This year, The Young Folks has compiled its first ever Top 50 Albums list. The albums and their positions were chosen through balloting of six TYF writers: editor-in-chief Gabrielle Bondi, music editor Ryan Gibbs, film editor Allyson Johnson and music writers Joey Daniewicz, Jennifer Baugh and Matt Rice.

Before we get into the list proper, we have a handful of honorable mentions with a handful of albums that either just missed our list or were favorites of other members of our music staff.

50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1

Honorable Mentions

Weezer – Weezer (The White Album) 

Up next: 50-41

50. Frightened Rabbit – Painting of a Panic Attack

Frightened Rabbit has been putting out some of the most reliably strong albums of the last few years and it still feels as if they’re underrated. With the same smooth, gorgeous vocals as has come to be expected, Painting of a Panic Attack demonstrated an effort of recapturing their more somber efforts while also showing the group at their most experimental. A tight, terrifically produced album with an electronica vibe peppered through, Painting of a Panic Attack is a perfect album for those unaccustomed to their music. – Allyson Johnson

49. Britney Spears – Glory 

Britney’s equivalent to Madonna’s Erotica: her most fully formed full-length and an excellent sex album to boot. But Spears is less interested in sex than the anticipation for it. This is an album of invitations and stripteases; wants as opposed to haves. Along with this thematic strength, Glory is also her most potent album, largely because she seems to be enjoying the hell out of singing these songs. I would too. – Matt Rice

48. White Lung – Paradise 

One of the few bands that have gotten better over time by mellowing their sound out, White Lung proved why they’ve stuck around with their latest, Paradise. The album sticks true to their punk, female empowering roots while also being fearless in tackling more melodic tunes such as “Hello”. Gothic, dripping with urgency and producing one of the best songs of the year in “Hunger”, Paradise is the album for anyone who’s grown sick and tired of punk music by artists who all seem to blend together. – Allyson Johnson

47. Sia – This is Acting 

The meta-pop brilliance of last year’s “Chandelier” sets the tone for Sia’s masterfully-rendered This is Acting, an extension, at least in concept, of her acclaimed solo record 1000 Forms of Fear. Reflecting on her many years as an industry veteran, writing songs for the likes of Adele, Katy Perry, and ‘Queen Bey’, it’s been fun to watch Sia grow into her own – becoming one of the most formidable pop solo acts of the decade. Much like her previous album, tracks consist of mostly shelved-away hits formerly composed for other artists, only to be later refurbished into a dazzling piece of performance art filled with all the vocal acrobatics, musical theater dramatics, and inspiring lyrics that had made the singer-songwriter a household name almost overnight. The cover art for the record, with the full comic display of Sia’s alter ego (played by dancer Maddie Ziegler) reduced to the equivalent of a squished Barbie’s head, is a noticeable throwback to her 2008 music video for “Buttons”, a playful and almost painful to watch video that shows the singer trying on an assortment of asphyxiating nude tights and random office supplies tied around her head. The artist has always engaged in such physical acts of self-mockery, ones that specifically involve the face, as perhaps a way to subvert any unnecessary feelings of diffidence. When it comes to such a record as This is Acting, shout-worthy choruses and larger-than-life beats digs straight into the pleasure points of an electro-pop doused mainstream. – Jennifer Baugh

46. Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition 

Since XXX, Danny Brown has been one of hip hop’s most consistent artists, and his latest sets itself apart simply by virtue of being so dreadfully relentless. “Murder music orchestrator,” indeed. – Joey Daniewicz

45. M.I.A. – AIM 

There are few stories in music as unfair as the brushing off of M.I.A. over the course of her last three albums, and perhaps we all deserve it that after this one, she appears to be quitting the game. As a result, it might not be too surprising that it occasionally sounds like she’s in her zone, the one she found herself in on those beloved first two albums. AIM sounds like she’s finally let go of trying to impress anyone but herself. What a perfect ending. – Joey Daniewicz

44. Regina Spektor – Remember Us to Life 

Before sinking into a new Regina Spektor record, you mostly already know what you’re about to get into: lush, chamber pop melodies punctuated by a quirky, almost literary sense of lyricism – as heard on tracks like “Grand Hotel” and “The Trapper and the Furrier”. Following a much needed four-year break, Spektor continues to breeze through lofty expectations of admirers and critics in a way that feels and sounds effortless and consistent. Remember Us to Life is among her strongest records to date – one that mixes in old sounds with, at times, cinematic degrees of tonal variety, especially noted in tracks like the hip-hop-inspired “Small Bill$” and the album opener “Bleeding Heart”. With the same fearlessness of records past, Regina Spektor always seems to know exactly where to go next. This seventh-full length release is no exception. – Jennifer Baugh

43. Ice Choir – Designs in Rhythm 

Kurt Feldman is one of the unheralded renaissance men of modern indie music; In addition to his higher profile work as the former drummer for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, he has also released superlative records with projects such as Roman a Clef and The Depreciation Guild. Designs in Rhythm, the new album by his main project Ice Choir, is a fun tribute to late 80s synthpop and particularly the synthesizer-heavy “city pop” scene that dominated Japanese music that decade. There are other influences floating around there, too, with “Windsurf” recalling Steely Dan circa-Gaucho and “Amarous in Your Absense” borrows sophisti-pop influence from Feldman’s Roman a Clef project. The album’s layered synths, emotional lyrics and dreamy melodies result in some of the best throwback new wave in a year full of it. – Ryan Gibbs

42. The Paranoid Style – Rolling Disclosure

With experience as both lobbyists and rock critics, Elizabeth Nelson and Timothy Bracy give you the best of both worlds: dense, sarcastic, witty lyrics that reflect challenging times and a poppy-punky sound that manages to feel conservative and new at the same time. The band’s best record is still their 2015 EP Rock and Roll Just Can’t Recall, but this is close. After years of Trump, it may even seem foretelling. – Matt Rice

41. Panic! at the Disco – Death of a Bachelor 

If ever you were doubtful of frontman Brendon Urie’s outrageous amount of natural talent, Panic! At the Disco’s fifth studio album Death of a Bachelor should be able to turn that tide. Finally allowing himself to let loose vocally, Urie’s skills dominate the entirety of the album, proving once and for all that despite the ever changing roster of band members, with him at the helm they’ll always be pushing out quality products. Death of a Bachelor melds radio hit hooks and crooning vocals with the theatrics we’ve come to expect from the singer, with songs such as “LA Devotee”, “Golden Days” and “Impossible Year” being particular highlights. – Allyson Johnson

50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1

40. Kaytranada – 99.9% 

The surprise Polaris Music Prize winner is one of the simplest listening pleasures of the year and is a new landmark in instrumental hip hop. – Joey Daniewicz

39. Youssou N’Dour – #SenegaalRekk EP

Not released in the U.S., this five-song EP was a wonderful surprise to fans when (if) they discovered it. Tight and nearly perfect, even with an Akon appearance that somehow doesn’t feel out of place. When N’Dour finally released an LP in the U.S. later in the year, it couldn’t help but disappoint. – Matt Rice

38. Anderson .Paak – Malibu 

The least progressive great record released this year, Malibu doesn’t do anything in its music or words that feels new or forward-thinking, and .Paak often leaves a lot to be desired on gender. But it is nevertheless a great record, because of what it steals from. Disco (“Am I Wrong”), ‘90s R&B (“Without You,” “Water Fall”), and Miguel-esque fuzz-guitar funk (“The Bird”) are all utilized, creating a diverse collection of soul and R&B songs that even the appalling “Silicon Valley” can’t scathe too much. – Matt Rice

37. The Monkees – Good Times! 

Considering that previous Monkees reunions had not resulted particularly tremendous music, the quality of Good Times! is one of the year’s most pleasant surprises. The album is a fun, charming celebration of The Monkees’ career, and perfectly captures the optimism and sweetness that made them one of the marquee artists of the 1960s. – Ryan Gibbs

36. various artists – The Hamilton Mixtape 

It shouldn’t be surprising that this re-imagining of the now-classic Hamilton: An American Musical is so good. Recruiting a slew of major pop artists, Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical triumph has transcended the stage with how contemporary sounding these songs on the mixtape are. From Kelly Clarkson’s breathtaking vocals on “It’s Quiet Uptown” to the perfectly dramatic take on “Satisfied” by Sia, Miguel and Queen Latifah, this album is a definite peak in today’s pop culture. – Gabrielle Bondi

35. The Hotelier – Goodness  

There was a trepidation when coming across The Hotelier’s newest album Goodness that they wouldn’t ever be able to capture the electrifying nature of their song “Dendron”. They did and with a fervent energy that touched every listener that pressed play on their album. “End of Reel” in particular is a strong reflection of “Dendron” and on the whole, Goodness channel the band’s feelings by reckoning with the pain and grief they sang about in previous albums. Powerful, urgent and full to the brim with repeat listen worthy songs, Goodness is the album that assures fans that The Hotelier is a group that is here to stay.  – Allyson Johnson

34. Yuck – Stranger Things 

Stranger Things finds Yuck back in its sweet spot of grunge-pop, ’90s revivalism. Catchy, fuzz-soaked tunes are signs of a much more positive step past the tepid Glow & Behold record released just months after the former lead singer, Daniel Blumberg, dropped out to “focus on other things”. Their Sonic Youth-meets-Dinosaur Jr. debut Yuck, a record that graced the indie rock stages way back in the year of 2011, was often regaled to being one of the most exciting acts to emerge that year. While Yuck may never be able to replicate the magic of their own titular debut, Stranger Things sounds a lot like a band that feels grounded in the direction they’re headed in. – Jennifer Baugh

33. School of Seven Bells – SVIIB 

School of Seven Bells’ final album is a poignant tribute to band founder Ben Curtis, written while he was battling the cancer that ultimately took his life at the end of 2013. The record is crafted and curated expertly by the other half of the band, vocalist Alejandra Deheza, and forms a sweet, heartening portrait of the pair’s close friendship and platonic love in the face of Curtis’ illness. This energetic blast of dream pop and electropop is one of the most alive-feeling records about mortality in a year seemingly full of them. – Ryan Gibbs

32. Kevin Gates – Islah 

Maybe the most disillusioned rapper in the game, Gates describes drug-dealing as if nothing could be more mundane. This disillusionment makes Gates’ music smarter and richer than most of its ilk. But when he gets to sex, that’s when he shines, notably on “Kno One” and “Jam.” – Matt Rice

31. G.L.O.S.S. – Trans Day of Revenge EP 

G.L.O.S.S.’s final breath of fire was released the day after the shooting in Orlando’s nightclub Pulse, and its politics have somehow become gradually more essential even after being removed from that stupefying, horrifying moment. The album is a refreshing but necessarily painful rejection of standing by idly and accepting the atrocities we’ve too often become numb to. It might be the 2016 album with the most to say, and it’s just seven minutes long. – Joey Daniewicz

50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1

30. case/lang/veirs – case/lang/veirs 

One of the year’s most splendid surprises was this collaboration between three of folk music’s most compelling voices. The familiarity that Neko Case, k.d. Lang and Laura Veirs share between one another on case/lang/veirs makes it feel like a record from a group that has played together for years rather than a recent (and hopefully not one-off) collaboration. The record is driven by the trio’s wonderful close harmonies and songwriting, with songs like “Atomic Number” and “Best Kept Secret” spotlighting the group’s combined skills. – Ryan Gibbs

29. Lapsley – Long Way Home 

Long Way Home sounds as if it were conceived within some hole-in-the-wall, electro-synth nightclub – a gem of a place where Lapsley’s smoky and soulfully smooth vocals oozes through textured soundscapes like silk. Sharing the same label as Adele has certainly resulted in comparisons of merit between the two artists. Though stark differences in the production of say Adele’s 19 and that of the 19-year-old’s debut is hard to overlook. Each of Lapsley’s tracks were written, engineered (with some help from music producer Rodaidh McDonald), and produced by the young singer-songwriter, with some of its best tracks (“Heartless” and “Operator (He Doesn’t Call Me)”) revolving around the pain of a crumbling romance without ever feeling contrived or pandering in the ways some confessional pop songs can. Minimalistic and spacious, Long Way Home has all the evocations of a rising star full of promise and artistic poise. – Jennifer Baugh

28. Tegan and Sara – Love You to Death 

A wonderful follow-up to 2013’s Heartthrob, Tegan and Sara returned with mega pop producer Greg Kurstin for Love You to Death. Still at the top of their songwriting game, Tegan and Sara get a tiny bit rawer, nuanced and plainspoken about their romantic desires with the tracks on this album, but remain musically upbeat. – Gabrielle Bondi

27. How to Dress Well – Care 

I’m going to break one of my unspoken rules of criticism and speak directly to you about this album which is, undoubtedly, excellent, and it seems as if no one was talking about it. To see it so high on this list even was a surprise since it seemed as if it had successfully managed to fly low under the radar. Catchy, soulful and not afraid to hit hard with club beats, Care is one of the most distinctive albums of the year and if you haven’t listened to the song “I Was Terrible” yet, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  – Allyson Johnson

26. Jamila Woods – HEAVN 

The Knowles sisters’ albums are more famous portrayals of black womanhood in 2016 – with Bey’s fire and Solange’s cool – but Jamila Woods’ warmth shuts out the possibility for comparison. Its playfulness knows no bounds, interpolating everything from “Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind Stayed On Freedom)” to the Dawson’s Creek theme to clapping game “Miss Mary Mack.” Some of the year’s best albums, think Tribe or Beyoncé, inspired us to get up and fight. HEAVN is a rarer sort of album: a soothing tonic for an uncertain time. – Joey Daniewicz

25. Lady Gaga – Joanne 

Lady Gaga’s attempt for a soft-rock, country-like album may not have been what fans expected, especially after hearing Joanne’s first single, “Perfect Illusion.” But it’s what we got, and her crack at a new sound does not go without merit. It’s rare when a pop artist who has reached the fame and standing of Gaga experiment so fully with her sound. So while not every track on Joanne is a standout, it’s hard not to appreciate the restrained and modest quality of the record. – Gabrielle Bondi

24. Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered. 

Another surprise of 2016 was undoubtedly this follow-up to Kendrick Lamar’s triumph, To Pimp a Butterfly. With this set of songs, Lamar sort of basks in all the success he’s had in the last year, and it reads best as an epilogue or extended part of To Pimp a Butterfly, since it’s so connected to it on many levels. Yet, on its own, it’s a fine listen as Lamar’s personality and witticisms shine through in every second of it. – Gabrielle Bondi

23. Birdy – Beautiful Lies 

The best trajectories for artists are when the both take creative leaps while simultaneously not straying too far from their roots. They don’t want to sound like a new artist all together, but they don’t want to produce the same ten tracks as the last album. Birdy managed to toe this fine line expertly with an album that doesn’t forget her singer-songwriter roots while adding an undoubted amount of soul influences. Remarkably catchy, her vocal gymnastics are as impressive as ever. But even more so is her ability to play with typical rhythms and natural song progressions for transitions that sound refreshingly new.   – Allyson Johnson

22. Whitney – Light Upon the Lake 

It’s impossible to listen to a track like “Golden Days” and not immediately want to melt into its hazy country-crooning arms. The ever-cathartic “Na Na Na” that serves as the outro to the track feels every bit as timeless as The Faces’ 1973 hit  “Ooh La La”. Boyish falsettos, directly-spoken lyrics, and bellowing horns that dips its toes into the autumn streams of a 1970s Americana altogether provides that sweet, summery twang – balancing out melancholic themes of lovesick pain, heartbreak, and learning to let it all go. With hopes on making at least 5-6 more records, Light Upon The Lake is certainly an epic start for the multi-talented supergroup. – Jennifer Baugh

21. Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit 

They’ve gotten better as they’ve concerned themselves less with tune and more with the noise that made them stand out so much in the first place. The songs show up, of course, but only after the noise gets you to your third or fourth listen. – Matt Rice

50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1

20. Kanye West – The Life of Pablo 

Kanye’s messiest album by far coincides with his messiest year, and while “Ultralight Beam” is by far the album’s highlight, it’s “FML,” maybe Kanye’s most vulnerable recorded moment. Kanye is usually imagined as an egocentric workhorse getting high on his own product, but for a few tracks on The Life of Pablo he lets us take a peek at something a little realer. This can almost make the bloat, think “Highlights” or “Wolves,” seem farcical, but the album is defined by its jarring contrasts. And it’ll be the first Kanye album that’s doomed to be changed to us by what more we learn about the man behind it. – Joey Daniewicz

19. Mitski – Puberty 2 

Mitski’s critical ascension into the spotlight has been a befuddling, but truly deserved, journey to watch unfold. With bitingly honest lyrics that juxtapose disarmingly sweet vocals, she’s become of the years greatest indie darlings. Songs such as “Your Best American Girl” and “Happy” in particular shine a light on the messages she’s trying to convey while never sacrificing the tonality she’s managed to build for herself. She’s delicately ferocious, fearless in her lyricism but sultry in her delivery, making her a true enigma for the independent music scene. – Allyson Johnson

18. Angel Olsen – My Woman 

In the two years that followed her critically-acclaimed breakout Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen expands her palette beyond the introverted, lo-fi notes of Strange Cacti and Halfway Home – merging styles of shimmery, synth-pop and folk-rock on the arguably seminal My Woman. With re-playable tracks like “Shut Up Kiss Me” and “Never Be Mine” , the very themes that permeates along the edges has as much to do with “the complicated mess of being a woman” as it does the everyday pressures of having to show up and be seen in less glamorous arenas of work, family, friendships, and bitter romances. It’s one of the most evocative and down-right legit records of the year. – Jennifer Baugh

17. Swet Shop Boys – Cashmere 

Himanshu “Heems” Suri has created some amazing stuff since, but he hasn’t sounded truly elated for a project since Das Racist broke up. Heems joins Riz “MC Riz” Ahmed (yeah, the movie star) as they crack wise about a world that they see as getting bleaker and bleaker for brown people. On opener T5, they’re not just thinking of Trump, they’re thinking of Palestine.  The project exudes creative energy and the pair meshes great, with Riz adding a bit of edge to Heems’ class clown. – Joey Daniewicz

16. The Weeknd – Starboy 

After blowing up into stardom with Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd returned to the pop scene with the appropriately titled Starboy. With the first single featuring Daft Punk, The Weeknd continues to prove that he can make certain pop conventions into his own with his unique vocal flair and infectious sound. This a sleek and more controlled album from The Weeknd; while it’s not full of brilliance, there are enough sparks of it throughout Starboy. – Gabrielle Bondi

15. Bruno Mars – 24k Magic 

24k Magic continues to build on the successes of “Uptown Funk” – offering a more refined, cohesive, and infectiously suave exploration through past decades of funk, hip-hop, and R&B. With all the swagger of that 2014 hit single, Mars treats his fans with an even funkier and more lively dance-party kickback reminiscent of ’90s R&B boy groups like Shai and New Edition particularly on tracks like “Finesse” and “Straight Up & Down”. While some may argue that Mars has yet to adopt a less caricatured, more sonically innovative hold on such jams (for those who feel this way, you certainly have a point), the vibe of 24K Magic feels too earnest to overly-criticize, to be honest – providing glimmers of future hits that most assuredly is soon to come. – Jennifer Baugh

14. David Bowie – Blackstar 

The final album of one of the greatest and most fascinating artists in any medium from the last 50 years is a stunning and emotional document on mortality. All the while, Bowie is characteristically breaking new ground, and reinvents himself sonically one last time with a post-modern jazz record  that seems ahead of its time and incomparable to anything else in music this year. By crafting his impending death into a work of art, Bowie has turned in his final masterpiece in a career full of them. – Ryan Gibbs

13. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool 

A Moon Shaped Pool is the closest that Radiohead has ever come to recording a break-up album, as the lyrics of several songs are heavily inspired by Thom Yorke’s split with his long-time partner Dr. Rachel Owen, who died of cancer earlier this month. References to the end of the relationship appearing on nearly every track and even seem to inform the recording of the two-decade old “True Love Waits”.  Musically, the album contains several hallmarks that Radiohead fans have come to expect from their albums post Kid A: haunting ballads, electronic experimentalism, a propulsive single in “Burn the Witch” and a handful of guitar songs that keep the “But Where Are the Guitars?” crowd happy. A Moon Shaped Pool another strong entry in the discography of alternative music’s most acclaimed band, and one that the fans die-hards will happily revisit for years to come – Ryan Gibbs

12. Blood Orange – Freetown Sound 

Despite how many other voices he brings to the fore, particularly in his use of women vocalists to confront themes of femininity, Freetown Sound constantly sounds like a deeply personal project, and it’s overflowing with ideas to the point that we seem to be in Dev Hynes’ head. His production, which has been featured on Solange Knowles and Sky Ferreira albums, steals the show, lifting his hooks into a place that feels comfortably cerebral. Hynes has said that writing Cupid Deluxe was like making a mix for someone else and Freetown Sound was like creating one for himself, and his work greatly benefits from this look inward. – Joey Daniewicz

11. The 1975 – I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It

On their second album, The 1975 left behind the heart-on-their-sleeve indie rock of their debut album behind to take listeners on a journey into alternative music’s past.  I Like It When You Sleep… feels like a guided tour through bands and genres that were almost completely eradicated from the airwaves of modern rock radio once Nirvana hit big: the cool-and-collected dance-rock of INXS and Big Audio Dynamite, the sophisti-pop of Prefab Sprout and Level 42, and the left-field pop of The Escape Club and Information Society  Matty Healy and co. not only act as curators, but breathe new life into these styles by updating them for the 21st century. Stellar tracks like “The Sound” and “Somebody Else” sound thoroughly contemporary while being greatly informed and indebted by these influences. The album is a brilliant collection of songs that recontextualizes the band as one the best songsmiths in guitar pop. If they’re our new Scritti Polliti, they’ve definitely put in the work to get there. – Ryan Gibbs

50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1

10. Bon Iver – 22, A Million 

Proving to be more divisive than one might expect for a Bon Iver album, 22, A Million still stands heads and shoulders above his prior outputs in terms of sheer ambition alone. From experimental, dream pop vibes, to his more traditional singer-songwriter acoustic number, 22, A Mllion was a deeply emotive experience. His first two albums buried themselves in grief and loss and allowed listeners a cathartic release of pain. 22, A Million, while still frequently dealing with exponentially big questions about life, is also offering up a chance for hope, a collective sigh of relief. It’s richly produced, undoubtedly beautifully performed and memorable past the first initial listen.  – Allyson Johnson

9. Rihanna – ANTI 

I can’t think of another artist I’ve heard described as a non-album artist this decade more than Rihanna. According to friends, fellow critics, and even myself, a consistent full-length album was just outside her abilities. Well she sure showed us, with a strong pop LP that managed to be the one saving grace in a dreadful year for the top 40. (Did anyone expect “Love on the Brain” to make it as high as it did?) Beyond the singles, album cuts like “Woo,” “Desperado,” “Consideration,” and (from the deluxe edition, which is worth paying extra) “Sex with Me” deserved to be ranked among her very best songs. – Matt Rice

8. Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion Side B EP 

Emotion Side B ostensibly acts as a companion piece to Jepsen’s critically adored 2015 album Emotion,and features eight songs that were left off of that album. However, it never once feels like a collection of outtakes. Instead, the EP’s eight tracks are as top-rate as its parent album. The songs even have a unified sound running throughout that revisits the late ‘80s dance-pop and Latin freestyle influences found on Emotion, and also introduces Laura Branigan-esque italo disco into the mix. Side B was Jepsen’s “thank you letter to her fans” and she certainly delivered something that will have them hotly anticipating her next move – Ryan Gibbs

7. Parquet Courts – Human Performance

Comparisons to Pavement have paid off. They’ve gotten better, more distinctive, more themselves. Comparisons keep coming, though. This time: The Velvet Underground. Sure. Next time? I dunno. Mott the Hoople, maybe? – Matt Rice

6. Frank Ocean – Blonde 

Waiting for the new Frank Ocean album came with more than its fair share of frustration. What was originally supposed to be Boys Don’t Cry, the highly anticipated record had a number of fake release dates and rumors that never substantiated to anything until August of this year. Prefixed by Endless, a surprise visual album, Blonde finally landed on Apple Music—at this point—as unexpectedly as the album itself. Full of raw and understated emotion, Blonde may not have been the album we wanted, but the one we needed. Frank needed the extra time to craft an album so heavy on thoughts and one that stretches his talent into something that feels a lot more innovative and unconventional. – Gabrielle Bondi

5. Solange – A Seat at the Table 

On her Saint Heron website, in an interview titled A Seat With Us, Solange describes her intentions for crafting A Seat At The Table as nothing more than “an invitation to allow folks to pull up a chair, get very close and have these hard uncomfortable truths be shared. “It’s not going to be pretty,” she continues. “It’s not going to be fun, you may not get to dance to it, you’re not going to breathe easily through it, but that is the state of the times that we’re in right now”. Co-executive produced by both Solange and Raphael Saadiq, A Seat At The Table is an anthem-like celebration of blackness, where universal truths of self-discovery and self-love can be derived from the humanity of a woman working to forge her own identity against decades-long impositions and restrictive labels placed upon her. While the singer has spent most of her career existing on the fringes of the pop and R&B world, this record brilliantly clarifies her voice at a time when such a voice is desperately needed. – Jennifer Baugh

4. Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial 

“They got a portrait by Van Gogh on the Wikipedia page for clinical depression/Well it helps to describe it,” Will Toledo sings on “Vincent.” This led to my favorite misheard lyric of the year: “They got hell to describe,” I initially heard, which I still prefer. Throughout Teens of Denial, Toledo describes a world of hell. Depression, self-hatred, alcoholism, and other forms of numbness that are tossed aside and dismissed by an unforgiving world are all covered over the course of the album’s 70 minutes (which fly by). Along the way, he tosses off unforgettable tune after unforgettable tune, climaxing with the “How was I supposed to know?” monologue in “The Ballad of the Costa Concordia.” On a lesser record, that might seem hokey. Here, it feels earned. – Matt Rice

3. A Tribe Called Quest – We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service 

A close listen of Tribe’s album indicates that they expected Hillary to win, but, released just two days after we all woke up to President-Elect Trump, it’s almost unbelievable that Tribe didn’t record We Got It From Here after stumbling upon some prophecy that had shown them the future. And despite features like Andre 3000 and Kendrick Lamar having made the album look like a star-studded farewell tour, A Tribe Called Quest dominates throughout, right down to what Phife Dawg could record before he passed. Quite an accomplishment for an act that hasn’t dropped an album in eighteen years and didn’t expect President Trump to be the best encapsulation of the prevailing feeling of the moment, and while it doesn’t deliver us hope it delivers us something more valuable, more powerful: focus. Let’s make something happen. – Joey Daniewicz

2. Beyoncé – Lemonade 

Beyoncé’s personal life has been the center of this album, somewhat understandably. When one of the most famous people in the world sings, “What a wicked way to treat the girl that loves you,” it’s hard not to draw your attention to that. But in a way, that voyeurism undercuts the power of Lemonade. If it turned out the album was completely non-personal, merely a work of skillful storytelling, the production, the themes, and (most of all) the songs would still position it as both an all-time great break-up (sorta) album and a tremendous political work of art. Of course, the fact that it’s Beyoncé singing these songs from her perspective does give it some extra juice, which is why it’s a more memorable record than A Seat at the Table, regardless of what Pitchfork tells you. – Matt Rice

1. Chance the Rapper – Coloring Book 

“Let’s make it so free and the bars so hard that there ain’t one gosh darned part you can’t tweet.”

Back in 2012, I saw an upstart Chicagoan open for Childish Gambino with a pretty poor set. It’d be about a year and a few listens into the incredible Acid Rap that I’d realize I had seen Chance The Rapper, but even by then, it’d be difficult to imagine him being able to call a year his. But by the time he dropped “Sunday Candy,” it should have been apparent to all that we were going to get blown away by Chance’s third.

Chance’s “Ultralight Beam” verse was so scene-stealing that it’s best thought of as a prelude to 2016’s finest album, Coloring Book. As with “Ultralight,” the gospel influence is everywhere. But there are so many other styles woven through the tracklisting, from the gentle guitars of “Juke Jam” to the trap onslaught of “Mixtape” back to the string-accompanied bloat of “Same Drugs” all the way to the somber “Summer Friends.”

But Coloring Book is the album of the year because of how Chance takes his youthful exuberance and turns it into gospel. It’s no secret that 2016 has been pretty hard for many, and Chance himself is moving with some romantic woes and getting past a Xanax addiction. And on “Finish Line” in particular it sounds like he’s showing us all a path to something greater. And this guy’s 23. If he can show us a way out, there may be hope for us yet.  – Joey Daniewicz

Home | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1