The best albums of 2021 include Doja Cat, Poppy, Desperate Journalist, Demi Lovato, Garbage, James McMurtry, Deafheaven, Parquet Courts and Polo G. Best of 2021 We’re in the top 30 now! You’ve hopefully been waiting on the edge of your seat for a full week to get to this…

The best albums of 2021 include St. Vincent, Dave, Madlib, Floating Points with Pharaoh Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, The Pretty Reckless, Mogwai, José González, Silk Sonic, Arlo Parks and Royal Blood. Best of 2021 We’re getting into the nitty-gritty now. There are likely some albums here that…

The best albums of 2021 include Evanescence, Vince Staples, Julien Baker, Lindsey Buckingham, Black Midi, Lucy Dacus, Leon Bridges, Faye Webster and Shame. Best of 2021 Welcome to the sixth part of the top 50 albums of the year, according to the RIFF staff that reviewed hundreds this year.…

The best albums of 2021 include BROCKHAMPTON, Taylor Swift, Isaiah Rashad, Injury Reserve, Lana Del Rey, Genesis Owusu, Los Lobos, Jungle, The Mountain Goats and DMX. Best of 2021 Thanks for sticking with us this far, as we’ve now reached part five of our ambitious ranking of the year’s…

The best albums of 2021 include Wale, Torres, Eric Church, serpentwithfeet, Mdou Moctar, Valerie June, Danny Elfman, Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth, Japanese Breakfast and Mastodon. Best of 202 Whew, we’ve almost made it halfway through our list of the best albums of 2021. This year may have felt…

The best albums of 2021 include Jackson Browne, J Balvin, Cheekface, Jame Blake, Tori Amos, Billy Gibbons, IDLES, Paul Weller, Jon Batiste, Rostam, The Killers and Between the Buried and Me. Welcome back to RIFF’s top album countdown! If you’re here just to complain about the order or lack…

The best albums of 2021 include Bleachers, My Morning Jacket, Ryley Walker, ZHU, Diana Ross, Made Kuti and Femi Kuti, Allison Russell, Chris Pierce, Hand Habits, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney, Weezer, Amy Shark and Heartless Bastards. Welcome back to RIFF’s year-end album roundup! If you’re joining us…

The best albums of 2021 include Marina Diamandis, The Marias, The Fratellis, Maximo Park, Morgan Wallen, Wardruna, Prince, At the Gates, Hayley Williams, Andrew W.K., Miranda Lambert, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Liz Phair. RIFF’s writers reviewed hundreds of albums in 2021, and although the year isn’t over,…

Illustration: Skott Bennett/STAFF. None of us here at RIFF would blame you if you just wanted to forget 2020 ever happened. We certainly do. But one of the few brights spot was that some pretty good music came out, so if you decide you want to find the year’s…

You should be excited about new albums from (clockwise from top left) Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Lorde, My Bloody Valentine, Lykke Li, Tierra Whack, Modest Mouse, GZA, Ghost and The Cure. Will this be the year Zack de la Rocha releases one of his shelved solo albums? No! But…