Daniel's 25 Best Albums of 2025
- Daniel Woodiwiss
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
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 2025 albums of those I actually listened to.
That being said, I have been much more proactive in recent years than I was in the past-- I listened to between 30 and 40 new albums each of the last couple years, which is a good bit more than usual. 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 as it is that I listened but didn't enjoy it.
One year on from a year in music that I deemed "the greatest in music in the 21st century," 2024 was always going to be a tough act to follow, and sure enough, for a good portion of 2025 I was worried its music offerings were destined to be a bust. But, thanks in large part to a handful of last-quarter releases, it ended up being a solid year overall. As I embarked upon my annual December 'time to re-listen to all these' missive, and listened through my Best of 2025 playlist (linked at the bottom) for the first time, I realized I ended the year pretty satisfied with what we got!
That said, ranking my albums was still a difficult task. My # 1 was clear and obvious, and there were 4-5 others that I knew would for sure be in my Top 10. But after that, it felt like there was a nebulous tier of about 15+ that I liked a lot, but didn't live long in my memory. A whole lotta good this year, but only a small splash of great.
Enough rambling and crowing; to the list! First, a rundown of 15 honorable mention albums to comprise 25 albums in '25 (these are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked):
Honorable Mention
The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 // Lord Huron
DeBÍ TIRÁR MÁS FOToS // Bad Bunny
Don't Tap The Glass // Tyler the Creator
Forever Is A Feeling // Lucy Dacus
From the Pyre // The Last Dinner Party
God Does Like Ugly // J.I.D.
I Barely Know Her // sombr
I quit // HAIM
Lotus // Little Simz
NGL // JoJo
SABLE, fABLE // Bon Iver
Salvation // Rebecca Black
Something Beautiful // Miley Cyrus
STAR LINE // Chance the Rapper
SWAG // Justin Bieber
Now, to the top 10!
10. Getting Killed // Geese
Ah yes, the band and album that all of a sudden white guys in Brooklyn wouldn't shut up about. Listen, I think it's cool Gen Z has their version of The Strokes! It's funny, I listened to Getting Killed thrice and still don't fully know if I really like it, or kinda hate it? Geese's range of styles and Cameron Winter's vocals are such a unique listen that I think I'm mostly a fan but also think it's possible I could totally just be succumbing to Stockholm Syndrome over the course of an album. Regardless, there's no doubt this is some of the most original indie rock we've heard in a while.
Best Track: "Au Pays du Cocaine"
Medal Podium: "Taxes", "Husbands"
9. Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party // Hayley Williams
I've been a Paramore appreciator for a long time, as any good little millennial has. But, as Pop Punk was never really my genre, my respect for Hayley Williams was always greater than my interest in her band's music. I was excited to see her album getting such breathless reviews, and happier still to find that I generally agreed with them. At 20 songs and over an hour runtime, it's not without a couple misses, but in general, Ego Death is a brilliant collision of pop, punk, and indie rock. Hayley more than upholds her reputation as a terrific songwriter, baring her soul on insecurities egged on by the music industry and love interests, expressing her fatigue at would-be suitors who waste her time, and lashing out with hardly-contained fury at America's gravest sins of all.
Best Track: "True Believer"
Medal Podium: "Negative Self-Talk", "Good Ol' Days"
8. Hurry Up Tomorrow // The Weeknd
It's funny, I've never really thought of myself of a big Weeknd fan, but it's as if he's worn me down without me realizing it. This is his third consecutive album that's earned rave reviews and cracked my year-end Top 10, and he's landed in my Top 10 most-listened of the year annually since 2020, as well. I think it's an appreciation for an artist who is not only undeniably talented, but puts so much thought into his art; I love an artist that cares so much about 'The Album,' and Hurry Up Tomorrow is another example of that. At nearly 90 minutes, and partnered with a (less-acclaimed) movie release, it's sprawling, but consistent to its theme, and equal parts haunting and pulsating.
Best Track: "Open Hearts"
Medal Podium: "The Abyss", "Wake Me Up"
7. Everybody Scream // Florence & The Machine
My dear Flo & The Mo occupied the same space in my head as a handful of other favorites from my high school days. Through her first several albums, I swore she had no equal, but between my own changing tastes and a few albums that didn't make too much of an impression on me, she had slipped a little bit to my back burner. But I am happy to report Florence and her respective Machine came back with a bang in 2025; Everybody Scream isn't a consistent listen, but its best moments (of which there are plenty) are as good as anything Florence has done in her vaunted career thus far. Tracks like "Perfume and Milk" and the album closer "And Love" had this effect on me. My runaway favorite of hers was 2015's How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, but this is easily the most I've liked an album of hers since then.
Best Track: "Perfume and Milk"
Medal Podium: "And Love", "The Old Religion"
6. The Art of Loving // Olivia Dean
Like so many-- although not like my friend --I only got to know Olivia Dean this year, and instantly wondered how she wasn't a bigger star already. She's still young, and The Art of Loving is just her second album, so there's plenty of time for her to take over the world, but still, her star power is undeniable. She's got some Amy Winehouse or Adele in her voice; not quite as strong vocally, but with a little more pep in her step. She's effortlessly charming onstage, and as she shows on Art of Loving, has an impressive proclivity for writing an addictive earworm. Her sophomore album is half an hour of some of the most pleasant listening you can get.
Best Track: "Man I Need"
Medal Podium: "Loud", "Nice To Each Other"
5. Virgin // Lorde
I liked Solar Power (2021) more than most, I think, but the quieter critical reception for it did make sense to me: it was, after all, a quieter and more meditative album from an artist many had come to love for her emotional energy. The relatively muted reception for Virgin, however, does surprise me a little. I'm not sure Lorde is ever going to match what she did as a teenager in Pure Heroine (that album, all these years later, still sounds unlike any other Pop album I've ever heard), but this is the most interesting and exploratory her music has been since that debut album. "Hammer" may be my favorite album opener of hers, and it was one of my favorites of any artist in 2025. Lyrically, too, the Kiwi poet is back at her best, exploring themes of gender identity and expression, eating disorders and body image, a breakup and move to New York City. This may not have yielded as many classic standalone songs as previous albums, but it's her most consistent listen since her breakout.
Best Track: "Hammer"
Medal Podium: "Current Affairs", "Favorite Daughter"
4. West End Girl // Lily Allen
Perhaps no release was buzzier at the end of 2025 than this one-- after all, there were entire SNL sketches devoted to it --and understandably so. I hadn't listened to Lily since my sister Camille would blast her music driving me to school some 15 years ago, but loved this album. It's nothing radical musically, and I suspect the level of people's obsession with it might mostly be the result of a long-adored indie pop star spilling all kinds of gossip about her high-profile ex-husband, but it's good, radically honest songwriting and a very smooth listen.
Best Track: "Tennis"
Medal Podium: "Just Enough", "Pussy Palace"
3. Mayhem // Lady Gaga
It was a quieter year for the big names in Pop in general, and yet one of the 21st century’s biggest pop stars dropped a new album, so what do I know? The pandemic prevented Chromatica from having nearly as much of a chokehold on the culture in 2020 as Lady Gaga and her devoted fans would have liked, so Mayhem feels in some ways like her true return to Pop after a decade-plus of breaking into acting and forays into more traditional R&B and even Country records. As someone whose appreciation of Gaga and pop music in general mostly came about after her era of ruling the charts, it was fun to be involved in the zeitgeist this time around. And boy, Mayhem did not disappoint: from the unmistakable opening vocal run of "Disease," to the soulful closing chords of "Die With A Smile," this was high-energy, pure pop brilliance.
Best Track: "Zombieboy"
Medal Podium: "Abracadabra", "Die With A Smile"
2. Let God Sort 'Em Out // Clipse
Oasis's comeback tour wasn't the only highly-anticipated return of a brother tandem in 2025. Malice and Pusha T, also known as Clipse, last collaborated on an album in 2009, before going their separate ways with their Rap careers; Malice focused on being a Christian rapper, while Pusha T made quite the name for himself in the mainstream, as a frequent collaborator with Kanye West, frequent beef-er with Drake and Travis Scott, and celebrated solo artist in his own right. If there was any question of rust in their chemistry with each other, Clipse dispelled with those fears comprehensively. Let God Sort ‘Em Out is not just one of the more universally acclaimed releases this year, it's also a masterclass of two artists with distinct strengths bouncing off each other well and providing their own takes on a common theme. More than that, it's pretty damn close to a "no skips" album, which has been a rarity for Rap releases in recent years.
Best Track: "So Be It"
Medal Podium: "The Birds Don't Sing", "Chains and Whips"
1. LUX // Rosalía
I'm no stranger to Rosalía's music: past releases El Mal Querer and MOTOMAMÍ both earned honorable mentions on "Best of the Year" articles of mine. It didn't take being a music expert-- and I am not one, much as I may try to convince you otherwise --to recognize she's one of the most exciting talents out there. A Spanish singer-songwriter who's dabbled in flamenco, pop, reggaeton, and even opera? Whose vocal range knows no bounds, and whose albums are all carefully crafted around a central theme? But still- if I was impressed but not necessarily blown away by its predecessors, LUX floored me upon first listen and has only aged like a fine wine in each of my multiple re-listens. Rosalía's cross-genre musical mastery is so evident that I fell in love with it long before even looking up all the lyrics (13 different languages!!!), which just wowed me further. Still, besides it simply being brilliant, for a long time I wasn't exactly sure what it was about LUX that made it feel so important to me, that gave me the urge to tell everyone who would listen that they need to listen to this album, until I read The Guardian's terrific review in ranking it their # 1 album of the year. I can't state Michael Cragg's thesis any better than he already did, so I'll borrow his words:
"Lux is pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in the face of impending AI blankness. It eschews solipsism in favour of glorious transcendence, creating an OTT drama that controls the parameters of its own ridiculousness. It’s a deep well of hidden treasure that takes time to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While some of 2025’s big pop albums felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a banquet where the characters around the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flit from conversations about historical saints to the galvanising feeling of soul-shattering sadness, to shared gossip about useless men. It’s a modern-day musical from pop’s most restlessly creative practitioner."
There you have it. Listen to LUX! Embrace authenticity and honest expression! Lean into your emotional, sensitive, spiritual self! Celebrate capital-a Art!!!
Best Track: "La Yugular"
Medal Podium: "Berghain", "Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti"
If you're interested, please see my Best of 2025 playlist, linked here for Spotify and here for Apple Music! It's 25 tracks from many albums referenced in this ranking, as well as a small collection of other individual singles.
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