Year end list season is fully upon us, and now Rolling Stone have unveiled their list of the top 50 albums of the year. Like you might expect from one of the last major music magazines still in print, it includes plenty of mainstream pop and rock choices, including Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, and Adele, but they're alongside albums by Tyler the Creator, Snail Mail, Adult Mom, Dry Cleaning, The Weather Station, Dawn Richard, Turnstile, Japanese Breakfast, Lucy Dacus, Illuminati Hotties, Boldy James and the Alchemist, and more. See the list below, and read it in full, with commentary, on Rolling Stone.
ROLLING STONE'S TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2021
50. St. Vincent, 'Daddy's Home'
49. James McMurtry, 'The Horses and the Hounds'
48. Drake, 'Certified Lover Boy'
47. Jhay Cortez, 'Timelezz'
46. Tomorrow X Together, 'The Chaos Chapter: Fight or Escape'
45. Boldy James and the Alchemist, 'Bo Jackson'
44. Iron Maiden, 'Senjutsu'
43. Myke Towers, 'Lyke Mike'
42. Illuminati Hotties, 'Let Me Do One More'
41. Mickey Guyton, 'Remember Her Name'
40. Foo Fighters, 'Medicine at Midnight'
39. Topaz Jones, 'Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma'
38. Yola, 'Stand for Myself'
37. Pooh Shiesty, 'Shiesty Season'
36. Little Simz, 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert'
35. Silk Sonic, 'An Evening With Silk Sonic'
34. Adult Mom, 'Driver'
33. Summer Walker, 'Still Over It'
32. Snail Mail, 'Valentine'
31. Madlib, 'Sound Ancestors'
30. Mustafa, 'When Smoke Rises'
29. Young Thug, ‘Punk’
28. Mabiland, 'Niñxs Rotxs'
27. The Weather Station, 'Ignorance'
26. Mdou Moctar, 'Afrique Victime'
25. Carly Pearce, '29'
24. Dry Cleaning, 'New Long Leg'
23. Cimafunk, 'El Alimento'
22. Dawn Richard, 'Second Line'
21. Doja Cat, 'Planet Her'
20. Leon Bridges, 'Gold-Diggers Sound'
19. Arlo Parks, 'Collapsed in Sunbeams'
18. Halsey, 'If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power'
17. Tems, 'If Orange Was a Place'
16. Low, 'Hey What'
15. Billie Eilish, 'Happier Than Ever'
14. Polo G, 'Hall of Fame'
13. Morgan Wade, 'Reckless'
12. PinkPantheress, 'To Hell With It'
11. Playboi Carti, 'Whole Lotta Red'
10. Japanese Breakfast, 'Jubilee'
9. C. Tangana, 'El Madrileño'
8. Turnstile, 'Glow On'
7. Jazmine Sullivan, 'Heaux Tales'
6. Lil Nas X, 'Montero'
5. Lucy Dacus, 'Home Video'
4. Tyler, the Creator, 'Call Me If You Get Lost'
3. Rauw Alejandro, 'Vice Versa'
2. Adele, '30'
1. Olivia Rodrigo, 'Sour'