By JESSY SIEGMANN and WILLA LEFKOWICZ
Jericho High School students have spoken, and out of the responses to a JerEcho survey, the number one album of the year is Sour by Olivia Rodrigo. This was followed by Kanye West’s Donda, Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift, Planet Her by Doja Cat, and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. Read on to compare your personal favorites to our month-by-month recap of the 2021 highlights.
January: OK Human – Weezer
OK Human is Weezer’s 14th album and features 12 tracks. This album takes a twist on Weezer’s normal style by adding a pop element. The album was recorded using analog equipment and showcases a 38-piece orchestra. The most popular song on this album is “All My Favorite Songs.” Our personal favorite song is “Screens.”
February: Life Support- Madison Beer
Life Support by Madison Beer features 17 tracks, including a beginning, interlude and an end. Although she has released multiple singles, this is Beer’s debut album. She has also released an EP (Extended Play) called “As She Pleases” which headlined her global tour. The most popular songs on Life Support are “Good in Goodbye,” “Follow the White Rabbit,” “Stay Numb and Carry On” and “Blue.” Our personal favorite is “Emotional Bruises.”
March: Justice – Justin Bieber
Justice by Justin Bieber features 16 tracks, including collaborations with other artists like The Kid Laroi, Benny Blanco, Khalid and more. Within two weeks of the release, it was charted No.1 on Billboard’s Top 200. This makes Justice the eighth album of Bieber to be No.1 on the board. The first single released from the album was “Holy” featuring Chance The Rapper. Bieber also includes a Martin Luther King Jr. interlude on the album. The most popular songs on the album are “Peaches” (Featuring Daniel Caesar and GIVEON), “Holy” (Featuring Chance The Rapper) and “Lonely” (Featuring Benny Blanco). Our personal favorites are “As I Am” (Featuring Khalid) and “Somebody.”
April: Fearless (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has to re-record every album up to and including Reputation as she’s reclaiming control over her masters for full ownership of her work. She kick-started the re-recording journey with Fearless, her second studio album originally released in 2008. The most popular tracks on the country album are “Love Story” (Taylor’s Version), “You Belong With Me (Taylor’s Version),” “You All Over Me (Taylor’s Version)” and “Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]” which is our favorite on the album. “From The Vault” means it was written during the process of making Fearless but wasn’t released until the re-recording of the album.
May: Sour – Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour was released on May 21, 2021. The internet first recognized Olivia Rodrigo’s talent when she released her single “Driver’s Licence” in January. Ever since then, everyone has been waiting for her album. Sour features 11 tracks, with songs ranging from slower, sad songs to more upbeat ones. Most impressively she wrote her whole album at the age of 17. Sour remained No. 1 on the Billboard for 5 weeks and broke the record for the most songs in the top 10 at a time by a woman. She also broke the record for most streams on a song within a week with “Driver’s License.” The most popular songs are “Traitor,” “Deja Vu” and “Good 4 u.” Our personal favorites are “Brutal” and “Favorite Crime.”
June: Call Me If You Get Lost – Tyler, The Creator
Tyler, The Creator’s sixth studio album Call Me If You Get Lost is 53 minutes long and contains 16 tracks. The album’s concept is centered around an avid traveler Wolf Haley, who will probably make a move on your significant other. The hip-hop/rap album is backed with soul samples, boom-bad revivals, crunk-style background chants and lover’s rock. The most popular track on this record is “WUSYANAME.” The album had 153 million streams and around 169,000 sales solely in the United States in its first week of being released. Our personal favorite song on this album is “LEMONHEAD.”
July: Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
Happier Than Ever is Billie’s second studio album and features 16 tracks in total. The most popular song is “Happier Than Ever,” which held No.1 on Billboard’s top 200 for 3 weeks straight. “My Future” is a single on the album that was released exactly one year before the album’s release. Our favorite song from this album is “Happier Than Ever.”
August: Donda – Kanye West
Kanye West’s new album honors his mother, Donda, who passed away on November 10, 2007. This album featured over 30 vocalists, including The Weeknd and Jay-Z. One of the most popular songs, “Hurricane,” charted at No. 6 on West’s Hot 100. Our favorite songs are “Pure Souls” and “Ok Ok.” While many gospel-inspired tracks exist, this album is listed under the hip-hop/rap genre.
September: Certified Lover Boy – Drake
Drake dropped his sixth album Certified Lover Boy, which is comprised of 21 tracks and features collaborative artists such as Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne and Travis Scott. The album shattered streaming records by becoming Spotify’s most streamed album in one day. Our favorite song is “IMY2” (Featuring Kid Cudi).
October: Life of a DON – Don Toliver
The 16-track album, Life of a DON, was released through Cactus Jack Records, Atlantic Records and We Run It, and is Toliver’s second studio album. The most popular songs on this album are “Way Bigger,” “Flocky Flocky,” “What You Need,” “Drugs N Hella Melodies” and “You.” Toliver recorded music videos for three of these hits. The hip-hop/rap album has whimsical, ethereal and atmospheric sounds. Life of a DON debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart on October 23. Our favorite song is “Drugs N Hella Melodies.”
November: 30 – Adele
Six years after her previous album, Adele finally released her 12-track new album 30. It has both jazz and pop tunes. She released ¨”Easy On Me” as a single first, and later it became one of the most popular songs on the album. It became the fastest-selling album in 2021 in both the US and the UK, and was No.1 on Billboard’s charts. Some personal favorites from the album are “¨My Little Love” and “Oh My God.”
December: Fighting Demons – Juice WRLD
Juice Wrld’s fourth studio album Fighting Demons is also his second posthumous album. It is centered around Juice WRLD’s internal battles with addiction and mental health issues. Fighting back, giving up and having self-destructive behaviors are all aspects of this album. Our favorite song is “Feel Alone.”
Though we couldn’t write about all of the 2021album releases, some honorable mentions: Solar Power by Lorde, MONTERO by Lil Nas X, Silk Sonic by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, Scaled and Icy by Twenty One Pilots, The Off-Season by J. Cole, The Battle At Gardens Gate by Greta Van Fleet, Planet Her by Doja Cat, Red (Taylor’s Verison) by Taylor Swift and Medicine at Midnight by Foo Fighters.