Idolator points out that three biggies have just weighed in on the best albums of the year, making the list-obsessed among us all giddy. Time, New York and the UK Guardian released their lists today, and while each have the character you’d expect from the publication (Idolator calls them “mainstream,” “middlebrow” and “muso”) there’s actually some interesting similarities, which is nice, considering the mixed, Nick-Cave-elevating-by-default tally of recent lists. Both New York and Time had the same Top 2: Lil Wayne and TV on the Radio. Of course, the Guardian has to be all cool and diverse, throwing the not-even-out-in-the-US Amadou and Mariam in at #2, while Time, bafflingly, includes Metallica. USA! USA! But perhaps the most important thing to realize about the average of these three lists is that it turns out to very closely resemble my Best Albums of the First Half of 2008 list posted back at the end of June, proving, once again, that the Riff is your best bet for scientifically sound arts and culture commentary.
Check out the three Top 10s as well as another super-consensus chart after the jump.
A couple other interesting things I’d like to point out: the further along we go, the more lists seem to include 808s & Heartbreak, perhaps proving my initial suspicion that it’s a bit of a “sleeper”; also, Idolator asks, cynically, if people “really like” the Portishead album or they’re just putting it on their lists because, I dunno, they want to be cool. That would make me sad, since some of us really, really, really do like it.
Time
1. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
2. TV On The Radio – Dear Science
3. Metallica – Death Magnetic
4. Girl Talk – Feed The Animals
5. Vampire Weekend – S/T
6. Kanye West – 808s And Heartbreak
7. Santogold – S/T
8. Portishead – Third
9. Lucinda Williams – Little Honey
10. Duffy – Rockferry
New York
1. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
2. TV On The Radio – Dear Science
3. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
4. Portishead – Third
5. Hercules & Love Affair – S/T
6. Santogold – S/T
7. Fleet Foxes – S/T
8. Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
9. Beck – Modern Guilt
10. Vampire Weekend – S/T
Guardian
1. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
2. Amadou and Mariam – Welcome To Mali
3. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
4. Glasvegas – S/T
5. Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night
6. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
7. Vampire Weekend – S/T
8. Kanye West – 808s And Heartbreak
9. Portishead – Third
10. TV On The Radio – Dear Science
