2021: My Top Albums and Artists of the Half-Year

on

The 25 Best Albums I Listened to in Half-Year of 2021:

Unlike the year-end lists, the top ten do not have 100 points split between them. This because a) that require more work and b) I don't want to make this list more important than it is. This is simply how I feel about these albums at the moment--in a week's time, I’ll already wish they were ranked differently. These days, I can't believe I didn't put CCR's Willy and the Poor Boys in the top ten albums of 2020. As with year-end lists, no artist was allowed more than three albums on the list, with a half exception for Chris Hillman who appears on the three Byrds' albums and The Gilded Palace of Sin. I listened to nearly all these albums in preparation of making this list. Don't forget to check out my accompanying essay: 2021: My Half-Year in Review.

2. Paul Simon: Paul Simon (1972)
3. Paul Simon: Graceland (1986)
4. Charley Patton: The Best of Charlie Patton (2005)
5. Bonnie Raitt: Give It Up (1972)
10. Rev. Gary Davis: The Complete Early Recordings of Reverend Gary Davis (1994)

11. David Bowie: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)
12. The Kinks: We Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)
13. Blind Willie Johnson: Dark Was the Night (1998)
14. Leonard Cohen: Songs of Love and Hate (1971)
15. The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)
16. Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
17. Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel (1974)
18. Rod Stewart: Gasoline Alley (1970)
19. Bonnie Raitt: Home Plate (1975)
20. The Kinks: Face to Face (1966)
21. David Bowie: Hunky Dory (1971)
22. The Byrds: Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)
23. Leonard Cohen: Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
24. Delaney & Bonnie: Motel Shot (1971)
25. Bukka White: Parchman Farm (1969)

My Favorite Artists I Began in the Half-Year of 2021:

1. Gram Parsons/The Flying Burrito Brothers
2. Charley Patton
3. Paul Simon
4. David Bowie
5. The Byrds
6. Bonnie Raitt
7. Rod Stewart
8. Rev. Gary Davis
9. Blind Willie Johnson
10. The Kinks

Statistics for the Half-Year:

A breakdown of the grades I've given this year:

A+: 1 (0.7%)
A: 8 (5.4%)
A-: 17 (11.5%)
B+: 27 (18.2%)
B: 27 (18.2%)
B-: 29 (19.6%)
C+: 23 (15.5%)
C: 10 (6.8%)
C-: 1 (0.7%)
D+: 0 (0%)
Not graded yet: 3 (2.0%)

A breakdown of the decades from which those albums came from:

1960s: 40 (27.0%)
1970s: 55 (37.2%)
1980s: 7 (4.7%)
1990s: 14 (9.5%)
2000s: 15 (10.1%)
2010s: 13 (8.8%)
2020s: 2 (1.4%)

Albums I'm Most Anticipating in the Second Half of 2021:

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977)
Lou Reed's Blue Mask (1982)
Randy Newman's 12 Songs (1970)
Al Green's Call Me (1973)
Various Artists: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto (1985)
Joy of Cooking's Joy of Cooking (1971)
Sly and the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On (1971)
Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes (1972) and Mott (1973)
Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything? (1972)
The Stooges' The Stooges (1969) and Raw Power (1973)
New York Dolls' New York Dolls (1973) and In Too Much Too Soon (1974)

Blues Artists I'm Most Anticipating:

Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, B.B. King, Albert King, and Freddie King