Best Albums
Discover
New Releases
Lists
Genres
News
Community
Sign In
Overview
Best Albums
Worst Albums
Reviews
Lists
Perfect Scores
The Observer
Follow
www.theguardian.com/observer
Highest Rated Albums of 2016
Decade
2010s
All Time
2020s
2010s
2000s
Source
The Observer
All
A.V. Club
Albumism
AllHipHop
AllMusic
Alternative Press
American Songwriter
Beats Per Minute
Billboard
Clash
Consequence of Sound
Crack Magazine
DIY
Dork
Drowned in Sound
Earmilk
Entertainment Weekly
Exclaim!
FasterLouder
FLOOD Magazine
GIGsoup
Gigwise
God Is in the TV
HipHopDX
Loud and Quiet
Louder Than War
Metal Hammer
Metal Injection
Metal Sucks
Mixmag
Mojo
musicOMH
NME
No Ripcord
Northern Transmissions
NOW Magazine
Paste
Pitchfork
PopMatters
Prefix
Pretty Much Amazing
Q Magazine
Record Collector
Resident Advisor
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spectrum Culture
Spill Magazine
Spin
Sputnikmusic
The 405
The Arts Desk
The Guardian
The Independent
The Line of Best Fit
The Needle Drop
The Observer
The Skinny
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Telegraph
The Young Folks
Time Out London
Tiny Mix Tapes
Uncut
Under The Radar
Upset
XLR8R
XXL
Genre
All
All
Alternative R&B
Alternative Rock
Art Pop
Art Rock
Country
Dance Pop
Electronic
Electropop
Folk
Hip Hop
House
Indie Rock
Neo-Soul
Pop
Pop Rock
Pop Soul
Psychedelic
R&B
Rock
Singer-Songwriter
Soul
Synthpop
Trap Rap
2010s
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
1
.
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
October 21, 2016
Singer-Songwriter
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
2
.
NxWorries - Yes Lawd!
October 21, 2016
Neo-Soul
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
3
.
Kate Tempest - Let Them Eat Chaos
October 7, 2016
Hip Hop
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
4
.
Shovels & Rope - Little Seeds
October 7, 2016
Folk
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
5
.
Angel Olsen - My Woman
September 2, 2016
Indie Rock
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
6
.
Kenny Barron Trio - Book of Intuition
March 4, 2016
Jazz
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
7
.
Beyoncé - Lemonade
April 23, 2016
R&B
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
8
.
William Tyler - Modern Country
June 3, 2016
Folk
Score
100
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
9
.
Nils Landgren - Some Other Time (A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein)
January 29, 2016
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
10
.
Stan Getz - Moments in Time
February 19, 2016
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
11
.
Christine Tobin - Pelt
November 25, 2016
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
12
.
Little Simz - Stillness in Wonderland
December 16, 2016
Hip Hop
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
13
.
Childish Gambino - "Awaken, My Love!"
December 2, 2016
Neo-Soul
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
14
.
A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service
November 11, 2016
Hip Hop
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
15
.
John Legend - Darkness and Light
December 2, 2016
Neo-Soul
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
16
.
Sidestepper - Supernatural Love
February 5, 2016
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
17
.
Gabriella Cohen - Full Closure and No Details
February 24, 2016
Singer-Songwriter
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
18
.
Alicia Keys - HERE
November 4, 2016
Neo-Soul
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
19
.
Solange - A Seat at the Table
September 30, 2016
Alternative R&B
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
20
.
John Prine - For Better, or Worse
September 30, 2016
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
21
.
Martha Wainwright - Goodnight City
November 11, 2016
Singer-Songwriter
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
22
.
Craig David - Following My Intuition
September 30, 2016
Electronic
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
23
.
Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct
November 18, 2016
Heavy Metal
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
Spotify
24
.
Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
September 27, 2016
Hip Hop
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
25
.
Jones - New Skin
October 7, 2016
Neo-Soul
Score
80
Source →
Amazon
iTunes
Music
Spotify
1
2
3
4
...
6
NOTE:
This is not a year end list. This list is ordered by the ratings The Observer awarded albums throughout 2016.
THE OBSERVER'S HIGHEST RATED ALBUMS OF ...
2020
2019
2017
2015
You May Also Like
The Needle Drop's Highest Rated Albums of 2016
Pitchfork's Highest Rated Albums of 2016
Consequence of Sound's Highest Rated Albums of 2016
AllMusic's Highest Rated Albums of 2016
NME's Highest Rated Albums of 2016
Connect with AOTY
Like Us
Follow Us
Become a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Advertisement
New Album Releases
75
A. G. Cook
Apple
73
Alicia Keys
ALICIA
73
Oh Sees
Protean Threat
80
Ava Max
Heaven & Hell
78
Deradoorian
Find The Sun
More Releases
Advertisement
