The 40 Best Albums of 2020

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 24, 2020

Above is Metacritic's list of the 40 best-reviewed albums of 2020, 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, 2020 and December 31, 2020 are eligible, though reissues, live albums, box sets and other compilations are excluded. Albums are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding based on scores as of December 23, 2020.

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BONUS: Best reissues and compilations

We excluded reissues, box sets, EPs, live albums, and compilations from our main list. But here are 2020's highest-scoring releases that fall into any of those categories.

(#1)
100 Sign O' the Times [Deluxe Edition] by Prince

(#2)
95 Wildflowers & All the Rest by Tom Petty

(#3)
91 The White Stripes Greatest Hits by The White Stripes

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