Let me preface this by saying, one more time and unequivocally, 2020 can go jump off a tall building. If this year was a soup, it would be “turd and onion.” If this year was a person, it would be Jeffrey Dahmer cosplaying as Stalin. If this year was a car, it would be the one designed by Homer Simpson.
Through it all, we persevere.
There were fewer albums released this year for quite obvious reasons. This makes a “Top 10 Albums of 2020” list a bit difficult to pull together. Instead, when the going gets tough, it’s common for music listeners to return to their roots. We pull out the older albums. The albums that made us who we are. The albums that we find calming. That’s why you’ll find quite a few classics on this list.
From everyone here at Orange, we wish you a much better 2021 filled with new album releases, bands playing shows, and artists actually making a living from music. It can’t get much worse, right? RIGHT!?!?! AHHHHH!!!!!!
Lexii Lynn of Pink Sweat$
Mac Miller – “Circles”
Chloe x Halle – “Ungodly Hour”
Grimes – “Miss Anthropocene”
Tame Impala – “The Slow Rush”
The Weeknd – “After Hours”
Lady Gaga – “Chromatica”
Iann Dior – “I’m Gone”
Pink Sweat$ – “The Prelude”
Kid Cudi – “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen”
Idles – “Ultra Mono”
Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved
Led Zeppelin – “II”
Rush – “Hemispheres”
Genesis – “Selling England By The Pound”
King Crimson – “In The Court Of The Crimson King”
Voivod – “Angel Rat”
Gasolin’ – “Stakkels Jim”
King Diamond – “Abigail”
Mercyful Fate – “Don’t Break The Oath”
The Beatles – “Magical Mystery Tour”
Mayhem – “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”
Andreas Kisser of Sepultura
SEPULTURA – “QUADRA” (I had to start the list with my own)
METALLICA – “S&M 2”
HATEBREED – “WEIGHT OF THE FALSE SELF”
SONS OF APPOLO – “MMXX”
ANNIHILATOR – “BALLISTIC, SADISTIC”
SUICIDE SILENCE – “BECOME THE HUNTER”
TESTAMENT – “TITANS OF CREATION”
TRIVIUM – “WHAT THE DEAD MEN SAY”
DEEP PURPLE – “WOOOOSH!”
AC/DC – “POWER UP!”
Bryce Paul Newman of In Flames
Donovan Woods – “Without People”
Chris Stapleton – “Starting Over”
Brothers Osborne – “Skeletons”
Gus Dapperton – “Orca”
PVRIS – “Use Me”
Dark Tranquillity – “Moment”
Drain – “California Cursed”
The Ghost Inside – “The Ghost Inside”
End – “Splinters from an Ever-Changing Face”
$uicideBoy$ – “Stop Staring at the Shadows”
Nick Johnston
Night Traveler – “Dreams You Don’t Forget”
My Morning Jacket – “The Waterfall II”
Brad Meldau – “Suite: April 2020”
Versions of the Truth – “The Pineapple Thief”
Nobuo Uematsu – “Final Fantasy 7 Remake”
Alice in Chains – “Dirt”
Porcupine Tree – “Anesthetize”
Disasterpiece – “Hyperlight Drifter”
Toto – “Hydra”
John Southworth – “Niagra”
Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless, Black Crowes
Pharaoh Sanders – “Live in Paris”
Jimi Hendrix – “Live in Maui”
Once & Future Band – “Deleted Scenes”
Idles – “Ultra Mono”
Rory Gallagher – “Check Shirt Wizard”
Mr. Elevator – “Goodbye, Blue Sky”
Neil Young – “Homegrown”
Casua Sui – “Szabodelico”
All Them Witches – “Nothing As The Ideal”
Zombi – “2020”