AllMusic 2017 Year In Review
AllMusic Best of 2017 -
From festival headliners like Kendrick Lamar, Lorde and Depeche Mode to rising acts such as Whitney Rose, Sheer Mag and Angaleena Presley, 2017 delivered outstanding releases from musicians of all recognition levels and font sizes. We're happy to unveil our editors' top 70 albums of the year, followed by another genre-specific list every weekday until the new year.
Aimee Mann delivers the slowest, saddest album she could imagine with this strangely comforting collection.
Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin
Telemann: Concerti per molti stromenti
The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin presents lively performances of Telemann's concertos for various instruments, including the rare calchedon.
On their militant second album, the quartet and producer Adrian Utley offer a soundtrack for the apocalypse, yet refuse to be swallowed by it.
The band's second album is more confident and more sonically impressive, leading to another brilliant indie pop insta-classic.
On her second album, Angaleena Presley is determined to expand country tradition.
Ann Hallenberg / Il Pomo d'Oro
This is one of those rare recordings that break entirely new ground yet remain a pure pleasure.
A musically expansive and politically charged second effort from neo-bluesman Benjamin Booker.
The Icelandic artist rebounds from Vulnicura's despair with lighter-than-air songs about thriving after loss.
Spain's iconic rocker surrounds himself with vintage keyboards, his road band, and saxophonist Santiago de Campo in delivering dramatic, passionate songs.
Cantica Symphonia / La Compagnia del Madrigale / Giuseppe Maletto / Ensemble La Pifarescha
Claudio Monteverdi: Vespro della Beata Vergine
Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine receives an ecstatic performance from Giuseppe Maletto and three early music ensembles.
Haley Fohr interprets a powerful moment of cosmic inspiration on her sixth full-length as Circuit des Yeux.
These serene yet constantly changing meditations on fear, hope, joy, and loss are some of Colleen's most vulnerable, beautiful songs yet.
Nearly six years in the making, the Massachusetts metalcore/punk legends' ninth studio LP serves up a punishing barrage of sonic exclamation points.
Second album from the retro-soul artist tops his fine debut, adding a psychedelic edge to his solid songs and powerful vocals.
An emotionally layered set of live and studio recordings featuring the singer and her trio, as well as the classical string ensemble the Catalyst Quartet.
Intense, visceral, and relevant, the synth rock vets take aim at global affairs and demand action over fear and panic on a stellar 14th set.
Striking and powerful third album from these leftist punks raises the stakes and provides rallying cries for troubled times.
An apocalyptic vision of nationalism, poverty, and alienation that is one of Anderson's finest achievements.
An awesome debut from the uncompromising instrumental rock quartet challenges, realigns, and perhaps redefines post-metal's boundaries.
Karin Dreijer explores the need for intimacy -- and its consequences -- with some of her most colorful and powerful music.
Following a lengthy hiatus, the band's debut for Nonesuch is dense, ambitious, and ultimately rewarding.
François-Xavier Roth / Les Siècles
Maurice Ravel: Daphnis & Chloé, Complete Ballet
François-Xavier Roth and his period instruments ensemble Les Siècles re-create Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé with the sounds of its 1912 premiere.
The prolific songwriter balances intense poetic narratives with more reflective electronic pieces on his first album since moving to Montreal.
A stunning debut album filled with lovely pop songs, introspective folk ballads, and gentle psychedelia from a trio of young women from North London.
A bold, risky concept album that carves out a new, progressive definition of Americana.
After embracing synths on her 2014 album, The Silver Globe, Weaver delivers a psychedelic gem coated in vintage keys, jangling guitars, and sonic exploration.
The third album from the Oklahoma-born rocker finds him digging into a gritty, '60s R&B sound.
Gary, Indiana-based producer Jlin expands beyond the footwork genre on her highly anticipated second full-length.
Another enchanting and pleasantly disorienting release from Argentina's inventive pop auteur.
Blending orchestral arrangements with kaleidoscopic electronics, Smith crafts a highly advanced form of futuristic new age pop.
Excellent proper debut from the Grammy-nominated, TLC-inspired singer and songwriter.
Soul-piercing hyperballads and zero-gravity club tracks color the singer's proper debut album for Warp.
Pared as it might seem, the rapper's fourth proper album is just as rich as the platinum releases that preceded it.
Archy Marshall's second album under his regal alias is a rumbling and eerie work of physical and emotional isolation.
The Los Angeles band creates a stunning live-to-tape audio-visual album playing classic boleros, rancheras, and more in the plazas, bars, and theaters of Mexico City.
The British expat delivers a finely-honed career highlight with her smart sixth album.
After a short "retirement," the band returns with a set that blends melancholy synth ballads with wall-rattling dance rock, aka business as usual.
An exquisite 15-track debut by the duo of Simon Raymonde (Cocteau Twins) and Richie Thomas (Dif Juz), along with a cast of nuanced vocalists.
An emphasis on self-reflection signifies a tonal shift on the singer/songwriter's third strong full-length.
On their seventh studio album, the Georgia quartet re-enlist producer Brendan O'Brien and return to the concept album.
Max Richter: Three Worlds – Music from Woolf Works [Limited Edition]
The composer's music for a ballet inspired by Virginia Woolf's novels is a brilliant testament to both artists' skills.
Recorded shortly after the death of Phil Elverum's wife, Geneviève Castrée, this is a powerful expression of grief.
Vocal performances shine on an unapologetically retro fourth LP, her first with producers Niles City Sound (Leon Bridges).
Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds
The flutist/composer delivers a narrative concept that explores the intersections of duality in a startlingly unique musical language.
The Georgia trio's second album is a post-punk delight, with cleaner sound and more powerfully confident performances.
Overcoming yet more lineup changes, Paramore return with a buoyant, '80s new wave-tinged fifth album.
Outstanding fourth album from these Detroit indie rockers is smart, introspective, and fiercely aggressive all at once.
The master singer and songwriter creates a rich, ambitious collection of stories that rest comfortably with his best work.
Riccardo Muti / Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra deliver a convincing performance of Bruckner's unfinished Ninth that feels complete.
Recorded at Chicago's Museum of Modern Art, four of the artist's trios play separately and in various combinations to deliver a monolithic and inspired document.
Brilliant debut album of Afro-pop-inspired indie pop from Golden Grrrls and Shopping members.
Strong debut album of hard-rocking AOR sounds from a tough Philly quintet led by the monitor-shredding vocals of Tina Halladay.
Two pioneers of U.K. bass music culture team up for their second full-length, a truly remarkable album of tense, heavy, futuristic dub.
The singer/songwriter's fifth album weaponizes pop's trappings, transforming them into sad, witty songs about desire and destruction.
This inward-looking sixth LP from the Norwegian singer/songwriter is rooted in empathy; even at its most cynical, the warmth of its core radiates outward.
Solana Rowe's proper major-label debut album is less inhibited and more colorful than her previous work.
The band returns after a long layoff with a new member, expanded arrangements, and the same hefty dose of autumnal warmth and grace.
Ridiculous, romping album of snide synth glam by a pretend band come to life featuring members of Fat White Family and the Eccentronic Research Council.
An open-hearted creative leap from the Odd Future co-founder, featuring appearances from Frank Ocean, Pharrell Williams, and Syd.
Vijay Iyer / Vijay Iyer Sextet
The pianist draws upon late-'60s Miles Davis and Mwandishi-era Herbie Hancock for this daring, exploratory sextet date.
Long Beach rapper's sophomore LP features an impressive list of guests on a footwork-inspired set.
The jazz vocalist futher explores her Afro-Caribbean roots on her third album for Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label.
