The Best Albums of 2011: 40 Records That Made This Year Unforgettable
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We heard some amazing debuts, a sprawling punk masterpiece, a singer-songwriter hitting it big after some high-profile hip-hop dalliances, a long-lost album finally seeing the light of day, a growling old favorite making welcome return and a jilted singer dominating the charts, airwaves and hearts of millions while pouring her heart out. And that just represents our top 10 picks.
The decision-making was intense as usual: Several rounds of nominations, voting and insults, plenty of F-bombs and down-to-the-wire tweaking. But in the end, we were able to agree on the albums you can find in the gallery below (or just check out the list here, if you don't feel like reading our insights on these terrific LPs). So click through, see if your favorites made the cut and leave your blessings or curses in the comments.
- 40. Raveonettes, 'Raven in the Grave'
- 39. Pujol, 'Nasty, Brutish, and Short'
- 38. Destroyer, 'Kaputt'
- 37. The Kills, 'Blood Pressures'
- 36. Carter Tanton, 'Freeclouds'
- 35. The Black Keys, 'El Camino'
- 34. Kurt Vile, 'Smoke Ring for My Halo'
- 33. M83, 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'
- 32. Feist, 'Metals'
- 31. Holy Ghost!, 'Holy Ghost!'
- 30. Charles Bradley, 'No Time for Dreaming'
- 29. Toro y Moi, 'Underneath the Pine'
- 28. Timber Timbre, 'Creep On Creepin' On'
- 27. Zola Jesus, 'Conatus'
- 26. Frank Ocean, 'Nostalgia/Ultra'
- 25. Handsome Furs, 'Sound Kapital'
- 24. Real Estate, 'Days'
- 23. Death Cab for Cutie, 'Codes and Keys'
- 22. Washed Out, 'Within and Without'
- 21. Drake, 'Take Care'
- 20. Yuck, 'Yuck'
- 19. Little Dragon, 'Ritual Union'
- 18. Girls, 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost'
- 17. St. Vincent, 'Strange Mercy'
- 16. We Are Augustines, 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships'
- 15. A$ap Rocky, 'LiveLoveA$ap'
- 14. Neon Indian, 'Era Extrana'
- 13. Austra, 'Feel It Break'
- 12. P.J. Harvey, 'Let England Shake'
- 11. Atlas Sound, 'Parallax'
- 10. Cults, 'Cults'
- 9. The Beach Boys, 'The SMiLE Sessions'
- 8. Bon Iver, 'Bon Iver'
- 7. Tom Waits, 'Bad as Me'
- 6. Adele, '21'
- 5. Tennis, 'Cape Dory'
- 4. Dum Dum Girls, 'Only in Dreams'
- 3. F---ed Up, 'David Comes to Life'
- 2. The Weeknd, 'House of Balloons'
- 1. EMA, 'Past-Life Martyred Saints'
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- Maroon 5
- Metallica
- Morrissey
- Spin Doctors
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- Joey Lawrence
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- Keith Richards
- Ronnie Wood
- Bill Wyman
- Mick Jagger
- The Rolling Stones
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- Far From Home
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- Of Montreal
- Portugal, The Man
- Asia
- Bay City Rollers
- Yukon Blonde
- Boards of Canada
- Manitoba
- Russian Futurists
- Nazareth
- Filed under: The Hit List
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