Any decent music? We review the reviews. You get the final word

Hello

18 December 2024

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.

Just in

New albums just added

Unlisted recent releases

Follow us on

Join us on twitter

join us on facebook

join us on MySpace

Source list

Specialist Genres

Browse specific styles

ADM.Patreon.promo

New

Saint EtienneThe Night

"Truly beautiful and moving ambient pop mini-triumph that's sad, nostalgic, and elegiac" (9/10 - All Music). "Conjures images of a city just before dawn rises" (7/10 - musicOMH)

New

Snoop DoggMissionary

"Snoop Dogg has a spring in his step on his relentlessly interesting Dr Dre collaboration" (10/10 - The Independent). "Missionary’ is one of rap’s most iconic voices doing what he does best" (7/10 - Clash)

New

Lauren MayberryVicious Creature

"Expectations were high, but the realisation is stratospheric" (10/10 - Dork). "An album that manages to be poignant and pointed without sacrificing any of its unabashed sparkle" (8/10 - DIY)

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

Michael KiwanukaSmall Changes

"A boundless effort that, while revelling in its musical referents stands tall, ceaselessly, beside them" (10/10 - The Skinny). "It's a record built to last" (8/10 - Record Collector)

Laura MarlingPatterns in Repeat

"Both stunningly intimate and endearingly raw" (10/10 - DIY). "A homey, quiet record. It’s one of the best of her career" (8.3/10 - Pitchfork). "Simple, graceful, moving, tender" (9/10 - Uncut)

Amyl And The SniffersCartoon Darkness

"It's a truly glorious rock’n’roll album that is forceful without being simplistic and lairy while maintaining a good sense of humour" - 10/10 - The Arts Desk).

Christopher OwensI Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair

"Potentially one of the year’s best records" (10/10 - DIY). "A must-listen for anyone who’s ever been in the type of love that doesn’t always get a light shone on it" (9/10 - Northern Transmissions)

Ezra CollectiveDance, No One's Watching

"This is truly a fresh musical experience, rather than being just another jazz record" (9/10 - Far Out). "A joyful reminder of music’s ability to bring people together, to move us, and to make us dance" (8/10 - Clash)

Poll of Polls 2020 Phoebe

The ultimate, definitive Best Albums Of 2020

It's the annual ADM Poll of Polls, our roundup of the critics' end-of-year best albums lists - the ultimate, definitive Best Of The Best Ofs, 2020. And this year it's closest ever with only four points separating the top two.

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 the year. It's the ultimate, definitive "Best of the Best Albums of 2020" chart.

Sources: Albumism, Beats Per Minute, Clash, Consequence of Sound, Crack, DIY, Exclaim!, Gigwise, God Is In The TV, Kerrang!, Loud And Quiet, Mojo, musicOMH, NME, No Ripcord, Northern Transmission, Paste, Pitchfork, Pop Matters, Rolling Stone, Slant, Spectrum, Sputnik, The AV Club, The Guardian, The Independent, The Line Of Best Fit, The Quietus, The Skinny, Uncut, XS Noize
(50pts are awarded to the album named No.1, 49pts to the No.2 and so on).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1279 Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
1226 Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
1080 Run the Jewels - RTJ4
958 Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
877 Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
839 Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
832 Taylor Swift - folklore
704 Moses Sumney - græ
700 Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind
655 Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA
650 Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
568 Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways
538 Fleet Foxes - Shore
509 HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III
502 Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death
467 Adrianne Lenker - songs
459 Thundercat - It Is What It Is
454 Charli XCX - how i'm feeling now
430 Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter
403 SAULT - UNTITLED (Black Is)
401 Róisín Murphy - Róisín Machine
370 Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
357 Grimes - Miss Anthropocene
355 Soccer Mommy - color theory
346 Porridge Radio - Every Bad
316 Deftones - Ohms
315 Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour
290 The Microphones - Microphones in 2020
287 Lady Gaga - Chromatica
283 Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor
276 Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG
269 J Hus - Big Conspiracy
257 Jay Electronica - A Written Testimony
254 Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo
246 Caribou - Suddenly
232 SAULT - Untitled (Rise)
231 Adrianne Lenker - instrumentals
225 Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas
202 Megan Thee Stallion - Good News
200 Bartees Strange - Live Forever
189 Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension
181 Bill Callahan - Gold Record
177 Moses Boyd - Dark Matter
175 Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM
175 Mac Miller - Circles
168 Idles - Ultra Mono
168 Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Reunions
166 Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake
166 U.S. Girls - Heavy Light
164 Crack Cloud - Pain Olympics

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SEE 2009 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2010 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2011 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2012 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2013 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2014 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2015 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2016 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2017 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2018 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2019 RESULTS HERE

blog comments powered by Disqus

Latest Reviews

Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee

Overall, Diamond Jubilee is a compelling diamond in a year of classics that, while hurt by some issues, strives to a level of uniqueness and brilliance that makes it one of the most needed albums to listen to this year Spill Magazine

Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee

The record – just like the medium of music – is doomed (or blessed) to exist in this in-between state of ghost-like liminality. Some things exist only through their non-existence, in a brief flash of time, defined through the myths we attribute to them, the outlines we long to perceive within, to imagine another, to feel ourselves Beats Per Minute

Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee

An out-of-the-blue magnum opus from the Canadian indie drag artist. Print edition only Uncut

Support what we do

Support what we do

As we're sure you are aware this is a really tough time for websites like ours. So we are asking you to help support us in any way you can via Patreon. Whether it's a small amount each month or a one-off payment, everything we receive will be put back into making ADM as good as it can possibly be.

Fresh stuff

Fresh stuff

Mahashmashana by Father John Misty

"Unequivocally stunning" (10/10 -The Arts Desk). "Striking a compelling balance between the epic and the intimate" (9/10 - DIY). "One of his finest albums" (9/10 - musicOMH)

White Denim12
"An exciting and slightly experimental new chapter for the band and their most cohesive release in quite a while. A late-year stunner" (8/10 - Clash). "A remarkably cohesive and dynamic record" (9/10 - Uncut)

Kim DealNobody Loves You More
"The sometime Pixies star’s long-awaited and perfectly crafted debut solo album is full of surprises" (9/10 - musicOMH). "Oozes with elegance but still packs some punch" (8/10 - NME)

Primal ScreamCome Ahead
"A triumph in thematic/aural juxtaposition. Up there with Primal Scream’s best" (8/10 Mojo) OR "Not even David Holmes’s involvement can save this woefully inadequate collection" (2/10 - Irish Times)

Linkin ParkFrom Zero
"Compact and intense, the band’s first album since the death of Chester Bennington is a powerful tribute to their legacy" (8/10 - musicOMH) "An opinion-splitting return" (5/10 - Clash)

Mount EerieNight Palace
"A record of such substance that it takes a few listens to really make sense he’s produced one of his best yet" (9/10 - The Line Of Best Fit). "He’s produced one of his best yet" (8/10 - Far Out)

All-time top 10

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.