THE WORST ALBUMS OF 2025

 Ah yes...the one you all wait for. Every year, I send a short-hand diabolical roast to multiple musicians. I must first remind you these are all merely opinions. This is my idea of good and bad. If you like these albums, great. I don't. That is okay too. There's music for everyone - and this music just is not for me. 

And I am going to start with Teddy Swims. As if it was not bad enough to have a part one, there's a part two to I've Tried Everything but Therapy. And after you have to hear this endlessly on the radio and one hundred think pieces on what color the man singing is - you might need therapy too. 

I thought we left Tyga back in rack city, where the worst of the 2010s exist. Unfortunately, he tried to come back. Thankfully, most people have left him behind and this did not seem to gather much attention. NSFW, more like NSFL (Not Safe for Listening).

Speaking of lost arts...I want to love Alessia Cara. I really do. Her debut album still has my heart. However, I've failed to like anything since Know-It-All released. Her albums get more and more dull, more boring, with less delivery. Love & Hyperbole is missing all the passion needed to make a title like that work.

You know, I actually really loved the alt folksy "footstomp" timeframe of when the Lumineers came to be. Somehow this became Noah Kahan and I am disappointed. In the same way, I am disappointed in whatever odd effort this new Lumineers record is. They just have failed to capture my attention since Cleopatra. Maybe I'm the asshole. We will never know.

Spiritbox was really the hottest new thing. Their last two releases really caught my attention. Then they threw me for a loop with Tsunami Sea. They returned to more screamo and took a lot of the softness out, but lacked what felt special about them. I can't say anything about this release was particularly memorable. 

I am liberating myself from ZZ Ward. I loved some of her earlier work but she has failed to keep a positive impression with me. Liberation carries on the regular trends of the year: some karoake level releases. I say this to state that the lack of emotional delivery coming from music today is getting on my nerves. Not just her, but so many artists just...do not sing like they mean it. 

I will throw Japanese Breakfast in here to continue this rant. Somehow being raw and emotional has subjected us to dry singing. Yes, dry. I mean why I have never been able to enjoy Boygenius or their solo musicians. They sing these terribly sad, gut-punching lyrics with the laziest stylings. They sound like they were pained just to get there and mumble some words. It might actually harm them to sing with some real emotion, instead of just sounding like they are bored reciting a textbook. I am a sad melancholy brunette at having to hear this become the trend.

I normally enjoy Selena Gomez, and I am happy she found a man she truly loves and cherishes. This collaborative album is probably the least interesting thing her and Benny have ever done with their careers. I Said I Love You First is...missing the magical essence that keeps you coming back. 

If Djo had not been famous on Stranger Things, would we actually care about his basic music? I don't know, but I do know listening to this album front to back was a form of suffering. The crux? Bizarre instrumental choices with subpar vocals.

I have no idea what makes Jane Remover have such a cult following, but Revengeseekerz is one of the worst things I ever attempted to listen to. I know hyperpop is the trend and everyone's trying to invent something new, but this is just frankly...noise. 

I am concerned for my generation. This is my one moment to state it, after being part of a giant listening event with a giant banner and a lead singer that declares himself a sort of antipope. Ghost sounds like a bizarre 80s cover band trying to rediscover the Satanic Panic. Of all the things you could pick up on and appreciate from the era, maybe we should leave Satanized back there. It is a shame they choose this sort of imagery, because they are not exactly NOT talented...but I could also turn on a Boston record and feel the similar great guitar riffs without questioning the status of my soul after playing it. 

Gigi Perez is truly the strangest thing to come out of 2025. A song on the radio that sounds so poorly produced, like it was truly from a bedroom. Yet...she barely sounds like it live? This really does not have a lot going for it. I am not saying this because it is LGBT+ either - I love tons of music from LGBT+ people, I just don't find the love in this. 

I usually love Aly & AJ, but I just don't know how to take their...countryish era. Silver Deliverer is just terribly boring. Dull. Missing all the life and spunk of their earlier efforts. I miss when music had real feeling and wasn't just there. You can play this easily in the background and not remember a note later.

I am glad Morgan Wallen finally declared he is the problem, I just wish he realized that adding autotune to country twang is a bigger offense. Somehow adding on Tate McRae made it worse. A mismatch made to torment me. 

After hearing Joe Jonas tell me this album is for people who believe in love, I am okay with being perpetually single. Frankly, none of the Jonas Brothers have managed to impress me solo, let alone whatever they have been making with their comeback....

I was really hoping to hear something beautiful today, but unfortunately I accidentally turned on the mess of a new Miley Cyrus album. Sometimes, changing your genre every season is not how you keep a fanbase.

I really wanted to like Kesha's first independent effort. Period was ramping up to be such a comeback...the album ended up a mess. It does not know what it is. Somewhere between club/hyperpop and...a reheating of her previous success. She tried so hard to recreate fun Kesha of Warrior and Animal that the album fell very flat, and did not feel as free. 

If Justin Bieber's Swag left you disappointed, lost, and confused why it is so long, do not fear. He pulled a full Taylor and released Swag II, now you have DOUBLE the disappointment and confusion!

Speaking of Taylor Swift...she might have girlbossed too close to the sun. The Life of a Showgirl forgot the premise entirely. It is a terribly mixed bag of something where it sounded like she was trying to be meaningful in places, but she is so far out of touch with reality she couldn't reach the ground. I am certainly glad to not be one of the fans who preordered every variant, because most of these are going to end up in a dumpster. 

Jessie Murph did not give me Sex Hysteria, but she did give me the devoted intention to never play this again. 

A lot of pop/punk and emo-pop bands of my era have been attempting to make their comebacks. Many have trialed and errored, but none quite as badly as whatever the hell this new Good Charlotte album is. 

Americana is indeed lost in the cliches of me putting another Machine Gun Kelly failure on my list. 

Love is Like when you finally get to turn off the latest Maroon 5 album. Usually, I can find maybe one song to redeem an otherwise failing band. I failed to even find that tiny thin thread of hope in this one. Adam Levine needs to hang it up. 

My wet hot American dream did not include Ava Max this year. I normally love her. I would go to bat for her pop prowess and ability to perform. This album just missed the mark so terribly. 

Speaking of missing the mark something terrible...Ed Sheeran actually disappointed me. Play was adventurous, a bit daring for him, but too chaotic for enjoyment.

I don't know who exactly the drama is, but I know this new Cardi B album was not at all worth the wait. It was a mess, too long, and she missed her moment to shine. 

I close this with perhaps a plea. Listening to music should be enjoyable. Fun. It is not a way to show your sophistication, or a "I am better and deeper than you" mentality. We should stop gatekeeping people from enjoying regular music. When you shame people for listening to "average" music, we get the absolute mess that is taking the world by storm. Someone explain it to me. I seriously do not get it. Getting Killed by Geese. It have received acclaim everywhere. I played it. Sounds like a horrible dissonant mess to me. It sounds like music for people who are trying to be different - just to say look at how deep the music I listen to is! It is okay. You can admit Geese isn't that good and that you just told Alexa to play the latest top 40 hit. No one is going to hurt you. 

That concludes my year end rant of disappointing music. I unfortunately cannot get my time back that I wasted playing these - but maybe I can spare you the regret of music remorse!