2022 Power Rankings

Albums


Ranked albums of 2022 as rated by the committee of one.
RANKARTISTALBUMGENREPOWER
INDEX
RATINGTREND
1
Beach HouseOnce Twice MelodyDream Pop90. 6
--
T2
Gang Of Youthsangel in realtime.Indie Rock84. 7
T2
florFuture ShineIndie Pop/Rock84. 7
NEW
ENTRY
4
OWELThe Salt Water WellPost-Rock78. 2
NEW
ENTRY
5
Lane 8ReviverProgressive House75. 4
NEW
ENTRY
6
HighasakiteMotherIndie Poptimism74. 2
NEW
ENTRY
T7
CordaeFrom A Bird's Eye ViewAlternative Rap70. 6
NEW
ENTRY
T7
S. CareyBreak Me OpenAmbient Folk70. 6
NEW
ENTRY
9
The DreamArt Rock68. 8
NEW
ENTRY
10
BonoboFragmentsIDM68. 5
NEW
ENTRY
11
Bad SunsApocalypse WheneverIndie Pop/Rock68. 4
NEW
ENTRY
12
Jake Xerxes FussellGood And Green AgainChamber Folk66. 7
NEW
ENTRY
13
Team MeSomething In The MakingIndie Pop66. 6
NEW
ENTRY
14
Years & YearsNight CallPop66. 3
NEW
ENTRY
15
The WeekndDawn FMPop61. 5
NEW
ENTRY
16
C. DuncanAlluviumArt Pop60. 9
NEW
ENTRY
T17
BANKSSerpentinaDark Pop57. 2
NEW
ENTRY
T17
Red Hot Chili PeppersUnlimited LoveAlternative Pop/Rock57. 2
NEW
ENTRY
19
Sasha Alex SloanI Blame The WorldPop55. 2
NEW
ENTRY
20
PalaceShoalsIndie Rock54. 4
NEW
ENTRY
21
Brandon BoydEchoes & CocoonsAlt-Rock46. 0
NEW
ENTRY
22
Kelly Lee OwensLP.8Experimental45. 6
NEW
ENTRY
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Spotify

The Fine Print

  • The aFIREintheattic Power Index formula is top secret… but here’s a frivolous hint since we like you: It’s sort of like a logarithmic function on the weighted mean of the committee’s song ratings, which is then standardized-ish and scaled from 0 to 100.   Talk nerdy to me.
  • All songs on an album or EP are rated and contribute to its Power Index.   As a result, releases that are cohesive and consistently good, with fewer filler tracks, will invariably score higher than those with only a handful of great songs and a bunch of throwaways. Here, a release cannot be greater than the sum of its parts. For rankings that take that phenomenon into account, look to the aFIREintheattic Awards at the end of each year.
  • Note that EPs can tend toward higher scores than albums because sometimes an EP is a precursor to a full album and that album will contain the songs from the EP but with the addition of filler tracks that drag the Power Index score down.
  • Albums with a Power Index of 80 or higher and EPs with a Power Index of 70 or higher are a solid bet for a top 10 finish. The two highest scoring albums of all-time are Radiohead’s Kid A at 100.0 and OK Computer at 99.9 and the highest scoring EPs are Vancouver Sleep Clinic’s Winter at 96.7 and James Bay’s The Dark Of The Morning at 94.7. And we’ll be forthright: they probably always will be.
  • If a release is in the power rankings but is not in the playlist above, it’s not available on Spotify. The playlist is made up of the most popular song from each album in order based on its current power ranking.

EPs


Ranked EPs of 2022 as rated by the committee of one.
RANKARTISTEPGENREPOWER
INDEX
RATINGTREND
1
BrothertigerFundamentals, Vol. IVChillwave67. 8
NEW
ENTRY
2
TyphoonUnderground Complex No. 1Indie Rock66. 7
NEW
ENTRY
3
Squirrel FlowerPlanet EPLo-Fi Indie64. 0
4
TransvioletDrugs In CaliforniaPop60. 2
--
5
YosteNever The SameShimmer Pop57. 4
NEW
ENTRY
6
chloe moriondopuppy luvBedroom Pop54. 0
NEW
ENTRY
7
Kelsey BulkinHear Me BelovedIndie Electronic33. 9
--
SCROLL →
Spotify

The Fine Print

  • The aFIREintheattic Power Index formula is top secret… but here’s a frivolous hint since we like you: It’s sort of like a logarithmic function on the weighted mean of the committee’s song ratings, which is then standardized-ish and scaled from 0 to 100.   Talk nerdy to me.
  • All songs on an album or EP are rated and contribute to its Power Index.   As a result, releases that are cohesive and consistently good, with fewer filler tracks, will invariably score higher than those with only a handful of great songs and a bunch of throwaways. Here, a release cannot be greater than the sum of its parts. For rankings that take that phenomenon into account, look to the aFIREintheattic Awards at the end of each year.
  • Note that EPs can tend toward higher scores than albums because sometimes an EP is a precursor to a full album and that album will contain the songs from the EP but with the addition of filler tracks that drag the Power Index score down.
  • Albums with a Power Index of 80 or higher and EPs with a Power Index of 70 or higher are a solid bet for a top 10 finish. The two highest scoring albums of all-time are Radiohead’s Kid A at 100.0 and OK Computer at 99.9 and the highest scoring EPs are Vancouver Sleep Clinic’s Winter at 96.7 and James Bay’s The Dark Of The Morning at 94.7. And we’ll be forthright: they probably always will be.
  • If a release is in the power rankings but is not in the playlist above, it’s not available on Spotify. The playlist is made up of the most popular song from each album in order based on its current power ranking.