant is that the "community" is insular, founded on xenophobia, and resistant to the encroachment of the stranger. The hypothetical bard is thus traversing through this social landscape "in search of the Holy Grail of human decency." In 2020, people share the same spaces (they are all still British; they are neighbours), but there is no more "community." Dawson talks about class stratification, manufactured consent, and the lingering shadows of empire, but it is a guttural experience of alienation that plagues the album: "I know I must be paranoid / But I feel the atmosphere / 'Round here is growing nastier / People don't care anymore."
As 500 years from now will prove – in Dawson's mind – there will never come a techno-utopia for humanity. Instead, if I am to force it into some narrative continuity with these two prior projects – as Dawson wants us to do – the slow death of community will reach a natural conclusion and those who still linger will be rendered truly and literally alone: Hermits in a dying land approaching extinction. It's an almost Fisher King-esque tale, but calling it that would only imply that there is a better album about a 26th century Fisher King dystopia where our wounded spirituality, atrophied community and racist demons manifest a literal T. S. Elliot wasteland, this time of a distant post-post-modernity.
Despite spots of intriguing musicality, nice production and an otherwise not unpleasant listening experience, this is conceptually bankrupt.
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