What is the best art-pop album of all time?

Art-pop pushes boundaries between pop and avant-garde — which album is the most daring and iconic of the genre?

1

Hounds of Love

Kate Bush's 1985 two-sided concept album, a pinnacle of artistic ambition in pop.

2

Homogenic

Björk's 1997 album fusing Icelandic strings, electronic beats, and pure vocal invention.

3

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust

David Bowie's 1972 glam-pop concept album introducing rock's most compelling alien persona.

4

Hunky Dory

David Bowie's 1971 art-pop gem spanning piano balladry, glam, and existential wit.

5

Remain in Light

Talking Heads' 1980 Afrobeat-funk-art-pop masterpiece co-produced with Brian Eno.

6

Post

Björk's 1995 album colliding trip-hop, big band jazz, and alien pop into something wholly original.

7

Strange Mercy

St. Vincent's 2011 art-pop breakthrough with jagged guitar and unsettling beauty.

8

LP1

FKA twigs' 2014 debut blending R&B, avant-garde pop, and raw intimacy.

9

Visions

Grimes' 2012 DIY art-pop album that blurred genre lines and made her a critical icon.

10

MASSEDUCTION

St. Vincent's 2017 glam-pop treatise on power, desire, and modern celebrity.

11

Heaven or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins' 1990 ethereal art-pop album, their commercial and critical peak.

12

Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

Caroline Polachek's 2023 art-pop tour de force combining flamenco, maximalism, and vocal pyrotechnics.

13

Lungs

Florence + the Machine's 2009 art-pop debut built on dramatic baroque pop and orchestral thunder.