The Kuhronic Top 50 Albums of 2017
Originally “published” December 31, 2017
Another year passes and it’s time for another Kuhronic best album list. This is the fifth list I have produced and although I have definitely refined my process, it certainly hasn’t gotten any easier. It really is a shit ton of work but hey, I must love it or why would I continue to punish myself? Bar adding a best live album in 2015, the format has been consistent since 2014, 50 albums ranked plus another 20 that “almost made it” on the list. But this year I am adding a new category that I like to call “should have made it’s”. It consists of artists who I have love and respect for and have released great albums in the past but absolutely failed to do so this time. Basically, they should have made it on the list, but they didn’t. As always a shout out to Brent Hunt who originally began this journey with me but has slowly given up his own list to become a correspondent on mine. Also much love to new contributor Mike McCann, a fellow pedantic polymath of music who turned me on to a couple of albums that ended up penetrating the top 20. So without any further ado, here are the top 50 100% Kuhronic approved albums of 2017. See you next year,
Dave E. Kuhronic, xoxyyz
50. Beck — Colors
49. Primus — The Desaturating Seven
48. Cameron Graves — Planetary Prince
47. Mac Demarco — This Old Dog
46. King Krule — The Ooz
45. Priests — Nothing Feels Natural
44. Miguel — War & Leisure
43. Father John Misty — Pure Comedy
42. Grizzly Bear — Painted Ruins
41. Dead Cross — Dead Cross
40. Baths — Romaplasm
39. Godspeed! You Black Emperor — Luciferian Towers
38. !!! — Shake the Shudder
37. Damian Marley — Stony Hill
36. Vince Staples — Big Fish Theory
35. Ride— Weather Diaries
34. Brix and the Extricated — Part 2
33. The National — Sleep Well Beast
32. Broken Social Scene — Hug of Thunder
31. Wolf Alice — Visions of a Life
30. Death From Above — Outrage! Is Now
29. Tori Amos — Native Invader
28. Do Make Say Think — Stubborn Persistent Illusions
27. The Tear Garden — The Brown Acid Caveat
26. Arcade Fire — Everything Now
25. Steel Panther — Lower the Bar
24. Fever Ray — Plunge
23. The Afghan Whigs — In Spades
22. Quicksand — Interiors
21. Sheer Mag — Need to Feel Your Love
20. Alvvays — Antisocialites
19. Beach Fossils — Somersault
18. Mastodon — Emperor of Sand
17. The Jesus and Mary Chain — Damage and Joy
16. Black Kids — Rookie
15. Metz — Strange Peace
14. The XX — I See You
13. The War on Drugs — A Deeper Understanding
12. The Lowest of the Low — Do the Right Now
11. Casper Skulls — Mercy Works
10. Queens of the Stone Age — Villains
09. Cloud Nothings — Life Without Sound
08. Spoon — Hot Thoughts
07. Kendrick Lamar — Damn.
06. St. Vincent — Masseduction
05. Wolf Parade — Cry Cry Cry
04. Sleaford Mods — English Tapas
03. Weaves — Wide Open
02. Slowdive — Slowdive
01. LCD Soundsystem — American Dream
Best Live Album:
Sleater-Kinney — Live in Paris
Almost Made It’s:
At the Drive-In — In.ter.a.li.a
Amanda Palmer & Edward Ka-Spel — I Can Spin a Rainbow
Björk — Utopia
Body Count — Bloodlust
Destroyer — Ken
Gord Downie — Introduce Yerself
Downtown Boys — Cost of Living
The Fall — New Facts Emerge
Charlotte Gainsbourg — Rest
Japandroids — Near to the Wild Heart of Life
Jay Z — 4:44
Lorde — Melodrama
Manchester Orchestra — A Black Mile to the Surface
Thurston Moore — Rock & Roll Consciousness
Mount Eerie — A Crow Looked at Me
The New Pornographers — Whiteout Conditions
Pond — The Weather
Thundercat — Drunk
Tyler, The Creator — Scum Fuck Flower Boy
Roger Waters — Is This the Life We Really Want
Should Have Made It’s:
The Cribs — 24–7 Rock Star Shit
Cut Copy — Haiku From Zero
Cymbals — Light in Your Mind
Eminem — Revival
Gorillaz — Humanz
Haim — Something to Tell You
Morrissey — Low in High School
Prophets of Rage — Prophets of Rage
Royal Blood — How Did We Get So Dark?
Wu-Tang Clan — The Saga Continues
