2021: My Top Albums and Artists of the Year

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This page contains lists and rankings of my favorite studio/live albums, compilations, and artists of 2021. Additionally, I listed famous albums that didn't make the lists, some statistical analysis of my year, and albums I'm looking forward to listening to in 2022. Don't forget to check out my accompanying essay 2021: My Year in Review afterwards. Enjoy!

The 30 Best Studio/Live Albums I Listened to this Year:

As with last year, I divided 100 points among the top ten albums; the most points an album could have is 30, the least is 5 (these rules are stolen from Christgau's Pazz and Jop Year-End Poll). Also as with last year, there were several A- records that didn't make the cut for this list although all the A-'s of the year were in contention. Unlike like last year when the limit was three, no artist was allowed more than two albums on the list. There were only two exceptions to this rule--Randy Newman and Bonnie Raitt--and two half-exceptions: Gram Parsons (one solo album, one with the Flying Burrito Brothers, and one with the Byrds) and Paul Simon (two solo albums and one Simon & Garfunkel). There are a few reasons for the change: 1) I wanted to make the list as diverse as possible, 2) I didn't feel like I was leaving off too many great albums (this year, Leonard Cohen had the most albums graded A- or higher with a meager four; last year, the Rolling Stones had eight), and 3) doing this decreased the amount of re-listening I had to do for the making this list in a significant way.

2. Randy Newman: 12 Songs (1970) 14
3. Paul Simon: Paul Simon (1972) 13
4. Bonnie Raitt: Give It Up (1972) 11
6. Paul Simon: Graceland (1986) 8
8. New York Dolls: New York Dolls (1973) 7
9. David Bowie: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980) 5
10. Leonard Cohen: Ten New Songs (2001) 5

11. The Byrds: The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968)
12. Jerry Lee Lewis: Live at the Star Club, Hamburg (1964)
13. David Bowie: Station to Station (1976)
14. Randy Newman: Good Old Boys (1974)
15. Big Bill Broonzy: Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs (1956)
16. Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel (1974)
17. Randy Newman: Sail Away (1972)
18. Bonnie Raitt: Home Plate (1975)
19. The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)
20. Bonnie Raitt: Luck of the Draw (1991)

21. Rod Stewart: Gasoline Alley (1970)
22. Mississippi Fred McDowell: I Do Not Play No Rock 'N' Roll (1969)
23. Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (1988)
24. MC5: Kick Out the Jams (1969)
25. Delaney & Bonnie: Motel Shot (1971)
26. Buddy Holly: The "Chirping" Crickets (1958)
27. Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
28. The Kinks: We Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)
29. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1977)
30. Love: Forever Changes (1967)

The 15 Best Compilations I Listened to this Year:

I go into greater depth in the year-end essay as to why I decided to separate compilations from studio albums when doing my year-end ranking but here is the most important reason: often covering a larger range of years and styles, compilations are fundamentally different to studio albums so I think about them in a fundamentally different way. Additionally, having two different lists gave several more artists and albums a chance to shine. As you may or may not have noticed, there are a few albums and artists--Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Hank Williams--that do not have links. That's because their grades and reviews have not been posted on my blog yet. I anticipate they will in the coming months as I listen to more albums from their respective genres.

1. Hank Williams: 40 Greatest Hits (1978)
2. Charley Patton: The Best of Charlie Patton (2005)
3. Buddy Holly: Buddy Holly From Original Master Recordings (1985)
4. Rev. Gary Davis: The Complete Early Recordings of Reverend Gary Davis (1994)
5. Jerry Lee Lewis: The Essential Jerry Lee Lewis (2013)
6. Blind Willie Johnson: Dark Was the Night (1998)
7. Elmore James: Shake Your Money Maker: The Best of the Fire Sessions (2001)
8. T-Bone Walker: T-Bone Blues (1959)
9. Bukka White: Parchman Farm (1970)
10. Blind Blake: The Best of Blind Blake (2005)

11. Blind Willie McTell: The Early Years (1990)
12. The Mississippi Sheiks: Honey Baby Let the Deal Go Down: The Best of the Mississippi Sheiks (2004)
13. Mississippi John Hurt: Rediscovered (1998)
14. Lead Belly: Absolutely the Best (2000)
15. Skip James: Complete Early Recordings (2006)

Notable Albums that Didn't Make the Above Lists:

These are a few reasons why these albums didn't make the lists above. Sometimes it's because the artist was already represented the maximum amount in the above lists (noted as "Restricted"), other times the albums just missed the cut (noted as "Honorable Mention"), and lastly because I thought the album is overrated (noted as "Overrated"). Many of the overrated albums are actually graded as a B so I like most of them. Note that there were some albums that were closer to making the above lists that were not listed here because they are not particularly well-known.

David Bowie's Hunky Dory (Restricted, Honorable Mention) and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (Restricted)
The Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man (Restricted)
The Eagles' Hotel California (Overrated)
Leonard Cohen's Songs of Leonard Cohen (Restricted, Honorable Mention) and Songs of Love and Hate (Restricted, Honorable Mention)
Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time (Overrated)
Faces' A Nod Is as Good as a Wink.. to a Blind Horse (Honorable Mention)
Fleetwood Mac's Then Play On (Honorable Mention) and Fleetwood Mac (1975) (Overrated)
Queen's Queen (Overrated), Queen II (Overrated), and A Night at the Opera (Overrated)
The Stooges' The Stooges (Overrated) and Raw Power (Overrated)

My Favorite Artists I Began in 2021:

Comparing compilations with studio albums is very difficult, which is why I avoided it entirely, but comparing artists like Hank Williams or Buddy Holly with Paul Simon or Rod Stewart might be even harder. I persevered anyway although I will admit the list looks sloppy even to me. Additionally, I am not finished with the discographies of some of the artists listed below (such as Jerry Lee Lewis) which means my opinion of them may rise in the future.

1. Hank Williams
2. Gram Parsons/The Flying Burrito Brothers
3. Leonard Cohen
4. Charley Patton
5. Buddy Holly
6. Randy Newman
7. Bonnie Raitt
8. Reverend Gary Davis
9. Paul Simon
10. Rod Stewart

11. Jerry Lee Lewis
12. David Bowie
13. Blind Willie Johnson
14. The Byrds
15. Derek and the Dominoes
16. Big Bill Broonzy
17. MC5
18. Elmore James
19. Blind Blake
20. The Kinks

Statistics for 2021:

Total Albums: 223

The grades I gave in 2021 (note that in as little as a month's time, these stats will be outdated):

A+: 6 (2.7%)
A: 11 (4.9%)
A-: 28 (12.6%)
B+: 38 (17.0%)
B: 43 (19.3%)
B-: 41 (18.4%)
C+: 37 (16.6%)
C: 12 (5.4%)
C-: 4 (1.8%)
D+: 0 (0%)
Not graded yet: 3 (1.3%)

The decades the albums came from (these numbers are partially skewed by the fact that many blues compilations of 1920s, 30s, and 40s recordings were released in the 90s and 2000s):

1950s: 6 (2.7%)
1960s: 51 (22.9%)
1970s: 90 (40.4%)
1980s: 13 (5.8%)
1990s: 21 (9.4%)
2000s: 20 (9.0%)
2010s: 17 (7.6%)
2020s: 5 (2.2%)

Albums I'm Most Anticipating in 2022:

The Ramones' Ramones (1976) and Rocket to Russia (1977)
The Sex Pistols' Nevermind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977)
Television's Marquee Moon (1977)
The Clash's The Clash (1977), Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978), and London Calling (1979)
Wire's Pink Flag (1978)
Brian Eno's Another Green World (1976)
Talking Heads' Remain in Light (1980)
Lou Reed's Blue Mask (1982)
Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes (1972) and Mott (1973)
John Mellencamp's Scarecrow (1985)
Jerry Lee Lewis's Another Place, Another Time (1968)
Compilations from Woody Guthrie, Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, the Carter Family, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Lightin' Hopkins, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and many more!

Spotify Playlist:

I'm not in the business of ranking songs but there were several songs I kept coming back to in 2021. Click here for a playlist of my favorite songs of the year.