Top 77 Albums of 1996
| ARTIST | ALBUM | LABEL | ||
| 1 | The Cardigans | Life | Minty Fresh Records | |
| 2 | Beck | Odelay | DGC | |
| 3 | Cibo Matto | Viva! La Woman | Warner Brothers | |
| 4 | Semisonic | Great Divide | MCA | |
| 5 | Stereolab | Emperor Tomato Ketchup | Elektra | |
| 6 | Komeda | The Genius of Komeda | Minty Fresh/North of No South | |
| 7 | Bikini Kill | Reject All American | Kill Rock Stars | |
| 8 | Ani DiFranco | Dilate | Righteous Babe Records | |
| 9 | Sleater-Kinney | Call the Doctor | Chainsaw Records | |
| 10 | The Cardigans | First Band on the Moon | Mercury/Trampolene/Stockholm | |
| 11 | The Descendents | Everything Sucks | Epitaph | |
| 12 | Soul Coughing | Irresitible Bliss | Slash/Warner Brothers | |
| 13 | Tullycraft | Old Traditions, New Standards | Harriet Records | |
| 14 | Lush | Lovelife | 4AD/Warner Brothers | |
| 15 | 12 Rods | Gay? | 12 Rods Enterprises, Ltd. | |
| 16 | Golden Smog | Down By the Old Mainstream | Rykodisc | |
| 17 | Pulp | Different Class | Island Records | |
| 18 | Ruby | Salt Peter | Creation/Work Records | |
| 19 | David Gray | Sell, Sell, Sell | EMI Records | |
| 20 | Dylan Hicks | Won | No Alternative/TRG Records | |
| 21 | Land of the Loops | Bundle of Joy | Up | |
| 22 | Unun | Super Shiny Dreams | Bad Taste USA | |
| 23 | Cloudberry Jam | Providing the Atomosphere | North of No SOuth | |
| 24 | various | The Trip Hop Test, Part 3 | Grand Royal | |
| 25 | Luscious Jackson | Fever In, Fever Out | Grand Royal | |
| 26 | Low | The Curtain Hits the Cast | Vernon Yard | |
| 27 | Guided By Voices | Under the Bushes, Under the Stars | Matador | |
| 28 | February | Even the Night Can't Tell You From the Stars | self-release | |
| 29 | Robyn Hitchcock | Moss Elixir | Warner Brothers | |
| 30 | Olivia Tremor Control | Music from the Unrealized Film | Flydaddy | |
| 31 | Cub | Box of Hair | Lookout! | |
| 32 | De La Soul | Stakes is High | Tommy Boy | |
| 33 | Dub Narcotic Sound System | Boot Party | K | |
| 34 | Ash | 1977 | Reprise | |
| 35 | Brainiac | Hissing Prigs in Static Couture | Touch and Go | |
| 36 | Mad Dog Loose | Material Sunset | Bang! Records | |
| 37 | 16 Horsepower | Sackcloth 'n' Ashes | A&M Records | |
| 38 | Sebadoh | Harmacy | SubPop | |
| 39 | The Honeydogs | Everything, I Bet You | TRG/October | |
| 40 | Cows | Whorn | Amphetamine Reptile | |
| 41 | Walt Mink | El Producto | Atlantic Records | |
| 42 | DJ Shadow | Endtroducing...DJ Shadow | Mo Wax | |
| 43 | Balloon Guy | The West Coast Shakes | Generator/Warner Brothers | |
| 44 | Firewater | Get Off the Cross...We Need the Wood for Fire | Jetset | |
| 45 | Greazy Meal | Visualize World Greaze | self-release | |
| 46 | His Name is Alive | Stars on E.S.P. | 4AD | |
| 47 | Space | Spiders | Gut Records | |
| 48 | The Beatifics | How I Learned to Stop Worrying | No Alternative/TRG | |
| 49 | Strawdogs | John Perkins, John Perkins | SMA Records | |
| 50 | Wilco | Being There | Reprise | |
| 51 | A Tribe Called Quest | Beats and Rhymes and Life | Jive | |
| 52 | Squirrel Nut Zippers | Hot | Mammoth | |
| 53 | Elvis Costello and the Attractions | All This Useless Beauty | Warner Brothers | |
| 54 | Palace Music | Arise Therefore | Drag City | |
| 55 | Butter 08 | Butter | Grand Royal | |
| 56 | Stuart Davis | Nomen Est Numen | Triad Entertainment | |
| 57 | DoublePlusGood | "The Winding Song" | Sire/Warner Brothers | |
| 58 | Fitz of Depression | Swing | K | |
| 59 | Chimera | Earth Loop | Grass | |
| 60 | Arcwelder | Entropy | Touch and Go | |
| 61 | The Peechees | Do the Math | Kill Rock Stars | |
| 62 | The Fugees | The Score | Ruffhouse/Columbia | |
| 63 | The Promise Ring | 30 Degrees Everywhere | Jade Tree | |
| 64 | Saucer | Saucer | TRG/Spanish Fly | |
| 65 | Willie Wisely | She | October/TRG | |
| 66 | Me'shell Ndegeo'cello | Peace Beyond Passion | Maverick/Sire/Reprise | |
| 67 | Guv'nor | The Hunt | Merge | |
| 68 | Los Lobos | Colossal Head | Warner Brothers | |
| 69 | Chisel | 8 AM All Day | Gern Blandsten | |
| 70 | The Chemical Brothers | "Setting Sun" CD5 | Astralwerks | |
| 71 | Sukpatch | "Carving Counties" 7" | Slabco | |
| 72 | Ween | 12 Golden Country Greats | Elektra | |
| 73 | Punchdrunk | A Message From the Cockpit | Veto Records | |
| 74 | Fastbacks | New Mansions in Sound | SubPop | |
| 75 | Man or Astro-Man? | Experiment Zero | Touch and Go | |
| 76 | Orange 9mm | Tragic | Atlantic | |
| 77 | The Brian Setzer Orchestra | Guitar Slinger | Interscope |
