Tom Waits’s Bad As Me Tops 2011’s Best-Reviewed Albums List

Who reaped the most praise and acclaim for an album released in 2011? According to entertainment review aggregator Metacritic.com, it was none other than Tom Waits, whose Bad As Me earned a mean score of 88 out of a possible 100.

MetaCritic tallied US and UK publications’ Best Of 2011 Lists and determined that PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake earned the most album of the year votes, but when it came to actual reviews, Waits’ Metascore of 88 topped Harvey’s by two points.

The Roots’ undun also received an 88 ranking, but failed to top the poll — because no one’s as “bad” as Tom f’n Waits, now are they?

Interestingly, #3 and #5 also take liberties with proper spelling — a hot new trend for 2012? We thnk so.

View MetaCritic’s 25 best reviewed albums of the year here. Dive into American Songwriter’s best of 2011 Album List and Song List here and here, and read our 4.5 star review of Bad As Me here.

MetaCritic’s 25 best reviewed albums of 2011:

1. Bad As Me – Tom Waits
2. undun – The Roots
3. House Of Balloons – The Weeknd
4. Let England Shake – PJ Harvey
5. whokill -tUnEyArDs
6. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
7. Space Is Only Noise – Nicolas Jar
8. Stone Rollin’ – Raphael Saadiq
9. Empros – Russian Circles
10. Ravedeath, 1972 – Tim Hecker
11. David Comes To Life – Fucked Up
12. 50 Words For Snow – Kate Bush
13. New Brigade – Ice Age
14. So Beautiful Or So What – Paul Simon
15. Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
16. Smother – Wild Beasts
17. Looping State of Mind – The Field
18. The Harrow and the Harvest – Gillian Welch
19. Strange Mercy – St. Vincent
20. Kaputt – Destroyer
21. El Camino – The Black Keys
22. Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2 – Beastie Boys
23. Skying – The Horrors
24. Eye Contact – Gang Gang Dance
25. Sepalcure – Sepalcure