AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Brad
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Brad »

Awesome job, grahamsimpson!
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Nick »

A million thanks, notbrianeno! Poll hosting is a difficult, time consuming, and oftentimes underappreciated task. So thanks!

David Bowie joins these other artists in "Winners of the AM EOY Albums Poll"...

2005: Sufjan Stevens- Illinois
2006: Belle and Sebastian- The Life Pursuit
2007: LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver
2008: Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
2009: Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion
2010: Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2011: PJ Harvey- Let England Shake
2012: Frank Ocean- Channel Orange
2013: Vampire Weekend- Modern Vampires of the City
2014: The War on Drugs- Lost in the Dream
2015: Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp a Butterfly

And as for songs, David Bowie joins these other artists in "Winners of the AM EOY Songs Poll"...

2008: Fleet Foxes- White Winter Hymnal
2009: Grizzly Bear- Two Weeks
2010: Kanye West- Runaway
2011: The Black Keys- Lonely Boy
2012: Frank Ocean- Pyramids
2013: Daft Punk- Get Lucky
2014: Future Islands- Seasons (Waiting On You)
2015: Tame Impala- Let It Happen

This is the 4th time in the 9 years that we've had both an EOY albums and songs poll that the same artist claimed both the AOTY and the SOTY.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

Based on the massive points he racked up in the poll, it looks like Bowie is a lock for at least the top 5, if not top 3 albums of the decade in the end of 2010's poll coming here in a few years. What other artist could accomplish such a feat nearly 50 years into his career!
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

Well-deserved, I might add. I just hope The Next Day doesn't get forgotten in the wake of Blackstar's hype.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Nick »

There is a massive point difference between "Blackstar"'s 1579.92 points and runner-up album "A Moon Shaped Pool"'s 1191.69 points. But just how large is this point difference compared to past year's AOTYs and their runner-ups?

Let's find out!

Below is a listing of the point difference between a year's AOTY and its runner-up as calculated as a percentage of the points that the AOTY received. So for example, "A Moon Shaped Pool" earned 75.43% of the points that "Blackstar" did, and as such, is listed as such below.

2016: "A Moon Shaped Pool" has 75.43% of the points that "Blackstar" has.

2015: "Carrie & Lowell" has 89.21% of the points that "To Pimp a Butterfly" has.

2014: "Benji" has 82.49% of the points that "Lost in the Dream" has.

2013: "Random Access Memories" has 92.79% of the points that "Modern Vampires of the City" has.

2012: "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" has 75.49% of the points that "Channel Orange" has.

2011: "Bad as Me" has 52.9% of the points that "Let England Shake" has.

2010: "The ArchAndroid" has 73.28% of the points that "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" has.

2009: "XX" has 77.21% of the points that "Merriweather Post Pavilion" has.

2008: "Dear Science" has 76.63% of the points that "Fleet Foxes" has.

2007: "In Rainbows" has 91.34% of the points that "Sound of Silver" has.

2006: "Boys and Girls in America" has 97.01% of the points that "The Life Pursuit" has.

2005: "I Am a Bird Now" has 45.88% of the points that "Illinois" has.

Framed this way, the years with bigger "blowouts" than 2016 were 2011, 2010, and 2005.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Future Critic »

It's official: I'm the only person in the entire world that doesn't adore "Blackstar". I love Bowie (and consider Ziggy Stardust a top 10 album of all time) and I admire the album, but it's not one that I can listen to on repeat like many of the others in the top 10. To me, it's better than "The Next Day", but somewhat comparable. And "The Next Day" finished at 11th for the year on AM.

The part that I don't completely get is how Blackstar's initial reviews didn't completely blow away the other albums near the top. In fact, only The Life of Pablo had lower average ratings out of the top 10 albums. Yet, Blackstar has blown away the competition in every year end poll.

Album of the Year:
Skeleton Tree: 89
22, A Million: 89
Lemonade: 88
A Seat at the Table: 87
A Moon Shaped Pool: 87
Blonde: 87
We Got It From Here...: 86
My Woman: 86
Blackstar: 84
The Life of Pablo: 80

Any Decent Music:
Skeleton Tree: 8.9
Lemonade: 8.7
A Seat at the Table: 8.5
22, A Million: 8.5
My Woman: 8.4
Blonde: 8.4
We Got It From Here...: 8.4
A Moon Shaped Pool: 8.4
Blackstar: 8.4
The Life of Pablo: 7.4

Metacritic:
Skeleton Tree: 95
Lemonade: 92
We Got It From Here...: 90
A Seat at the Table: 89
A Moon Shaped Pool: 88
Blackstar: 87
My Woman: 87
Blonde: 87
22, A Million: 87
The Life of Pablo: 75

Average:
Skeleton Tree: 91
Lemonade: 89
A Seat at the Table: 87
22, A Million: 87
We Got It From Here...: 86.7
A Moon Shaped Pool: 86.3
Blonde: 86
My Woman: 85.7
Blackstar: 85
The Life of Pablo: 76.3

It sort of makes me wonder if he would have topped every poll if he hadn't passed away earlier this year. Perhaps he would have, but we'll never know for sure.

More than anything though, I just want to say thank you to notbrianeno for the wonderful presentations. Excellent work!
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Jackson »

Great results! The top four in particular were far more in line with my list than any other recent year. It was great seeing A Tribe Called Quest so high, I expected top ten but not top five for that album. I also liked seeing Love & Hate one spot ahead of The Life of Pablo (which I thought was a sure thing for the top ten).
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

Future Critic wrote:It's official: I'm the only person in the entire world that doesn't adore "Blackstar". I love Bowie (and consider Ziggy Stardust a top 10 album of all time) and I admire the album, but it's not one that I can listen to on repeat like many of the others in the top 10. To me, it's better than "The Next Day", but somewhat comparable. And "The Next Day" finished at 11th for the year on AM.

The part that I don't completely get is how Blackstar's initial reviews didn't completely blow away the other albums near the top. In fact, only The Life of Pablo had lower average ratings out of the top 10 albums. Yet, Blackstar has blown away the competition in every year end poll.
Agreed, though I am a huge Bowie fan, and love the songs "Blackstar" and "Lazarus", I thought the album itself was enjoyable but blown away by many of the other releases this year in terms of breaking new ground or defining 2016. I think this albums massive success in the EOY aggregate is likely a result of his passing, but also due to his return to form of the style of the "Berlin trilogy", and a step up from his more recent output like Heathen
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by StevieFan13 »

notbrianeno wrote:
Future Critic wrote:It's official: I'm the only person in the entire world that doesn't adore "Blackstar". I love Bowie (and consider Ziggy Stardust a top 10 album of all time) and I admire the album, but it's not one that I can listen to on repeat like many of the others in the top 10. To me, it's better than "The Next Day", but somewhat comparable. And "The Next Day" finished at 11th for the year on AM.

The part that I don't completely get is how Blackstar's initial reviews didn't completely blow away the other albums near the top. In fact, only The Life of Pablo had lower average ratings out of the top 10 albums. Yet, Blackstar has blown away the competition in every year end poll.
Agreed, though I am a huge Bowie fan, and love the songs "Blackstar" and "Lazarus", I thought the album itself was enjoyable but blown away by many of the other releases this year in terms of breaking new ground or defining 2016. I think this albums massive success in the EOY aggregate is likely a result of his passing, but also due to his return to form of the style of the "Berlin trilogy", and a step up from his more recent output like Heathen
Blackstar's a close second, but honestly, Lemonade blew everything out of the water for me.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by andyd1010 »

Future Critic wrote:It's official: I'm the only person in the entire world that doesn't adore "Blackstar". I love Bowie (and consider Ziggy Stardust a top 10 album of all time) and I admire the album, but it's not one that I can listen to on repeat like many of the others in the top 10. To me, it's better than "The Next Day", but somewhat comparable. And "The Next Day" finished at 11th for the year on AM.
That's very similar to how I felt about it. Lazarus was in my year-end top 5, and I like I Can't Give Everything Away, but I couldn't really get into the rest of it.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Nick »

And for a songs poll comparison between our SOTY and our runner-up, here you go...

2016: "Burn the Witch" has 89.99% of the points that "Lazarus" has.

2015: "The Blacker the Berry" has 94.17% of the points that "Let It Happen" has.

2014: "Queen" has 78.08% of the points that "Seasons (Waiting On You)" has.

2013: "Reflektor" has 84.07% of the points that "Get Lucky" has.

2012: "Oblivion" has 85.13% of the points that "Pyramids" has.

2011: "The Glorious Land" has 79.7% of the points that "Lonely Boy" has.

2010: "Cold War" has 94.75% of the points that "Runaway" has.

2009: "My Girls" has 69.62% of the points that "Two Weeks" has.

2008: "Mercy" has 97.86% of the points that "White Winter Hymnal" has.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by whuntva »

Interesting. So the poll I helped host was actually the third closest in our history. I'll take it.

2009 seems odd, as history seems to rule in "Two Weeks" favor despite it losing by the greatest margin. It still ranks high in our polls while Animal Collective fell off the map.

2014 also seems like it's going that route. "Queen" outperfomed "Seasons" in our last song poll. Though neither artist has registered with us since.

While 2011's "Lonely Boy" was considered an upset over "Midnight City" and "Video Games", it has not been forgotten. So at least that.

I say most of our EOYs still hold up fine.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Nick »

whuntva wrote:
2009 seems odd, as history seems to rule in "Two Weeks" favor despite it losing by the greatest margin. It still ranks high in our polls while Animal Collective fell off the map.
Actually, "Two Weeks" won by the greatest margin. I think you may have read that part of the data backwards.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by GucciLittlePiggy »

Awesome job, notbrianeno, and a big thank you for hosting!

Also, many thanks to the forum for providing me with so many recommendations through these EOY lists year in and year out. I've added several of these records to my listening radar and I expect to discover plenty of gems once again.

And I'd like to give a shout-out to one of hip-hop's brightest rising stars, Denzel Curry. I didn't expect to see him here, but I was sure glad to see him appear on both lists. Imperial was a wonderful collection of songs that was unfortunately overlooked by the critics. If you haven't listened to it yet, give it a shot. Fantastic lyrics and intense spitting bolstered by equally great production. I expect big things from him in years to come.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Bruno »

How many users voted on the album and song lists?
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by bootsy »

Great list and great job notbrianeno. Thanks for the shoutout for my number 1 album also. I only wish a few more people had voted for it so it could get in the top 100. :mrgreen:
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by PlasticRam »

Thanks for the great job notbrianeno! It was nice to have so many participants that even the lower placements got many votes, for example the songs that barely made the top 40 got 8 or 9 votes etc. Same thing with the albums.
I feel like that
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

Bruno wrote:How many users voted on the album and song lists?
According to my count, 54!
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

Here's the link to the google sheet for the raw results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by andyd1010 »

notbrianeno wrote:Here's the link to the google sheet for the raw results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
Thanks for sharing!

Slick, a lot of your list is like a trip down memory lane for me. Avenged Sevenfold and Thrice were my favorite bands around 2005, and you're the only other person who voted for The Stage or To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere. Brand New was also one of my favorites, although I haven't kept up with them in 10 years. Weezer and Blink-182 have also been personal favorites for a long time, and Waste a Moment was a nice choice that most people overlooked as well.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by slick »

Thanks for sharing!

Slick, a lot of your list is like a trip down memory lane for me. Avenged Sevenfold and Thrice were my favorite bands around 2005, and you're the only other person who voted for The Stage or To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere. Brand New was also one of my favorites, although I haven't kept up with them in 10 years. Weezer and Blink-182 have also been personal favorites for a long time, and Waste a Moment was a nice choice that most people overlooked as well.[/quote]



Thanks... Might not be popular these days to listen to hard rock / mainstream alt-rock but that is still my main course while Indie / electronic / soul / r&b / hip-hop and others are more like appetizers or desert... Bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Volbeat & Thrice put out great efforts last year which did go terribly unnoticed. Same with a one-off single from Brand New. What I love about the year end lists is there are a number of songs/albums I need to dive deep into... Cheers!
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by panam »

A spotify playlist with the album list? Anyone?
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by panam »

notbrianeno wrote:Here's the link to the google sheet for the raw results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
Nice work ! Congratulations
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Pierre »

bootsy wrote:Great list and great job notbrianeno. Thanks for the shoutout for my number 1 album also. I only wish a few more people had voted for it so it could get in the top 100. :mrgreen:
I had it as an honorable mention, if it's any consolation :D
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by nicolas »

Thanks for these results notbrianeno !
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Jirin »

Most mainstream alternative I've seen lately is very singles focused rather than having complete consistent albums.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

Jirin wrote:Most mainstream alternative I've seen lately is very singles focused rather than having complete consistent albums.
Ironically Rap and R&B, whom many rockists criticized for a perceived reliance on singles/videos over albums/concepts, have become incredibly album focused as streaming has become the primary mode for music: Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Miguel, The Weeknd, Rihanna, Blood Orange, FKA Twigs, D'Angelo, Dawn Richards, Drake, DVSN, Kaytranada, Solange and more have had recent output that is seen in the persepctive of albums as opposed to songs even from casual listeners. Dorm rooms across my campus weren't just blasting "One Dance" this year, they were listening to VIEWS in its entirety, at parties, while working out, and more.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by bootsy »

Pierre wrote:
bootsy wrote:Great list and great job notbrianeno. Thanks for the shoutout for my number 1 album also. I only wish a few more people had voted for it so it could get in the top 100. :mrgreen:
I had it as an honorable mention, if it's any consolation :D
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by weirdfish »

Im not posting often, but that was fun reading, Thank you notbrianeno!
I didnt take part, because I have listened only to about 10 albums last year (just big hitters).
Im happy AMPS is generally doing so well in times when rock music is losing its positions, call me crazy, but its my favorite album by them.
Other than that, I really liked Bon Iver and nr. 3 would be Bowie.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Jirin »

Kind of bittersweet. After a 50 year career, David Bowie releases the best album and song of the year, a couple days before his death. Blackstar is such a unique album. How much art is there out there written by a man who knows he's going to die very soon but is still mentally sharp enough to produce great art? By a man who for most of his career patterned his image around eccentric cultural trends.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Jirin wrote:Blackstar is such a unique album. How much art is there out there written by a man who knows he's going to die very soon but is still mentally sharp enough to produce great art?
Exactly, that's why I love the album so much. He's staring into the face of death, and has the artistry to take the listener along for the ride. But admittedly it's not the only album like that. Apparently some artist with a 'Z' in his name did something similar.

On a really random note, I just realized there's a pun in "Aladdin Sane."
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Nick »

prosecutorgodot wrote:Apparently some artist with a 'Z' in his name did something similar.
Warren Zevon?

As for "great albums made by people who knew they were going to die really soon", I'd like to submit...

Joy Division- Closer
Nirvana- In Utero and MTV Unplugged in New York

and our latest addition to this somber list...

Leonard Cohen- You Want It Darker
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Nick wrote: Warren Zevon?
Yes! that's the one I heard about.
Nick wrote: As for "great albums made by people who knew they were going to die really soon", I'd like to submit...

Joy Division- Closer
Nirvana- In Utero and MTV Unplugged in New York
These are kind of a reach in my opinion.

Edit: I mean, you can think of them as farewell albums if you want, but I doubt they KNEW they were going to die while making these songs.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by acroamor »

An odd example, but when Arthur Lee (of Love) recorded Forever Changes, he did so in a paranoiac state, believing he would die within the next year.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Jirin »

Some people think All Apologies is a suicide note.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by notbrianeno »

J Dilla | Donuts
Queen | Innuendo
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Dan »

Thank you for your entertaining presentations of these albums and songs polls, notboring notbrianeno.

Bowie at #1 in both polls feels right to me. And although I sometimes struggle a little bit to get into it, I'm pleased that R&B is getting a turn at being perceived as the most creative and innovative genre.

Some of the "world music" albums in the top 100 that I hope people will give a listen to are Tropix by Céu (#51), Mezcla by M.A.K.U. Soundsystem (#90), and A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey by Leyla McCalla (#92).
...will keep us together.
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Re: AMF EOY Best Albums of 2016 -- RESULTS

Post by Honorio »

Sorry for the delay on my comments but I've digging deep on your wonderful albums list during the last days. Congratulations, my friends, this album list is wonderful. I expressed some doubts about the originality of the songs list and how it was following closely the critics trends. But the albums lits is a whole other thing...
You can see on the following graphic how the styles are much more balanced, almost 25% for every one of the four main groups (Black styles, Rock, Pop and Other styles). Particularly interesting is this "Others" section, including Singer/Songwriter (4), Modern Classical (3), Americana (2), Nu Jazz (2), Afrobeat, Alt-Country, Ambient, Chamber Folk, Dark Folk, ECM Style Jazz, Indie Folk, Jazz Fusion, Jazz Pop, Psychedelic Folk and Sound Collage.
Modern Classical? Jazz? Roots music? Yes, this list is much much more varied than any other critic list out there (in fact while I'm compiling and typing this I've been listening to the 22 albums on the Others section and enjoying it a hell of a lot, many thanks, my friends).
This is the graphic showing the balanced distribution of styles...



About my usual stats about demographic biases I'm going to make it short this time, no graphics and only some data:
- The percentage of Non-White acts and Female acts ended being (oddly) the same, 37%. Black, Latin and Asian acts were responsible of more than one third of the albums, a percentage significantly lower than the one on the songs list (47%) but anyway it's quite a lot. And I feel fine...
- The 37% of Female acts is also a very important percentage, something that gladly is continuously increasing, even in predominantly male styles (so far) like Rock or Hip Hop. A wonderful trend. The percentage of Female acts was slightly higher among the White acts (38%) than among the Non-White acts (35%).
- Even the main bias (music from non-English speaking countries) was not that much on our list, with a respectable rate of 12% (17% if we include artists born on some of these countries that currently live and work on the US). France (2), Iceland (2), Brazil, Norway, Germany, Spain, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Colombia were the countries represented (we could add Japan, Barbados, Chile, Haiti and Mexico).
- 41 albums of the list were not included on the main AM critic list compiled by Harold that you can find here, so this time it was a significant difference between the Forum list and the critics' one (the song list was not that different, with only 33 of the songs selected by the Forum out of the critics' list). I include after the comments the list of the 41 "different" albums.
- Finally I want to point to the bottom 50 of the AMF list. While the Top 25 was not that different from the critics' list, the bottom 50 was a truly fantastic list, with a 42% of female acts and a nice stylistic variety (with 34% of the albums falling on the "Others" category). I strongly recommend to do your listening from last to first (just like I'm doing right now).

The brave 41:
21 | Run the Jewels | Run the Jewels 3 | Hardcore Hip Hop
31 | La Femme | Mystère | French Pop
32 | The Divine Comedy | Foreverland | Chamber Pop
39 | Childish Gambino | "Awaken, My Love!" | Psychedelic Soul
42 | Xenia Rubinos | Black Terry Cat | Neo-Soul
44 | Denzel Curry | Imperial | Trap Rap
45 | Esperanza Spalding | Emily's D+Evolution | Jazz Fusion
46 | Tindersticks | The Waiting Room | Chamber Pop
48 | M83 | Junk | Synthpop
49 | Daughter | Not to Disappear | Dream Pop
50 | Death Grips | Bottomless Pit | Industrial Hip Hop
51 | Céu | Tropix | Art Pop
53 | Lucinda Williams | The Ghosts of Highway 20 | Americana
54 | Maxwell | blackSUMMERS'night | Neo-Soul
55 | Colin Stetson | Sorrow | Modern Classical
56 | Mothers | When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired | Indie Folk
59 | Weezer | Weezer (The White Album) | Power Pop
60 | Ólafur Arnalds | Island Songs | Modern Classical
62 | Norah Jones | Day Breaks | Jazz Pop
64 | Explosions in the Sky | The Wilderness | Post-Rock
65 | Aesop Rock | The Impossible Kid | Abstract Hip Hop
66 | GoGo Penguin | Man Made Object | Nu Jazz
67 | Vijay Iyver & Wadada Leo Smith | A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke | ECM Style Jazz
68 | Lucy Dacus | No Burden | Indie Rock
70 | Wild Beasts | Boy King | Art Pop
71 | PUP | The Dream is Over | Post-Hardcore
73 | Emma Pollock | In Search of Harperfield | Singer/Songwriter
77 | The Dillinger Escape Plan | Dissociation | Mathcore
79 | Jóhan Jóhannsson | Orphée | Modern Classical
80 | Kero Kero Bonito | Bonito Generation | Electropop
83 | Santigold | 99¢ | Electropop
85 | The Kills | Ash & Ice | Indie Rock
86 | Myrkur | Mausoleum | Dark Folk
88 | Black Mountain | IV | Psychedelic Rock
90 | M.A.K.U. Soundsystem | Mezcla | Afrobeat
91 | Santana | Santana IV | Latin Rock
92 | Leyla McCalla | A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey | Americana
95 | Klein | Only | Sound Collage
98 | Yeasayer | Amen & Goodbye | Psychedelic Pop
99 | Emma Ruth Rundle | Marked for Death | Dream Pop
100 | Lisa Hannigan | At Swim | Singer/Songwriter

And that's all, folks. This time I wholly agree that our list is better than the critics'. Much better...
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