2025. This year, man. I know we’re here to discuss (or debate) the top 25 albums of 2025, but let’s reflect for a second. It was the kind of year that felt like it was actively trying to break us. Politically bleak, socially jagged, and spiritually exhausting in a way that made doom-scrolling feel like a competitive sport.
Every news cycle hit like a fresh bruise, and pop culture didn’t offer much relief. Hip-hop fell off the mainstream charts, while Pop dissolved into background noise like a glossy distraction machine. It was a year where it was easy to feel worn down, hollowed out, and wonder how or if anything meaningful could still cut through the static.
But while the big machine spun its wheels, the artists in my top 25 albums of 2025 still believe in catharsis.
Beneath the noise and numbness, music continued to show us reasons to feel something, anything. For some, it was the soundtrack to a revolution, and for others, it was the small secret space of tranquility found in headphones. But no matter how or why, music kept us going.
Somehow, in a year this dire, the great albums didn’t just survive; they became lifelines. You’ve already heard about the Worst Songs of 2025, so here are what I think were the best. Or at least, the records reminded me that hope can still be loud enough to shake the walls.
These are my Top 25 Albums of 2025.
25. KNUB – CRUB
On their full-length debut, KNUB delivers a dense, deliberate slab of metallic hardcore, noise rock, and post-hardcore chaos. Built from jagged riffs and guttural roars, CRUB feels more exorcism than performance. Yet within the rubble lies precision: tension, release, and calculated dissonance. It’s an overwhelming but purposeful purge of anxiety and rage in the best way. Refusing to polish or compromise, Knub reminds us what heavy music can still do when it rejects comfort and attends the church of Helmet.
24. Cloakroom – Last Leg of the Human Table
Cloakroom has always gone above and beyond shoegaze, post-rock, or whatever genre others choose for them. With this record, they went even further. Wall-to-wall guitars, immaculate bass, breathtaking percussion: I could go on and on about everything I love about this album. But they also added some inspired flavors, such as power pop and even alt-country. This is the sound of the band I’ve always wanted to be in.
23. Ministry – The Squirrely Years Revisited
It was great to hear Al Jourgensen finally embracing the synth-pop era he once disowned. And all it took was re-recording early tracks with the grit, bite, and self-awareness of the artist he eventually became. Instead of a radical overhaul, the album holds surprisingly true to the original arrangements. He let the hooks, darkwave pulse, and vocals shine through with newfound confidence. What emerges isn’t nostalgia or a cash grab, but a thoughtful course-correction that reminds listeners these songs were always strong. They just needed the freedom their creator was denied the first time around. [Check out my full review here]
22. Split Chain – motionblur
On the surface, motionblur feels barely held together. It’s gripping and restless with every shift, and there’s always a chance that a track will turn into a different subgenre. What makes it hit so hard is that, beneath the grunge-meet-nu-metal chaos, humanity lies firmly rooted in something honest and vulnerable. Without question, Split Chain has delivered one of the most quietly devastating debuts in recent memory.
21. Grinding Eyes – Out Of Focus
Standing tall in Australia’s already stacked psych-rock lineage, Grinding Eyes delivers a darker, sharper, and more adventurous record that refuses to play it safe. Blending shoegaze haze, psychedelic sprawl, and flashes of goth-tinted menace, the band glides effortlessly between shimmering euphoria and brooding noir. It’s a bold, boundary-pushing evolution from a group long known for their explosive live shows and a powerful indicator of what happens when a scene continues to nurture fearless experimentation. [Check out my full review here]
20. The Lemonheads – Love Chant
Evan Dando’s voice, now a little more frayed at the edges, drapes itself over those unmistakably Lemonheads melodies: jangly, bittersweet, and stubbornly simple in all the right ways. There’s no reinvention here, just the warm hum of a band slipping back into their favorite faded hoodie. I appreciate that vibe. Probably more now than ever. Maybe it’s me who is more frayed at the edges.
19. Kemi Ade – The Fix
The Fix draws heavily from early ’90s soul, but this isn’t surface-level cosplay. It’s an honest-to-goodness reflection of an artist’s heart and soul. Each track dives deep into the emotional push and pull of toxic relationships, romantic or otherwise. Kemi Ade clarifies one thing: Anyone can be the villain or the victim, but it’s up to you to decide who plays which part.
18. Ganser – Animal Hospital
With Animal Hospital, Ganser pushes their sound to its breaking point and discovers something electrifying on the other side. Sharpened by years on the road and guided by longtime collaborator Angus Andrew (of Liars), Animal Hospital stands as Ganser’s most dynamic and fully realized work yet. A pulsing, prismatic document of a band stretching toward something stranger, darker, and impossibly compelling.
17. Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn
There’s no shortage of young, DIY art rock in the Chicago music scene. But Lifeguard has something so indescribably genuine about them that it feels like the band has been around for decades. The melodic moments in Ripped and Torn are raw and immediate like 1960s garage rock, yet the static and noise add an extra layer of swing not often heard on the post-punk side of things. The best thing about the band? I’ve probably got shoes older than the guys. Already having a record in my Top 25 Albums of 2025 is an incredible indicator of their future success!
16. Guided By Voices – Thick Rich and Delicious
As their 42nd album (and second of 2025), Thick Rich and Delicious is a reminder of why the Bob Pollard flame still refuses to dim. Recorded live with his most locked-in lineup in years, the album trades recent art rock sprawl for sharp hooks and crisp guitars. It’s part British Invasion sparkle and part lo-fi muscle. The songs are concise, tuneful, and surprisingly urgent, the sound of GBV rediscovering their early electricity without losing any of their earned precision. In a year stuffed with nostalgia grabs, this one truly earned its spot on the Top 25 Albums of 2025.
15. Tunic – A Harmony of Loss Has Been Sung
Few things hit as satisfyingly hard as a distorted bass line. But the true power of A Harmony of Loss Has Been Sung isn’t just in its gnarly, Slint-meets-Suicide post-punk chaos. It’s the raw, unfiltered emotion. Across every track, Tunic lays bare the painful journey through grief, turning anguish into something visceral and real. Sure, it’s not an easy listen, but it’s not meant to be. This level of brutal honesty is a rare find in noise rock. Not like this anyway.
14. Hotline TNT – Raspberry Moon
Feeling almost like a new band, Raspberry Moon trades the band’s grunge-laced intensity for a warmer, more melodic shoegaze. It’s a clear evolution for their aesthetic, as it’s surprisingly more openhearted and unafraid to lean into sincerity without losing their edge.
13. MOROS – Recrudescent Horror
If you like your death metal with some nihilistic heft, look no further than Moros. Recrudescent Horror is dark, grizzly, and well, horrifying. As a bonus, the cover art looks like a deformed Cacodemon from the original DOOM. You know what? This album sounds like a deformed Cacodemon from the original DOOM! That rules.
12. Bonnie Trash – Mourning You
Bonnie Trash’s Mourning You is a stark, intimate re-imagining of goth with less spectacle and more soul. The album trades reverb-laden post-punk for raw acoustics, sharpened production, and an unflinching dive into grief. The Bortolon-Vetor sisters craft a record where vulnerability outshines theatrics. They weave metallic grooves, spectral tension, and bruised melodies into something hauntingly human. It’s a grief-stricken, beautifully restrained album that transcends gothic aesthetics, standing as one of the year’s most affecting explorations of loss and emotional endurance. [Check out my full review here]
11. McLusky – The World Is Still Here And So Are We
Like a brick through a stained-glass window, McLusky returns after a 20-year break with an abrupt, undeniable, and weirdly beautiful record. What could’ve been a nostalgia cash-in instead feels like a victory lap powered by spite, swagger, and riffs sharp enough to leave a mark. The record spits, snarls, mutters, and occasionally even struts. Pulling from the band’s entire chaotic lineage, they prove there’s still plenty of gasoline left in the tank.
10. Shiner – BELIEVEYOUME
Shiner has spent decades walking the razor’s edge between evolution and obsession. BELIEVEYOUME is where all that slow-burn precision finally erupts. Heavy, melodic, and wired with the restless energy only lifers can summon, it feels less like another strong entry from a cult favorite and more like the record that should pull them into the broader conversation. If you’ve got even a flicker of love for big riffs and smarter-than-they-have-to-be hooks, this is the one you owe your ears.
9. Star 99 – Gaman
I’ve reached the age where nostalgia doesn’t mean much to me. I look at the adult lives of the friends I grew up with, and while they seem happy, I sense some sort of longing in their eyes. But as someone who didn’t get married, start a family, and chose to slog through my 30s into my 40s, I’ll be the first to tell them they aren’t missing much. It’s this sense of sardonic humor that makes Gaman such an incredible album. Although I hear influences including Dinosaur Jr, That Dog!, and Letters To Cleo, it’s clear that Star 99 are not letting themselves be defined by sugary hooks. A bitter sarcasm and jaded wisdom fueling this worthy entry on my top 25 albums of 2025 list.
8. Model/Actriz – Pirouette
On Pirouette, Model/Actriz sharpen the chaotic volatility of their debut into something colder, darker, and fiercely more controlled. The album channels years of road-worn intensity into a taut, emotionally charged evolution rather than a reinvention. Even at its wildest peaks, the record feels meticulously choreographed, its electronic-tinged edges and layered production turning noise into intention and tension into catharsis. This is the sound of a band leveling up. [Check out my full review here]
7. Museum Of Light – Diviner
Combining elements of shoegaze and doom, Museum Of Light always delivers something unique to both genres. Diviner provides augmented tension between grooves and abrasive beats, but there’s a particular sense of upbeat release toward the second half. I don’t know if I can explain it without listening to it for yourself.
6. De La Soul – Cabin In The Sky
For a genre defined by young artists, De La Soul has returned with the greatest hip-hop record of the year. Shaped by grief, gratitude, and the stubborn spark of evolution, Cabin in the Sky is a thought-provoking album that is driven by the true-to-life chemistry of Pos and Maseo. Even with features from Nas and Q-Tip, to name a few, the loss of the late Trugoy The Dove is celebrated without becoming overly nostalgic or theatrically melodramatic. This isn’t a eulogy; it’s a continuation.
5. FACS – Wish Defense
Wish Defense cements the Chicago trio as torchbearers of the city’s noise-rock lineage, delivering their most focused and progressive work to date. Completed using the late Steve Albini’s production notes, the album crackles with living-room-raw drums, seismic bass, and sharpened guitars as it dives into themes of digital-age duality inspired by Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger. At just over thirty minutes, it’s a loud, cathartic evolution and a fitting final testament to Albini’s ethos of capturing a band at its truest. [Check my full review here]
4. Young Widows – Power Sucker
I can’t believe it’s been over a decade since the last Young Windows record. Thankfully, with Power Sucker, the band closes that time gap. All the sludge, doom, post-hardcore, and noise are intact like they’ve never left! And it’s a hefty sucker, too, as there’s really enough for 2 records here. But despite its size, it uses the real estate to its full advantage.
3. Soundwire – Collider
Collider proves the UK’s alternative spirit is not only alive but evolving. This supergroup of sorts has fused kraut rock propulsion, shoegaze haze, and Britpop melody into a vivid storm. Produced with psychedelic finesse by Thighpaulsandra, the album moves effortlessly from gnarly bass-driven grit to star-drenched dreamscapes, all while keeping its hooks razor-sharp and its atmosphere immersive. Collider is urgent, lush, and one of the year’s most compelling entries in the ever-shifting lineage of British alternative rock. [Check out my full review here]
2. Kreeps – Cheers From The Afterlife
Cheers From The Afterlife is a stunning reinvention, trading the signature campy horror-billy swagger for something far more human and devastatingly intimate. Written in the wake of profound personal loss, Dominic Jay drops the pulp persona to deliver a lush, cinematic meditation on grief, memory, and the ghosts we carry. It still flickers with the quirky charm of past releases, but now every reverb-soaked swell and haunted doo-wop melody feels warmer, deeper, and undeniably alive. It’s Kreeps at their most vulnerable and fully realized as a Technicolor elegy that lingers long after the final note. [Check out my full review here]
1. Deftones – private music
Something about having this band in the Top 25 Albums of 2025 list just seems fitting. private music arrives not as a comeback but as a thunderous reminder that the band still bends the emotional and sonic gravity of heavy music to its will. Announced with arena-sized spectacle yet steeped in intimate, slow-burning catharsis, the album blends serrated riffs, vaporous synths, and Chino Moreno’s spectral ache into a sound that feels both familiar and newly electrified. It blows my mind how nearly 40 years in, these guys are still pleasing lifelong fans and attracting new listeners discovering the band through internet myth-making. If anything, private music cements the rare longevity of Deftones. It’s a record that hits with seismic force in public and lingers with unsettling tenderness in private. [Check out my full review here]
Thank you for checking out my Top 25 Albums of 2025 list.
I sincerely hope you found something new to check out! Please remember: it’s not about ranking. Literally any of the listed records here could’ve been in the number 1 spot. As always, I urge you to go out and support the artists you love. Streaming might be convenient, but not every artist is a mainstream Billboard darling. In many cases, keeping your turntable, CD player, cassette deck, or a ticket to a show is putting food on the table for someone. If you’re looking for more releases, please consider checking out the year-end lists from other writers at this publication, as well as my monthly column, The Showcase!