“911/Mr.
The 61-minute, 15-song LP established the Swedish songstress as a dancehall queen, a cyborg fembot, and friend-turned-therapist to her lovers, friends, and fans. Or, at most, a half-remembered night at Lincoln Center. “And we gon’ start a motherfuckin’ pussy riot / or we gon’ have to put ’em on a pussy diet,” she spits. There’s an ease to the record, which is interesting considering it spends so much time investing in the often complicated work of genre-busting. With 1989, Taylor Swift succumbed completely to pop -- and it was big, bright and fun, even in her more lovelorn moments. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with her debut full-length, and personal songs such as “Never Be the Same,” “Real Friends,” and “Consequences,” not only shed light on Cabello’s musical evolution but also marked important life lessons for pop listeners. The romantic opening track “Adore You" made it clear Cyrus' artistry was going to embark on a powerful journey over the course of 16 tracks, and the career-reinventing set's biggest hit, “Wrecking Ball," earned Cyrus her first and only Hot 100 No. But what Bowie did gladly and willingly offer up is a grand closing statement that will, like every other bit of art he created during his life, resound through the ages and shine glimmers of hope and humanity upon generations of boogie-ing children.—Robert Ham, 2016 was one of the most incredible years for music not only this decade, but also this century as a whole. And therein lies Body Talk’s greatest legacy: While late-'00s pop veered toward a cooler aesthetic, Robyn swung the door open, connecting the glossy mainstream to the heart of indie. Simpson may reside in Nashville these days, but he’s operating on a completely different plane. The project was successful both critically and commercially -- the rare concept album that also manages to serve as a jackpot of successful chart singles, and one that you can listen to again and again, unearthing new patterns, callbacks and hidden secrets each time, each track as alive as the artist himself.
—Emily Reily, Like Beyoncé and Frank Ocean before him in 2016, Australian auteur and reigning prince of darkness Nick Cave also opted for a visual aspect accompanying the release of his 16th studio album with his band the Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree.
Their sophomore long player, Contra, debuted at No.
—Mark Lore, Singing Saw, the third solo album from L.A. singer-songwriter (and former Woods bassist) Kevin Morby, was one of the great “growers” of 2016.
—Ryan Bort, Hip-hop’s psychedelic era may have reached its peak with Travis Scott’s third studio album. The Canadian producer’s Polaris Prize-winning 99.9% weaves in a diverse slate of deep cuts to create incredibly immediate dance music featuring a wave of stars at every step. But his 2017 album Rocket comes with a significant bump in interest and attention thanks to Frank Ocean, who recruited Giannascoli to play on his two 2016 albums, Endless and Blonde.