Metacritic: Best Albums of 2008

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60 31Knots
71 The Academy Is...
68 Adele
67 The Airborne Toxic Event
70 Alkaline Trio
77 Theresa Andersson
74 Apollo Sunshine
43 The Automatic
79 Joan Baez
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
76 Black Kids
73 Brazilian Girls
90 The Bug
58 Caesars
80 Calexico
70 Glen Campbell
74 Brendan Canning
69 The Charlatans
76 The Chemical Brothers
72 Coldplay
65 Alice Cooper
77 Rodney Crowell
65 CSS
67 Miley Cyrus
44 Dandy Warhols
81 Danny!
68 Kimya Dawson
74 Death Vessel
75 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
58 Dirty Pretty Things
72 Dr. Dog
80 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
75 Jakob Dylan
77 Earlimart
77 Brian Eno + David Byrne
83 Alejandro Escovedo
62 The Faint
56 Feeder
65 The Fiery Furnaces
64 iForward, Russia!
61 The Fratellis
69 Fujiya & Miyagi
59 G Love & Special Sauce
65 The Game
74 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
42 G-Unit
63 Gym Class Heroes
78 GZA
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
78 Emmylou Harris
73 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
86 Hercules And Love Affair
82 High Places
76 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
63 Vanessa Hudgens
71 Human Highway
77 James Hunter
68 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
70 Jaguar Love
76 Joan As Police Woman
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
59 Judas Priest
57 Kerli
72 Leila
76 Lykke Li
82 Lil Wayne
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
60 Lloyd
55 Los Lonely Boys
74 Love As Laughter
85 Patty Loveless
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
71 Men Without Pants
79 Metallica
74 Mirah
63 Alanis Morissette
56 Motley Crue
72 Motorhead
78 Nico Muhly
84 The Music Tapes
54 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
63 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
71 Nas
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
51 New Kids On The Block
85 Randy Newman
57 Nightmares On Wax
78 Nine Inch Nails
75 The Notwist
75 Conor Oberst
52 The Offspring
79 Okkervil River
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
62 The Orb
75 Oxford Collapse
66 Parenthetical Girls
89 Aaron Parks
42 Katy Perry
74 Lee "Scratch" Perry
72 Plies
73 Robert Pollard
81 Ponytail
64 Primal Scream
78 Ra Ra Riot
48 The Rascals
71 Ratatat
63 Re-Up Gang
71 The Rumble Strips
65 RZA
73 Scars On Broadway
70 Ron Sexsmith
39 Shwayze
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
58 Jessica Simpson
70 Slipknot
74 Sloan
79 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
73 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
63 Sam Sparro
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
71 The Stills
71 The Subways
83 Sugarland
67 Supergrass
67 Matthew Sweet
77 Irma Thomas
84 Teddy Thompson
57 Three 6 Mafia
73 Tilly And The Wall
72 Tittsworth
63 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
69 Tricky
92 Underoath
58 UNKLE
58 David Vandervelde
71 The Verve
69 Loudon Wainwright III
77 Martha Wainwright
81 The Walkmen
67 The Watson Twins
67 Ben Weaver
81 The Week That Was
77 Paul Weller
76 White Denim
70 Brian Wilson
79 Cassandra Wilson
87 Dennis Wilson
77 Wire
78 Wolf Parade
61 XX Teens
71 Young Jeezy
55 Yung Berg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

The following table displays the highest-scoring albums for the year in Metacritic's database. Also listed at the bottom of the page are year-end critic top ten lists culled from various music publications.

Albums must have at least 7 reviews to qualify for high score lists. Reissues, "best-of" compilations and box sets are not eligible for inclusion. Year of release reflects U.S. release date unless title has not yet been released in the U.S.

You may also view an index of all albums in our database alphabetically by artist.
In addition, you may view the top-rated albums by year: All | 2007 | '06 | '05 | '04 | '03 | '02 | '01 | '00

The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year
1	What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective by Steinski	2008	90
2	London Zoo by The Bug	2008	90
3	For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver	2008	89
4	Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes	2008	87
5	Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds	2008	87
6	Robyn by Robyn	2008	86
7	Hercules And Love Affair by Hercules And Love Affair	2008	86
8	Fortress by Protest The Hero	2008	86
9	Rook by Shearwater	2008	85
10	Life...The Best Game In Town by Harvey Milk	2008	85
11	Third by Portishead	2008	85
12	Stay Positive by The Hold Steady	2008	85
13	Harps And Angels by Randy Newman	2008	85
14	Music Tapes for Clouds & Tornadoes by The Music Tapes	2008	84
15	A Piece Of What You Need by Teddy Thompson	2008	84
16	Real Animal by Alejandro Escovedo	2008	83
17	Brighter Than Creation's Dark by Drive-By Truckers	2008	83
18	The Visiter by The Dodos	2008	83
19	Love On The Inside by Sugarland	2008	83
20	Love Behind The Melody by Raheem DeVaughn	2008	83
21	Watershed by Opeth	2008	82
22	Just Us Kids by James McMurtry	2008	82
23	Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend	2008	82
24	The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow	2008	82
25	Where You Go I Go Too by Lindstrom	2008	82
26	Tha Carter III by Lil Wayne	2008	82
27	II Trill by Bun B	2008	82
28	New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War) by Erykah Badu	2008	82
29	The Week That Was by The Week That Was	2008	81
30	Lay It Down by Al Green	2008	81

Music Critics' Year-End Top Ten Lists

Metacritic Users' Year-End Lists

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The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year

Music Critics' Year-End Top Ten Lists

Metacritic Users' Year-End Lists