Best Albums of 2020 (100-31)

Part one of my favorite albums of the year

So here’s the deal.

I started working on this list at the beginning of February. I had listened to all the albums I wanted to cover and wanted to use this list as a way to kick off the Substack. Problem is, I gave myself way too much work and turned it into a lengthy Top 100 with two paragraphs for each album. See, in any other circumstance, this isn’t really so bad for me! I really enjoy writing about these albums, and I have a lot to say about every single one on my list. But then you have to factor in that in the same month, I was starting my MWE series of blogs where I go in-depth about other unrelated albums and the artists as a whole. But I am also working on my own comic series (*cough* @YoungDumbQueer on Twitter, young_dumb_and_queer on Instagram), which at the pace I want to work on, means I have to have two pages completed and ready to queue by Sunday. But I also have a job, one that requires a lot of hours out of me, especially on the weekends. But I also have my last semester of college, and readying myself for masters programs, and a capstone project I need to go well for the future of my career, and my social life looking for friends and even possible partners… You see the problem here?

Ultimately what happened was that the list became a low priority, and a month of work in and I know I still have a long ways to go. In the format I was using, I just couldn’t get this thing finished without it exhausting me further. So I decided my best course of action was just to hit the reset button. Immensely shorten the writing I have to do and only write about the albums that defined my year. The best of the best. I’ve been more eager to talk about those than I did most of the other albums anyway.

I’ve delayed this one for too long. Let’s kick it off!

100. Eternal Atake & LUV VS The World 2 by Lil Uzi Vert
Top 3 (Eternal Atake)
1. Silly Watch
2. Homecoming
3. I’m Sorry
Top 3 (LUV VS The World 2)
1. Myron
2. Leaders ft. NAV
3. Moon Relate

99. Manic by Halsey
Top 3
1. 3am
2. finally//beautiful stranger
3. You should be sad

98. Legends Never Die by Juice WRLD
Top 3
1. Come & Go w/Marshmello
2. Righteous
3. Man of the Year

97. Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus
Top 3
1. Prisoner ft. Dua Lipa
2. Plastic Hearts
3. Midnight Sky

96. No Pressure by Logic
Top 3
1. Soul Food II
2. Hit My Line
3. Open Mic//Aquarius III

95. INDUSTRY GAMES by Chika
Top 3
1. SONGS ABOUT YOU
2. ON MY WAY
3. CROWN

94. The Panhandlers self-titled
Top 3
1. Lonesome Heart
2. The Panhandler
3. West Texas In My Eye

93. Imploding The Mirage by The Killers
Top 3
1. Caution
2. My Own Soul’s Warning
3. Imploding The Mirage

92. The Southwest Sky and Other Dreams by Karen Jonas
Top 3
1. Better Days
2. Farmer Joe
3. Pink Leather Boots

91. THE ANGEL YOU KNOW by Amaarae
Top 3
1. LEAVE ME ALONE
2. FANCY
3. SAD GURLZ LOVE MONEY ft. Moily

90. Have We Met by Destroyer
Top 3
1. Crimson Tide
2. Cue Synthesizer
3. foolssong

89. Miles by Blu & Exile
Top 3
1. The Feeling ft. Jacinto Rhymes
2. Miles Davis
3. True & Livin’

88. Chilombo by Jhene Aiko
Top 3
1. Happiness Over Everything (H.O.E.) ft. Miguel & Future
2. P*$$y Fairy (OTW)
3. Mourning Doves

87. If It Wasn’t For You by Caylee Hammack
Top 3
1. Redhead ft. Reba McEntire
2. Looking For A Lighter
3. Family Tree

86. The Balladeer by Lori McKenna
Top 3
1. The Dream
2. Marie
3. This Town Is a Woman ft. Karen Fairchild & Kimberly Schlapman

85. Heaven To a Tortured Mind by Yves Tumor
Top 3
1. Kerosene!
2. Gospel For a New Century
3. Super Stars

84. Nightfall by Little Big Town
Top 3
1. Next To You
2. Trouble With Forever
3. Sugar Coat

83. Daughter by Lydia Loveless
Top 3
1. Wringer
2. September ft. Laura Jane Grace
3. Never

82. Making A Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest
Top 3
1. Martin
2. Can’t Cool Me Down
3. Famous

81. The Piss, The Perfume by Hayley Mary
Top 3
1. Brat
2. Holly
3. The Piss, The Perfume

80. Thunder In The Mountains by Dzo-nga
Top 3
1. Flames In The Sky
2. The Song of Hiawatha
3. Starlight, Moonlight, Firelight

79. Set My Heart On Fire by Perfume Genius
Top 3
1. Nothing At All
2. Describe
3. Borrowed Light

78. Ultra Mono by IDLES
Top 3
1. Model Village
2. Mr. Motivator
3. Reigns

77. Ho, why is you here? by Flo Milli
Top 3
1. Not Friendly
2. Like That Bitch
3. Weak

76. Song For Our Daughter by Laura Marling
Top 3
1. Song For Our Daughter
2. Hope We Meet Again
3. Blow By Blow

75. THE ALBUM by Blackpink
Top 3
1. Pretty Savage
2. How You Like That
3. Lovesick Girls

74. The K Is Silent by Hot Country Knights
Top 3
1. You Make It Hard ft. Terri Clark
2. Pick Her Up ft. Travis Tritt
3. Asphalt

73. The Dream by Hailey Whitters
Top 3
1. Living The Dream
2. All The Cool Girls
3. Dream, Girl

72. Limbo by Aminé
Top 3
1. Woodlawn
2. Burden
3. Pressure In My Palms ft. slowthai & Vince Staples

71. Skeletons by Brothers Osborne
Top 3
1. All The Good Ones Are
2. Skeletons
3. Dead Man’s Curve

70. Formations by Hawktail
Top 3
1. The Tobagganist
2. One Hour In Hungary
3. Padiddle

69. Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
Top 3
1. Graceland Too
2. Chinese Satellite
3. Moon Song

68. Tessy Lou Williams self-titled
Top 3
1. Why Do I Still Love You?
2. Pathway Of Teardrops
3. Mountain Time In Memphis

67. Hold My Beer Vol. 2 by Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen
Top 3
1. This Ain’t My Town
2. Rhinestoned
3. Rodeo Clown

66. Marlowe 2 by Marlowe
Top 3
1. Future Power Sources
2. Small Business
3. O.G. Funk Rock ft. A-F-R-0

65. Impenetrable Cerebral Forces
Top 3
1. Cries of Pleasure, Heavenly Pain
2. Impenetrable Cerebral Forces
3. Fucking Towards Salvation

64. Purple Moonlight Pages by R.A.P. Ferreira
Top 3
1. DOLDRUMS
2. DUST UP
3. GOLDEN SARDINE

63. Hey u x by BENEE
Top 3
1. Supalonely ft. Gus Dapperton
2. Kool
3. Snail

62. Supernova by Caitlyn Smith
Top 3
1. Lonely Together
2. All Over Again
3. I Can’t

61. Just Like Moby Dick by Terry Allen
Top 3
1. Sailin’ On Through
2. All These Blues Go Walking By ft. Shannon McNally
3. Harmony Two ft. Shannon McNally

60. A Young Man’s Country by Daniel Donato
Top 3
1. Diamond In The Rough
2. Always Been A Lover
3. Ain’t Living Long Like This

59. The Otherside by Cam
Top 3
1. Diane
2. Happier For You
3. Like A Movie

58. Cape God by Allie X
Top 3
1. Rings a Bell
2. Susie Save Your Love ft. Mitski
3. Regulars

57. El ultimo tour del mundo by Bad Bunny
Top 3
1. YO VISTO ASI
2. MALDITA PORBEZA
3. BOOKER T

56. Transgender Street Legend Vol. 2 by Left At London
Top 3
1. Safety First ft. Vera Much
2. My Friends Are Kinda Strange ft. Chuck Stutton
3. T-Shirt

55. Sex, Death & The Infinite Void by Creeper
Top 3
1. Cyanide
2. Be My End
3. Annabelle

54. Sellout by Koe Wetzel
Top 3
1. Sundy Or Mundy
2. FGA
3. Crying From The Bathroom

53. Hill Country by The Wilder Blue
Top 3
1. Dixie Darlin’
2. The Eagle
3. Hey Susanna

52. ORCORARA 2010 by Elysia Crampton
Top 3
1. Dog Clouds ft. Jeremy Rojas
2. Secret Ravine (Chakana En General)
3. Homeless (Q’ara)

51. Neon Cross by Jaime Wyatt
Top 3
1. Neon Cross
2. Sweet Mess
3. Rattlesnake Girl

50. Gelb/Rosa/Schwarz by Patricia Taxxon

2020 felt like the year Patricia Taxxon started really nailing down her sound. She’s always had a unique form of bedroom electropop, but she’s also been a bit all over the place with some of her hit-or-miss ideas. But her trilogy of albums inspired by an avant-garde ballet shows the refinement of her skills as a producer as she takes you through a journey of unique sounds and atmospheres, blending the elegant movements of the original play and putting them through some of her best compositions to date. It’s a fascinating project, and honestly one of her best.

Top 3 (Gelb)
1. Sir Duke
2. Bauhaus
3. Jackrabbit

Top 3 (Rosa)
1. New Plains
2. Old Ways
3. Cambria

Top 3 (Schwarz)
1. Something Pretty
2. Fly
3. Moons

49. Fake It Flowers by beabadoobee

I’m pleasantly surprised that beabadoobee ended up benefitting from “death bed” after all, though not in the way I expected her to. Instead of making an album full of sleepy, but adorably earnest love songs, she pivoted into an alternative rock sound that proved what an eclectic performer she could be. The hooks on the more propulsive songs are great, but there are also some softer, sweeter songs more reminiscent of “Cofee” to balance them out. Either way, it’s an excellent breakthrough album from a promising talent.

Top 3
1. Care
2. Horren Sarrison
3. How Was Your Day?

48. The GOAT by Polo G

• Content Warning: Themes of trauma and references to sexual assault

I remember being interested in Polo G and his future back in 2019 when I listened to his debut album Die A Legend. Who knew he’d turn out to be one of the most talented and influential rappers of the coming decade? The GOAT really caught me off-guard with how good it was. The songs were not only insanely catchy, but Polo G showed a ton of growth as a rapper and storyteller! He hits the masculine posturing of the gangsta life and sprinkles it with moments of vulnerability and honesty that remind us what a nightmare the lifestyle could be. All the while delivering some of the best trap songs of the year.

Top 3
1. I Know
2. Martin & Gina
3. Go Stupid ft. Stunna 4 Vegas & NLE Choppa

47. Shrapknel self-titled

As impressed as I am by Polo G’s brand of trap, sometimes the hip-hop that works best for me are the ones that hit the hardest. Shrapknel, consisting of PremRock and Curly Castro, come together to deliver a gnarly album with dusty beats and imposing bars, calling back to previous eras and sounds and paying tribute while still making a name for themselves. It’s relentless, the kind of music that makes you feel powerful as you listen to it.

Top 3
1. Gun Metal Paint ft. Zilla Rocca
2. Beast
3. Dumile High

46. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

• Content Warning: Themes of sexual assault and abuse

Feels kind of weird putting one of the year’s most acclaimed albums this low… Okay, low by list standards. This album is undeniably great, and it’s grown on me a lot since that first listen. It’s a hard album to really dissect, but one whose themes of recovery, grief, and complicated relationship with femininity has kept me engaged through the fascinating production and number of hooks that has resonated with me after a year of them rolling in my head. This one’s something special.

Top 3
1. Newspaper
2. Shameika
3. Drumset

45. Innocent Country 2 by Chris Keys & Quelle Chris

This was a BANNER year for rapper/producer albums, which you can gather from this album being lower on my list than I expected it to be. I guess it can run a bit long, and it hits best during certain seasons rather than all-year-round, but that doesn’t take away from what a beam of sunshine this album is. Chris Keys’ production is magical, full of rich texture and beautiful compositions while Quelle Chris blends into it with some potent reflections on black identity and learning to take the fear of sudden death and cherish the moments in his life that make him truly feel at peace.

Top 3
1. Living Happy ft. Joseph Chilliams & Cavalier
2. Sudden Death
3. Graphic Bleed Outs ft. Merrill Garbus & Melanie St. Charles

44. Jump Rope Gazers by The Beths

I had a blast with this album. A sweet, fun little power-pop album with bouncy grooves and a lot of melodrama. I didn’t really know much about this group going in, but I instantly fell in love with their vibrant production and undeniably sticky hooks with the painfully earnest writing that I always love to hear in my pop-rock albums. It’s short, sweet, a little frontloaded, but worth every second!

Top 3
1. Jump Rope Gazers
2. Dying To Believe
3. I’m Not Getting Excited

43. Mouth Dreams by Neil Cicierega

My favorite thing about Neil Cicierega is every time one of his mashups blows me away, I have to sit back and wonder where the hell he even got the idea. Just talking about this album feels like a disservice to what a delight this was to go through on the first listen. Even when the shock factor fades away and I get more familiar with all the songs, it still amazes me to listen to how wonderfully crafted and inspired they are. Mouth Dreams isn’t on the same level as Mouth Moods, but it’s still an album that never fails to make me smile.

Top 3:
1. Ribs
2. Just A Baby
3. Fredhammer

42. Manger On McNichols by Boldy James & Sterling Toles

• Content Warning: Themes of trauma and abandonment

Boldy James releases a ton of music. He released four projects in 2020 alone! And while I liked all of those to a certain extent, his work with Sterling Toles was the one that struck me the most. Not only is this Boldy James at his best, with his sharp gangsta posturing taking center stage, but he takes a turn midway through the album as he confronts his own fragility as a person. Accepting his trauma and dealing with his issues of rejection and abandonment from the people he loves. It’s a dark turn for the guy, but one that’s incredibly potent and moving.

Top 3
1. B.B. Butcher
2. Got Flicked (The Rebirth) ft. Louie P Newton
3. Detroit River Rock

41. When I Die, Will I Get Better? by Svalbard

• Content Warning: Intense music, themes of abuse

Not the kind of album I expected to put on my list, but one that stuck with me all the same. Svalbard’s music is intense, and admittedly hard to listen to in the right setting. But once you let it really sit with you and you listen to those furious grooves and shredded vocals, you feel the frustration and anger seeping through this album’s venom. It’s one that feels like it’s lost control of itself and simply needs a moment to let all of its buried emotions burst out of its head like a volcano. Guess it’s fitting that an album so powerful and full of fury would hit me in a year that’s gotten me as fed up as 2020. Still, even in less depressing years, this screamo album stands above the rest.

Top 3:
Click Bait
Silent Restraint
Open Wound

40. Welcome To O’Block by King Von

This was a bittersweet late-game favorite to have. King Von had so much potential as an up-and-coming rapper, and it saddens me that he’s never going to be able to top this album. His bars are fierce, the beats are imposing as hell, and King Von had a great knack for storytelling where, while he’s not as vulnerable as someone like Polo G, he still paints the gritty scene of his block and all the altercations that build up his tough exterior, even if there still may be more underneath the surface.

Top 3
1. The Code ft. Lil Durk
2. Armed and Dangerous
3. Can’t Relate

39. The Passion Of by Special Interest

A short, but incredibly rewarding listen. This kind of loud, clattering noise-rock isn’t usually my style, but the production has a pounding industrial sound that works wonders with Alli Logout’s righteous battle cries, balancing the plight of queer BIPOC who struggle through a world that rejects them with the crushing loneliness they feel when their relationships and the sex just isn’t enough. It’s a restless album, one that gives you a furious rush from beginning to end.

Top 3
1. Street Pulse Beat
2. Don’t Kiss Me In Public
3. All Tomorrow’s Carry

38. Starting Over by Chris Stapleton

This might be Chris Stapleton’s best album to date. Admittedly, while he has tremendous songs on their own, he’s never had an album that really defines him as a star, but Starting Over comes really close. His stunning voice is at his best creating some of the most potent moments in country music this year, Dave Cobb’s production continues to be the crowning jewel of modern country instrumentation, and Stapleton’s writing continues to refine itself with brand new stories and excellent explorations of one’s upbringing and where the future takes them. With the title track being his absolute biggest hit to date, Chris Stapleton has a bright decade ahead of him. And I can’t wait for this album to be topped.

Top 3
1. Starting Over
2. Whiskey Sunrise
3. Maggie’s Song

37. The Birdwatcher’s Guide to Atrocity by Seeming

This was the last album from this year I listened to for this list, and it surprises me I didn’t get into it earlier. Every year I feel like I have that one political album that really speaks to where I am now in terms of politics, injustice, what have you. Though I never listened to this in 2020, this album’s dejected uncertainty for the future while still having the will to fight really spoke to me in a year that seemed so bleak with the slightest bit of a silver lining. “Go Small” especially is such a tremendous song that reminds me to take things one day at a time. Because small gestures can lead to big changes.

Top 3
1. Go Small
2. Reality Is Afraid
3. The Flood Comes For You

36. Positions by Ariana Grande

I might be so bold as to say this is Ariana Grande’s best album. Yes, even better than Thank U, Next. It’s a deceptively simple album, merely a collection of flighty, flirty sex songs. I guess that’s about what I expected after an album as personal as Thank U, Next, but it’s also a showcase of how much Ariana has improved since her early years. This is consistently great, with really unique and beautiful production and Ari sounding better than ever. Not only is she a tremendous singer, but she’s able to sell the sultry seduction of this album while injecting some of her goofier, fun attitude into it. Honestly, these are some of the best songs of her career. Makes me excited to see how many more times she could match it.

Top 3
1. pov
2. 34+35 [ft. Doja Cat & Megan Thee Stallion]
3. nasty

35. Ungodly Hour by Chloe x Halle

I feel like an idiot for waiting so long to get to this album. This is a delight to go through. Chloe and Halle are incredibly talented singers, and it’s amazing to hear they already have a firm grasp on their brand of R&B. It’s definitely a throwback, but like all good retro-inspired music, it takes that influence and creates something that is uniquely theirs. The hooks are there, the personality is there, the production is immaculate, how has this album not taken over the world already? This deserves to be HUGE.

Top 3
1. Tipsy
2. Ungodly Hour
3. Busy Boy

34. From A King To A GOD by Conway The Machine

Griselda had a huge year in 2020. A handful of well-placed co-signs from more mainstream artists meant that the kings of the underground had more eyes on them than ever, with Benny The Butcher being popular enough to possibly cross over in the very near future! I’m thrilled to have Griselda around, as they’re some of the most dangerous and exciting rappers to come out of the gangsta scene in recent memory. As much as I like Benny and passively tolerate Westside Gunn though, Conway the Machine is without a doubt my favorite of the main three. A potent as hell rapper with a ton of presence on the mic and a lot of near-death experiences that make him reflect on not just his place in the hood, but the friends and family he’s lost throughout the years. It’s an album that bangs in one minute and makes you cry in the next.

Top 3
1. Forever Droppin’ Tears ft. El Camino
2. Fear of God ft. DeJ Loaf
3. Anza ft. Armani Caeser

33. Black Cats and Crows by Ward Davis

I was sold on this album instantly when I learned that this guy is one of the songwriters behind Cody Jinks’ best song, “Colorado”, and that he had his own version on it that was just as good, if not better. And yeah, all of that holds true! “Colorado” is an excellent song of course, but this guy’s gritty, dark country sound is phenomenal. He’s an incredible songwriter who really understands his characters and what they’re going through, whether it’s someone down on their luck and suffering through a divorce or a convicted felon who committed murder and finds himself on death row with no regrets. It’s a competitive year in terms of country music, but don’t let this album fall in between the cracks. Its best moments are something to behold.

Top 3
1. Sound of Chains
2. Colorado
3. Threads

32. You Can Never Get A Long Enough Head Start by Floral Tattoo

This was the first album I truly fell in love with this year, and it set the stage for what would eventually be a turbulent, exhausting year that I still found myself surviving to the very end. Last year especially was a difficult year for me figuring out my identity and learning to come out, so this album rang through my head all year with its fuzzy textures and explosive hooks. Not to mention hosting one of the absolute best songs of the year with “She”. This would have easily made the full Top 30 if the vocals were mixed better. I get that it’s shoegaze and dream pop, but it was difficult to understand the actual lyrics without Genius in front of me. Still, even with that minor hurdle, this is one of the best albums of the year and always has been.

Top 3
1. She
2. Julius & Ethel
3. The Art of Moving On

31. Good News by Megan Thee Stallion

The very last cut from the Top 30 and it pained me to do so. After two years of sneaking her way into the popular conscience, Megan finally makes a name for herself and delivers her best and most consistent project to date. This album doesn’t have to prove anything other than Megan is a star, and it does so with flying colors. Her rapping is on-point, the producers give her plenty of great beats that go hard and subvert expectations, and her guest features do a pretty damn good job holding up next to her, even if every time Megan is the one who steals the show. It’s kind of driven by how much you believe in Megan as a rapper because she has the swagger and personality to carry these songs regardless of how good they are. Even the pop sellout song finally gives her a melody and sound that works perfectly with her presentation! But most of all Good News is promising. Even if the album has its rough patches, I know that this is only the beginning for Megan. And if someday she’s able to top the tremendous moments scattered throughout this album, I can’t WAIT to hear it!

Top 3
1. Girls In The Hood
2. Body
3. Outside