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
The range of style and intensity throughout this album is absolutely gorgeous, it starts off strong and it never stops. "Stand And Deliver" brings you into the album, riding on a wave of synth pads as Hayley Mary comes in with a spoken-word intro, and it works perfectly as an introduction to this album. Mary asks "What's a girl to do, standing in the spotlight?" and the answer is run forward as hard as you can and keep pushing. The album is awash in keyboardist Heather Shannon's keys, she really adds a whole other layer to the sound, as the keys blend with the guitars and the drums to make for a huge, powerful, monolithic sound. The fact that Shannon has recently been diagnosed with ovarian cancer really adds to the emotional power behind the album. Lyrically, it's odd but fascinating, Mary covers all sorts of topics, many of them dealing with issues of modern feminism. In "Smile" she says "You can call me sexy if you want to", "You can whistle at me on the street where I am walking" but her only condition is, "Don't tell me to smile if you don't know me, brother". Mary won't hold back, and she doesn't, and her voice is excellent, it can transition from a quiet, gentle voice, to a powerful siren without even a second thought. This album is huge and it's powerful.
[First added to this chart: 02/23/2016]
0
Buy album
- #Sponsored
This album was made with two instruments: a pedal steel guitar and a lap steel, along with a bunch of effects. They're beautiful instruments on their own, and when they're used in the way Daniel Lanois and collaborator Rocco DeLuca use them, they take them to a whole other world. Knowing that Lanois has worked with Brian Eno before is no surprise when you listen to this album, it feels like Eno. But where Eno wanted to create an environment with his music, where he wanted a wallpaper, Lanois wants something more active, more fitful. Music and sound can always communicate some things that words never can, they they're own language, and this album says a lot without a word. There are tracks here that are grand and powerful, and there are tracks that are soft, subtle, and more serene. It's a beautiful blend and a beautiful album that Lanois and DeLuca have created, somewhat ambient, somewhat experimental, but one wonderful soundscape.
[First added to this chart: 12/23/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
I am completely fascinated by this album. Anna Homler is a performance artist who, back in the 80s, started recorded some songs on a cassette tape of her chanting in some made up language. Now, RVGN Intl. has paired her up with Steve Moshier, and they've recorded those strange chants and put them into an album. What's fascinating to me is how hypnotic these chants can get. They don't actually mean anything, they're all made up words, but somehow they just captivate you. The first five tracks are mostly her chants, but the final two tracks are what I'm most enamored with. "Sirens" is a 12-minute track that consists mostly of Homler clicking and squealing over a synth drone, it's almost ambient-like, but so strange that it never quite fades into the background. The best track, in my opinion, is the closer "Celestial Ash", a 17-minute track in which Homler's chants are looped and delayed so that her voice becomes layers of voices, like a dense fog of voices surrounding and enveloping you. The whole album is completely mesmerizing and fascinating.
[First added to this chart: 02/25/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
One of the things I loved about The Haxan Cloak's album Excavation was how cinematic it sounded. And I don't mean that in the sense that it sounded like the score to a film, but rather it sounded like the plot to a psychological thriller. It kept you on edge, it would shock you and surprise you. Roly Porter does exactly that on this album. Third Law feels like some kind of frightening, mind-bending movie. He revels in silence, quietly and subtly weaving through until he crushes you with the power of a collapsing building. It may sound like it's a tiring venture, but it's not, Porter's very strategic in when and where he triggers your adrenaline, and instead of it being a frightening or tiring experience, it's exhilarating.
[First added to this chart: 01/29/2016]
25. (=)
Safe Mode: On Certain images on this site may contain adult content and are flagged as 'unsafe'. BestEverAlbums.com does not display these images by default, but you may choose to show or hide these images from your profile page. If you choose to hide these images, you'll see an image with a warning message instead of the actual image. If you choose to show them, you'll see these images no differently than regular (safe) images.
Buy album
- #Sponsored
After the gigantic epic that was My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and the dystopian, apocalyptic Yeezus, we've got the constantly delayed, ever-changing The Life Of Pablo, and Kanye keeps it rolling with his streak of great albums. One of the things I really appreciate about this album is that it's not trying to make some kind of grand statement. Kanye's just having fun, he's just doing what he does. Yeezus was more experimental, MBDTF was a grand epic, TLOP is just good hip-hop. This is also, perhaps, the most mature we've seen Kanye in some time. Yes, there's tracks like "Famous" that are standard Kanye braggadocio, but the constant themes of redemption, forgiveness, and appreciation of people for who they are, I feel like this album is Kanye trying to say "I am what I am and I know that sometimes I'm a dick but please accept me". The opener, "Ultralight Beam" sets the tone for the whole album, with a huge gospel choir, joined by The-Dream and Chance The Rapper. Chance's guest spot is perfect, the song feels like it was built specifically for him, and it's a beautiful dive into the difficulties of faith. The whole album is laden with gospel and soul influences, which create a beautiful cohesiveness to the album, but my biggest knock against the album is that it's a bit bloated. There are some tracks that need to be gone, tracks like "30 Hours" and "Freestyle 4" don't fit the feel of the album and interrupt what could be a great flow song into song. This interruption, though, is more than made up for with the brilliance of songs like the opener, and "Low Lights" into "Highlights", and "Waves". It's a really wonderful album that is probably going to end up being my third or fourth-favorite Kanye album as of now.
[First added to this chart: 02/17/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,226
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Somewhere between Wilco and The Hold Steady falls Pinegrove. Lyrically they're very similar to The Hold Steady's descriptive, imaginative lyrics, with an alt-country kind of feel that's very reminiscent of Wilco. Stephens Hall is a pretty good songwriter, he lays everything out bare, if something is screwed up, he'll straight up tell you it's screwed up. If something is wrong, he'll tell you it's wrong. There's no mixing signals with Hall, he's direct and he's honest, and that's where the strength of his songwriting lies. His emotional, poignant lyrics are all the more emphasized with music that conveys emotion as effective as any rock band this side of Arcade Fire. This album is intimate, and it's that intimacy that makes it so good.
[First added to this chart: 02/17/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
793
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
It almost feels cliched at this point to compare a young rapper to Kendrick Lamar, but I can help it in this case. Anderson .Paak sounds extraordinarily similar to Kendrick, not just in style, but in his voice. There are songs on this album that really sound like they could come straight from Kendrick, especially songs like "Your Prime" that sounds like it could've been an extra track on "To Pimp A Butterfly". Overall, this album flows together almost perfectly, the jazzy, cool feel to the music keeps on going throughout the whole album, and .Paak's lyrical and technical ability is just excellent. He neither overpowers nor takes a backseat to the music behind him, he blends with it and brings it all together. It's really excellent and likely going to end up being one of my favorite hip-hop albums of the year already.
[First added to this chart: 01/19/2016]
Year of Release:
2016
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,163
Rank in 2016:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
Some of the greatest minds in jazz today combine on this album. Similar to Kamasi Washington and Thundercat (both of whom are featured on this album), Terrace Martin shows the world why it wasn't just all Kendrick that made To Pimp A Butterfly so good. The instrumental tracks on this album are fantastic, and when Martin brings in Washington and Thundercat, it's truly incredible. There are plenty of vocal tracks too, as Uncle Chucc pops in on the soulful "Patiently Waiting". There are elements of jazz, hip-hop, and soul all blended together on this album that's weaved into a masterpiece that shows the absolute mastery that Terrace Martin has.
[First added to this chart: 05/16/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
If Obscura can do anything well, it's play fast, and the certainly do that on this album. If you're into technical death metal, then this is for you. Obscura blast past you with ungodly amounts of skill that will drop your jaw. The composition of this album is downright impressive, with a very metallic jazz feel, fretless bass and fretless guitars creating music that almost sounds unstable, but is completely cohesive and together. Whenever there's a solo on this album, it commands your attention. None of it is mindless, none of it is just showing off, it's all purposeful, and it's all different. Whether they're playing with harmonics or making strange noises, the guitars are always doing something and it's usually something really interesting. If you like tech death metal, then you'll love this.
[First added to this chart: 02/17/2016]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
This album isn't exactly accessible, and it's not supposed to be. This album is supposed to smack you across the face and completely disorient you. It's a sonic attack, meant to throw you for a complete loop so that, by the end of the 27-minute album, you're sitting there saying "What the hell just happened?". Similar to Roly Porter's release from earlier this year, Brood Ma bears a lot of similarity to electronic artists like Lotic and The Haxan Cloak, but what's most impressive about this album is how Brood Ma maintains his own unique sound throughout. There's definitely a certain, dystopian mood to the album, but there isn't a single style that you could put this in. It's a wild ride of an album, an impressive one, and one that will blow by you so fast you'll be left behind looking at the distant horizon that this album just sped past you towards.
[First added to this chart: 03/02/2016]
Total albums: 100. Page 3 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.