Year-End Lists

Pazz & Jop: Top 100 Albums of 2017 (an annual poll of more than 400 critics, published by The Village Voice)

[see also 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
2. Ctrl
   SZA
3. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
4. Melodrama
   Lorde
5. The Nashville Sound
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
6. A Deeper Understanding
   The War on Drugs
7. Slowdive
   Slowdive
8. 4:44
   JAY-Z
9. american dream
   LCD Soundsystem
10. Out in the Storm
    Waxahatchee
11. Black Origami
    Jlin
12. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
13. Drunk
    Thundercat
14. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
15. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
16. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
17. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
18. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
19. Life Will See You Now
    Jens Lekman
19. Culture
    Migos
21. Hot Thoughts
    Spoon
22. The Navigator
    Hurray for the Riff Raff
23. The OOZ
    King Krule
24. Process
    Sampha
25. Nothing Feels Natural
    Priests
26. Freedom Highway
    Rhiannon Giddens
27. Aromanticism
    Moses Sumney
28. 50 Song Memoir
    The Magnetic Fields
29. The Underside of Power
    Algiers
29. Dark Matter
    Randy Newman
31. Antisocialites
    Alvvays
32. Rainbow
    Ke$ha
33. Run the Jewels 3
    Run the Jewels
34. Utopia
    Björk
35. All American Made
    Margo Price
36. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
37. Lust for Life
    Lana Del Rey
38. I See You
    The xx
39. Capacity
    Big Thief
40. The Kid
    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
41. Everybody Works
    Jay Som
42. Guppy
    Charly Bliss
43. The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone
    Lee Ann Womack
44. After Laughter
    Paramore
45. Kelly Lee Owens
    Kelly Lee Owens
46. Freudian
    Daniel Caesar
46. Rest
    Charlotte Gainsbourg
48. Soul of a Woman
    Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
49. Fin
    Syd
50. Whiteout Conditions
    The New Pornographers
51. War & Leisure
    Miguel
52. Lotta Sea Lice
    Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile
52. Harry Styles
    Harry Styles
54. More Life
    Drake
55. Not Even Happiness
    Julie Byrne
56. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
56. I Love You Like a Brother
    Alex Lahey
58. American Teen
    Khalid
59. Need to Feel Your Love
    Sheer Mag
60. Mental Illness
    Aimee Mann
60. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
    Open Mike Eagle
62. The Hanged Man
    Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
62. Harmony of Difference
    Kamasi Washington
64. Music for the Age of Miracles
    The Clientele
65. Plunge
    Fever Ray
65. Nightmare Logic
    Power Trip
65. Relatives in Descent
    Protomartyr
68. Bells For the South Side
    Roscoe Mitchell
68. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
70. Prisoner
    Ryan Adams
71. reputation
    Taylor Swift
72. Stranger in the Alps
    Phoebe Bridgers
73. World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane
    Alice Coltrane
73. SweetSexySavage
    Kehlani
75. Fly or Die
    Jaimie Branch
76. For Sale: Live At Maxwell’s 1986
    The Replacements
77. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
77. HNDRXX
    Future
79. Feel Your Feelings Fool!
    The Regrettes
79. Hippopotamus
    Sparks
79. What Now
    Sylvan Esso
82. Robyn Hitchcock
    Robyn Hitchcock
83. Reflections of a Floating World
    Elder
84. In Between
    The Feelies
85. The Courtneys II
    The Courtneys
85. Villains
    Queens of the Stone Age
87. Ash
    Ibeyi
87. Beach House 3
    Ty Dolla $ign
89. The Order of Time
    Valerie June
89. Semper Femina
    Laura Marling
91. Number 1 Angel
    Charli XCX
91. The Dusk In Us
    Converge
91. Okovi
    Zola Jesus
94. Dedicated To Bobby Jameson
    Ariel Pink
95. Near To The Wild Heart Of Life
    Japandroids
95. Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng
    Orchestra Baobab
97. Halo
    Juana Molina
98. Simultonality
    Joshua Abrams
98. Exile In the Outer Ring
    EMA
98. From A Room: Volume 1
    Chris Stapleton
98. Songs of Experience
    U2

Robert Christgau: Dean's List 2017

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2012]

1. Dark Matter
   Randy Newman
2. American Epic: The Best of Blues
   various artists
3. A Crow Looked at Me
   Mount Eerie
4. Whiteout Conditions
   The New Pornographers
5. American Epic: The Soundtrack
   various artists
6. 1992 Deluxe
   Princess Nokia
7. Love and War
   Brad Paisley
8. Tackle Box
   Hamell On Trial
9. Out in the Storm
   Waxahatchee
10. Nothing Rhymes with Orange
    Dawn Oberg
11. Trophy
    Sunny Sweeney
12. The Nashville Sound
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
13. Rough Guide to the Music of West Africa
    various artists
14. Chuck
    Chuck Berry
15. Life Will See You Now
    Jens Lekman
16. American Epic: The Collection
    various artists
17. Talk Tight
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
18. Rough Guide to Jug Band Blues
    various artists
19. American Teen
    Khalid
20. Step Brothers THREE
    Starlito & Don Trip
21. Andalusia of Love
    Marcel Khalife & Mahmoud Darwish
22. La Voz Indómita
    Mariem Hassan
23. Triple Fat Lice
    Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman
24. The Night Took Us in Like Family
    L'Orange & Jeremiah Jae
25. République Amazone
    Les Amazones d’Afrique
26. 50 Song Memoir
    The Magnetic Fields
27. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
28. Ladilikan
    Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet
29. Oversleepers International
    Emperor X
30. Electric Trim
    Lee Ranaldo
31. 1999
    Joey Bada$$
32. The Bob's Burgers Music Album
    various artists
33. Key To The Kuffs
    JJ DOOM
34. Veins
    Homeboy Sandman
35. City of No Reply
    Amber Coffman
36. Fake Sugar
    Beth Ditto
37. 20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo
    Pere Ubu
38. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
39. The Underside of Power
    Algiers
40. Celebrate Ornette
    Ornette Coleman
41. Bloodlust
    Body Count
42. Cashmere
    Swet Shop Boys
43. Recitative
    Robt Sarazin Blake
44. The World of Captain Beefheart
    Nona Hendryx & Gary Lucas
45. Seekers and Finders
    Gogol Bordello
46. 4:44
    JAY-Z
47. The Iceberg
    Oddisee
48. Resolution
    The Perceptionists
49. Thawing Dawn
    A Savage
50. Under Cöver
    Motörhead
51. Above Ground Fools
    Matt North
52. Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng
    Orchestra Baobab
53. You Want It Darker
    Leonard Cohen
54. War Surplus
    Becky Warren
55. Culture
    Migos
56. Home Counties
    Saint Etienne
57. Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams
    various artists
58. Ad Out
    Dylan Hicks
59. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
    Open Mike Eagle
60. Macgregor Park
    Fat Tony
61. Need to Feel Your Love
    Sheer Mag
62. Zonkey
    Umphrey's McGee
63. Fin
    Syd
64. Pollinator
    Blondie
65. Made in the Manor
    Kano
66. Antisocialites
    Alvvays
67. Can We Still Hang
    Daddy Issues
68. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
69. Deer Tick, Vol. 2
    Deer Tick
70. Life Without Sound
    Cloud Nothings
71. Rock & Roll Music: Songs Of Chuck Berry
    various artists
72. Devil Is Fine
    Zeal & Ardor
73. So You Wannabe an Outlaw
    Steve Earle & The Dukes
74. NOW That's What I Call 90s Pop
    various artists
75. Wrangled
    Angaleena Presley
76. Underworld USA
    The Paranoid Style
77. Playboi Carti
    Playboi Carti
78. Sufi La
    Swet Shop Boys
79. American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story
    Kevin Abstract
80. Changer
    Fred Thomas
81. NOW That's What I Call Tailgate Anthems
    various artists
82. 24 Classic Blues Songs From The 1920's: Vol. 15
    various artists
83. We're All in This Together
    Hard Working Americans
84. Salutations
    Conor Oberst
85. Around Félicité (Original Soundtrack)
    Kasai All Stars
86. Battle Hymns
    various artists
87. Deep Dream
    Daddy Issues
88. Drool
    Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
89. Up to Anything
    The Goon Sax
90. South Texas Suite
    Whitney Rose

Raisa Bruner: Top 10 Albums of 2017, as published by Time Magazine

[see also 2018]

1. Ctrl
   SZA
2. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
3. No Shape
   Perfume Genius
4. American Teen
   Khalid
5. Melodrama
   Lorde
6. Harry Styles
   Harry Styles
7. Rainbow
   Ke$ha
8. I See You
   The xx
9. reputation
   Taylor Swift
10. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem

Honorable Mentions

• 4:44
  JAY-Z
• Meaning of Life
  Kelly Clarkson
• ÷
  Ed Sheeran
• 24K Magic
  Bruno Mars
• Tell Me You Love Me
  Demi Lovato

Jim Fusilli: Best Albums of 2017, as published by The Wall Street Journal

• Hot Thoughts
  Spoon
• Prisoner
  Ryan Adams
• The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone
  Lee Ann Womack
• Painted Ruins
  Grizzly Bear
• The Temple of I & I
  Thievery Corporation
• The Iceberg
  Oddisee
• Black Origami
  Jlin
• Aromanticism
  Moses Sumney
• I See You
  The xx
• Slowdive
  Slowdive
• Fake Sugar
  Beth Ditto
• Reflections of a Floating World
  Elder

Listening Through The Lens: 20 Favorite Albums of 2017

1. Freedom Highway
   Rhiannon Giddens
2. Turmoil & Tinfoil
   Billy Strings
3. Restless
   David Luning
4. Big Bad Luv
   John Moreland
5. All American Made
   Margo Price
6. The Order of Time
   Valerie June
7. Poor David’s Almanack
   David Rawlings
8. The Nashville Sound
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
9. Way Out West
   Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
10. From A Room: Volume 1
    Chris Stapleton
11. Letters Never Read
    Dori Freeman
12. Jason Eady
    Jason Eady
13. Graveyard Whistling
    Old 97’s
14. Close Ties
    Rodney Crowell
15. The Ahern Brothers
    The Ahern Brothers
16. Natural Conclusion
    Rose Cousins
17. Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins
    Chuck Prophet
18. Purgatory
    Tyler Childers
19. Tell the Devil I’m Gettin’ There as Fast as I Can
    Ray Wylie Hubbard
20. Southern Blood
    Gregg Allman

The Stranger: Top Ten Albums of 2017, plus a list of “besties.” See also their list of albums by local Seattle bands on the same page.

• Utopia
  Björk
• Witness
  Benjamin Booker
• Drunk
  Thundercat
• Big Fish Theory
  Vince Staples
• Anguilla Electrica
  Porter Ricks
• Take Me Apart
  Kelela
• All My Circles Run
  Sarah Davachi
• Melodrama
  Lorde
• Musas
  Natalia Lafourcade
• Plunge
  Fever Ray

Besties

• Prince of Tears
  Baxter Dury
• Ctrl
  SZA
• A World of Masks
  The Heliocentrics
• Losing
  Bully
• Three Futures
  TORRES
• Robyn Hitchcock
  Robyn Hitchcock
• Villains
  Queens of the Stone Age
• Volcano
  Temples
• Out in the Storm
  Waxahatchee
• Tourist in This Town
  Allison Crutchfield
• Somersault
  Beach Fossils
• SATURATION II
  BROCKHAMPTON
• Deer Tick, Vol. 1
  Deer Tick
• Deer Tick, Vol. 1
  Deer Tick
• Capacity
  Big Thief
• Freedom Highway
  Rhiannon Giddens
• The Hanged Man
  Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
• Hey Mr Ferryman
  Mark Eitzel
• MASSEDUCTION
  St. Vincent
• Sleep Well Beast
  The National
• City Music
  Kevin Morby
• Swim Inside the Moon
  Angelo De Augustine
• 50 Song Memoir
  The Magnetic Fields
• Process
  Sampha
• Or
  Eyelids
• English Tapas
  Sleaford Mods

In Review Online: Best Albums of 2017

1. Something To Tell You
   HAIM
2. Melodrama
   Lorde
3. Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1
   Lil Peep
4. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
5. A Crow Looked at Me
   Mount Eerie
6. Plunge
   Fever Ray
7. New Energy
   Four Tet
8. Big Fish Theory
   Vince Staples
9. 4:44
   JAY-Z
10. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
11. I See You
    The xx
12. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
13. Black Cab
    Higher Brothers
14. async
    Ryuichi Sakamoto
15. No Shape
    Perfume Genius

The Wild Honey Pie: Top 30 Albums of 2017

[see also 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016]

1. Capacity
   Big Thief
2. Aromanticism
   Moses Sumney
3. Stranger in the Alps
   Phoebe Bridgers
4. Utopia
   Björk
5. Melodrama
   Lorde
6. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
7. Turn Out the Lights
   Julien Baker
8. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
9. Young
   Overcoats
10. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
11. Cigarettes After Sex
    Cigarettes After Sex
12. Ctrl
    SZA
13. RELAXER
    alt-J
14. Something To Tell You
    HAIM
15. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
16. The Wilds
    Henry Jamison
17. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
18. Infinite Worlds
    Vagabon
19. Not Even Happiness
    Julie Byrne
20. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
21. The OOZ
    King Krule
22. What Now
    Sylvan Esso
23. Slowdive
    Slowdive
24. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
25. Prisoner
    Ryan Adams
26. Everybody Works
    Jay Som
27. Nothing Feels Natural
    Priests
28. Glasshouse
    Jessie Ware
29. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
30. Rocket
    (Sandy) Alex G

The Alternative: Top 50 Releases of 2017

[see also 2018]

1. The Yunahon Mixtape
   Oso Oso
2. Turn Out the Lights
   Julien Baker
3. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
4. Guppy
   Charly Bliss
5. Plastic Cough
   Great Grandpa
6. Precious Art
   Rozwell Kid
7. You’re Not As _____ As You Think
   Sorority Noise
8. Daymoon
   Strange Ranger
9. First Things First
   Hodera
10. Capacity
    Big Thief
11. As You Please
    Citizen
12. Greatest Hits
    Remo Drive
13. Pleasure Suck
    The Spirit Of The Beehive
14. The Incessant
    Meat Wave
15. A Hairshirt of Purpose
    Pile
16. Rocket
    (Sandy) Alex G
17. Birdie
    Slaughter Beach, Dog
18. Ctrl
    SZA
19. Here Again
    A Will Away
20. Losing
    Bully
21. No One Loves You
    Blis
22. The Dusk In Us
    Converge
23. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
24. Dixieland
    Greet Death
25. Infinite Hiatus
    Cool American
26. GN
    Ratboys
27. Wild Pink
    Wild Pink
28. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
29. Still, I Try
    Fire is Motion
30. Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
    2 Chainz
31. The Obsessives
    The Obsessives
32. Run the Jewels 3
    Run the Jewels
33. Smidley
    Smidley
34. What Not to Do
    Perspective, a Lovely Hand to Hold
35. Nothing Special
    Harmony Woods
36. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
    Open Mike Eagle
37. All Aboard
    Washer
38. Gloom Cruise
    Walter Etc.
39. SATURATION
    BROCKHAMPTON
39. SATURATION II
    BROCKHAMPTON
39. SATURATION III
    BROCKHAMPTON
40. Exposure & Response
    Mo Troper
41. No Mountains in Manhattan
    Wiki
42. Melodrama
    Lorde
43. Swear I’m Good At This
    Diet Cig
44. Brokenlegged
    Sinai Vessel
45. Always Foreign
    The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
46. Everybody Works
    Jay Som
47. Lvndr Twn
    Jelani Sei
48. Stranger in the Alps
    Phoebe Bridgers
49. The Manson Family
    Heart Attack Man
50. Summer Megalith
    Caracara

Vibe Magazine: 25 Best Albums of 2017 (“in nonsequential order”)

[see also 2019 • 2018]

• Rather You Than Me
  Rick Ross
• Gang Signs & Prayer
  Stormzy
• Big Fish Theory
  Vince Staples
• At What Cost
  GoldLink
• blkswn
  Smino
• DAMN.
  Kendrick Lamar
• Luv Is Rage 2
  Lil Uzi Vert
• 4:44
  JAY-Z
• The Never Story
  JID
• Take Me Apart
  Kelela
• Culture
  Migos
• Jungle Rules
  French Montana
• More Life
  Drake
• 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time
  Big K.R.I.T.
• Freudian
  Daniel Caesar
• Laila’s Wisdom
  Rapsody
• Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1
  Calvin Harris
• Lust for Life
  Lana Del Rey
• Flower Boy
  Tyler, The Creator
• Process
  Sampha
• Energía Lado B
  J Balvin
• Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
  2 Chainz
• Ctrl
  SZA
• Sonder Son
  Brent Faiyaz
• Still Striving
  A$AP Ferg