To borrow from a Brent Cobb album title, the dominant musical theme for me this year was "ain't rocked in a while." Despite auditory excursions into electro, drum & bass, and country music, my craving for guitar riffage and six-string shredding was strong, and 2025 delivered. Long time favorites like Deftones and Ghost returned with late career highlights while the next generation of Gen Z artists inspired by Gen X sounds - Doomsday, Die Spitz, and Rocket - picked up guitars and released outstanding debut albums. These are my top ten favorite albums of 2025, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . Client_03: Testbed_Assembly (Client_03, 7/4/25) Electro has roots in krautrock, funk, and the cut-up rhythms of the nascent hip-hop scene - a cyborg groove built on 808s, synthesizers, and ...
These are my runners up and honorable mention albums of 2025, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . Matt Daniel: The Poet (Banjo, 3/28/25) Grin: Acid Gods (TLD, 5/30/25) Kloke: Lucidity (Mindgames, 8/8/25) James Shinra: Meteorites (Analogical Force, 4/25/25) Technical Itch: Fate Walker (Over/Shadow, 2/7/25) Fate Walker by Technical Itch Turnstile: NEVER ENOUGH (Roadrunner, 6/6/25) ...