The best album of every year since 2000, according to critics

Each year in music, one album stands out from the crowd as the most critically acclaimed work of the year.

Since the turn of the new century, review aggregator Metacritic has compiled an annual list of the years' most well-received albums, by assigning scores based on their composite critical reception.

We selected the top album from each year, starting with 2000 (and including the best album of 2017 so far). The resulting list includes appearances from great artists like Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, and Kanye West, as well as a few lesser-known but incredible LPs.

Check out the best album of each year in the new century so far: