It's all in the title: our top 20 albums lists for the year that was 2020.
I don't need to remind anyone about the chaotic year that was 2020. You lived it, you endured it - we all did. Like all other years, however, 2020 was a huge year for music; a stunning 12 month period of stellar releases from many different genres and from countless different artists. If you don't think so, then I'm sorry to be the one to inform you that you're wrong, and that you need to expand your listening tastes and find new artists and bands to absorb. Now, if you are one such unfortunate individual, then hey, you're in luck! As myself and my main contributors for KYS this year have handily put together our own top 20 lists for you to pour over, discover, and judge. Enjoy! Show us what your top 20 list looked like, and we'll see you all in 2021. Be safe.
Alex Sievers:
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1. Dance Gavin Dance - 'Afterburner'
2. Code Orange - 'Underneath'
3. Loathe - 'I Let It In And It Took Everything'
4. Misery Signals - 'Ultraviolet'
5. Phoebe Bridgers - 'Punisher'
6. Enter Shikari - 'Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible'
7. Deftones - 'Ohms'
8. Protest The Hero - 'Palimpsest'
9. Ulver - 'Flowers Of Evil'
10. Health - 'Disco 4'
11. Alpha Wolf - 'a quiet place to die'
12. Emmure - 'Hindsight'
13. Nothing - 'The Great Dismal'
14. Greg Puciato - 'Child Soldier: Creator Of God'
15. DVSR - 'West Technique'
16. Svalbard - 'When I Die, Will I Get Better?'
17. END - 'Splinters From An Ever-Changing Face'
19. Methwitch - 'Indwell'
20. Run The Jewels - 'RTJ 4'
Owen Morawitz:
Misery Signals - 'Ultraviolet'
Pallbearer - 'Forgotten Days'
Eternal Champion - 'Ravening Iron'
Killer Be Killed - 'Reluctant Hero'
Spirit Adrift - 'Enlightened In Eternity'
Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - 'Alfredo'
Svalbard - 'When I Die, Will I Get Better?'
Elder - 'Omens'
The Midnight - 'Monsters'
Drain - 'California Cursed'
Conway The Machine - 'From A King To A GOD'
Crust - '...And a Dirge Becomes An Anthem'
Kvelertak - 'Splid'
Skeletal Remains - 'The Entombment of Chaos'
Respire - 'Black Line'
Benny The Butcher - 'Burden of Proof'
Nothing - 'The Great Dismal'
Black Curse - 'Endless Wound'
Skeleton - S/T
Necrot - 'Mortal'
Hunter Hewgley:
1. Kingdom of Giants - 'Passenger'
2. The Acacia Strain - 'Slow Decay'
3. Mac Miller - 'Circles'
4. END - 'Splinters From An Everchanging Face'
5. Like Moths to Flames - 'No Eternity in Gold'
6. Code Orange - 'Underneath'
7. Loathe - 'I Let It In and It Took Everything'
8. Run The Jewels - 'RTJ4'
9. Justice For The Damned - 'Pain Is Power'
10. Dance Gavin Dance - 'Afterburner'
11. Alpha Wolf - 'A Quiet Place To Die'
12. Movements - 'No Good Left To Give'
13. GIVER - 'Sculpture of Violence'
14. Owen - 'The Avalanche'
15. Taylor Swift - 'Evermore'
16. Sharptooth - 'Transitional Forms'
17. Invent Animate - 'Greyview'
18. Within Destruction - 'Yokai'
19. August Burns Red - 'Guardians'
20. Surfaces - 'Horizons'
Meg Langley:
Yours Truly - “Self Care”
All Time Low - “Wake Up Sunshine”
Rematch - “Do It All Again” (EP)
Makari - “Continuum” (EP)
Stand Atlantic - “Pink Elephant”
Incase We Crash - “Soul Paint” (EP)
Bloom - “In Passing” (EP)
MisterWives - “SUPERBLOOM”
YUNGBLUD - “weird!”
Bearings - “Hello, It’s You”
Young Culture - “Young Culture”
From Ashes To New - “Panic”
Spanish Love Songs - “Brave Faces Everyone”
Knuckle Puck - “20/20”
Midnight Skies - “Disconnect” (EP)
Millington - “Beatdown Generation” (EP)
Makeshift - “Remember The Feeling” (EP)
When The Sun Sets - “Transparent” (EP)
Give Me A Reason - “Vice Versa” (EP)
A Dangerous Affair - “Bringing Out The Beast In Me” (EP)
Bill Peel:
Spectral Lore + Mare Cognitum – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine
Charli XCX – how I’m feeling now
Backxwash – God Has Nothing to do With This Leave Him Out of It
Show Me a Dinosaur – Plantgazer
Respire – Black Line
Black Wing – No Moon
Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies
Gaerea – Limbo
The Weeknd - After Hours
Wayfarer – A Romance with Violence
Sex Swing – Type II
IDLES – Ultra Mono
Ulcerate – Stare Into Death and be Still
Moor Jewelry – True Opera
Changeling – III
Run the Jewels – RTJ4
Oranssi Pazuzu – Mestarin kynsi
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Svalbard – When I Die, Will I Get Better?
Zeal & Ardor – Wake of a Nation