While the world tries to calibrate a new normal after suffering the horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic, musicians have been grappling with how their lives have changed in the past two years.
With live music on hold, artists of all genres wrote songs during lockdown with differing results. Some longed for social interaction, while others turned introspective and wrote their most personal songs to date. Some analyzed the impacts of isolation and mourned loss, while others chose nostalgia and escapism. But no matter how they decided to express themselves, 2022 gave us some exceptionally emotional, experimental, and captivating music from some of the biggest names in music, and also introduced us to new artists who are making music unlike anyone else right now—and the year is only halfway over!
Stacker looked at all 2022 albums on Metacritic and highlighted the top 25, according to Metascore. Only albums with at least 7 reviews were considered. Ties were broken internally at Metacritic, where Metascore data goes two decimal points beyond what’s published.
This list covers everything from hip-hop and pop to rock and country—there’s even an instrumental, electro-jazz album.
Read on to see how many of these albums you’ve listened to already, and perhaps more importantly, what to add to your queue.
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