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

Robert Christgau: Dean's List 2017

[see also 2018, 2012]

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

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

[see also 2018]

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

Honorable Mentions

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

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

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

Listening Through The Lens: 20 Favorite Albums of 2017

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

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.

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

Besties

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

In Review Online: Best Albums of 2017

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

The Alternative: Top 50 Releases of 2017

[see also 2018]

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

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

[see also 2018]

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

Under the Radar: Top 100 Albums of 2017

[see also 2018, 2015, 2011]

1. The War on Drugs — A Deeper Understanding
2. Julien Baker — Turn Out the Lights
3. St. Vincent — MASSEDUCTION
4. Slowdive — Slowdive
5. Wolf Alice — Visions of a Life
6. Kendrick Lamar — DAMN.
7. The National — Sleep Well Beast
8. Grizzly Bear — Painted Ruins
9. Father John Misty — Pure Comedy
10. Japanese Breakfast — Soft Sounds from Another Planet
11. Broken Social Scene — Hug of Thunder
12. LCD Soundsystem — american dream
13. Spoon — Hot Thoughts
14. The Horrors — V
15. Charlotte Gainsbourg — Rest
16. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile — Lotta Sea Lice
17. Fleet Foxes — Crack-Up
18. Perfume Genius — No Shape
19. Mount Eerie — A Crow Looked at Me
20. Alvvays — Antisocialites
21. Big Thief — Capacity
22. Rose Elinor Dougall — Stellular
23. Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister — Planetarium
24. Moses Sumney — Aromanticism
25. Jay Som — Everybody Works
26. Wolf Parade — Cry Cry Cry
27. Foxygen — Hang
28. King Krule — The OOZ
29. Kelly Lee Owens — Kelly Lee Owens
30. Feist — Pleasure
31. Björk — Utopia
32. Fever Ray — Plunge
33. Future Islands — The Far Field
34. Elbow — Little Fictions
35. Yumi Zouma — Willowbank
36. Algiers — The Underside of Power
37. Jens Lekman — Life Will See You Now
38. Girl Ray — Earl Grey
39. The xx — I See You
40. Midnight Sister — Saturn Over Sunset
41. The New Pornographers — Whiteout Conditions
42. Marika Hackman — I’m Not Your Man
43. Protomartyr — Relatives in Descent
44. Mount Kimbie — Love What Survives
45. Bedouine — Bedouine
46. Alex Lahey — I Love You Like a Brother
47. Phoebe Bridgers — Stranger in the Alps
48. Chilly Gonzales & Jarvis Cocker — Room 29
49. Baxter Dury — Prince of Tears
50. Goldfrapp — Silver Eye
51. SZA — Ctrl
52. Kevin Morby — City Music
53. Temples — Volcano
54. Waxahatchee — Out in the Storm
55. Vince Staples — Big Fish Theory
56. Lorde — Melodrama
57. Godspeed You! Black Emperor — Luciferian Towers
58. Laura Marling — Semper Femina
59. Ride — Weather Diaries
60. Kirin J Callinan — Bravado
61. alt-J — RELAXER
62. Thundercat — Drunk
63. Zola Jesus — Okovi
64. Sampha — Process
65. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists — The Hanged Man
66. Dirty Projectors — Dirty Projectors
67. Nick Hakim — Green Twins
68. Grandaddy — Last Place
69. Phoenix — Ti Amo
70. The Afghan Whigs — In Spades
71. Jessie Ware — Glasshouse
72. Julie Byrne — Not Even Happiness
73. Jane Weaver — Modern Kosmology
74. Madeline Kenney — Night Night At the First Landing
75. Destroyer — ken
76. Deerhoof — Mountain Moves
77. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings — Soul of a Woman
78. Tricky — Ununiform
79. The Weather Station — The Weather Station
80. British Sea Power — Let the Dancers Inherit the Party
81. girlpool — Powerplant
82. Saint Etienne — Home Counties
83. Austra — Future Politics
84. The Mountain Goats — Goths
85. Nadine Shah — Holiday Destination
86. Priests — Nothing Feels Natural
87. Mogwai — Every Country’s Sun
88. Beach Fossils — Somersault
89. The Flaming Lips — Oczy Mlody
90. Run the Jewels — Run the Jewels 3
91. Blanck Mass — World Eater
92. Pond — The Weather
93. Little Dragon — Season High
94. Kamasi Washington — Harmony of Difference
95. Mac DeMarco — This Old Dog
96. Cut Copy — Haiku From Zero
97. Sondre Lerche — Pleasure
98. Fazerdaze — Morningside
99. EMA — Exile In the Outer Ring
100. This Is the Kit — Moonshine Freeze