The Best Albums of 2021 (So Far)

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We’re a little over half way into 2021 … so it’s that time again to recap the year in music. Below, you will find both our combined staff top 30, as well as individual lists from our contributors and moderators. Here’s hoping you find something new to love.

Note: You can share your own list in our music forum.

The Top Albums of 2021 (So Far)

1. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
2. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
3. Origami Angel – Gami Gang
4. Hayley Williams – Flowers for Vases / Descancos
5. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
6. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
7. Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight
8. Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
9. The Night Game – Dog Years
10. Citizen – Life in Your Glass World
11. Wild Pink – A Billion Little Lights
12. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
13. Weezer – Van Weezer
14. Modest Mouse – The Golden Casket
15. The Sonder Bombs – Clothbound
16. Taylor Swift – Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
17. Rise Against – Nowhere Generation
18. Weezer – OK Human
19. Middle Kids – Today We’re the Greatest
20. Twenty One Pilots – Scaled and Icy
21. The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art
22. KennyHoopla – Survivors Guilt
23. Tyler, the Creator – Call Me if You Get Lost
24. Eric Church – Heart
25. Thomas Rhett – Country Again: Side A
26. The Weather Station – Ignorance
27. Fiddlehead – Between the Richness
28. Electric Century – Electric Century
29. Kali Masi – [laughs]
30. The Armed – Ultrapop

The Playlist

Looking for an easy way to check out all of the albums in our top thirty? We’ve got a playlist for that. You’ll find one on Apple Music and one on Spotify with one great song from each great album.

The Nerd Stat Stuff

Our final compiled list was put together using our ranking algorithm. There were 9 contributors and 127 unique albums across all of the lists. In total, 36 albums out of the 127 were on more than one list with the number one album appearing on 8 of the 9 lists.

Contributor Lists

Jason Tate

1. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
2. The Night Game – Dog Years
3. Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
4. Hayley Williams – Flowers for Vases / Descansos
5. KennyHoopla – Survivors Guilt
6. Porter Robinson – Nurture
7. Pale Waves – Who Am I?
8. Chaser – Dreamers
9. Joy Oladokun – In Defense of My Own Happiness
10. Electric Century – Electric Century
11. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
12. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
13. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
14. Origami Angel – Gami Gang
15. The Sonder Bombs – Clothbound
16. Dream Job – Dream Job
17. Sir Sly – The Rise and Fall of Loverboy
18. While She Sleeps – Sleep Society
19. Krang – Make Arcade Great Again
20. Twenty One Pilots – Scaled and Icy

Craig Manning

1. Mat Kearney – January Flower
2. Patrick Droney – The State of the Heart
3. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
4. Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight
5. Weezer – Van Weezer
6. Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR
7. Parker Millsap – Be Here Instead
8. Morgan Wade – Reckless
9. Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall – The Marfa Tapes
10. The Night Game – Dog Years
11. Carly Pearce – 29
12. Lainey Wilson – Sayin’ What I’m Thinking
13. Eric Church – Heart
14. Taylor Swift – Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
15. Thomas Rhett – Country Again Side A
16. Starlight Cleaning Co. – Starlight Cleaning Co.
17. Origami Angel – Gami Gang
18. Wild Pink – A Billion Little Lights
19. Ashley Monroe – Rosegold
20. Michigan Rattlers – That Kind of Life

Garrett Lemons

1. Common Hymnal – Praise and Protest
2. The Undertaking! – Funeral Psalms
3. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
4. Taylor Swift – Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
5. Origami Angel – Gami Gang
6. Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR
7. The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art
8. Thomas Rhett – Country Again: Side A
9. Kali Masi – [laughs]
10. Eric Church – Heart
11. Rise Against – Nowhere Generation
12. Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight
13. Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself
14. Carrie Underwood – My Savior
15. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

Mary Varvaris

1. Shame – Drunk Tank Pink
2. Hayley Williams – Flowers for Vases / Descancos
3. Home Is Where – I Became Birds
4. Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
5. Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg
6. Citizen – Life in Your Glass World
7. Squid – Bright Green Field
8. The Armed – Ultrapop
9. The Sonder Bombs – Clothbound
10. Architects – For Those That Wish to Exist
11. Black Country, New Road – For the First Time
12. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
13. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
14. Crowded House – Dreamers Are Waiting
15. Genesis Owusu – Smiling with No Teeth
16. Modest Mouse – The Golden Casket
17. Downhaul – Proof
18. The Weather Station – Ignorance
19. Deadlights – The Uncanny Valley
20. Pom Pom Squad – Death of a Cheerleader
21. Fiddlehead – Between the Richness
22. Middle Kids – Today We’re the Greatest
23. Zeal & Ardor – Wake of a Nation
24. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
25. Carla Geneve – Learn to Like It
26. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
27. Tribulation – Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
28. For Those I Love – For Those I Love
29. Lost Girls – Menneskekollektivet
30. Wardruna – Kvitravn

Adam Grundy

1. Middle Kids – Today We’re The Greatest
2. The Night Game – Dog Years
3. Hayley Williams – Flowers For Vases
4. Twenty One Pilots – Scaled and Icy
5. Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR
6. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
7. Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight
8. Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
9. Taylor Swift – Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
10. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
11. Origami Angel – GAMI GANG
12. Talk Show Host – Mid-Century Modern
13. David Cook – The Looking Glass
14. Rise Against – Nowhere Generation
15. Electric Century – Electric Century
16. Royal Blood – Typhoons
17. St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home
18. Beach Bunny – Blame Game
19. Chase Tremaine – Development & Compromise
20. Lilith Czar – Created from Filth and Dust
21. Frank Iero and the Patience – Heaven is A Place, This is a Place
22. Weezer – OK Human
23. Waxflower – We Might Be Alright
24. AFI – Bodies
25. Atreyu – Baptize
26. Rostam – Changephobia
27. Sir Sly – The Rise and Fall of Loverboy
28. Ethan Gold – Earth City 1: The Longing
29. The Juliana Theory – A Dream Away
30. Weezer – Van Weezer

Trevor Graham

1. Aaron Frazer – Introducing…
2. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
3. Arlo Parks – Collapsed In Sunbeams
4. R.A.P. Ferreira – Bob’s Son
5. The Weather Station – Ignorance
6. Czarface & MF DOOM – Super What?
7. Wild Pink – A Billion Little Lights
8. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
9. Mach-Hommy – Pray For Haiti
10. Yellow Ostrich – Soft
11. Charlie Martin – Imaginary People
12. Healy – Tungsten
13. Kenny Mason – Angelic Hoodrat: Supercut
14. Floatie – Voyage Out
15. Middle Kids – Today We’re The Greatest
16. Puma Blue – In Praise Of Shadows
17. Ben Howard – Collections From The Whiteout
18. Avind – Ta sjansen
19. Nascent – Minus The Bullshit Life’s Great
20. MIKE – Disco!
21. Citizen – Life In Your Glass World
22. Porter Robinson – Nurture
23. Crumb – Ice Melt
24. Benny Sings – Music
25. Monobody – Comma
26. Chester Watson – 1997
27. The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art
28. Claud – Super Monster
29. Joyce Wrice – Overgrown
30. stillhungry – stillhungry

Aaron Mook

1. Modest Mouse – The Golden Casket
2. Tyler, the Creator – Call Me if You Get Lost
3. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
4. Weezer – OK Human
5. Brockhampton – ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE
6. Armand Hammer/The Alchemist – Haram
7. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE – Entertainment, Death
8. Citizen – Life in Your Glass World
9. Weezer – Van Weezer

Brett Bodner

1. Modest Mouse – The Golden Casket
2. Foo Fighters – Medicine at Midnight
3. Origami Angel – Gami Gang
4. Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR
5. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
6. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
7. KennyHoopla & Travis Barker – SURVIVORS GUILT: THE MIXTAPE//
8. Tigers Jaw – I Won’t Care How You Remember Me
9. Wild Pink – A Billion Little Lights
10. Weezer – Van Weezer
11. Weezer – OK Human
12. Lucy Dacus – Home Videos
13. Rise Against – Nowhere Generation
14. Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
15. Hayley Williams – FLOWERS for VASES / descansos
16. Kali Masi – [laughs]
17. The Hold Steady – Open Door Policy
18. Cloud Nothings – The Shadow I Remember
19. The Sonder Bombs – Clothbound
20. The Night Game – Dog Years
21. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
22. Hurry – Fake Idea
23. Atreyu – Baptize
24. Twenty One Pilots – Scaled and Icy
25. AFI – Bodies

Drew Beringer

1. Fiddlehead – Between The Richness
2. Origami Angel – GAMI GANG
3. Adult Mom – Driver
4. Backxwash – I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES
5. For Your Health – In Spite Of
6. Hurry – Fake Ideas
7. Lucy Dacus – Home Video
8. God’s Hate – God’s Hate
9. We Are The Union – Ordinary Life
10. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
11. Citizen – Life In Your Glass World
12. Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
13. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
14. Hayley Williams – Flowers for Vases / descanos
15. Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
16. Portrayal of Guilt – We Are Always Alone
17. Tyler, The Creator – CALL ME IF YOU’RE LOST
18. The Armed – ULTRAPOP
19. Wild Pink – A Billion Little Lights
20. Sleater-Kinney – Path of Wellness
21. Harmony Woods – Graceful Rage
22. Tigers Jaw – I Won’t Care How You Remember Me
23. Palette Knife – Ponderosa Snake House And The Chamber Of Bullshit
24. The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art
25. Closer – Within One Stem
26. Faye Webster – I Know I’m Funny haha
27. Regional Justice Center – Crime & Punishment
28. The Sonder Bombs – Clothbpound
29. Free Throw – Piecing It Together
30. Beartooth – Below

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