Metacritic Aggregate: 2021 New Music: Blues/Gospel/R&B

Notes

For information on what lists are consulted, and what the various abbreviations and notes mean, click here.

For reissues and compilations, click here.

Sub-Lists

Some breakdowns by genre:

Ranking

  1. Sacred Soul of North Carolina (Bible & Tire) {40}: DW:11, EWi:26, JDC:33, PO:24+, Rx:20; js:+, xci:5, xscw:10, xtw:10 -- RC:A, TH:A-
  2. Leon Bridges: Gold-Diggers Sound (Columbia) {28}: BS:13, Cl:+, Cos:13, DIY:+, GMA:10, Rf:46, RS:20+, TL:76, UPC:87; am_r:+, av_lm:8, ca_o:7, do:7+++, e:+, ud:+, up_r:+, wyep:7, yb_r:19 -- TH:*
  3. Curtis Harding: If Words Were Flowers (Anti-) {20}: Al:54, BS:15, Mj:+, RM:19, Sk:+, TL:45, Top:17, Trk:40, U:+; am:+, am_r:+, bg:+, ws_s:5 -- TH:***
  4. Durand Jones & the Indications: Private Space (Dead Oceans) {20}: Cl:+, Crh:31, G:+, Mj:42+, PM:+, RM:36, RT:44, Trk:20, U:+; am_r:+, pm_s:8, ws_s:8, wyep:18, yb_r:24 -- TH:A-
  5. Robert Finley: Sharecropper's Son (Easy Eye Sound) {14}: AS:+, Mj:+, PO:12+; am:+, am_b:+, bc_s:+, rut:12, so_k:6 -- RC:*, TH:***
  6. Billy F Gibbons: Hardware (Concord) {12}: Mj:59+, Rf:80, Trk:17, UCR:10; am:+, am_b:+, gw:9, ysp:+
  7. Maria Muldaur With Tuba Skinny: Let's Get Happy Together (Stony Plain) {11}: AS:+, EWi:+, PM:+, PO:+; jmm:+, xde:5 -- TH:A-
  8. Cedric Burnside: I Be Trying (Single Lock) {10}: AS:+, Gl:++, Mj:60+, PO:+, RS:+, U:+ -- TH:**
  9. Queen Esther: Gild the Black Lily (EL) {8}: Bt:12, So:16 -- TH:A-
  10. Eric Bibb: Dear America (Provogue) {7}: AS:+, DB:+; am:+, am_b:+, jdh:11 -- TH:**
  11. Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers: Set Me Free (Louisiana Red Hot) {7}: PO:32+; ob:5 -- TH:***
  12. Sue Foley: Pinky's Blues (Stony Plain) {5}: am_b:+ -- TH:A-
  13. GA-20: GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor: Try It . . . You Might Like It! (Karma Chief/Alligator) {5}: AS:+, DB:+; am_b:+ -- TH:**
  14. Christone Kingfish Ingram: 662 (Alligator) {5}: ND_r:50, TL:59; am_b:+, gw:14, wyep:24
  15. Big Chief Monk Boudreux: Bloodstains & Teardrops (Whiskey Bayou) {4}: ob:2, st_r:6 -- TH:*
  16. Corey Harris: Insurrection Blues (CRS) {4}: -- RC:**, TH:**
  17. Buffalo Nichols: Buffalo Nichols (Fat Possum) {4}: Mj:+, U:71+; sdu:+
  18. Joe Bonamassa: Time Clocks (Provogue) {3}: Sbd:30; gw:4
  19. Steve Cropper: Fire It Up (Provogue) {3}: am_b:+ -- TH:**
  20. Elizabeth King & the Gospel Souls: Living in the Last Days (Big Legal Mess) {3}: Mj:+, PO:+; am_b:+
  21. Selwyn Birchwood: Living in a Burning House (Alligator) {2}: am_b:+ -- TH:*
  22. Ghalia Volt: One Woman Band (Ruf) {2}: Gl:+, YW:14
  23. Tommy Castro: A Bluesman Came to Town () {1}: am_b:+
  24. Merry Clayton: Beautiful Scars (Motown) {1}: Mj:+
  25. Dan Kroha: Detroit Blues () {1}: am_b:+
  26. Veronica Lewis: You Ain't Unlucky (Blue Heart) {1}: DB:+
  27. Charlie Parr: Last of the Better Days Ahead (Smithsonian Folkways) {1}: AAJ:+
  28. The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band: Dance Songs for Hard Times () {1}: am_b:+
  29. Curtis Salgado: Damage Control () {1}: am_b:+
  30. Carolyn Wonderland: Tempting Fate (Alligator) {1}: am_b:+