We’re almost (almost!) done reflecting onthe year that was, so it’s time to start taking a closer look at the year that will be. For the past several years, we’ve ranked our most anticipated albums. Today the feature returns, bigger than ever, with a whopping 100 records we’re looking forward to hearing, enjoying, debating, dissecting, and canonizing these next 12 months.

We limited the list to albums we feel confident will come out in 2014, whether because we’ve heard confirmation (or close to it) from labels, managers, or the artists themselves, or because the timing seems extremely likely. For the educated guesses, we needed something resembling evidence to go on, which is why we didn’t include perennial wish list material like the Avalanches (who have been the subject of fruitless rumors for more than a decade) but did include Joanna Newsom (who has been debuting new material for well over a year) and Taylor Swift (who, like clockwork, has released a new LP every other autumn since 2006 and is “ahead of schedule” for LP5; speaking of which, how cool would it be if she made an album that resembled…Like Clockwork?).

Of course, thereare some question marks here — if you concentrate hard enough you can actually hear the Wrens painstakingly deliberating some extraneous overdubright this second — butlast year we basically forced My Bloody Valentine to finally get on with it andreleaseMBV, so do not bet against us.

Once we had raked in a heaping pile of information, we set about sequencing it according to our highly arbitrary yet stunningly accurate sense of expectancy. We listened to as many of them as we could get our hands on, and those spins frequently affirmed our suspicions that something splendid was afoot; in those cases, since we’ve already heard the records, our anticipation is as much about looking forward to increased visibility for the artists and the discourse that will rage when you guys get to hear this stuff. Other factors that stoked our curiosity: Maybe werhapsodized constantly about the artist’s last album, maybe it’sa “companion piece” to a modern classic, maybe it’s a beloved songwriter’s first album sincecoming out as transgender — anything that might jar somebody out of the daze that sometimes accompanies the ceaseless cycle of album promos and into genuine excitement about new music.

Here’s what we’ve been looking forward to. Click on an artist’s name for all our recent news and audio/video teasers of the album where available…

100Bruce Springsteen –High Hopes (Columbia, 1/14)

99The Rentals –TBD (Polyvinyl)

98Broken Bells –After The Disco (Columbia, 1/14)

97Empress Of –TBD (Terrible/XL)

96tUnE-yArDs –TBD

95Schoolboy Q –Oxymoron (Interscope/TDE, 2/25)

94Thee Oh Sees –TBD

93MØ –No Mythologies To Follow (Chess Club/RCA Victor, 2/24)

92You Blew It! –Keep Doing What You’re Doing (Topshelf, 1/14)

91Bleeding Rainbow –Interrupt (Kanine, 2/25)

90The New Pornographers –TBD (Matador, Late Spring)

89Sisyphus –Sisyphus (Asthmatic Kitty, 3/18)

88Wu-Tang Clan –TBD

87Drive-By Truckers –English Oceans (ATO, 3/4)

86Mastodon –TBD

85Phantogram –Voices (Republic, 2/18)

84Wolves In The Throne Room –TBD (Southern Lord, Winter)

83Meek Mill –TBD (MMG)

82Mogwai –Rave Tapes (Sub Pop, 1/21)

81Pusha T –King Push (Def Jam)

80Actress –Ghettoville (Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune, 1/28)

79Rick Ross –Mastermind (MMG/Slip-N-Slide/Def Jam, Early 2014)

78The Horrors –TBD

77ceo –Wonderland (Modular, 2/4)

76Johnny Cash –Out Among The Stars (Columbia/Legacy, 3/25)

75Black Lips –Underneath The Rainbow (Vice, 3/18)

74Da Mafia 6ix –TBD

73Best Coast –TBD (Spring)

72The Men –Tomorrow’s Hits (Sacred Bones, 3/4)

71My Morning Jacket –TBD (ATO)

70Belle And Sebastian –TBD (Matador, Late Spring)

69Neneh Cherry –Blank Project (Smalltown Supersound, 2/25)

68Freddie Gibbs &Madlib –Piñata

67The Notwist –Close To The Glass (Sub Pop, 2/25)

66FKA Twigs –TBD (Young Turks)

65G-Side –Gz To Godz

64Perfume Genius –TBD (Matador, Fall)

63Death Cab For Cutie –TBD

62DIIV –TBD

61Lily Allen –TBD (Warner Bros.)

60Liars –TBD (Mute, March)

59Parquet Courts –TBD

58Sampha –TBD (Young Turks)

57Godflesh –A World Lit Only By Fire (Early 2014)

56Pallbearer –TBD (Profound Lore, August)

55The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart –TBD (April)

54The Hold Steady –TBD (Vagrant, Winter)

53Twin Shadow –TBD

52Caribou –TBD

51Wye Oak –TBD (Merge)

50Tombs –Savage Gold (Relapse, Spring)

49Dum Dum Girls –Too True (Sub Pop, 1/28)

48Linda Perhacs –The Soul Of All Natural Things (Asthmatic Kitty, 3/4)

47Flying Lotus –TBD

46Pharrell –TBD (Columbia)

45Amber Coffman –TBD

44Lana Del Rey –Ultraviolence (Interscope)

43Angel Olsen –Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar, 2/18)

42The Bug –Angels And Devils (Ninja Tune)

41Warpaint –Warpaint (Rough Trade)

40Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks –Wig Out At Jagbags (Matador, 1/7)

39Katy B –Little Red (Rinse/Columbia)

38James Blake &Chance The Rapper –TBD

37Damon Albarn –TBD (Warner Bros.)

36U2 –TBD (April)

35Hamilton Leithauser –TBD

34Real Estate –TBD (Domino)

33Julian Casablancas –TBD

32Alcest –Shelter (Prophecy, 1/21)

31Migos –Y.R.N. 2 (January)

30White Lung –TBD

29EMA –The Future’s Void (Matador/City Slang, Spring)

28Sam Smith –In The Lonely Hour (Columbia, 5/26)

27Bat For Lashes –TBD (Warner Bros.)

26Jessica Pratt –TBD

25The War On Drugs –Lost In The Dream (Secretly Canadian, 3/18)

24Modest Mouse –TBD

23Wilco –TBD (dBpm)

22Future –Honest (Epic)

21Sun Kil Moon –Benji (Caldo Verde, 2/4)

20St. Vincent –St. Vincent (Republic, 2/25)

19Charli XCX –SuperLove (Atlantic, Spring)

18Titus Andronicus –TBD (XL)

17Grimes –TBD

16Swans –TBD (Young God)

15TV On The Radio –TBD

14Run The Jewels –Run The Jewels 2 (Fool’s Gold)

13Fleet Foxes –TBD

12Fucked Up –TBD (Matador, Spring)

11Robyn –TBD

10Spoon –TBD

9Against Me! –Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Total Treble, 1/21)

8Taylor Swift –TBD

7Agalloch –TBD (Profound Lore, April)

6The Wrens –TBD

5Joanna Newsom –TBD

4Cloud Nothings –TBD

3Frank Ocean –TBD

2Beck –Morning Phase (Capitol, 2/14)

1Kanye West –TBD (Summer)

So which albums are you anxiously awaiting? Are we mad to exclude Blur, or just realistic? Scrutinize the rankings and share your own picks in the comments. As usual, let’s all just assumeDetox isn’t happening.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Most Anticipated 2009
• Most Anticipated 2010
• Most Anticipated 2011
• Most Anticipated 2012
• Most Anticipated 2013

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