Our 2022 Annual Report continues with our Top 50 Albums list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2022. You can find it all in one place here.
Something funny happened when we were putting together our list of the best albums of 2022. Obviously, we looked at our mid-year rankings in our deliberations, and while doing so, noticed how drastically things had shifted. Albums that were ranked highly six months ago had dropped down substantially — if not entirely out of consideration. Others that were squeezed into the lower numbers found themselves beating out previous favorites.
It shouldn’t be that surprising; are we really the same people we were six months ago? Are the very artists we’re here to rank? Are our perceptions of them? Name something that isn’t in a state of constant flux these days.
Just look back at your own year of listening habits. Wrapped may tell you one thing, but would it have looked the same if it were released in June? Likely not, because whatever it was that led you into summer may have been supplanted by a record that connected with you even more in fall. In a year when collections of new music geared towards thematically cohesive statements, which ideas struck home with you weren’t going to remain static.
What will never change, however, is that music has a vital impact on those who cherish it. So whether we left your favorite record off or put something on here that you never would have considered, it doesn’t make either side of the equation right or wrong. On this side of things, the Consequence staff put all our own tastes, experiences, and understandings of music with a capital M on the virtual table and pushed it around until we got an order we knew stuck a chord with us.
These are the records we loved, that impressed us, that touched us, and that we likely will keep in our rotations even through the new year. These are the 50 best albums of 2022.
— Ben Kaye
Editorial Director
