A.V. Club's 20 Best Albums of 2016
There’s no easy way to summarize the year in music given how much of it took us by surprise. High-profile albums would be announced with little warning, arriving on streaming services in a flash, and dominate the cultural conversation until the next one came along. Similarly, some of the most innovative names in music…
Published: December 12, 2016

Billboard's 10 Best R&B Albums of 2016
It’s always difficult to winnow down a year’s listening to just 10 albums.
Published: December 09, 2016

Cosmopolitan's 15 Best Albums of 2016
You already know who's at the top.
Published: December 09, 2016

Stereogum's 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2016
Jazz had no breakout star on the scale of Kamasi Washington in 2016. Of course, the burly LA-based saxophonist who dominated 2015’s press coverage, even getting mainstream outlets to write about him, was the kind of story that comes along once in a generation, so expecting there to be a “next” one would be absurd. […]
Published: December 09, 2016

musicOMH's Top 50 Albums of 2016
Lists: musicOMH's Top 50 Albums Of 2016
Published: December 09, 2016

Rolling Stone's 20 Best Metal Albums of 2016
Vintage thrashers, modern mathletes and more: The year in heavy.
Published: December 09, 2016

Pitchfork's 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2016
From Arca to Moor Mother to Tim Hecker to Meredith Monk, the best experimental records of the year
Published: December 09, 2016

Slant Magazine's 25 Best Albums of 2016
The specter of death and sting of betrayal have cast a somber mood onto many of the best albums of 2016.
Published: December 08, 2016

Exclaim!'s Top 10 Metal & Hardcore Albums of 2016
Our Best of 2016 albums lists by genre continue today with our staff picks for the 10 best metal and hardcore albums this year.   Click ne...
Published: December 08, 2016

Pitchfork's 20 Best Electronic Albums of 2016
Aphex Twin, the Avalanches, Marie Davidson, and the other artists who led the charge this year
Published: December 08, 2016

Newsweek's Top 10 Albums of 2016
Big names like David Bowie, Beyoncé and Radiohead may have released our favorite albums of the year, but they were far from the only artists we were impressed with in 2016.
Published: December 07, 2016

Stereogum's 40 Best Rap Albums of 2016
The larger societal events of the past year had an interesting effect on rap music. Even more than usual, black Americans had to insist, as loudly and as often as they could, that they are human beings and should be treated as such. Rap being a black American art form, that came through in the […]
Published: December 07, 2016

Rolling Stone's 40 Best Country Albums of 2016
Miranda Lambert, Sturgill Simpson, Margo Price and more of the year's best.
Published: December 07, 2016

Exclaim!'s Top 10 Dance & Electronic Albums of 2016
Our Best of 2016 albums lists by genre continue today with our staff picks for the 10 best electronic albums this year.   Click next to re...
Published: December 07, 2016

Treble's Top 50 Albums of 2016

Published: December 07, 2016

Pitchfork's 20 Best Rock Albums of 2016
Radiohead, David Bowie, Savages and the other artists who made waves this year
Published: December 07, 2016

Vulture's 15 Best Albums of 2016
No. 1: Blond(e).
Published: December 06, 2016

For The Win's 50 Best Albums of 2016
The best 50 albums of the year.
Published: December 06, 2016

Pitchfork's 20 Best Pop and R&B Albums of 2016
From Frank Ocean to Chairlift to Solange, here are the best and brightest releases of the year
Published: December 06, 2016

WIRED's Best Albums of 2016
These are the moments that made us wanna turn up the volume and tune out the rest of the world.
Published: December 06, 2016

Exclaim!'s Top 15 Soul and R&B Albums of 2016
Our Best of 2016 albums lists by genre continue today with our staff picks for the 15 best soul and R&B albums this year.   Click next to...
Published: December 06, 2016

Complex's Best Albums of 2016 (So Far)
The Best Albums of 2016 includes projects from Chance the Rapper to Anderson .Paak to Drake to Rihanna to Beyonce to Esperanza Spalding but who's No. 1?
Published: December 05, 2016

Complex's 50 Best Albums of 2016
The Best Albums of 2016 includes projects from Chance the Rapper to Anderson .Paak to Drake to Rihanna to Beyonce to Esperanza Spalding but who's No. 1?
Published: December 05, 2016

The Ringer's Best Albums of 2016
Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper, and Kanye all questioned what it means to make an album this year — and reinvigorated the format in the process
Published: December 05, 2016

Glide's 20 Best Albums of 2016
The year 2016 and the words "best" might seem ironic considering all the loses we suffered in the past 365 days. Despite the death of David Bowie, we got
Published: December 05, 2016

Exclaim!'s Top 15 Hip-Hop Albums of 2016
Our Best of 2016 albums lists by genre continue today with our staff picks for the 15 best hip-hop albums this year.   Click next to read...
Published: December 05, 2016

Bandcamp Daily's Best Albums of 2016
All week long, we’ll be counting down our favorite albums of the past year, 20 at a time.
Published: December 05, 2016

Pitchfork's 20 Rap Albums of 2016
Danny Brown, Skepta, Kamaiyah and the other rappers who made this year great
Published: December 05, 2016

The Times / The Sunday Times 40 Best Albums of 2016
POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR1 Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool (XL) Reworked, updated ideas and songs from years ago jostling with newly minted tracks, lyrics mired in the break-up of Thom Yorke’s relationship
Published: December 04, 2016

Stereogum's 25 Great EPs From 2016
In an age when major-label artists are putting out bloated albums in an effort to rack up the most streaming equivalent units, it can sometimes feel like brevity is becoming a lost art form. But that’s really not the case outside of the pop sphere, as the releases below will attest. Most of these EPs […]
Published: December 02, 2016

The Independent's Best Albums of 2016
Here are our favourite studio releases of the past year
Published: December 02, 2016

Sound Opinions' 40 Best Albums of 2016
In many ways, 2016 has been a tough year. But as always, we’ve had music to help us get through.
Published: December 02, 2016

Exclaim!'s Top 10 Folk & Country Albums of 2016
Our Best of 2016 albums lists by genre continue today with our staff picks for the 10 best folk and country albums of 2016. Click next to...
Published: December 02, 2016

Treble's 10 Best Metal Albums of 2016

Published: December 02, 2016

Esquire's (US) 30 Best Albums of 2016
These are the best albums of 2016 with Chance the Rapper, Radiohead, Frank Ocean Beyonce, Blood Orange, and more.
Published: December 01, 2016

Stereogum's 50 Best Albums of 2016
This has been such a bullshit year. We’ve seen gun massacres. We’ve seen wild political turmoil across the world. We’ve seen countless icons, musical and otherwise, leave this world for the next realm. We’ve seen a power-mad billionaire and an aging and delusional pro wrestler team up to shut down Gawker. We’ve seen a whole lot of bullshit summer-franchise movies. And then there’s the cherry on top of the bullshit sundae: We’ve seen a global revival of right-wing nativism, culminating in a reality-show con-man bigot being elected to the United States presidency even though he lost the popular vote. Everything sucked. Well, almost everything sucked.
Published: December 01, 2016

American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2016

Published: December 01, 2016

KCRW's Best Albums of 2017
KCRW's Best of 2017 Music Awards – The annual Best Of 2017 list recognizes the best artists to cross our airwaves and push music culture forward during the past year. Nominees are selected by KCRW's panel of independent DJs for originality, buzz and total number of mentions.
Published: November 30, 2016

Exclaim's Best Pop & Rock Albums of 2016
Today (November 30), we roll out our first in a series of lists of the best albums of the year, by genre, starting with the first 10 of our...
Published: November 30, 2016

The Guardian's Best Albums of 2016
The Guardian music critics’ favourite albums of the year
Published: November 30, 2016

Consequence of Sound's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2016
These heavy albums both captivated and offered solace throughout a harsh year.
Published: November 30, 2016

KCRW's Best Albums of 2018
KCRW's annual Best Of recognizes the music and performances that caught our DJs' attention in 2018. These artists continually innovate and inspire, while pushing culture forward. Explore the best music from the past year.
Published: November 30, 2016

Fopp's Best Albums of 2016
fopp – the best music, films, books + tech at low prices
Published: November 29, 2016

Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2016
Rolling Stone's best albums of the year list: The 50 best albums of 2016.
Published: November 28, 2016

Consequence of Sound's Top 50 Albums of 2016
These are the titles we clung to in a year dominated by division, conflict, and loss.
Published: November 28, 2016

NME's Albums of the Year 2016
What were the best albums of 2016? Here's 50 brilliant albums from 2016 that you absolutely have to listen to
Published: November 27, 2016

Uncut's Top 75 Albums of 2016

Published: November 22, 2016

Esquire's (UK) 20 Best Albums of 2016
From Bon Iver to DJ Shadow, the tracks you've been humming for the past 12 months - and some you may have missed
Published: November 17, 2016

Exclaim!'s Top 27 Albums of 2016 So Far
As June turns to July and summer enters full swing, we're taking a chance to look back on what's been an insane year not just for music, but...
Published: June 28, 2016

NPR Music's 30 Favorite Albums of 2016 (So Far)
The best albums of the first half of a year stuffed with (far) more than its share of heartbreak, surprise, innovation and beauty.
Published: June 27, 2016