The 40 Best Albums of 2021
Above is Metacritic's list of the 40 best-reviewed albums of 2021, ranked by Metascore. This list only includes new albums receiving at least 15 reviews from professional critics (though you'll find a quick list of the top albums with a smaller number of reviews at the end of the gallery.)
Otherwise, all full-length studio albums (or mixtapes) released between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 are eligible, though reissues, live albums, box sets and other compilations are excluded. (Those excluded titles, too, are included in a separate list at the end of the gallery.) Albums are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding based on scores as of December 21, 2021.
(#2) After tangling with her former record label over the rights to her back catalog a few years ago, pop superstar Taylor Swift announced plans to regain those rights in an unconventional manner: She would re-record each of the albums in full. Those re-recordings began early this year with a well-received remake of Fearless. But it was #2 in the series, a re-recording of her 2012 album Red, that became the highest-scoring album of Swift's career. Far from a mere copy, the new Red managed to improve on the original (already a career highlight) in every conceivable way, most notably in the production and Swift's more accomplished vocals. And a greatly expanded tracklist adds nine previously unreleased songs, including a Phoebe Bridgers collaboration ("Noting New") and a 10-minute version of "All Too Well" that critics couldn't get enough of.
“The new Red is even bigger, glossier, deeper, casually crueler. It’s the ultimate version of her most gloriously ambitious mega-pop manifesto.” —Rolling Stone
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