50 Best Albums of the 21st Century, According to Critics

Every generation is defined by pop culture—the slang and style and music and movies that emerged during their time. Of course, it’s easy to pick out groundbreaking art in hindsight, but it can be more difficult to recognize them in the moment. How will pop culture phenomena like Charli XCX’s Brat hold up in history?

We may not be able to answer those questions yet, but we can get insights into how recent albums are holding up so far. To do so, Stacker set out to find the best albums of the 21st century, compiling data from Metacritic as of July 2024. Albums were ranked according to their Metascore, which represents an aggregation of critic reviews. EPs, rerelease box sets, reissues, and compilations were not considered. Ties were broken internally by Metacritic.

On this list, there are plenty of artists whom music lovers of many generations will recognize, from Bob Dylan for ’60s kids to Fiona Apple for those who grew up in the ’90s.

Some of the top albums—ranging from music by country legend Loretta Lynn to pop punk darlings the Wonder Years—might get listeners to sing along or even forget about the outside world for a few minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, there’s no shortage of music for getting angry and letting it all out, from the Chariot’s thrashing post-hardcore to Deafheaven’s black metal. Discover artists who honor their predecessors while helping to shape the world we live in today. Composer David Lang, for example, channeled Hans Christian Andersen and Johann Sebastian Bach for his Pulitzer Prize-winning choral piece. Or get ready to be transported far away by the West African sounds of Ali Farka Touré. Those looking for something to get them moving can turn to the hip-hop sounds of N.E.R.D., the seductive R&B offerings of Amaarae, or BERWYN’s genre-bending sound that combines elements of trap with bedroom pop.

Read on for the 50 best albums of the 21st century so far, according to critics.