Daniel's 24 Best Albums of 2024
Every year that I've released a Top 10 Albums post, I've included the caveat that there is so, so much good music out there that it's almost unfair to ask me to try and listen to all of them. With that in mind, I hope you know this is not an exhaustive list of the best music of the year, but rather the top 2024 albums of those I actually listened to.
That said, I have to say I was even more proactive this year than I have been in recent years past-- I don't . Still, personal biases often win the day both when it comes to selecting my favorites and to selecting which albums I seek out for both initial listens and re-listens. So, as always, it's a strange mixture of artists/bands I already liked with some critically acclaimed albums I sought out after reading the hype on them. If you see an album you loved excluded from this list, it's just as likely that I just didn't get around to it than it is that I listened but didn't enjoy it.
One year on from a year in music that I deemed "aggressively mid," I have to say 2024 was.... perhaps the greatest year in music in the 21st century. Exaggeration? No, I'm 100% serious. Accurate? Well, who knows. The first many years of this century I wasn't listening to any music that wasn't just played , and I only really became a more proactive music nerd a decade ago or so. But, at least in my 10-12 years of seriously *listening to music*, I can't remember a year quite like this. 2013, 2015, and 2016 I recall as very deep years; two years ago, I posited that 2022 might just have been the best of them all. However, even at the midpoint of this year, I was ready to crown 2024 with a special crown. Seemingly every single big name in the world of pop music-- and I do mean every single big name, stars of past, present and future -- released a new album. We had new faces explode on the scene and capture the cultural zeitgeist. Had it not been for the Pop explosion, more attention may have been paid to the Alt Rock renaissance in '24, too, with some of the biggest names from indie rock over the last 15 years all coming with new releases, too. We witnessed the biggest rap beef of the 2000s, and arguably one of the most impactful ever, and then one of those rappers (the winner) was announced as the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show performer, and released a surprise album shortly thereafter.
Or, put more simply and succinctly, here's how loaded with good music this year was: I've documented my favorite albums of the year going all the way back to 2010, and excluding 2021 (what gives, Lord Huron?!?), the artist or band that released my # 1 album of each of those years since released another one in 2024.
Enough rambling and crowing; to the list! First, a rundown of 14 honorable mention albums to comprise 24 albums in '24, split evenly across slightly different tiers (these are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked):
Honorable Mention (I liked!)
Blue Lips // Schoolboy Q
Charm // Clairo
eternal sunshine // Ariana Grande
Megan // Megan Thee Stallion
Short n' Sweet // Sabrina Carpenter
Two Star & The Dream Police // Mk.gee
Underdressed at the Symphony // Faye Webster
Special Mention (I really liked, this is just such a loaded year in music!!)
All Born Screaming // St. Vincent
CHROMAKOPIA // Tyler, the Creator
Dark Times // Vince Staples
The Great American Bar Scene // Zach Bryan
Ohio Players // The Black Keys
Radical Optimism // Dua Lipa
What A Devastating Turn Of Events // Rachel Chininouri
Now, to the top 10:
10. Loss of Life // MGMT
I referenced this up top, but one delightful trend from this year is that we've seen a renaissance of groups whose peak of fame came some 15 years ago or so, when quirked out white boys were all over the radio waves. 'High school Daniel' would be elated to learn that in the year 2024, the likes of The Black Keys, Jack White, MGMT and Vampire Weekend were all still pumping out solid new releases. MGMT's Loss of Life was probably the bigger change of direction from each of those groups, as well as the biggest "grower": I didn't know what to make of the much more restrained soft rock album upon the first couple listens, but it gradually became one of my favorite listens of the year. It's a far cry from the loopy electronica of their first two albums, or the Depeche Mode-inspired dark synth rock of Little Dark Age, but it's the band at their most lyrically mature and introspective. You can tell it's a record made by two music industry vets, all the wiser some 17 years on from their breakout.
Best Track: "Mother Nature"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "Dancing In Babylon", "Nothing to Declare"
9. brat // Charli XCX
I will confess, I am not as big a Charli-head as many whose music opinions I respect are, nor was as I as all in on brat as most. My hesitation mostly just boils down to the fact that I've never been a huge hyperpop guy. But I do have a positive enough view of Charli XCX and did enjoy this record enough to be completely on board with the sensation that was "brat summer," and the record itself has enormous replay value. Where only a couple tracks jumped out to me on first listen, over the last half of the year, I found at least 6 different songs on brat could be liable to pop into my brain at any moment.
Best Track: "360"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "Apple", "Talk talk"
8. Deeper Well // Kacey Musgraves
I fell in love with Kacey Musgraves with 2018's Golden Hour, an album that surprisingly finished #1 in my Best of 2018 ranking and even more surprisingly went on to win album of the Year at the ensuing Grammys. A mainstream underdog at that time, Kacey has only gotten bigger and bigger since then, consistently selling out NBA arenas these days, and incorporating more Pop influence amongst her unmistakably Country sound. Deeper Well was a much more restrained offering from the starlet, probably her most meditative and introspective work yet, and as such, doesn't have a smash lead single the way Golden Hour, or even its more divisive successor star-crossed did. But it is a beautiful, mature work of art from an artist whose voice I could listen to all day long. It's not an album that I'm going to randomly crave at any particular time, but in the right mood, the right headspace? It's a beaut.
Best Track: "Deeper Well"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "Too Good To Be True", "The Architect"
7. Alligator Bites Never Heal // Doechii
That this album-- technically considered a mixtape -- from new kid on the block Doechii only ranks at # 7 speaks to two different things: one, how good, once again, this year in music is. We're barely in to my Top 10 and yet we're already officially at the albums that would have been in serious contention for my album of the year one year ago. And two, this album's standing may just be a victim of how late to the Doechii train I was. I only really heard about the Florida-born rapper-singer in the last months of 2024, when suddenly she was all over social media and on the lips of your favorite artists. But boy, am I glad to have gotten familiar with her. As a rapper, singer, writer, and a performer, she's an absolute force (peep her Tiny Desk Concert or appearance on Stephen Colbert if you doubt me), and Alligator Bites is a tremendous work of art. You will want to bop, laugh, cry, yell and twerk in equal measures across the 19-song tracklist.
Best Track: "NISSAN ALTIMA"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "BEVERLY HILLS", "DEATH ROLL"
6. Hit Me Hard and Soft // Billie Eilish
With everything she does, my appreciation for Billie Eilish grows, as does my belief that she's truly a unicorn. She has a more impressive body of work and number of accolades at 22 years old than most artists, especially pop artists, have in their entire career. She's the rare pop star who is mega famous, doesn't seem to hate the fame, and yet, also very much does not chase it. Her non-musical public appearances are almost exclusively to support worthy political candidates and activist causes. And oh yeah...she's damn good at this music thing. Her voice is uniquely gorgeous, but hers and her brother/co-collaborator Finneas's style is also completely different from most everything we've heard on pop radio. Hit Me Hard And Soft came with far less fanfare and promotion than either of her first two albums, but still managed to spawn multiple hit singles, and plays like a record borne out of a couple years of self-discovery and shying away from the public eye. There's so much mature lyricism and such prodigious musicality from start to finish that you could be forgiven for not remembering that she's still only the age of a senior in college.
Best Track: "CHIHIRO"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "BLUE", "BIRDS OF A FEATHER"
5. COWBOY CARTER // Beyoncé
I'll admit it: as a Day 1 card-carrying member of the BeyHive, you will rarely ever catch me saying a word against Queen B, it's true. Still, even 20+ years into her career, even after she's proven just about all there is to prove about her talent and artistry, I'll confess the leadup to COWBOY CARTER's release had me anxious. This was to be Beyoncé's defiant response to feeling rejected by the American country scene, a scene whose music she grew up immersed in, and while I loved the vision, it seemed bound to be so different from anything she had done that the thought kept nagging at me "...what if it isn't good? What if the country world and critics alike all laugh at her?" Silly me. I should have known better than to doubt Bey's quality in the midst of a truly legendary run of albums. The 'country-and-everything-else' album was a masterful second installment of her "Renaissance" trilogy. Sure, it didn't change the hearts or minds of conservative-coded Country Music World, it strayed from keeping country as the central focus, and at 80 minutes, there's bound to be some filler. But the lyrical themes are cohesive as can be, and the musical mastery requires a level of artistry that truly only Beyoncé possesses.
Best Track: "DAUGHTER"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "AMERIICAN REQUIEM", "YA YA"
4. Prelude to Ecstasy // The Last Dinner Party
2024 has not just been for the mainstream pop girlies! No, no, long-beloved indie figures like St. Vincent, Clairo, Gracie Abrams, Mitski and others have all served up new offerings in this blessed year as well, to varying degrees of acclaim and success. But standing out above all of them was the debut album from British girl group The Last Dinner Party. The chamber-rock outfit plays like the best inclinations of early Arctic Monkeys and Florence + The Machine welded into one in Prelude to Ecstasy. There is a wide variety of sounds on this album, but the band, fronted by Abigail Morris, sounds equally competent in each lane. "Nothing Matters" and "Sinner" will have you rocking out in your car. "On Your Side" and "Beautiful Boy" will make you cry. "Prelude to Ecstasy" and "Gjuha" will wordlessly transport you to another scene altogether. Pay attention to these ladies in the coming years....they're a force to be reckoned with.
Best Track: "Sinner"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "Beautiful Boy", "Nothing Matters"
3. GNX // Kendrick Lamar
I was already ready to etch 2024 into the music history books, when, in the penultimate week of November, the greatest rapper in the game decided to fuck around and drop a surprise album. GNX's sole promotion was a 30-second teaser on social media that dropped approximately an hour before the full album...unless, of course, if you count the year that Kendrick Lamar had already had as promotion. And perhaps we should: none of the songs from Kendrick's legendary beef with Drake were on this album, but the same bravado, cutting lyricism, black excellence and hometown pride that fueled his comprehensive 'win' and iconic victory tour afterward shine throughout this record. K-Dot's status in the hip-hop world has largely been earned on the back of unmatched lyrical genius, and in that regard, GNX has nothing on any of its predecessors in terms of storytelling. This is not to say the lyrics are bad-- Kendrick's 'worst' is probably better than 95% of today's music world's best --rather that, perhaps for the first time in his career, they seem to take a backseat in significance to the theme of L.A./West Coast pride, the expansive production and trap beats, and to showcasing several lesser-known West Coast artists. In other words, is this a "classic" like good kid, m.A.A.d city or To Pimp A Butterfly, or a complex, layered body of work like DAMN. or Mr. Morale? It is not. But what it is is an unbelievably sleek album, and the smoothest listen of any work he's released since good kid.
Best Track: "tv off"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "squabble up", "dodger blue"
2. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess // Chappell Roan
Disclaimer: yes, this album came out in 2023. In October 2023, in fact, so not even "right at the turn of the new year" or anything.
I recognize that, and for obvious reasons very nearly didn't include it on this piece at all. The reasons I changed my mind, and that I consider Midwest Princess a '2024 album' are two-fold: first off, it fell within the Grammy eligibility window for 2025, and as such, is among the Album of the Year nominees competing for the top prize a month from now. But secondly, and much more importantly, this was the year of Chappell. I was just one among many who had literally never even heard of Chappell Roan until about 9 months ago.
The young pop star with an incredible voice, a give-no-fucks attitude and a proclivity for drag queen homages has completely taken the world by storm with a meteoric rise that was fueled by opening for friend and labelmate Olivia Rodrigo on her wildly successful tour, and the release of new single "Good Luck, Babe!" earlier this year. Her sudden fame could not be more warranted, and neither could the belated acclaim for, acceptance and popularity of Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. She is a genuine songwriting and vocal talent we have not seen the likes of, arguably, since Lady Gaga exploded onto the scene some 15 years ago, and Midwest Princess is the epitome of a "no-skips" album. Genuinely- I defy you to find a song whose exclusion from the tracklist would be justified. Smash hit "HOTTOGO!" is probably my least-favorite song on the record, and even that one goes too hard at parties and weddings for me to dislike it. That level of consistent banger-dom is exceedingly rare in a pop album, especially a pop album that changes directions stylistically as often as this one. This is on my Mt. Rushmore of pop records from the 2020s, no doubt.
Best Track: "Red Wine Supernova"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "Pink Pony Club", "Naked In Manhattan"
1. Only God Was Above Us // Vampire Weekend
At long last, we have an answer to the question, "is Daniel capable of ranking an album from anyone other than Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar # 1?" And it's true that, while I have been a fan of Vampire Weekend for some 15+ years, had you told me at the start of the year the names of who would be releasing an album in 2024, I would have guessed this one might end up somewhere around the bottom half of my Top 10. But god, Vampire Weekend's fifth studio album-- only their second in the last decade --floored me. VW's discography, which spans 17 years, really doesn't have a miss, but Only God Was Above Us might just be their best work yet. Despite often being typecast by agnostics and haters as obnoxiously twee, Ezra Koenig and co. have always been proficient musicians and have only gotten increasingly interesting, both lyrically and musically, over the years. This latest project plays like the natural successor to my former two favorite Vampire Weekend albums: coupling the explosive peppiness of Contra with the dark reverb and existential lyricism of Modern Vampires of the City. In a particularly heavy year, both personally and globally, I have had so many lyrics from this record pass through my head:
"Untrue, unkind and unnatural/How the cruel, with time, becomes classical" ... "The World looked different when God was on your side" ... "Each generation writes their own apology" ... "Your consciousness is not my problem/'Cause when I come home, it won't be home to you" ... "The embassy's abandoned now/The flag that flew is on the ground/The painting burned, the statue drowned/I hope you let it go"
I love this album so much and have already returned to it so much more than I anticipated; if you love wildly original music and insightful storytelling, I trust you will, too.
Best Track: "Mary Boone"
Silver and Bronze Medals: "Connect", "Hope"
If you're interested, please see my Best of 2024 playlist, linked here for Spotify and here for Apple Music! It's 30 tracks from every album referenced in this ranking, as well as a small collection of other beloved individual singles.
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