It was a monumental year for music. A lot of major artists dropped albums that were as big as they were important, speaking to events on both a personal and global scale. Seven out of the top 10 spots in our 2016 listener poll went to well-established or legacy artists, from Radiohead and Beyoncé to Bon Iver, David Bowie and Leonard Cohen. But if you dig a little deeper into the list you'll find some of 2016's best new artists, including Big Thief, Margaret Glaspy, Noname, Pinegrove and Joseph.
Some years these polls aren't even close, but this time it was a tight race for the top five most popular albums of 2016. In the end, Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool squeaked ahead of Beyoncé's Lemonade for the top spot. They were followed, in order, by David Bowie's Blackstar, Bon Iver's 22, A Million and Car Seat Headrest's Teens Of Denial.
On this week's All Songs Considered, we count down and talk about the poll's top 20 albums. You'll find those records below, along with a list of our listeners' top 100 albums.
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— Sturgill Simpson, 'A Sailor's Guide To Earth'
/ Courtesy of the artist
The All Songs Considered Listener Poll's Top 100 Albums Of 2016
Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
Beyoncé, Lemonade
David Bowie, Blackstar
Bon Iver, 22, A Million
Car Seat Headrest, Teens Of Denial
Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book
Frank Ocean, Blonde
A Tribe Called Quest, We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service
Anderson .Paak, Malibu
Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor's Guide To Earth
Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker
Solange, A Seat at the Table
Kanye West, The Life Of Pablo
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree
Angel Olsen, MY WOMAN
Big Thief, Masterpiece
case/lang/veirs, case/lang/veirs
Pinegrove, Cardinal
Mitski, Puberty 2
Wilco, Schmilco
Margaret Glaspy, Emotions And Math
ZAYN, Mind Of Mine
Margo Price, Midwest Farmer's Daughter
Whitney, Light Upon The Lake
Childish Gambino, "Awaken, My Love!"
Andrew Bird, Are You Serious
Drive-By Truckers, American Band
Rihanna, Anti
Blood Orange, Freetown Sound
Glass Animals, How To Be A Human Being
Paul Simon, Stranger To Stranger
Conor Oberst, Ruminations
James Blake, The Colour In Anything
Parquet Courts, Human Performance
Hiss Golden Messenger, Heart Like A Levee
Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression
The Avett Brothers, True Sadness
The 1975, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
Savages, Adore Life
Various Artists, Hamilton Mixtape
ANOHNI, HOPELESSNESS
Noname, Telefone
Kishi Bashi, Sonderlust
The Lumineers, Cleopatra
Andy Shauf, The Party
She Makes War, Direction Of Travel
Lucius, Good Grief
Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, I Had A Dream That You Were Mine
Kendrick Lamar, untitled unmastered.
Sia, This is Acting
Lady Gaga, Joanne
Kaytranada, 99.9%
Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate
Jim James, Eternally Even
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, A Man Alive
Lucy Dacus, No Burden
Frightened Rabbit, Painting Of A Panic Attack
Band of Horses, Why Are You OK
NAO, For All We Know
The Rolling Stones, Blue And Lonesome
The Avalanches, Wildflower
Weezer, Self-Titled (White Album)
PJ Harvey, The Hope Six Demolition Project
Shearwater, Jet Plane And Oxbow
Danny Brown, Atrocity Exhibition
Damien Jurado, Visions Of Us On The Land
Birdeatsbaby, Tanta Furia
The Jayhawks, Paging Mr. Proust
The Suffers, The Suffers
The Weeknd, Starboy
Esperanza Spalding, Emily's D+Evolution
Dawes, We're All Gonna Die
Lambchop, FLOTUS
Ariana Grande, Dangerous Woman
The Posies, Solid States
Local Natives, Sunlit Youth
NxWorries, Yes Lawd!
Kevin Morby, Singing Saw
Lake Street Dive, Side Pony
Miranda Lambert, The Weight of These Wings
Drake, Views
Gallant, Ology
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Let Me Get By
M83, Junk
DIIV, Is The Is Are
Joseph, I'm Alone No You're Not
Tegan and Sara, Love You to Death
Brandy Clark, Big Day In A Small Town
Parker Millsap, The Very Last Day
Cass McCombs, Mangy Love
Regina Spektor, Remember Us To Life
Flock of Dimes, If You See Me, Say Yes
Maren Morris, HERO
Frankie Cosmos, Next Thing
Pixies, Head Carrier
The Hotelier, Goodness
Chris Staples, Golden Age
Carly Rae Jepsen, Emotion Side B
AURORA, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend
Phish, Big Boat
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