Yep, we’re reached that insane time of the year again where my brain hurts trying to organise some of my favourite albums of the year into some sort of vaguely coherent list. Now, to add a bit of context, this may be our biggest year ever. We covered over 470 albums in the space of the last year since the list started up again (November-November). So, if an album you like is low down or not even featured, that by no means means it’s bad, just that we covered so much music this year!
And as usual, this is all personal opinion; I’m not saying this is a 100% truthful or even logical list, just how I feel and as a way of promoting some incredible albums that I think everyone should hear. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the craziness.
But first, a dishonourable mention…
Beyoncé – COWBOY CARTER
I kid of course! I’d actually personally like to thank Beyoncé for allowing me to be in the music industry and make this list in the first place…
100 – Linkin Park: From Zero
Starting off strong, I know! Now, if you read our review of this album, you may be a little shocked to see its inclusion in this list, especially over a lot of other really great music. My opinion of the album hasn’t really changed much in the last few weeks, either. Half of the album still feels like slower, pop-rock Mike Shinoda solo stuff with the LP named slapped over the top of it. However, the singles and heavier tracks are SO GOOD that it’s hard not to give it a slot on this list. When the band go hard and bring back that old-school, nu-metal edge they had back in the day, it some of the best songs to come out this year. Despite the controversies, Emily has fit rather perfectly into the band, and her voice throughout is impressive. Honestly, if the whole album was the same quality as ‘Two Faced’, it could have easily been up there in the top 20. But between some tracks that felt like filler and the rather tiny 30-minute runtime, it barely scrapes onto this list.
Listen to: Two Faced, Casualty and The Emptiness Machine
99 – TRUCKER DIABLO: Social Hand Grenade
The first of many bands in the NWOCR scene to make this list, yet that should by no means be seen as negative; this album is awesome! Right from the electrifying punk intro track to the now-typical closing ballad is Wildhearts-like awesomeness, and I love every second of it. The band have been around now but I feel like they’ve really come into their own with this release; not just from a playing standpoint but from a writing one, too. If it was any other year a little weaker this album may have been much higher on this list. It’s amazing, and if you’re into the heavier end of hard rock it’s certainly one I’d recommend! I sadly didn’t have the chance to review it when it released, even as part of our New Music Monday series, but it gets an easy 8/10, and earned its slot on our list easily!
Listen to: Kill the Lights, Stop the Bleed, Here Come the Vultures
98 – Chase Rice: Go Down Singin’
This makes it onto the list due to ‘Fireside’ alone. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all amazing, but that track has been an obsession of mine since this album was released back in September. Chase’s traditional country/roots sound is amazing, and his voice compliments it perfectly. In a hugely saturated country market in 2024, Rice somehow manages to do stuff that sounds a little different and interesting, setting himself apart from his peers easily. Plus, at only 11-tracks long, it’s quite short for a country album these days, which definitely helped my enjoyment of it. Especially compared to his bloated (yet still amazing) release the year before. Yes, it does get a touch preachy at times, but that comes with the territory, I guess. It doesn’t make this album any more amazing; the perfect country release to chill out to. While I Hate Cowboys didn’t make last year’s cut, but this one got a strong 8.5/10 from me and sneaks into this year’s edition!
Listen to: Fireside, Hey God it’s Me Again and If Drinkin’ Helped
97 – Category 7: Self-Titled
The guitar tone, MY GOD. There was no way this album wasn’t making the list. I’ve been obsessed with Mike Orlando’s guitar playing since Adrenaline Mob, and adding to that metal icons like Phil Demmel, Jason Bittner and John Bush was of course going to be a recipe for awesomeness. And this is 51-minutes of exactly that; technical heavy metal awesomeness. If you’re a fan of Adrenaline Mob, Bush’s tenure with Anthrax or Bittner’s time in Overkill, this will very much be an album for you, if you haven’t fallen in love with it already! It really harkens back to a style of metal that we really don’t get much of these days, which really set it apart from the pack this year. I was raised on this mid-2000s, post industrial/nu metal sound, among other stuff, so I can’t help but love it. I’d recommend this to any metal fans reading this article, as there really isn’t a bad track on the album. It got a solid 8.5/10 from us and easily secured its place on this list!
Listen to: In Stitches, Exhausted and Mousetrap
96 – Patty Gurdy: Tavern
The overnight traditional folk sensation just had to make this list! After ‘Brighter Days Come’ popped off on my TikTok a few months ago, I wasn’t sure if she’d just be a flash in the pan or one-hit-wonder. However, after sitting with this album for a few weeks now, it just keeps getting better and better! Her voice is utterly phenomenal, and whoever’s writing these songs, be it her with/or someone else, is amazing at it. ‘Rise Up’ is one of my top tracks of the year and still gives me goosebumps to this day; it’s so powerful and I’m desperate to see it live. Also, ‘Up to the Stars’ scratches that Witcher itch so good. The only thing slightly letting it down and lowering it a couple of spots, which I think I said in our review too, is the song with Chris. And that’s not even because of the controversy surrounding him, I just feel it ruins the tone of the album a little.
It’s certainly not going to be an album for everyone, but if you’re into some traditional folk music with a modern twist, I can’t recommend this album enough. It easily earns the 8.5/10 we gave it, and it may even be a touch higher the more I listen!
Listen to: I Am With You, Rise Up and Brighter Days Come
95 – The Outlaw Orchestra: La Familia
It really pains me to put this album so low. In the big run of albums after this one on this list, you will find few as fun to listen to as this one. Every single track has a completely different sound and feel, ranging from bluegrass to roots to country to hard rock to even easy listening/soft rock, and everything in between! And they do all with not only style, but while keeping their own identity; it all feels very Outlaw Orchestra. I think my literal only thing is that having seen them live a lot over the years, they come across even better in that setting. Though, this is certainly my favourite album from the band; it’s amazing! If you’re a fan of any of the genres I’ve brought up already, I cannot recommend this album enough. It’s only in this slot because of the sheer amount of music I’ve checked out this year. It was very deserving of the 9/10 we gave it!
Listen to: El Dorado, Holy Ground and Born to be a Thief
94 – Saving Vice: Good Days, Dead Eyes
This was another case of an album being a bit of mixed bag. However, with this metalcore release, there was a lot more good than bad! Not that you’d guess from the rather average modern-metalcore opener. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly gets more interesting further into the album. The track that follows it is dark, epic, heavy awesomeness. Then you have stuff like the songs mentioned below, ‘Cry, Wolf’, ‘Blood or Wine?’ And ‘Trauma Souba’ that are all pretty great! It’s a damn solid sophomore album from the US band, showing they’ve got a huge future ahead of them! Some of the breakdowns and screams are honestly up there with my favourite of the year, and the writing in general is pretty damn good! It’s easy to see why it got an easy 8/10 from me when I did my review of it! The only reason it isn’t higher is because it wasn’t solid quality all the way through, and because this year is so insanely strong!
Listen to: Haec Est Ars Moriendi, The Cabal and The Covenant
93 – Cody Jinks: Change the Game
Another album I wish I could put higher, as Mr Jinks is one of my favourite country artists. However, while some of this is excellent, other parts are a bit of a mixed bag. Honestly it seems to be a running theme for this part of the list. The title track has my ears in a vice grip still all these months later, while another three or four tracks on this are also excellent. And don’t get me wrong, the rest of it isn’t bad by any stretch, hence why we gave it 9/10. But when I said it would take a few more listens to grow on it… it kinda didn’t. A lot of this is slow. And while that isn’t inherently a bad thing, it does make the rare quicker paced songs stand out more as highlights. Sitting down and listening to the album as a whole is an amazing experience, and a must for any country fans. But the repeatability of a lot of the songs sadly drags it down a few notches. Still, it’s one of the best country albums of the year and sneaks onto our list!
Listen to: Outlaws and Mustangs, Change the Game and Always Running
92 – Flotsam And Jetsom: I Am the Weapon
This is just some good old-fashioned 80s thrash-infused heavy metal. And it’s also another album that’s impossible to not love. I have to admit that somehow I wasn’t too familiar with the band outside of their name before this release, but they immediately won me over with their throwback sound mixed with epic power metal. However, it is another album that takes just a little bit of getting into, I’ve found. The first couple of tracks still don’t hook me much to this day, but by the time we reach the end of the title track, and every song after that, I’m hooked in for another excellent full-album listen. But, while not every track on this is perfect, it’s an incredibly solid album that easily earns it’s way onto this list! I’ve listened to it a lot in the couple of months since it’s been out, and it certainly earns it’s 9/10 from us! It’s another one that I desperately want to see live, so hopefully they tour the UK soon!
And once again, some of the best artwork on this list!
Listen to: A New Kind of Hero, Burned my Bridges and Cold Steel Lights
91 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: b741
So, when I came back to revisit this album, I have to admit I was slightly confused why it ended up so high up on my list. Then I got hit by the one-two-three punch of the three tracks named below, and I suddenly remembered… this album is fucking awesome. And not only that, it’s a whole lotta fun. To the point where, going back and listening to the early tracks after, they clicked a lot more with me after.
And it still blows my mind that the same band that made it onto last year’s list for a thrashy, doomy metal album, is the same band that put out this jazzy, easy-listening, Beatles-style thing. Both are fantastic in their own right, and somehow I found myself liking this even more than their heavier one. I’d yoy like more chilled-out, soft rock stuff; something fun and easy to listen to, I cannot recommend this album enough. It’s quirky and weird and the talent it took to write and play it is off the charts! I still objectively agree with the 10/10 score I gave it, and I’ve been sleeping on this for far too long, I’m a little obsessed again!
Listen to: Field of Vision, Hog Calling Contest and Le Risque
90 – Fahran: The Hope That Killed Me
A band that I’ve known and been a fan of now for a decade, and another that deserve to be so much higher on this lost, and so much bigger in general. After some time off post-apocalypse (2020) the band returned with a bang, coming out of the gate swinging with this album. The band have always straddled the line between hard rock and metalcore wonderfully, but have never quite done it this masterfully before. I adore Chasing Hours and even though that album holds a hell of a lot of nostalgia for me, I think after a couple of months to sit on it this is my favourite album they’ve put out. From the riffing to the breakdowns to Matt’s soaring vocals and surprisingly great screams, it’s all amazing, and feels like the perfect evolution of the band.
They aren’t going to get anywhere near enough credit for this album as they deserve, but I fully stand by the 9/10 it got from us! If you are a fan of the band did or any of the genres I’ve spoke about before, check this out, you may very well discover one of your favourite bands! And do yourself a favour and listen to it in fill, even if the hour runtime is daunting!
Listen to: Hate Me, Marizion and Inside the Fire
89 – Marty Friedman: Drama
Mild spoiler alert: this is the only almost all instrumental album on this list. However, what a pick, right? The guitar LEGEND put out an absolute banger of an album back in May, and one that I have enjoyed listening to ever since! Whether you listen to this as a musician for his absolute mind-blowing technical ability, or as a general music fan for the sheer epic soundscapes he creates, it’s a truly phenomenal release. It’s crazy to me that someone this good at crafting their solo stuff will have it so overlooked in favour of his time in Megadeth (not that that wasn’t also incredible). You can very much tell the man is a composer at heart, and what he’s pieced together here is honestly some of his best work. Honestly, you listen to ‘Triumph’ and tell me it doesn’t make you emotional! It more than earned its 9/10 I gave it, and there was no way it wasn’t getting itself onto this list somehow!
Listen to: Triumph, Thrill City and 2 Rebeldes
88 – We Three Kings: By Royal Appointment
I’ve loved this band for a while now, and yet I still didn’t expect this album to be quite this excellent! From the fuzzy riffing to the catchy, arena-filling vocals and chorus melodies and the solid drumming, both of them have crafted something amazing with this release. It’s the perfect combination of hard rock, grunge and indie music, and fits right in with the current musical climate. It’s another incredibly recent release, but as soon as I first heard it I knew it was getting a spot on this list. As with most of this list, I am desperate to see all of this live, too! I would highly recommend checking it out if you are into any of the genres I’ve mentioned; the band are certainly destined for big things! We gave it a very easy 9/10 in our review and I cannot wait to see where the band go from here!
Listen to: Blackout, The Edge of Death and Give it to me, GO!
87 – The Warning: Keep Me Fed
These girls have absolutely exploded onto the international scene this year, and it’s thanks in large part to this album. Shockingly it was another I missed for New Music Mondays, but having gone back to listen to it recently, I can see why everyone’s raving about it. It’s a fantastic album, hence its appearance here!
This is a super solid hard rock album from front to back, not a single second of its 38-minute runtime going to waste. And, what’s more, it’s not only brimming with attitude and swagger, but it’s a dam fun album to listen to! I hate that I missed this in June, as I had a solid two months without it before I finally had time to listen to it, and have loved it ever since. They’ve managed to produce a rather unique sound that is hard rock but certainly has a pop-friendly edge to it. It’s incredibly polished and well put together and produced, which certainly is yet another big point in its favour. I cannot recommend this album enough to any rock fans out there, and it’s a very easy 8.5/10 from me. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the band moving forward, as I can see them becoming megastars!
Listen to: S!CK, Qué Más Quieres and Escapism
86 – Poppy: Negative Spaces
If you asked me a couple of years ago, I’d have said I’d be very shocked if Poppy ever made it onto a list like this for me. However, I’ll gladly eat my words, as she has evolved into one hell of an artist, and this is an amazing modern metal album. It’s another pretty varied album, between radio-metal, hardcore and more pop-leaning tracks. I do have to say that some hit the mark better than others, and that if they were all on the heavier end I do think this would have been much higher for me. However, none of the tracks are bad at all, and it certainly gives the release an interesting ebb and flow. Plus, there is no denying her absolutely insane vocal range these days! She’s quickly becoming one of the biggest names in the modern scene, and it’s not hard to hear why when she’s putting out stuff like this! She got an easy 8.5/10 from our review, and it easily scored her a spot on this list!
Listen to: have you had enough?, they’re all around us and nothing
85 – Gun: Homebre
This album had no right going this hard. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a fan of the band, but I didn’t expect them to come out with something this great nearly fourth years after they first started. It’s a short but fun hard rock/punky/sleazy album, with plenty of memorable, catchy choruses and melodies. The band never fail to impress, but I do truly feel this is the best release they’ve put out in a good while. As I said in my review, this is what modern day Guns n Roses SHOULD sound like. It got a very deserving 9/10 from us and is a must for any rock fans reading this!
Listen to: All Fired Up, Take Me Back Home and Never Enough
84 – Scarefield: A Quiet Country
I’mma say it; this may be one of, if not the, most underrated album on this list. It’s old-school heavy metal with a modern feel to it, why aren’t more people eating this up?! There’s Maiden, Priest, Metallica in there, but also just a touch of Trivium and Bullet for my Valentine and even Corosion of Conformity and Alice in Chains in there, what’s not to love? Fun fact: this is the only review I’ve ever been paid to do, and I’m being genuinely serious when I say I love it, and have become a big fan of the band because of it.
There is so much amazing stuff on this album… but that opening track doesn’t quite do the rest of the album justice, hence why it’s a little lower than it maybe could have been. However, if you are a fan of any metal from the last half-a-centry, I’d certainly recommend checking this out. It’s absolutely insane quality for a debut album and it more than deserves its spot on our list and the 9.5/10 review we gave it!
Listen to: Dead Center, Spectre and Children of the Corn
83 – Graphic Nature: Who Are You When No One is Watching?
The UK nu-metalcore band put out an absolute banger of a sophomore album earlier this year. It’s beautifully heavy and perfectly encapsulates the best of both of its combined genres. The riffing is incredible, the breakdowns are heavy and the screamed, hip-hop-style vocals and flow are amazing. Heck, even the turntable fits in so well, arguably better than Slipknot have ever incorporated it. I can’t put it much better than I already did in my review back in July, and could quite easily continue to gush about the band all day. Over four months on, this album still blows me away, and I’ve listened to it pretty regularly in that time. If they continue on this path they’ll be a HUGE name sooner rather than later. This got a very easy 9/10, and it was a very easy choice for this list!
Listen to: Blinded, Something I’m Not and Low
82 – The End Machine: The Quantum Phase
I had a LOT of fun revisiting this album for this list. I remembered listening to this when it was released and loving it, hence why it was still pretty high up my list some eight months later, but I sadly hadn’t had the time to check much of it out since then. It’s a shame too, as this is a fun, great AOR album! They really channel a heavier, more modern Night Ranger/early Whitesnake vibe, and it makes for an amazing listen from front to back! And, as will be a trend in this list, there really isn’t a bad track on the release. I sat and listened to the full 51-minutes of this happily as I wrote this, and just wish I could put it higher! The band are insanely talented musicians and three albums into their careers they are truly firing on all cylinders. I can see big things in their future, and it could easily all be traced back to this release! It got the first 10/10 on this list in our review and I still stand by that today. It’s the perfect AOR album this year, and I’d recommend it to anyone!
Listen to: Black Hole Extinction, killer of the Night and Shattered Glass Heart
81 – Sum 41: Heaven :x: Hell
The final album from the pop-punk legends is awesome… if rather bloated. I’ve had that same opinion since the end of March when it was released, and it hasn’t once changed in that time. 20 tracks, even for a swan song, is too much. Especially when there is some filler in here. However, despite the negativity, a lot of this is up there with some of the best music the band has ever produced. There’s something to be said for going out on top, and Sum 41 have definitely done that (until the reunion, of course!). There was no way this wasn’t making this list, and the fact that it is this good to warrant it, not just coasting by on emotion and nostalgia, is a real bonus. It’s top-notch early 2000s pop-punk, and I love it. It’s what I grew up on, and there was not a chance I was hating this album. It was yet another excellent album that got a 9/10 from us, and it’s a must for anyone into anything to do with punk or rock.
Listen to: Landmines, Future Primitive, Rise Up