2020 - The Top 10 Albums

As the year draws to a close, I've been thinking a lot about what my favorite albums were for 2020. Some seemed obvious, while others took looking through Spotify to remember. Despite all that has been happening in the world, there has been some excellent music that graced our ears this year. While some websites will make lists of the top albums from a more critical standpoint, I almost always go with the albums that I grew to love the most. Some I would argue are critically good, but that's not the point of this list. I'm not here to tell you what albums you should have heard if you're a true music enthusiast. I'm simply sharing the music that brought me joy this year, and I hope it can do the same for you. Without further ado, here's my top 10 albums of 2020.

10. No Pressure - Logic

• The supposed last album from Logic, he definitely chose to go out with a bang. After a string of albums that seemed to hit or miss with fans, No Pressure finds Logic at the top of his game. While the first half of the album felt stronger than the second, it's a solid album from start to finish. It combines all of the forms that Logic has grown through - lyrical wizardry, braggadocio, and storytelling elements all are woven throughout this release. Logic went to his roots for No Pressure, and the result is an impressive end to a fiery career (whether this will be the final album remains to be seen).

• Recommended: "Soul Food II", "GP4", "Open Mic\\Aquarius III", "Perfect"

9. Manic - Halsey

• This was an album that took a little bit of growing and diving deeper into to fully ingest. My first few listens left me a little underwhelmed - it was good, but it felt a little all over the place musically. Her last two albums were very cohesive, telling a story with both the music and lyrics, leaving the listener with a strong impression of what the underlying theme was. Manic wasn't as obvious, but once I understood it, I appreciated the album much more. It's a more vulnerable and accurate depiction of Halsey as a person than she has presented in previous releases. I respect that immensely, and it made me reevaluate how I saw the album as a whole.

• Recommended: "Ashley", "You Should Be Sad", "Finally//beautiful stranger"

8. 3.15.20 - Childish Gambino

• What I've come to expect from Childish Gambino is the unexpected. It feels difficult to write about this album, because I've realized how many layers Gambino works into his works of music. I'm almost finished with the latest season of Dissect on Because The Internet, a podcast on Spotify that breaks down hip-hop albums track by track and dives deep into the themes and story arcs. 3.15.20 is going to be album that's like wine - it gets even better with age and proper understanding.

• Recommended: "Algorythm", "12.38", "32.22" "53.49" (but really, listen to the whole album. Context is huge.)

7. After Hours - The Weeknd

• This was the first solid album The Weeknd has put out since Beauty Behind The Madness. I love some of the songs he's done since then, but the albums have not felt cohesive or as carefully crafted as they could have been. After Hours, however, tells a story and flows from beginning to end. It's haunting, it's catchy, it's evocative and thought-provoking. It blends nostalgia with modern sounds. It's what I love in a good pop album - music that is pleasing both to the ears and to the mind.

• Recommended: "Alone Again", "Snowchild", "Heartless" "After Hours"

6. Tension - Anchor & Braille

• Anchor & Braille is one of the better side projects I've found for a band I love - it has allowed Anberlin's Stephen Christian to delve into sounds and ideas that would have felt out of place in Anberlin. The project has evolved over the years, from their alternative acoustic beginnings to a heavier incorporation of electronic sounds and elements. This album feels like a nice mixing of the two ends of the spectrum. I had been waiting (somewhat) patiently for the follow-up to Songs for the Late Night Drive Home, which still remains my favorite album for them. Tension was a solid release in its own right, however, with an exploration of new sonic ideas and sounds that kept me coming back to it again and again.

• Recommended: "Black Sea", "Eventful Horizons", "3 Beautiful Songs"

5. Hybrid Theory (20th Anniversary Edition) - Linkin Park

• It almost feels a little like cheating to include an album that turned 20 on this list, but I'm a bit biased, so here we are. This wasn't just a rerelease with a couple unheard tracks - they packed this album full of fantastic live performances, demos, and unreleased tracks (it's nearly four and half hours, folks). It lets the listener better understand the buildup to LP's debut, to feel like they can be a part of that era. I knew many of the demos and rare songs, but it was really cool to be able to hear ones that I hadn't found, and to have them all available whenever I want instead of having to search through Youtube to hear them. I was especially excited to hear the Xero demos in better quality - the band's name before they found Chester Bennington, featuring original lead singer Mark Wakefield - and see the early, beginning stages of the band that went on to dominate the world. I didn't listen to this one as much as some of the other albums on this list, but it's one I will revisit for years and years, and that makes it special.

• Recommended: "Step Up", "And One", "Dedicated", "So Far Away", "She Couldn't", "Reading My Eyes", "Could Have Been" (there's 80 songs on this album, I get to put more than the others, OK?)

4. Petals For Armor - Hayley Williams

• The debut solo album from Paramore's lead singer was more than just a solid body of music - it was revealing of a side that we really hadn't seen from Williams before. I enjoyed how she released it in three parts before the full album came out. It gave me time to digest the new sound over time, and gave me a better appreciation for the whole piece. There's a great variety here, from the the "quiet rage" of Simmer (a paraphrasing of the first line of the song) to the more indie pop of "Cinnamon", "Why We Ever", and "My Friend", to the upbeat yet lyrically complex sounds of "Dead Horse", "Sugar On The Rim" and "Over It". There's something here for a lot of different listeners, and while it might not have been what some people were expecting, it's an album that showcases the talent and versatility of Williams.

• Recommended: "Simmer", "Over It", "My Friend", "Cinnamon"

3. Post Human: Survival Horror - Bring Me The Horizon

• If this album/EP had released earlier in the year, it might have been my favorite overall. With a little less time to digest it than some of the other albums, I still want to give it more listens (although I've already done that a number of times), but I felt compelled to rank it within the top 5. From start to finish, it's an exhilarating ride, a rollercoaster of sounds and energy that felt refreshing for a year full of stagnant moments. If I'm being totally honest, if I had liked the intro song, "Dear Diary" more, it would have been the top album. The run of songs from "Parasite Eve" through the incredible, breathtaking closer of "One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As You March Towards Your Death" (yes, that is the official song title) is hard to not listen to from front to back. The peak, for me, is the stretch between "Teardrops:", "Obey", "Itch For The Cure (When Will We Be Free?)", and "Kingslayer". It's such an adrenaline rush, it makes you feel ready to go out and run a marathon or blow through the zombie apocalypse. I've had a very time picking my favorite - it falls between "Kingslayer" and "Butterflies", and it's difficult because they're incredible for very different reasons. The powerhouse that is "Kingslayer" never gets old to blast through, while the rawness and haunting beauty of Amy Lee of Evanescence and Oli Sykes duet on "Butterflies" gets me every single time. This is supposedly the first in a series of four EP's to be released over the next year, which makes me stoked for continued new music from the band in 2021.

• Recommended: "Obey", Teardrops", Kingslayer", "Butterflies"

• Note: while editing this, I moved it up a spot because it's just too good.

2. you'll be fine - Hot Mulligan

• I found this album right when the world went into shutdown, and it felt so perfect for the amount of energy and angst it held within the 30 minutes of music. I had no previous exposure to the band before, and was surprised to find a strain of pop-punk that didn't necessarily feel targeted towards a specific age or point of life. The back and forth between the vocals are really what kept me coming back, the grit and the softness woven throughout to create a thrilling ride full of well crafted lyrics. The chorus for "*Equip Sunglasses*" is my favorite set of lines:

"It's good to hate, isn't it?

Popping veins, dissonance

Draw and quarter a stranger

To feel some blood on your fingers

You take away, robbery

Follow trends as a hobby

Find flaws in everything else

Because you don't like yourself

Woe's me"

• The lead singer is talking about the idea of speaking out on social media or in public, and I relate a lot to this idea of fear and the "cancel culture" which I am not a big fan of. It's something I've come back to a lot, hence why it was one of my favorite songs of the year. But I really love this album, and know it's something I'm going to be coming back to in this new year.

• Recommended: "*Equip Sunglasses*", "Feal Like Crab", "Analog Fade (New Bule Sky)", "The Song Formerly Known As Intro" (the misspelling in the titles is intentional)

1. Circles - Mac Miller

• As I mentioned in my review of this album, I had no idea it was coming out. I thought Swimming would be the last release from Mac Miller after his tragic passing, and so was delighted and thankful that we got one more release. It was a more chill album than Swimming, more introspection and quiet moments - a fitting release for the year that was 2020. From the opening self titled track to the moody "Woods", this album was the perfect soundtrack for the time I spend in deep thought about many aspects of life. There were moments of light-heartedness mixed in, with songs like "Complicated" and "Blue World" blending a hint of bravado with a desire for some peace and quiet. Overall, it was a cohesive work, an album that quietly requests to be listened to from start to finish and rewards those who do so with a bittersweet experience. I hope it's not the last of unreleased work from Miller, but if it is, it is a beautiful capstone to a far too short career.

• Recommended: "Circles", "Complicated", "Blue World", "Woods"

Honorable Mentions:

folklore/evermore - Taylor Swift

• In the past, I might have made some sort of remark defending this choice. However, I have learned (alright, sometimes I'm still learning) that judging an artist by their past work or a stigma one has can deprive you of great music. This was the case with these two albums, both of which I hadn't really given proper listens until earlier this month. These feel like real, well crafted collections of music - showcasing a sense of maturity and growing up that I hadn't quite heard from Swift before. I was impressed with the level of vulnerability, the rawness these albums put on display. Of the two, I think I prefer evermore to folklore, but both are good for different vibes, different situations.

The Slow Rush - Tame Impala

• While I wasn't as thrilled with The Slow Rush as I would have hoped, I feel like my affection for this album is going to be a slow growing. I was a huge fan of Currents, but as I think back on my time with that album, it was a similar process of coming back again and again before I really loved it. Even as I listen through The Slow Rush while writing this, I'm reminded of the strength of the album and it's smooth transitions. I said this in my comprehensive review of the album, but this is one that will stay with me past 2020.

It Was Good Until It Wasn't - Kehlani

• I mentioned how I discovered this album in my top songs post, but I was super impressed with this album when I gave it a listen. I hadn't heard a full body of work from Kehlani, but I'm glad this was my true introduction. The whole album oozes sensuality, filled with moments of subtle and explicit sexiness. It's perfectly balanced, not seeking moments of shock or aggressiveness but instead providing love and lust that play off each other.

Absent Sounds - From Indian Lakes

• Now, for anyone familiar with this absolutely stellar band, you might be wondering why their 2014 album is in my 2020 album post. I wasn't planning on it until my Spotify data from 2020 came in, and every track from this album had made my 100 most played songs of the year. I didn't realize how much I had been going back to it, reliving that time when it was released and thinking about how it's aged so well as I have grown older. While Everything Feels Better Now is most likely my favorite album by the group, I will readily acknowledge that Absent Sounds is the band's best, most well written album. I know this will be one of my most listened to albums for the rest of my life.