Continuing the 30th year celebration theme, my inaugural list featured Joe Henry's Trampoline as the #1 album of 1996. He hasn't made an appearance in the top ten since, until this year. This album is also the best thing to come out the Penn State football program this year.
9. Heartworms - Glutton for Punishment
I owe a little of my interest in this album to my pal el squared's obsession with Wet Leg. When I first heard it, I thought it would be a good album to recommend to him, because they were both produced by Dan Carey (not the Tool drummer) and seemed to have fans in common. But, with each subsequent listen, it continued to grow on me and became a bit of my own obsession.
8. Laura Stevenson - Late Great
This year's top five is all familiar faces, but this round of five is mostly newcomers, with Laura Stevenson being one of two solo artists to make their first top ten appearance.
7. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation
The Besnard Lakes join some pretty select company with their third consecutive top ten album.
6. Lucy Dacus - Forever is a Feeling
Come to think of it, Lucy Dacus is not a first timer to my top ten, having appeared here with boygenius in 2023, but this is Lucy's first time as a solo artist.
As I mentioned earlier, 2025 is the 30th year of this list, so to commemorate I'm going to squeeze in an extra post which hearkens back to the inception of this annual tradition.
I've been compiling a list of at least my ten favorite albums of the year since 1996. It's part ritual, part obligation, but still is something I find enjoyable.
You could argue that, although this is the 30th year, next year is actually the 30th anniversary of the list since it started in 1996. But 1995 was really the year the idea for this list was conceived, as I basically had a top 7 in my head that year. So, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit my 1995 list with the benefit of a little hindsight, although each of the original top 7 I still consider worthy.
10. Space Needle - Voyager
One of two albums in this top ten by artists who were and still are friends of mine, this was Space Needle's debut and remains frontman Jud Ehrbar's best work, in my opinion.
9. Varnaline - Man of Sin
My awareness of most of the music that appears on this list I owe to the brainchild behind this band, who grew up on the other side of the apple orchard from me.
8. Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball
The first of three albums on this list that I didn't hear until a year or two later, this one has really grown on my since.
7. Radiohead - The Bends
You've probably heard of this band.
6. Palace Music - Viva Last Blues
Will Oldham's discography is pretty extensive, and there are quite a few of his albums that are much more critically acclaimed, but this is easily my favorite.
5. Blue Mountain - Dog Days
I would honestly say that Blue Mountain hasn't aged as well as some of my other alt-country favorites, but this is still easily their best album.
4. Wilco - A.M.
Not quite as impressive a debut as his Son Volt counterpart, but Jeff Tweedy's career certainly benefited from his break from Jay Farrar.
3. Whiskeytown - Faithless Street
This would be the highest ranking album that wouldn't have made my list back in 1995, as I didn't get turned onto Whiskeytown until two years later when I read an article in No Depression magazine that described them as Country and Westerberg.
2. The Jayhawks - Tomorrow the Green Grass
I had been a fan of The Jayhawks for a couple years when this album came out, but it blew me away almost as much as the next album on this list. There's really no match for the harmonies of Gary Louris and Mark Olson in their primes.
1. Son Volt - Trace
I can still remember how excited I was to hear this album for the first time after obsessing over all four Uncle Tupelo albums for at least several months prior. It might sound strange, but I was also thrilled at the opportunity to use a urinal next to Son Volt drummer Mike Heidorn during their show at Bogie's in Albany that year.
Some old and some very old friends make an appearance in this installment.
30. Patterson Hood - Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams
29. Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
28. Mumford & Sons - Rushmere
27. Willie Nelson - Oh What a Beautiful World
Some years ago, I started a bit of a Christmas tradition where I gifted my dad a CD that most closely represented the intersection of our musical tastes. Dad passed away this year, but this is the album that would have fit the bill.
26. Sun Kil Moon - All the Artists
25. Jakko M. Jakszyk - Son of Glen
Somewhat fitting that the album written by the current King Crimson lead singer about his father makes an appearance in this round of ten.
24. Brown Horse - All the Right Weaknesses
23. Kathleen Edwards - Billionaire
Continuing with the somber theme, it wasn't until I saw her live this year that I realized this album's title track is about a friend she lost recently.
22. Alan Sparhawk - With Trampled By Turtles
21. James McMurtry - The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy
2025 wasn't quite as strong for new albums as 2024 in my opinion, but I still managed to compile a top 40.
2025 was also a great year for live music, particularly for LC, as it was the year he upgraded from almost exclusively seeing tribute acts to seeing the real deal on a few occasions.
As they were his first favorite band, AC/DC in May was a long time coming for us, although he broke his leg two months prior so it was a bit of a challenge. His personal highlight, though, was Judas Priest and Alice Cooper in September. We also saw Zakk Sabbathtwice, and of course, we watched Back to the Beginning on simulcast in July. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to Birmingham for that one, which I kind of regret now.
40. Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override
39. Califone - The Villager's Companion
38. Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts - Talkin' to the Trees
37. Explosions in the Sky - American Primeval (Soundtrack)
36. The Reds, Pinks and Purples - The Past is a Garden I Never Fed
"Since baseball time is measured only in outs, all you have to do is succeed utterly; keep hitting, keep the rally alive, and you have defeated time. You remain forever young." - Roger Angell
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