2024 has been a wild year for music. There were many albums I loved that were released this year, but I forced myself to narrow it down to just 50 albums.
This list will be in sections, with the bottom 40 being briefly listed, and then I will go in-depth on my top 10.
Without further ado, here is my list.
50. “Invincible Shield” by Judas Priest: Heavy Metal
49. “The Last Will and Testament” by Opeth: Progressive Death Metal
48. “As Grande As” by Grande Mahogany: Psychedelic Rock, Funk Rock
47. “COWBOY CARTER” by Beyoncé: Pop Country
46. “Dark Times” by Vince Staples: West Coast Hip-Hop
45. “Small Changes” by Michael Kiwanuka: Smooth Soul
44. “WHY LAWD?” by Anderson .Paak, Knxwledge: Neo-Soul
43. “Flight b741” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Blues Rock
42. “Lives Outgrown” by Beth Gibbons: Chamber Folk, Singer-Songwriter
41. “King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2” by Denzel Curry: Trap, Hardcore Hip-Hop
40. “Ultra 85” by Logic: East Coast Hip-Hop
39. “This Is How Tomorrow Moves” by beabadoobee: Pop Rock
38. “SMILE! :D” by Porter Robinson: Electronic Indie Rock
37. “The Great American Bar Scene” by Zach Bryan: Americana, Country
36. “I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU” by JPEGMAFIA: Experimental Hip-Hop
35. “Negative Spaces” by Poppy: Alternative Metal
34. “Monarch of Monsters” by Vylet Pony: Noise Rock
33. “Bright Future” by Adrianne Lenker: Singer-Songwriter, Contemporary Folk
32. “Obsidian Wreath” by Infant Island: Black Metal, Post-Metal
31. “Cometh the Storm” by High on Fire: Sludge Metal
30. “Night Palace” by Mount Eerie: Post-Rock, Noise Rock, Singer-Songwriter
29. “Every Bridge Burning” by Nails: Grindcore
28. “Songs of a Lost World” by The Cure: Gothic Rock
27. “Shadow of the Erdtree” by Tsukasa Saito, Yuka Kitamura: Orchestra
26. “The Great Bailout” by Moor Mother: Spoken Word, Ambient
25. “Hypnagogia” by Kuf Knotz, Christine Elise: Conscious Hip-Hop
24. “Moon Healer” by Job for a Cowboy: Technical Death Metal
23. “NO HANDS” by Joey Valence & Brae: Hardcore Hip-Hop
22. “Love (the) Ominous World” by Blu & Exile: West Coast Hip Hop
21. “Mahashmashana” by Father John Misty: Singer-Songwriter
20. “Fearless Movement” by Kamasi Washington: Jazz Fusion
19. “Prelude to Ecstasy” by The Last Dinner Party: Glam Rock
18. “GNX” by Kendrick Lamar: West Coast Hip-Hop
17. “CHROMAKOPIA” by Tyler, The Creator: Experimental Hip-Hop
16. “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She” by Chelsea Wolfe: Gothic Rock, Industrial Rock
15. “A Dream Is All We Know” by The Lemon Twigs: Soft Rock
14. “Only God Was Above Us” by Vampire Weekend: Indie Rock
13. “Connla’s Well” by Maruja: Post-Punk
12. “All Born Screaming” by St. Vincent: Art Rock
11. “The New Sound” by Geordie Greep: Jazz-Rock, Progressive Rock
10. “brat” by Charli xcx: Electronic Dance Music
It would be a disservice not to mention “brat” in a list like this.
British pop star Charli xcx proves herself as a generational pop artist, with production that ranges from some gritty, grimy club bass to the shimmery, spectacle of gorgeous synth-pop.
This album opens with “360,” which perfectly sets the tone for the album with a playful club instrumental. Alongside this, Charli boasts about her fame and success in a self-aware manner, but her writing here is smart and silly enough never to make it obnoxious.
On the flip side, “So I” is a very vulnerable song, a tribute to SOPHIE, a profound artist who died a couple of years ago and a friend and frequent collaborator of Charli.
This song is beautiful both lyrically and sonically, being one of Charli’s most personal and heart-breaking songs to date. I love how this track mentions SOPHIE’s“It’s Okay To Cry” while also mimicking the atmospheric and ethereal sound of the track.
It’s just such a great tribute on an album that bleeds with inspiration from Sophie’s experimental strides in electronic music.
Overall, I love how this album is fun and addictive while holding a lot of emotional weight to it. It’s a thing that is very hard to do at the same time, but this album nails it, making it one of the best pop albums of the year.
9. “Impossible Light” by Uboa: Noise, Industrial Rock
Australian producer and songwriter Xandra Metcalfe brings together the most horrifying album of the year.
“Impossible Light” utilizes masterful production to create a profoundly disturbing and eerie atmosphere. Each song builds upon one another as the album progresses, creating an engaging soundscape unlike any other artist out there.
Take “A Puzzle” for instance. You are lulled in by the sinister drones that you’ve come to find comfort in, and then when you’re at your most calm a furious bloody racket descends upon you like a hammer and pounds your ears into bloody pulps.
It’s horrifying, startling and exhilarating.
The record isn’t all blood and guts. The ten-minute closer “Impossible Light / Golden Flower” is a magnificent, gloomily tranquil ambient piece that proves that Uboa doesn’t need to rely on shock and awe to awaken emotions in the listeners. All she needs is otherworldly production, intuitive instincts and pure talent.
This album is profoundly disturbing and not for the faint of heart, but if you are willing to brave the walls of sound on display here, you will find one of the best albums of the year.
8. “Imaginal Disk” by Magdalena Bay: Synthpop
Florida duo Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin created my favorite pop album of 2024.
“Imaginal Disk” feels like a mash-up of 80s and 90s dance-pop, synth-pop, disco and much more into a nostalgic, futuristic and ambitious 15-track album that completely blew me away.
The record’s first single “Death & Romance” explores the theme of traversing the duality of life and its ups and downs. It’s accompanied by this upbeat and diverse set of peppy piano keys, futuristic synths, juicy basslines and percussion that gets more intense as the track progresses.
It’s five minutes long and the instrumental is mostly just a loop, yet the progression and sound palette is so good that it never feels static.
This record constantly switches from epic synth-pop odyssey to vibrant and danceable bop. The second single “Image” is another great example of this as it’s one of the more slick and laid-back songs off of the album, with some atmospheric, retro synths and tight percussion.
What the duo have crafted here is simply amazing. This album feels like a tour through the past, yet at the same time like an interdimensional exploration into the future. It’s catchy, beautiful, unpredictable and so many other things, but it is most definitely a must-listen for any pop fan.
7. “Absolute Elsewhere” by Blood Incantation: Progressive Death Metal
The Colorado death metal quartet Blood Incantation brings together a captivating, impressive death metal album that takes the listener on a journey through the stars.
“Absolute Elsewhere” is told in two parts and both parts are equally exciting, each presenting a 20-minute exploration of amazing performances that switch between extreme death metal and calm, spacey psychedelic rock.
“The Stargate” is filled with these fantastic switches, keeping the listener on their toes as the section opens with a hard-hitting death metal introduction filled with double bass, roaring guitars and guttural vocals. However, as soon as it starts, it switches to a slow, bright section with wailing synths and one of the most beautiful guitar solos I’ve heard all year.
“The Message” keeps up this flow, but mixes these elements even more. There are moments where the drums are in full death metal mode, with blast beats and double bass, but the guitars are clean and calm.
This album is an epic and diverse ride that pushes the boundaries of metal in a way that respects the genre’s roots. I highly recommend listening to this album, even if progressive death metal isn’t your thing, as I think it’s a fantastic album to ease people into this extreme genre of music.
6. “Hotel La Rut” by Joanna Wang: Art Rock
“Hotel La Rut” is one of the most fun and creative albums released this year.
Stuffed with 23 tracks, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Joanna Wang crafts an album that just oozes creativity and whimsy. Each track is a gamble on what you are going to get, yet every single song is equally as great as the last.
Want something slow and pretty? “Pigeons on Your Balcony” has you covered with its slow buildup and emic conclusion.
Looking for something over the top and goofy? “Gasp! That Plastic Bag is Watching Me!” is there for you, with its retro gaming-inspired synths and Wang’s playful vocals.
It’s a very chaotic album, but it never overwhelms the listener with its shifts, enticing them to keep on listening and continuing to indulge in the wild ride that is this album. The colorful and creative flair this album oozes makes it an album I’ve come back to multiple times over the year, and I plan to continue to come back to far in the future.
5. “The Thief Next to Jesus” by Ka: Abstract Hip-Hop
The final album by New York rapper Ka, released two weeks before his passing, is a near-perfect combination of everything that made him a quietly powerful rapper and producer.
“The Thief Next to Jesus” is an album that thrives in its simplicity, choosing to focus on drumless beats and poetry to convey Ka’s struggles with his faith in Christianity and how witnessing years of trauma and injustice left his faith deeply shaken.
The opening song on the album, “Bread Wine Body Blood,” is a fantastic tone-setter for the album with its stripped-back beat and Ka’s buttery smooth flow, rapping about how some branches of Christianity have framed religion as a means of Black subjugation and white supremacy, with Jesus’ message being completely twisted for this purpose.
This messaging also bleeds into the music itself, with the song “True Holy Water” possessing some of the loudest instrumentation on the album, which overshadows Ka’s bars, leading into the messaging that religion in the United States has been used to ostracise and drown out the voices of the Black community.
“The Thief Next to Jesus” is a powerful end to Ka’s career as it is a testament to his ability to craft songs that allowed the listener to tune into how Ka sees the world: a dark, unsettling and unforgiving place.
4. “Patterns in Repeat” by Laura Marling: Folk, Singer-Songwriter
British folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling spins 10 beautiful, dreamy songs.
“Patterns in Repeat” is dreamy in the sense that it is very calming and beautiful to listen to. This is a very easy relaxing album, but still manages to feel full and have a lot of weight to it.
Everything here meshes together very well to create a very relaxing listen, one that’s filled with pretty guitar melodies, serene strings and relaxing vocals from Marling that show an intimate meditation on parenthood.
The first single of this album, “Patterns,” is a raw display of this intimacy, with the unplugged guitar melodies and Marling’s beautiful vocals. It’s a very simple song, but in that simplicity, there is so much emotional power on display.
“Patterns in Repeat” has a stillness and serenity to it that evokes feelings of sitting alone against a tree, journal in hand, peering at the slow descent of orange and yellow leaves, carried by the fresh autumn breeze. Hidden within its many idioms and metaphors, this album reveals Marling’s more intimate sides, flawlessly showcasing them through her genius songwriting and profoundly divine instrumental arrangements, making it one of the most emotional albums of the year.
3. “A Lonely Sinner” by samlrc: Post-Rock, Shoegaze
This was an album I found by complete accident, and I am so glad I did.
Brazilian up-and-coming artist samlrc establishes a grand statement in the world of post-rock and gives a more modern approach to the genre.
Post-rock music is known to be very long, with noteworthy albums from the genre known to stretch over the two-hour mark. However, this album is just under 50 minutes and uses that time efficiently to present a wonderful, heavy soundscape.
This is such a heavy album. Everything here — the acoustic guitars, the drums, the beautiful strings – has an immense amount of weight.
“Philautia,” a 12-minute song, is a perfect ambient song, with violins that bring such an angelic feeling to this track. They have an incredibly light sound yet they are so distinct from the rest of the instruments. The vocals are absolutely fantastic. Her light delivery mixed with the beautiful harmonizing of her vocals makes for one of the best vocal performances I’ve heard all year.
Everything here just sounds so crisp and clean, and it’s an immense pleasure to listen to. It’s powerful and soul-crushing but also has so many different beautiful and lush moments. It’s simply an amazing experience and I’m excited to see what this artist creates next.
2. “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To” by Knocked Loose: Metalcore
If we are judging my favorite album of the year based on how much I’ve played an album throughout the year, this would be it.
Louisville quintet Knocked Loose engages in 27 minutes of skull-crushing metalcore that pushes the genre forward, creating a new benchmark in how hard-hitting a hardcore album can be with immaculate production and incredible performances.
“Suffocate” has become the metal anthem of the year within the metal community with its chugging guitars, ringing snares and standout vocal performances by Bryan Garris and Poppy. It’s a song that has gained so much traction and praise throughout the year and it deserves every bit of it.
A song that deserves much more praise is “Sit & Mourn,” the closing track on the album.
It’s the longest song on the album and just a perfect way to end the album with its hypnotic riffs and quiet, ambient noise sprinkled in. It’s a song I deeply connect to and a song I cannot get enough of.
This album is all killer, no filler and is everything I want in a metal record. For a long time, this was my favorite album of 2024, but one album just barely managed to creep its way to my number-one spot.
1. “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD” by Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Post-Rock
Legendary Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor has created the most important album of the year.
I have already done a full review of this album, so I won’t go too much into detail here, but this is an instrumental album that directly confronts the current conflict in Palestine, the title being about the Palestinian death toll as of Feb. 13.
“NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD” is an album with practically no lyrics, yet it says a lot more than many bands do with an entire discography.
In the truest sense, this is a must-listen record, not because it is constructed of brilliantly catchy hooks, acrobatic vocal performances or flashy technical proficiency, but because the message it carries is one of vital importance:
The genocide of the Palestinian people must come to an end, and we must maintain hope that it will.
