2024 Best Albums Lists

My last podcast episode discussed the top 10 albums of 2024, and this is a corresponding post.  I included the top 100 albums of the year, the best in several genres or conditions, and the worst of the year.

All images are from Wikipedia.  Credit for the album cover belong to whomever owns the rights to the cover (likely either the record label, performing artist, or cover artist).  The album cover pictured is bolded in the list, as the album cover chosen is not always the number 1 album listed.

 

Top-100 Albums

  1. Evergreen, Soccer Mommy
  2. Las Letras Ya No Importan, Residente
  3. Frog in Boiling Water, DIIV
  4. She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, Chelsea Wolfe
  5. Chromakopia, Tyler, the Creator
  6. X’s, Cigarettes After Sex
  7. What Now, Brittany Howard
  8. God Said No, Omar Apollo
  9. You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, Knocked Loose
  10. Songs of a Lost World, The Cure
  11. Psykos, Yung Lean & Bladee
  12. Raw Blue, Whirr
  13. Come Ahead, Primal Scream
  14. Passage du Desir, Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson)
  15. Glasgow Eyes, The Jesus and Mary Chain
  16. Letter to Yu, Bolis Pupul
  17. Right Place, Wrong Person, RM
  18. Clancy, Twenty One Pilots
  19. Umbilical, Thou
  20. My Method Actor, Nilüfer Yanya
  21. Grip, Serpentwithfeet
  22. Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations, The Vaccines
  23. JPEG Raw, Gary Clark Jr.
  24. All Hell, Los Campesinos!
  25. Funeral for Justice, Mdou Moctar
  26. GNX, Kendrick Lamar
  27. Por Cesarea, Dillom
  28. Iechyd Da, Bill Ryder-Jones
  29. Cosa Nuestra, Rauw Alejandro
  30. I Want to Disappear, The Story So Far
  31. Second Thoughts, The Old Dead Tree
  32. What Do We Do Now, J Mascis
  33. The Great Impersonator, Halsey
  34. Saviors, Green Day
  35. Soul Burger, Ab-Soul
  36. Britpop, A. G. Cook
  37. Night Reign, Arooj Aftab
  38. Fearless Movement, Kamasi Washington
  39. Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend
  40. Wild God, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
  41. Deeper Well, Kacey Musgraves
  42. Algorithm, Lucky Daye
  43. Att., Young Miko
  44. Room Under the Stairs, Zayn
  45. Feels Like Home, JessB
  46. Songs for Sinners & Saints, Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival
  47. Tyla, Tyla
  48. The Alexander Technique, Rex Orange County
  49. Lost in Space, Bass Physics
  50. Caught Up in the Game, Casey Veggies
  51. Obsidian Wreath, Infant Island
  52. Hole in My Head, Laura Jane Grace
  53. All Born Screaming, St. Vincent
  54. Sincere, Khalid
  55. Mirada, Ivan Cornejo
  56. Post Mortem, Subway to Sally
  57. As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, The Decemberists
  58. Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee
  59. Shawn, Shawn Mendes
  60. I Hear You, Peggy Gou
  61. The Past Is Still Alive, Hurray for the Riff Raff
  62. Neck Deep, Neck Deep
  63. Cutouts, The Smile
  64. Dark Times, Vince Staples
  65. Can You See Me?, Rezz
  66. Highway Prayers, Billy Strings
  67. Tarantula Heart, Melvins
  68. The Border, Willie Nelson
  69. Post Human: Next Gen, Bring Me the Horizon
  70. I Lay Down My Life for You, JPEGMafia,
  71. Pero No Te Enamores, Fuerza Regida
  72. Five Dice, All Threes, Bright Eyes
  73. Heis, Rema
  74. Paul Bunyan’s Slingshot, Liquid Mike
  75. Bando Stone & the New World, Childish Gambino
  76. Luck and Strange, David Gilmour
  77. Lives Outgrown, Beth Gibbons
  78. People Who Aren’t There Anymore, Future Islands
  79. We Don’t Trust You, Metro Boomin & Future
  80. Undefeated, Frank Turner
  81. Beautifully Broken, Jelly Roll
  82. Only One Mode, Speed
  83. Sophie, Sophie
  84. Negative Spaces, Poppy
  85. Rack, The Jesus Lizard
  86. Long Way Home, Ray LaMontagne
  87. Changes All the Time, James Bay
  88. Humble as the Sun, Bob Vylan
  89. The Collective, Kim Gordon
  90. Funk Generation, Anitta
  91. Breathe In, Armin van Buuren
  92. What Happened to the Beach?
  93. Fog, Freezepop
  94. Invincible Shield, Judas Priest
  95. Little Rope, Sleater-Kinney
  96. The Great American Bar Scene, Zach Bryan
  97. Patterns in Repeat, Laura Marling
  98. Small Changes, Michael Kiwanuka
  99. Something in the Room She Moves, Julia Holter
  100. Fever Longing Still, Paul Kelly

 

Rock

  1. Evergreen, Soccer Mommy
  2. Frog in Boiling Water, DIIV
  3. X’s, Cigarettes After Sex
  4. What Now, Brittany Howard
  5. You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, Knocked Loose
  6. Songs of a Lost World, The Cure
  7. Raw Blue, Whirr
  8. Come Ahead, Primal Scream
  9. Glasgow Eyes, The Jesus and Mary Chain
  10. Clancy, Twenty One Pilots

 

Pop

  1. God Said No, Omar Apollo
  2. Letter to Yu, Bolis Pupul
  3. Right Place, Wrong Person
  4. Grip, Serpentwithfeet
  5. Cosa Nuestra, Rauw Alejandro
  6. The Great Impersonator, Halsey
  7. Britpop, A. G. Cook
  8. Tyla, Tyla
  9. Sincere, Khalid
  10. Shawn, Shawn Mendes

 

Rap/Hip-Hop

  1. Las Letras Ya No Importan, Residente
  2. Chromakopia, Tyler, the Creator
  3. Psykos, Yung Lean & Bladee
  4. Right Place, Wrong Person, RM
  5. Clancy, Twenty One Pilots
  6. GNX, Kendrick Lamar
  7. Por Cesarea, Dillom
  8. Soul Burger, Ab-Soul
  9. Att., Young Miko
  10. Feels Like Home, JessB

 

R&B/Soul

  1. Chromakopia, Tyler, the Creator
  2. What Now, Brittany Howard
  3. God Said No, Omar Apollo
  4. Grip, Serpentwithfeet
  5. Algorithm, Lucky Daye
  6. Room Under the Stairs, Zayn
  7. Songs for Sinners & Saints, Michael & the Mighty Midnight Revival
  8. Tyla, Tyla
  9. Sincere, Khalid
  10. Bando Stone & the New World, Childish Gambino

 

Country

This includes country, country pop, bluegrass, Americana, etc.

  1. Passage du Desir, Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson)
  2. Deeper Well, Kacey Musgraves
  3. Room Under the Stairs, Zayn
  4. Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee
  5. The Past Is Still Alive, Hurray for the Riff Raff
  6. Highway Prayers, Billy Strings
  7. The Border, Willie Nelson
  8. Beautifully Broken, Jelly Roll
  9. The Great American Bar Scene, Zach Bryan
  10. Cowboys and Dreamers, George Strait

 

Electronic

  1. She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, Chelsea Wolfe
  2. Letter to Yu, Bolis Pupul
  3. Britpop, A. G. Cook
  4. Lost in Space, Bass Physics
  5. I Hear You, Peggy Gou
  6. Can You See Me?, Rezz
  7. Pero No Te Enamores, Fuerza Regida
  8. Sophie, Sophie
  9. Breathe In, Armin van Buuren
  10. Fog, Freezepop

 

Heavy

This includes metal, hard rock, hardcore punk, etc.

  1. You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, Knocked Loose
  2. Umbilical, Thou
  3. Second Thoughts, The Old Dead Tree
  4. Obsidian Wreath, Infant Island
  5. Post Mortem, Subway to Sally
  6. Tarantula Heart, Melvins
  7. Post Human: Next Gen, Bring Me the Horizon
  8. Only One Mode, Speed
  9. Negative Spaces, Poppy
  10. Invincible Shield, Judas Priest

 

Warped Tour Style

This includes artists who perform a style of music similar to that found at a Warped Tour, including emo, punk, pop punk, and metalcore.

  1. You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, Knocked Loose
  2. I Want to Disappear, The Story So Far
  3. Saviors, Green Day
  4. Obsidian Wreath, Infant Island
  5. Hole in My Head, Laura Jane Grace
  6. Neck Deep, Neck Deep
  7. Post Human: Next Gen, Bring Me the Horizon
  8. I Lay Down My Life for You, JPEGMafia
  9. Undefeated, Frank Turner
  10. Only One Mode, Speed

 

Albums by “Foreign Language” Artists

This one is loosely defined, and I don’t love the fact that I have this as one category.  There are two ways an album could be included here:  if it is in a foreign language or if it is in a style that is often in a different language (i.e. Latin, K-Pop/J-Pop/C-Pop/P-Pop, Afro-Pop).  I did this because I wanted to include some genres that didn’t have enough albums to break into a separate category.

  1. Las Letras Ya No Importan, Residente
  2. Right Place, Wrong Person, RM
  3. Por Cesarea, Dillom
  4. Cosa Nuestra, Rauw Alejandro
  5. Night Reign, Arooj Aftab
  6. Att., Young Miko
  7. Tyla, Tyla
  8. Mirada, Ivan Cornejo
  9. Pero No Te Enamores, Fuerza Regida
  10. Heis, Rema

 

Eclectic

These albums are those which are either weird musically or are genres that are considered by many (not necessarily me) to be unusual or strange.

  1. Frog in Boiling Water, DIIV
  2. X’s, Cigarettes After Sex
  3. Raw Blue, Whirr
  4. Funeral for Justice, Mdou Moctar
  5. Second Thoughts, The Old Dead Tree
  6. Britpop, A. G. Cook
  7. Obsidian Wreath, Infant Island
  8. All Born Screaming, St. Vincent
  9. Post Mortem, Subway to Sally
  10. Cutouts, The Smile

 

Debut

These are the best debut studio albums.  I considered any artist who released their first studio album, even if they released prior mixtapes or EPs.  I also included debuts for artists involved in other projects previously.

  1. Letter to Yu, Bolis Pupul
  2. Att., Young Miko
  3. Feels Like Home, JessB
  4. Tyla, Tyla
  5. Lost in Space, Bass Physics
  6. I Hear You, Peggy Gou
  7. Lives Outgrown, Beth Gibbons
  8. Only One Mode, Speed
  9. World Wide Whack, Tierra Whack
  10. Devoured by the Mouth of Hell, Heriot

 

Number 1 Albums

These are the top albums that hit number one on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.

  1. Chromakopia, Tyler, the Creator
  2. GNX, Kendrick Lamar
  3. We Don’t Trust You, Metro Boomin & Future
  4. Beautifully Broken, Jelly Roll
  5. Moon Music, Coldplay
  6. We Still Don’t Trust You, Metro Boomin and Future
  7. American Dream, 21 Savage
  8. F-1 Trillion, Post Malone
  9. Cowboy Carter, Beyonce
  10. Eternal Sunshine, Ariana Grande

 

Albums that Didn’t Chart

None of these albums charted on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.

  1. Evergreen, Soccer Mommy
  2. Las Letras Ya No Importan, Residente
  3. Frog in Boiling Water, DIIV
  4. She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, Chelsea Wolfe
  5. What Now, Brittany Howard
  6. Psykos, Yung Lean & Bladee
  7. Raw Blue, Whirr
  8. Come Ahead, Primal Scream
  9. Glasgow Eyes, The Jesus and Mary Chain
  10. Letter to Yu, Bolis Pupul

 

Grammy Nominated

Due to the cutoff, only albums released prior to September 15th were considered.  Only albums that were nominated were considered; albums that weren’t nominated but contain nominated songs were not.

  1. Las Letras Ya No Importan, Residente
  2. What Now, Brittany Howard
  3. Saviors, Green Day
  4. Night Reign, Arooj Aftab
  5. Wild God, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
  6. Deeper Well, Kacey Musgraves
  7. Algorithm, Lucky Daye
  8. Att., Young Miko
  9. All Born Screaming, St. Vincent
  10. Tigers Blood, Waxahatchee

 

Most Surprising

These were albums I did not expect to enjoy as much as I did.  In some cases, it was an artist who doesn’t usually release good music, artists who I don’t like, or artists who I didn’t enjoy some of their recent albums, though in some cases the album just blew me away.

  1. Shawn, Shawn Mendes
  2. Room Under the Stairs, Zayn
  3. Changes All the Time, James Bay
  4. Las Letras Ya No Importan, Residente
  5. Right Place, Wrong Person, RM
  6. Where’s My Utopia?, Yard Act
  7. F-1 Trillion, Post Malone
  8. I Hear You, Peggy Gou
  9. Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, Shaboozey
  10. Psykos, Yung Lean & Bladee

 

Most Disappointing

These were albums that I thought would be better and was surprised by how let down I felt.

  1. Insano, Kid Cudi
  2. The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace), Eminem
  3. Liam Gallagher John Squire, Liam Gallagher & John Squire
  4. Heavy Lifting, MC5
  5. Underdressed at the Symphony, Faye Webster
  6. Ohio Players, The Black Keys
  7. Blue Electric Light, Lenny Kravitz
  8. =1, Deep Purple
  9. From Zero, Linkin Park
  10. Djesse Vol. 4, Jacob Collier

 

Worst Albums

These are ranked where number 1 is the worst and number 10 is…I guess least bad.

  1. Infinite Icon, Paris Hilton
  2. Vultures 2, Kanye West & Ty Dolla Sign
  3. Popular Monster, Falling in Reverse
  4. Vultures 1, Kanye West & Ty Dolla Sign
  5. Insano, Kid Cudi
  6. Timeless, Meghan Trainor
  7. Loom, Imagine Dragons
  8. Y2K!, Ice Spice
  9. 143, Katy Perry
  10. Am I Okay?, Megan Moroney

 

  

What were some of your favorite albums of the year?  Any you disagree with my grade on?  Let me know in the comments!

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