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A few weeks ago we asked you all what your favorite albums of 2011 were, and now that we’ve shared our lists, we’ve tallied up the results.
By a wide margin, Pretty Much Amazing readers’ favorite album of 2011 was actually a free mixtape, The Weeknd’s groundbreaking House of Balloons. It’s notable that Abel Tesfaye’s other mixtape, Thursday failed to make it on the list at all (Ed. note: Echoes of Silence had not been release at the time of polling).
Coming in at number two is another Year-End List staple, Bon Iver’s self-titled summer LP, who beat out Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues by an even wider margin. Two blockbuster albums, Hov & Ye’s Watch The Throne (#4) and Drake’s Take Care (#6), make an appearance in the top 10; 2011′s best selling album (by far), Adele’s 21 also shows up at #13.
2011 brought us plenty of great debut albums, and it was this category that held the most surprises. House of Balloons aside, Youth Lagoon’s The Year of Hibernation (#5) was the favorite debut album the year, beating out James Blake (#6), Cults (#9) and Frank Ocean (#10). Another surprise was that the ever-popular and think-piece-generating Tyler The Creator failed to get a single mention from PMA readers for his Goblin LP, which matches the critics’ sentiments toward the album (it only showed up on one list).
The rest of the top 30 is made up of favorites from our lists and others. Overall, it’s a selection of albums that effectively captures of the sound of 2011; a list I believe few can argue with. Well done, you.
PMA Readers’ Top 30 Albums of 2011
1. The Weeknd – House of Balloons (190 points)
2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver (150)
3. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (102)
4. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne (93)
5. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation (70)
6. Drake – Take Care (65)
6. James Blake – James Blake (65)
8. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (64)
9. Cults – Cults (60)
10. Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, ULTRA. (57)
11. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials (53)
12. Tune-Yards – whokill (50)
13. Adele – 21 (46)
14. Childish Gambino – Camp (44)
15. The Antlers – Burst Apart (40)
15. WU LYF – Go Tell Fire To The Mountain (40)
17. St Vincent – Strange Mercy (37)
18. Wilco – The Whole Love (35)
19. Beyonce – 4 (34)
20. Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – We’re New Here (30)
20. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost (30)
20. Little Dragon – Ritual Union (30)
20. Radiohead – The King of Limbs (30)
24. Atlas Sound – Parallax (25)
24. Katy B – On A Mission (25)
24. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes (25)
24. Panda Bear – Tomboy (25)
24. SBTRKT – SBTRKT (25)
24. Washed Out – Within and Without (25)
24. Yuck – Yuck (25)
