Year-End Lists

Vinyl Me, Please: Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018]

1. Ctrl
   SZA
2. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
3. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
4. Pure Comedy
   Father John Misty
5. Melodrama
   Lorde
6. Turn Out the Lights
   Julien Baker
7. Aromanticism
   Moses Sumney
8. Capacity
   Big Thief
9. Nightmare Logic
   Power Trip
10. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
11. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
12. A Deeper Understanding
    The War on Drugs
13. City Music
    Kevin Morby
14. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
15. Process
    Sampha
16. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
17. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
18. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
19. Drunk
    Thundercat
20. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
21. Utopia
    Björk
22. Party
    Aldous Harding
23. Half-Light
    Rostam
24. You’re Not As _____ As You Think
    Sorority Noise
25. SATURATION
    BROCKHAMPTON
25. SATURATION II
    BROCKHAMPTON
26. Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1
    Calvin Harris
27. 4:44
    JAY-Z
28. Ash
    Ibeyi
29. From A Room: Volume 1
    Chris Stapleton
29. From A Room: Volume 1
    Chris Stapleton
30. Yours Conditionally
    Tennis

Flood Magazine: Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014]

1. Capacity
   Big Thief
2. Forced Witness
   Alex Cameron
3. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
4. TFCF
   Liars
5. Rest
   Charlotte Gainsbourg
6. Hot Thoughts
   Spoon
7. If All I Was Was Black
   Mavis Staples
8. Need to Feel Your Love
   Sheer Mag
9. Lotta Sea Lice
   Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile
10. Introducing the Crimsmen
    The Peacers
11. City Music
    Kevin Morby
12. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
13. Ty Segall
    Ty Segall
14. Dark Matter
    Randy Newman
15. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
    Open Mike Eagle
16. Bad Posture
    John Andrews
17. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
18. We All Want the Same Things
    Craig Finn
19. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
20. Music for the Age of Miracles
    The Clientele
21. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
22. War & Leisure
    Miguel
23. Orc
    Oh Sees
24. Slowdive
    Slowdive
25. The Courtneys II
    The Courtneys

Joey Guerra: 10 Best Albums of 2017, as published by Chron

1. Residente
   Residente
2. American Teen
   Khalid
3. Melodrama
   Lorde
4. Flower Boy
   Tyler, The Creator
5. Macgregor Park
   Fat Tony
6. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
7. The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone
   Lee Ann Womack
8. Bluebird of Happiness
   Tamar Braxton
9. Harry Styles
   Harry Styles
10. La Trenza
    Mon Laferte

Also worth a listen

• Trophy
  Sunny Sweeney
• WildHorse
  RaeLynn
• Unstoppable
  Karol G
• More Life
  Drake
• Mis Planes Son Amarte
  Juanes

Jim Harrington: Best Albums of 2017, as published by San Jose Mercury News

[see also 2010s • 2018]

1. Melodrama
   Lorde
2. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
3. American Teen
   Khalid
4. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
5. reputation
   Taylor Swift
6. One-Way Conversations
   Hollyn
7. Swear I’m Good At This
   Diet Cig
8. Lust for Life
   Lana Del Rey
9. A Deeper Understanding
   The War on Drugs
10. The Order of Time
    Valerie June

Honorable Mention

• 4:44
  JAY-Z
• The Garden
  Kari Jobe
• The Oddyssey
  The Odd Numbers
• The Nashville Sound
  Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
• All American Made
  Margo Price
• Villains
  Queens of the Stone Age
• FUTURE
  Future
• HNDRXX
  Future
• Utopia
  Björk
• All Things Work Together
  Lecrae
• Flicker
  Niall Horan

Listening Through The Lens: 20 Favorite Albums of 2017

1. Freedom Highway
   Rhiannon Giddens
2. Turmoil & Tinfoil
   Billy Strings
3. Restless
   David Luning
4. Big Bad Luv
   John Moreland
5. All American Made
   Margo Price
6. The Order of Time
   Valerie June
7. Poor David’s Almanack
   David Rawlings
8. The Nashville Sound
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
9. Way Out West
   Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
10. From A Room: Volume 1
    Chris Stapleton
11. Letters Never Read
    Dori Freeman
12. Jason Eady
    Jason Eady
13. Graveyard Whistling
    Old 97’s
14. Close Ties
    Rodney Crowell
15. The Ahern Brothers
    The Ahern Brothers
16. Natural Conclusion
    Rose Cousins
17. Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins
    Chuck Prophet
18. Purgatory
    Tyler Childers
19. Tell the Devil I’m Gettin’ There as Fast as I Can
    Ray Wylie Hubbard
20. Southern Blood
    Gregg Allman

Jeremy D. Larson: Favorite Albums of 2017

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Aromanticism
   Moses Sumney
2. A Crow Looked at Me
   Mount Eerie
3. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
4. A Deeper Understanding
   The War on Drugs
5. Black Origami
   Jlin
6. Capacity
   Big Thief
7. american dream
   LCD Soundsystem
8. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
   Open Mike Eagle
9. Kelly Lee Owens
   Kelly Lee Owens
10. Utopia
    Björk
11. Harmony of Difference
    Kamasi Washington
12. The Kid
    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
13. Ctrl
    SZA
14. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
15. Yaeji
    yaeji
15. EP2
    yaeji
16. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
17. The Weather Station
    The Weather Station
18. Narkopop
    Gas
19. A Hairshirt of Purpose
    Pile
20. Common Sense
    J Hus

No Depression: Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016]

• Silver Tears
  Aaron Lee Tasjan
• Faster & Farther
  Darin & Brooke Aldridge
• Pure Comedy
  Father John Misty
• Hallelujah Anyhow
  Hiss Golden Messenger
• The Navigator
  Hurray for the Riff Raff
• Beast Epic
  Iron & Wine
• The Nashville Sound
  Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
• Joan Shelley
  Joan Shelley
• Contraband Love
  Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams
• Grace
  Lizz Wright
• All American Made
  Margo Price
• If All I Was Was Black
  Mavis Staples
• Champion
  Nora Jane Struthers
• Workin’s Too Hard
  Rayna Gellert
• Freedom Highway
  Rhiannon Giddens
• Close Ties
  Rodney Crowell
• Joy Comes Back
  Ruthie Foster
• The Following Mountain
  Sam Amidon
• You Don’t Own Me Anymore
  The Secret Sisters
• Soul of a Woman
  Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
• Queens of the Breakers
  The Barr Brothers
• Transient Lullaby
  The Mastersons
• The Order of Time
  Valerie June

The Daily Beast: 10 Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2018]

1. Big Fish Theory
   Vince Staples
2. A Crow Looked at Me
   Mount Eerie
3. The Order of Time
   Valerie June
4. Ctrl
   SZA
5. Melodrama
   Lorde
6. DAMN.
   Kendrick Lamar
7. MASSEDUCTION
   St. Vincent
8. Science Fiction
   Brand New
9. A Deeper Understanding
   The War on Drugs
10. Droptopwop
    Gucci Mane

Hanif Abdurraqib: 39 Favorite Albums Of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018 • 2016]

1. Ctrl
   SZA
2. Peasant
   Richard Dawson
3. SweetSexySavage
   Kehlani
4. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
   Open Mike Eagle
5. Drunk
   Thundercat
6. Melodrama
   Lorde
7. Black Origami
   Jlin
8. american dream
   LCD Soundsystem
9. Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
   2 Chainz
10. Cubafonía
    Daymé Arocena
11. Meaning of Life
    Kelly Clarkson
12. The Iceberg
    Oddisee
13. Nightmare Logic
    Power Trip
14. L.A. Witch
    L.A. Witch
15. Painted Ruins
    Grizzly Bear
16. Laila’s Wisdom
    Rapsody
17. Relatives in Descent
    Protomartyr
18. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
19. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
20. Hiss Spun
    Chelsea Wolfe
21. Gang Signs & Prayer
    Stormzy
22. The Dusk In Us
    Converge
23. Slowdive
    Slowdive
24. Harry Styles
    Harry Styles
25. Kid Kruschev
    Sleigh Bells
26. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
27. Brutalism
    Idles
28. Rap Album Two
    Jonwayne
29. Mirror Reaper
    Bell Witch
30. Rosecrans
    DJ Quik & Problem
31. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
32. About Time
    Sabrina Claudio
33. Soul of a Woman
    Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
34. Narkopop
    Gas
35. Fin
    Syd
36. After Laughter
    Paramore
37. Culture
    Migos
38. No Mountains in Manhattan
    Wiki
39. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time
    Big K.R.I.T.

Carl Wilson: The Best Albums of 2017, as published by Slate

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

• Capacity
  Big Thief
• Utopia
  Björk
• ken
  Destroyer
• Hey Mr Ferryman
  Mark Eitzel
• Audible Songs from Rockwood
  Fiver
• DAMN.
  Kendrick Lamar
• Melodrama
  Lorde
• american dream
  LCD Soundsystem
• 50 Song Memoir
  The Magnetic Fields
• Liberation Narratives
  Nicole Mitchell
• Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds
  Nicole Mitchell
• Cuidado Madame
  Arto Lindsay
• BANGS
  Jason Moran
• A Crow Looked at Me
  Mount Eerie
• Goths
  The Mountain Goats
• Dark Matter
  Randy Newman
• Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
  Open Mike Eagle
• Wrangled
  Angaleena Presley
• All American Made
  Margo Price
• Residente
  Residente
• Aytche
  Joseph Shabason
• Any Other Way
  Jackie Shane
• The Kid
  Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
• Big Fish Theory
  Vince Staples
• Anthology Resource Vol. I: △△
  Dean Hurley
• Twin Peaks (Limited Event Series Soundtrack)
  Angelo Badalamenti
• Windswept
  Johnny Jewel
• Out in the Storm
  Waxahatchee