NPR's Top 50 Albums of 2024

"You can't always know that it's a great year for new music while it's happening, but there was a sense from the very start of 2024 that we were in for a ride. A springtime gauntlet of weekly album drops by the industry's biggest stars was regularly interrupted by wildly inventive newcomers arriving out of nowhere, underground favorites reaching new heights and elders making vital statements. (For the record, just one of those reigning champions made our final list. Plenty of the challengers did.) Sometimes the sheer amount of great albums out each week could feel disorienting — June 7 was quite a day — but the abundance, looking back, is clearly a gift. We kept our ears open all year.Here's the result of that listening: NPR Music's picks for the best albums of 2024. Fifty albums to give you something to hold onto when things get overwhelming, or to keep your head spinning with new sounds and ideas.They're presented chronologically and unranked..."