Year-End Lists

Chris Willman: The Best Albums of 2021, as published by Variety

1. Allison Russell
   Outside Child
2. Brandi Carlile
   In These Silent Days
3. Billie Eilish
   Happier Than Ever
4. Liz Phair
   Soberish
5. Adele
   30
6. Little Simz
   Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
7. Olivia Rodrigo
   Sour
8. St. Vincent
   Daddy's Home
9. Halsey
   If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
10. Girl in Red
    If I Could Make It Go Quiet

Some honorable mentions

• Topaz Jones
  Don't Go Tellin' Your Momma
• Aimee Mann
  Queens of the Summer Hotel
• Taylor Swift
  Red (Taylor's Version)
• Jazmine Sullivan
  Heaux Tales
• Carly Pearce
  29: Written In Stone
• Yebba
  Dawn
• Lil Nas X
  Montero
• Mickey Guyton
  Remember Her Name
• Dry Cleaning
  New Long Leg
• Adia Victoria
  A Southern Gothic
• Kacey Musgraves
  Star-Crossed
• Yola
  Stand For Myself
• Madlib
  Sound Ancestors