The 40 Best Albums of 2022

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 21, 2022

The gallery on this page contains Metacritic's list of the 40 best-reviewed albums of 2022, ranked by Metascore. This list only includes new albums receiving at least 7 reviews from professional critics.

Otherwise, all full-length studio albums (or mixtapes) released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 are eligible, though reissues, live albums, box sets and other compilations are excluded. (Those excluded titles 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 19, 2022.

2 of 25

#30 through #21

(#30)
86 Blue Rev by Alvvays

(#29)
86 A Light for Attracting Attention by The Smile

(#28)
86 Diaspora Problems by Soul Glo

(#27)
86 God Save the Animals by (Sandy) Alex G

(#26)
86 NO THANK YOU by Little Simz

(#25)
87 LIFE ON EARTH by Hurray for the Riff Raff

(#24)
87 Hugo by Loyle Carner

(#23)
87 Wet Leg by Wet Leg

(#22)
87 Electricity by Ibibio Sound Machine

(#21)
87 For You Who Are the Wronged by Kathryn Joseph

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