Looks like rock n roll is really dead - at least to the critics. Long live rock n roll!
23
A decade from now when all of these albums have sunk into obscurity people will still be listening to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.
Listening will actually make you smarter and more reflective about your loved ones - it takes you on a journey and that is far too rare for any 'popular' music.
It closes with Hollywood - arguably [by me if no one else] as the most moving, non-sappy song of the past decade.
Give it a listen and see if you don't agree
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCTevL8OImE
8
No mention of TOOL’s Fear Inoculum, either through review or article. After a 13 year absence, they roar back with a masterpiece and the NYT largely ignores it. Very odd.
14
Looking forward to Weird Al's 100 Gecs parody.
5
Not that I agree with all of them but its Norman ____Rockwell I don't get. This is the most derivative album I've heard of her's... and she has always been comfortable beimng heavily influlenced by others.
Nick Cave's Ghosteen And Bon Iver's ii get's my vote hands down
4
ever heard of BIG THIEF? a band so nice, they did it twice this year. and both albums ("u.f.o.f." / "two hands") merit inclusion on any list by anyone not named jon pareles or jon caramanica. imho, of course.....
6
Expecting Trends in the Music Industry in 2020
1. The movement from record labels to more independent formats is going to continue.
2. Artists are fixing their gaze on touring and alternative ways to make money other than streaming.
3. A new music format that would be a bigger shift as MP3 and Blue Ray.
4. Music is going to play a huge role in the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality industry.
3
List of albums NYT wishes were the best of 2019.
27
When a movie critic describes one of the themes of a musician’s album as her “struggles with racism” we have to wonder what era we are in. Please add more critics of color in 2020 NYT.
6
Stop with calling these the “best” albums of the year. They are your “favorite” albums of the year, nothing more.
54
As we listened to the marching bands at a recent college football game, a friend remarked that all they were playing was music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, songs that the musicians’ parents and grandparents listened to. Where was the kids’ own music? I responded that marching bands need more than beats, they need melodies.
Put another way, is there a single song on any of these “best of 2019” albums that you can sing in the shower?
9
Madonna's Madame X is one of her most daring and interesting albums. It should definitely be on this list.
5
Sorry, but the critics lost their credibility by including Ariana Grande in a best albums list. Try harder guys...
20
Very urban list with a lot of stuff I have no interest in. It does not rise to art. Who is the lost written for? I suppose for other critics.
Non illuminating. List is on deep discount here.
10
Wildcard by Miranda Lambert is fresh and vibrant, and should be on any list of great 2019 albums. As others have pointed out, Springsteen’s Western Stars is a 2019 treat.
3
I'd really like to see Orville Peck PONY on this list.Orville is part of a wave of musicians that are literally and figuratively changing the face of country western.
A recent show proved that not only can he SING and is musically gifted but he is truly delightful and authentic.The sold out crowd ranged in ages and backgrounds- bikers,young gay fashion cowboys,CW diehard fans, old glam cowgirls (like me)...
It's been a long time since I've seen a performer bring together such a diverse group of fans through such heartfelt music.
YeeHaw!
6
I am amazed that Weyes Blood's wonderful "Titanic Rising" went under everyone's radar. A major album of 2019, both in terms of contents and production.
4
Had Springsteen been dying, down and out or dormant the last few years, “Western Stars” would be on all these best-of lists. Never stopping, yet producing something truly fresh and brilliant at age 70 isn’t quite enough evidently.
21
Is this Z100's list of Best Albums of 2019? C'mon NYT, you gotta dig a bit deeper than this.
19
Thanks for showing 100 Gecs luv!!
1
Sturgill Simpson's "Sound and Fury" deserves a shout-out, as does Springsteen's "Western Stars" (few artists reach 70 years old and can still write a classic like "Stones" at that age.)
14
Where’s the Bob Dylan-Johnny Cash “Travelin’ Thru, 1967–1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15” from your album list? You missed a big one! There are songs on “Traveling” that will make an old man (that’s me) and a young woman like Lana Del Rey cry.
8
There were actually quite a few good albums this year by The Hold Steady, Wilco,Kim Gordon, and Sleeter Kinney....but that would be rock music and that is banned. Better Wests third rate 29 minute gospel nonsense then anything that would deal with a whole 70 years of music that none of your reviewers have the least respect for. All they are concerned with is teenage celebrity, if you want to check into that then thsi page is worth reading...as for music, go elsewhere.
27
@Greg Jones This is a review of pop music. This is what pop music looks like right now. You're looking for a review of rock/indie/alternative bands. This isn't that. It's also completely subjective. Try not to take things so personally. You'll be happier.
15
@Drew seems like you took Greg's opinion personally.
7
Where is Tool? “Fear Inoculum” topped the charts in 2019 and they embarked on a sold out tour without having released an album in 13 years.
13
Where is Lizzo in all this? She has the 2 most singable songs of 2019 and a fantastic album with great songs to back that up!
13
Perusing these lists, I expected to be adding to a cacophony of derisive voices, but the whole exercise has been stultifying for most, it seems. To be fair, I don't click on these lists for any sort of validation. (Though I do think Big Thief, either of the albums, to be a glaring omission; and Moodymann, who still hasn't entered any sort of popular culture lexicon despite being sampled on a Drake hit, did something special, too!) There was certainly a lot to chew on here, but so much of it was mediocre. That's surely related to the avowed focus on pop music, a genre which only occasionally produces the "best" albums.
In the Best Movies feature, the authors inveighed against the ability of blockbusters to "illuminate the cruelty, the comedy and the grace of the human condition." I can't help but wonder why we shouldn't expect something similar from a Best Albums article? At least title it more appropriately: Best Pop Music.
6
Excuse me, but where’s Tyler? Igor was easily one of the best albums of 2019
5
Slightly Immortal by Ganfunkel was the best album this year. Don't miss it
Taylor Swift and Kanye are on your list, but Solange isn't? Her album was the best album of the year.
I feel like my mom made this list.
12
After several years of this, there can no longer be any pretense that these lists are anything but an exercise in "diversity," as opposed to exposing the best of the best. In other words, white male representation will be kept to an absolute minimum, possibly because that's what the critics are. They have to virtue signal to deflect criticism of themselves.
26
@J.C. If you think white males are making "the best of the best" in music, I just don't know what to tell ya. Also, thanks for advertising how little your opinion means by honestly using the term "virtue signal".
13
@J.C. @J.C. Or, you know, they're just expressing their subjective opinion. But I'll let you get back to screaming at windmills.
8
Check out Katie Ruvane's album, "The Lines"!
There's hardly any rap on this list. NYT should work on getting more diversity in its pop music staff. Baby Keem isn't enough. Given how prodigious artists in the genre have been this year, this list does an immense disservice.
3
@A.L. I would like to add on that there's even less from rock, from indie to metal and everything in between, which in my humble opinion deserved to be at least mentioned. But I'll agree with you, theres enough dedicated music listeners/writers out there that should prevent an institution like the Times to put out something so horrifically tunnel visioned.
6
Where is Lizzo?
41
You forgot Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Ghosteen, the most complete and affecting album of the year.
23
@Yankee Prof Totally agree. Incredible moving album.
2
@Yankee Prof
Thanks for the recco. I hadn't even heard of this album (or heard much of Nick Cave's music) but I listened to it based on this comment, and have been playing it nonstop.
I'm SHOOK that Tyler, the Creator didn't make either of these lists.
24
wow I have no desire to hear any of this and have never heard of 95% of these artists. JOMO!!!
24
@Casey Have fun with John Denver.
4
@Carolina Why is John Denver your punching bag? As you seem to be from New York, I wouldn’t expect you to have a clue what he was writing about in the 70’s.
3
What's an album?
14
And yet "Zess," by the phenomenal French band Magma gets nary a mention. The ultimate pinnacle of a 50-year career.
4
I'd love to hear RICK BEATO'S review of all these albums. Just sayin'
6
Pareles' picks are always so much more interesting than Caramanica.
10
Thank you for the breadth of selections across so many musical genres, and performance arts. And thanks for getting me away from current events!
4
@Stephen Nicholas Yea isnt that the goal of music, light distraction?