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The Allmusic 2020

Year In Review

In a year unlike any other, music played a bigger role than ever to help confront, process, or simply drown out the tumult of our times. Perfume Genius and Dua Lipa had us dancing in our homes, Thundercat and Angelica Garcia dug deep to reach new heights, and long-running acts like the Strokes, AC/DC, and Stephen Malkmus reminded us that rock isn't dead. These are our 100 favorite albums of 2020.

AC/DC

Power Up

AC/DC reconvened to pay tribute to their late founding member Malcolm Young, winding up with deeply felt good-time rock & roll.

Algiers

There Is No Year

The Atlanta quartet refine their lyric approach while expanding their musical and textural palettes on their third album.

Angel Olsen

Whole New Mess

A recontextualized solo version of 2019's All Mirrors (recorded prior to it) that stands emphatically on its own.

Angelica Garcia

Cha Cha Palace

The Virginia-based singer celebrates her Mexican and Salvadoran roots with a rousingly kaleidoscopic amalgam of Latin traditions and arty indie rock.

Bach Choir / David Hill / BBC Concert Orchestra

Howells: Missa Sabrinensis

A rich choral performance of Howells' gigantic mass shows that the grand British tradition lives on.

Bad Bunny

YHLQMDLG

On his shockingly radio-friendly sophomore album, the urbano superstar deftly breaks all genre rules without writing new ones.

BC Camplight

Shortly After Takeoff

The American expat completes his excellent Manchester Trilogy with pop savvy, enigmatic arrangements, and plenty of gallows humor.

Beatrice Dillon

Workaround

A tightly wound yet playful set of polymetric rhythm studies set at a fixed tempo of 150 beats per minute.

Bob Dylan

Rough and Rowdy Ways

On his first set of new material in eight years, Dylan turns in a vital roots outing ranging across history, culture, spirituality, sex, and mortality.

Bob Mould

Blue Hearts

A world in flames drives the punk/indie legend to create one of his toughest and most passionate works since his days in Hüsker Dü.

Boldy James / Sterling Toles

Manger on McNichols

Unparalleled artistic therapy fusing sample-based production, a large ensemble, and vivid street nightmares, recorded from 2007 to 2018.

Brandy

B7

Arriving eight years after her previous album, this welcome return is as sonically progressive as it is emotionally open.

Brandy Clark

Your Life Is a Record

Brandy Clark gets warm and intimate on the soulful Your Life Is a Record.

Brothers Osborne

Skeletons

On their third album, the duo ratchet up both the rock and disco without losing their down-home identity.

Carolyn Sampson / Osmo Vänskä / Minnesota Orchestra

Mahler 4

Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra present Mahler's joyful Symphony No. 4, with soprano Carolyn Sampson as soloist in the finale.

Childish Gambino

3.15.2020

Mashing and melding sounds, textures, feelings, and trips into a weird, wild, and wonderful mess, this is the second classic Gambino album in a row.

Chloe x Halle

Ungodly Hour

Following up their Grammy-nominated debut, the harmonizing Bailey sisters take another step forward with some high-profile production assistance.

Christian Sands

Be Water

The jazz pianist draws inspiration from the philosophy and skill of martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

Cleo Sol

Rose in the Dark

Over a decade after her career got off to a modest start, the R&B singer/songwriter offers her exceptional first solo LP amid activity with Sault.

Cornershop

England Is a Garden

Never more focused or fun, hooky, or political, the long-running band have crafted their masterpiece after nearly 30 years of making music together.

Creeper

Sex, Death & the Infinite Void

A master class in goth-punk camp directed by a clutch of vampires masquerading as musical theater majors.

Deftones

Ohms

The alt-metal wizards' stunning ninth set reunites them with producer Terry Date on a heady sci-fi vision quest.

Dua Lipa

Future Nostalgia

This pulse-pounding sophomore set updates the best from '70s disco, '80s dance-pop, and '90s club.

Edward Gardner / City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Schubert, Vol. 2: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6; Overtures in the Italian Style

A marvelously sensitive, often delicate Schubert performed at a very high technical level.

Endless Field

Alive in the Wilderness

The duo's transcendent, ASMR-inducing second album, recorded outdoors at various remote locations in Southern Utah.

Epiphoni Consort / Tim Reader

When Love Speaks: Choral Music by Owain Park

An exceptional collection of works by Owain Park does much to establish him as Rutter's heir apparent.

Fiona Apple

Fetch the Bolt Cutters

A dense, unpredictable, and joyfully cathartic fifth album from Fiona Apple.

Fleet Foxes

Shore

The folk-rock band's fourth album is a compassionate and rewarding work of Indian summer liminality.

Gregg August

Dialogues On Race, Vol. 1

A sprawling, poignant, and cannily timed modern big band meditation on America's racial tensions that includes vocalists and strings.

HAIM

Women in Music, Pt. 3

The trio open up on their accomplished third album, confronting the hard times in life with breezy yet vulnerable songs.

Hayley Williams

Petals for Armor

An intensely personal, artful, and exploratory debut from the Paramore singer.

Headie One

EDNA

On his studio debut, the Tottenham icon provides an expansive portfolio of his career thus far.

I Break Horses

Warnings

A shimmeringly bleak, heartbreakingly sad, and musically thrilling album made of sweeping synths, aching vocals, and slow, dreamlike arrangements.

Irreversible Entanglements

Who Sent You?

Poet supreme Camae Ayewa and her supporting quartet kick out a second stunning set of furious and grooving free jazz.

J Hus

Big Conspiracy

The London rapper's chart-topping second full-length is significantly more focused and mature than his 2017 breakthrough.

Jason Isbell / Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Reunions

A brilliant album about the search for strength and direction that emerged in a most chaotic and uncertain time.

Jay Electronica

A Written Testimony

Heavy on uncredited contributions from Jay-Z, the long-awaited debut from this esteemed rapper is an inspired, innovative master stroke.

Jessie Ware

What's Your Pleasure?

Following three Top Ten U.K. entries, the fourth album from the singer/songwriter deals in rhapsodic dancefloor intimacy.

Joel Ross

Who Are You?

The vibraphonist's sophomore album of expansive, harmonically and tonally colorful jazz.

John Anderson

Years

With the assistance of producer Dan Auerbach, the hardcore country singer explores his mortality.

Julianna Barwick

Healing Is a Miracle

On her first album after several life changes, the vocalist/producer explores creativity's therapeutic qualities with transcendent beauty.

Ka

Descendants of Cain

Adopting a biblical metaphor for his fifth solo set, rapper Ka continues his poetic illustration of the struggles of his Brownsville home.

Katie Gately

Loom

The producer's painful, beautiful, and powerful tribute to her late mother engulfs listeners in her grieving process.

Khruangbin

Mordechai

On their third album, the Texan trio place more emphasis on their vocals, resulting in their strongest, most affecting material yet.

Kidbug

Kidbug

Members of Eerie Wanda and Dumb Numbers team up on a love letter to the alt-rock sounds of the early '90s, especially grunge.

Kvelertak

Splid

The studio debut for vocalist Ivar Nikolaisen, the Norwegian black metallers pick right up where 2016's Nattesferd left off and never look back.

Kylie Minogue

DISCO

The Australian pop diva triumphantly returns to the dancefloor on this blissful, nostalgic 15th dose of joy.

Lady Gaga

Chromatica

Lady Gaga returns to glitzy disco and house on the streamlined, stylized Chromatica.

Laura Marling

Song for Our Daughter

The British folk singer/songwriter's mid-career watershed continues on her gorgeously written seventh album.

Lianne La Havas

Lianne La Havas

The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter takes the reins for her third album and shouldn't let go.

Lido Pimienta

Miss Colombia

A vivid panoply of heritage-rich, progressive global pop from this Canadian-Colombian singer/songwriter.

Lilly Hiatt

Walking Proof

The singer and songwriter ups her game across the board on this well-crafted and expressive fourth album.

Loma

Don't Shy Away

The sophomore full-length effort from the American indie rock trio effectively combines elemental dream pop and dark folktronica.

Low Cut Connie

Private Lives

Low Cut Connie expand their musical and emotional horizons without forgetting to rock.

Magik Markers

2020

The trio's first album in nearly a decade captures the fragmented feel of its namesake year with delicate folk-pop, clattering rock, and open emotion.

Margo Price

That's How Rumors Get Started

The country maverick broadens and deepens her musical purview with production assistance from Sturgill Simpson.

Mark Elder / Hallé Orchestra

Sibelius: Symphony No. 4; Symphony No. 6

Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra complete their exceptional cycle of the symphonies of Sibelius with the Fourth and Sixth.

Mary Lattimore

Silver Ladders

The ambient harpist works with Slowdive's Neil Halstead on this album of patient, autumnal instrumentals.

Natalia Lafourcade

Un Canto por México, Vol. 1

The first volume of a studio outing that re-creates the musical magic from a benefit concert held in November 2019.

No Joy

Motherhood

Once strictly a doomy shoegaze band, this Montreal group uses their new album to explore everything from trip-hop to metalcore.

Nubya Garcia

Source

After two acclaimed EPs, the London-based saxophonist's debut album weds striking modern jazz to Afro-Caribbean musical traditions.

Oneohtrix Point Never

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never

Inspired by his lifelong love of radio, Daniel Lopatin combines the different facets of his music with a newfound warmth and intimacy.

ORA Singers

Thomas Tallis: Spem in Alium; James Macmillan: Vidi Aquam

An exceptional release featuring James MacMillan's "reflection" on Tallis' monumental 40-voice motet Spem in alium.

Perfume Genius

Set My Heart on Fire Immediately

Mike Hadreas' fifth album explores the body's power and tenderness with songs that are equally rugged and delicate.

Phoebe Bridgers

Punisher

Subtle shifts in production and songwriting take the second album from this indie songwriter in new, ominous directions.

Poppy

I Disagree

On her empowering third LP, the subversive pop star finds her own voice with a brash metal makeover.

Prince Royce

Alter Ego

On his sixth album, the "prince of bachata" delivers a sprawling double-length record chock-full of hit singles and soulful new directions.

Riga Cathedral Choir School Mixed Choir / Jurgis Cabulis

Jančevskis: Aeternum

A major new figure in the Baltic choral tradition, presented in gorgeous performances.

Rina Sawayama

Sawayama

This genre-defying debut from the Japanese-British singer mines the best of early-2000s pop, rock, and R&B.

Run the Jewels

RTJ4

On their intensely political fourth salvo, the rap duo tackles a litany of American ills with wit and wisdom.

RVG

Feral

An urgent and appealing bouquet of post-punk, new wave, and jangling guitar pop from eclectic Melbourne band.

Róisín Murphy

Róisín Machine

Working with Crooked Man's Richard Barratt, Murphy delivers a cohesive, spellbinding album that's a testament to her consistent creativity.

Sault

Untitled (Rise)

A highly energized and angered set, the dynamic and enigmatic collective's fourth album in 16 months.

Sevdaliza

Shabrang

The singer, songwriter, and producer's second album blends traditional and futuristic sounds in an epic journey from pain to strength.

Shabaka & the Ancestors

We Are Sent Here by History

On their Impulse! debut, Shabaka Hutchings' South African band delve deeply into spiritual and Township music to prepare humanity for extinction.

Shirley Collins

Heart's Ease

The British folk icon returns to the recording studio to create a strong, confident, and forward-thinking album at the age of 85.

Soccer Mommy

color theory

The lyrically heavy follow-up to Sophie Allison's breakthrough debut has production inspired by the idea of coming across an old cassette tape.

St. John's College Choir, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha

Ash Wednesday

A live recording of the St. John's Ash Wednesday service, with a striking sense of immediacy.

Stephen Malkmus

Traditional Techniques

Stephen Malkmus finally makes the psych-folk album he's been hinting at for years.

Sunny Jain

Wild Wild East

The drummer explodes the American cowboy and immigrant archetypes with his kaleidoscopic mix of Bollywood and Spaghetti Western-inspired themes, surf rock, Indian classical, and jazz.

Supercrush

SODO Pop

Brilliant re-creation of the moment in the early '90s when grunge and power pop collided.

Tame Impala

The Slow Rush

The band's fourth album delves smoothly into elegant disco, echoing chillwave, and Madchester beats while also dealing with serious lyrical concerns and big emotions.

Taylor Swift

folklore

A moody, contemplative surprise from Taylor Swift.

Teyana Taylor

The Album

Seemingly unrestricted and as definitive as the title implies, an engrossing work with an abundance of rich slow jams and an uplifting finish.

The Killers

Imploding the Mirage

Las Vegas' finest strike gold by finding the sweet spot between Sam's Town and Brandon Flowers' solo work.

The Koreatown Oddity

Little Dominiques Nosebleed

The Koreatown Oddity's second Stones Throw LP is a dense, psychedelic epic vividly portraying the rapper/producer's upbringing.

The Microphones

Microphones in 2020

Phil Elverum revisits his beloved indie pop project with an ambitious yet humble musical memoir that honors his past and present selves.

The Soft Pink Truth

Shall We Go on Sinning So That Grace May Increase?

Drew Daniel responds to the increasing hate in the 2010s and 2020s with a deeply beautiful celebration of love and community.

The Strokes

The New Abnormal

Complicated, ambitious, and emotionally raw, the band's sixth album is a surprising and rewarding triumph.

The Weeknd

After Hours

Abel Tesfaye's Blood on the Tracks -- er, teeth -- is an emotionally resonant, sonically varied breakup album.

Thibaut Garcia

Aranjuez

A landmark recording of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, accompanied by lovely smaller works.

Thundercat

It Is What It Is

Shaken by the death of Mac Miller, Stephen Bruner nonetheless reaches a new peak with his fourth album.

Vladislav Delay

Rakka

Brutal, apocalyptic hellscapes from the Finnish experimental techno master, conveying much more than the bitter cold of the Arctic tundra.

Waylon Payne

Blue Eyes, the Harlot, the Queer, the Pusher & Me

A bracing, soulful, and literary semi-autobiographical song cycle.

Winter

Endless Space (Between You & I)

Peacefully dreamlike and melancholy album that skillfully blends the softness of dream pop with the sonic overload of shoegaze.

Wire

Mind Hive

On their compact yet complex 17th album, the legendary post-punkers reinvent their enduring strengths as they lament humanity's vicious, and violent, circles.

Xavier Omär

If You Feel

Sympathetic and artful R&B from a San Antonian with range encompassing descriptive bedroom songwriting and rich gospel harmonies.

Yelle

L' Ère du Verseau

The French duo tone down the technicolor in favor of a more expressive sound that's still hooky and fun.

Yves Tumor

Heaven to a Tortured Mind

The genre-defying artist unites their music into funky, iridescent R&B pop with fascinating, seductive results.

Zephaniah OHora

Listening to the Music

Working with producer Neal Casal, the Merle Haggard disciple makes a great leap forward on his sophomore set.

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Phoebe Bridgers