Eleni's Top 10 Albums of 2020

As final lists of the year are being written, staff writer Eleni Haberis gifts the world with her Top 10 Albums of 2020. Ranging from pop punk and alternative to reggaeton and psychedelia, here are her favorites from the year.



10. SAWAYAMA - Rina Sawayama

Rina Sawayama’s debut album SAWAYAMA is hardcore pop in its most digestible form. This album could play on mainstream radio, or at some underground gay club, and both spaces would be filled with a vibe tailormade for them. A lot of the songs echo a 2000s era Gwen Stefani - sexy and fun, but always a little on the heavier, edgier side. This album is strung together masterfully, and is exactly the time machine we needed to escape the stress of this year. An album you can put on and soundtrack your every move - Rina makes sure we have fun while we rage.




9. YHLQMDLG - Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny really was a superstar of 2020 - it only makes sense for me to have him on this list. The amount of energy and fun packed into every line of every song on this twenty track album just doesn't miss - the music videos carrying much of the same excitement. Even in the heaviest of couch comas, you could put this album on shuffle and your ass would be bouncing by the time the first chorus comes on. Not to mention the nods and reimagination of classic reggaeton beats and sounds, this album really is filled to the brim with enthusiasm. 




8. POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR - Bring Me The Horizon

"Survival of the fittest: survival of the form that will leave the most copies of itself in successive generations.” - Darwinian Evolutionary Theory


This EP, and everything else that BMTH has put out since their debut album in 2006, has been so fucking fresh while staying true to their genre’s form. I truly think Oli Sykes and his band are the ones surviving the best in their meltacore, and definitely have the most copies of themselves out there - maybe not in the wild, but definitely on Bandcamp. Songs on this EP sound like they could be right off Suicide Season but as a Skrillex remix. It gets heavy, it gets soft, it gets EDM, all the while staying true to the BMTH sound. And with an Amy Lee feature to end the EP, they really couldn't have better secured the title of Fittest of the Emos.




7. Halo of Hurt - Seahaven

I got a real big soft spot in my heart for Seahaven. This band helped me get through so many cold high school winters, and for them to release their first album since 2014 (my junior year) in this forever fucking winter of 2020 was a great full circle moment for me. Every song is heavy as a despondent dream, but as ephemeral as smoke pouring out your mouth. Sad as hell but in a way that makes things not seem so lonely. This album wasn't anything revolutionary, but the way it sits in my heart and my head is so warm I had to give it a spot up here. 




6. Party Favors - Sir Chloe

Sir Chloe is a cool girl. I had never listened to her before this year, but that didn't seem to matter when I turned this album on and couldn't stop! Party Favors is her debut LP, and it feels like a real passion project for her with the introspective, honest, and easy-to-relate to lyrics. I love the indie rock flow of this album, but her feminine energy makes it better than just some Soccer Mommy knock off. The songs go together well and make for easy listening when you have a bit more energy to burn. 




5. I Disagree - Poppy

Poppy really didn't have to go so hard on this album. Or maybe she did, since it was her first project under a new and less-restrictive label. The nu-metal pop zombie that Poppy created with this album is Frankenstein on molly, or Nine Inch Nails if they were composed of rebellious teenage daughters. Every note is an adamant “fuck you mom!” as you listen to her grow into a heavier, more versatile artist with each song. Even in an album fueled by this much anger, there’s a sigh of relief when you reach the end - teenage angst is tough to get through, but she is doing it with a lot of poise and plenty of headbangs.



4. GLUE - Boston Manor

I didn't listen to Boston Manor when I was a big ol’ emo, mainly because they didn't exist then! But it’s weird to find a pop punk band that I like with the same passion as those that hold nostalgic value to me, and they seem to have gotten the formula for some Leni adoration down. This album was a bit more somber than their last while still holding onto its heavy sound, and I really liked that they carried that vibe throughout the entire thing. It’s part Linkin Park: Ballad Masters and part Melancholy and the Infinite Badassness. A Leni-certified classic pop-punk album from 2020? I guess someone had to do it, and Boston Manor really stepped up to the plate.




3. The Slow Rush - Tame Impala

Okay I know this album wasn’t the most glamorously received but hear me out - it’s fucking good. I know, I know, “put down the dab pen Eleni” etc. etc, but really - this album is better than people give it credit for. We can all dissect a Tame Impala song and deem it “well done” merely because Kevin Parker is a good musician, but it's the way all these songs are married together - thematically, instrumentally, spiritually - that really pushes this album up to the front of the list. That, coupled with the timelessness of all these songs, makes The Slow Rush superb. I know I could listen to these in 50 years and remember immediately that this was a 2020 special. It’ll slap just as much then as it does now. 




2. Dreamland - Glass Animals

I was really excited for this album, and it still exceeded my expectations. Honestly, this was more than just an album - the amount of visuals, videos, websites, open source art/sounds and other fun concepts that they released for this album really makes Dreamland a multi-medium experience. Not to mention the album itself really lives up to its name - every song is a different lucid feeling, and every lyric is just as whimsical and clever as ever. Some of my most played songs this year were on this album, candy-like in the addiction it creates.




1. Petals For Armor - Hayley Williams

The main reason Hayley Williams’s solo debut beats out Dreamland is the way it hit me in the heart (and probably because of my big crush on her). But really, the former is enough. The way this album tugs on your emotions really puts you right into Hayley’s world- you're thrown into the dirt, and then you messily make your way through the songs, growing and blossoming with each one. It really is a beautiful journey from confusion and raw feelings to catharsis, one that really resonates with a lot of us this year. I think having those kinds of moments in a soft and reflective way is really important during stressful times, and Hayley gave us all a perfect anthem for it all. 



ELENI'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020 (#1-10)

1. Petals For Armor - Hayley Williams

2. Dreamland - Glass Animals

3. The Slow Rush - Tame Impala

4. GLUE - Boston Manor 

5. I Disagree - Poppy 

6. Party Favors - Sir Chloe

7. Halo of Hurt - Seahaven 

8. POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR - Bring Me The Horizon

9. YHLQMDLG - Bad Bunny

10. SAWAYAMA - Rina Sawayama 

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