The 25 best-reviewed albums of 2016 so far (min. 15 reviews)

With the first half of the year complete, here are the best-reviewed major albums released from January through June, ranked by Metascore. Note that EPs, compilations, and reissues are excluded, as are any albums receiving fewer than 15 reviews from critics.

#1 Album of the Year (So Far)
92 Lemonade
by Beyoncé

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It's not all that surprising that Beyoncé would release another surprise album this year. What is a surprise is that it was somehow even better than her previous one, 2013's Beyoncé. Lemonade is just part of a busy 2016 for the pop star, which has also included a one-hour HBO film (which the network is submitting for Emmy consideration), a performance during the Super Bowl halftime show, and a world tour.

Runner-Up
90 Coloring Book
by Chance the Rapper

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The rapper's third mixtape follows his acclaimed 2013 breakthrough Acid Rap and last year's collaboration with Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, Surf. The free album became the first-ever streaming-only release to debut on Billboard's top albums chart, and a change to Grammy eligibility rules earlier this month means that Coloring Book could be among the first streaming albums to contend for major awards next year.

... and the rest of the top 25:

Album/Artist			Score	Stream It	Buy It
3		A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead	88
4		Blackstar by David Bowie	87
5		Puberty 2 by Mitski	87
6		A Sailor's Guide to Earth by Sturgill Simpson	86
7		untitled unmastered. by Kendrick Lamar	86
8		Malibu by Anderson .Paak	85
9		Stranger to Stranger by Paul Simon	85
10		Singing Saw by Kevin Morby	84
11		Teens of Denial by Car Seat Headrest	84
12		Full Circle by Loretta Lynn	84
13		Hopelessness by Anohni	83
14		Patch the Sky by Bob Mould	83
15		99.9% by Kaytranada	83
16		Light Upon the Lake by Whitney	83
17		Konnichiwa by Skepta	83
18		The Ghosts of Highway 20 by Lucinda Williams	83
19		SVIIB by School of Seven Bells	83
20		Eyes on the Lines by Steve Gunn	83
21		Love Streams by Tim Hecker	82
22		The Waiting Room by Tindersticks	82
23		The Glowing Man by Swans	82
24		Oh No by Jessy Lanza	82
25		Jet Plane And Oxbow by Shearwater	82

Albums are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding. Only new studio albums released between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016 are eligible; EPs, live albums, box sets, reissues, and the like are not included. The first list above includes only those albums with at least 15 reviews from professional critics; all other lists on this page include albums with at least seven reviews. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). Scores are from June 30, 2016.

Good albums with fewer reviews

Here is a look at the albums that received extremely positive reviews, but not enough of them to qualify for our list above. (In other words, consider them the year's best under-the-radar releases.) Albums on this list received 7-14 critic reviews. (Titles with fewer than seven reviews are excluded from all high scores charts.)

Album / Artist			Score	Stream It	Buy It
1		Upland Stories by Robbie Fulks	87
2		Hollowed by Ital Tek	86
3		Magma by Gojira	86
4		Nerissimo by Teho Teardo and Blixa Bargeld	86
5		Midwest Farmer's Daughter by Margo Price	85
6		The Impossible Kid by Aesop Rock	85
7		Goodness by The Hotelier	85
8		Emily's D+Evolution by Esperanza Spalding	84
9		Cardinal by Pinegrove	84
10		In My Mind by BJ the Chicago Kid	84

What do you think?

What are your favorite and least favorite albums of the year so far? Let us know in the comments section below.