The Most Popular Album Releases of 2020 (So Far)

Although 2020 won’t go down in the books as the “best year ever,” you can say one good thing about the start of this decade: We’ve seen some amazing new music. To celebrate reaching the middle of the year, we’re looking at the most popular album releases of 2020 so far. The following rankings — the 20 most popular albums overall and the 10 most popular albums by genre — are determined by how many people worldwide have added these items to their record collections on Discogs.

You were certainly fans of Tame Impala‘s latest, The Slow Rush. Kevin Parker’s fourth studio album has been ranking on Discogs’ monthly top-selling records since its release in February. Recent drops from Phoebe Bridgers (Punisher) and Khruangbin (Mordechai) in June have already claimed spots, so we wouldn’t surprised if they climb even higher by the end of 2020. Speaking of Khruangbin, the funky trio can be spotted twice on these lists for their new full-length and a sweet EP collaboration with Leon Bridges called Texas Sun.

Also notable is the new material from a few established artists, including Pet Shop Boys, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, and Bob Dylan. We have some interesting 2020 releases of previously recorded music, such as Westside Gunn’s 2005 mixtape; Neil Young’s Homegrown, which was originally developed in 1974-1975; and Makaya McCraven’s reworking of Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here.

Keep in mind that these are the most collected physical releases of 2020. Several artists have released amazing albums on digital platforms – Childish Gambino, Run the Jewels, and Fiona Apple, to name a few – but since Discogs users can’t get their hands on the vinyl, CD, or cassette yet, then they won’t show up in these rankings. We also excluded 2020 reissues and albums that were released in 2019 even though the LPs came out this year, which is why you won’t see Prince, Jackboys, The Free Nationals on this list.

How many of these are in your collection? What are you adding to your wantlist?

Top 20 Most Collected Records Overall

Top 10 Most Collected Records By Genre

Rock

1. Morrissey ‎– I Am Not A Dog On A Chain
2. Paradise Lost – Obsidian
3. Liam Gallagher – MTV Unplugged
4. Testament – Titans of Creation
5. King Krule – Man Alive!
6. Green Day – Father of All …
7. The Strokes ‎– The New Abnormal
8. Pearl Jam ‎– Gigaton
9. Ozzy Osbourne ‎– Ordinary Man
10. Tame Impala – The Slow Rush

Hip-Hop

1. Shabazz Palaces –The Don Of Diamond Dreams
2. Chinese Man, Scratch Bandits Crew, Baja Frequencia ‎– The Groove Sessions Vol. 5
3. Quebonafide ‎– Romantic Psycho
4. The Professionals – The Professionals
5. Westside Gun – Flyest Ni@@a in Charge Mixtape Vol. 1
6. Retrogott & Hulk Hodn – Land Und Leute
7. knxwledge – 1988
8. Denzel Curry – Unlocked
9. Eminem – Music to be Murdered By
10. Mac Miller ‎– Circles

Electronic

1. Roger Eno and Brian Eno – Mixing Colours
2. Tycho – Simulcast
3. Sonic Boom ‎– All Things Being Equal
4. Daniel Avery + Alessandro Cortini ‎– Illusion Of Time
5. Leafar Legov ‎– Mirror
6. Sufjan Stevens, Lowell Brans – Aporia
7. The Orb – Abolition of the Royal Familia
8. Squarepusher – Be Up a Hello
9. Four Tet – Sixteen Oceans
10. Caribou – Suddenly

Pop

1. Hayley Willians – Petals for Armor
2. Selena Gomez – Rare
3. Agnes Obel ‎– Myopia
4. The 1975 – Notes on a Conditional Form
5. Halsey – Manic
6. Caroline Rose – Superstar
7. Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
8. Grimes – Miss Anthropocene
9. Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
10. Lady Gaga – Chromatica

Jazz

1. Alabaster DePlume ‎– To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1
2. Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
3. Tony Allen, Hugh Masekela – Rejoice
4. Pat Metheny – From This Place
5. Shabaka and the Ancestors – We Were Sent Here By History
6. Bohren and Der Club of Gore – Patchouli Blue
7. Jeff Parker & The New Breed – Suite for Max Brown
8. Gil Scott-Heron, Makaya McCraven – We’re New Again
9. Tom Misch & Yussef Hayes – What Kinda Music
10. Thundercat – It Is What It Is

Funk and Soul

1. Calibro 35 ‎– Momentum
2. El Michels Affair – Adult Themes
3. The Heliocentrics – Infinity of Now
4. Black Market Brass ‎– Undying Thirst
5. Chicano Batman – Invisible People
6. Moses Sumney ‎– græ
7. Monophonics – It’s Only Us
8. Yves Tumor – Heaven to a Tortured Mind
9. Khruangbin – Mordechai
10. Khruangbin & Leon Bridges – Texas Sun

Folk, World, and Country

1. Bonny Light Horseman ‎– Bonny Light Horseman
2. Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways
3. Gerry Cinnamon – The Bonny
4. Jonathan Wilson – Dixie Blur
5. Lucinda Williams – Good Souls Better Angels
6. Myrkur – Folksange
7. Drive-By Truckers – The Unraveling
8. Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
9. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Reunions
10. Neil Young ‎– Homegrown

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