The Young Folks' Top 50 Albums of 2020

They ditched their plunderphonics-only mindset, grabbed ahold of new artists as vocal guests, and still managed to make it a great addition to their discography, with as many, if not more important lessons to gain.

Side B is a little flatter than the first Dedicated, but I don’t think it was a bad decision to release more of the 200+ songs she reportedly wrote for the album. If you like Carly Rae Jepsen, you’ll like it.

It is pop and sentimental, a cohesively varied ride that gives listeners plenty of singles to pluck out based on their own slice of creative madness.

Here, the melodies are good, but the songs still fall flat. They are good at writing lyrics, but the lyrics do not feel satisfactorily cohesive.

As today’s mainstream looks for comfort and solace in a time of uncertainty, the nostalgic The New Abnormal is rather appropriate for a time when absurdity is every day.

Miss Anthropocene’s less interesting musicality, particularly the dull thud of its beats, draws attention to the brickwalling and make the whole experience that much less enjoyable.

Bob Dylan’s 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, finds the aging Nobel Prize-winning singer-songwriter looking to the past and settling comfortably there both in terms of sound and subject matter.

What Petals for Armor thinks is stripped-down and intimate actually sounds unfinished and undercooked musically. Williams’s great songwriting remains intact, even if sometimes she’s still awkward confronting her past, but the music here is mostly boring and basic.

The band plays with feature artists like a grandmaster plays with chess pieces; weaving them in confusing, but intelligent ways until it results in a complete victory.

Each song leads beautifully to the next and Deacon clearly built the album with a cohesive experience in mind. Like a digital-infused sunrise, it is beautiful with every rotation.

The songs are reliably sunny and up-tempo like the best of Tennis singles of the past, but there is a perfect amount of weight here that keeps their brand of airy pop from floating away.

If you are looking for spooky tales in an urban setting, or if you want more of Daveed Diggs’s music in your life, then Visions of Bodies Being Burned and its predecessor There Existed an Addiction to Blood are for you.

Throughout High Road, Kesha maintains an exciting unpredictability as every song wanders into various genres, hooks, and vocal deliveries.

At the end of 2020, Plastic Hearts arrives as a relief, a reminder of the fun to be had and the beauty along the way.

While it might not have the staying power to be revived in whatever post-COVID world people face, Chromatica is at least a sign that Gaga still knows how to have fun. She’s created a wild party for herself in the 12 years since her breakthrough, but she could still get lost with her little monsters rather than hover above them.

Notes on a Conditional Form is a strange album that will be undoubtedly be alienating to some. However, for a band of this size to end their run with something this ambitious is worth at least some praise. Whether you like it or not, there will undoubtedly be a song or two that will stick with you.

Run the Jewels prove themselves to be a great band on RTJ4, and not just a combination of two separate talents working together.

Circles is an occasionally tragic but as a whole comforting farewell to one of the most unique artists in rap history.

It’s her most consistently engaging album, with a rustic charm delivered by her sharp songwriting and choice of backup band, which consists of a strong cohort of experienced country-rockers.

Shore is an album about the growth of individuals and how we should progress in times of hardship. Each song feels like a warm blanket that rests over you. The way that Fleet Foxes are able to conjure up such emotion, especially given the circumstances surrounding the time we’re in, is a wonder to behold.

The album is their longest, with 16 tracks compared to the 11 of the two previous records, but it never feels long. WIMPII breezes along effortlessly, carried by HAIM’s commitment to every song and feeling.

folklore reveals an earnestness and eloquence that Swift has never before expressed to such an extent. Like the towering trees on its cover, it’s a testament to both steadfastness and growth.

For fans of synth-pop, How I’m Feeling Now shows that good work can still be done with remote collaboration and the drive to create.