It was a monumental year for music. A lot of major artists dropped albums that were as big as they were important, speaking to events on both a personal and global scale. Seven out of the top 10 spots in our 2016 listener poll went to well-established or legacy artists, from Radiohead and Beyoncé to Bon Iver, David Bowie and Leonard Cohen. But if you dig a little deeper into the list you'll find some of 2016's best new artists, including Big Thief, Margaret Glaspy, Noname, Pinegrove and Joseph.

Some years these polls aren't even close, but this time it was a tight race for the top five most popular albums of 2016. In the end, Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool squeaked ahead of Beyoncé's Lemonade for the top spot. They were followed, in order, by David Bowie's Blackstar, Bon Iver's 22, A Million and Car Seat Headrest's Teens Of Denial.

On this week's All Songs Considered, we count down and talk about the poll's top 20 albums. You'll find those records below, along with a list of our listeners' top 100 albums.

The All Songs Considered Listener Poll's Top 100 Albums Of 2016

  1. Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
  2. Beyoncé, Lemonade
  3. David Bowie, Blackstar
  4. Bon Iver, 22, A Million
  5. Car Seat Headrest, Teens Of Denial
  6. Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book
  7. Frank Ocean, Blonde
  8. A Tribe Called Quest, We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service
  9. Anderson .Paak, Malibu
  10. Sturgill Simpson, A Sailor's Guide To Earth
  11. Leonard Cohen, You Want It Darker
  12. Solange, A Seat at the Table
  13. Kanye West, The Life Of Pablo
  14. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree
  15. Angel Olsen, MY WOMAN
  16. Big Thief, Masterpiece
  17. case/ lang/ veirs, case/lang/veirs
  18. Pinegrove, Cardinal
  19. Mitski, Puberty 2
  20. Wilco, Schmilco
  21. Margaret Glaspy, Emotions And Math
  22. ZAYN, Mind Of Mine
  23. Margo Price, Midwest Farmer's Daughter
  24. Whitney, Light Upon The Lake
  25. Childish Gambino, "Awaken, My Love!"
  26. Andrew Bird, Are You Serious
  27. Drive-By Truckers, American Band
  28. Rihanna, Anti
  29. Blood Orange, Freetown Sound
  30. Glass Animals, How To Be A Human Being
  31. Paul Simon, Stranger To Stranger
  32. Conor Oberst, Ruminations
  33. James Blake, The Colour In Anything
  34. Parquet Courts, Human Performance
  35. Hiss Golden Messenger, Heart Like A Levee
  36. Iggy Pop, Post Pop Depression
  37. The Avett Brothers, True Sadness
  38. The 1975, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
  39. Savages, Adore Life
  40. Various Artists, Hamilton Mixtape
  41. ANOHNI, HOPELESSNESS
  42. Noname, Telefone
  43. Kishi Bashi, Sonderlust
  44. T he Lumineers, Cleopatra
  45. Andy Shauf, The Party
  46. She Makes War, Direction Of Travel
  47. Lucius, Good Grief
  48. Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, I Had A Dream That You Were Mine
  49. Kendrick Lamar, untitled unmastered.
  50. Sia, This is Acting
  51. Lady Gaga, Joanne
  52. Kaytranada, 99.9%
  53. Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate
  54. Jim James, Eternally Even
  55. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, A Man Alive
  56. Lucy Dacus, No Burden
  57. Frightened Rabbit, Painting Of A Panic Attack
  58. Band of Horses, Why Are You OK
  59. NAO, For All We Know
  60. The Rolling Stones, Blue And Lonesome
  61. The Avalanches, Wildflower
  62. Weezer, Self-Titled (White Album)
  63. PJ Harvey, The Hope Six Demolition Project
  64. Shearwater, Jet Plane And Oxbow
  65. Danny Brown, Atrocity Exhibition
  66. Damien Jurado, Visions Of Us On The Land
  67. Birdeatsbaby, Tanta Furia
  68. The Jayhawks, Paging Mr. Proust
  69. The Suffers, The Suffers
  70. The Weeknd, Starboy
  71. Esperanza Spalding, Emily's D+Evolution
  72. Dawes, We're All Gonna Die
  73. Lambchop, FLOTUS
  74. Ariana Grande, Dangerous Woman
  75. The Posies, Solid States
  76. Local Natives, Sunlit Youth
  77. NxWorries, Yes Lawd!
  78. Kevin Morby, Singing Saw
  79. Lake Street Dive, Side Pony
  80. Miranda Lambert, The Weight of These Wings
  81. Drake, Views
  82. Gallant, Ology
  83. Tedeschi Trucks Band, Let Me Get By
  84. M83, Junk
  85. DIIV, Is The Is Are
  86. Joseph, I'm Alone No You're Not
  87. Tegan and Sara, Love You to Death
  88. Brandy Clark, Big Day In A Small Town
  89. Parker Millsap, The Very Last Day
  90. Cass McCombs, Mangy Love
  91. Regina Spektor, Remember Us To Life
  92. Flock of Dimes, If You See Me, Say Yes
  93. Maren Morris, HERO
  94. Frankie Cosmos, Next Thing
  95. Pixies, Head Carrier
  96. The Hotelier, Goodness
  97. Chris Staples, Golden Age
  98. Carly Rae Jepsen, Emotion Side B
  99. AURORA, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend
  100. Phish, Big Boat

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