Before QRO lists our own top album of this awful year, we give all of our contributors a chance to cast their votes:
Ted Chase
1 David Bowie, Blackstar
2 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree
3 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
4 Yeasayer, Amen & Goodbye
5 Courtesy Tier, Everyone’s OK
6 James, Girl At the End of the World
7 Bon Iver, 22, A Million
8 School of Seven Bells, SVIIB
9 Bear Hands, You’ll Pay For This
10 Underworld, Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future
11 Dinosaur Jr, Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not
12 Jason Collett, Song & Dance Man
13 Frightened Rabbit, Painting of a Panic Attack
14 White Lies, Friends
15 The Felice Brothers, Life In the Dark
16 Ra Ra Riot, Need Your Light
17 Wintersleep, The Great Detachment
18 Cymbals Eat Guitars, Pretty Years
19 The Gunshy, Porterhouse
20 Beach Slang, A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings
Katie Chow
1 Wild Beasts, Boy King
2 Nicolas Jaar, Sirens
3 Whitney, Light Upon the Lake
4 Kero Kero Bonito, Bonito Generation
5 Two Door Cinema Club, Gameshow
6 Swet Shop Boys, Cashmere
7 Parquet Courts, Human Performance
8 Museum Mouth, Popcorn Fish Guinea Pit
9 Mitski, Puberty 2
10 Beyoncé, Lemonade
11 Metronomy, Summer 08
12 Ra Ra Riot, Need Your Light
13 Majid Jordan, Majid Jordan
14 Roosevelt, Roosevelt
15 Music Band, Wake Up Laughing
16 Diarrhea Planet, Turn To Gold
17 Oscar, Cut and Paste
18 Big Thief, Masterpiece
19 Into It. Over It., Standards
20 Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial
Frank Donnelly
1 David Bowie, Blackstar
2 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
3 Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression
4 Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker
5 Bell X1, Arms
6 Pixies, Head Carrier
7 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree
8 EST Symphony, EST Symphony
9 Speed of the Stars, Speed of the Stars
10 Tonbruket, Forevergreens
11 Van Morrison, Keep It Simple
12 Anoushka Shankar, Land of Gold
13 The Claypool Lennon Delirium, The Claypool Lennon Delirium
14 Kate Bush, Before the Dawn Live
15 Lambchop, FLOTUS
Gail Fountain
1 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
2 David Bowie, Blackstar
3 Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Getaway
4 James, Girl At the End of the World
5 Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression
Rachel Fox
1 Hiss Golden Messenger, Heart Like a Levee
2 Kyle Craft, Dolls of Highland
3 Brian Fallon, Painkillers
4 Margo Price, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter
5 Dawes, We’re All Gonna Die
6 Shelly Colvin, Longshot
7 Amanda Shires, My Piece of Land
8 Band of Horses, Why Are You OK
9 Michaela Anne, The Bright Lights and the Fame
10 Lera Lynn, Resistor
11 Robert Ellis, Robert Ellis
12 Shovels & Rope, Little Seeds
13 Basia Bulat, Good Advice
14 Caleb Caudle, Carolina Ghost
15 The Wild Feathers, Lonely Is a Lifetime
16 Matt Haeck, Late Bloomer
17 Sara Watkins, Young In All the Wrong Ways
18 Dead Horses, Cartoon Moon
19 Hey Marseilles, Hey Marseilles
20 Conor Oberst, Ruminations
Shaun Gordon
1 FEWS, Means
2 Meilyr Jones, 2013
3 Pinkshinyultrablast, Grandfeathered
4 BE, One
5 Amber Arcades, Fading Lines
6 Jagwar Ma, Every Now and Then
7 Explosions In the Sky, The Wilderness
8 King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, Nonagon Infinity
9 Public Service Broadcasting, Live In Brixton
10 Xiu Xiu, The Music of Twin Peaks
Darren Hodgkinson
1 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree
2 David Bowie, Blackstar
3 Pixies, Head Carrier
4 Fat White Family, Songs For Our Mothers
5 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
Mike Infanger
1 Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Getaway
2 Pixies, Head Carrier
3 The Monochrome Set, Cosmonaut
4 Dinosaur Jr, Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not
5 Mike Doughty, The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns
6 Okkervil River, Away
7 Wire, Nocturnal Koreans
8 Spookyland, Beauty Already Beautiful
9 Gramatik, Epigram: Deluxe Edition
10 DIIV, Is the Is Are
Rick Kern
1 Angel Olsen, My Woman
2 Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate
3 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
4 A Tribe Called Quest, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
5 The Kills, Ash & Ice
6 Whitney, Light Upon the Lake
7 Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial
8 Drake, VIEWS
9 Sturgill Simpson, A Sailors Guide To Earth
10 Glass Animals, How To Be a Human Being
Joyce Lee
1 Whitney, Light Upon the Lake
2 The 1975, I Like It When You Sleep, For Your Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It
3 Frank Ocean, Blonde
4 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
5 The Lemon Twigs, Do Hollywood
6 Twin Peaks, Down In Heaven
7 Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book
8 Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial
9 HINDS, Leave Me Alone
10 Shura, Nothing’s Real
Chris Markisz
1 Agnes Obel, Citizen of Glass
2 Andrew Bird, Are You Serious?
3 Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker
4 Yuna, Chapters
5 Sia, This Is Acting
Max Mueller
1 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
2 Frank Ocean, Blonde
3 Bon Iver, 22, A Million
4 Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Getaway
5 Blood Orange, Freetown Sound
Sterling Munksgard
Sturgill Simpson, A Sailors Guide
A Tribe Called Quest, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
Bon Iver, 22, A Million
The Lumineers, Cleopatra
The Head and The Heart, Signs of Light
The Avett Brothers, True Sadness
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Let Me Get By
Local Natives, Sunlit Youth
Tove Lo, Lady Wood
Dawes, We’re All Gonna Die
Band of Horses, Why Are You OK
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, PersonA
Lake Street Dive, Side Pony
Rodji Munoz
1 Beyoncé, Lemonade
2 Rihanna, ANTI
3 Monster Rally, Mystery Cove
4 A Tribe Called Quest, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service
5 Solange, A Seat At the Table
6 BADBADNOTGOOD, IV
7 Frank Ocean, Blonde
8 Charles Bradley, Changes
9 Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
10 Animal Collective, Painting With
Ester Segretto
1 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree
2 David Bowie, Blackstar
3 Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression
4 Savages, Adore Life
5 Sunflower Bean, Human Ceremony
