THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2024

 Here is the one you have all waited for! I mean okay, I know people were actually waiting for me daring to trash Beyonce. But I hope I can persuade you just a touch of some releases to add to your library. 

I will start with The Last Dinner Party's "Prelude to Ecstasy". This outfit has a bit of a Pretenders vibe, so I am naturally interested. You might have heard Nothing Matters on the radio, but the album itself remains cohesive and attractive. I do not think they have done something particularly new to the feminine rock scene, but it certainly touches enough homages that it sat well with me.

I had never listened to Chelsea Wolfe until a playlist had one of her songs from the new release "She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She" and frankly I think I have a thing for dark pop and also a touch for ethereal types of releases. Chelsea found a way to captivate both sides of the more electronic things I like. This release front to back envelopes you in the cloudy doom it offers. If her inspirations being Depeche Mode and Smashing Pumpkins does not attract you to this electronic-goth-dark styling, then please let me be the one to say it is worth your time to get lost into. 

Do you like Melanie Martinez, angry feminine rage, and attitude? Then you need to try Jazmin Bean. They have a special place for being one of the rather...weird people I have found. But some of the best artists are very strange. Bean is no short of strange but makes up for all eccentricity with this great album "Traumatic Livelihood". If you have ever been taken advantage of and need an outlet for those pains, this is the album to play. Take it to one of those break everything rooms. It will definitely get you going. Better yet? Manages to evoke all of this with a good beat and some catchy hooks.

I am not the biggest Ariana Grande fan. I like the hits, and a couple of albums for being very catchy. I did not expect to enjoy Eternal Sunshine as much as I did. It is better heard as a whole piece. The songs go well together and definitely touch on the loss of the first and the slow move to the second. Whether you agree or disagree with her patterns here, the album is worth a try.

Do you feel like you are having an existential crisis and need to touch grass more and hang out with some bunnies? Like you wasted your youth and got a divorce and are afraid to ever love again? Well look no further. Kacey Musgraves Deeper Well was made for many facets of pain, loss, and learning to embrace life yet again. It is a bit of a broody listen compared to her more cocky and upbeat numbers, so do not go into this looking for her typical snark. 

Poppy continues a shift toward the metal side, but went in a more Bad Omens and Spiritbox direction mixed with some poppier lifts. I love how Negative Spaces feels like a perfect reconnect with the old Poppy and the new shift. Also this girl can seriously scream. I have loved the Poppy rocker era and will be sticking around.

Halsey's The Great Impersonator is a hard listen. Not in a bad way, but a very heavy listen. It is worth taking at least one listen to. Some of the songs cut very deep in capturing the hopelessness felt during chronic illnesses. It did not filter the experience at all. Sometimes the album suffers from being too on the nose to her specific life experience - but it does not make it any less of an artistic endeavor. 

Okay this is my list and I do what I want with it. I say this because sometimes, you like something you know is honestly just. Not the greatest thing. But I really do not know what the audience expected as a return to form for Katy Perry. It was raked over the coals and roasted to oblivion for being...a KATY PERRY album! Teenage Dream and Prism did NOT have better lyricism, stop lying to yourselves. Katy made another great catchy pop release. 143 is great if you like catchy Katy Perry tunes with a europop idea behind them. I absolutely recommend it for a fun listen.

I feel like everyone has forgotten London Grammar exists, but I have a soft spot for them. Their vocalist reminds me a lot of Birdy who I also love. California Soil had gone in a bit different direction which I think some found too pop of center. I think "The Greatest Love" found the balance that was thought to be lost. It definitely touches back to their earlier abilities while using some of the upbeat sensibilities. Plus, I do love the lyrical emotion in this release.

Gettting back to fun pop, Sabrina Carpenter really took the year. Frankly, I loved her first release that was much...disney clean cute. I have not liked a whole Sabrina album since this release...until now. Okay, Short n' Sweet really does not say a lot. But it has all the sass, fun, and spunk you will need for more than a 15 minute cycle. Need to cry over thinking you can fix him again? Lie to Girls is there. Mad your boy ruined the family dinner? Please Please Please is a good booster. Feel like you were so dumb to believe this dude? Rake him over the coals with Dumb & Poetic. Seriously, this is your jam this year.

I am not a big rap person, but I give it the dues it deserves. So we need to discuss Eminem this year. He found a way to discuss growth, reconnect with his past and not deny where he has been, and be funny and catchy all at once. The Death of Slim Shady really deserves the flowers in more ways than one. I hope he enjoys being a grandpa.

AURORA has quickly risen in my ranks over and over, to the point she is likely musically on par with Taylor Swift for me. Albeit, very opposite artists in work. What Happened to the Heart? is an adventure into grief, anger, and feeling lost in a complicated universe. It captures pain and frustrations of being human in an imperfect world where we all just cannot stop hurting each other. I dare say this release is my album of the year. Nothing has made me return more this year. 

I was honestly not the biggest fan of the Marias Cinema. I loved Hush, but kind of forgot the rest. Submarine takes a quite different approach and it fit them perfectly. It is so lush on the production and so easy to get lost in every song. And if you need some substance, you can listen closer. Definitely worth the time. There is a sophomore incline here.

Twenty One Pilots wanted to close the DEMA world with Clancy, and they did this in an amazing way. This album felt completely new yet completely familiar all the same. Their music has been so powerful for many who struggle with their mind being their enemy - and the triumphs and struggles still exist here. It ends truly how it is, you learn to survive and go on despite those demons never leaving your mind. As with most of their work, it is quite conceptual and better listened to as a full body of work. Perfection for the vinyl listener.

Billie Eilish dropped Hit Me Hard and Soft, and frankly, it did hit me hard and soft. I was surprised by the growth of production. It felt like a perfect child of her first and second album. There was lyrical and production growth. The album is a great artistic piece. I am surprised how much she has grown on me compared to the beginning. 

I must close with a final word...The Tortured Poets Department. What an adventure. On one hand, the personal Taylor Swift lore behind the entire album left me laughing. I mean, all the notes suggested we would finally figure out her and Joe's breakup. Instead the central focus of the album is a rich sort of honesty. Taylor Swift got ghosted and it deflated her world. Most songs center on dragging this ghost through the mud in every shape. It feels partly confessional to at minimum some emotional cheating and other Anthology songs touch on her tendency to "bolt" in a different level. Counting every anthology track too, this album holds some of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard Taylor sing, yet some of the most beautiful and profound ones. And truly this messiness is what endears me to this album. This level of full honest mess has been unfound since her early Speak Now to Red eras. It is sorely missed in her trying too hard to kiss the hand of the audience. I will gladly take this over Lover any day. 

I hope you guys found some amazing new gems this year also...