Best of 2021 Album Collections

RIFF's 108 Best Albums of 2021

The best albums of 2021 include Billie Eilish, Brandi Carlile, Tyler, The Creator, Little Simz, Olivia Rodrigo, Wolf Alice, Gojira,…

Published: December 10, 2021 08:01 Source

Rolling Stone: Rob Sheffield's Top 20 Albums of 2021

Rob Sheffield runs down his 20 favorite albums of 2021, from Adele to Adult Mom.

Published: December 21, 2021 15:00 Source

Rolling Stone's 10 Best Metal Albums of 2021

We run down the 10 best metal albums of 2021, from Iron Maiden's 'Senjutsu' to King Woman's 'Celestial Blues.'

Published: December 14, 2021 15:14 Source

Rolling Stone's 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2021

The year’s most impressive rap releases included bold moves from Young Thug, Drake, Doja Cat, and Playboi Carti.

Published: December 15, 2021 21:55 Source

Rolling Stone's 25 Best Country & Americana Albums of 2021

The best country and Americana albums of 2021, including Morgan Wade, Eric Church, Sturgill Simpson, and Allison Russell.

Published: December 13, 2021 14:02 Source

Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2021

From Adele's heroic return to Rauw Alejandro's thrillingly unpredictable breakthrough and much more, here are the best albums of 2021.

Published: December 03, 2021 14:15 Source

Rolling Stone's Best Albums of 2021 So Far

The Best Albums of 2021 So Far

Published: June 11, 2021 16:30 Source

Rough Trade UK's Albums of the Year 2021

Buy and pre-order vinyl records, books + merchandise online from Rough Trade, independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.

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Slant Magazine's 50 Best Albums of 2021

The 50 best albums of 2021 prove that, despite all the chaos in the world, music’s pulse is stronger than ever.

Published: December 07, 2021 19:48 Source

Slant Magazine's Best Albums of 2021 … So Far

Our list of the best albums of 2021 so far is a testament to these artists' independent spirit.

Published: June 29, 2021 15:00 Source

Slate's 10 Best Albums of 2021

Tyler, the Creator and Julien Baker make the list.

Published: December 21, 2021 13:00 Source

Sound Opinions: Jim DeRogatis's Best Albums of 2021

It's time for one of the most anticipated shows of the year, the Best Albums of 2021! Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot share their favorite records of the year that they keep returning to again and again. They also hear favorite albums by the production staff. 

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Sound Opinions: Jim DeRogatis's Best Albums of 2021

It's time for one of the most anticipated shows of the year, the Best Albums of 2021! Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot share their favorite records of the year that they keep returning to again and again. They also hear favorite albums by the production staff. 

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Spectrum Culture's Top 20 Albums of 2021

Published: December 17, 2021 06:02 Source

SPIN's 30 Best Albums of 2021

Back in June, SPIN published The 30 Best Albums of 2021 (So Far), rounding up everything from mainstream rock to experimental hip-hop. Six months later,

Published: December 13, 2021 16:47 Source

Sputnikmusic's Top 50 Albums of 2021

Sputnikmusic is a premier source for music reviews and music news, covering the best albums in indie, metal, and punk.

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Stereogum's 10 Best Country Albums of 2021

From Allison Russell to Sturgill Simpson, we look at the best of what country had to offer this year.

Published: December 13, 2021 14:50 Source

Stereogum's 10 Best Electronic Albums of 2021

We count down the best electronic albums of 2021.

Published: December 10, 2021 17:30 Source

Stereogum's 10 Best Hardcore Albums of 2021

We look back at the year in hardcore.

Published: December 16, 2021 15:12 Source

Stereogum's 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2021

As the second year of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic draws to a close, live music is slowly coming back. Bands are returning to the recording studio. And we’re all — artists, fans, and music industry folks alike — trying to predict what the future may hold. Jazz, a genre familiar with precarity even at the best of times, has been altered in fundamental ways by the events of 2020 and 2021.

Published: December 08, 2021 19:00 Source

Stereogum's 10 Best Metal Albums of 2021

In the 10 Best Metal Albums Of 2019, we introduced the Black Market Glossary, a reference guide designed to help new readers interpret what the hell we were writing about. In 2021, we’re introducing the Game Of Metal, a tabletop game for old readers to print out and play and wonder what the hell we’re doing with our lives. The Complete Handbook includes an incredible gameboard designed by Stephen Wilson, rules, roleplayable scenarios, starter cards, and more. It’s… a lot. And those 48 pages of glory, an intense, wild-eyed tribute to the gods of “a lotness” (Manowar?), can be downloaded here.

Published: December 09, 2021 19:00 Source

Stereogum's 10 Best Rap Albums of 2021

In 2021, the grand and majestic rap stars all let us down. Drake made another commercial megalith, an album that dominated charts to an absurd degree, and it was just OK. Kanye West made a vast weeks-long spectacle of his album release, and the album itself was just OK. J. Cole made a pretty good J. Cole album, which isn’t letting us down per se, but it’s not lighting anyone’s world on fire, either. Kendrick Lamar, once again, did not release an album.

Published: December 15, 2021 15:51 Source

Stereogum's 25 Great EPs from 2021

In all the years that we’ve been doing this list, 2021 is the first time that it seems like so many artists released multiple EPs over the course of the year, or released sequels that revisited ideas from previous EPs that they had put out. I don’t know why that is! Maybe the pandemic has got everyone’s attention span frazzled, or maybe the ever-present vinyl delays mean that artists are turning to the shortform while waiting for their long-players to eventually come out. Whatever the case may be, you’ll see quite a few sequels and Vols. 1 and/or 2 in this year’s list. There are also the requisite entries from hardcore barn-burners and up-and-coming bands that are just starting to prove themselves and a whole lot more in between. As it has for the last few years, our 25 Great EPs list is an addendum to Stereogum’s 50 Best Albums Of 2021 list so that we can celebrate this year’s shorter releases and highlight a larger pool of music. We collectively voted on these as a staff, though I (James, hello) wrote about all of them and made the final decisions about what to include and exclude, which means that the results probably trend toward my tastes a bit more than a true consensus list might. That also means that the EPs list is not meant to be exhaustive and definitive — because of their very nature, EPs sometimes slip through the cracks. We encourage your picks in the comments below. Read on for Stereogum’s list of 25 Great EPs From 2021, which are presented alphabetically.

Published: December 07, 2021 15:00 Source

Stereogum's 50 Best Albums of 2021

We made it! Mostly. Kind of. The COVID era, which utterly derailed music and most other things for the better part of two years, isn’t quite over. But around the time that most of us got our second arm-jabs, the whole economy surrounding music started to sputter to life once again. It’s not quite the same as it was this time in 2019 yet, but it’s now possible for a band to release an album and then tour behind that album. We used to take that for granted. Now, it feels miraculous.

Published: December 06, 2021 13:00 Source

Stereogum's 50 Best Albums of 2021 So Far

The best LPs from a transitional six months.

Published: June 08, 2021 13:30 Source

The Alternative's 50 Top Records of 2021

After a long year of difficult times and great music, our staff voted and put together our top 50 releases of the year, along with the winners of our 4 awards: AOTY, Best Debut, Most Underrated and Best Non LP.

Published: December 21, 2021 15:52 Source

The Associated Press's Top Albums of 2021

Ten of the best albums of the year, as selected by Associated Press entertainment journalists. OLIVIA RODRIGO, “SOUR”

Published: December 16, 2021 21:55 Source

The Atlantic's 10 Best Albums of 2021

The most memorable music made during a disorienting year, from Lorde, Arca, Jazmine Sullivan, and more

Published: December 14, 2021 11:00 Source

The Economist's Best Albums of 2021

Desert blues, folk and punk rock are included in The Economist’s recommended playlist this year | Culture

Published: December 06, 2021 15:06 Source

The FADER's 50 Best Albums of 2021

Our list of the albums that defined and transcended 2021, from Tyler, The Creator to Porter Robinson, Jazmine Sullivan to Doja Cat.

Published: December 14, 2021 18:27 Source

The Forty-Five's 45 Best Albums of 2021

The best albums of 2021 from Olivia Rodrigo to Black Honey, Wolf Alice to Little Simz, these are the 45 albums that got us through the year.

Published: December 20, 2021 17:52 Source

The Guardian's 50 Best Albums of 2021

And finally – a deserving winner, whose second solo album is a truly relatable, pin-sharp pop classic. We reveal our No 1 album of 2021

Published: December 17, 2021 06:52 Source

The Guardian's Best Albums of 2021 So Far

From drill’s high watermark to Tuareg rock, Colombian pop and London jazz, here are our music editors’ picks of the best LPs from the first half of the year

Published: June 14, 2021 15:16 Source

The Independent's 40 Best Albums of 2021

From pop-punk that captured Gen-Z anxiety to otherworldly hip-hop, 2021’s greatest albums felt designed to help us process – or escape – what we were faced with over the past 12 months. The Independent’s music team count down their favourites

Published: December 22, 2021 11:48 Source

The Irish Times' Top Albums of 2021

It’s a close contest between Villagers and For Those I Love, while Arlo Parks aces it

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The Key's Best Albums of 2021

WXPN Radio

Published: November 30, 2021 06:04 Source

The Line of Best Fit's Best Albums of 2021

We rank the 50 most outstanding records of 2021, including JPEGMAFIA, PinkPantheress, The War on Drugs and Little Simz.

Published: December 13, 2021 00:00 Source

The Music's Top 20 Albums of 2021

Say what you will about 2021 (we'll just be happy once it's over), but it produced a wealth of amazing albums. The quality and quantity of new music released over the past 12 months both at home and abroad was sensational (it seems many artists were productive during lockdown) and while narrowing down a top 20 was a hard task, we took a poll around the office and with our writers to curated a list that we believe at least in part defined 2021.

Published: December 22, 2021 00:44 Source

The New Yorker: Amanda Petrusich's Best Music of 2021

Amanda Petrusich writes about the best albums of 2021, including “Ignorance,” by the Weather Station; “Promises,” by Floating Points; “Little Oblivions,” by Julien Baker; “Afrique Victime,” by Mbou Moctar, and more.

Published: November 26, 2021 11:00 Source

The New Yorker: Sheldon Pearce's Favorite Albums of 2021

Sheldon Pearce offers his favorite albums of 2021, including Grouper’s “Shade,” Helado Negro’s “Far In,” L’Rain’s “Fatigue,” Mdou Moctar’s “Afrique Victime,” and Vince Staples’s “Vince Staples.”

Published: December 21, 2021 11:00 Source

The New York Times' Best Jazz Albums of 2021

In a year of continued uncertainty, musicians held their colleagues, and listeners, close.

Published: December 02, 2021 12:36 Source

The New York Times: Lindsay Zoladz's Best Albums of 2021

Less isolation didn’t mean a return to normalcy. Albums with big feelings and room for catharsis made the most powerful connections.

Published: December 02, 2021 12:36 Source

The New York Times: Lindsay Zoladz's Best Albums of 2021

Less isolation didn’t mean a return to normalcy. Albums with big feelings and room for catharsis made the most powerful connections.

Published: December 02, 2021 12:36 Source

The Observer: Kitty Empire's Top 10 Albums of 2021

Live streams – and TikTok – came into their own, 1969 burst on to the screen, and everywhere, the sound of one producer’s Midas touch

Published: December 25, 2021 15:00 Source

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Dan DeLuca's Best Albums of 2021

The Top Ten albums of 2021 included four Philadelphia artists.

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The Quietus Albums Of The Year 2021

A new rock music and pop culture website. Editorial independent music website offering news, reviews, features, interviews, videos and pictures

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