Year-End Lists

Gorilla vs. Bear: Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Someone New
   Helena Deland
2. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
2. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
3. Send Them to Coventry
   Pa Salieu
4. Weaving a Basket
   sea oleena
5. Modus Vivendi
   070 Shake
6. Fires In Heaven
   Salem
7. Galore
   Oklou
8. What's Tonight To Eternity
   Cindy Lee
8. Cat O'Nine Tails
   Cindy Lee
9. Miss Anthropocene
   Grimes
10. Taken Away
    Moodymann
11. All the Time
    Jessy Lanza
12. Alletiders
    Alle
13. What We Drew
    yaeji
14. Because of a Flower
    Ana Roxanne
15. How Much Works
    Sweet Whirl
16. songs
    Adrianne Lenker
16. instrumentals
    Adrianne Lenker
17. The Don Of Diamond Dreams
    Shabazz Palaces
18. Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
    Oneohtrix Point Never
19. Hunger for a Way Out
    Sweeping Promises
20. Your Hero Is Not Dead
    Westerman
21. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
22. Alfredo
    Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
23. Remote Control
    Discovery Zone
24. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX
25. Help
    Duval Timothy
26. Yes
    Shinichi Atobe
27. What's Your Pleasure?
    Jessie Ware
28. I Was Born Swimming
    Squirrel Flower
29. Healing Is a Miracle
    Julianna Barwick
30. Mia Gargaret
    Gia Margaret
31. I Feel Alive
    TOPS
32. Karma & Desire
    Actress
33. Crooner qui coule sous les clous
    Oï les Ox
34. Bobby Joe Hope
    Jon Mckiel
35. Motherhood
    No Joy
36. Land of No Junction
    Aoife Nessa Frances
37. acts of rebellion
    ela minus
38. Cave Vaults on the Moon in New Mexico
    Tan Cologne
39. Sundry Rock Song Stock
    Yves Jarvis
40. A Mythology of Circles
    Faten Kanaan
41. Man Alive!
    King Krule
42. Inner Song
    Kelly Lee Owens
43. Good Songs For Bad People
    Drab City
44. Roped In
    North Americans
45. Sorceress
    Jess Williamson
46. Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin
    Eartheater
47. Fantasy Chapel
    Riches
48. Ride Lonesome
    Young Ejecta
49. Shimmering Basset
    The Green Child
50. Silver Ladders
    Mary Lattimore

Glide Magazine: 20 Best Albums of 2020, in alphabetical order

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

• The True Story of Bananagun
  Bananagun
• Starting Over
  Chris Stapleton
• Circles Around the Sun
  Circles Around the Sun
• Country Westerns
  Country Westerns
• Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
  Fantastic Negrito
• Shore
  Fleet Foxes
• Women in Music Pt. III
  Haim
• Neon Cross
  Jaime Wyatt
• The Beautiful Madness
  Jerry Joseph
• Song for Our Daughter
  Laura Marling
• Private Lives
  Low Cut Connie
• Daughter
  Lydia Loveless
• Rock Bottom Rhapsody
  Pokey LaFarge
• Welcome to Bobby's Motel
  Pottery
• Summerlong
  Rose City Band
• RTJ4
  Run the Jewels
• Untitled (Rise)
  Sault
• Optimisme
  Songhoy Blues
• It Is What It Is
  Thundercat
• Heaven to a Tortured Mind
  Yves Tumor

20 Honorable Mentions

• Rough and Rowdy Ways
  Bob Dylan
• Suddenly
  Caribou
• Coriky
  Coriky
• Impossible Weight
  Deep Sea Diver
• Ohms
  Deftones
• Have We Met
  Destroyer
• The Unraveling
  Drive-By Truckers
• A Hero's Death
  Fontaines D.C.
• Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  Fiona Apple
• Total Freedom
  Kathleen Edwards
• K.G.
  King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
• Never Not Together
  Nada Surf
• Sigma Oasis
  Phish
• Sideways to New Italy
  Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
• We Are Sent Here by History
  Shabaka and the Ancestors
• A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
  Sparks
• The Slow Rush
  Tame Impala
• By the Fire
  Thurston Moore
• Strange To Explain
  Woods
• Saint Cloud
  Waxahatchee

The Skinny: Top 10 Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
3. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
4. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
   Yves Tumor
5. Sawayama
   Rina Sawayama
6. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
7. What's Your Pleasure?
   Jessie Ware
8. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
9. Inner Song
   Kelly Lee Owens
10. Róisín Machine
    Róisín Murphy

The Quietus: Albums of the Year 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Dances / Curses
   Hey Colossus
2. Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?
   The Soft Pink Truth
3. The Passion Of
   Special Interest
4. Fountain
   Lyra Pramuk
5. Energy Is Forever
   UKAEA
6. Help
   Duval Timothy
7. Be Up a Hello
   Squarepusher
8. Kitchen Sink
   Nadine Shah
9. Send Them to Coventry
   Pa Salieu
10. Guerrilla
    Nazar
11. Only Darkness Now
    Alison Cotton
12. Alles In Allem
    Einstürzende Neubauten
13. Sign
    Autechre
14. First Seance
    Land Trance
15. Duma
    Duma
16. These Charms May Be Sung Over A Wound
    Richard Skelton
17. Untitled (Rise)
    Sault
18. Debris
    Keeley Forsyth
19. Type II
    Sex Swing
20. Dark Hearts
    Annie
21. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
    Perfume Genius
22. The Common Task
    Horse Lords
23. Workaround
    Beatrice Dillon
24. 7 Weapons Series
    Howie Lee
25. Zoom
    upsammy
26. Free Humans
    Hen Ogledd
27. Suite for Max Brown
    Jeff Parker
28. Cumbia Siglo XXI
    Meridian Brothers
29. Serpent
    MXLX
30. Because of a Flower
    Ana Roxanne
31. Forever Underground
    Phantom Posse
32. There Is No Year
    Algiers
33. Heart's Ease
    Shirley Collins
34. Mestarin kynsi
    Oranssi Pazuzu
35. Silver Ladders
    Mary Lattimore
36. DISCO
    Kylie Minogue
37. Edna
    Headie One
38. Mas Amable
    DJ Python
39. Have We Met
    Destroyer
40. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
41. Glory Days
    Heather Leigh
42. Blues
    Lamin Fofana
43. Gold Record
    Bill Callahan
44. To Kiss Earth Goodbye
    Teleplasmiste
45. The Night Chancers
    Baxter Dury
46. Barbarians
    The Young Knives
47. Fast Edit
    Still House Plants
48. Jp4
    Junglepussy
49. Loom
    Katie Gately
50. Flower Violence
    BLÓM
51. A Late Anthology of Early Music Vol. 1: Ancient to Renaissance
    Jennifer Walshe
52. Cantus, Descant
    Sarah Davachi
53. Big Conspiracy
    J Hus
54. Endless Wound
    Black Curse
55. if I don't let myself be happy now then when?
    more eaze & claire rousay
56. Seven Storey Mountain VI
    Nate Wooley
57. L'inattingible
    Delphine Dora
58. Rock Sutra
    Sun Araw
59. Róisín Machine
    Róisín Murphy
60. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
61. The Ascension
    Sufjan Stevens
62. Visions of Bodies Being Burned
    clipping.
63. Returner
    Closed Circuits
64. Scacco Matto
    Lorenzo Senni
65. Lamunan
    Antonina Nowacka
66. Future Teenage Cave Artists
    Deerhoof
67. Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes
    NÍDIA
68. SKEEN
    Mariam Rezaei
69. Winterreise
    Jerskin Fendrix
70. May Our Chambers Be Full
    Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou
71. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX
72. Superstar
    Harry Pussy
73. The End of Their World is Coming!
    Dead Meat
74. Viscerals
    Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
75. KiCk i
    Arca
76. World Serpent
    Memnon Sa
77. Pedernal
    Susan Alcorn Quintet
78. Cwm Gwagle
    Datblygu
79. Beyond The Floor
    GELD
80. Trinity
    Laylow
81. The Big Exercise
    The Homesick
82. Malibu Liquor Store
    Shit and Shine
83. Couldn't Wait To Tell You...
    (Liv).e
84. No era sólida
    Lucrecia Dalt
85. Abscess Time
    Pyrrhon
86. Thug Ambient
    Dale Cornish
87. Pillowland
    Jam City
88. Crabs in a Bucket
    Nines
89. Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss
    Regis
90. Prole Art Threat
    East Man
91. Evil Spirits Who Prowl About The World Seeking The Ruin Of Souls
    Haq123
92. Toutes Ces Horreurs
    Satan
93. Figures
    Aksak Maboul
94. Mind Hive
    Wire
95. 2020
    Magik Markers
96. Training Day 3
    Potter Payper
97. Swirling
    Sun Ra Arkestra
98. Nah Nah Nah Yeh Yeh Yeh
    Luminous Bodies
99. Aux Pieds de la Nuit
    Nyx Nott
100. 6
     Pharaoh Overlord

Paste Magazine: The 50 Best Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
3. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
4. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
5. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
6. Every Bad
   Porridge Radio
7. color theory
   Soccer Mommy
8. Sawayama
   Rina Sawayama
9. songs
   Adrianne Lenker
10. Græ
    Moses Sumney
11. Suddenly
    Caribou
12. Reunions
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
13. Alfredo
    Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
14. Punisher
    Phoebe Bridgers
15. It Is What It Is
    Thundercat
16. God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
    Backxwash
17. Untitled (Black Is)
    Sault
18. Inner Song
    Kelly Lee Owens
19. Heavy Light
    U.S. Girls
20. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
21. The Great Dismal
    Nothing
22. Welcome to Conceptual Beach
    Young Jesus
23. Rough and Rowdy Ways
    Bob Dylan
24. Healing Is a Miracle
    Julianna Barwick
25. Youth Pastoral
    Ben Seretan
26. Microphones in 2020
    The Microphones
27. Shore
    Fleet Foxes
28. Inlet
    Hum
29. KIND
    Thanya Iyer
30. Miss Colombia
    Lido Pimienta
31. acts of rebellion
    ela minus
32. Ultimate Success Today
    Protomartyr
33. Anime, Trauma and Divorce
    Open Mike Eagle
34. Bonny Light Horseman
    Bonny Light Horseman
35. Speed Kills
    Chubby & The Gang
36. Live Forever
    Bartees Strange
37. Shadow Talk
    Cafe Racer
38. SOURCE
    Nubya Garcia
39. What's Your Pleasure?
    Jessie Ware
40. A Hero's Death
    Fontaines D.C.
41. Introduction, Presence
    Nation of Language
42. Women in Music Pt. III
    Haim
43. The Baby
    Samia
44. Forever, Ya Girl
    KeiyaA
45. FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You've Been Waiting For
    illuminati hotties
46. Celebrated By Strangers
    Catholic Action
47. Lianne La Havas
    Lianne La Havas
48. Flower of Devotion
    Dehd
49. Just Look At That Sky
    Ganser
50. Somewhere
    Gum Country

Time Magazine: Best Albums of 2020, composed by Raisa Bruner and Andrew R. Chow

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2015]

1. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
2. Ungodly Hour
   Chloe x Halle
3. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
4. Gaslighter
   The Chicks
5. Eternal Atake
   Lil Uzi Vert
6. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
7. Agüita
   Gabriel Garzón-Montano
8. We’re New Again: A Reimagining
   Gil Scott-Heron (posthumously) & Makaya McCraven
9. Miss Anthropocene
   Grimes
10. Celia
    Tiwa Savage

Amanda Petrusich: The Best Music of 2020, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2023 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. No. 1
   Etran de L'Aïr
2. songs
   Adrianne Lenker
2. instrumentals
   Adrianne Lenker
3. Silver Ladders
   Mary Lattimore
4. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
5. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
6. Mama, You Can Bet!
   Jyoti
7. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
8. Shore
   Fleet Foxes
9. Alfredo
   Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
10. Punisher
    Phoebe Bridgers

Honorable Mentions

• Folklore
  Taylor Swift
• Good News
  Megan Thee Stallion
• Un Canto por México, Vol. 1
  Natalia Lafourcade
• It Was Good Until It Wasn't
  Kehlani
• A Written Testimony
  Jay Electronica
• The New Abnormal
  The Strokes
• Saint Cloud
  Waxahatchee

Revolver Magazine: 25 Best Albums of 2020

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Ohms
   Deftones
2. Underneath
   Code Orange
3. Child Soldier: Creator of God
   Greg Puciato
4. Carnivore
   Body Count
5. I Let It in and It Took Everything
   Loathe
6. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
7. Post Human: Survival Horror
   Bring Me the Horizon
8. Enlightened In Eternity
   Spirit Adrift
9. Reluctant Hero
   Killer Be Killed
10. ANTI-ICON
    Ghostemane
11. 27 Miles Underwater
    Higher Power
12. I Disagree
    Poppy
13. We Are Chaos
    Marilyn Manson
14. Lamb of God
    Lamb of God
15. Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress
    Gulch
16. The Great Dismal
    Nothing
17. The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
    Mr. Bungle
18. Mrs. Piss
    Mrs. Piss
19. Existential Reckoning
    Puscifer
20. Mortal
    Necrot
21. Hunter Gatherer
    Avatar
22. Ordinary Man
    Ozzy Osbourne
23. Slow Decay
    The Acacia Strain
24. Lament
    Touché Amoré
25. Alphaville
    Imperial Triumphant

Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas): Best Music of 2020, as published by Artforum

1. Your Hero Is Not Dead
   Westerman
2. Healing Is a Miracle
   Julianna Barwick
3. "My Way"
   Nina Simone
4. Dream On
   Alice Boman
5. Ungodly Hour
   Chloe x Halle
6. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
7. Cantus, Descant
   Sarah Davachi
8. "Corridors Of Time"
   Annie
9. B7
   Brandy
10. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Fiona Apple

Nick Levine: Best Albums of 2020 as published by BBC Culture

• Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  Fiona Apple
• Ungodly Hour
  Chloe x Halle
• Rough and Rowdy Ways
  Bob Dylan
• Future Nostalgia
  Dua Lipa
• Róisín Machine
  Róisín Murphy
• RTJ4
  Run the Jewels
• Sawayama
  Rina Sawayama
• Kitchen Sink
  Nadine Shah
• Folklore
  Taylor Swift