LONDON: Beyonce’s politically charged album “Lemonade” has been named by critics as the album of the year.
The list, compiled by the BBC from 25 separately published polls, showed critics gave it a higher score than the late David Bowie’s last album ‘Blackstar’, Kanye West’s ‘Life Of Pablo’ and Rihanna’s ‘Anti’.
Receiving mixed reviews when it was released in April, “Lemonade” saw Beyonce comment on themes of black empowerment and female identity.
Rolling Stone magazine described the work as: “Larger than life yet still heartbreakingly intimate… because it doubles as her portrait of a nation in flames.”
The poll of polls list — which includes results from Cosmopolitan, Digital Spy, Billboard and Q Magazine — also features Beyonce’s sister Solange, whose “A Seat At The Table” is fifth. The records were assigned points based on their position in each list — with the number one album getting 20 points, the number two album receiving 19 points, and so on.
There was a huge diversity in the critics’ picks, with 145 albums cited across the 25 polls surveyed by the BBC.
As well as Bowie, it showed posthumous recognition for Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker in eighth position,” while Radiohead’s first album in five years, “A Moon Shaped Pool,” came in at number 11.
The list, compiled by the BBC from 25 separately published polls, showed critics gave it a higher score than the late David Bowie’s last album ‘Blackstar’, Kanye West’s ‘Life Of Pablo’ and Rihanna’s ‘Anti’.
Receiving mixed reviews when it was released in April, “Lemonade” saw Beyonce comment on themes of black empowerment and female identity.
Rolling Stone magazine described the work as: “Larger than life yet still heartbreakingly intimate… because it doubles as her portrait of a nation in flames.”
The poll of polls list — which includes results from Cosmopolitan, Digital Spy, Billboard and Q Magazine — also features Beyonce’s sister Solange, whose “A Seat At The Table” is fifth. The records were assigned points based on their position in each list — with the number one album getting 20 points, the number two album receiving 19 points, and so on.
There was a huge diversity in the critics’ picks, with 145 albums cited across the 25 polls surveyed by the BBC.
As well as Bowie, it showed posthumous recognition for Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker in eighth position,” while Radiohead’s first album in five years, “A Moon Shaped Pool,” came in at number 11.
