Are US critics normally slow to pick-up on the acclaimed releases from new foreign acts? The only non-US releases that have ranked top on the EoYs this decade were from established artists. Maybe the accolades for Joy as an Act of Resistance will pick up in the EoD lists. Still, that it's so high on this list is better than I expected.Harold wrote:...
The current USA #1 album is Golden Hour, surprisingly enough (finishing at #1 in the Uproxx aggregate poll didn't hurt). Strikingly, Joy as an Act of Resistance is #1 for the other two categories - if it had done just a little bit better with U.S. critics (truthfully, I have absolutely no idea why it didn't), it would be sitting on top right now. As it is, it's below both Dirty Computer and Double Negative - the latter of which is the only other album to make all three top 10 lists. I continue to be both impressed and shocked by how well it's performing.
I also underestimated how much Low changing their sound on Double Negative would captivate the list-makers. It's placement will far surpass that of the band's other albums at AM. I did wonder whether critics honestly thought it was better than the likes of I Could Live in Hope or Things We Lost in the Fire but some of them really are claiming it to be Low's masterpiece!