Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop: Top 10 Albums By Year, 1971-2017
by The Editors
Cruise through this index of the Voice’s top ten albums from 1971 through 2016, according to its annual Pazz & Jop critics’ poll, started by Robert Christgau.
The poll has run every year since ’71, except for a three-year hiatus after that first year. The prominence of legacy artists on the inaugural poll led Christgau to complain of a “creeping auteurism” by which “fave raves of yore … are trotted out like so many Frank Tashlins to receive a great art award for their annual wheeze.”
It returned in early 1975, though, with Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark being voted the top album of 1974.
1971–1979
1. The Who: Who’s Next (Decca)
2. The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers (Rolling Stones)
3. Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story (Mercury)
4. Van Morrison: Tupelo Honey (Warner Bros.)
5. John Lennon: Imagine (Apple)
6. Joy of Cooking: Joy of Cooking (Capitol)
7. Grateful Dead: Grateful Dead (Warner Bros.)
8. The Concert for Bangladesh: The Concert for Bangladesh (Apple)
9. Joni Mitchell: Blue (Reprise)
10. Carole King: Tapestry (Ode)
1. Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark (Asylum)
2. Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic (ABC)
3. Randy Newman: Good Old Boys (Reprise)
4. Stevie Wonder: Fulfillingness’ First Finale (Tamla)
5. Rolling Stones: It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (Rolling Stones)
6. Bob Dylan and the Band: Before the Flood (Asylum)
7. Roxy Music: Stranded (Atco)
8. Jackson Browne: Late for the Sky (Asylum)
9. Eric Clapton: 461 Ocean Boulevard (RSO)
10. New York Dolls: In Too Much Too Soon (Mercury)
1. Bob Dylan and the Band: The Basement Tapes (Columbia)
2. Patti Smith: Horses (Arista)
3. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run (Columbia)
4. Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks (Columbia)
5. Neil Young: Tonight’s the Night (Reprise)
6. Steely Dan: Katy Lied (ABC)
7. Roxy Music: Country Life (Atco)
8. Bob Marley and the Wailers: Natty Dread (Island)
9. The Band: Northern Lights-Southern Cross (Capitol)
10. The Who: The Who by Numbers (MCA)
1. Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (Tamla)
2. Graham Parker & the Rumour: Heat Treatment (Mercury)
3. Jackson Browne: The Pretender (Asylum)
4. Graham Parker & the Rumour: Howlin’ Wind (Mercury)
5. Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Warner Bros.)
6. Steely Dan: The Royal Scam (ABC)
7. Joni Mitchell: Hejira (Asylum)
8. Ramones: Ramones (Sire)
9. Rod Stewart: A Night on the Town (Warner Bros.)
10. Blue Oyster Cult: Agents of Fortune (Columbia)
1. Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (Warner Bros.)
2. Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True (Columbia)
3. Television: Marquee Moon (Elektra)
4. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (Warner Bros.)
5. Steely Dan: Aja (ABC)
6. Ramones: Rocket to Russia (Sire)
7. Talking Heads: Talking Heads: 77 (Sire)
8. Randy Newman: Little Criminals (Warner Bros.)
9. Garland Jeffreys: Ghost Writer (A&M)
10. Cheap Trick: In Color (Epic)
1. Elvis Costello: This Year’s Model (Columbia)
2. The Rolling Stones: Some Girls (Rolling Stones)
3. Nick Lowe: Pure Pop for Now People (Columbia)
4. The Clash: Give ‘Em Enough Rope (Epic)
5. Talking Heads: More Songs About Buildings and Food (Sire)
6. Bruce Springsteen: Darkness at the Edge of Town (Columbia)
7. Ramones: Road to Ruin (Sire)
8. Neil Young: Comes a Time (Reprise)
9. The Cars: The Cars (Elektra)
10. David Johansen: David Johansen (Blue Sky)
1. Graham Parker: Squeezing Out Sparks (Arista)
2. Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps (Reprise)
3. The Clash: The Clash (Epic)
4. Talking Heads: Fear of Music (Sire)
5. Elvis Costello: Armed Forces (Columbia)
6. Van Morrison: Into the Music (Warner Bros.)
7. The B-52s: The B-52s (Warner Bros.)
8. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes (Backstreet/MCA)
9. Pere Ubu: Dub Housing (Chrysalis)
10. Donna Summer: Bad Girls (Casablanca)
1980-1989
1. The Clash: London Calling (Epic)
2. Bruce Springsteen: The River (Columbia)
3. Talking Heads: Remain in Light (Sire)
5. Public Image Ltd.: Second Edition (Island)
6. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Doc at the Radar Station (Virgin)
7. Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Get Happy!! (Columbia)
8. Stevie Wonder: Hotter Than July (Tamla)
9. Prince: Dirty Mind (Warner Bros.)
10. Gang Of Four: Entertainment! (Warner Bros.)
1. The Clash: Sandinista! (Epic)
2. X: Wild Gift (Slash)
3. Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Trust (Columbia)
4. The Rolling Stones: Tattoo You (Rolling Stones)
5. Rickie Lee Jones: Pirates (Warner Bros.)
6. Squeeze: East Side Story (A&M)
7. Tom Verlaine: Dreamtime (Warner Bros.)
8. Prince: Controversy (Warner Bros.)
9. Rick James: Street Songs (Gordy)
10. Go-Go’s: Beauty and the Beat (I.R.S.)
1. Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom (Columbia)
2. Richard & Linda Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights (Hannibal)
3. Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska (Columbia)
4. King Sunny Adé & His African Beats: Juju Music (Mango)
5. Lou Reed: The Blue Mask (RCA Victor)
6. Prince: 1999 (Warner Bros.)
7. The English Beat: Special Beat Service (I.R.S.)
8. Marvin Gaye: Midnight Love (Columbia)
9. Marshall Crenshaw: Marshall Crenshaw (Warner Bros.)
10. X: Under the Big Black Sun (Elektra)
1. Michael Jackson: Thriller (Epic)
2. REM: Murmur (I.R.S.)
3. Talking Heads: Speaking in Tongues (Sire)
4. X: More Fun in the New World (Elektra)
5. The Police: Synchronicity (A&M)
6. U2: War (Island)
7. Lou Reed: Legendary Hearts (RCA Victor)
8. Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers: Jonathan Sings! (Sire)
9. Richard Thompson: Hand of Kindness (Hannibal)
10. Bob Dylan: Infidels (Columbia)
1. Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. (Columbia)
2. Prince and the Revolution: Purple Rain (Warner Bros.)
3. Los Lobos: How Will the Wolf Survive? (Slash)
4. The Replacements: Let It Be (Twin/Tone)
5. Tina Turner: Private Dancer (Capitol)
6. R.E.M.: Reckoning (I.R.S.)
7. The Pretenders: Learning to Crawl (Sire)
8. Hüsker Dü: Zen Arcade (SST)
9. Lou Reed: New Sensations (RCA Victor)
10. Run-D.M.C.: Run-D.M.C. (Profile)
1. Talking Heads: Little Creatures (Sire)
2. The Replacements: Tim (Sire)
3. John Cougar Mellencamp: Scarecrow (Riva)
4. Tom Waits: Rain Dogs (Island)
5. Artists United Against Apartheid: Sun City (Manhattan)
6. Hüsker Dü: Flip Your Wig (SST)
7. R.E.M.: Fables of the Reconstruction (I.R.S.)
8. Hüsker Dü: New Day Rising (SST)
9. Aretha Franklin: Who’s Zoomin’ Who? (Arista)
10. John Fogerty: Centerfield (Warner Bros.)
1. Paul Simon: Graceland (Warner Bros.)
2. The Costello Show (Featuring Elvis Costello): King of America (Columbia)
3. The Robert Cray Band: Strong Persuader (Mercury)
4. Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band: Live 1975/85 (Columbia)
5. Run-D.M.C.: Raising Hell (Profile)
6. Beastie Boys: Licensed To Ill (Def Jam)
7. Peter Gabriel: So (Geffen)
8. R.E.M.: Life’s Rich Pageant (I.R.S.)
9. Elvis Costello & the Attractions: Blood and Chocolate (Columbia)
10. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (Shanachie)
1. Prince: Sign “O” the Times (Paisley Park)
2. Bruce Springsteen: Tunnel of Love (Columbia)
3. The Replacements: Pleased to Meet Me (Sire)
4. U2: The Joshua Tree (Island)
5. John Hiatt: Bring the Family (A&M)
6. Los Lobos: By the Light of the Moon (Slash)
7. John Cougar Mellencamp: The Lonesome Jubilee (Mercury)
8. R.E.M.: Document (I.R.S.)
9. XTC: Skylarking (Geffen)
10. Hüsker Dü: Warehouse: Songs & Stories (Warner Bros.)
1. Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Def Jam)
2. Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation (Blast First/Enigma)
3. Tracy Chapman: Tracy Chapman (Elektra)
4. Midnight Oil: Diesel and Dust (Columbia)
5. Michelle Shocked: Short Sharp Shocked (Mercury)
6. Was (Not Was): What Up, Dog? (Chrysalis)
7. Pere Ubu: The Tenement Year (Enigma)
8. Keith Richards: Talk Is Cheap (Virgin)
9. Traveling Wilburys: Volume One (Wilbury)
10. Randy Newman: Land of Dreams (Warner Bros.)
1. De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising (Tommy Boy)
2. Neil Young: Freedom (Reprise)
3. Lou Reed: New York (Sire)
4. The Neville Brothers: Yellow Moon (A&M)
5. Neneh Cherry: Raw Like Sushi (Virgin)
6. N.W.A: Straight Outta Compton (Ruthless)
7. Elvis Costello: Spike (Warner Bros.)
8. The Mekons: The Mekons Rock ‘n Roll (A&M)
9. Soul II Soul: Keep On Movin’ (Virgin)
10. Pixies: Doolittle (4AD/Elektra)
1990–1999
1. Neil Young: Ragged Glory (Reprise)
2. Sinéad O’Connor: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (Chrysalis)
3. Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam)
4. Sonic Youth: Goo (DGC)
5. Living Colour: Time’s Up (Epic)
6. Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (Priority)
7. Paul Simon: The Rhythm of the Saints (Warner Bros.)
8. Rosanne Cash: Interiors (Columbia)
9. L.L. Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out (Def Jam)
10. Prince: Graffiti Bridge (Paisley Park)
1. Nirvana: Nevermind (DGC)
2. Public Enemy: Apocalypse ’91: The Empire Strikes Black (Def Jam/Columbia)
3. R.E.M.: Out of Time (Warner Bros.)
4. U2: Achtung Baby (Island)
5. P.M. Dawn: Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (Gee Street)
6. Richard Thompson: Rumour and Sigh (Capitol)
7. Matthew Sweet: Girlfriend (Zoo)
8. Metallica: Metallica (Elektra)
9. Chris Whitley: Living with the Law (Columbia)
10. Mekons: Curse of the Mekons (Blast First import)
1. Arrested Development: 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of . . .(Chrysalis)
2. Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted (Matador)
3. R.E.M.: Automatic for the People (Warner Bros.)
4. PJ Harvey: Dry (Indigo)
5. Beastie Boys: Check Your Head (Capitol)
6. Los Lobos: Kiko (Slash/Warner Bros.)
7. Sugar: Copper Blue (Rykodisc)
8. Sonic Youth: Dirty (DGC)
9. Tom Waits: Bone Machine (Island)
10. Basehead: Play With Toys (Imago)
1. Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville (Matador)
2. Nirvana: In Utero (DGC)
3. PJ Harvey: Rid of Me (Island)
4. The Breeders: Last Splash (4AD/Elektra)
5. Pet Shop Boys: Very (EMI)
6. Dr. Dre: The Chronic (Interscope)
7. Jimmie Dale Gilmore: Spinning Around the Sun (Elektra)
8. De La Soul: Buhloone Mindstate (Tommy Boy)
9. U2: Zooropa (Island)
10. Digable Planets: Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) (Pendulum)
1. Hole: Live Through This (DGC)
2. Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (Matador)
3. R.E.M.: Monster (Warner Bros.)
4. Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York (DGC)
5. Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Sleeps With Angels (Reprise)
6. Liz Phair: Whip-Smart (Matador)
7. Johnny Cash: American Recordings (American)
8. Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand (Scat)
9. Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral (Nothing/TVT/Interscope)
10. Beck: Mellow Gold (DGC)
1. PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love (Island)
2. Tricky: Maxinquaye (Island)
3. Moby: Everything Is Wrong (Elektra)
4. Elastica: Elastica (DGC)
5. Neil Young: Mirror Ball (Reprise)
6. Foo Fighters: Foo Fighters (Roswell/Capitol)
7. Björk: Post (4AD/Elektra)
8. Bruce Springsteen: The Ghost of Tom Joad (Columbia)
9. Yo La Tengo: Electr-O-Pura (Matador)
10. Oasis: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (Epic)
1. Beck: Odelay (DGC)
2. Fugees: The Score (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
3. Sleater-Kinney: Call the Doctor (Chainsaw)
4. DJ Shadow: Endtroducing . . . DJ Shadow (Mo’ Wax/FFRR)
5. Los Lobos: Colossal Head (Warner Bros.)
6. Steve Earle: I Feel Alright (Warner Bros.)
7. Stereolab: Emperor Tomato Ketchup (Elektra)
8. Amy Rigby: Diary of a Mod Housewife (Koch)
9. Tricky: Pre-Millennium Tension (Island)
10. Pulp: Different Class (Island)
1. Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind (Columbia)
2. Radiohead: OK Computer (Capitol)
3. Cornershop: When I Was Born for the 7th Time (Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.)
4. Sleater-Kinney: Dig Me Out (Kill Rock Stars)
5. Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (Matador)
6. Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott: Supa Dupa Fly (The Gold Mind, Inc./EastWest)
7. Erykah Badu: Baduizm (Universal)
8. Belle and Sebastian: If You’re Feeling Sinister (The Enclave)
9. Bjork: Homogenic (Elektra)
10. Pavement: Brighten the Corners (Matador)
1. Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury)
2. Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
3. Bob Dylan: Live 1966 (Columbia/Legacy)
4. Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue (Elektra)
5. Elliott Smith: XO (DreamWorks)
6. OutKast: Aquemini (LaFace)
7. PJ Harvey: Is This Desire? (Island)
8. Air: Moon Safari (Caroline)
9. Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty (Grand Royal)
10. Rufus Wainwright: Rufus Wainwright (DreamWorks)
1999
1. Moby: Play (V2)
2. The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs (Merge)
3. Beck: Midnite Vultures (DGC)
4. The Flaming Lips: The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros.)
5. Tom Waits: Mule Variations (Epitaph)
6. Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles (Epic)
7. Fiona Apple: When the Pawn . . . (Clean Slate/Epic)
8. Wilco: Summer Teeth (Reprise)
9. Beth Orton: Central Reservation (Arista)
10. Mos Def: Black on Both Sides (Rawkus)
2000-2009
2000
1. OutKast: Stankonia (LaFace/Arista)
2. PJ Harvey: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (Island/Def Jam)
3. Radiohead: Kid A (Capitol)
4. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (Aftermath/Interscope)
5. Shelby Lynne: I Am Shelby Lynne (Island)
6. D’Angelo: Voodoo (Virgin)
7. U2: All That You Can’t Leave Behind (Interscope)
8. Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out (Matador)
9. Jill Scott: Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 (Hidden Beach)
10. Sleater-Kinney: All Hands on the Bad One (Kill Rock Stars)
2001
1. Bob Dylan: “Love and Theft” (Columbia)
2. The Strokes: Is This It (RCA)
3. Björk: Vespertine (Elektra)
4. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
5. Radiohead: Amnesiac (Capitol)
6. Ryan Adams: Gold (Lost Highway)
7. Jay-Z: The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)
8. The Coup: Party Music (75 Ark)
9. Lucinda Williams: Essence (Lost Highway)
10. Rufus Wainwright: Poses (DreamWorks)
2002
1. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch)
2. Beck: Sea Change (DGC)
3. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.)
4. The Streets: Original Pirate Material (Locked On/Vice)
5. Sleater-Kinney: One Beat (Kill Rock Stars)
6. Bruce Springsteen: The Rising (Columbia)
7. The Roots: Phrenology (MCA)
8. Eminem: The Eminem Show (Aftermath/Interscope)
9. Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head (Capitol)
10. Missy Elliott: Under Construction (Elektra)
2003
1. OutKast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)
2. The White Stripes: Elephant (V2)
3. Fountains of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers (S-Curve)
4. Radiohead: Hail to the Thief (Capitol)
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell (Interscope)
6. The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop)
7. New Pornographers: Electric Version (Matador)
8. Basement Jaxx: Kish Kash (Astralwerks)
9. Drive-By Truckers: Decoration Day (New West)
10. Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner (XL)
2004
1. Kanye West: The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella)
2. Brian Wilson: SMiLE (Nonesuch)
3. Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose (Interscope)
4. Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Epic)
5. Green Day: American Idiot (Reprise)
6. Arcade Fire: Funeral (Merge)
7. Streets: A Grand Don’t Come for Free (Vice/Atlantic)
8. U2: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Interscope)
9. Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
10. Danger Mouse: The Grey Album (www.djdangermouse.com)
2005
1. Kanye West: Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)
2. M.I.A.: Arular (XL)
3. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
4. Sleater-Kinney: The Woods (Sub Pop)
5. Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine (Epic/Clean Slate)
6. The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
7. Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)
8. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday (Frenchkiss)
9. The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema (Matador)
10. My Morning Jacket: Z (ATO/RCA)
2006
1. Bob Dylan: Modern Times (Columbia)
2. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain (4AD/Interscope)
3. Ghostface Killah: Fishscale (Def Jam)
4. The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant)
5. Gnarls Barkley: St Elsewhere (Downtown/Atlantic)
6. Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (Domino)
7. Clipse: Hell Hath No Fury (Re-Up Gang/Jive/Zomba)
8. Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti-)
9. Joanna Newsom: Ys (Drag City)
10. Tom Waits: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Anti-)
2007
1. LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver (DFA/EMI)
2. Radiohead: In Rainbows (self-released)
3. M.I.A.: Kala (XL/Interscope)
4. Amy Winehouse: Back to Black (Universal)
5. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible (Merge)
6. Kanye West: Graduation (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
7. Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
8. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand (Rounder)
9. Bruce Springsteen: Magic (Columbia)
10. The National: Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
2008
1. TV on the Radio: Dear Science (Interscope)
2. Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend (XL)
3. Portishead: Third (Vagrant)
4. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)
5. Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War (Universal)
6. Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III (Universal)
7. Santogold: Santogold (Downtown)
8. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago (XL)
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! (Mute)
10. Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella)
2009
1. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
2. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)
3. Neko Case: Middle Cyclone (Anti)
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz! (DGC/Interscope)
5. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (Domino)
6. Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (Warp)
7. The xx: xx (Young Turks)
8. Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Part II (Ice H2O/EMI)
9. The Flaming Lips: Embryonic (Warner)
10. Girls: Album (True Panther)
2010–2017
2010
1. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella)
2. LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening (Virgin/DFA)
3. Arcade Fire: The Suburbs (Merge)
4. Janelle Monáe: The ArchAndroid (Bad Boy/Wondaland Arts Society)
5. Vampire Weekend: Contra (XL)
6. Big Boi: Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (Def Jam)
7. Beach House: Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
8. The National: High Violet (4AD)
9. Sleigh Bells: Treats (Mom + Pop/N.E.E.T.)
10. Black Keys: Brothers (Nonesuch)
2011
1. tUnE-yArDs: w h o k i l l (4AD)
2. PJ Harvey: Let England Shake (Vagrant)
3. Jay-Z and Kanye West: Watch the Throne (Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella/Roc Nation)
4. Wild Flag: Wild Flag (Merge)
5. Tom Waits: Bad As Me (Anti)
6. Adele: 21 (Columbia/XL)
7. Destroyer: Kaputt (Merge)
8. Drake: Take Care (Cash Money/Young Money/Universal)
9. Bon Iver: Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)
10. Shabazz Palaces: Black Up (Sub Pop)
2012
1. Frank Ocean: Channel Orange (Def Jam)
2. Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid, m.A.A.d City (Interscope)
3. Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel… (Epic)
4. Japandroids: Celebration Rock (Polyvinyl)
5. Miguel: Kaleidoscope Dream (RCA)
6. Tame Impala: Lonerism (Modular)
7. Swans: The Seer (Young God)
8. Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music (Williams Street)
9. Grimes: Visions (4AD)
10. Beach House: Bloom (Sub Pop)
2013
1. Kanye West: Yeezus (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
2. Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City (XL)
3. Daft Punk: Random Access Memories (Daft Life/Columbia)
4. Beyoncé: Beyoncé (Columbia)
5. Chance the Rapper: Acid Rap (self-released)
6. My Bloody Valentine: m b v (m b v)
7. Haim: Days Are Gone (Polydor)
8. Janelle Monáe: The Electric Lady (Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy)
9. Kurt Vile: Wakin on a Pretty Daze (Matador)
10. Kacey Musgraves: Same Trailer Different Park (Mercury Nashville)
2014
1. D’Angelo: Black Messiah (RCA)
2. Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 2 (Mass Appeal/RED)
3. The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream (Secretly Canadian)
4. St. Vincent: St. Vincent (Loma Vista/Republic)
5. FKA twigs: LP1 (Young Turks)
6. Sturgill Simpson: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (High Top Mountain/Loose Music)
7. Taylor Swift: 1989 (Big Machine)
8. Angel Olsen: Burn Your Fire for No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
9. Spoon: They Want My Soul (Loma Vista/ANTI-)
10. Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Total Treble/Xtra Mile)
2015
1. Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope)
2. Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon Artists/House Anxiety)
3. Carly Rae Jepsen: E•MO•TION (604/School Boy/Interscope)
4. Grimes: Art Angels (4AD)
5. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)
6. Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)
7. Vince Staples: Summertime ’06 (ARTium/Blacksmith/Def Jam)
8. Kamasi Washington: The Epic (Brainfeeder)
9. Jamie xx: In Colour (Young Turks)
10. Father John Misty: I Love You, Honeybear (Sub Pop)
2016
1. David Bowie: Blackstar (Columbia)
2. Beyoncé: Lemonade (4AD/Interscope)
3. A Tribe Called Quest: We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your service (Epic)
4. Chance the Rapper: Coloring Book (self-released)
5. Solange: A Seat at the Table (Saint/Columbia)
6. Frank Ocean: Blonde (Boys Don’t Cry)
7. Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool (XL)
8. Leonard Cohen: You Want It Darker (Columbia)
9. Car Seat Headrest: Teens of Denial (Matador)
10. Kanye West: The Life of Pablo (GOOD/Def Jam)
2017
1. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN (Top Dawg/Interscope)
2. SZA, CTRL (Top Dawg/RCA)
3. St. Vincent, Masseduction (Loma Vista)
4. Lorde, Melodrama (Lava/Republic)
5. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound (Southeastern)
6. War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding (Atlantic)
7. Slowdive, Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
8. Jay-Z, 4:44 (Roc Nation/UMG)
9. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream (DFA/Columbia)
10. Waxahatchee, Out in the Storm (Merge)
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