Beyond Beyoncé: The 29 Best Albums Of 2013

The year is almost over, which can only mean one thing: List season is upon us. Ah, that hallowed time of year where music fans connect on the Internet to share their favorite releases, bicker about the best albums, and catch up on what they missed. Yep, 2013 was an especially fruitful, often wildly surprising, year for tunes, with out-of-the-blue smashes (Beyoncé), industrial-rap reinventions (Yeezus), and mid-career refinements (Modern Vampires of the City).

Alas, though we'd like to include every great record that dropped this year, we had to draw the line somewhere. So, in keeping with the name of our site, we rounded up 29 of our favorite records and ranked them using our highly objective, scientific system to insure accuracy. (It involves a top-secret algorithm, fairy dust, and gnostic numerology.) Read on to see our top choices (presented in no particular order), and let us know what records you personally enjoyed most this year in the comments.