We've finally reached the end of our listening on the 5s saga. It's time to count down what really shined bright in 2025. Overall, I'd say 2025 was a mixed bag of a year, with many of the world's biggest stars either delivering some of the biggest flops of their careers or not dropping at all, which left room for a series of incredibly unexpected comebacks for legacy artists, surprise drops from new favorites and a few records that crowned new legends as the old idols have

Our penultimate stop on our trek through the musical 5s is 2015, a year that gave us more than a few bonafide modern classics as well as some underrated gems I rediscovered on my listening journey. Overall, I'd say 2015 was a year where many of the up and comers who started the decade with guns blazing were able to settle into their role as the torch bearers of their respective genres, whether it be pop, rock, R&B or hip-hop. That newfound comfort in their place in the musi

Next up on our journey of the 5s, we've hit 2005, a year that gave us a solid assortment of modern classics. Sonically, 2005 was a year of both throwbacks, with a few big name legacy acts delivering excellent work that can rival their best moments, and of new voices emerging and staking their claim on the new era. The mix of new and old really defines the year, with the blend of sounds that we knew and loved with new flavors of the month, best seen in the rise of movements

As we keep working our way through the 5s, we've reached 1995, a year that gave us a wide variety of gems. There was no sound that defined 1995, and I think that's what I find so amazing about it, so many genres were experimenting with new or old sounds. In rock we were experiencing a true alternative explosion, moving away from the grunge that dominated the early 90s and branching out in so many sounds. Meanwhile hip-hop was maturing faster than ever and R&B and pop were

Continuing our journey through the 5s, we've reached 1985 a year that gave us so many stone cold classics. By 1985 the 80s as we know it was truly in the swing of things, with everyone embracing the wonders of the synthesizer no matter their genre, but what sets the best music from this year apart is that more often than not the songwriting transcends the "dated" trappings of the day and has lasted regardless of production style. In 1975 was the year of the auteur, 1985 was

It's that time of year again. As 2025 winds to a close, I'd like to run it all the way back to 1975, a truly classic year for music which gave us so many brilliant albums it was near impossible to narrow down to only twenty options. As the first half of the decade ended, this is where music was beginning to fully change and shed the last vestiges of the 60s and pioneer trends all its own. In 1975 we got the first rumblings of the two defining movements of the late 70s, pun

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Sometimes, when it comes to the current (or now recently past) year, I tend to have trouble figuing out which new music truly deserves a place in my list because so much of the best music takes time to simmer and rise to the top among my favorites, but this year proved to me that sometimes the best music is the kind that hits you in the face the first time. So many of these releases are the best of both worlds, they were clear standouts from the beginning while also growing

Ten years ago, music was in rare form, namely because it was one of those all-around years where nearly every genre was batting out classic after classic whether it be rock, rap, R&B or pop, it was hard to find a genre that wasn't having a renaissance which is why this list is one of the most eclectic yet. So come on in and explore the best of the best with these ten fabulous records from a decade in the past. #10) Lazaretto  - Jack White  (39 minutes, Blues Rock/Garage Rock

2004 was a year dominated by many musical trends, many of which haven't aged as well as other music from the early 2000s. This was the dawn of ringtone rap, the era of post-grunge rock, the domination of American Idol-written pop schlock, but like all years, there are quite a few to be found if you search beyond just the trendy. What makes the best albums of this year stand out is their timelessness, with all of these albums sounding as if they didn't have to be made in 200

1994 was a monumental year for music, in particular it was a year of countless auspicious beginnings. It is hard to think of a better year for debut albums than 94, which was host to a new guard of rockers, rappers and everything in between charging onto the scene and shaking up the world all for the better. While the early 90s were all about finding a distinct sound divorced from the rampant iconography of the 80s, this year was firm in its identity and reveled in its desi

In contrast to 1974, many music historians consider 1984 to be one of pop music's strongest years, with the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart being lauded as the greatest of all time. I find it hard to argue with those claims when you look at the laundry list of great pop music released in that illustrious year. As someone who first fell in love with music through 80s pop, this list was nearly impossible to narrow down to merely twenty entries, but I have assembled the best

1974 is a very widely contested year in music history, one in which certain trends first begin to emerge like the birth of disco and others begin to fade away, like the predominance of heavier rock music which will give way to both punk and new wave as well as soft-rock and yacht rock as the decade continued. Certain music historians call 1974 the worst year for pop music in the 20th century while others consider it the year that rock and roll reached its commercial and arti

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1993 brought a mix of classics from both established artists and fresh new faces that shook up the scene by taking rock, pop, alternative...