The results are in. After whittling 76 album suggestions down to 38 and combining them with the 12 five star albums from our online reviews, we made our top 50. Then, 25 of our wonderful writers ranked them from 50-1 and now we find ourselves with The Edge’s Top Albums of 2017. From now until the new year, we’ll be counting down to the number one spot, with it getting close now in our run down from 20-11. Make sure to follow our Spotify playlist, which will be updated daily as more of the list is revealed!
20. Kesha – Rainbow
“‘Praying’ might just be the song that launched a thousand allegations, and Rainbow is the album that bore it, along with two collaborations with the Eagles Of Death Metal – “Let ‘Em Talk’ is the equal of ‘Kiwi’ for shamelessly smiley Rock&Roll. Put simply, this was the platonic ideal of a Pop record for 2017 – joyous, redemptive, batshit insane, a little unbalanced, and full-throated in sincerity.”
19. Father John Misty – Pure Comedy
“Overlong, pretentious, perfection. Full of wit, charm, sympathy and cynicism, it’s a miraculously great album, that fulfills the promise of I Love You, Honeybear to make Josh Tillman one of the foremost musical commentators of our era.”
18. Elbow – Little Fictions
“Led by the majestic ‘Magnificent (She Says),’ this is Elbow’s most serene and compassionate album to date, even if not a dramatic stylistic shift from their previous work.”
17. Mura Masa – Mura Masa
“Uniting the sides with an electronic sheen, the Guernsey-born producer strikes an improbable balance between high-octane party nous and heartwrenching displays of soul.”
16. HAIM – Something To Tell You
“The HAIM girls are back to show us that girl bands can do something more than sickly bubblegum pop – a great nostalgic sound that reverberates through this great album.”
15. Everything Everything – A Fever Dream
“Their best album yet, fantastic both melodically and lyrically. The best alternative album of the year.”
14. Sam Smith – The Thrill Of It All
“Because it had so many good songs, lived up to his amazing first album and encompassed heartbreak, ambiguous feelings about religion, concerns about sexuality in relation to religion, and multiple interesting and relatable anxieties which aren’t always expressed in music.”
13. LCD Soundsystem – American Dream
“LCD are a unique band and American Dream is a combination of their best sounds, replicating both Sound of Silver and This Is Happening. There’s dance, indie, rock and a dash of pop, their songs are always intricate, complicated yet irresistibly enjoyable.”
12. Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa
“She’s incredible and this album is incredible.”
11. Calvin Harris – Funk Wav. Bounces Vol. 1
“This album was pure summer bliss. Stacked full of superstar features and fizzing with a mellow energy, you couldn’t go anywhere this summer without hearing one of the many bangers from this album.”
Make sure to follow our Spotify playlist to hear tracks from these albums, updating daily as the top 50 is revealed in full
