Year-End Lists

Jem Aswad: The Best Albums of 2020, as published by Variety

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019]

1. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
2. We Will Always Love You
   The Avalanches
3. 3.15.20
   Childish Gambino
4. After Hours
   The Weeknd
5. Club Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa and The Blessed Madonna
6. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
7. Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)
   Kali Uchis
8. 1000 gecs and The Tree of Clues
   100 gecs
9. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
10. Miss Colombia
    Lido Pimienta

Honorable Mention

• What We Drew
  yaeji
• Notes on a Conditional Form
  The 1975
• YHLQMDLG
  Bad Bunny
• Before Love Came to Kill Us
  Jessie Reyez
• Will This Make Me Good
  Nick Hakim

Chris Molanphy: Top 13 Albums of 2020, as published by Slate in their 2020 edition of The Music Club

1. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
1. Club Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa and The Blessed Madonna
2. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
2. Evermore
   Taylor Swift
3. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
4. Women in Music Pt. III
   Haim
5. What's Your Pleasure?
   Jessie Ware
6. El Último Tour Del Mundo
   Bad Bunny
6. YHLQMDLG
   Bad Bunny
7. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
7. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
8. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
9. Suddenly
   Caribou
10. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX
11. Good News
    Megan Thee Stallion
12. Southside
    Sam Hunt
13. Chromatica
    Lady Gaga

Uproxx Music Critics Poll: Best Albums of 2020, a survey of more than 230 critics

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

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
3. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
4. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
5. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
6. Women in Music Pt. III
   Haim
7. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
8. Alfredo
   Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
9. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
10. After Hours
    The Weeknd
11. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
12. Shore
    Fleet Foxes
13. Live Forever
    Bartees Strange
14. Sawayama
    Rina Sawayama
15. What's Your Pleasure?
    Jessie Ware
16. Eternal Atake
    Lil Uzi Vert
17. Ungodly Hour
    Chloe x Halle
18. The Slow Rush
    Tame Impala
19. Notes on a Conditional Form
    The 1975
20. My Turn
    Lil Baby
21. Untitled (Black Is)
    Sault
22. Melee
    Dogleg
23. YHLQMDLG
    Bad Bunny
24. Chromatica
    Lady Gaga
25. color theory
    Soccer Mommy
26. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
    Perfume Genius
27. Untitled (Rise)
    Sault
28. Reunions
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
29. No Dream
    Jeff Rosenstock
30. Song for Our Daughter
    Laura Marling
31. Bonny Light Horseman
    Bonny Light Horseman
32. Good News
    Megan Thee Stallion
33. Circles
    Mac Miller
34. Petals for Armor
    Hayley Williams
35. Inlet
    Hum
36. Ohms
    Deftones
37. It Is What It Is
    Thundercat
38. Mordechai
    Khruangbin
39. The Ascension
    Sufjan Stevens
40. Flower of Devotion
    Dehd
41. songs
    Adrianne Lenker
42. Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
    Pop Smoke
43. The New Abnormal
    The Strokes
44. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX
45. Græ
    Moses Sumney
46. Miss Anthropocene
    Grimes
47. Heavy Light
    U.S. Girls
48. Savage Mode II
    21 Savage & Metro Boomin
49. Pray for Paris
    Westside Gunn
50. A Written Testimony
    Jay Electronica

Steven Hyden: Favorite Albums of 2020, as published by Uproxx

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019]

1. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
2. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
3. Reunions
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
4. Live Forever
   Bartees Strange
5. Staunch Honey
   David Nance
6. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
   Yves Tumor
7. Suite for Max Brown
   Jeff Parker
8. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
9. Flower of Devotion
   Dehd
10. Kahil El'Zabar's 'Spirit Groove' ft. David Murray
    Kahil El'Zabar's Spirit Groove
11. Cuttin’ Grass - Vol​.​1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions)
    Sturgill Simpson
12. Welcome to Conceptual Beach
    Young Jesus
13. Soundkeeper
    Gunn-Truscinski Duo
14. The New Abnormal
    The Strokes
15. Just Look At That Sky
    Ganser
16. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Fiona Apple
17. Recumbent Speech
    Ezra Feinberg
18. The Slow Rush
    Tame Impala
19. Fake It Flowers
    Beabadoobee
20. Inlet
    Hum

KCRW: Top 10 Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2018]

1. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
1. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
2. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
3. Agüita
   Gabriel Garzón-Montano
4. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
5. Lianne La Havas
   Lianne La Havas
6. Circles
   Mac Miller
7. The Slow Rush
   Tame Impala
8. These Days
   St. Panther
9. New Me, Same Us
   Little Dragon
10. Catch
    Peter CottonTale

Brittany Spanos: Top 13 Albums of 2020, as published by Slate in their 2020 edition of The Music Club

[see also 2022 • 2021]

1. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
2. What's Your Pleasure?
   Jessie Ware
3. City on Lock
   City Girls
4. Sawayama
   Rina Sawayama
5. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
6. Chromatica
   Lady Gaga
7. Manic
   Halsey
8. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
9. YHLQMDLG
   Bad Bunny
10. Plastic Hearts
    Miley Cyrus
11. Women in Music Pt. III
    Haim
12. Ho, Why Is You Here?
    Flo Milli
13. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX

Ultimate Classic Rock: 25 Best Rock Albums of 2020

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2019]

1. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
2. McCartney III
   Paul McCartney
3. Power Up
   AC/DC
4. Homegrown
   Neil Young
5. Letter to You
   Bruce Springsteen
6. Gigaton
   Pearl Jam
7. Ghosts V: Together
   Nine Inch Nails
7. Ghosts VI: Locusts
   Nine Inch Nails
8. Ordinary Man
   Ozzy Osbourne
9. Hey Clockface
   Elvis Costello
10. Reunions
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
11. Hate for Sale
    The Pretenders
12. The Unraveling
    Drive-By Truckers
13. Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex
    various artists
14. Shapeshifting
    Joe Satriani
15. Love Is The King
    Jeff Tweedy
16. The Symbol Remains
    Blue Öyster Cult
17. Tea for the Tillerman 2
    Yusuf / Cat Stevens
18. The New Abnormal
    The Strokes
19. Cyr
    Smashing Pumpkins
20. We Are Chaos
    Marilyn Manson
21. Origins Vol. 2
    Ace Frehley
22. Whoosh!
    Deep Purple
23. The New OK
    Drive-By Truckers
24. American Standard
    James Taylor
25. 26 East, Vol. 1
    Dennis DeYoung
25. The Red Planet
    Rick Wakeman

The Atlantic: The 16 Best Albums of 2020

[see also 2019 • 2018]

• Morning/Evening Raga
  Toby Hay
• Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  Fiona Apple
• Miss Anthropocene
  Grimes
• Map of the Soul: 7
  BTS
• Women in Music Pt. III
  Haim
• Splid
  Kvelertak
• Ho, Why Is You Here?
  Flo Milli
• Made in Lagos
  Wizkid
• Sawayama
  Rina Sawayama
• Folklore
  Taylor Swift
• Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World
  Lil Uzi Vert
• After Hours
  The Weeknd
• Bonny Light Horseman
  Bonny Light Horseman
• Ungodly Hour
  Chloe x Halle
• Thank You for Using GTL
  Drakeo the Ruler
• The Neon Skyline
  Andy Shauf

The Ringer: The Best Albums of 2020

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

1. Eternal Atake
   Lil Uzi Vert
2. YHLQMDLG
   Bad Bunny
3. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
3. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
4. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
5. My Turn
   Lil Baby
6. Alfredo
   Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
7. Anime, Trauma and Divorce
   Open Mike Eagle
8. Tickets to My Downfall
   Machine Gun Kelly
9. No Dream
   Jeff Rosenstock
10. Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon
    Pop Smoke

Honorable Mentions

• 1000 gecs and The Tree of Clues
  100 gecs
• What's Your Pleasure?
  Jessie Ware
• Sawayama
  Rina Sawayama
• Ajai
  Serengeti and Kenny Segal
• Every Bad
  Porridge Radio
• Man on the Moon III: The Chosen
  Kid Cudi
• RTJ4
  Run the Jewels
• Ho, Why Is You Here?
  Flo Milli

Ken Tucker: The Best Albums of 2020, as aired on NPR’s Fresh Air

[see also 2019 • 2018]

1. Alphabetland
   X
2. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
3. What Could Be Better
   The Happy Fits
4. Private Lives
   Low Cut Connie
5. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
6. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
7. Women in Music Pt. III
   Haim
8. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
9. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
10. Rock Bottom Rhapsody
    Pokey LaFarge