50. Britney Spears, Femme Fatale
49. Yob, Atma
48. Various Artists, Drive (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
47. Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest
46. Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
45. Azari & III, Azari & III
44. The Roots, Undun
43. Kendrick Lamar, Section.80
42. Eric Church, Chief
41. Frank Ocean, Nostalgia, Ultra
40. Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch the Throne
39. Beyonce, 4
38. Zola Jesus, Conatus
37. The Field, Looping State of Mind
36. The Black Keys, El Camino
35. Washed Out, Within and Without
34. St. Vincent, Strange Mercy
33. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues
32. Hayes Carll, KMAG YOYO (& other American stories)
31. Yuck, Yuck (Deluxe Edition)
30. tUnE-yArDs, w h o k i l l
29. Lady Gaga, Born This Way
28. Tim Hecker, Ravedeath, 1972
27. Big K.R.I.T., Return of 4Eva
26. Liturgy, Aesthethica
25. Cass McCombs, Wit's End/Humor Risk
24. Deer Tick, Divine Providence
23. Iceage, New Brigade
22. Drake, Take Care
21. Youth Lagoon, The Year of Hibernation
20. Shabazz Palaces, Black Up
19. M83, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
18. SBTRKT, SBTRKT
17. Dum Dum Girls, Only in Dreams
16. Das Racist, Relax
15. The Men, Leave Home
14. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
13. The Weeknd, House of Balloons/Thursday
12. Telekinesis, Desperate Straight Lines
11. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Mirror Traffic
10. Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes
9. Wild Flag, Wild Flag
8. G-Side, The One...Cohesive
7. The Rapture, In the Grace of Your Love
6. Danny Brown, XXX
5. Girls, Father, Son, Holy Ghost
4. Kurt Vile, Smoke Ring for My Halo
3. EMA, Past Life Martyred Saints
2. PJ Harvey, Let England Shake
1. Fucked Up, David Comes to Life
There has always been a big difference between the Spin and Rolling Stone lists, but this year the difference is enormous. Only one album made the top 20 of both lists: Wild Flag, which is at #9 on both lists. The # 1, 3 & 5 albums on each list didn't even make the top 50 of the other. (On Rolling Stone, 1, 3 & 5 were Adele, Paul Simon, and Radiohead.) Maybe it's a sign that it wasn't a very good year for great albums.
