Year-End Lists

Entertainment Weekly: The 15 Best Albums of 2020

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

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. After Hours
   The Weeknd
3. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
4. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
5. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
6. Gaslighter
   The Chicks
7. Women in Music Pt. III
   Haim
8. A Written Testimony
   Jay Electronica
9. YHLQMDLG
   Bad Bunny
10. Untitled (Black Is)
    Sault
11. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
12. American Love Story
    Butch Walker
13. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
    Perfume Genius
14. Your Life Is a Record
    Brandy Clark
15. Petals for Armor
    Hayley Williams

Ones that just missed the cut

• Punisher
  Phoebe Bridgers
• Saint Cloud
  Waxahatchee
• Eternal Atake
  Lil Uzi Vert
• The New Abnormal
  The Strokes

Carl Wilson: The Best Albums of 2020, as published by Slate along with pairings for each entry, "cocktails of works comparable to the main choices in genre or spirit or je ne sais quoi"

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

1. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
2. Artlessly Falling
   Mary Halvorson's Code Girl
3. What's Your Pleasure?
   Jessie Ware
4. Songs for Pierre Chuvin
   The Mountain Goats
5. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
5. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
6. Dutch from the 5th
   Dutchavelli
7. On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment
   Ambrose Akinmusire
8. Your Life Is a Record
   Brandy Clark
9. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
10. My Turn
    Lil Baby
11. Folklore
    Taylor Swift
12. Mama, You Can Bet!
    Jyoti
13. Love-Lore
    Deerhoof

Rolling Stone: Best Albums of 2020

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

1. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
2. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
3. YHLQMDLG
   Bad Bunny
4. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
5. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
6. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
7. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
8. Eternal Atake
   Lil Uzi Vert
9. What's Your Pleasure?
   Jessie Ware
10. Punisher
    Phoebe Bridgers
11. Chromatica
    Lady Gaga
12. Letter to You
    Bruce Springsteen
13. City on Lock
    City Girls
14. Women in Music Pt. III
    Haim
15. Ho, Why Is You Here?
    Flo Milli
16. Map of the Soul: 7
    BTS
17. Shore
    Fleet Foxes
18. Græ
    Moses Sumney
19. Ungodly Hour
    Chloe x Halle
20. Never Will
    Ashley McBryde
21. Honeymoon
    Beach Bunny
22. Positions
    Ariana Grande
23. Plastic Hearts
    Miley Cyrus
24. Rare
    Selena Gomez
25. Manic
    Halsey
26. To Love Is to Live
    Jehnny Beth
27. Good News
    Megan Thee Stallion
28. Reunions
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
29. Shamir
    Shamir
30. Sixteen Oceans
    Four Tet
31. Petals for Armor
    Hayley Williams
32. After Hours
    The Weeknd
33. A Hero's Death
    Fontaines D.C.
34. Private Lives
    Low Cut Connie
35. Got to Be Tough
    Toots and the Maytals
36. Traditional Techniques
    Stephen Malkmus
37. color theory
    Soccer Mommy
38. Inner Song
    Kelly Lee Owens
39. Fake It Flowers
    Beabadoobee
40. McCartney III
    Paul McCartney
41. Haunted Painting
    Sad13
42. Alphabetland
    X
43. Aftermath
    Elizabeth Cook
44. Starting Over
    Chris Stapleton
45. Power Up
    AC/DC
46. The Price of Tea in China
    Boldy James & The Alchemist
47. Good Souls Better Angels
    Lucinda Williams
48. Growth
    Kareem Ali
49. Love Is The King
    Jeff Tweedy
50. Live Forever
    Bartees Strange

Publishers Weekly: Best Poetry Books of 2020

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

• DMZ Colony
  Don Mee Choi
• The Historians
  Eavan Boland
• Homie
  Danez Smith
• Obit
  Victoria Chang
• Runaway
  Jorie Graham

Leah Greenblatt: The 10 Best Movies of 2020, as published by Entertainment Weekly along with nods to a few more "smart, strange, and often entirely unexpected films we were lucky enough to get"

[see also 2022]

1. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
2. Minari
   Lee Isaac Chung
3. Soul
   Pete Docter
4. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
5. The White Tiger
   Ramin Bahrani
6. Emma.
   Autumn de Wilde
7. Kajillionaire
   Miranda July
8. One Night in Miami
   Regina King
9. Promising Young Woman
   Emerald Fennell
10. Dick Johnson Is Dead
    Kirsten Johnson

Sonia Saraiya: The 10 Best TV Shows of 2020, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. How To with John Wilson
2. The Crown
3. The Mandalorian
4. Small Axe
5. Hamilton
5. What the Constitution Means to Me
5. David Byrne's American Utopia
6. The Plot Against America
7. NBA basketball
8. Better Call Saul
9. Primal
10. Ramy

And just for fun, the next 10

11. I Hate Suzie
12. PEN15
13. Unorthodox
14. The Good Lord Bird
15. The Eric Andre Show
16. We Are Who We Are
17. Mrs. America
18. My Brilliant Friend
19. I May Destroy You
20. The Queen's Gambit

David Gutowski: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2020, as posted to Largehearted Boy

• Born to Be Public
  Greg Mania
• A History of My Brief Body
  Billy-Ray Belcourt
• Miracle Country
  Kendra Atleework
• Pass with Care
  Cooper Lee Bombardier
• Riding with the Ghost
  Justin Taylor
• Tomboyland
  Melissa Faliveno

David Gutowski: Favorite Poetry Collections of 2020, as posted to Largehearted Boy

• All Heathens
  Marianne Chan
• Finna
  Nate Marshall
• Here is the Sweet Hand
  francine j. harris
• Homie
  Danez Smith
• Negotiations
  Destiny O. Birdsong
• Seeing the Body
  Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Jennifer Lucy Allan: The Best Music of 2020, as published by The Quietus

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019]

• Rock Sutra
  Sun Araw
• Superstar
  Harry Pussy
• Workaround
  Beatrice Dillon
• Jamaican Drum Machine
  Gavsborg
• Los Jaivas
  Los Jaivas
• Sufi Hispano-Pakistani
  Aziz Balouch
• The Last Song Of My life
  Tori Kudo
• Glory Days
  Heather Leigh
• Znayesh Yak? Rozkazhy
  Svitlana Nianio & Oleksandr Yurchenko
• Toho Sara 東方沙羅
  Toho Sara

The Line of Best Fit: The Best Albums of 2020 Ranked

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021]

1. Sawayama
   Rina Sawayama
2. The Baby
   Samia
3. how I'm feeling now
   Charli XCX
4. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
5. Græ
   Moses Sumney
6. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
7. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
8. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
   Yves Tumor
9. Ungodly Hour
   Chloe x Halle
10. RTJ4
    Run the Jewels
11. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Fiona Apple
12. Saint Cloud
    Waxahatchee
13. The Worst Generation
    Che Lingo
14. Healing Is a Miracle
    Julianna Barwick
15. Big Conspiracy
    J Hus
16. I'm Your Empress Of
    Empress Of
17. We’re New Again: A Reimagining
    Gil Scott-Heron (posthumously) & Makaya McCraven
18. Visions of Bodies Being Burned
    clipping.
19. Anime, Trauma and Divorce
    Open Mike Eagle
20. Beginners
    Christian Lee Hutson
21. Good News
    Megan Thee Stallion
22. Show Pony
    Orville Peck
23. The Angel You Don't Know
    Amaarae
24. Inner Song
    Kelly Lee Owens
25. A Hero's Death
    Fontaines D.C.
26. The Amanda Tape
    THEY.
27. songs
    Adrianne Lenker
28. Jaguar
    Victoria Monét
29. Shore
    Fleet Foxes
30. Someone New
    Helena Deland
31. Blackstarkids
    Whatever, Man
32. Folklore
    Taylor Swift
33. SOURCE
    Nubya Garcia
34. Without People
    Donovan Woods
35. What's Your Pleasure?
    Jessie Ware
36. Petals for Armor
    Hayley Williams
37. Debris
    Keeley Forsyth
38. Warnings
    I Break Horses
39. So When You Gonna...
    Dream Wife
40. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
41. Twice as Tall
    Burna Boy
42. Now or Never
    Giggs
43. Sister
    Mina Tindle
44. Circles
    Mac Miller
45. Mordechai
    Khruangbin
46. The Prettiest Curse
    Hinds
47. Chromatica
    Lady Gaga
48. Women in Music Pt. III
    Haim
49. Edna
    Headie One
50. Dark Hearts
    Annie