Year-End Lists

Chris Willman: The Best Albums of 2020, as published by Variety

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018]

1. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
1. Evermore
   Taylor Swift
2. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
3. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
4. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
5. Reunions
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
6. Women in Music Pt. III
   Haim
7. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
8. Hey Clockface
   Elvis Costello
9. Ungodly Hour
   Chloe x Halle
10. Never Will
    Ashley McBryde

And a few more just as honorable

• Blackbirds
  Bettye LaVette
• Your Life Is a Record
  Brandy Clark
• Gaslighter
  The Chicks
• Good Luck with Whatever
  Dawes
• Good Souls Better Angels
  Lucinda Williams
• RTJ4
  Run the Jewels
• That's How Rumors Get Started
  Margo Price
• The Ascension
  Sufjan Stevens

Andrew Barker: The Best Albums of 2020, as published by Variety

[see also 2019]

1. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
2. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
3. The Don Of Diamond Dreams
   Shabazz Palaces
4. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
5. Anime, Trauma and Divorce
   Open Mike Eagle
6. color theory
   Soccer Mommy
7. DISCO
   Kylie Minogue
8. Reunions
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
9. A Written Testimony
   Jay Electronica
10. Mt. Marci
    Roc Marciano

Other stuff I liked

• Good Souls Better Angels
  Lucinda Williams
• Alfredo
  Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
• Songs for Pierre Chuvin
  The Mountain Goats
• Dedicated Side B
  Carly Rae Jepsen
• Dinner Party
  Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and 9th Wonder

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

Joshua Rivera: The Best Movies of 2020, as published by The Verge, in no particular order

• The Assistant
  Kitty Green
• Bill & Ted Face the Music
  Dean Parisot
• Small Axe: Lovers Rock
  Steve McQueen
• The Invisible Man
  Leigh Whannell
• Birds of Prey
  Cathy Yan
• First Cow
  Kelly Reichardt
• La Llorona
  Jayro Bustamante
• Boys State
  Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
  Kirsten Johnson
• Da 5 Bloods
  Spike Lee

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

Vanity Fair: The 15 Best Books of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022]

• Clap When You Land
  Elizabeth Acevedo
• Inside Story
  Martin Amis
• The Vanishing Half
  Brit Bennett
• Felix Ever After
  Kacen Callender
• Find Layla
  Meg Elison
• The Death of Vivek Oji
  Akwaeke Emezi
• The City We Became
  N.K. Jemisin
• Luster
  Raven Leilani
• Mexican Gothic
  Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Transcendent Kingdom
  Yaa Gyasi
• Wow, No Thank You.
  Samantha Irby
• My Dark Vanessa
  Kate Elizabeth Russell
• Real Life
  Brandon Taylor
• Memorial
  Bryan Washington
• Interior Chinatown
  Charles Yu

Rolling Stone: Best Podcasts of 2020

• Somebody
• Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen
• Floodlines
• Home Cooking
• Staying In with Emily & Kumail
• Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out
• Motive: Season 3
• Unspooled: Season 2
• Nice White Parents
• Borrasca
• Rabbit Hole
• Dead Eyes
• Slow Burn: David Duke
• Wind of Change
• You Must Remember This: Polly Platt
• The Last Archive