RANKED: The 20 best albums of 2016 so far, according to critics
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Beyoncé’s “Lemonade.”
Though we’re only halfway through 2016, the first half of this year has already been packed with a number of blockbuster releases and major developements in the music industry.
In January, David Bowie released his 25th album “Blackstar” to universal critical acclaim — before tragically passing away two days later.
In April, Beyoncé bravely dissected the turbulence of her marriage with Jay Z on her instant classic “Lemonade.” Then Radiohead followed Beyoncé’s suprise release with one of their own, the excellent “A Moon Shaped Pool” in May.
To get a full picture of 2016′s critical landscape in music, we turned to Metacritic — which aggregates critic and fan reviews — for a comprehensive ranking of the top 20 albums of the year. (Note: Metacritic’s album ranking excludes free albums and mixtapes, like Chance the Rapper’s lauded “Coloring Book.”)
See which are the top-ranked albums of the year so far according to critics:
20. Loretta Lynn — “Full Circle”
Average critic score: 84/100
Average fan score: 7.3
Description: Loretta Lynn returned to the world of country music at 83 years old for the first time in 12 years with “Full Circle” — a charming record that features duets with music icons Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson.
19. Car Seat Headrest — “Teens of Denial”
Average critic score: 84/100
Average fan score: 7.7
Description: Indie-rock group Car Seat Headrest garnered critical acclaim from many outlets for their second LP, “Teens of Denial.” The AV Club praised the “blistering greatness” of their album — a hard-hitting set of 12 distortion-fueled songs.
18: Pinegrove — “Cardinal”
Average critic score: 84/100
Average fan score: 7.7
Description: New Jersey rock group Pinegrove released their major-label debut “Cardinal” — “a finely crafted batch of searingly personal indie rock songs,” Pretty Much Amazing wrote — to positive critical response back in February.
17. Kevin Morby — “Singing Saw”
Average critic score: 84/100
Average fan score: 7.9
Description: “Singing Saw,” the third solo release for singer-songwriter Kevin Morby, the former bassist from the band Woods, received praise from Sputnik Music for the “depth and hidden intricacies” of Morby’s production.
16. Esperanza Spalding — “Emily’s D+Evolution”
Average critic score: 84/100
Average fan score: 7.5
Description: Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Esperanza Spalding’s fifth album was produced by longtime David Bowie producer Tony Visconti and features superior songwriting in “impressionistic, conversational bursts that recall the delivery of Joni Mitchell,” according to Pitchfork.
15. The Hotelier — “Goodness”
Average critic score: 85/100
Average fan score: 7.9
Description: Featuring a NSFW album cover of a group of nude elderly people, The Hotelier’s “Goodness” attracted critical recognition from SPIN as a “spiritually rich listen.” The Massachusetts indie-punk band’s third LP is, more than anything, a raw and ambitious collection of songs.
14. Aesop Rock — “The Impossible Kid”
Average critic score: 85/100
Average fan score: 8.6
Description: Rapper Aesop Rock’s seventh album is his most critically acclaimed work since 2001′s “Labor Days.” PopMatters called Aesop Rock one of rap’s “finest and most difficult lyricists,” and “The Impossible Kid” is a compelling platform for his dizzying wordplay.
13. Margo Price — “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter”
Average critic score: 85/100
Average fan score: 7.3
Description: “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter” is the debut album from country artist Margo Price. The project received glowing praise from many publications, including The Boston Globe, which claimed that Price is country music’s “latest reason to cheer.”
12. Paul Simon — “Stranger to Stranger”
Average critic score: 85/100
Average fan score: 7.9
Description: Backed by eclectic and fresh-sounding production, the great Paul Simon released his 13th solo album, “Stranger to Stranger,” in early June, and critics celebrated the project for its innovation. The Los Angeles Times called the album a “distinguished and captivating extension of, rather than a dramatic departure from, his rich body of work.”
11. Anderson .Paak — “Malibu”
Average critic score: 85/100
Average fan score: 8.3
Description: After making his presence felt with six featured tracks on Dr. Dre’s 2015 “Compton,” California artist Anderson .Paak made an even bigger splash with “Malibu,” his soulful and diverse second album — “an expansive opus that flows in multiple directions like a classic ’70s double album,” Pitchfork wrote.
10. Kendrick Lamar — “untitled unmastered.”
Average critic score: 86/100
Average fan score: 8.4
Description: Following a series of entrancing “Untitled” performances on late-night television, rapper Kendrick Lamar grouped the studio versions of those tracks with a few throwaways from his 2015 masterpiece “To Pimp a Butterfly” to create a surprisingly coherent and wholly captivating eight-song project.
9. Teho Teardo and Blixa Bargeld — “Nerissimo”
Average critic score: 86/100
Average fan score: 7.1
Description: The second collaboration from Italian composer Teho Teardo and German musician Blixa Bargeld, “Nerissimo” blends dark melodies with English, German, and Italian lyrics in a fashion that Record Collector says is “sure to baffle and delight in equal measures.”
8. Gojira — “Magma”
Average critic score: 86/100
Average fan score: 8.2
Description: “Magma” is the sixth release from French metal band Gojira, an explosive avant-garde group that produces challenging and experimental rock music. According to The Guardian, which gave “Magma” a glowing five-star review, it’s “the kind of album that metalheads would love non-believers to check out.”
7. Sturgill Simpson — “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth”
Average critic score: 86/100
Average fan score: 7.9
Description: On his latest work, “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” country artist Sturgill Simpson sandwiches a Nirvana cover song between eight original songs for a heartfelt and compelling listen. Entertainment Weekly praised the “strikingly intimate” album for its “razor-sharp focus.”
6. Ital Tek — “Hollowed”
Average critic score: 86/100
Average fan score: 7.6
Description: Ital Tek is the alter ego of British electronic producer Alan Myson, whose fifth album “Hollowed” is a startling yet elegant attack on the senses. Calling “Hollowed” Myson’s “most personal, accomplished work yet,” AllMusic singled his album out as a “dark, sometimes devastating” collection of tracks.
5. Mitski — “Puberty 2″
Average critic score: 87/100
Average fan score: 8.8
Description: “Puberty 2″ is the fourth full-length album from New York-based indie artist Mitski. The album features striking songwriting from Mitski and dynamic sounds from producer Partick Hyland — all of which makes for, as Rolling Stone called it, an “incendiary self-portrait.”
4. David Bowie — “Blackstar”
Average critic score: 87/100
Average fan score: 8.8
Description: David Bowie’s 25th and final album featured spare, dark production from his longtime collaborator Tony Visconti and was accompanied by several startling videos. In a perfect five-star review, The Telegraph said that “Blackstar” felt “as bold and weird as anything in Bowie’s back catalogue.” Bowie died two days after the album’s release, following an 18-month battle with cancer.
3. Robbie Fulks — “Upland Stories”
Average critic score: 87/100
Average fan score: 3.2
Description: “Upland Stories,” the 13th album from 53-year-old country artist Robbie Fulks, finds Fulks turning successfully toward traditional folk music. Praising the album’s “old-timey” vibe, Paste magazine said that Fulks “matures into an important voice” on his most recent release.
2. Radiohead — “A Moon Shaped Pool”
Average critic score: 88/100
Average fan score: 9.2
Description: Radiohead suprised fans with the release of their somber and beautiful ninth album, “A Moon Shaped Pool,” in May, to nearly universal acclaim. The album features Thom Yorke at his best, in “a newly naked and incisive portrayal of emotional vulnerability,” as Slant Magazine described it.
1. Beyoncé — “Lemonade”
Average critic score: 92/100
Average fan score: 8.2
Description: Beyoncé shocked the world by dropping “Lemonade” in April with an accompanying HBO special that served as an album-long music video. Her portrayal of her turbulent marriage with Jay Z won universal critical acclaim and numerous perfect reviews from outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, which called it her “boldest, most ambitious, best album to date.”
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