Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Newsweek

    The 17 Best Albums of 2017

    These were the albums that provided clarity and comfort in a profoundly turbulent year.
    by Zach Schonfeld Jan 05, 2018 7 minutes
    Lorde performs onstage during the 2017 Governors Ball Music Festival - Day 1 at Randall's Island on June 2, 2017 in New York City.
    Lorde

    U2 says: "Love is all we have left." Chance the Rapper says: "Music is all we got."

    We tend to side with Chance. Music—whether charged with the spirit of resistance or not—provided comfort and clarity in a profoundly turbulent year, a shared language at a moment when nobody could agree on a shared vocabulary of facts.

    And in the pop world, emotions were high in 2017. Taylor Swift returned to settle her debts with famous enemies. Lorde rose from the shadow of "Royals" and delivered the year's best pop record. Katy Perry faceplanted with Witness. Jay-Z reclaimed his empire, and Kendrick Lamar tossed a firebomb at Fox News with the brilliant and virtuosic Damn. U2 reintroduced The Joshua Tree to a new generation. The indie world, meanwhile, buzzed with successful comebacks (LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene), lucrative nostalgic tours, politically charged resurrections (Gorillaz) and some confounding stumbles (Arcade Fire).

    These are the 17 best albums that emerged. Three quick notes before we begin. 1) This list is in no order except alphabetical. 2) It's not an exhaustive list of every great or enjoyable album released in 2017. 3) And lastly, two of these blurbs appeared prior on our list of the best albums of the year so far.

    Happy listening. We hope

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from Newsweek

    Newsweek1 min read
    The Archives
    “Fewer than 14 percent of AIDS victims have survived more than three years after being diagnosed, and no victim has recovered fully,” Newsweek reported during the epidemic. AIDS, caused by severe HIV, has no official cure. However, today’s treatment
    Newsweek7 min readWorld
    Resurgence of Global Mayhem
    WITH MUCH OF INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION gripped by the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, the Islamic State militant group has been steadily ramping up operations across continents and setting the stage for a resurgence of global mayhem. This latent threat
    Newsweek1 min read
    Living On The Edge
    An 18th-century cottage clings to the precipice following a dramatic cliff fall in the coastal village of Trimingham on April 8. The homeowner, who bought the property in 2019 for around $165,000, will now see the structure demolished as the saturate

    Related Books & Audiobooks