The Top 50 Best Albums of 2022

I unfortunately didn’t listen to a lot of new albums, but some of my favorites this year were:
•Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road - Far and away my favorite album this year, one that got me through hell and out the other side.
•Aethiopes by billy woods - I just love ambling through the dusty, forlorn world billy woods constructs on this record.
•10 by Westside Gunn - Airtight rap project with some of Conductor’s best production to date and jaw-dropping features. Idc it’s technically a mixtape, I’m still including it.
•Fossora by Björk - Discovered this one late but it’s such an immersive slice of avant-garde, yet naturalistic tone poetry that I can’t not love it.
•Hostile Architecture by Ashenspire - Thank you for the recommendation on this one! Absolutely killer rock music with a pertinent and necessary message.
•Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain - Literally jaw-dropping on first listen. A slow burn, but one that has to be heard to be believed.
•Dance Fever by Florence + The Machine - I think this one came out in 2022? At any rate I loved it, probably my favorite Florence album after High Is Hope.
Honorable mention to Time Skiffs by Animal Collective, which I had a lot of fun with earlier in the year but that doesn’t quite stick the landing. I also can’t not mention the Bon Iver, Bon Iver 10th anniversary rerelease, if nothing else than because the bonus tracks are absolute gems and I can’t get enough of them.

1. Burial - Antidawn (10/10)
2. Father John Misty - Chloe and the next 20th century (10/10)
3. Black country, new road - Ants from up there (10/10)
4. Arcade Fire - We (10/10)
5. Foxtails - Fawn (10/10)
6. Pianos Become The Teeth - Drift (10/10)
7. Burial - Streetlands (10/10)
8. The wonder years - The hum goes on forever (10/10)
9. Fleshwater - We're not here to be loved (9/10)
10. The weather station - How is it that I should look at the stars (9/10)
11. Spoon - Lucifer on the sofa (9/10)
12. Rosalía - Motomami (9/10)
13. Beabadoobee - Beatopia (9/10)
14. Thornhill - Heroine (9/10)
15. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Made in Timeland (9/10)
16. Destroyer - Labyrinthitis (9/10)
17. Elvis Costello - The boy named if (9/10)
18. Cordae - From a bird's eye view (9/10)
19. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Laminated denim (9/10)
20. Alice Glass - Prey//IV (9/10)
21. Suede - Autofiction (8/10)
22. Guided by Voices - Crystal nuns cathedral (8/10)
23. Pup - The unraveling of PUPTHEBAND (8/10)
24. Let's eat grandma - Two ribbons (8/10)
25. Wait - The end of noise (8/10)

Can we all just appreciate how Mark put Midnights at number 13? Perhaps he’s in on the meme?

Great list. And a really good reminder of albums I didn't get the chance to listen to.
As for my (not-concrete) top 25:

25) Florence + the Machine - Dance Fever
24) Little Simz - NO THANK YOU
23) Epica - The Alchemy Project
22) YUNGBLUD - YUNGLBUD
21) Taylor Swift - Midnights
20) Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed
19) Em Beihold - Egg In The Backseat
18) Spunkshine - A Memory of Something Vast and Elemental
17) Special Interest - Endure
16) Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl
15) black midi - Hellfire
14) Deaf Havana - The Present Is A Foreign Land
13) Hatchie - Giving The World Away
12) FKA twigs - CAPRISONGS
11) Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
10) The Mountain Goats - Bleed Out
9) The Wombats - Fix Yourself, Not The World
8) Adeem the Artist - White Trash Revelry
7) Gang of Youths - angel in realtime.
6) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down
5) Everything Everything - Raw Data Feel
4) Astronoid - Radiant Bloom
3) Denzel Curry - Melt My Eyez See Your Future
2) Vale-Smith - Coruscate/Rekindle
1) Fickle Friends - Are We Gonna Be Alright?

🤙🤙🤙🤩🤩🤩

I just watched this video and immediately listened to that Gang of Youths album. Kinda reminds me of U2 in the vocals, but it started getting boring towards the end. I also didn't really get that invested in the story or arc. Overall, I'm just lukewarm. (Meh) Maybe I just don't get it?

Amazing video mark! I’ve enjoyed your content so much since I found your channel last year, and having watched all your videos this year, this one was such a joy to watch. Amazing job, can’t wait for what’s next.

Maybe I'm just really basic, or we just have mostly different music tastes, but here is my top 10:

10. Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale
9. Voivod - Synchro Anarchy
8. Denzel Curry - Melt My Eyez
7. Flume - Palaces
6. Artificial Brain - self-titled
5. The 1975 - Being Funny
4. The Knocks - HISTORY
3. Imperial Triumphant - Spirit of Ecstasy
2. The Weeknd - Dawn FM
1. Revocation - Netherheaven

Honorable Mentions:
Metric - Formentera
Devil Master - Ecstasies of Never Ending Night
Beyonce - Renaissance
Dayglow - People in Motion
Calvin Harris - Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2
Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying, & The Dead
Everything, Everything - Raw Data Feel
Municipal Waste - Electrified Brain
Exhumed - To the Dead
Louis the Child - Black Marble

But still great video!

You lookin fancy! 👀

If only the mainstream music of 2022 had been as vibrant and forward-thinking as the albums on Mark's list...😔

My faves:
1. Deaf Havana- The Present is a Foreign Land
2. Lorna Shore- Pain Remains
3. Bloodywood- Rakshak
4. Kendrick Lamar- Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers
5. Gang of Youths- Angel in Realtime
6. Death Cab for Cutie- Asphalt Meadows
7. Trust Fund Ozu- Tribute Summon
8. Ado- Kyōgen (狂言)
9. Denzel Curry- Melt My Eyez, See Your Future
10. Hippo Campus- LP3

Love Orville being as highly rated as he was on your list 🤠😍

Thank you always enjoy these lists! Here are mine:

1. IC3PEAK – KISS OF DEATH
2. Jockstrap – I Love You Jennifer B
3. Petrol Girls – Baby
4. Adeem the Artist – White Trash Revelry
5. The Mars Volta – The Mars Volta
6. Backxwash – HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING
7. Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society
8. Charli XCX – CRASH
9. ROSALIA – MOTOMAMI
10. The Weeknd – Dawn FM

The Forever Story is so fascinating. Love that album so much, I'm glad literally everyone else does too

5-Horace Andy - Midnight Scorchers
4-Danger Mouse, Black Thought - Cheat Codes
3-Billy Woods - Aethiopes
2-Kendrick Lamar - Mr Morale
1-Mindforce - New Lords

wow did NOT anticipate Spunkshine being that high on the list, but fantastic to see and very well deserved :D reminder to anyone who might be looking through these comments to make sure to hear that one, it's my own #3 favorite of the year

also great to see Kelly Lee Owens here again and for us to actually have the exact same #10 pick on our respective lists lol

Love to see the r.a.p. ferreira representation here

Great video mark! Little bit of a weird choice to put "The Simple Plan EP" by August is Falling at every spot, but enjoyed it nonetheless. Can't wait to see what's next!

Cant believe you put Midnights at number 13, her lucky number lol

Alright but that one Taylor Swift song kinda sounds like king of carrot flowers pt 1 by neutral milk Hotel

My top 50:

1: Cacola - Ruby Rose
2: William Maranci - The Flamingo Cafe
3: Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
4: Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems
5: Hath - All That Was Promised
6: Party Dozen - The Real Work
7: Actor|Observer - Songs for the Newly Reclusive
8: Denzel Curry - Melt My Eyez, See Your Future
9: Ashenspire - Hostile Architecture
10: Adeem The Artist - White Trash Revelry
11: Gang Of Youths - Angel In Realtime
12: Viagra Boys - Cave World
13: Danger Mouse and Black Thought - Cheat Codes
14: Ashley McBride Presents: Lindeville
15: Oceanator - Nothing's Ever Fine
16: SCALPING - Void
17: The Mountain Goats - Bleed Out
18: pluffaduff - Untitled Paint Project 2
19: Ithaca - They Fear Us
20: Falls Of Rauros - Key to a Vanishing Future
21: Black Midi - Hellfire
22: Chat Pile - God's Country
23: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava
24: Scarcity - Aveilut
25: Wormrot - Hiss
26: R.A.P. Ferreira - 5 to the Eye with Stars
27: JID - The Forever Story
28: Billy Woods - Aethiopes
29: Special Interest - Endure
30: Brett Eldredge - Songs About You
31: BROCKHAMPTON - The Family
32: American Aquarium - Chicamacomico
33: Little Simz - No Thank You
34: Marlowe - Marlowe 3
35: Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful
36: Backxwash - HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING
37: Titus Andronicus - The Will To Live
38: Shirt - I Made Myself Into Myself
39: Kendrick Lamar - Mr Morale and the Big Steppers
40: Open Mike Eagle - Component System with the Auto Reverse
41: Jazzwave - The Magenta Album
42: Jean Dawson - CHAOS NOW*
43: PUP - The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND
44: Jenny Tolman - Married in a Honkytonk
45: Master Boot Record - Personal Computer
46: Frank Turner - FTHC
47: Petrol Girls - Baby
48: Waajeed - Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz
49: Everything Everything - Raw Data Feel
50: Louis Cole - Quality Over Opinion

Amen to Tegan and Sara deserving way more acclaim. It’s such a great pop album and their evolution from The Con days has been so fun to watch.

Midnights is at #13.

Because of course it is.

Great year for albums with “foreign” in their titles between Deaf Havana and the 1975, which coincidentally were two of my favorites of the year.

Great work as always, thank you for the hard work and nuance you always put into your content!

Lil Durk Presents-Loyal Bros2
Young Dolph- Paper Route Frank
Ab-Soul-Herbert

My favourites:
"Angel in Real time" by Gang of Youths
"Giving the World Away" by Hatchie
"Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville" by Ashley McBryde
"Light it up" by Casey Barnes
"Midnights" by Taylor Swift
"Ghost Stories" by Whitmore Sisters
"Love Sux" by Avril Lavigne
"The Present in a Foreign Land" by Deaf Havana
"Holy Fvck" by Demi Lovato
"Run Like A Bull" by Ryan Culwell
"SOS" by SZA
"Dawn FM" by The Weeknd
"Humble Quest" by Maren Morris.

I had a horrible 2022 (burn out etc) so yeah a lot of country and pop country on my list. Country seems like my choice of "help me feel better" genre.

You have no idea how happy seeing Gang of Youths as your #1 makes me, I discovered them late 2021 and they were my first ever concert last year, so seeing them rightly appreciated is great :]

Taylor Swift becoming one of Mark's favorite artists is not a trend I was expecting, as I remember how much he disliked Red and 1989, but I appreciate it.

I'd like to thank Mark for introducing me to Gang of Youths. All of their albums are poignant, exhilarating, and devastating. Go Further in Lightness especially is a masterpiece.

I am starting to think that no one else loved this album as much as I did, but my favorite album was "Fix Yourself, Not the World" By the Wombats. That album came to me when I needed it most, and got me through most of 2022 while dancing my ass off (If You Ever Leave I'm Coming With You is a BOP, dammit). It doesn't help that I finally got to see them live at Studio 5 in NYC this year, and i really dig the EP they released towards the end of the year.

Also, the fact that their christmas song was in that Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special cracked me the hell up

They were the bad that just, made me happy this year, and that gets all the credit I can give it.

As a European whose "American musical relationships" rarely go deeper than the true international stars (Prince, Tool, Nirvana, RageATM (I guess one could say Bowie went American with you all), I have never "stored" an American "best of" list before. This was excellent. It was varied. It was enough to pique my interest in many of those mentioned. Thank you, sir. I think I will add a sub too - just to check out if this is your normal level - if so I will return frequently. Surprisingly refreshing, it was.

I was wondering where you were gonna' put Adeem The Artist's new album. Very glad at where it ended up! Their and Orville Peck's (and Also Backxwash's) albums would have made it into one of my upcoming year-end video's award categories had I spent more time with both of those releases instead of going heavy on the rock and black & brutal melodic death metal in 2022 like I did.

You put Taylor Swift at 13, huh? That's cute.

Nothing More, Palaye Royale, Vukovi, Set It Off, Bad Omens, and I Prevail come to mind for me from 2022 albums

It's very fitting that you put Midnights at 13.

I saw what you did by putting a certain artist at number 13 :D

Thank you so much for turning me on to that Ian Noe record. Between him and Emily Scott Robinson, you've single-handedly restored my interest in an entire genre that I would've once said turned to shit just upwards of two decades ago.

Legit screamed at 22 it's my fav woods album period and I'm so glad you are giving it the shine it deserves

Ian Noe !!!! Nice!

I’m glad that Everything Everything hit so hard for ya!!! I’m still kicking myself for not giving that FKA twigs any attention last year

DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ - Bewitched!

Like your list man! I just did a video on my list too, we definitely had a few similar ones 🔥

The best list of the year every year

Thank you so much. Finally a recommendation channel where the host isn't a snob and feels so happy sharing such beautiful music. Subscribed!

My faves of 2022
- the gods we can touch by aurora
- midnights by taylor swift
- holy fvck by demi lovato
- superache by conan gray
- preacher's daughter by ethel cain
- hold the girl by rina sawayama
- emails i can't send by sabrina carpenter
- harry's house by harry styles
- renaissance by beyonce
- love sux by avril lavigne
(honourable mentions)
- special by lizzo
- dance fever by florence + the machine
- familia by camilla cabello
- dawn fm by the weeknd

Spoilers...









Damn, three years in a row for Ka :(

I can't lie
Luv 4 rent and MMATBS had to be up here

So you don’t add SOS by SZA or renaissance by Beyonce… racist

Thank you, Mark for all of the great coverage on albums that im truly interested in hearing about. Here's my list, my top 75 of 2022. In total, i listened to approximately 175+ records this year which im very glad i took the time to do it. And these are my favorites of those that i listened to. This year will go down as one of my personal favorites of all time.

1. Ants From Up There: Black Country, New Road
2. Aethiopes: billy woods & DJ Preservation
3. Hellfire: black midi
4. De Todos Las Flores: Natalia Lafourcade
5. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You: Big Thief
6. The Forever Story: J.I.D
7. Acts of God: Immolation
8. Marchita: Silvana Estrada
9. Hostile Architecture: Ashenspire
10. Cheat Codes: Black Thought & Danger Mouse
11. Onslaught to Seraphim: Triumvir Foul
12. Hiss: Wormrot
13. Baby: Petrol Girls
14. Church: billy woods & Messiah Musik
15. Feeding the Machine: Binker & Moses
16. Close: Messa
17. Cave World: Viagra Boys
18. Mil Coisas Invisiveis: Tim Bernardes
19. God's Country: Chat Pile
20. You Belong There: Daniel Rossen
21. Artificial Brain: Artificial Brain
22. Vitamins & Apprehension: Della Zyr
23. KISS THE RING: Rome Streetz
24. In The Spirit of Ntu: Nduduzo Makhathini
25. Consecration of The Spiritus Flesh: Esoctrilihum
26. Metempiric: Knoll
27. The Ruby Chord: Richard Dawson
28. The Loser: Gospel
29. Aveilut: Scarcity
30. Myopia: Mizmor & Thou
31. Tana Talk 4: Benny The Butcher
32. Living Torch: Kali Malone
33. Evidence of Immortality: Conan
34. Threshold : Cloud Rat
35. Diaspora Problems: Soul Glo
36. Thee Sacred Souls: Thee Sacred Souls
37. Retaliation: Vermin Womb
38. Languish Arts & Woeful Studies: Ka
39. Void of Unending Depths: Inanna
40. Killing Nothing: Boldy James & Real Bad Man
41. Znoj: Zguba
42. Deathfame: Quelle Chris
43. The Ailing Facade: Aeviterne
44. Topical Dancer: Bolis Pupul & Charlotte Adigery
45. A Light For Attracting Attention: The Smile
46. Baby, We're Ascending: HAAi & Jon Hopkins
47. Enveloping Absurdity: Phobophilic
48. Once Twice Melody: Beach House
49. Ultra Truth: Daniel Avery
50. Tchornobog / Abyssal: Tchornobog / Abyssal
51. Comradely Objects: Horse Lords
52. De Dunklas Sorgeakt & De Evigas Gravrit: Beketh Nexehmu
53. Drill Music In Zion: Lupe Fiasco
54. The Sorrow of Soul Through Flesh: Suppression
55. Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
56. Component System With the Auto Reverse: Open Mike Eagle
57. And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow: Weyes Blood
58. Morbidity Triumphant: Autopsy
59. Whatever The Weather: Whatever The Weather
60. Natural Brown Prom Queen: Sudan Archives
61. Se Ve Desde Aquí: Mabe Fratti
62. Succumb to Rot: Corpsessed
63. No Thank You: Little Simz
64. Naa Skrider Natten Sort: Djevel
65. The Long Road North: Cult of Luna
66. Ugly Season: Perfume Genius
67. Recordings From the Åland Islands by Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia
68. Unison Life: Brutus
69. Spirit of Ecstacy: Imperial Triumphant
70. Broken Gargoyles: Diamanda Galas
71. Innate Passage: Elder
72. Ultratronics: Ryoji Ikeda
73. The Elephant Man's Bones: Roc Marciano & The Alchemist
74. The Long Count: Debit
75. Memory Theater: Escuela Grind

What a great year for music.