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The Top 10 albums of the year
The one good thing to come out of the year is some fantastic music, up and coming bands and artists like Beebadoobee, Alfie Templeman, Arlo Parks and Girl In Red have made their mark on the scene. There's been debut albums from Sports Team, Easy Life and Bob Vylan and returns for The Strokes, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Dylan and AC/DC. Lastly there's been some huge names dropping albums with the likes of Biffy Clyro, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift dropping a duo of albums, The 1975 releasing the long-awaited (and in my opinion worst) Notes On A Conditional and the Killers seeing a return to form.
With a year that has as many big releases as 2020 it's difficult to create a list of the best, especially with so many good albums in wildly different genres, it's nigh impossible to truly compare them. For this list I'm going off pure studio albums, no remix albums, EPs, live albums (sorry Arctic Monkeys), collections of singles or soundtracks. I was originally not going to rank them but after listening to them all once more I realised there's definitely a superiority to some entries. Like always this is a true mix of what I personally enjoy and what is objectively good, and as always there is a bias towards rock and indie because that's predominantly what I listen to, big shock I know. As always, playlist at the end of all the key tracks mentioned.
Some notable honorable mentions:
AC/DC - Power Up
The Aussie rockers return with a genuinely great collection of songs, not showing their age too badly in terms of performance but by album 18 the question of whether to hang up the mic is becoming a bit more pertinent.
Key Track: Realize
Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
This is a genuinely fantastic album, smooth and varied vocals, interesting music techniques, alternative yet intuitive song structures and genuinely great songwriting. But it's just not quite for me, whilst I appreciate everything listed and think it all works to great effect, none of it really grabs my attention or makes me want to put it on loop.
Key Track: Shameika
The Strokes - The New Abnormal
It's good to have the group back together and making good music again, with the last properly good release probably being Room On Fire, with the run of First Impressions Of Earth, Angles and Comedown Machine progressively getting worse. The singles off the album are fantastic and some of the best the band's done, but it doesn't go too much further than that for me, although they're not a band I've ever found the most interesting.
Key Track: The Adults Are Talking
Sports Team - Deep Down Happy
'Here's The Thing' is one of the best songs of 2020 (watch that list to come soon) and it's one of the most exciting debut albums I've heard in a while, UK rock seems to be back on the up. Arguably a pioneer in the lad-rock scene the LP is a fine first outing but not quite the fully polished record that I'm sure they'll come to produce in a few years time.
Key Track: Here's The Thing
Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: Survival Horror
I really really wish this was an LP so I could name it probably in my top 3 AOTY despite having its flaws ('1x1' and 'Ludens' lack a little within the context of the album). Ollie Skyes and co. are back to heavy form and promising another 3 EPs in the next year making me incredibly excited to see what they have to come and what will surely finally secure them a headlining slot at either Download or Reading in 2022.
Key Track: Teardrops
Porridge Radio - Every Bad
Another of the best songs of 2020 comes off this album, and while this is their 5th album it somehow feels like their debut in the sense that it's of a whole new calibre and promises to bring the band to prominence in 2021. Again this album has its flaws but in essence is an innovative take on indie rock with a female-led sadcore vibe.
Key Track: Born Confused
Svalbard - When I Die Will I Get Better?
Women are sadly lacking in heavy music, and when the result of a female voice is to simply add to the beautiful and trance-like atmosphere of their blackgaze vibes, this seems like a mistake. The only reason this isn't on the main list is simply because I didn't have room for it, but the incredible song writing, wall-of-sound moments and sheer beauty truly make it a fantastic album.
Key Track: Open Wound
The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives
The 19th album from the iconic Indie-folk outfit is nothing too out of the ordinary for the group, pleasant and warm tracks with jazz interludes dispersed throughout the runtime. It's a really great album, a little more down to earth than some of their other LPs but nothing about it massively stands out as anything incredibly noteworthy, keeping it just short of the main list.
Key Track: As Many Candles As Possible
Bob Dylan - Rough And Rowdy Ways
I feel like a bad music fan when I say that I have never listened to a Bob Dylan album before this one, I'd even struggle to name more than 3 songs by him despite being one of the most celebrated and important songwriters in music history. So as my first proper venture into his music, Rough And Rowdy Ways feels like a lot to take in, a long album despite only boasting 10 tracks. The closer 'Murder Most Foul' is one of the most peculiar tracks I've heard, essentially a rambling speech about JFK's assassination over incredibly bare piano and string melodies. I'm still yet to work this one out, but it's something good.
Key Track: Goodbye Jimmy Reed
HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III
The album that proved HAIM to be more than the pop-rock girl group, that they are a near-future festival headliner, arena-tour-selling mega-hit (Glastonbury need to get onto them next). Another album that just isn't quite to my taste but honestly just shows a fantastic amount of talent filled with some very catchy singles.
Key Track: The Steps
The 10 best albums of 2020:
10. Taylor Swift - Folklore
Anyone who knows me knows I have a bit of a disdain for pop, not due to its popularity but due to its simplicity and because of how goddamn boring it is, never straying away from the same hooks and sound profiles. Taylor Swift is a major culprit in this sense, her past albums are far from what I would find myself listening to on an ordinary day, but when I saw Aaron Dessner of The National was credited as a songwriter and producer, alongside a feature from Bon Iver, I knew something beyond the ordinary was on the cards. Thank God it was, while being far from a full-on folk album, Folklore is probably the best album by a pop artist I've heard in a long long time: rustic, beautiful yet raw production, personal and sensitive lyrics, beautiful vocal performances and fantastic instrumentals pushed this far beyond my expectations and really put it up there on my list. Just such a shame Evermore delved back into the realms of pop.
Key Track: the last great american dynasty
9. Enter Shikari - Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible
Anyone who knows me would predict this to be on my list somewhere, I rarely shut up about the band and especially this album due to how different it is in the context of their discography. While the album has had mixed reviews amongst fans and didn't make much noise critically it's simply one of my favourite albums of the year, the variety amongst the tracks makes it easy to put on no matter my mood. It also features some of Rou Reynold's best song-writing with 'satellites**' being one of the band's best of all time. Even though the LP is a long way off anything near their first 4 albums it still rings true of Enter Shikari: energetic, in your face, political and absolutely raging. Read my full review here.
Key Track: The Great Unknown
8. The Streets - None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive
It's fair to say this isn't my favourite record from The Streets but it is by far the best effort since 2004's incredible A Grand Don't Come For Free. The album never really lets you feel settled, lurching from one feature to a next, bringing with it rapid changes in style and pace, not giving much comfort and creating a tone of unease as a whole. That's not to say the songs aren't good, the tracks feature some of the best beats Skinner's created in years, and the features from IDLES, Ms Banks and Chris Lorenzo especially are incredible. The Streets' first full-length effort in nearly 10 years may not be their absolute best, but it's more than a simple return to a form, lighting a path in a new direction for Skinner.
Key Track: I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Loved Him
7. IDLES - Ultra Mono
The third outing of Bristol based 'not'-punk outfit is their most polished, smooth and least subtle (some would say to a fault) yet. The lyrics are less poetic and nuanced than on Joy As An Act Of Resistence, the sound's nowhere near as harsh as on Brutalism and it's not had the rowdy gigs to support it, but when Joe Talbot comes crashing in with "This is war" on the opener, it's undoubtedly IDLES. Maybe the album as a whole isn't quite as perfect as the previous two records from the band, but 'Mr. Motivator', 'Kill Them With Kindness' and 'Model Village' are up there amongst the band's best.
Key Track: Grounds
6. Dogleg - Melee
Punk's getting a new injection of life at the moment with the likes of IDLES, The Chats, Sleaford Mods and more bringing the genre back into relevance and into the mainstream once again, with the same fury of the 1970's finally back properly. I heard 'Fox' early on this year and was instantly hooked, one of the most urgent and chaotically restrained sounds I've heard in a long time. Despite the short run time this album is genuinely one of the best alternative rock debuts I have ever heard, the production is moody and raw, the tracks are fast and catchy and do their best to have you running head first into a mosh pit. From start to finish this is nothing but top tier noise.
Key Track: Fox
5. Touche Amore - Lament
A band that really deserve to make a big break by now, but are somewhat held back by their admittedly dying genre labels of Post-hardcore and Emo with only a handful of bands still really thriving in the relative mainstream in both and not leaving much room for many new bands. But this album really shows that Touche Amore are more than either of these labels by themselves, having evolved from their screamo beginnings (Although they produced some incredible records in these times) into a perfect blend of emo, atmospheric-hardcore and even elements of melodic-hardcore. Bringing a set of fantastic lyrics, far better production and the ability to create a good hook Touche Amore deserve to be on the heavy music map.
Key Track: I'll Be Your Host
4. Code Orange - Underneath
If I was going to play a non-metal fan one album to get them into the genre, this would not be it. Not because it's not a good album, but it's one of the harshest and most brutal (without getting into the realms of Cannibal Corpse and Nordic stuff) records I've heard. By far Code Orange's most ambitious project yet, the blend of metalcore, industrial and screamo with extensive use of white noise leads to one of the best listening experiences of the year, although it's not exactly the easiest to listen to. It's good to see a relatively young band create something as good as this in a genre where the older artists are seen as the only ones capable of making anything worth listening to.
Key Track: Swallowing The Rabbit Whole
3. Run The Jewels - RTJ4
Run The Jewels have a bit of a reputation of being the metalhead's favourite (often only) rap group, the heavy and loud beats set the tone for the LP, with the duo's smooth and smart bars and lyrics replicating similar feelings to what rock and metal do. One of my big issues with most commercial Hip-Hop is that so many of the beats and instrumentals are incredibly similar to the point of it being mindnumbingly boring, but RTJ4 manages to keep each track fresh and interesting with intense and different beats and uses sampling to its major advantage, rather than being incredibly obnoxious like it often can be. Each cut feels like a smack in the face, running through social and political issues faster than you can keep up, tackling police brutality, the media and the general state of society. Killer Mike and El-P have a lot to say, and they say it with urgency and style, you can't not listen closely and listen hard.
Key Track: ooh la la
2. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
Women in indie music have generally been overlooked, despite the fact that some of the best original alternative artists are women, P.J. Harvey, Suzanne Vega, Joni Mitchell. A lot of the time female-led alternative music is reduced to indie-pop or sad-girls with a guitar, which Phoebe Bridgers had generally been seen as until Punisher. Even when she is a sad-girl with a guitar it's just absolutely stunning, but there's so much more to her than that on this record. Despite being incredibly vulnerable, sensitive and personal, there's a great sense of strength and courage to not only the lyrics but the vocal performances and even the instrumentation, a warm determination that in the face of shit times, things will get better. I cannot express how simply beautiful the record is, every track brings something new without being pointlessly different or jarring, yet still creating an incredible piece of work as a whole.
Key Track: I Know The End
1. Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death
This feels like Ian Curtis would give it a listen and say 'That's some fuckin' good stuff right there', a moody, murky and moreish selection of tracks that flow beautifully from one to the next creating one of the best 'albums' as a collective piece of work in rock for a long time. Normally I'd say this is the sort of album we don't need from a year this gloomy, but it manages to capture the mood of 2020, stick in some very interesting production, muddled yet perfect vocals, subtle drums and stunning guitar riffs to bring out a nigh-on perfect album. Before I sat down to write this list I wasn't sure what would take the top spot, but after another few listens and realising what it is that's so good about the record, it's obvious that A Hero's Death is the album of the year, if not one of my new favourite albums of all time. From start to finish it's captivating. depressing and deep without being slow and sleepy or preachy, I genuinely am struggling to find fault in it.
Key Track: A Hero's Death
So that's that for 2020, there may be a few more releases before the end of the year but nothing significant is set to be released so it feels safe to make this my list for the year. It's been a very varied year but some cracking stuff and some promising looks for music as a whole, indie looks to be heading away from its awful pop-rock phase into a more deep and melancholic stage, metal has a bit of a new lease of life, some fantastic new rock bands appearing out of nowhere, very little in the way of crappy mumble rap has made many waves and even pop has tended to produce some good beyond radio-friendly earworms.
2021 should be a good year too, with the likes of the Foo Fighters, Drake, Architects (finally), Travis Scott, Evanescence and Bring Me The Horizon releasing multiple EPs. There's also big potential for releases or at the very least singles from Kanye West, Rihanna, The Cure and very likely to have at least one album from King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard. All in all we can at least be assured that there'll be plenty of good music in 2021 to go beautifully alongside the hopeful return of live music.
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