Beyonce’s politically charged visual album Lemonade is the music critics’ favourite album of the year.

The record, which tackles themes of black empowerment and female identity, topped a “poll of polls” compiled by the BBC.

It beat David Bowie’s elegiac swansong Blackstar, which was released two days before his death in January.

Third place went to Frank Ocean’s Blonde, a sprawling, impressionistic take on art-soul.

Beyonce’s sister Solange also fared well. A Seat At The Table, her soulful, thoughtful portrayal of the struggles faced by black women, both historically and in 2016, came fifth.

The full top 20 looked like this:

1) Beyonce Lemonade 376
2) David Bowie Blackstar 341
3) Frank Ocean Blonde 309
4) Chance The Rapper Coloring Book 278
5) Solange A Seat At The Table 256
6) Kanye West Life Of Pablo 204
7) A Tribe Called Quest We Got It From Here 192
8) Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool 191
9) Angel Olsen My Woman 188
10) Mitski Puberty 2 169
11) Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker 163
12) Rihanna Anti 144
13) Anderson .Paak Malibu 116
14) Bon Iver 22, A Million 101
15) The 1975 I Like It When You Sleep… 94
16) Anohni Hopelessness 92
17) Car Seat Headrest Teens of Denial 84
18) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree 83
19) Christine & The Queens Chaleur Humaine 81
20) Kaytranada 99/9% 72

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