The Best Albums of 2009

Our top album of the year is from Animal Collective

High Scoring Albums by Year

2009	Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective 89
2008	London Zoo by The Bug 90
2007	From Here We Go Sublime by The Field 90
2006	Savane by Ali Farka Toure 94
2005	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens 90

Will 2009 go down as the least memorable year in music of the past decade? Despite having many more albums to choose from (Metacritic scored 892 albums this year, up from 805 last year and well up from the 400-600 per year we averaged in earlier years), not a single qualifying new studio album achieved a score of 90 or above -- the first time in our 10-year history that has happened. And only six of the 100 highest-scoring albums of the past decade were released in 2009.

(Several live albums and compilations released in 2009 did surpass the 90 mark, but such releases are excluded from this article, which centers only on new studio albums.)

Having said that (sorry, Larry David), at least there's a chance you may have heard of our top-ranking album of 2009, which cannot always be said about our year-end high score lists. Animal Collective may not be a household name, but in indie music circles, their whimsical landmark Merriweather Post Pavilion actually qualifies as a high-profile release. With a Metascore of 89, it's our top album of 2009, and it's one that people could still be listening to in the years to come.

Later in this article, we'll look at the albums singled out by critics as the year's best. First, let's take a look at the best albums of the year (in Metacritic's database) as determined by their Metascores -- an average of all reviews given by those same critics at the time of each album's original release.

The 50 Best-Reviewed Albums of 2009

		Album	Genre	Metascore	Users
	1	Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective	Indie/Alternative	89	8.4
	While the Collective may still be a little too "out there" to seep into the collective consciousness, their amalgam of indie rock, twisted folk, and Beach Boys harmonies reached its finest expression yet in Merriweather Post Pavilion, an album that earned a 90 or higher from 19 of the 36 critics from whom we have a review.
	2	Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II by Raekwon	Rap	88	8.7
	The Wu-Tang member's long-delayed sequel to 1995's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx finally emerged in 2009, but it was worth the wait: it's the best-reviewed rap album of the year.
	3	Blue Record by Baroness	Metal	88	9.1
	A somewhat obscure hard rock band out of Georgia, Baroness impressed enough critics with this sophomore release to place third on our list.
	4	Monoliths & Dimensions by Sunn O)))	Metal	88	6.4
	The veteran drone metal duo Sunn O))) returned in 2009 with an avant garde 4-song album both intricate and epic. And loud.
	5	American Saturday Night by Brad Paisley	Country	86	7.9
	Both critically acclaimed and designed for maximum commercial appeal, Night is also our highest-ranked country album of 2009.
	6	Welcome To Mali by Amadou & Mariam	World	86	7.9
	This married African couple reached a worldwide audience with their 2005 breakthrough Dimanche À Bamako, and their follow-up has proved to be equally well-received by critics.
	7	Hospice by The Antlers	Indie/Alternative	86	9.4
	The first full-length from the Brooklyn five-piece as a full band (rather than as a Peter Silberman solo project) is this highly personal concept album about losing a loved one to cancer.
	8	Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear	Indie/Alternative	85	8.5
	Fresh from opening for Radiohead, Grizzly Bear returned to the studio and emerged with their best-received (and probably their most accessible) album to date, although it didn't quite achieve the heights of the similarly collage-y Animal Collective release.
	9	Wind's Poem by Mount Eerie	Indie/Alternative	85	8.5
	One of several solo projects for Washington state artist Phil Elverum, Mount Eerie echoes at times the same mysterious Northwestern vibe heard on the Twin Peaks soundtrack on this, its best-reviewed release to date.
	10	Journal For Plague Lovers by Manic Street Preachers	Indie/Alternative	85	9.1
	The Steve Albini-produced Journal is intended by the radical Welsh band as a sequel to their third and best album, 1994's The Holy Bible.
	11	Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors	Indie/Alternative	85	7.9
	One of a number of acclaimed 2009 albums (see also: Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, et al) that veer toward the experimental end of indie rock, Bitte Orca may be the most genre-bending and strange of them all.
	12	Revolution by Miranda Lambert	Country	85	9.5
	The mainstream country star's third album managed to match the stellar Metascore of its predecessor, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
	13	Axe To Fall by Converge	Metal	85	8.9
	The Massachusetts metalcore band returned in '09 with perhaps their best album since their career-defining 2001 effort Jane Doe.
	14	BLACKsummers'night by Maxwell	R&B	85	9.3
	The top R&B album on our Best of 2009 chart, BLACKsummers'night is Maxwell's first release in eight years. But there will be more soon; it's the first disc in a planned trilogy.
	15	Yonder Is The Clock by The Felice Brothers	Indie/Alternative	84	8.4
	The New York state folk/Americana band won over critics with their sense of playfulness on this fourth release.
	16	Electric Dirt by Levon Helm	Roots Rock	84	8.6
	A former member of The Band, the 69-year-old Helm has experienced a career resurgence after a bout with throat cancer, following 2007's Dirt Farmer with this more plugged-in solo effort.
	17	Imidiwan: Companions by Tinariwen	World	84	8.5
	The 30-year-old band from Mali released just their fourth album in 2009, a disc that once again highlighted their mastery of African blues.
	18	Dark Days/Light Years by Super Furry Animals	Indie/Alternative	84	8.0
	Dark Days is just another in a string of critically-acclaimed albums for the Welsh outfit fronted by Gruff Rhys.
	19	Heavy Ghost by DM Stith	Indie/Alternative	84	7.9
	The Indiana singer-songwriter might be one of the least-known artists on this list, but critics knew that this debut album was a success.
	20	xx by The xx	Indie/Alternative	84	9.1
	It's rare enough to find an album that echoes Young Marble Giants in its sophisticated and moody minimalism, let alone one that is a debut from a band as young as London's The xx.
	21	Bonfires On The Heath by The Clientele	Indie/Alternative	84	8.3
	One of the most consistent bands of the past decade, England's The Clientele equaled their high Metascore with this fourth studio album of melancholic, '60s-influenced indie rock.
	22	UGK 4 Life by UGK	Rap	84	8.1
	The rap duo's seventh and final album was partially recorded before the death of member Pimp C, and serves as a fitting tribute rather than an exploitative cash-in.
	23	Two Dancers by Wild Beasts	Indie/Alternative	83	9.2
	While the vocals might be an acquired taste for some, this second album from the dynamic English band sounded great to most critics.
	24	The Excitement Plan by Todd Snider	Alt-Country	83	9.0
	Don Was produced this latest release from the alt-country singer-songwriter known for his storytelling skills and sense of humor.
	25	Post-Nothing by Japandroids	Indie/Alternative	83	8.4
	The Canadian duo made their full-length debut with this blast of fuzzy, sludgy indie punk rock.
	26	Us by Brother Ali	Rap	83	9.0
	This fourth album of thought-provoking rap from the Minnesota-based Brother Ali was produced by Atmosphere's Ant.
	27	The Bright Mississippi by Allen Toussaint	Jazz	83	9.6
	This mostly instrumental set from the legendary New Orleans musician was produced by Joe Henry.
	28	Between My Head and the Sky by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band	Rock	83	7.5
	As The Observer wrote in September, Sky -- recorded in part with Japan's Cornelius -- was "easily the best LP to be released by a 76-year-old this month." Of course, it was also the worst.
	29	BlaQKout by DJ Quik & Kurupt	Rap	83	7.5
	Blaqkout is the first full-length collaboration between former Dogg Pound member Kurupt and Compton hip-hop producer DJ Quik.
	30	Tarot Sport by Fuck Buttons	Electronic	83	7.9
	Andrew Weatherall produced this second release for the Bristol, England-based Fuck Buttons, who take an electronic approach to post-rock.
	31	Choral by Mountains	Indie/Alternative	83	6.6
	One of countless Brooklyn-based artists appearing on this chart (and we say "countless" only because we are too lazy to tally them), Mountains moved critics with their third album of indie drone.
	32	Love vs Money by The-Dream	R&B	83	8.8
	Singer-songwriter Terius Youngdell Nash managed to take time out from his successful career as a producer to record his second album, which also placed second among all R&B albums on Metacritic in '09.
	33	The List by Rosanne Cash	Country	83	10.0
	Cash drew on a list of essential American songs given to her by her father (the late Johnny Cash) for this covers album, which includes collaborations with Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen.
	34	Carboniferous by Zu	Metal	83	9.5
	The Italian trio's 2009 album is the rare metal release to draw comparisons to avant-garde composer John Zorn.
	35	East Of Eden by Taken By Trees	Indie/Alternative	83	9.0
	Eden, the second solo release for former Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman, incorporates musical influences from the country where it was recorded: Pakistan.
	36	Drift by Nosaj Thing	Electronic/Rap	83	9.0
	Los Angeles-based instrumental hip-hop artist Jason Chung drew positive notices for this debut release.
	37	(a)spera by Mirah	Indie/Alternative	82	9.1
	The sophisticated fourth album for the Portland, Ore.-based singer-songwriter was co-produced by Phil Elverum, who was also responsible for entry #9 on this list.
	38	Crack The Skye by Mastodon	Metal	82	9.4
	An 82 is nothing to be ashamed of, but subtract a few mediocre reviews and this blistering metal album soars even higher.
	39	The Glass Bead Game by James Blackshaw	Folk	82	9.5
	A talented 12-string guitarist, the London-based Blackshaw also showcases his piano skills on Game, the rare folk album to include 18-minute songs.
	40	Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix	Indie/Alternative	82	8.4
	If you've watched TV at all in the past year, you've heard bits of at least one track (and likely more) from this unbelievably catchy fourth album from the French band.
	41	Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle by Bill Callahan	Indie/Alternative	82	8.5
	Now recording under his own name rather than as Smog, Callahan soared to one of his highest Metascores with Eagle, although some critics disliked portions of the disc.
	42	Logos by Atlas Sound	Indie/Alternative	82	8.8
	A side project for Deerhunter leader Bradford Cox, Atlas Sound wavers between experimental and accessible -- and usually toward the former, except when Animal Collective's Noah Lennox and Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier lend a hand.
	43	Earthly Delights by Lightning Bolt	Indie/Alternative	82	7.0
	The abrasive experimental rock duo from Rhode Island expand their sound -- to a degree -- on this fifth release, but it's still not for everyone.
	44	King Of Jeans by Pissed Jeans	Indie/Alternative	82	9.5
	The third album for the Pennsylvania hardcore punk band is both heavy and humorous.
	45	Townes by Steve Earle	Rock	82	8.3
	The veteran guitarist -- always a favorite of critics -- returned in 2009 with an album of Townes Van Zandt covers.
	46	Midnight At The Movies by Justin Townes Earle	Country	82	9.0
	Like father, like son: Earle follows his dad on our chart with his own 2009 release, a set of Americana tunes that proved equally popular with critics.
	47	It's Blitz by Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Indie/Alternative	82	8.2
	A departure for the Karen O-fronted band, It's Blitz ditched the guitar-driven sound of previous efforts -- to an extent -- in favor of a surprisingly effective synth-pop groove.
	48	Primary Colours by The Horrors	Indie/Alternative	82	8.7
	The English band surprised critics by following up their unremarkable debut Strange House with this quantum leap forward in songwriting and sound -- one of our favorites of 2009.
	49	Written In Chalk by Buddy & Julie Miller	Country	81	9.6
	The married duo's first album together since 2001 featured a number of all-star guests, including Robert Plant and Emmylou Harris.
	50	Fever Ray by Fever Ray	Electronic	81	8.6
	The Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson followed that band's acclaimed 2006 release Silent Shout with this, her equally chilly solo debut.

Albums released between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 and having 7 or more reviews in Metacritic's database were eligible for the above list. Reissues, EPs, live albums, holiday albums, greatest hits albums, multi-artist soundtracks, and other compilations are excluded. All Metascore data is from December 28, 2009. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). User scores represent an average of scores assigned by Metacritic.com site visitors, from 0 (bad) to 10 (good).

Next, we have a few more of the year's best albums, listed by category and genre. Note that when it comes to genres, some (e.g., indie/alternative) are covered on Metacritic with much greater frequency than others (e.g., jazz).

* Several solo albums have previously come under the Antlers name, but this is their first full-length release after becoming a full band.

On Metacritic, we consider "great" albums -- those we label as having "universal acclaim" from critics -- to be those with a Metascore of 81 or greater. In 2009, a total of 63 out of 667 qualifying albums (studio recordings with seven or more reviews), or 9.4%, could be considered "great" in this way. How were these highest-scoring albums distributed throughout the year? Mainly in the spring and fall, it appears:

Great Albums (Metascore ≥ 81) by Month of Release, 2009

More Collective thinking: A roundup of music critic top ten lists

While the music critics collectively determined Animal Collective to have the top album of the year at the time of its release, where did Merriweather Post Pavilion rate at the end of the year? To find out, we have tallied each publication's Best of 2009 lists to determine the albums appearing most frequently in the Top 10 (and those most frequently crowned the best album of the year). We have even expanded our usual selection of publications to include several magazines, websites, and newspapers whose reviews don't normally appear on our pages.

Note that the list below is not weighted or scored in any way; albums are simply ranked by the frequency with which they appear in critic Top 10 lists, in any position on those lists. (The number of times they appear in the #1 position is indicated as a convenience.) A full list of publications used -- with links to many of the individual lists -- appears beneath the table.

View a full listing of each publication's Top 10 lists in Metacritic's Music section.

The 44 individual Best of 2009 lists used to compile the above data were from (with their #1 picks in parentheses):

• Amazon [Editors' Picks] (Neko Case)
• Associated Press (Animal Collective)
• Billboard (Jay-Z)
• Boston Globe - separate lists for critics:
  • Joan Anderman (The Avett Brothers),
  • James Reed (Sharon Van Etten), and
  • Sarah Rodman (The Avett Brothers)
• Chicago Sun-Times (Ida Maria)
• Chicago Tribune (St. Vincent)
• Clash Magazine (Animal Collective)
• Cokemachineglow (Raekwon)
• Delusions of Adequacy (Animal Collective)
• Drowned in Sound (Phoenix)
• Dusted [Managing Editor Otis Hart] (Dam-Funk)
• Exclaim! (Animal Collective)
• Filter (Animal Collective)
• Gigwise (Wild Beasts)
• The Guardian (The xx)
• Hartford Courant (Neko Case)
• Hitfix [Managing Editor Katie Hasty] (Grizzly Bear)
• Lost At Sea (Phoenix)
• Mojo (Animal Collective)
• MusicOMH (Animal Collective)
• The New York Times - separate lists for critics:
  • Jon Pareles (Maxwell),
  • Nate Chinen (Steve Lehman Octet), and
  • Jon Caramanica (Drake)
• NME (The Horrors)
• No Ripcord (Animal Collective)
• The Onion AV Club (Phoenix)
• Paste (The Avett Brothers)
• Pitchfork (Animal Collective)
• PopMatters (Animal Collective)
• Q (Kasabian)
• Rolling Stone (U2)
• Slant Magazine (Animal Collective)
• Slate (Brad Paisley)
• Spin (Animal Collective)
• Sputnikmusic (Animal Collective)
• Time Magazine (Brad Paisley)
• Tiny Mix Tapes (Animal Collective)
• Treble (Animal Collective)
• Uncut (Animal Collective)
• Under The Radar (Grizzly Bear)
• Washington Post (Maxwell)
• The Wire (Broadcast and The Focus Group)

You can view the top 10 picks from most of these sources in Metacritic Music. Of course, we've only scratched the surface; for a far more complete list of links to lists, here is a link to a list of links to lists: Largehearted Boy. And, over at Acclaimed Music, Excel fans can even download a spreadsheet with rankings from dozens of publications.

What are your favorites?

What are your picks for the best albums of 2009? Let us know in the comments section below, or join the discussion in our forums.