Top 25 Best Albums of 2025

It's finally time to celebrate the musical year of 2025 with annual lists ranking my favorite music. Here are my top 25 favorite albums of the year along with honorable mentions.

     Folks, we made it. Another year is almost over and the next year is upon us. 2025 was a year for sure. Whether we want to categorize it as a good year or not is up for debate. But the year has been full of exciting music that has truly defined the year and has gotten me through all the turmoil and hardship, that's for sure. Comebacks, brave departures in sound, experimentations, you name it. It's been a more difficult year for me to rank all my favorite music. Maybe it has to do with my recent excursions with my iPod, escaping the dulling streaming phenom in some ways. Maybe it has to do with so much good music being out there, that I couldn't even get around to listening to. Regardless, I've done the rankings and they are of course not perfect, but I hope you enjoy them. 2025 has been a fruitful year for my blog, since I've been continuing the Substack account I've launched last year to compliment the website. (If you're not on there, sign up here). It's been much easier to share reviews as well as think pieces. Anyways, thanks for reading and here's to another great year for music! (The albums that are highlighted are indeed albums I've reviewed. Click to read them further if you'd like!)

Top 25 Best Albums of 2025:

01. Geese - Getting Killed

02. shame - Cutthroat

03. Darkside - Nothing

04. DJ Koze - Music Can Hear Us

05. Bad Bunny - Debí Tirar Más Fotos

06. Cameron Winter - Heavy Metal

07. Cass McCombs - Interior Live Oak

08. Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out

09. Model/Actriz - Pirouette

10. Tortoise - Touch

11. Deradoorian - Ready for Heaven

12. Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film

13. Destroyer - Dan’s Boogie

14. Los Thuthanaka - Los Thuthanaka

15. Rose City Band - Sol y Sombra

16. Esther Rose - Want

17. Kesha - .

18. The Beths - Straight Line Was a Lie

19. Bahamas - My Second Last Album

20. Pino Palladino & Blake Mills - That Wasn’t a Dream

21. Third Coast Percussion - Standard Stoppages

22. Turnstile - Never Enough

23. Horsebath - Another Farewell

24. Danny Brown - Stardust

25. Stella Donnelly - Love and Fortune

Honorable Mentions:

Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong clipping. - Dead Channel Sky Midlake - A Bridge To Far The Mountain Goats - Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan Panda Bear - Sinister Grift Pulp - More Real Estate - The Wee Small Hours: B-Sides and Other Detritus 2011-2025 Rosalía - LUX Sage Martens - Chamber Music for Lawn Mowers Squid - Cowards The Weather Station - Humanhood