Every year, I compile the year-end music lists published by a variety of news, music, and entertainment blogs and magazines in order to determine a broad consensus of the best ranked albums of the year. I consult a variety of sources of try to capture the wide variety of styles covered by these publications.
I look at the ranking of each list and assign a number of points to each album based on its placement on the list. For placements within the top ten, each album gets the number of points inverse to its position; a number one spot gets ten points, number ten gets one point, and so on. Beyond the top ten, albums receive a fraction of a point, the value of which depends on the album's placement. I start at 0.5 points for spots 11 through 20, going down one-tenth of a point for each group of ten. Once I hit 0.1 points, any remaining albums on the list will receive that value.
Here is the top ten ranking for 2017 albums:
10.
Father John Misty -
Pure Comedy: 23.6 points (11 list inclusions; 4 top ten appearances)
9.
Perfume Genius -
No Shape: 25.1 points (15 list inclusions; 3 top ten appearances)
8.
Sampha -
Process: 26.6 points (15 list inclusions; 5 top ten appearances)
7.
The War on Drugs -
A Deeper Understanding: 33 points (15 list inclusions; 4 top ten appearances; 1 number one spot)
6.
Wolf Alice -
Visions of a Life: 33.6 points (6 list inclusions; 4 top ten appearances; 1 number one spot)
5.
St. Vincent -
MASSEDUCTION: 49.2 points (16 list inclusions; 7 top ten appearances)
4.
LCD Soundsystem -
American Dream: 54.5 points (17 list inclusions; 10 top ten appearances; 1 number one spot)
3.
SZA -
Ctrl: 83.4 points (19 list inclusions; 11 top ten appearances; 1 number one spot)
2.
Lorde -
Melodrama: 105.5 points (16 list inclusions; 13 top ten appearances; 4 number one spots)
1.
Kendrick Lamar -
DAMN.: 152.1 points (20 list inclusions; 17 top ten appearances; 8 number one spots)
Nothing this year really caught me off-guard. There was, of course, the requisite highly-regarded pop album in Lorde's
Melodrama, but the success of that album did not surprise me (I thought the record was incredible). Wolf Alice turned out to be a bit of a sneaker. Though I heard a lot of positive things about their sophomore album, it didn't actually appear on very many lists. On the lists it did appear on - including NME, Q, and Under the Radar - it was generally ranked towards the top.
There were some, relative, disappointments for me. Dirty Projectors had an extremely poor showing for their self-titled album, which was a favorite of mine. I also expected The National, Moses Sumney, and Waxahatchee to have been ranked higher. Kendrick Lamar, however, no surprise whatsoever.
If you're a data geek, like me, you can download my rankings spreadsheet here!
Here are a few more interesting lists!
The Next Ten
20.
Tyler, the Creator -
Flower Boy: 16.3 points
19.
Jane Weaver -
Modern Kosmology: 17.6 points
18.
King Krule -
The Ooz: 17.8 points
17.
Kesha -
Rainbow: 18 points
15. (tie)
Khalid -
American Teen: 18.2 points
15. (tie)
Kelela -
Take Me Apart: 18.2 points
14.
Big Thief -
Capacity: 18.7 points
13.
Kelly Lee Owens -
Kelly Lee Owens: 19.5 points
12.
Vince Staples -
Big Fish Theory: 21.3 points
11.
Fever Ray -
Plunge: 22.7 points
Top Ten Albums By List Inclusions
10.
The National -
Sleep Well Beast: 13 lists
6. (tie)
Vince Staples -
Big Fish Theory: 15 lists
6. (tie)
Perfume Genius -
No Shape: 15 lists
6. (tie)
Sampha -
Process: 15 lists
6. (tie)
The War on Drugs -
A Deeper Understanding: 15 lists
4. (tie)
St. Vincent -
MASSEDUCTION: 16 lists
4. (tie)
Lorde -
Melodrama: 16 lists
3.
LCD Soundsystem -
American Dream: 17 lists
2.
SZA -
Ctrl: 19 lists
1.
Kendrick Lamar -
DAMN.: 20 lists
Top Ten Albums (with No Top Ten Spots)
10.
Aimee Mann -
Mental Illness: 1.5 points
9.
(Sandy) Alex G -
Rocket: 1.6 points
6. (tie)
Stormzy -
Gang Signs & Prayer: 1.6 points
6. (tie)
Japanese Breakfast -
Soft Sounds from Another Planet: 1.6 points
6. (tie)
Drake -
More Life: 1.6 points
5. (tie)
Kehlani -
SweetSexySavage: 2 points
5. (tie)
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith -
The Kid: 2 points
3.
Future -
Hndrxxx: 2.3 points
2.
Fleet Foxes -
Crack-Up: 2.5 points
1.
Thundercat -
Drunk: 3.9 points