What's Your Top Albums of 2025

[TheIronMaiden]

It is close enough to year end. Let's talk about the best music of the passing year.

I have three albums that stuck out to me, and I would say they were my favorite based on the volume of time I spent listening to them.

I'd love to get some recommendations.

1. Lonely People with Power, Deaf Heaven

Favorite track






2. Getting Killed, Gease

Favorite track





3. You Took That Walk For The Two Of Us · Andy Boay

Favorite track





HM to Luminal, Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe

[devo22]

#1 Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea (Fata Morgana, Black Rainbow, A Haven With Two Faces)

#2 Deftones - Private Music (Ecdysis, Infinite Source, Milk of the Madonna)

#3 Novelists - Coda (Coda, All For Nothing, Adam & Eve)

#4 Ghost - Skeletá (Lachryma, Cenotaph, Missilia Amori)

there's more, but those stood out to me.

[Senator Clay Davis]

FYI, it's Lonely People With Power. And that might be my #1, also loved "Magic, Alive!" by McKinley Dixon. Solid year overall, but coming off the stacked 2024 was gonna be hard to compete.

[Slava]

Clipse - Let God Sort'em Out

Honestly, this is truly exceptional, and while it doesn't require validation, it should win a Grammy or more.

[Winsor_Pilates]

The Blaze - Folk (live at Royal Albert Hall)
French electronic duo that I really enjoyed listening to this year.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0nCpV...RrGpgNIpusPmLw

Everything else I listened to was old.

[PepsiFree]

Geese was already mentioned but that’s a great album.

Some that got or are getting a lot of plays for me:
Alex G - Headlights
Viagra Boys - Viagr Aboys
Shame - Cutthroat
Water From Your Eyes - It’s A Beautiful Place
Hotline TNT - Raspberry Moon

[PsYcNeT]

No particular order

Propagandhi - At Peace - Absolutely resonant album (At Peace)
Tyler, The Creator - DON'T TAP THE GLASS - Great follow up to Chromakopia (Sugar on my Tongue)
Xenia - Stellarvision - Something clicked here for me (Stellarvision)
Nessa Barrett - AFTERCARE DELUXE - Truly the best written album from this current crop of pop girlies (American Beauty)
Henry Morris - Late Bloomer, Early Death - If Chris Issak had longevity, almost as good as last year's Jawbreaker (So Romantic)
Luvcat - Vicious Delicious - Excellent first album, really excited to see what they do in the future (Matador)

[Swift]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

HM to Luminal, Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe

That whole trilogy released this year Luminal, Lateral and Liminal is excellent. I'm an Eno fan so I'll buy everything he releases and I wasn't initially enamoured with her vocals, but it's really grown on me.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Billy Strings - Highway Prayers. From 2024…. But I didn’t hear it until 2025 and it’s been my favourite album this year so I’m cheating it in.

[troutman]

I don’t consume new music like I did when programming at CJSW.

What I have added:

Salt Horse - Lucky Teeth
Rheostatics - Great Lakes Suite
Geese - Getting Killed
Husker Du - 1985: The Miracle Year
Sugar - House of Dead Memories (single)
Chrissie Hynde - Duets Special
Sloan - Based On The Best Seller
Spinal Tap - The End Continues
Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy
Night Committee - Your Plans Mean Nothing

Magnet Magazine usually is closest to my tastes:

https://magnetmagazine.com/2025/12/1...lbums-of-2025/

1) Guided By Voices Thick Rich And Delicious (GBV Inc.)
2) Horsegirl Phonetics On And On (Matador)
3) Snocaps Snocaps (Anti-)
4) Geese Getting Killed (Partisan)
5) Alan Sparhawk With Trampled By Turtles (Sub Pop)
6) They Are Gutting A Body Of Water Lotto (ATO/Julia’s War/Smoking Room)
7) Midlake A Bridge To Far (Bella Union)
8) Panda Bear Sinister Grift (Domino)
9) Wednesday Bleeds (Dead Oceans)
10) Damien Jurado Private Hospital (Maraqopa)
11) Spiritual Cramp Rude (Blue Grape)
12) Nation Of Language Dance Called Memory (Sub Pop)
13) Mogwai The Bad Fire (Rock Action/Temporary Residence Limited)
14) Teethe Magic Of The Sale (Winspear)
15) Sloan Based On The Best Seller (Yep Roc/Murderecords)
16) Curtis Harding Departures & Arrivals: Adventures Of Captain Curt (Anti-)
17) Cass McCombs Interior Live Oak (Domino)
18) Sharp Pins Balloon Balloon Balloon and Radio DDR (K)
19) Emma Pollock Begging The Night To Take Hold (Chemikal Underground)
20) The Dears Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! Life Is Beautiful! (Next Door)
21) Jeff Tweedy Twilight Override (dBpm)
22) Insecure Men A Man For All Seasons (Fat Possum)
23) Mavis Staples Sad And Beautiful World (Anti-)
24) The Black Keys No Rain, No Flowers (Easy Eye/Warner)
25) Grace Vonderkuhn Into The Morning (self-released)
26) Hotline TNT Raspberry Moon (Third Man)
27) Stereolab Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Duophonic UHF Disks/Warp)
28) Lael Neale Altogether Stranger (Sub Pop)
29) The Beths Straight Line Was A Lie (Anti-)
30) Pulp More (Rough Trade)

[hixxes]

Kathleen Edwards - Billionaire

Far and away my fave of 2025

[calumniate]

Maybe not my fav but came out of the blue. Finger plucking good:

[slash&burn]

I've really enjoyed these two in particular this year:


Billy Nomates Metal Horse


Jolie Laide Creatures


also another local album by Lorrie Matheson (Mission to Inglewood) but it just released a few weeks ago so I haven't spent a lot of time with it.

[direwolf]

My top 10 in no particular order:

Lowest of the Low- Over Years and Overnight
Sloan- Based on the Bestseller
Bob Mould- Here We Go Crazy
Jeff Tweedy- Twilight Override
Kathleen Edwards- Billionaire
Change of Heart- In the Wreckage
Headstones- Burn all the Ships
The Dears- Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful! Life is Beautiful!
Patterson Hood- Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams
Snocaps- Snocaps

Honorable mentions:

Rheostatics- The Great Lakes Suite
Skydiggers- Dreams & Second Chances
Jason Isbell- Foxes in the Snow
Rocket- R is for Rocket
Craig Finn- Always Been
Great Lake Swimmers- Caught Light
Bruce Springsteen- Nebraska: Expanded Edition

[DownInFlames]

^ Tons of Canadian artists on that list. Nice!