The Top 10 Albums of 2017

Do they even make albums anymore?

No, seriously. In 2017, Frank Ocean followed-up his most prolific year ever by releasing a series of untethered singles. (Don't forget, one of his 2016 "albums" was just a video of him building a staircase.) Taylor Swift's best release had nothing to do with her abominable Reputation; it was a standalone cut from Fifty Shades Darker, played during a scene in which the two boring main characters go yachting. And Lil Uzi Vert's defining hit was self-leaked onto SoundCloud with a spelling mistake still in the uploaded file's title: "XO Tour Llif3". So much for a traditional, typo-free roll-out.

With that in mind, is there any need to rank the year's "best" albums, when we can just rank the Top 10 songs instead?

Of course there is! The likes of Lorde, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and even Tove Lo proved in 2017 there's still plenty of potential in 'albums' as feature-length storytelling devices. And though we wouldn't encourage everyone to start making concept albums now (especially not you, Chris Brown), my personal ten faves all kept the idea of the 'album' alive for at least another year.

(Language warning ahead.)

10. Everybody Works by Jay Som

Filipino-American Melinda Duterte’s musical project Jay Som became fully formed on Everybody Works, exploding out of her bedroom (where it was recorded) on the anthemic sing-along "The Bus Song". Duterte’s been touring with Mitski and Japanese Breakfast over the past couple of years. I don’t know what we’d do with ourselves if they ever formed a supergroup. We’re not worthy, et cetera.

9. A Suitable Girl by Ali Barter

Melbourne’s Ali Barter delivered A Suitable Girl in March, and boy, did it prove to be prophetic. "Cigarette" and "Girlie Bits" conveyed the sexism experienced by women in rock, and beyond. By the end of the year, the insidiousness of 'casually' sexist comments, gropes and harassment became fully realised. By December, her triumphant "Light Them On Fire" sounded more like an instruction than a song title.

8. 4:44 by Jay-Z

Beyoncé’s Lemonade may be the better half to Jay-Z’s confessional 4:44, but on its own merits, it’s still a compelling comeback for the legendary rapper, full of surprising revelations, catchy choruses and hilarious punch lines. It also gave us a new-look cast for Friends. Read the full review.

7. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick will get that Album of the Year GRAMMY for DAMN., and not because he and the Recording Academy have a shared love of the Caps-Lock key. DAMN. is divorced from the bombast of To Pimp a Butterfly, and is instead devoted to slow-jams, deserved flexing, and personal storytelling. It even has a twist ending: Months after release, Kendrick told us to play the album in reverse, and .NMAD is somehow more hypnotic; its new sequencing revealing an origin story for the rapper that ends in tragedy. Thankfully, in reality, he's only going from strength to strength.

6. Need to Feel Your Love by Sheer Mag

The best voice in rock today belongs to Tina Halladay, the commanding lead singer of Philly band Sheer Mag (imagine The Darkness, but not a joke). They released their first full-length record this year, and their timing was impeccable: Their fiery, feminist salvos couldn’t have been more relevant, and their razor-voiced "Expect the Bayonet" was a powerful suffragette anthem that echoed from the U.S. to Australia, and wherever else #MeToo resonated.

5. Dirty Projectors by Dirty Projectors

Forget Bey and Jay. The alt-music world saw its own high-profile romantic disintegration in 2017, between David Longstreth (of the now-solo Dirty Projectors) and Amber Coffman (an ex-bandmate who told her side of the story on City of No Reply). Dirty Projectors’ lead single, "Keep Your Name", was my favourite song of 2016, and its joined here by the eight-minute romantic drama "Up in Hudson" and the Justin Timberlake-esque groove of "Death Spiral".

4. After Laughter by Paramore

Going into 2017, I did not expect Paramore to wind up with one of my Top Five albums of the year. (Even more surprising? That they’d deliver my #1 song of the year too.) But their darkly addictive After Laughter is fun music to feel bad to; where tales of mental illness are hidden under irresistible hooks. Hayley Williams’ voice is unstoppable. Read the full review.

3. BLUE LIPS by Tove Lo

BLUE LIPS is an audacious, dizzy-making and absolutely filthy sequel to Tove Lo’s ambitious Lady Wood. It smashes together two distinct and irrepressible sides: one for anything-goes parties; another for anxiety-riddled comedowns. We already knew the Swedes love disco. Only Tove Lo—with her sweaty, shuddering vocals—could make us love it again too.

2. Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator

Is Flower Boy Tyler, the Creator’s ‘coming out’ album, or is it a prank? The notorious troll is refusing to confirm or deny, but Flower Boy is so sonically beautiful and honestly observed, I just can’t accept the theory he’s simply playing us for laughs. His most mature album to date, Flower Boy is gentle on the ears and good for the soul—except, of course, when Tyler lets loose his sinister side, because no one changes everything about themselves at once. Read the full review.

1. Melodrama by Lorde

We waited so long for Melodrama, and Ella Yelich-O’Connor did not disappoint, giving us an album that—when placed against the rest of 2017’s musical landscape—bangs harder, lingers longer and muses most thoughtfully. In a year when almost every major pop star on the planet cratered creatively or commercially, New Zealand’s finest delivered infectious hooks, intimate lyrics and magnificently baroque singles like it was nothing, though her emphatic delivery and live performances suggested it meant everything. “What the f*** are perfect places, anyway?” she asks. Her live concerts were a good start to finding that answer. Read the full review.

Share your faves below!

Photo: YouTube (KendrickLamarVEVO / LordeVEVO / ToveLoVEVO / Tyler, the Creator)