In case you missed it: these are the albums that refused to leave my head, and occasionally punched me straight in the soul…throughout 2025, gathered in one place for those who asked (and those who were curious).

Endless gratitude to my wife, daughter, and dog for patiently enduring a near-constant musical backdrop about 16 hours a day…while we lived our lives. I try to keep my ears open: truly great music exists in every era, even if it takes some digging. The search is part of the joy, and SiriusXM, Tidal, and Apple Music make it easier.

If your listening habits are still mostly anchored to your high school years (no judgment…plenty of that stuff still holds up), consider this a gentle reminder that there’s a lot of excellent new music out there. It just takes a little curiosity.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic 2026. Let me know which albums hit you hardest this year, and if I helped you discover something new you ended up loving, that’s one of my favorite outcomes!

Share the music and support the artists!

Favorite albums of 2025 (1 - 30)

*Artist - Album: Favorite Track (blurb)*

1. Thrice - Horizons/West: Vesper Light (balances intensity with reflection)

2. Deftones - private music: souvenir (heavy riffs, dreamy atmospheres, and emotional depth)

3. The Starting Line - Eternal Youth: Sense of Humor (comeback that feels both nostalgic and refreshingly new)

4. Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party: Whim (raw, fearless, and genre‑bending)

5. Coheed and Cambria - The Father of Make Believe: The Continuum (Parts I–IV) (It’s grand, melodic, and packed with hooks)

6. Military Gun - God Save The Gun: Kick (punchy, melodic blast of post-hardcore attitude)

7. Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy: You Need To Shine (fiery reminder that a punk legend’s edge doesn’t fade with age)

8. B. Hamilton - B. Hamilton: Downey (intimate, melancholic, and haunting)

9. Biffy Clyro - Futique: Two People In Love (punchy riffs, soaring anthems, and heartfelt songwriting)

10. AFI - Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… Holy Visions (Dark, bold, and sleek, it’s AFI reinvented for 2025)

11. Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH: BIRDS (pushes hardcore into brighter, hookier territory)

12. Geese - Getting Killed: Taxes (chaotic, fearless art‑punk ride)

13. The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie: Take (bright melodies, introspective, and compelling)

14. Jason Isbell - Foxes in the Snow: Don’t Be Tough (strips everything down to voice, guitar, and raw honesty)

15. Yellowcard - Better Days: Love Letters Lost (polished, energetic comeback)

16. L.S. Dunes - Violet: Violet (post-hardcore grit with soaring melodies)

17. Viagra Boys - viagr aboys: Best In Show pt. IV (chaotic, hilarious, and biting post-punk romp)

18. Aesop Rock - Black Hole Superette: So Be It (turns everyday life into surreal, poetic vignettes)

19. Mogwai - The Bad Fire: Hi Chaos (atmospheric post-rock album, blending haunting melodies)

20. Shiner - BELIEVEYOUME: Endless Summer (moody riffs, tense grooves, and raw energy)

21. 84 Tigers - Nothing Ends: Two Rivers (melodic post-hardcore with gut-punching lyrics)

22. Pup - Who Will Look After The Dogs?: Needed To Hear It (heartfelt reflections on heartbreak and growing up)

23. Pile - Sunshine and Balance Beams: Meanwhile Outside (chaotic post-hardcore energy with cinematic textures)

24. Town Portal - Grindwork: Heart’s Content (immersive instrumental mix of post‑rock and math‑rock)

25. Museum Of Light - Diviner: Diviner (dense heavy doom and ethereal post-metal)

26. Between The Buried and Me - The Blue Nowhere: Absent Thereafter (71-minute prog‑metal journey)

27. Hundredth - Faded Splendor: Blur (hazy, restrained, and built on slow-burn emotion)

28. Downward - Downward (2): Perfect Food (heavy haze of shoe-gaze and emo)

29. Plosivs - YELL AT CLOUD: Falls Equivalency (forged amid an arctic storm)

30. Blood Vulture - Die Close: Entwined (comedy-metal host by day, shred lord by night)