Best Albums of 2016 (Rolling Stone)

In news that is not shocking at all to me, Rolling Stone picked Beyonce, Radiohead, the Stones, and Bowie in their top ten.  However, shockingly to me, Sturgill Simpson didn't even make their top 25. They put Maren freaking Morris at #13?!?  I think they are scared after when they gave the free U2 album their top spot and everyone lost their collective shits, so now they're just going to wig out and do weird things.  And make sure to add in some color to their stodgy old man list.

1. Beyonce - Lemonade.  Still can't stream this on Spotify, which is very annoying.  I'm not signing up for stupid Tidal just to hear this album.  YouTube has a few of these available to watch, so I checked out "Sorry," "Hold Up," and "Formation."  I gotta say, I like it.  I'd like to easily hear the whole thing.
2. David Bowie - Blackstar.  My previous review.  Yeah, still feel like a prick for not loving this as some way to honor the dead, but I just don't much care for it.
3. Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book.  My previous review.  I generally liked this album, however, the best gauge for whether I actually like it shows that not so much, because I haven't listened to it a single time since I wrote that review.  I just fired it up again, and I like it well enough.
4. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial.  Agreed, this one is good stuff.
5. Frank Ocean - Blonde.  Sometimes, this is written as "Blond," other times as "Blonde."  Don't know which is correct, but that felt like a fact you should know.  I don't know what to do with this album.  I've only heard it two times now, and while R&B type tunes aren't really what I aim for in life, I find myself enjoying the album.  I don't think I can fully review this one for a while.  Feels like the kind of disc I need to live with for a while.  I will say that it makes me giggle when the mom in "Be Yourself" says "weedhead."  And "Solo" is pretty cool sounding, as is the Andre 3000 verse on "Solo (reprise)."
6. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool.  Bleh.
7. Rolling Stones - Blue and Lonesome.  At first, I said that I had not heard it enough to really have a strong opinion, but what is the damn point of that?  So I went and spent the last few hours on repeat, and it is good.  Reminds me of the Eric Clapton blues album he did in the mid-90's From the Cradle.  This one is worth keeping around.
8. Kanye West - Life of Pablo.  My previous review.  I just re-listened to this again, and it is better than I remember.  Still not top ten for the year, and still feels tossed off and incomplete, but it definitely gets points for solid beats and a few clever bits of wordplay.  That being said, I miss the old Kanye.
9. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker.  Hadn't tried this one out yet.  Felt exclusively like a nostalgia pick for putting this in the top ten.  It's macabre as shit now, in light of his recent death, to have him growling "I'm ready my Lord" in the title song.  His voice is kind of mesmerizing - so very gravelly and spare and whispered.  The album is actually pretty solid, even if it never gets above a kind of plodding sway under his clear and insightful lyrics. "Treaty" is fantastic.  The album just keeps catching my attention, all day, and making me pause to listen to it again.  Maybe not a nostalgia pick, this is good stuff.
10. Young Thug - Jeffrey.  Also had not listened to this album except for listening to a couple of singles while writing a review for Sound on Sound Fest.  Not a fan of this dude.  Rolling Stone says that "Pick Up The Phone" is the "deserved hit" on this album.  However, counter-point, this song is garbage.  Let's look at the lyrics for the first verse and hook:

"I pour a four up
I call your hoe up
Just to fuck her and show her
I just went, got my dough up
Pullin' off and I'm gone!
Then I go and pour four up
Then I roll up that roll up
Then I'm callin' your hoe up
(Like Brrrrr)

Pick up the phone, baby (Like brrrrr)
I know you're home, baby (It's lit!)
I'm in the zone, baby (Straight up!)
I just poured up a four baby (Yeah, yeah)"

Is there anything in there that is "deserved hit" material?  Anything?  Maybe we need to check the next verse?

"Never will I cheat on you
Never will I commit treason
Blowin' a bag on you
Do all of that for no reason
I'mma pull up and murk too
Hittin' the block and I'm bleedin'
Throwing that Rollie on you
I like the way it be freezin' (Brrrrr)"

Nope.  Still garbage.  This guy should just print off Wikipedia pages on 18th century politicians and rap those words as his lyrics instead.  I swear the only reason RS made him into their top ten was so they could mention that he appears in a dress on the cover art, and therefore is making strides in reducing the misogyny in rap music (just before he then mentions that he called your hoe up.  Perfect.