Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums Of 2016
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in The Reason
2016 was seemingly hardwired to self-destruct, as Metallica sang on their furious 10th album – and music stared down the chaos. It was a year of explicitly political R&B molotovs, (Beyoncé, Solange), revolution rock (Green Day, Esperanza Spalding), hip-hop that heals (Chance the Rapper, A Tribe Called Quest) and even one especially poignant country plea from a Red State (Drive-By Truckers). Powerful and unique personalities like David Bowie and Leonard Cohen had the powerful and unique ability to say goodbye with album-length farewells. Anohni sang about the environmental apocalypse over a dance beat. But of course there was also no shortage of messy pop stars, indie rock diarists and proudly indulgent rappers happy to simply let their pens and personalities explode. Here's the year's best.
50. Death Grips, 'Bottomless Pit'
49. Dawes, 'We're All Gonna Die'
48. Esperanza Spalding, 'Emily's D+Evolution'
47. Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, 'Stranger Things, Volume One and Two'
46. Norah Jones, 'Day Breaks'
45. Iggy Pop, 'Post Pop Depression'
44. The Monkees, 'Good Times!'
43. Future, 'Evol'
"I got way, way too many issues," groggy Atlanta rapper Future moans on "Lie to Me," his voice-slurry lacquered with narcotic cough syrup and serrated with Auto-Tune. But that confessional vulnerability, the kind which he's staked his last two years of mixtapes on, is in short supply here. His real statement of purpose is "I'm reppin' for the low life," and he offers a worm's-eye perspective on a world that's both exhilarating and exhausting. Evol's pleasures are in how Future's flow negotiates the spare, skittering beats he's provided by the likes of longtime collaborators Metro Boomin and Southside. Oozing like venom, he escalates a little ahead of the rhythm on "Ain't No Time," lags a little behind on "In Her Mouth," falls out of meter entirely on "Savage Time" and repeats the title of "Fly sh*t Only" until it blurs. K.H.
42. Drake, 'Views'
Every release from Drake is a love letter to his hometown of Toronto, but Views rises above as a true ode to the city's diversity and its lasting impact on the artist he is today. Borrowing from the Canadian city's deep ties to Afro-Caribbean culture led to his biggest hit to date – the Number One single "One Dance" – and standout moments like the equally breezy single "Controlla." Still, even though he won't always admit it, he's still the Drake from five years ago and his signature relationship-centric self-deprecation pulses through quotable tracks like "Child's Play" while his ego and paranoia duel it out like the rap beefs he knows well. B.S.
41. Wilco, 'Schmilco'
40. Maxwell, 'blackSUMMERS'night'
39. Elton John, 'Wonderful Crazy Night'
38. Tove Lo, 'Lady Wood'
37. Bonnie Raitt, 'Dig In Deep'
36. Metallica, 'Hardwired… to Self-Destruct'
35. Anohni, 'Hopelessness'
34. Angel Olsen, 'My Woman'
33. Sting, '57th & 9th'
32. Alicia Keys, 'Here'
31. White Lung, 'Paradise'
30. A Tribe Called Quest, 'We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service'
29. Mudcrutch, 'Mudcrutch 2'
28. Blood Orange, 'Freetown Sound'
27. Brandy Clark, 'Big Day in a Small Town'
26. Sturgill Simpson, 'A Sailor's Guide to Earth'
25. Rihanna, 'Anti'
Rihanna's long-simmering eighth album brought together stinging songs that showcased the pop provocateur's ever-widening range, both stylistically and vocally. She channeled late-night loneliness and regret-tinged isolation on clamorous club arguments ("Woo") and faithful covers of Aussie indie-psych ("Same Ol' Mistakes") alike, creating a stark tableau on which she could work out grievances with those who have disappointed her. There are quite a few: The sinewy, dancehall-inspired "Work" is a parry toward a guy (portrayed by frequent foil Drake) who only wanted to connect physically; while the DJ Mustard-produced "Needed Me" is a biting kiss-off to a lover whose flights of romantic fancy proved to be too much. Her torch song "Love on the Brain" proves that she isn't totally immune to heartache, with an all-in performance that only strengthens the song's hurts-so-good imagery. M.J.
24. Drive-By Truckers, 'American Band'
23. Mitski, 'Puberty 2'
22. Bon Iver, '22, A Million'
21. Margo Price, 'Midwest Farmer's Daughter'
20. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 'Skeleton Tree'
19. Danny Brown, 'Atrocity Exhibition'
18. The 1975, 'I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It'
17. Parquet Courts, 'Human Performance'
16. Miranda Lambert, 'The Weight of These Wings'
15. Lvl Up, 'Return to Love'
14. Green Day, 'Revolution Radio'
13. Maren Morris, 'Hero'
12. Paul Simon, 'Stranger to Stranger'
11. Solange, 'A Seat at the Table'
10. Young Thug, 'Jeffery'
Anyone who claims that Young Thug is an incoherent "mumble rapper" isn't listening hard enough. The heavily tattooed Atlanta iconoclast has a vocabulary that expands the terrain of getting high, having sex, copping cash and doing dirt. "Pop a molly now I'm in the fu*king air/Cloud nine, ? smokin' like a fu*king bear," he raps on "Floyd Mayweather." He has an inimitable voice – no one else sounds like him – and a sharp sense of rhythm that allows him to flip easily from the electronic trap bounce of "Future Swag" to the plodding bass charge of "Harambe." As usual, Young Thug splayed his talents over too many releases in 2016, and it remains unclear if he'll ever fulfill his fans' expectations that he's the new Lil Wayne, his sometime-influence, sometime-enemy. But Jeffrey is an undeniable highlight, from deserved hit "Pick Up the Phone" with Quavo and Travis Scott, to the cover art of the rapper in a purple dress, a minor but important ? in mainstream rap's glass house of heteronormativity. M.R.
9. Leonard Cohen, 'You Want It Darker'
8. Kanye West, 'The Life of Pablo'
Kanye's messiest album – the one he couldn't stop working on even after he released it. The Life of Pablo is a Guernica-sized sprawl to make Picasso's head spin, crossfading between some of Yeezy's greatest songs and some of his corniest shtick, mouthing off on his celebrity paranoia and fatherhood issues and uptight misogyny and antidepressant meds. Yet it adds up to a fractured statement of his life as "the 38-year-old 8 year old." The peaks are West at his summit: the all-star gospel throwdown "Ultralight Beam," the melancholic Drake R&B road trip "30 Hours," the bluesy Kendrick-blessed midlife crisis "No More Parties in L.A." R.S.
7. Rolling Stones, 'Blue & Lonesome'
6. Radiohead, 'A Moon Shaped Pool'
50. Death Grips, 'Bottomless Pit'
49. Dawes, 'We're All Gonna Die'
48. Esperanza Spalding, 'Emily's D+Evolution'
47. Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein, 'Stranger Things, Volume One and Two'
46. Norah Jones, 'Day Breaks'
45. Iggy Pop, 'Post Pop Depression'
44. The Monkees, 'Good Times!'
43. Future, 'Evol'
"I got way, way too many issues," groggy Atlanta rapper Future moans on "Lie to Me," his voice-slurry lacquered with narcotic cough syrup and serrated with Auto-Tune. But that confessional vulnerability, the kind which he's staked his last two years of mixtapes on, is in short supply here. His real statement of purpose is "I'm reppin' for the low life," and he offers a worm's-eye perspective on a world that's both exhilarating and exhausting. Evol's pleasures are in how Future's flow negotiates the spare, skittering beats he's provided by the likes of longtime collaborators Metro Boomin and Southside. Oozing like venom, he escalates a little ahead of the rhythm on "Ain't No Time," lags a little behind on "In Her Mouth," falls out of meter entirely on "Savage Time" and repeats the title of "Fly sh*t Only" until it blurs. K.H.
42. Drake, 'Views'
Every release from Drake is a love letter to his hometown of Toronto, but Views rises above as a true ode to the city's diversity and its lasting impact on the artist he is today. Borrowing from the Canadian city's deep ties to Afro-Caribbean culture led to his biggest hit to date – the Number One single "One Dance" – and standout moments like the equally breezy single "Controlla." Still, even though he won't always admit it, he's still the Drake from five years ago and his signature relationship-centric self-deprecation pulses through quotable tracks like "Child's Play" while his ego and paranoia duel it out like the rap beefs he knows well. B.S.
41. Wilco, 'Schmilco'
40. Maxwell, 'blackSUMMERS'night'
39. Elton John, 'Wonderful Crazy Night'
38. Tove Lo, 'Lady Wood'
37. Bonnie Raitt, 'Dig In Deep'
36. Metallica, 'Hardwired… to Self-Destruct'
35. Anohni, 'Hopelessness'
34. Angel Olsen, 'My Woman'
33. Sting, '57th & 9th'
32. Alicia Keys, 'Here'
31. White Lung, 'Paradise'
30. A Tribe Called Quest, 'We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service'
29. Mudcrutch, 'Mudcrutch 2'
28. Blood Orange, 'Freetown Sound'
27. Brandy Clark, 'Big Day in a Small Town'
26. Sturgill Simpson, 'A Sailor's Guide to Earth'
25. Rihanna, 'Anti'
Rihanna's long-simmering eighth album brought together stinging songs that showcased the pop provocateur's ever-widening range, both stylistically and vocally. She channeled late-night loneliness and regret-tinged isolation on clamorous club arguments ("Woo") and faithful covers of Aussie indie-psych ("Same Ol' Mistakes") alike, creating a stark tableau on which she could work out grievances with those who have disappointed her. There are quite a few: The sinewy, dancehall-inspired "Work" is a parry toward a guy (portrayed by frequent foil Drake) who only wanted to connect physically; while the DJ Mustard-produced "Needed Me" is a biting kiss-off to a lover whose flights of romantic fancy proved to be too much. Her torch song "Love on the Brain" proves that she isn't totally immune to heartache, with an all-in performance that only strengthens the song's hurts-so-good imagery. M.J.
24. Drive-By Truckers, 'American Band'
23. Mitski, 'Puberty 2'
22. Bon Iver, '22, A Million'
21. Margo Price, 'Midwest Farmer's Daughter'
20. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 'Skeleton Tree'
19. Danny Brown, 'Atrocity Exhibition'
18. The 1975, 'I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It'
17. Parquet Courts, 'Human Performance'
16. Miranda Lambert, 'The Weight of These Wings'
15. Lvl Up, 'Return to Love'
14. Green Day, 'Revolution Radio'
13. Maren Morris, 'Hero'
12. Paul Simon, 'Stranger to Stranger'
11. Solange, 'A Seat at the Table'
10. Young Thug, 'Jeffery'
Anyone who claims that Young Thug is an incoherent "mumble rapper" isn't listening hard enough. The heavily tattooed Atlanta iconoclast has a vocabulary that expands the terrain of getting high, having sex, copping cash and doing dirt. "Pop a molly now I'm in the fu*king air/Cloud nine, ? smokin' like a fu*king bear," he raps on "Floyd Mayweather." He has an inimitable voice – no one else sounds like him – and a sharp sense of rhythm that allows him to flip easily from the electronic trap bounce of "Future Swag" to the plodding bass charge of "Harambe." As usual, Young Thug splayed his talents over too many releases in 2016, and it remains unclear if he'll ever fulfill his fans' expectations that he's the new Lil Wayne, his sometime-influence, sometime-enemy. But Jeffrey is an undeniable highlight, from deserved hit "Pick Up the Phone" with Quavo and Travis Scott, to the cover art of the rapper in a purple dress, a minor but important ? in mainstream rap's glass house of heteronormativity. M.R.
9. Leonard Cohen, 'You Want It Darker'
8. Kanye West, 'The Life of Pablo'
Kanye's messiest album – the one he couldn't stop working on even after he released it. The Life of Pablo is a Guernica-sized sprawl to make Picasso's head spin, crossfading between some of Yeezy's greatest songs and some of his corniest shtick, mouthing off on his celebrity paranoia and fatherhood issues and uptight misogyny and antidepressant meds. Yet it adds up to a fractured statement of his life as "the 38-year-old 8 year old." The peaks are West at his summit: the all-star gospel throwdown "Ultralight Beam," the melancholic Drake R&B road trip "30 Hours," the bluesy Kendrick-blessed midlife crisis "No More Parties in L.A." R.S.
7. Rolling Stones, 'Blue & Lonesome'
6. Radiohead, 'A Moon Shaped Pool'
Comments
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5. Frank Ocean, 'Blonde'
It took four years to construct this quietly audacious follow up to Channel Orange. There were almost no drums, the pulse coming from swaying guitars and undulating keyboards. Dreamlike and hushed, as if you were listening to the sound leaking out of someone else's headphones, these songs were awash in memories that kept threatening to slip away: childhood, love, that time you took acid and got your Jagger on. Chasing a freedom that's only ever temporary – musical, emotional, sexual – was the idea, as in "White Ferrari," where Ocean rewrites the Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere" to recapture a teenage joyride, or maybe it was a drug vacation. Nothing on Blonde was binary – tracks slipped from space-rock to church, from thoughts of Trayvon to furtive sex, from him to you – opening space for every listener to slip inside. J.L.
4. Car Seat Headrest, 'Teens of Denial'
3. Chance the Rapper, 'Coloring Book'
The year's finest hip-hop album had a vision as radiant as its pink-sky cover art. Chance the Rapper's third mixtape combines radical politics and heavenly uplift to create life-affirming music that refuses to shy away from harsh realities. He uses the optimistic, joyful sounds of gospel choirs to soundtrack his hopes, fears and blessings, giving practically everything a spiritual hue: "I don't make songs for free, I make 'em for freedom," he raps on "Blessings." The album explodes with enthusiasm, as Chance embraces both the convoluted microphone mathematics of the old-school and the unpredictable melodic twists of the new. An electric dispatch from Chicago, Chance's infectious sing-song weaves together his faith, a city in crisis, his new daughter and the unique struggle of being the world's most famous unsigned musician: "If one more label try to stop me, it's gon' be some dreadhead ? in your lobby," he raps with the giddiness of someone who's already the victor. C.W.
2. David Bowie, 'Blackstar'
1. Beyoncé, 'Lemonade'
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2016-w451265
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Say what you want about Life of Pablo, i ? with more tracks off that ? than tracks from Coloring Book, i like Summer Friends and the Jay E verse, but the rest is eh to me, that Mixtape track is an insta skip.
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Young Thug over Tribe. Delete thread.
