Nathaniel Clark – A&E Editor
nuc5002@psu.edu
After writing album reviews throughout the majority of the Behrend Beacon’s 2022 production, I feel like sharing with you all my list for the top albums of 2022. Out of the 125 albums which I listened to this year, here are the only which I felt were the pinnacle. While this list only has 25 entries, there were a few honorable mentions I wanted to highlight before we begin. Those are as follows:
DOMi & JD Beck – “NOT TiGHT”
ROSALÍA – “MOTOMAMI”
Father John Misty – “Chloë and the Next 20th Century”
beabadoobee – “Beatopia”
Kenny Beats – “LOUIE”
Jack White – “Fear of the Dawn”
Let’s Eat Grandma – “Two Ribbons”
Nonetheless, let us get right into my top 25 albums of the year:
- Bjork – “Fossora”
More than 45 years into her career, Bjork shows that she can still create some of the most experimental and industrial available on the market today.
- WILLOW – “<COPINGMECHANISM>”
WILLOW shows that she dominates the modern pop-punk resurgence while bringing down her coping mechanism in the process.
- Cities Aviv – “Working Title For The Album Secret Waters”
Cities Aviv sounds his most hypnotic and sociopolitically poignant as his powerful voice blows through your speakers.
- Vylet Pony – “can opener’s notebook: fish whisperer”
Looking past “My Little Pony” and furry aesthetics reveals one of the most lively and vibrant electronic albums to release this year.
- The 1975 – “Being Funny in a Foreign Language”
Matty Healy and rest of The 1975 show their newly-formed musical maturity as producer Jack Antonoff puts them over orchestrated strings and 80s-flavored synths.
- Steve Lacy – “Gemini Rights”
Steve Lacy brings a superstar attitude to his mixture of RnB, soul, and pop while crafting some of the best popular music of the year. While “Bad Habit” has gotten most of the press, I feel that “Mercury” is this album’s shining star.
- Bladee, Ecco2K – “Crest”
After collaborating for years, Drain Gang affiliates Bladee and Ecco2K craft an album with their most sparkly production and poppy melody that brings over waves of nostalgia.
- Kendrick Lamar – “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers”
After exactly 1,855 days of no new music, Kendrick Lamar surprised fans with his most emotionally and mentally open album yet, as Lamar tears down his savior complex in a dramatic and pain-ridden fashion.
- The Weeknd – “Dawn FM”
Even though it was released on the first Friday of 2022, I have not stopped listening to The Weeknd’s full exploration of 80s synthpop. The fact that “Sacrifice” did not become a Billboard hit is a crime.
- Bladee – “Spiderr”
Bladee and producer Whitearmor prove once again that they are a match made in Heaven who bring the best out of one another.
- Quadeca – “I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You”
Quadeca breaks out of the Youtube rapper mold to release one of the most conceptual albums of the year. Haunting beats and dreary vocals tell the story of someone looking back on their life post-mortem.
- Jean Dawson – “CHAOS NOW*”
Dawson is a musical force not to be reckoned with as he shows both the beauty and anger that comes with his musical presence.
- BROCKHAMPTON – “The Family”
BROCKHAMPTON ends the boy band’s legacy with only the lead member as he spits some of the most personal, heartbreaking, and dark lyrics over some of the most fractured, experimental production you can find this year. While it may be off-putting to some listeners, it is a definite treat for others.
- Alvvays – “Blue Rev”
Molly Rankin and the rest of Alvvays return to shoegaze just to show dominance in the genre. In my opinion, their best record so far.
- Denzel Curry – “Melt My Eyez See Your Future”
With self-discovery in mind, Curry reinvents himself once again and presents another solid project to join his consistent discography.
- Silvana Estrada – “Marchita”
After workshopping this album for years, Silvana Estrada’s Spanish folk is a tasteful and minimalist approach to the breakup album.
- Beyoncé – “Renaissance”
Dance and house music had a chokehold on this year’s summer and Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” was the catalyst for that. A love letter to both genres, Beyoncé and company crafted some of the most danceable songs released so far this decade.
- Black Midi – “Hellfire”
The Black Midi trio take their brutal progressive rock straight to Hell as they explore their interpretation of the underworld.
- Viagra Boys – “Caveworld”
In forty minutes, the Viagra Boys dissect incel culture, far-right conspiracy theories, and overall moral unrest in the way only punk music could.
- Black Thought, Danger Mouse – “Cheat Codes”
One of the best MCs collaborates with one of the most dynamic producers to craft the best hip-hop album of the year. If that was not enough, the feature list is an absolute killer.
- Big Thief – “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You”
Adrianne Lenker and the rest of Big Thief create their biggest and best album chock-full of campfire jamboree jams.
- Weyes Blood – “And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow”
Sweepingly melancholic and sepia-toned: Man, how I do love the apocalypse.
- Beach House – “Once Twice Melody”
Using the double album to their utmost advantage, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand use “Once Twice Melody” as their domain to craft even more dream pop perfection.
- Death’s Dynamic Shroud – “Darklife”
Their first album officially on streaming services in years has this production trio in their mostly poppy and glitchy form. Each song feels like a cinematic descent.
- Black Country, New Road – “Ants From Up There”
BCNRs sophomore record shows the band in a theatrical view as Isaac Wood’s voice flows through artistic rock. Every track winds with twists and turns until you arrive at “Basketball Shoes,” the band’s fifteen-minute opus that builds in dynamic and unexpected fashion. Long live Black Country, New Road.
And that is my list for the top albums of 2022. Thank you for reading and supporting my reviews throughout this year and I wish you all a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
The Behrend Beacon 
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