Acclaimed Music Forums

The best albums of 2017 (update January 31)

The numbers presented next to each album title are the weighted average rating and the number of reviews (out of 30 included sources). The weighted average is based on a formula that includes a) the average of ratings and b) the number of sources that have rated the album.

The magazines I used for the ratings were:
EUR + Australia: Gaffa-dk; Gaffa-sw; Humo; Indiestyle; Jenesaispop; Laut; Mondosonoro; Musikexpress; Nojesguiden; Ondarock; Plattentests; Sentire Ascoltare; The Music
UK: DIY; Drowned In Sound; The Guardian; Music OMH; NME; The Line Of Best Fit; The Skinny; The 405
USA + Canada: Allmusic; AV Club; Consequence Of Sound; Exclaim!; Paste; Pitchfork; Popmatters; Rolling Stone; Tinymixtapes; Under The Radar

Highlights: These are the top three songs from the album according to Allmusic, Consequence of Sound, Jenesaispop, Plattentests, The Skinny, Beardfood, BostonGlobe, Nowtoronto, Entertainment Weekly, etc…

New entry or Re-entry
Albums that have obtained new reviews and improved the score
Albums that have obtained new reviews but worsened the score


10 - William Basinski: A Shadow In Time - 73,5 (9)
Highlights (album with just two tracks): For David Robert Jones
Ambient
[imgsize 280x280]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_50 ... 166727.jpg[/imgsize]


09 - Rose Elinor Dougall: Stellular - 73,9 (7)
Highlights: Space to Be - Stellular - All at Once
Indie Pop
[imgsize 280x280]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_40 ... 175189.jpg[/imgsize]


08 - Julie Byrne: Not Even Happiness - 74,3 (14)
Highlights: Natural Blue - Follow My Voice - Sleepwalker
Folk
[imgsize 280x280]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_50 ... 183508.jpg[/imgsize]


07 - Loyle Carner: Yesterday's Gone – 75,0 (12)
Highlights: The Isle of Arran - Damselfly - No CD
Hip Hop
[imgsize 280x280]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_50 ... 160369.jpg[/imgsize]


06 - Cloud Nothings: Life Without Sound – 75,5 (22)
Highlights: Enter Entirely - Modern Act - Internal World
Indie Rock
[imgsize 280x280]http://cdn4.pitchfork.com/albums/24322/ ... f6ad5b.jpg[/imgsize]


05 - Mark Eitzel: Hey Mr Ferryman - 75,9 (9)
Highlights: Nothing and Everything - In My Role As Professional Singer and Ham - An Answer
Singer-Songwriter
[imgsize 300x300]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_10 ... 183212.jpg[/imgsize]


04 - Ty Segall: Ty Segall – 77,7 (25)
Highlights: Take Care (To Comb Your Hair) - Orange Color Queen - Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)
Psychedelic Rock
[imgsize 300x300]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_10 ... 183119.jpg[/imgsize]


03 - Wiley: Godfather - 78,1 (9)
Highlights: Can't Go Wrong - Laptop - Name Brand
Grime
[imgsize 300x300]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_10 ... 173088.jpg[/imgsize]


02 - The xx: I See You – 80,0 (29)
Highlights: On Hold - Say Something Loving - Dangerous
Indie Pop
[imgsize 300x300]http://cdn4.pitchfork.com/albums/24233/ ... fa992b.jpg[/imgsize]


01 - Run The Jewels: Run The Jewels 3 - 88,7 (26)
Highlights: Thursday in the Danger Room - Call Ticketron - 2100
Hip Hop
[imgsize 300x300]http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_10 ... 162423.jpg[/imgsize]

Bang Jan wrote:Can I ask to see albums with scores above 70 in advance?

11 - Austra: Future Politics - 72,0 (25)
12 - Brian Eno - Reflection - 71,9 (22)
13 - Japandroids: Near To The Wild Heart Of Life - 71,8 (24)

So RTJ 3 is 2017 ? Doesn't it appear on 2016 lists ?
Maybe a moot point, but...

spiritualized wrote:So RTJ 3 is 2017 ? Doesn't it appear on 2016 lists ?
Maybe a moot point, but...

Technically RTJ3 is a 2016 release, since it was released digitally at the end of December. But it didn't end up appearing on any EOY 2016 lists. In any case it's obviously going to be a major player on this year's EOY spreadsheet, and it should absolutely be here on MCCh 2017.

I'm surprised Flaming Lips isn't over 70, I've only seen 70s-80s reviews for it.

Harold wrote:

spiritualized wrote:So RTJ 3 is 2017 ? Doesn't it appear on 2016 lists ?
Maybe a moot point, but...

Technically RTJ3 is a 2016 release, since it was released digitally at the end of December. But it didn't end up appearing on any EOY 2016 lists. In any case it's obviously going to be a major player on this year's EOY spreadsheet, and it should absolutely be here on MCCh 2017.

I'm in full agreement here. Mid-to-late December releases are tricky. D'Angelo's Black Messiah is a good case in point. It was released 15th December 2014, and it was considered it a 2014 record since there was just enough time for some reviews to come out before the 31st. Otisredding was very diligent and accrued the scores up to then (resulting in it being #1!!!), but many publications didn't review the album until Jan 2015, and it definitely appeared on quite a few EOY lists for 2015.

The 25th as a release date IMHO is far too late in the year to obtain a meaningful score and deliver it on MCCh 6 days later. Besides, the physical release is 2017

Jirin wrote:I'm surprised Flaming Lips isn't over 70, I've only seen 70s-80s reviews for it.

well here's the scores from a few of the sources that were less:

6.0 | The Music
6.0 | Exclaim
6.0 | The Line Of Best Fit
6.0 | NME
6.0 | Rolling Stone
4.0 | DIY
4.0 | PopMatters
3.0 | The 405
3.0 | Tiny Mix Tapes

Harold wrote:

spiritualized wrote:So RTJ 3 is 2017 ? Doesn't it appear on 2016 lists ?
Maybe a moot point, but...

Technically RTJ3 is a 2016 release, since it was released digitally at the end of December. But it didn't end up appearing on any EOY 2016 lists. In any case it's obviously going to be a major player on this year's EOY spreadsheet, and it should absolutely be here on MCCh 2017.

RTJ3 was previewed digitally on the 25th Dec 2016, but technically they have stated that the release date is Jan 13, 2017

I loved both Hang by Foxygen and Oczy Mlody, but they got shit reviews everywhere

Like many I always look forward to these MegaCritic lists, but I also sometimes have a hard time selecting which ones to listen to, especially in the less hyped lower rankings. It's there that the mentioned highlights come in handy and therefore I made a playlist containing all the current highlights. It's called A Taste of MegaCritic I plan to update this playlist through the whole year:



Ty Segall's self-titled album is not (yet?) on Spotify, so here are some YouTube links:
Do people want me to post this update along with Otisreddings every half month? And does Otisredding mind?

I like the idea, good initiative ! thanks !

That's great, Rob!

Good idea, Rob.

Keep in mind that the highlights may change

That's brilliant mate, keep it going.

Otisredding wrote:Good idea, Rob.

Keep in mind that the highlights may change

I didn't know that, but I'll keep an eye out for it and will adjust the list accordingly.

So if RTJ3 were in the 2016 lists, it would be number 2-3 ? Strong start of 2017...

Thanks for the Spotify list and Segall links, Rob. Most helpful. I've attempted this a few times with full albums, and it never stuck. I've got faith in you to see this through.

Does youtube support playlists of videos one didn't upload personally? That would help organize non-Spotify content.