The Independent's Best Albums of 2016

The Independent's Best Albums of 2016

Original Source →

19.

November 4, 2016
Critic Score
80
14 reviews

17.

January 8, 2016
Critic Score
86
45 reviews
It's a finale that suggests a Bowie desperate to break with the past, but acknowledging it'll always be with him – however hard he tries here.

15.

January 27, 2016
Critic Score
70
38 reviews

This is Rihanna at her most strikingly self-assured and it’s wondrous.

14.

September 30, 2016
Critic Score
88
30 reviews

Save for the chunky “Don’t You Wait”, there’s little punch or pop charm to the album, which boasts a surfeit of luscious textures and feisty attitudes, but a shortfall of killer melodies.

12.

May 6, 2016
Critic Score
81
22 reviews

With Konnichiwa, Skepta hoists grime to another level.

9.

March 18, 2016
Critic Score
77
41 reviews
An album by turns terse, sinuous and playful, streaked with disgust and delight in roughly equal measure.

8.

March 4, 2016
Critic Score
70
10 reviews

6.

November 11, 2016
Critic Score
87
32 reviews
Despite the hiatus, this guest-laden double-album finds the group still very much engaged, rattling out tongue-twisting, articulate verbal flows dealing more with social realities than self-aggrandising brags and outlaw fantasies.

5.

August 20, 2016
Critic Score
86
42 reviews

Less structured and song-oriented than Channel Orange, it’s a long, meandering ramble through Ocean’s passing interests and attitudes, hopes and memories ... delivered in an undulating sprechstimme that seems to be avoiding the difficult choice of a compelling melody.

4.

September 30, 2016
Critic Score
82
25 reviews

3.

October 21, 2016
Critic Score
89
32 reviews

You Want It Darker finds Cohen as frustrated and regretful as any 82-year-old has a right to be, railing variously against the world, his own weakness and god.

2.

January 15, 2016
Critic Score
81
19 reviews

1.

April 23, 2016
Critic Score
90
38 reviews

Lemonade is fiery, insurgent, fiercely proud, sprawling and sharply focused in its dissatisfaction.

Original Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/best-albums-2016-beyonce-anderson-paak-frank-ocean-leonard-cohen-chance-the-rapper-a7446336.html
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