ADM Report 2018

Noname’s Room 25 is the most acclaimed album of the year: you can't argue with mathematics

The ADM Top 10 2018

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 past 12 months.

The AnyDecentMusic top 10 of 2018 is the most reliable guide to what earned the most extensive overall praise from reviewers.

We have excluded from the rankings any albums with fewer than ten reviews from our list of more than 50 sources from the UK, US, Canada, Australia and Ireland, and the formula we apply to arrive at the ADM rating takes the number of reviews into account.

Below, we give our analysis of what it all means.

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8.50

Noname

Room 25

"There is no fault that springs to mind when thinking about this project. Room 25 is a truly remarkable release, deserving of acclaim and love" - AU Review

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8.47

Idles

Joy as an Act of Resistance

"An instant classic, one that people will turn to in times of need for years to come" - NME

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8.37

Janelle Monáe

Dirty Computer

"Monáe is 10 steps ahead, past the Trump era, embracing the robot-utopia that gives hope to an unprejudiced and equal world. She´s already there - now the rest of us have to catch up" - CLASH

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8.34

Kamasi Washington

Heaven & Earth

"It's easy to get overawed by the sheer magnitude of such a work, but it lives up to the audacious premise grandly" - Under The Radar

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8.32

Robyn

Honey

"By manipulating the modern pop palette to craft a complex heartbreak album, Robyn shows her imitators how it's done" - The Guardian

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8.32

Marianne Faithfull

Negative Capability

"Comparisons with such late-career highlights as Johnny Cash's American Recordings albums and Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker are inevitable, but Negative Capability really does belong in such exalted company" - The Observer

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8.32

Deafheaven

Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

"If you've ever wanted to scream at the sky, Deafheaven's Ordinary Corrupt Human Love is the record for you" - The Skinny

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8.31

Parquet Courts

Wide Awake!

"A gut-punch of an immediate classic" - DIY

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8.31

Daughters

You Won't Get What You Want

"However darkly disturbing You Won't Get What You Want is at times, its matchless quality elicits awe and wonder, and strangely, that brilliance provides a surprising and curious warmth" - music OMH

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8.30

Christine and the Queens

Chris

"Radio-ready and built to disrupt, Chris rails against patriarchal preconceptions and tackles gender on its own terms, embracing Letissier's strength and hopefully inspiring more people who feel marginalised to do the same" - The Line Of Best Fit

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Here we are again. After a hard year's work, Music finally has a chance to kick back, put its feet up, sip a mulled wine and see in the new year with its pals. Probably have one or two too many, you know what Music is like. It's not like Art, who will probably also have one too many but at least won't be in your face about it, you know? Or like Film who's nowhere near as classy as it thinks it is if you ask Music. Or TV who's cool but just will not shut up. Yes TV, we should all watch Sharp Objects, we know, but would you just give Music a break for two minutes, it's trying to have a nice time for once. Also, everyone's getting hungry, think it's about time Proper Job stopped cleaning up after everyone and put the food on while Music and its arty friends keep their feet up. Sounds nice for Music, right? After all it's not long before it has to get back to sodding work again.

In the meantime though, our hard-working sources have compiled their list of the best albums to come out in 2018. Here at ADM Towers we smashed together all of their lists and created the definitive Poll of Polls. Want to know which album topped the list of Year End polls? Well you can find out [HERE] but also it's Janelle Monae in case you don't want to click a link.

BUT, you're no doubt wondering, wouldn't the Poll of Polls just be the same as what the ADM Chart says is the best album of the year? Wouldn't the reviews published from January to mid-November all lovingly collated and compiled be a good indicator of what the sources think is the best album of the year? Was Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer also the highest rated album of the year? You'd think so, wouldn't you. BUT NO.

That honour goes to Noname's Room 25. A record the year-end compilers only reckoned was the 18th best album of the year. But we in the know, us and you, we know the real story. We know what's really going on.

The non-existent ADM silver medal goes to Idles. Their Joy as an Act of Resistance had the second best ADM rating of the year, but only placed 7th in the year-end poll. The third highest rated album of the year was Janelle Monae who only placed… yeah she was top of the year end Polls, we've been over that. Probably won't bother her too much.

Someone who might be bothered though is Marianne Faithfull. Looking at the details, the numbers, the cold hard facts, she made the 6th highest rated album of the year with Negative Capability. Bet it placed pretty high in the Poll of Polls, right? Right? Listen, we know you're not thinking that, obviously. We've hinted at the fact it wasn't placed in the Poll already. It wouldn't make sense to do a whole paragraph about Marianne Faithfull if it also placed pretty high in the Poll. So, as you've already figured out you smart cookie you, is that Marianne Faithfull's album, the 6th highest rated album of the year, was completely forgotten about in the year end lists. Poor Marianne.

Looking back compared to previous years, Janelle Monae's margin at the top of the Poll of Polls looks rather slim. Nobody ran away with the crown this year. Does that mean our sources think 2018 was not a vintage year? Do they maybe think that the releases were so good they just couldn't decide? Or perhaps they just have no idea what to think without a Kendrick Lamar album to enjoy.

Either way, let's all hope Music keeps it together over New Year. Or at least doesn't embarrass itself. Look, Art and Film and TV are a cool group. And as long as Proper Job doesn't drag the conversation down by talking about bills again it should be alright oh no here comes Sport. What a prick. Poor music.

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And the next 10

11. Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love - Reviews
12. Mount Eerie - Now Only - Reviews
13. Mitski - Be The Cowboy - Reviews
14. Kali Uchis - Isolation - Reviews
15. Hot Snakes - Jericho Sirens - Reviews
16. serpentwithfeet - soil - Reviews
17. Pusha T - Daytona - Reviews
18. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar - Reviews
19. U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited - Reviews
20. Sophie - Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides - Reviews

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ADM Report 2017

ADM Report 2016

ADM Report 2015

ADM Report 2014

ADM Report 2013

ADM Report 2012

ADM Report 2011

ADM Report 2010

ADM Report 2009

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