One band absolutely dominated the hardcore conversation this year, and they did it by working way, way harder than anyone else. Affable Boston bruisers Haywire spent 2025 playing sweaty, cathartic, ...

I really thought there'd be more consensus this year around the best songs and albums. But if you spend any time with all the different lists dropping everywhere, you'll find they're all over the ...

It usually only takes an instant to recognize the sound Mary Halvorson gets out of her hollow-body guitar: percussive but pliable, with the odd subversive wobble. Her voice as a composer and ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Piling on, stripping down, looking back, pushing ahead: Musicians found all sorts of uses for the album form this ...

The Korean pop outsider Effie and the Brooklyn indie-rock band Geese top our critics’ lists this year. By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Caramanica Musicians know how to make music, and they ...

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press has selected its 10 best albums of the year, presented in no particular order and with a legend describing who might particularly enjoy them, in the vein of our ...

The best albums of 2025 spanned seismic rage rap, intricate guitar music, protest folk, spacey dream pop, and laptop twee. A virtuoso of experimental electronic music re-emerged, a Brooklyn band ...

As classic rock finds new ways to expand in the 21st century, the artists whose careers stretch back half a century or more continue to grow, too. As the list below of the Top 20 Rock Albums of 2025 ...

I joined Paste in 2023 and, in my tenure as editor, this year’s AOTY list is my favorite by far. The publication has been doling out these rankings since 2002, affixing an “Album of the Year” ribbon ...

Celebrating great releases from FKA Twigs, Wednesday, Sabrina Carpenter, Tyler, the Creator, and more Because, all things considered, this year has been very kind to music fans. When it comes to ...

Earlier this year, my colleague and bud Kelefa Sanneh suggested that music critics, as a lot, have gone soft—becoming submissive, overly agreeable, and, in some cases, nearly servile. He’s right, of ...