Criteria: These music albums from the year 2020 were chosen for their initial and lasting popularity and their influence and impact on rock music in general. Also considered is critical acclaim. The list includes rock and roll and related genres that were influential on rock music.
Edited By: Ryan
1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple 2. After Hours - The Weeknd 3. Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa 4. Folklore - Taylor Swift 5. Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers 6. Rough and Rowdy Ways - Bob Dylan 7. Circles - Mac Miller 8. Women in Music Pt. III - Haim 9. Evermore - Taylor Swift 10. How I'm Feeling Now - Charli XCX 11. RTJ4 - Run the Jewels 12. Shore - Fleet Foxes 13. Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon - Pop Smoke 14. Sawayama - Rina Sawayama 15. Good News - Megan Thee Stallion 16. The Slow Rush - Tame Impala 17. Tickets to My Downfall - Machine Gun Kelly 18. Saint Cloud - Waxahatchee 19. Ungodly Hour - Chloe x Halle 20. Miss Anthropocene - Grimes 21. Be - BTS 22. Song for Our Daughter - Laura Marling 23. YHLQMDLG - Bad Bunny 24. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately - Perfume Genius 25. Plastic Hearts - Miley Cyrus 26. Letter to You - Bruce Springsteen 27. Gaslighter - The Chicks 28. The New Abnormal - The Strokes 29. Manic - Halsey 30. What's Your Pleasure? - Jessie Ware 31. A Hero's Death - Fontaines D.C. 32. Grae - Moses Sumney 33. El Último Tour Del Mundo - Bad Bunnyv 34. Color Theory - Soccer Mommy 35. Heaven to a Tortured Mind - Yves Tumor 36. Ohms - Deftones 37. Notes on a Conditional Form - The 1975 38. Legends Never Die - Juice Wrld 39. Positions - Ariana Grande 40. Swimmer - Tennis 41. Chromatica - Lady Gaga 42. Alfredo - Freddie Gibbs/The Alchemist 43. It Is What It Is - Thundercat 44. Róisín Machine - Róisín Murphy 45. Reunions - Jason Isbell 46. McCartney III - Paul McCartney 47. Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial - Roddy Ricch 48. Eternal Atake - Lil Uzi Vert 49. Songs - Adrianne Lenker 50. Chilombo - Jhené Aiko 51. Microphones in 2020 - The Microphones 52. That's How Rumors Get Started - Margo Price 53. Ultimate Success Today - Protomartyr 54. The Ascension - Sufjan Stevens 55. Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas 56. Fake It Flowers - Beabadoobee 57. Deep Down Happy - Sports Team 58. Mordechai - Khruangbin 59. The GOAT - Polo G 60. Visions of Bodies Being Burned - Clipping 61. Imploding the Mirage - The Killers 62. I Disagree - Poppy 63. Every Bad - Porridge Radio 64. Untitled (Black Is) - Sault 65. Untitled (Rise) - Sault 66. KiCk i - Arca 67. Magic Oneohtrix Point Never - Oneohtrix Point Never 68. Hey Clockface - Elvis Costello 69. B7 - Brandy 70. Savage Mode II - 21 Savage & Metro Boomin 71. Music to Be Murdered By - Eminem 72. Homegrown - Neil Young 73. My Turn - Lil Baby 74. Wake Up, Sunshine - All Time Low 75. Inlet - Hum 76. A Written Testimony - Jay Electronica 77. Old Flowers - Courtney Marie Andrews 78. Dark Lane Demo Tapes - Drake 79. Wunna - Gunna 80. Heavy Light - US Girls 81. Power Up - AC/DC 82. Disco - Kylie Minogue 83. Good Souls Better Angels - Lucinda Williams 84. Serpentine Prison - Matt Berninger 85. Melee - Dogleg 86. Thank You for Using GTL - Drakeo the Ruler 87. Sigma Oasis - Phish 88. God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him out of It - Backxwash 89. Spell My Name - Toni Braxton 90. Made of Rain - The Psychedelic Furs 91. No Dream - Jeff Rosenstock 92. Miss Colombia - Lido Pimienta 93. The Unraveling - Drive-By Truckers 94. Inner Song - Kelly Lee Owens 95. Jump Rope Gazers - The Beths 96. Twice as Tall - Burna Boy 97. Colores - J Balvin 98. We Will Always Love You - The Avalanches 99. Ultra Mono - Idles 100. Petals for Armor - Hayley Williams
DigitalDreamDoor Editor Picks for 2020
Ryan's choice - An unheralded great album from 2020
• Lonely Trip - Trey Anastasio
Lew's choice:
• On The Widow's Walk - The White Buffalo
Note: Yearly album lists go by earliest 'release date'. Not necessarily the year an album peaked in the U.S. charts.