The ultimate 50 best albums of 2016: We crunched every end-of-year poll into one mega list

It’s now far enough into 2016 that all of the end of year lists are out – including NME‘s own 50 best albums of 2016 – and we’ve crunched 18 of the biggest ones into one ultimate list. The basis for this is pretty simple arithmetic: each #1 album gets 50 points, #2 gets 49, and so on until #50, which receives a single point. To give you some idea of how that adds up, scores of more than 500 are rare and therefore highly respectable, and it’s so close in some cases that even the first and second places are just a single point apart.

So, according to maths, the 50 albums that follow are the 2016 albums you really need to listen to according to the music press as a whole. The lists we crunched come from Stereogum, Spin, Clash, Paste, The Times, Uncut, Q, Billboard, Crack, Noisey, Complex, Pitchfork, The Guardian, The 405, Mojo, FACT, The Line of Best Fit and, of course, NME.

1
50. James Blake – ‘The Colour in Anything’ – 97 points

Release date: May 6
Best Track: ‘Choose Me’
Highest Ranking: #24 in Consequence of Sound

2
49. Kevin Gates – ‘Islah’ – 99 points

Release date: January 29
Best Track: ‘2 Phones’
Highest Ranking: #18 in Complex

3
48. Nicholas Jaar – ‘Sirens’ – 103 points

Release Date: September 13
Best Track: ‘No’
Highest Ranking: #20 in Pitchfork

4
47. Let’s Eat Grandma – ‘I, Gemini’ – 113 points

Release date: June 17
Best Track: ‘Eat Shiitake Mushrooms’
Highest Ranking: #26 in The Line of Best Fit

5
45. White Lung – ‘Paradise’ – 113 points

Release date: May 6
Best Track: ‘Below’
Highest Ranking: #17 in Stereogum

6
45. Noname – ‘Telefone’ – 113 points

Release date: July 31
Best Track: ‘Diddy Bop’ feat. Cam O’bi & Raury
Highest Ranking: #25 in Complex

7
44. Pinegrove – ‘Cardinal’ – 117 points

Release date: February 12
Best Track: ‘Aphasia’
Highest Ranking: #16 in Paste

8
43. Wilco – ‘Schmilco’ – 121 points

Release date: September 9
Best Track: ‘Someone to Lose’
Highest Ranking: #15 in Uncut

9
42. Margo Price – ‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’ – 134 points

Release date: March 25
Best track: ‘Hands of Time’
Highest Ranking: #12 in Paste

10
41. Lambchop – ‘Flotus’ – 137 points

Release date: November 4
Best track: ‘NIV’
Highest ranking: #4 in Mojo

11
39. Whitney – ‘Light Upon the Lake’ – 138 points

Release date: June 3
Best track: ‘No Matter Where We Go’
Highest ranking: #24 in The Line of Best Fit

12
39. Cass McCombs – ‘Mangy Love’ – 138 points

Release date: August 26
Best track: ‘Bum Bum Bum’
Highest ranking: #7 in Q

13
38. The Avalanches – ‘Wildflower’ – 139 points

Release date: July 1
Best track: ‘Subways’
Highest Ranking: #15 in The Guardian

14
37. Paul Simon – ‘Stranger to Stranger’ – 147 points

Release date: June 3
Best Track: ‘Wristband’
Highest Ranking: #8 in Mojo

15
36. Kano – ‘Made in the Manor’ – 159 points

Release date: March 4
Best Track: ‘3 Wheel-ups’ feat. Wiley & Giggs
Highest Ranking: #9 in Noisey

16
35. Sturgill Simpson – ‘A Sailor’s Guide To Earth’ – 160 points

Release date: April 15
Best track: ‘In Bloom’
Highest ranking: #7 in Uncut

17
34. PJ Harvey – ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’ – 166 points

Release date: April 15
Best track: ‘The Wheel’
Highest Ranking: #3 in Q

18
33. Michael Kiwanuka – ‘Love & Hate’ – 173 points

Release date: July 15
Best track: ‘Love & Hate’
Highest Ranking: #2 in Mojo

19
32. Schoolboy Q – ‘Blank Face LP’ – 175 points

Release date: July 8
Best track – ‘That Part’ ft. Kanye West
Highest ranking: #9 in Complex

20
31. Parquet Courts – ‘Human Performance’ – 179 points

Release date: April 8
Best track: ‘Captive Of The Sun’
Highest Ranking: #13 in Crack

21
30. Iggy Pop – ‘Post Pop Depression’ – 185 points

Release date: March 18
Best track: ‘Gardenia’
Highest Ranking: #8 in NME

22
29. Christine and the Queens – ‘Chaleur Humaine’ – 193 points

Release date: February 26
Best track – ‘Tilted’
Highest ranking: #3 in NME

23
28. Kamaiyah – ‘A Good Night in the Ghetto’ – 208 points

Release date: March 23
Best Track: ‘Out The Bottle’
Highest Ranking: #6 in FACT

24
27. Drake – ‘Views’ – 224 points

Release date: April 29
Best track – ‘Controlla’
Highest Ranking: #14 in The Times

25
26. YG – ‘Still Brazy’ – 228 points

Release date: June 17
Best track: ‘FDT’
Highest Ranking: #14 in FACT

26
25. Young Thug – ‘Jeffery’ – 278 points

Release date: August 26
Best track: ‘Harambe’
Highest Ranking: #10 in Rolling Stone

27
24. Kendrick Lamar – ‘untitled unmastered.’ – 284 points

Release date: March 4
Best track: ‘Untitled 05 09.21.2014.’
Highest Ranking: #8 in Crack

28
23. Jenny Hval – ‘Blood Bitch’ – 356 points

Release date: September 30
Best track: ‘Conceptual Romance’
Highest Ranking: #1 in The Line of Best Fit, FACT

29
22. Car Seat Headrest – ‘Teens of Denial’ – 362 points

Release date: May 20
Best track: ‘Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales’
Highest Ranking: #4 in Rolling Stone

30
21. Skepta – ‘Konnichiwa’ – 363 points

Release date: May 6
Best track: ‘Crime Riddim’
Highest Ranking: #3 in Clash

31
20. Blood Orange – ‘Freetown Sound’ – 367 points

Release date: June 28
Best track: ‘Best To You’
Highest Ranking: #7 in Crack

32
19. The 1975 – ‘I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It’ – 399 points

Release date: February 26
Best track: ‘Somebody Else’
Highest Ranking: #1 in NME

33
18. Kaytranada – ‘99.9%’ – 429 points

Release date: May 6
Best track: ‘Glowed Up’ feat. Anderson .Paak
Highest Ranking: #5 in NME

34
17. Anderson .Paak – ‘Malibu’ – 437 points

Release date: January 15
Best track: ‘Come Down’
Highest Ranking: #8 in Consequence of Sound

35
16. Mitski – ‘Puberty 2’ – 443 points

Release date: June 17
Best track: ‘Your Best American Girl’
Highest Ranking: #4 in The Line of Best Fit

36
15. Leonard Cohen – ‘You Want It Darker’ – 463 points

Release date: October 21
Best track: ‘Travelling Light’
Highest Ranking: #2 in Q

37
14. Rihanna – ‘Anti’ – 471 points

Release date: January 28
Best track: ‘Work’ feat. Drake
Highest Ranking: #7 in The Guardian

38
13. Danny Brown – ‘Atrocity Exhibition’ – 501 points

Release date: September 27
Best track: ‘Really Doe’
Highest Ranking: #2 in The Line of Best Fit

39
12. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – ‘Skeleton Tree’ – 547 points

Release date: September 9
Best track: ‘Rings of Saturn’
Highest Ranking: #1 in Crack

40
11. Chance the Rapper – ‘Coloring Book’ – 596 points

Release date: May 13
Best track: ‘No Problem’ feat. Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz
Highest Ranking: #2 in Consequence of Sound, Complex & The 405

41
10. Anohni – ‘Hopelessness’ – 597 points

Release date: May 6
Best track: ‘Drone Bomb Me’
Highest Ranking: #4 in The 405

42
9. Bon Iver – ‘22, A Million’ – 607 points

Release date: September 30
Best track: ‘8 (circle)’
Highest Ranking: #3 in The Times

43
8. Kanye West – ‘The Life of Pablo’ – 608 points

Release date: February 14
Best track: ‘Ultralight Beam’
Highest Ranking: #2 in NME & Billboard

44
7. Angel Olsen – ‘My Woman’ – 609 points

Release date: September 2
Best track: ‘Shut Up Kiss Me’
Highest Ranking: #4 in The 405

45
6. A Tribe Called Quest – ‘We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service’ – 646 points

Release date: November 11
Best track: ‘Dis Generation’
Highest Ranking: #3 in Complex

46
5. Radiohead – ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ – 670 points

Release date: May 8
Best track: ‘Daydreaming’
Highest Ranking: #1 in The Times

47
4. Solange – ‘A Seat At The Table’ – 753 points

Release date: September 30
Best track: ‘Cranes In The Sky’
Highest Ranking: #1 in Spin, Clash, Pitchfork & the 405

48
3. Frank Ocean – ‘Blonde’ – 773 points

Release date: August 20
Best track: ‘Ivy’
Highest Ranking: #1 in Noisey

49
2. Beyonce – ‘Lemonade’ – 863 points

Release date: April 23
Best track: ‘Hold Up’
Highest Ranking: #1 in Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Stereogum, Billboard, Complex & The Guardian

50
1. David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’ – 864 points

Release date: January 8
Best track: ‘Lazarus’
Highest Ranking: #1 in Paste, Uncut, Q, Mojo

The ultimate 50 best albums of 2016: We crunched every end-of-year poll into one mega list

150. James Blake – ‘The Colour in Anything’ – 97 points

249. Kevin Gates – ‘Islah’ – 99 points

348. Nicholas Jaar – ‘Sirens’ – 103 points

447. Let’s Eat Grandma – ‘I, Gemini’ – 113 points

545. White Lung – ‘Paradise’ – 113 points

645. Noname – ‘Telefone’ – 113 points

744. Pinegrove – ‘Cardinal’ – 117 points

843. Wilco – ‘Schmilco’ – 121 points

942. Margo Price – ‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’ – 134 points

1041. Lambchop – ‘Flotus’ – 137 points

1139. Whitney – ‘Light Upon the Lake’ – 138 points

1239. Cass McCombs – ‘Mangy Love’ – 138 points

1338. The Avalanches – ‘Wildflower’ – 139 points

1437. Paul Simon – ‘Stranger to Stranger’ – 147 points

1536. Kano – ‘Made in the Manor’ – 159 points

1635. Sturgill Simpson – ‘A Sailor’s Guide To Earth’ – 160 points

1734. PJ Harvey – ‘The Hope Six Demolition Project’ – 166 points

1833. Michael Kiwanuka – ‘Love & Hate’ – 173 points

1932. Schoolboy Q – ‘Blank Face LP’ – 175 points

2031. Parquet Courts – ‘Human Performance’ – 179 points

2130. Iggy Pop – ‘Post Pop Depression’ – 185 points

2229. Christine and the Queens – ‘Chaleur Humaine’ – 193 points

2328. Kamaiyah – ‘A Good Night in the Ghetto’ – 208 points

2427. Drake – ‘Views’ – 224 points

2526. YG – ‘Still Brazy’ – 228 points

2625. Young Thug – ‘Jeffery’ – 278 points

2724. Kendrick Lamar – ‘untitled unmastered.’ – 284 points

2823. Jenny Hval – ‘Blood Bitch’ – 356 points

2922. Car Seat Headrest – ‘Teens of Denial’ – 362 points

3021. Skepta – ‘Konnichiwa’ – 363 points

3120. Blood Orange – ‘Freetown Sound’ – 367 points

3219. The 1975 – ‘I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It’ – 399 points

3318. Kaytranada – ‘99.9%’ – 429 points

3417. Anderson .Paak – ‘Malibu’ – 437 points

3516. Mitski – ‘Puberty 2’ – 443 points

3615. Leonard Cohen – ‘You Want It Darker’ – 463 points

3714. Rihanna – ‘Anti’ – 471 points

3813. Danny Brown – ‘Atrocity Exhibition’ – 501 points

3912. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – ‘Skeleton Tree’ – 547 points

4011. Chance the Rapper – ‘Coloring Book’ – 596 points

4110. Anohni – ‘Hopelessness’ – 597 points

429. Bon Iver – ‘22, A Million’ – 607 points

438. Kanye West – ‘The Life of Pablo’ – 608 points

447. Angel Olsen – ‘My Woman’ – 609 points

456. A Tribe Called Quest – ‘We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service’ – 646 points

465. Radiohead – ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ – 670 points

474. Solange – ‘A Seat At The Table’ – 753 points

483. Frank Ocean – ‘Blonde’ – 773 points

492. Beyonce – ‘Lemonade’ – 863 points

501. David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’ – 864 points