Year-End Lists

Pazz & Jop: Top 100 Albums of 2018 (an annual poll of hundreds of critics, published, perhaps for the last time, by The Village Voice)

[see also 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Golden Hour
   Kacey Musgraves
2. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
3. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
3. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
5. Honey
   Robyn
6. Daytona
   Pusha T
7. Room 25
   Noname
8. Double Negative
   Low
9. Wide Awake!
   Parquet Courts
10. Historian
    Lucy Dacus
11. What a Time to Be Alive
    Superchunk
12. Hell-On
    Neko Case
13. Clean
    Soccer Mommy
14. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
    The 1975
15. Interstate Gospel
    Pistol Annies
16. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
17. El Mal Querer
    Rosalía
18. The Tree of Forgiveness
    John Prine
19. Chris
    Christine and the Queens
19. Lush
    Snail Mail
21. Heaven and Earth
    Kamasi Washington
22. Universal Beings
    Makaya McCraven
23. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths
23. Isolation
    Kali Uchis
25. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
26. boygenius
    boygenius
27. Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By
    Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA
28. 7
    Beach House
29. Whack World
    Tierra Whack
30. Record
    Tracey Thorn
31. Sweetener
    Ariana Grande
32. Some Rap Songs
    Earl Sweatshirt
33. By The Way, I Forgive You
    Brandi Carlile
33. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
35. Joy as an Act of Resistance
    Idles
36. Your Queen Is a Reptile
    Sons of Kemet
37. Ventriloquism
    Meshell Ndegeocello
38. Knock Knock
    DJ Koze
39. Con Todo El Mundo
    Khruangbin
40. God’s Favorite Customer
    Father John Misty
41. ASTROWORLD
    Travis Scott
42. The Sciences
    Sleep
43. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
44. Hope Downs
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
45. Look Now
    Elvis Costello & The Imposters
46. Freedom
    Amen Dunes
47. Bottle It In
    Kurt Vile
48. Aviary
    Julia Holter
49. Safe in the Hands of Love
    Yves Tumor
50. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
50. Ephorize
    cupcakKe
50. Things Have Changed
    Bettye LaVette
53. 2012-2017
    Against All Logic
53. There’s a Riot Going On
    Yo La Tengo
55. Care for Me
    Saba
56. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
57. Sparkle Hard
    Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
57. LONER
    Caroline Rose
59. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
    Deafheaven
60. Hive Mind
    The Internet
61. The Terror End of Beauty
    Harriet Tubman
62. Girl Going Nowhere
    Ashley McBryde
62. Superorganism
    Superorganism
64. Nearer My God
    Foxing
65. And Nothing Hurt
    Spiritualized
66. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
66. Cocoa Sugar
    Young Fathers
68. Age Of
    Oneohtrix Point Never
69. American Utopia
    David Byrne
69. Constant Image
    Flasher
71. Broken Politics
    Neneh Cherry
72. May Your Kindness Remain
    Courtney Marie Andrews
72. Love Is Dead
    Chvrches
72. Kids See Ghosts
    Kids See Ghosts
75. Twin Fantasy
    Car Seat Headrest
75. Negative Capability
    Marianne Faithfull
75. The Future and the Past
    Natalie Prass
75. Songs of Praise
    Shame
79. The Old Guys
    Amy Rigby
80. Post-
    Jeff Rosenstock
81. The Horizon Just Laughed
    Damien Jurado
82. Scorpion
    Drake
83. Now Only
    Mount Eerie
84. WARM
    Jeff Tweedy
85. Caution
    Mariah Carey
86. I’m All Ears
    Let’s Eat Grandma
87. Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
    Jeremy Dutcher
87. Emanon
    Wayne Shorter
89. To the Sunset
    Amanda Shires
89. FM!
    Vince Staples
91. Love Yourself 轉 'Tear'
    BTS
91. Wanderer
    Cat Power
91. Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
    John Coltrane
91. Rebound
    Eleanor Friedberger
95. Rifles and Rosary Beads
    Mary Gauthier
95. soil
    serpentwithfeet
95. Boarding House Reach
    Jack White
98. Lost & Found
    Jorja Smith
99. How to Socialise & Make Friends
    Camp Cope
99. Prequelle
    Ghost
99. I can feel you creep into my private life
    Tune-Yards

Robert Christgau: Dean's List 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2012]

1. Room 25
   Noname
2. Thelonious Sphere Monk
   Mas-T
3. Things Have Changed
   Bettye LaVette
4. Wide Awake!
   Parquet Courts
5. Interstate Gospel
   Pistol Annies
6. Life Ain't That Long
   Rich Krueger
7. The Night Guy at the Apocalypse Profiles of a Rushing Midnight
   Hamell On Trial
8. Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By
   Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA
9. Whack World
   Tierra Whack
10. Invasion of Privacy
    Cardi B
11. Now Only
    Mount Eerie
12. What a Time to Be Alive
    Superchunk
13. Daytona
    Pusha T
14. Nowthen
    Rich Krueger
15. Rock and Roll Just Can't Recall + 3
    The Paranoid Style
16. Don't You Feel My Leg (The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker)
    Maria Muldaur
17. Last Man Standing
    Willie Nelson
18. Foreign Ororo
    Riton & Kah-Lo
19. Transangelic Exodus
    Ezra Furman
20. Getting Better
    Wussy
21. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
22. Deus É Mulher
    Elza Soares
23. The Old Guys
    Amy Rigby
24. It Is Twice Blessed
    The Mekons 77
25. To the Sunset
    Amanda Shires
26. I can feel you creep into my private life
    Tune-Yards
27. What Heaven is Like
    Wussy
28. Snares Like a Haircut
    No Age
29. I Don't Run
    Hinds
30. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
31. Forever Ago
    John Kruth & La Società dei Musici
32. Raxas Bercy 2017
    Youssou N'Dour
33. Rifles and Rosary Beads
    Mary Gauthier
34. Your Queen Is a Reptile
    Sons of Kemet
35. Purgatory
    Tyler Childers
36. Superorganism
    Superorganism
37. Baylor Swift
    Bali Baby
38. The Tree of Forgiveness
    John Prine
39. On Air
    The Rolling Stones
40. Routes
    Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba
41. The Prodigal Son
    Ry Cooder
42. Fast & Frightening
    L7
43. Clean
    Soccer Mommy
44. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
45. Giants
    Methodist Hospital
46. We’re Not Talking
    The Goon Sax
47. United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas
    Wynton Marsalis Septet
48. Drogas Wave
    Lupe Fiasco
49. Twerp Verse
    Speedy Ortiz
50. Listening To Pictures (Pentimento, Vol. One)
    Jon Hassell
51. Humble Pi
    Homeboy Sandman & Edan
52. Undesirable
    Becky Warren
53. Record
    Tracey Thorn
54. Ephorize
    cupcakKe
55. Hive Mind
    The Internet
56. Guatemaya
    Doctor Nativo
57. Temet
    Imarhan
58. Sorry to Bother You
    The Coup
59. Quarter Past Tonight
    Chicago Farmer
60. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
61. Tantabara
    Tal National
62. Quite a Life
    Lyrics Born
63. Laila’s Wisdom
    Rapsody
64. I'm Not Here To Hunt Rabbits
    various artists
65. Remastered Collection
    Blue Lu Barker
66. Joy as an Act of Resistance
    Idles
67. Vessel
    Frankie Cosmos
68. Strange Conversation
    Mandy Barnett
69. In the Blue Light
    Paul Simon
70. What Happens When I Try to Relax
    Open Mike Eagle
71. There’s a Riot Going On
    Yo La Tengo
72. Shadowbox
    Beats Antique
73. Acrylic
    Leikeli47
74. A Laughing Death in Meatspace
    Tropical Fuck Storm
75. Plunge
    Fever Ray
76. Grow a Pair!!!
    Jinx lennon
77. Construction Time & Demolition
    Wreckless Eric
78. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
79. Les liaisons dangereuses 1960
    Thelonious Monk
80. Twin Fantasy
    Car Seat Headrest
81. Maxi-Single
    AD the Voice
82. Kids See Ghosts
    Kids See Ghosts
83. The Official Body
    Shopping

Magnet Magazine: Top 25 Albums of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. We're Your Friends, Man
   The Bevis Frond
2. Future Me Hates Me
   The Beths
3. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
4. Hope Downs
   Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
5. Record
   Tracey Thorn
6. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
   Hop Along
7. Tell Me How You Really Feel
   Courtney Barnett
8. Heaven and Earth
   Kamasi Washington
9. The Old Guys
   Amy Rigby
10. All At Once
    Screaming Females
11. Let Night Come On Bells End the Day
    Sarah Davachi
12. Space Gun
    Guided By Voices
13. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
14. Honey
    Robyn
15. What a Time to Be Alive
    Superchunk
16. Cocoa Sugar
    Young Fathers
17. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
18. The Hex
    Richard Swift
19. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves
20. Bottle It In
    Kurt Vile
21. Remain in Light
    Angélique Kidjo
22. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
23. Ruins
    First Aid Kit
24. Loma
    Loma
25. Historian
    Lucy Dacus

Uproxx Music Critics Poll: Best Albums of 2018, a survey of nearly 200 music critics

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

1. Golden Hour
   Kacey Musgraves
2. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
3. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
4. Daytona
   Pusha T
5. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
6. Historian
   Lucy Dacus
7. Sweetener
   Ariana Grande
8. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
   The 1975
9. boygenius
   boygenius
10. Room 25
    Noname
11. ASTROWORLD
    Travis Scott
12. Lush
    Snail Mail
13. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
14. Honey
    Robyn
15. 7
    Beach House
16. Nearer My God
    Foxing
17. Double Negative
    Low
18. Interstate Gospel
    Pistol Annies
19. Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By
    Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA
20. Clean
    Soccer Mommy
21. Wide Awake!
    Parquet Courts
22. Isolation
    Kali Uchis
23. Heaven and Earth
    Kamasi Washington
24. Care for Me
    Saba
25. Some Rap Songs
    Earl Sweatshirt
26. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
27. Knock Knock
    DJ Koze
28. Hell-On
    Neko Case
29. What a Time to Be Alive
    Superchunk
30. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
31. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths
32. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
33. God’s Favorite Customer
    Father John Misty
34. The Tree of Forgiveness
    John Prine
35. Everything Is Love
    The Carters
36. Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
    Jeremy Dutcher
37. 2012-2017
    Against All Logic
38. Your Queen Is a Reptile
    Sons of Kemet
39. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
40. Whack World
    Tierra Whack
41. soil
    serpentwithfeet
42. Safe in the Hands of Love
    Yves Tumor
43. Chris
    Christine and the Queens
44. Age Of
    Oneohtrix Point Never
45. To the Sunset
    Amanda Shires
46. Girl Going Nowhere
    Ashley McBryde
47. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
    Deafheaven
48. Post-
    Jeff Rosenstock
49. Yolk in the Fur
    Wild Pink
50. Our Raw Heart
    YOB

Pretty Much Amazing: Best Albums of 2018

[see also 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Daytona
   Pusha T
2. Honey
   Robyn
3. 2012-2017
   Against All Logic
4. Isolation
   Kali Uchis
5. 7
   Beach House
6. El Mal Querer
   Rosalía
7. Knock Knock
   DJ Koze
8. Chris
   Christine and the Queens
9. Twin Fantasy
   Car Seat Headrest
10. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
11. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
12. Lush
    Snail Mail
13. Last Man Standing
    Willie Nelson
14. Kids See Ghosts
    Kids See Ghosts
15. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
16. When My Heart Felt Volcanic
    The Aces
17. Some Rap Songs
    Earl Sweatshirt
18. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves
19. Virtue
    The Voidz
20. Cocoa Sugar
    Young Fathers
21. Invasion of Privacy
    Cardi B
22. Crumbling
    Mid-Air Thief
23. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
24. More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14
    Bob Dylan
25. Brol
    Angèle

Clémence Polès: Top Ten Albums of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2019]

1. Age Of
   Oneohtrix Point Never
2. Devotion
   Tirzah
3. Above All Dreams
   Abul Mogard
4. The Dream My Bones Dream
   Eiko Ishibashi
5. NASIR
   Nas
6. Negro Swan
   Blood Orange
7. Heroes
   Retro X
8. Some Rap Songs
   Earl Sweatshirt
9. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
10. Way Through Vulnerability
    Liberez

Notable mentions

• Gave In Rest
  Sarah Davachi
• Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
  Sophie
• Hundreds of Days
  Mary Lattimore
• Kite
  Gigi Masin

The Daily Beast: Top 10 Albums of 2018

[see also 2017]

1. Sweetener
   Ariana Grande
2. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
3. Daytona
   Pusha T
4. Chris
   Christine and the Queens
5. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
6. Honey
   Robyn
7. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
8. Some Rap Songs
   Earl Sweatshirt
9. Care for Me
   Saba
10. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves

Under the Radar: Top 100 Albums of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2011]

1. Heaven and Earth
   Kamasi Washington
2. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
3. boygenius
   boygenius
4. Double Negative
   Low
5. Tell Me How You Really Feel
   Courtney Barnett
6. 7
   Beach House
7. God’s Favorite Customer
   Father John Misty
8. Wide Awake!
   Parquet Courts
9. Bottle It In
   Kurt Vile
10. Aviary
    Julia Holter
11. Cocoa Sugar
    Young Fathers
12. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
13. Hope Downs
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
14. Lump
    Lump
15. The Future and the Past
    Natalie Prass
16. Loma
    Loma
17. Little Dark Age
    MGMT
18. I’m All Ears
    Let’s Eat Grandma
19. Indigo
    Wild Nothing
20. Joy as an Act of Resistance
    Idles
21. Love is Magic
    John Grant
22. Tracyanne & Danny
    Tracyanne & Danny
23. The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs
    Wye Oak
24. Now Only
    Mount Eerie
25. Lush
    Snail Mail
26. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
27. LONER
    Caroline Rose
28. World’s Strongest Man
    Gaz Coombes
29. And Nothing Hurt
    Spiritualized
30. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
31. Songs of Praise
    Shame
32. Chris
    Christine and the Queens
33. Sparkle Hard
    Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
34. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
35. Clean
    Soccer Mommy
36. Sugar & Spice
    Hatchie
37. Le Kov
    Gwenno
38. C’est La Vie
    Phosphorescent
39. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
40. Beyondless
    Iceage
41. Room Inside the World
    Ought
42. Hunter
    Anna Calvi
43. Historian
    Lucy Dacus
44. Dose Your Dreams
    Fucked Up
45. Broken Politics
    Neneh Cherry
46. Riddles
    Ed Schrader’s Music Beat
47. There’s a Riot Going On
    Yo La Tengo
48. Babelsberg
    Gruff Rhys
49. Transangelic Exodus
    Ezra Furman
50. Superorganism
    Superorganism
51. How to Solve Our Human Problems
    Belle and Sebastian
52. Room 25
    Noname
53. Make Way for Love
    Marlon Williams
54. abysskiss
    Adrianne Lenker
55. Freedom
    Amen Dunes
56. All Melody
    Nils Frahm
57. High As Hope
    Florence + The Machine
58. Post-
    Jeff Rosenstock
59. Slow Air
    Still Corners
60. Always Ascending
    Franz Ferdinand
61. I can feel you creep into my private life
    Tune-Yards
62. Merrie Land
    The Good, the Bad & the Queen
63. Hell-On
    Neko Case
64. The Lamb
    Lala Lala
65. Your Queen Is a Reptile
    Sons of Kemet
66. Mother of My Children
    Black Belt Eagle Scout
67. soil
    serpentwithfeet
68. Sex & Food
    Unknown Mortal Orchestra
69. Honey
    Robyn
70. Deafman Glance
    Ryley Walker
71. Dance Music
    Mastersystem
72. >>>
    Beak>
73. Perfect Shapes
    Madeline Kenney
74. Cosmic Wink
    Jess Williamson
75. This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet
    Moonface
76. Wanderer
    Cat Power
77. Constant Image
    Flasher
78. Open Here
    Field Music
79. The Blue Hour
    Suede
80. Frontrunner
    Frontperson
81. Rebound
    Eleanor Friedberger
82. Parcels
    Parcels
83. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
84. Dead Magic
    Anna von Hausswolff
85. Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film)
    Thom Yorke
86. The More I Sleep the Less I Dream
    We Were Promised Jetpacks
87. Love Is Dead
    Chvrches
88. White Is Relic / Irrealis Mood
    of Montreal
89. The Whole Thing Is Just There
    Young Jesus
90. Bon Voyage
    Melody’s Echo Chamber
91. Out of Touch
    Jaakko Eino Kalevi
92. We’re Not Talking
    The Goon Sax
93. Quit the Curse
    Anna Burch
94. Marble Skies
    Django Django
95. Goat Girl
    Goat Girl
96. Konoyo
    Tim Hecker
97. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
    Deafheaven
98. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths
99. Songs You Make at Night
    Tunng
100. The Art of Pretending to Swim
     Villagers

Anthony Fantano: Top 50 Albums of 2018, as aired on The Needle Drop

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017]

1. You Won't Get What You Want
   Daughters
2. Kids See Ghosts
   Kids See Ghosts
3. Veteran
   JPEGMAFIA
4. Musas
   Natalia Lafourcade
5. Wide Awake!
   Parquet Courts
6. 2012-2017
   Against All Logic
7. Harutosyura
   Harunemuri
8. Room 25
   Noname
9. Year of the Snitch
   Death Grips
10. Your Queen Is a Reptile
    Sons of Kemet
11. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
12. Boarding House Reach
    Jack White
13. Isolation
    Kali Uchis
14. TA13OO
    Denzel Curry
15. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
16. Little Dark Age
    MGMT
17. Prequelle
    Ghost
18. Joy as an Act of Resistance
    Idles
19. Idol
    Horrendous
20. The Sciences
    Sleep
21. El Mal Querer
    Rosalía
22. Time 'n' Place
    Kero Kero Bonito
23. Firepower
    Judas Priest
24. Paraffin
    Armand Hammer
25. Ion
    Portal
26. Some Rap Songs
    Earl Sweatshirt
27. Oxnard
    Anderson .Paak
28. Die Lit
    Playboi Carti
29. Virtue
    The Voidz
30. Everything's Fine
    Jeane Grae & Quelle Chris
31. You're Not Alone
    Andrew W.K.
32. ye
    Kanye West
33. Trench
    twenty one pilots
34. New Levels New Devils
    Polyphia
35. Dead Magic
    Anna von Hausswolff
36. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
37. Daytona
    Pusha T
38. Orpheus vs. The Sirens
    Hermit and the Recluse
39. Aviary
    Julia Holter
40. Twin Fantasy
    Car Seat Headrest
41. DiCaprio 2
    JID
42. Stranger Fruit
    Zeal & Ardor
43. Vile Luxury
    Imperial Triumphant
44. Whack World
    Tierra Whack
45. All At Once
    Screaming Females
46. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
47. Twisted Crystal
    Guerilla Toss
48. A Laughing Death in Meatspace
    Tropical Fuck Storm
49. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
50. The Light Is Leaving Us All
    Current 93

Kitty Empire: Top 10 Albums of 2018, as published by The Observer

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
   Arctic Monkeys
2. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
3. Chris
   Christine and the Queens
4. Heaven and Earth
   Kamasi Washington
5. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
6. Body
   The Necks
7. Your Queen Is a Reptile
   Sons of Kemet
8. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
9. Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain
   Gwenifer Raymond
10. Hope Downs
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever