Here are our all of our favorite albums of 2025. This is the year end review, all in one place.
Below are our picks for RtBE's favorite albums of the year. It starts with our honorable mentions then moves into our top ten albums of the year. There is a short blurb about the album and a song from it, click on the title to read our full review of the selected records. The focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen to all the way through.
We also took some time to discuss our favorite album artwork, our favorite archive/live album releases and favorite live shows from the year if you are interested.
Thanks for reading. Until next year....
Last year was a dynamite year for records, as our year end review stated. This year, seemed less chockfull of goodness. It was a down year to these ears on the full album front.
That just seems to be the natural flow to things recently, a year we really enjoy like 2024 and ones that are just OK like 2022 or this year. That said, all of the albums below are worth your time and hard earned money.
Honorable Mentions:
(In no particular order)
From Jelly Roll Morton to Professor Longhair to James Booker to Allen Toussaint to Dr. John, Roussel absorbs influences from each, but continues to craft his own style. For Church of New Orleans, Roussel had help from a host of hometown players as he moves through jazz, funk, rock, gospel and more.
The 22nd entry into the Jazz Is Dead series is a winner. The Afrobeat legend Taylor and his son Henry along with Younge Muhammad and everyone involved put out a really cool listen. The cool upbeat, brief for Afrobeat, offerings work as the legendary Taylor at 89 still can put out some inspiring music.
The partnership between Ale Hop (Peruvian electronic musician and researcher Alejandra Cárdena) and Congolese guitarist Titi Bakorta is a very interesting mix of cultures, sounds and styles as the music bounces, shakes and shimmies down a new path of Peruvian/African rhythms. Mapambazuko is a wild ride and one very much worth taking.
We already mentioned the cool art work on this one, but we need to also praise the music inside. This solo project from Bobby Cole (THE ANNIHILATED, Brainrotter Records) is RtBE's favorite hardcore/punk album of 2026.
On Fish's recent albums, Faster and Kill or Be Kind, as well as her duet album with Jesse Dayton, Death Wish Blues, Fish pushed her sound towards more modern pop flourishes with neon tinged buzzing and hip-hop collabs. While the pop sheen is not completely removed from Paper Doll, it is incredibly toned down as Fish focuses on classic rock touch points and hill country blues. In a way this is a retro record for Fish, returning more to her blues/rock roots with confidence.
As the title suggests, the 89 year old legend Buddy Guy has more blues to give on his fine new album Ain't Done With the Blues. Guy sounds strong on both guitar and vocals as he hooks up with a host of friends, but this is not a duet album, Guy commands the stage.
The newest offering from singer/songwriter S.G. Goodman, Planting Signs, looks deep into her home territory of Western Kentucky with a collection of weepy folk/American tunes. Goodman mixes story songs, sweet love offerings and tunes of sadness as she mourns the passing of time and friends.
Flashes of Paul Simon, John Mellancamp and Billy Joel are sprinkled over Dunne's Clams Casino. That connection can be felt in Brian Dunne's pop sensibilities, a throwback to when everyone sang the same songs off the radio. Even in these splintered times Clams Casino works with solid sounds, questioning lyrics and an urgent author.
Top Ten:
Released on the 20th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Second Line Sunday is an excellent album that captures the New Orleans tradition of social aid & pleasure clubs Second Line Sunday's. Crisp, flowing brass, great percussion, head bopping grooves and some Mardi Gras Indian chants for good measure. A great album to experience brass bands from the musical heart of America.
The twin sisters, Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) and Allison Crutchfield (Swearin') partnered up with MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook to form Snocaps. Perhaps it is the zero hyped surprise release, or the lower stakes of all artists already being well established but when the debut wraps up on Snocaps there is a fresh sense of joy. The palpable feeling of four friends getting together to just make music is what in the end is the best part of Snocaps debut.
On the opening song, titled "Whatever", off the debut full length Bayou Moonlight from Jeffery Broussard & The Nighttime Syndicate, Broussard sings the phrase "Sit back relax and pour yourself a cup of coffee or whatever, and listen to the great great sounds of zydeco...or whatever". That final 'whatever' is doing a lot of heavy lifting as the outfit have combined to craft an intoxicating mix of blues, soul, Jamaican ska, jazz, swing, gospel, and zydeco, that simply cooks.
RtBE's favorite heavy album of the year, as the band ditched the more alt-rock sound of their last record (which was on our Let Down list) for their metal roots. Who knows where Deafheaven goes next in their sonic travels, but a return to what they do stunningly well grounds them for the moment with the supremely successful Lonely People With Power.
The newest offering from the Brooklyn-based rock outfit Hotline TNT is a throwback to the buzzy grunge era of 90s indie/alt heyday; however, things never stagnate as they sprinkle in exciting accents and pop-like appeal to keep the ear engaged. Raspberry Moon on Third Man Records finds Hotline TNT unlocking buzzingly beautiful guitar rock that washes shimmering tones in all directions as the band seems to be truly coming into their own.
On their breakout album Rat Saw God, the Asheville, North Carolina based band Wednesday mixed loud feedback with pedal steel creating a "country-gaze" style that was exciting. On their follow-up, Bleeds, they shift gears again, not abandoning their country side, but pushing it more into the background in favor of alt-rock, punk and hardcore. This band feels vibrant, alive and ready to try anything on the successfully weird record.
The third album from the Brooklyn based outfit Geese is an enchanting mix of freak out sounds with an underlining groove that holds Getting Killed together. The art-rock outfit push, pull, and warp things over eleven thought provoking, yet still danceable efforts on this breakout offering.
RtBE keeps live albums in their own separate area, but there is no denying how much we love this record. It was the album released in 2025 that we definitely played the most, so we had to give it props on our year end review. Pop delivers the hits: a few deeper cuts and a host of heavy metal meets jazz/soul numbers that rip and roar. While Iggy is great (more than great considering his age), the real stars are the backing band who twist the songs in new directions.
The group manages to convey the punk angst that drove Pop’s youth, the spacey zoned out feelings of his solo career and a new hybrid of soul horns and grinding metal that somehow works magically throughout this live capturing.
This is a great album that really feels like a classic Allen Toussaint produced soul/funk standout from the '60's. The recording sounds pristine, Thomas sings as glorious as ever, Galactic are tight yet funky and the modern protest lyrics hit home.
Here are a few tunes from RtBE's favorite album of 2025:
RtBE Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2025:
How did we do? Feel free to add your favorites in the comments.
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