8 December 2023
Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 sources worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.
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A reclusive dubstep producer, a bunch of hardcore punks, a little-known DJ, an avant-garde sound artist, an experimental doom drone band, a 71-year-old blues veteran ... and so on. Has there ever been ...
Now everyone's had their fun with the Best Albums of 2011 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
The Guardian and Bowlegs have now been added to our Best Albums of 2011 critical roundup and both agree on the No1
8.7 reasons why Polly Jean had to win
Just add a sizzling barbie and a chilled beer
Nominations for this year's gong have been announced. Who will win? We think we have the answer
We're six months through the year: Time to take stock of the most critically acclaimed albums to date
We're three months into the year: time for the first look back at the most critically-acclaimed music so far
All the top 20s from the ADM sources (or those that bothered, anyway)
Forget perverse opinions and personal foibles. When it comes to the most acclaimed albums of the year, here's the facts and figures ...
The ADM roundup of the critics' Best Of 2010 lists
The nominations have been announced but how did the shortlisted albums rate with ADM?
We're six months through 2010. What better time to take stock of the most critically acclaimed albums of the first half of the year.
Spring's here. And so is the first look back at the most critically-acclaimed music of the year so far
Not THAT Prince. The Pantha Du one ...
A tastefully festive compilation for your delectation
Saved & stored, by popular demand
The AnyDecentMusic Top 10 of 2009, not based on illogical personal preferences, idiosyncratic judgments or peer pressure, but on hard, cold mathematical facts
The AnyDecentMusic roundup of the critics' Best of 2009 album choices
NME and Clash Magazine's Best of 2009 have now been added to our year-end reckoning. So what's the 'Best Of' the 'Best Ofs'? Here's the updated ultimate, definitive and absolute ...
Malian "blues rock" band win album of the year
The one time of the year when we get a chance to say what we like
Is noise making a comeback? We ask because over the years we've been putting together our regular check-ups on what's attracting the most critical acclaim, we can't recall a top 10 that's ...
Stuck for the perfect musical accompaniment for that sweltering afternoon in the garden with the barbie smoking and the beers chilling? That ideal album which will both enhance the ambience AND boost your ...
Well Alt-j it was then. When their debut was released in the UK on 28 May, 2012 the initial reaction from our sources was very positive with Clash, music OMH and the ...
The last batch of votes are in, from Pitchfork and The Line Of Best Fit, so it's time to run through the AnyDecentMusic definitive summary of the Best Albums Of 2012 lists. ...
Now everyone's had their fun with the Best Albums of 2012 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
Huge thanks to the many many hundreds of you who sent us your top five albums of the year. Spreadsheet-king Ally is now a broken man and has taken himself off to ...
Top Tips for making your own, home-made, professional-looking, Gluten-free David Bowie Album Review! 1. Begin with a nice paragraph about your perception of Bowie a few months ago. It'll trick the less-alert ...
It's been a big week for comebacks. In the 20 years since mucking about on The Mickey Mouse Club with all the other famous people from the 2000s, The Justin Timberlake has done ...
It's another week here at ADM and the headlines are dominted by new music from yet another band who made their name in a previous decade. This time, Depeche Mode are back. ...
It's safe to say that whether it was 2013, 2003 or 2023, comeback albums from artists as significant as My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie were always going to feature large in ...
They made it! We're at the end of the week and the illustrious, rousing, pop pioneers New Kids On The Block hang on to their spot, sitting triumphantly on page 113 on ...
There's no escaping the fact that this week has been dominated by three albums, with everyone else struggling to get a look in. Critics were climbing over themselves, desperate to have their ...
It's been six weeks since John Grant entered our ratings at No.1 , so it's time to crown a new king (six weeks being the New Albums chart timespan). Five contenders go ...
For all the impossible-to-ignore clamour surrounding last week's release of the Daft Punk album, there's at least one place that Random Access Memories has made no real impression: the top of the ADM ...
It's hard to tell if this week at ADM has been one of genius, madness, weirdness or self indulgence. Or all four. Yes indeed, it has been Kanye West week. Yeezus follows ...
Raise your right hand up from your keyboard. It doesn't have to be high above your head, don't worry. I know some of you are "at work". You can be crafty about ...
So 2013 is the year of the comeback album? Not in the eyes of music critics it isn't. The hype has all been about David Bowie, My Bloody Valentine, Boards of Canada, ...
So we've already had a good look at the most critically-acclaimed music in the first six months of 2013, but our chart is an iceberg. Sure, it looks lovely and glamourous up ...
Here's the good news. Ready? Here it comes: If you access anydecentmusic.com, you'll be able to read this column a week before everyone else. For free. Yes. For free. Amazing right? Don't you ...
We have an undisputed Chart Topper again! What relief. After a week-long tussle, Kanye West's time ran out and he dropped off the chart. Six weeks is all you get over here, ...
What a big week for new albums! Action all over the shop. A big old shake-up. Just look at all that yellow on the chart page. It's almost blinding. A week with ...
Ok. It's time. Time to shut out all that insignificant news in the world, all of those flashy distractions, that constant wave of useless information and focus, truly focus, on the important ...
Julia Holter just will not quit! Like Al Pacino at the end of Scarface, or Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 13, she's going to hold on to her top spot until she ...
65daysofstatic continue their 42daysofbeingonthecurrentchart by holding off Arctic Monkeys for another week. All of the critics seem to have had their say on AM already, so it looks like only an unfavourable review for ...
So. Another week. We made it, guys. We survived another one. Phew! What happened this week then? Oh, they announced the winner of the Mercury Music Prize! It was James Blake. So there ...
Would you look at that. There we were, marvelling at London band Teeth Of The Sea for storming their way to the top of our Current Chart. "How impressive," we all thought. ...
There is just no stopping Future Of The Left. They are unstoppable. They cannot be stopped. They still sit on 8.6, but it's a better 8.6 than before, as now it trumps Arcade ...
SEE POLL OF POLLS 2009 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2010 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2011 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2012 RESULTS HERE The final scores are in. Everything's been added up and ...
It's December! Finally! Our sources, having been on their best behaviour all year, can at last put together their list of favourite records and submit them to the North Pole. Here at ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2013 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
SEE POLL OF POLLS 2009 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2010 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2011 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2012 RESULTS HERE Huge thanks to the many many hundreds of you who ...
GUESS WHO'S BACK? Like that bit of the romantic comedy when the guy comes back and the girl sees him, and starts running towards him and the guy also starts running ...
Xxxx. Xxxx. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.6 St Vincent St Vincent Bold, poised, precise without sounding sterile, St ...
The War On Drugs is top now. Hmm. I feel like I could've built the suspense up a little more there. No worries. Though this was the week that our contenders at ...
So what's been going on then? Well, six new albums joined our chart with 7.somethings, eight showed up to the party with 6s and one poor soul could only scramble together a ...
It's all very civilised this week over here at ADM HQ. Who's the highest rated new album? Everyone, it seems. Who's next in line for the Chart Topper spot? Well, a couple ...
This was the week that The War On Drugs packed up their things and continued on their way, presumably declaring victory and patting each other on the back. After a conclusive couple ...
Well well well. Well well well well well well well. Would you look at that? Just a fortnight ago, the seats at the top of our chart were occupied by Mac DeMarco ...
Let's get this out the way right off the bat: Swans are still top of the chart. They're going to be top for a while. We're just going to have to come ...
Plenty of big-name releases have left our critics unimpressed so far. Coldplay, whose sixth album became the highest selling album of 2014, find themselves with an ADM rating of only 6.1. That's the ...
The ADM Survey First of all thank you for using AnyDecentMusic, whether you have discovered us recently or been visiting the site since we started the service in 2009. We've reached the ...
"Bestival or Camp Bestival?" "What? They're not the same thing?" No, my friend, they certainly are not. In fact, there's a world of difference between the ever increasing plethora of UK ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2014 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
SEE POLL OF POLLS 2009 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2010 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2011 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2012 RESULTS HERE SEE POLL OF POLLS 2013 RESULTS HERE - - - - - ...
And you can also vote for your own favourite albums on the ADM Readers' Poll. Mail us at admteam@anydecentmusic.com Put your Top 5 in order with artist name then album name (they can be ...
Love them or loathe them, there is no escaping U2. Recently, they even managed to wheedle their way into your iTunes collection while you weren't looking. Their Songs of Innocence album gained notoriety ...
Kudos in abundance to Gloucestershire's Tahliah Barnett, aka FKA Twigs, who has transformed herself in double-quick time from Ed Sheeran's back-up dancer to someone a swathe of music observers deem to be a ...
505 The War On Drugs Lost In The Dream 427 St Vincent St Vincent 349 Run The Jewels Run The Jewels 2 325 Swans To Be Kind 279 Alvvays Alvvays 258 Sun Kil Moon Benji 251 Real Estate Atlas 248 Sharon Van Etten Are We There 242 FKA Twigs LP1 231 Caribou ...
This competition is now closed
If the remaining three-quarters of this year continues the trajectory set in the first quarter, then 2015 is going to go down as a musically epochal 12 months. Bear in mind that ...
1. Kendrick Lamar Might Never Be Beaten 2. Right Place, Wrong Time For Sufjan 3. Disappointment For Tyler 4. Bop English Surprises Everyone 5 Brian Wilson Has Probably Lost It
1 Turns Out People Wanted A Blur Album After All For the first time in ADM history, Blur release an album. And it turns out that the critics actually like it. ...
Win a pair of 3-day tickets
1 Mumford & Sons Do A Dylan Marcus Mumford won't be played by Cate Blanchett in any film adaptations, and that is a shame. In fact, it's hard to picture any female ...
Chromeo DJ Set, Julio Bashmore, Monarchy and more Bilbao BBK Live festival announces the addition of six electronic acts; plus seven national bands to the line-up of its 10th anniversary celebration, scheduled to take place ...
1 Hop Along Tops Our Chart ...But only just. Kendrick and Sufjan were streets ahead of the rest for so long, it seems weird to not have them sitting peacefully atop our ...
1 A Killer On The Loose Brandon Flowers released his second solo album, and it was met with much the same response as you would get from a TV news story ...
We're delighted to announce that the ADM App is now available via the iTunes Store. It's our first mobile venture since our launch in 2009; it will now be easier to ...
1 Experimental Jazz Albums Are Like Buses... ...in that you wait around for ages and then two come along at once! That's a phrase, isn't it? Although I've usually found that ...
Skullcandy launches their first music film series and revives iconic venues
Three short months ago in our ADM 1st Quarter Report we were babbling excitedly about what a musically epochal year 2015 looked set to become on the basis that three and a ...
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah Frank Ocean Channel Orange Anaïs Mitchell Hadestown Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell Deafheaven Sunbather Sleater-Kinney No Cities To Love PJ ...
When it comes to divisions between music critics and music fans, it would appear from a quick analysis of the upper echelons of our readers' poll that one thing is ...
When it comes to divisions between music critics and music fans, it would appear from a quick analysis of the upper echelons of our readers' poll that one thing is clear: music ...
We've compiled the rankings from all those magazines, newspapers and websites among our sources which publish their albums of the year. The end result is a comprehensive reflection of the critical favourites ...
471 PJ Harvey Let England Shake 375 Bon Iver Bon Iver 247 St Vincent Strange Mercy 252 Tune-Yards WhoKill 213 The Horrors Skying 194 Wild Beasts Smother 189 Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues 178 James Blake James Blake 173 Metronomy ...
112 Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion 57 The XX XX 52 Grizzly Bear Veckatimest 51 Wild Beasts Two Dancers 49 Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz 44 The Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca 42 Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Pheonix 36 Fuck Buttons ...
Click here to become a patron of AnyDecentMusic Hello folks, We're on Patreon. If you don't know what that is, it's probably best described as an on-going crowd funding type of thing. It allows ...
391 Arcade Fire The Suburbs 293 Kanye West My Beautiful ... Fantasy 288 The National High Violet 251 LCD Soundsystem This Is Happening 238 Beach House Teen Dream 175 Deerhunter Halcyon Digest 166 Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid 136 Big Boi ...
538 Frank Ocean Channel Orange 325 Tame Impala Lonerism 293 Grimes Visions 269 Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city 200 Japandroids Celebration Rock 191 Fiona Apple The Idler Wheel... 190 Chromatics Kill For Love 186 Alt-J An ...
682 Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires Of The City 590 Kanye West Yeezus 443 Arctic Monkeys AM 435 Daft Punk Random Access Memories 419 Arcade Fire Reflektor 418 The National Trouble Will Find Me 408 David Bowie The Next Day 402 ...
1418 FKA Twigs LP1 1324 The War On Drugs Lost In The Dream 1284 St Vincent St Vincent 1069 Caribou Our Love 1053 Run The Jewels Run The Jewels 2 888 Sun Kil Moon Benji 878 Aphex Twin Syro 868 Sharon Van Etten ...
We can now safely hand the ADM Poll Of Polls crown to Kendrick Lamar with only one or two sources still to post their end-of-year lists. But there's still plenty happening further down ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2015 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly Julia Holter Have You In My Wilderness Jamie xx In Colour Courtney Barnett Sometimes I Sit And Think… Joanna Newsom Divers Grimes Art Angels Donnie Trumpet and ...
8.35 David Bowie Blackstar "Blackstar is Bowie's most unconventional album since his dual '70s masterpieces Low and "Heroes", and is a breathtaking and relentlessly fascinating piece of work" PopMatters More reviews - - - - - - ...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.71 Beyoncé Lemonade "It's a rare album ...
When we launched ADM it was because we wanted a site that helped us navigate the plethora of opinions about new music releases. And it's been so much fun to do. We ...
We've compiled the rankings from all those magazines, newspapers and websites among our sources which publish their albums of the year. The end result is a comprehensive reflection of the critical favourites of ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2016 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
AnyDecentMusic Android AnyDecentMusic iOS First of all a big thank you to all who have subscribed and contributed to the ongoing development of the ADM service by taking out a subscription for ...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9.10 Kendrick Lamar Damn. "Luscious harmonies and ...
Kendrick Lamar tops the Poll of Polls again, okay? His last studio album topped the Poll of Polls two years ago, this studio album topped the Poll of Polls this year, and ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2017 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
It's close at the top, isn't it? No standout album running away with it up there. Which is just what happens when our critics don't have a Kendrick album to review. Kamasi ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2018 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
Best albums of 2019. The ultimate, definitive Best of The Best Ofs
AnyDecentMusic has been in existence now for just over ten years so it's the perfect time to look back at the most critically-acclaimed albums from 2010-2019. From Anais Mitchell's Hadestown to Nick Cave ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2019 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
Best albums of 2020. The ultimate, definitive Best of The Best Ofs
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2020 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
Best albums of 2021. The ultimate, definitive Best of The Best Ofs
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2021 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
Now everyone's had their say with the Best Albums of 2022 roundups, it's time to take stock of the cold hard facts of what really were the most critically-acclaimed albums over the ...
Peter Gabriel i/o
What did we get for our 20-year wait? Something substantive, something deeply considered. Print edition only Mojo
In an era where so many of our musical heroes seem to be growing more cantankerous and ill-tempered with age, it comes as a welcome relief to see one heritage act pushing positively into the future – and making some of the warmest and most joyous music of his career. Print edition only Uncut
After two decades of tinkering, the art-rocker’s first album since 2002 arrives in an array of different mixes. Yet the songs are refreshingly uncomplicated, reconnecting with Gabriel’s pop instincts Pitchfork
A sublime and long-awaited return The Independent
The prog rocker’s new album has a cast of hundreds and opulent orchestral parts The FT
The mood throughout is mostly contemplative, yet the album is adorned with the sonic depth that admirers of Gabriel’s music would expect The Irish Times
André 3000 New Blue Sun
On his first album in almost two decades, the Outkast rapper re-emerges with a collection of flute-led instrumentals that are characteristically otherworldly The Observer
The legendary prog-turned-pop star started work on his new album in the mid-90s and has drip-fed its songs to fans, but it is anything but disjointed The Guardian
See review XS Noize
Laurel Halo Atlas
The acclaimed electronic musician synthesizes digital and acoustic instrumentation to generate a hazy emotional map across 10 songs Paste Magazine
Jockstrap & Taylor Skye I<3UQTINVU
Reworking the sounds of Jennifer B into delirious and unhinged dance hits, this is a remix album put together by the band themselves, keeping all of the power of creation within the Jockstrap camp Spectrum Culture
If Gabriel tends to overlard his songs with metaphors, he has few peers in rendering the spiritual power of the mind-body-earth connection The Arts Desk
The album effectively allows listeners pick their favorites mixes and create their own playlist Slant Magazine
Beirut Hadsel
Beirut has turned inward on Hadsel and it’s an affirming, warm kind of music to serve as a soundtrack for the next valley surely coming for us all PopMatters
His first album of original material since 2002 has been released track by track with each passing full moon, but it all comes together in the long-form record musicOMH
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"A largely jubilant and life-affirming meditation on life and mortality" (The Skinny). "A slowburning set of songs full of delicate beauty and affecting, idiosyncratic warmth" (musicOMH)
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past twelve years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Fiona Apple Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Dave We’re All Alone In This Together