Year-End Lists

The A.V. Club: 20 Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
2. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
3. A Deeper Understanding
   The War on Drugs
4. What Now
   Sylvan Esso
5. Ctrl
   SZA
6. Nothing Feels Natural
   Priests
7. Plunge
   Fever Ray
8. Turn Out the Lights
   Julien Baker
9. Big Fish Theory
   Vince Staples
10. Out in the Storm
    Waxahatchee
11. A Hairshirt of Purpose
    Pile
12. Process
    Sampha
13. Mirror Reaper
    Bell Witch
14. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
15. Utopia
    Björk
16. Guppy
    Charly Bliss
17. Melodrama
    Lorde
18. V
    The Horrors
19. You Can’t Stay Here
    Iron Chic
20. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem

Craig Jenkins: 11 Best Albums of 2017, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016]

1. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
2. Slowdive
   Slowdive
3. A Crow Looked at Me
   Mount Eerie
4. 50 Song Memoir
   The Magnetic Fields
5. If All I Was Was Black
   Mavis Staples
6. From A Room: Volume 1
   Chris Stapleton
6. From A Room: Volume 1
   Chris Stapleton
7. Take Me Apart
   Kelela
8. Melodrama
   Lorde
9. Process
   Sampha
10. Hug of Thunder
    Broken Social Scene

Entertainment Weekly: 26 Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2011]

1. Melodrama
   Lorde
2. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
3. Ctrl
   SZA
4. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
5. All American Made
   Margo Price
6. american dream
   LCD Soundsystem
7. Big Fish Theory
   Vince Staples
8. What Now
   Sylvan Esso
9. From A Room: Volume 1
   Chris Stapleton
9. From A Room: Volume 1
   Chris Stapleton
10. Life Will See You Now
    Jens Lekman
11. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
12. This Old Dog
    Mac DeMarco
13. 4:44
    JAY-Z
14. Rainbow
    Ke$ha
15. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
16. HNDRXX
    Future
17. Glasshouse
    Jessie Ware
18. Number 1 Angel
    Charli XCX
19. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
20. Everybody Works
    Jay Som
21. Meaning of Life
    Kelly Clarkson
22. War & Leisure
    Miguel
23. New Energy
    Four Tet
24. Slowheart
    Kip Moore
25. Villains
    Queens of the Stone Age

The Quietus: Top 100 Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Peasant
   Richard Dawson
2. Zimpel/Ziołek
   Zimpel/Ziołek
3. Plunge
   Fever Ray
4. Interplanetary Class Classics
   The Moonlandingz
5. Holiday Destination
   Nadine Shah
6. Take Me Apart
   Kelela
7. The Animal Spirits
   James Holden & The Animal Spirits
8. 1992
   Princess Nokia
9. Trifle
   Lone Taxidermist
10. Thin Black Duke
    Oxbow
11. TFCF
    Liars
12. VV
    Lotto
13. Arpo
    Call Super
14. Come Play the Trees
    Snapped Ankles
15. Feed the Rats
    Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
16. Hunter Huntress Hawker
    Laura Cannell
17. Just Say No to the Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine
    Gnod
18. Modern Kosmology
    Jane Weaver
19. Terminal
    Circle
20. Rûwâhîne
    Ifriqiyya Electrique
21. Play What They Want
    Man Forever
22. Madonnatron
    Madonnatron
23. Through the Mirror
    ENDON
24. The Underside of Power
    Algiers
25. Unseen Forces
    Justin Walter
26. Multiverse
    BNNT
27. Total S**t!
    Shit & Shine
28. Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds
    Nicole Mitchell
29. Vanishing
    Vanishing
30. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
31. Utopia
    Björk
32. Arca
    Arca
33. Rock N Roll Consciousness
    Thurston Moore
34. Before the Applause
    Re-TROS
35. Black Origami
    Jlin
36. Hungan
    Kemper Norton
37. The Two of Us
    Chloe x Halle
38. Suspended Second
    The Granite Shore
39. Everywhere At The End Of Time – Stage 3
    The Caretaker
40. Frequency is the New Ecstasy
    Teleplasmiste
41. Collective: The Shape of He to Come
    Botanist
42. Let the Dancers Inherit the Party
    British Sea Power
43. Enkar
    Al-Namrood
44. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
45. Reassemblage
    Visible Cloaks
46. Bitter Music
    Perc
47. Kingdom Come
    Gazelle Twin
48. Savage (Songs from a Broken World)
    Gary Numan
49. Superlative Fatigue
    Errorsmith
50. It
    Alan Vega
51. The Kid
    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
52. Configuração do Lamento
    Deafkids
53. And Right Lines Limit and Close All Bodies
    The Inward Circles
54. Songs from the Sides of Lorries
    I, Ludicrous
55. Sells His Record Collection
    Japan Blues
56. Nightmare Logic
    Power Trip
57. Afro Mutations
    Riddlore
58. I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone
    Chastity Belt
59. Post Self
    Godflesh
60. Short Passing Game
    Davy Kehoe
61. For the Climax of the Night
    Total Leatherette
62. Wizard Bloody Wizard
    Electric Wizard
63. Ambient Black Magic
    Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement
64. A flame my love, a frequency
    Colleen
65. Common Sense
    J Hus
66. Sterilize
    Unsane
67. async
    Ryuichi Sakamoto
68. Ctrl
    SZA
69. Mnestic Pressure
    Lee Gamble
70. Kicking Away At The Decrepit Walls Til The Beautiful Sunshine Blisters Thru The Cracks
    MXLX
71. Tar
    Siavash Amini
72. Fabric of Time
    The Yossarians
73. UUUU
    UUUU
74. The Guillotine
    Hey Colossus
75. English Tapas
    Sleaford Mods
76. Sacred Horror in Design
    Sote
77. Bring On the Sun
    Laraaji
78. Gang Signs & Prayer
    Stormzy
79. Also sprach Zarathustra
    Laibach
80. I
    Still
81. Targ
    Bargou 08
82. Laisse ça être
    Aquaserge
83. Hesaitix
    MESH
84. IV
    Part Chimp
85. Veld
    Daniel O’Sullivan
86. Mario Batkovic
    Mario Batkovic
87. Silver / Lead
    Wire
88. Dust
    Laurel Halo
89. Fantasii
    Mhysa
90. Murder Of The Universe
    King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
91. Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia
    Hannah Peel
92. Here Lies Man
    Here Lies Man
93. Every Country’s Sun
    Mogwai
94. AZD
    Actress
95. Stellular
    Rose Elinor Dougall
96. Giraffe
    Simon Fisher Turner
97. Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 2
    Cardi B
98. Short Fuse
    Akatombo
99. Concrete Desert
    The Bug & Earth
100. Primal Incinerators of Moral Matrix
     Tetragrammacide

Slant Magazine: 25 Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
2. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
3. Big Fish Theory
   Vince Staples
4. Something To Tell You
   HAIM
5. 4:44
   JAY-Z
6. Need to Feel Your Love
   Sheer Mag
7. Melodrama
   Lorde
8. american dream
   LCD Soundsystem
9. 50 Song Memoir
   The Magnetic Fields
10. Run the Jewels 3
    Run the Jewels
11. Utopia
    Björk
12. Plunge
    Fever Ray
13. Thrum
    Joe Henry
14. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
15. Ctrl
    SZA
16. Harmony of Difference
    Kamasi Washington
17. reputation
    Taylor Swift
18. Drunk
    Thundercat
19. The Order of Time
    Valerie June
20. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
21. The Navigator
    Hurray for the Riff Raff
22. Robyn Hitchcock
    Robyn Hitchcock
23. Black Cab
    Higher Brothers
24. Contact
    Harriet Brown
25. The Ride
    Nelly Furtado

Stereogum: 50 Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Melodrama
   Lorde
2. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
3. Nothing Feels Natural
   Priests
4. No Shape
   Perfume Genius
5. Ctrl
   SZA
6. A Deeper Understanding
   The War on Drugs
7. Guppy
   Charly Bliss
8. Out in the Storm
   Waxahatchee
9. american dream
   LCD Soundsystem
10. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
11. SATURATION II
    BROCKHAMPTON
12. Plunge
    Fever Ray
13. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
14. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
15. Slowdive
    Slowdive
16. You’re Not As _____ As You Think
    Sorority Noise
17. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
18. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
19. Aromanticism
    Moses Sumney
20. Not Even Happiness
    Julie Byrne
21. Rocket
    (Sandy) Alex G
22. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
23. Everybody Works
    Jay Som
24. Reflections of a Floating World
    Elder
25. Heartless
    Pallbearer
26. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
27. Tourist in This Town
    Allison Crutchfield
28. Utopia
    Björk
29. You’re Not You Anymore
    Counterparts
30. The Dusk In Us
    Converge
31. Antisocialites
    Alvvays
32. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
33. Culture
    Migos
34. Thousand Mile Stare
    Incendiary
35. Thx
    Lomelda
36. Powerplant
    girlpool
37. After Laughter
    Paramore
38. The Weather Station
    The Weather Station
39. White Halo
    Heaven In Her Arms
40. Pleasure
    Feist
41. The Iceberg
    Oddisee
42. RARE
    Hundredth
43. Okovi
    Zola Jesus
44. Black Origami
    Jlin
45. GT Ultra
    Guerilla Toss
46. The Hanged Man
    Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
47. Drunk
    Thundercat
48. Rosebudd’s Revenge
    Roc Marciano
49. The Nashville Sound
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
50. 4:44
    JAY-Z

American Songwriter: Top 25 Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. All American Made
   Margo Price
2. The Nashville Sound
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
3. Wrangled
   Angaleena Presley
4. Soul of a Woman
   Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
5. UNDIVIDED HEART & SOUL
   J.D. McPherson
6. Sleep Well Beast
   The National
7. Carry Fire
   Robert Plant
8. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
9. Freedom Highway
   Rhiannon Giddens
10. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
11. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
12. Big Bad Luv
    John Moreland
13. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
14. The Navigator
    Hurray for the Riff Raff
15. The Underside of Power
    Algiers
16. So You Wannabe an Outlaw
    Steve Earle & The Dukes
17. Spades and Roses
    Caroline Spence
18. Heavy Meta
    Ron Gallo
19. Goodnight Rhonda Lee
    Nicole Atkins
20. Wonderful Wonderful
    The Killers
21. The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone
    Lee Ann Womack
22. A Deeper Understanding
    The War on Drugs
23. Puxico
    Natalie Hemby
24. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
25. Canyons of my Mind
    Andrew Combs

Revolver Magazine: 20 Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018]

1. Forever
   Code Orange
2. Nightmare Logic
   Power Trip
3. Emperor of Sand
   Mastodon
4. Hiss Spun
   Chelsea Wolfe
5. The Dusk In Us
   Converge
6. Post Self
   Godflesh
7. Modern Ruin
   Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
8. Mass VI
   Amenra
9. Motherblood
   Grave Pleasures
10. Soul Structure
    Higher Power
11. Obituary
    Obituary
12. Heatwave
    Trapped Under Ice
13. Trumpeting Ecstasy
    Full of Hell
14. Kingdoms Disdained
    Morbid Angel
15. Howling, For The Nightmare Shall Consume
    Integrity
16. Dead Cross
    Dead Cross
17. The Grand Annihilation
    Tombs
18. Blood Offerings
    Necrot
19. Wick
    Royal Thunder
20. Red
    Scour

The Wire: Top 50 Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Paradiso
   Chino Amobi
2. Peasant
   Richard Dawson
3. Tommy
   Klein
4. Black Origami
   Jlin
5. The Kid
   Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
6. Pariah
   Jana Rush
7. Simultonality
   Joshua Abrams
8. Lack
   Pan Daijing
9. Fly or Die
   Jaimie Branch
10. Reaching For Indigo
    Circuit Des Yeux
11. AZD
    Actress
12. Ahwar
    Nadah El Shazly
13. async
    Ryuichi Sakamoto
14. Hand In Hand
    Felicia Atkinson
15. Bill Orcutt
    Bill Orcutt
16. Irreversible Entanglements
    Irreversible Entanglements
17. For Organ and Brass
    Ellen Arkbro
18. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
19. All the Way
    Diamanda Galás
20. Fantasii
    Mhysa
21. Children of Alice
    Children Of Alice
22. #LP4080
    Strange U
23. Voice Hardcore
    Phew
24. Concrete Desert
    The Bug & Earth
25. Gallarais
    Áine O’Dwyer
26. Halo
    Juana Molina
27. Sab Se Purani Bab
    SAICOBAB
28. No Luscious Life
    Golden Teacher
29. Terry Riley in C
    Brooklyn Raga Massive
30. Sacred Horror in Design
    Sote
31. Dust
    Laurel Halo
32. All My Circles Run
    Sarah Davachi
33. Immediate Landscapes
    Akio Suzuki & John Butcher
34. Terminal
    Circle
35. Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds
    Nicole Mitchell
36. Patterns of Consciousness
    Caterina Barbieri
37. SHELL
    SADAF
38. Mnestic Pressure
    Lee Gamble
39. The Gag File
    Aaron Dilloway
40. Rembo
    Karen Gwyer
41. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
42. Once and Future Band
    Once and Future Band
43. Just Say No to the Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine
    Gnod
44. Pancrace
    Pancrace
45. Black Ken
    Lil B
46. Screen Memories
    John Maus
47. Bells For the South Side
    Roscoe Mitchell
48. The Garden
    Carla dal Forno
49. Colours of the Night
    Maalem Mahmoud Gania
50. Leaper
    Gosheven

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