Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 by 
RockyRaccoon 
Also check out my 2016 Honorable Mentions chart: http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=30948
- Chart updated: 07/11/2023 16:15
- (Created: 01/08/2016 15:21).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 10 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 has an average rating of 93 out of 100 (from 24 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 53,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Jenny Hval's music is difficult to describe. I think that's the case with just about any avant-garde/experimental music, but especially with Hval. Hval's music will make you uncomfortable often, it challenges you to think and to look at things differently. Sometimes her subject matter is uncomfortable (like, say, menstrual blood), but the results of her music are almost always fantastic. This album is exactly that, challenging, but excellent. Musically, it's relatively simple, underneath Hval's voice are typically sounds of breathing or pencils drawing or sobbing or firewood, you name it. This album is so unique, there's really nothing like a Jenny Hval album, it jumps all over the place but manages to remain cohesive. It's difficult to describe, but know that it's fantastic.
[First added to this chart: 12/23/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
658
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
4
Buy album
- #Sponsored
I swear, Royce da 5'9" is one of the most talented rappers on the planet, and if you need proof of that, just listen to this album. Everything about this album is almost perfect. The first thing that's the most obvious is Royce's technical skill. The guy just packs as many rhymes into a sentence as he can, and it doesn't feel clunky or forced, it all flows naturally. Good songwriting, regardless of the genre, makes the lyrics feel like they accidentally rhyme, and that's just this whole album. You get completely wrapped up in Royce's storytelling that if you're not paying attention, you'll miss all the complex rhyme schemes and quick wit. Royce explores himself as an artist and as a man, he leads the album off with a story about the most important day of his life, the day that his son was born and his grandmother died. He talks about the internal conflict going on while simultaneously mourning the death of his grandmother and being happy he has a healthy son. While personally I find the major highlight of this album to be Royce's lyrical skill, the beats are fantastic too with a few exceptions (most notably, "Off"). Not only is it an impressive album, it's a really easily accessible album too, and those two aspects of it make it an incredible record and one of the best hip-hop albums of the year.
[First added to this chart: 04/27/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Kendrick is a master of what he does. His ability to use any sound, any musical reference, to achieve whatever message or goal he's attempting is unparalleled in music right now. This surprise album just furthers that even more. These songs sound like tracks that just didn't make To Pimp A Butterfly, and if you liked that album, you'll love this. We get the same sound layering, the same jazz feel as TPAB, along with Kendrick's fantastic lyrics, full of biblical allegories, political cynicism, everything that we've come to expect from him. The first track feels a little unnecessary, which keeps this album from being completely perfect, but this is pretty close. The seventh track is the biggest highlight for me, a three-movement piece on Kendrick's origins in Compton. This is a nearly perfect 34 minutes that blows by too fast and just makes you want more and more from one of the greatest artists in the game today.
[First added to this chart: 03/04/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,391
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
It's obvious who Margo Price's inspiration is. If you couldn't tell from the music, just look to the album title, it's all very Loretta Lynn, which isn't surprising considering she worked with Lynn on her Van Lear Rose album. Price is signed to Third Man Records, which makes sense considering Jack White's love for old-time country music, and that's exactly what Price does. She's very old-time country, but with her own identity. Price is never as straightforwardly autobiographical as Lynn would get, Price is more poetic. Not to say that one is inherently better than the other, it's just Price's style, and it works for her. She has a beautiful voice, very powerful, very plaintive, and her songwriting is excellent. It's simple, it's honest, and it's powerful. If you're into Loretta Lynn-style country music, this is an album for you.
[First added to this chart: 04/06/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
At its base, Sturgill Simpson's music is country, but to label him and pigeonhole him as a "country artist" is a disservice to him. Country music is his base, it's unavoidable, especially with his southern drawl of a voice. With Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Simpson showed everyone just how talented he was, and just how easily he could transcend the country label. With this album, he continues that trend, just making great music, regardless of whatever genre you want to call it. Lyrically is probably where Simpson is his most country, he's honest, simple, and bare. He loves everyone, welcomes them, no matter who they are, with open arms. There's also a really cool cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" on here, that turns what was originally a very aggressive song, into a slower ballad that really makes you focus on the lyrics more than ever. Overall this is a fantastic record and just more proof that Sturgill Simpson is one of the best things in music right now, country or otherwise.
[First added to this chart: 05/18/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
868
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Black metal is at its best when it touches on the sublime, when it buries itself deep within you and affects your very soul. Numenorean have made not only one of the best black metal albums I've heard this year, but one of the best black metal albums I've ever heard, and they do that by acknowledging their musical heritage and building on it. Many bands in the black metal scene have started leaning a lot on post-metal, and Numenorean use that, but they don't stake their entire reputations on it. It's just another tool in the toolbox that adds a great level of atmosphere to the album. Numenorean capitalize on the tortured inhumanity that they've experienced in life and channel it entirely into their music, making for a black metal album that's emotionally jarring and infinitely rewarding.
[First added to this chart: 10/19/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
It's easy for ambient/drone-focused music to be either too slow or too heavy (heavy meaning thick and difficult to process). But then sometimes, it can be beautiful, and Singulacra is the latter. While the album starts off a bit submerged, once the pads and vocals come in along with the sub bass, you start to feel this haze settle in and envelop you. The album is like constantly being in that state between falling asleep and being awake, like you're constantly dozing off and everything around you is becoming dreamlike, until a quick hi-hat hits you like a hypnic jerk and brings you back before you doze off again. It's melancholic but doesn't wallow in it. Rather there is a blend of the bleak with the upbeat, tracks like "Artificial Infinite" act as a small break through the haze. I think the beauty of this album is in the feeling, tracks like "Glimpses of Death" and "Order of Elements" just pour out emotions. It's a beautiful album that will hypnotize you and completely surround you.
[First added to this chart: 04/13/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Brian Eno is just incredible. The man has been making music for the better part of 40 years, essentially pioneering and entire genre of music (ambient), and is still creating great things. The Ship is a beautiful work, Eno has this incredible ability to make the swells just as important as the lulls, he puts care into each, emptiness is just as important as fullness. The whole album has this melancholic, despondent tone to it, it's an album that's supposed to be a musical analogy for terrible effects of consumerism, which makes the tone make sense. Overall, The Ship is yet another addition to the incredible catalog of music Brian Eno has amassed all these years.
[First added to this chart: 06/17/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
When you listen to a Local Natives album, you should be expecting two things: catchy hooks and tight harmonies. It's probably what they're best known for, and for good reason, because they're excellent at it. Each album from Local Natives has progressed their sound a bit. The amazing Gorilla Manor was a pretty straightforward upbeat indie rock album, Hummingbird took things and slowed them down a bit with a much bleaker tone, and Sunlit Youth is a blend between the two, layered in synths. The lyrics are contemplative, much like Local Natives' other works, Taylor Rice deals with subjects like getting older as time passes so quickly that he can't help but say "What happened?" This album is definitively a Local Natives album, but you can hear the continued growth in it; they're one of the best bands in the game right now.
[First added to this chart: 09/13/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
This is without a doubt one of the best hip-hop records I've heard this year. Nyck Caution blends excellent songwriting with great production to make an exceptionally memorable album. Production-wise, there's a lot, from traditional-style beats to melodic hooks, strings, and spacey synths, there's a lot of variety that keeps you interested. Along with that are Nyck Caution's fantastic and poignant lyircs, with the highlight coming from "Out of Reach", a song that takes the listener through the mind of the friends of a guy who committed suicide (referencing the suicide of Capital Steez). It's brutally honest and heart-wrenching, as Caution details his thoughts on his friend's suicide:
Shit I thought you were a legend
And of course you manifested what you thought and I admire that
I was denying that it happened till they fired back
And everybody had a question which required that
The truth be spoken
But I ain't even accept it, how we supposed to be progressive when our roots are broken
Yo, and you know Id give you all of me
I swear that old fucking milk couldn't spoil me
Imma always ride with you, 'til the day I lie with you
That's called loyalty
It's beautiful stuff, and he delivers it really well. It's an album that you will fixate on, both the music and the lyrics, and it's a great hip-hop album. [First added to this chart: 03/28/2016]
Shit I thought you were a legend
And of course you manifested what you thought and I admire that
I was denying that it happened till they fired back
And everybody had a question which required that
The truth be spoken
But I ain't even accept it, how we supposed to be progressive when our roots are broken
Yo, and you know Id give you all of me
I swear that old fucking milk couldn't spoil me
Imma always ride with you, 'til the day I lie with you
That's called loyalty
It's beautiful stuff, and he delivers it really well. It's an album that you will fixate on, both the music and the lyrics, and it's a great hip-hop album. [First added to this chart: 03/28/2016]
Total albums: 100. Page 2 of 10
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!
Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| Local Natives | 1 | 1% | |
| Flight Feathers | 1 | 1% | |
| Oranssi Pazuzu | 1 | 1% | |
| The Wretched End | 1 | 1% | |
| Wussy | 1 | 1% | |
| Brood Ma | 1 | 1% | |
| Karl Blau | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
53 | 53% | |
 |
12 | 12% | |
 |
9 | 9% | |
 |
6 | 6% | |
 |
4 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 87th to 88th The Grander Voyage by Netherbird |
| Down 1 from 88th to 89th Telefone by Noname |
| Down 1 from 89th to 90th My Woman by Angel Olsen |
| New entries |
|---|
 My Thoughts On Youby The Band CAMINO |
Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Why register?
Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.- Create & share your own charts.
- Have your say in the overall rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Register now - it only takes a moment!
Other year charts (from the 2010s) by RockyRaccoon
Top 100 Music Albums of 2019 by RockyRaccoon (2021)Top 100 Music Albums of 2018 by
RockyRaccoon (2023)Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 by
RockyRaccoon (2023)Top 100 Music Albums of 2015 by
RockyRaccoon (2022)Top 100 Music Albums of 2014 by
RockyRaccoon (2022)Top 100 Music Albums of 2013 by
RockyRaccoon (2023)Top 100 Music Albums of 2012 by
RockyRaccoon (2024)Top 100 Music Albums of 2011 by
RockyRaccoon (2022)Top 78 Music Albums of 2010 by
RockyRaccoon (2023)Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 ratings
93/100 (from 24 votes)
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 24 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
100/100  | 04/21/2024 20:36 |  HoldenM | | 95/100 |
90/100 | 04/21/2024 11:02 |  Tamthebam | | 85/100 |
90/100 | 04/21/2024 10:10 | Johnnyo | | 80/100 |
 100/100 | 02/13/2022 13:19 |  sszwalbenest | | 79/100 |
| 100/100 | 01/19/2021 19:09 |  LedZep | | 84/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 93.3/100, a mean average of 95.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 96.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.8.
Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating
Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 favourites
Showing all 3 members who have added this chart as a favourite
Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 comments
Showing all 10 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
100/100
From 
ForegroundNoise 02/17/2020 08:20
ForegroundNoise 02/17/2020 08:20
Comprehensive, detailed, varied. It boggles my mind how a single person can know a year so intimately. This is more than just an assembled list; each album has clearly been given due attention before its placement. There's just the right balance of familiar and obscure too, a surprise from someone whose overall chart has a fair bit of classic rock. This might as well be from a one-man music publication - I'll be sure to pay your charts more attention in future!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From 
JulianR 03/09/2018 08:10
JulianR 03/09/2018 08:10
What a fantastic chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Daydreamer 04/14/2017 15:08
Daydreamer 04/14/2017 15:08
This is great, I love the fact that you rate acclaimed and famous albums and the unknown ones the same. I hope to learn from your charts since I've never heard about a bit portion of stuff here.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From AMBNTnoises 11/11/2016 14:59
There are a lot of fantastic albums on this chart, and a lot that I have to go listen to. Based on the albums that I have listened to on this chart, I'm excited to check out the other bands listed.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
Graeme2 10/12/2016 07:09
Graeme2 10/12/2016 07:09
Plenty to check. Very handy with the all the info too. Good stuff.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
70/100
From 
mickilennial 06/10/2016 14:57
mickilennial 06/10/2016 14:57
"This is an album that sounds like maybe it's at peace with itself" - probably because it's Richmond Fontaine final album? :F
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
70/100
From mickilennial 06/07/2016 18:10
mickilennial 06/07/2016 18:10
There's a lot here for me to look into, and already a bit I disagree with. Seems like it could be particularly interesting how this shifts as the second half of the year comes through. Will be looking through this lots.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From RockyRaccoon 05/05/2016 14:53
RockyRaccoon 05/05/2016 14:53
@dbz - dude that's awesome, lucky you.
And yes you need to check out that BJ Chicago Kid album, I'm interested to see what you think.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From RockyRaccoon 03/24/2016 18:16
RockyRaccoon 03/24/2016 18:16
u da best apple
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
Applerill 03/24/2016 13:41
Applerill 03/24/2016 13:41
y r u so smrat :'(
I was originally rating this so you could eventually rate my 2016 chart, but your comments once again show that I'm not worthy. Amazing job, Rocky, especially as your picks are just as extraordinary as what you write about them.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment
Your feedback for Top 100 Music Albums of 2016
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.