The Freshman 15: 2022's Best Debut Albums

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 8, 2022

Next week, we'll release our final overall list of this year's best overall albums. But our ongoing best of 2022 coverage continues right now with a look at this year's top newcomers in music.

Above is our list of the 15 best-reviewed debut albums of 2022, ranked by Metascore. Note that albums must have at least 7 reviews—and be a full-length LP (or mixtape) rather than an EP—to be eligible for inclusion. Albums are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding based on scores as of December 6, 2022.

3 of 16 photo by Domino

82Reset by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom

(#13) The first full collaboration between Animal Collective's Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox) and former Spacemen 3 member Sonic Boom (aka Peter Kember) follows a pair of Panda Bear solo albums (Tomboy, Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper) that Kember co-produced. Reset's nine tracks build on samples taken from the opening seconds to classic 1960s tunes and finds both artists taking on vocal duties.

“Even when other albums by Panda Bear or Sonic Boom have suggested positivity and low-stakes fun, none have quite delivered that feeling like Reset does.” —AllMusic

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