Best Albums of 2021

“Best-of” lists are generally subjective at best, but with Discogs’ data, interesting music trends surface in the numbers. By looking at how many Discogs users have added albums to their Wantlists and Collections throughout the year, it’s easy to see which artists and genres were the most popular in 2021.

So which types of music did the Discogs Community collect and covet this past year?

Indie rock legends Weezer and Dinosaur Jr. both released new albums this year that were well-received by fans. Two Weezer albums (Van Weezer and OK Human) and Dinosaur Jr.’s Sweep It Into Space ended up in over 20,000 Collections and Wantlists in 2021.

English groups Shame and Dry Cleaning each landed on the list with their fresh takes on the classic post-punk sound. London band Black Midi also made waves throughout the Community with their latest album Cavalcade.

Metal giants Iron Maiden, Cannibal Corpse, and Gojira all gave us releases that the Community couldn’t get enough of. Genre-hopping hardcore band Turnstile was also on the tip of many tongues. Their latest effort, Glow On, was the best-selling record in September 2021, the month after its release. Over 4,000 Discogs users currently have the album in their Collection.

Hip-hop had a great year as well. Madlib’s Sound Ancestors and the latest collaboration between Czarface and MF Doom were highly collected and desired by Discogs users.

Last, but most certainly not least, pop albums shined throughout 2021. The top 10 is full of female pop artists that took the year by storm. Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, Halsey, and Taylor Swift all claimed high-ranking spots with the most collected and wanted albums of 2021.

About the data: In order to prepare this list in time for a year-end review, the Wantlist and Collection data reflects January 1, 2021, through November 30, 2021.