The Best Albums Of 2025

From long-awaited projects to breakthrough releases, here are the albums that made 2025 another solid year in music.

What would this whirlwind year of chaos, confusion and calamity be without the music that helped us keep it all together? While 2025 may not have been the most robust year of tentpole releases from music’s biggest superstars, there were still plenty that we kept in our rotations.

Among them were, of course, Cardi B’s long-awaited follow-up to her Grammy-winning debut (“Am I the Drama?”) and Bad Bunny’s acclaimed love letter to his beloved Puerto Rico (“Debí Tirar Más Fotos”). Not to mention, the epic comeback of Clipse, aka Pusha T and Malice, after years spent making music apart.

Some surprise albums dropped from artists like Tyler, the Creator and Miguel, while others such as Doja Cat traded in her “Scarlet” era less than two years after its release for a completely new sound.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least acknowledge some of the honorable mentions you won’t see below (I know, I know): Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl,” Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem,” Justin Bieber’s “Swag,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend,” Drake and PartyNextDoor’s ”$ome $exy $ongs 4 U,” The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” Summer Walker’s “Finally Over It” and SZA’s “SOS Deluxe: Lana” (which came out in 2024 after our best albums list). But some great 2025 highlights still made our list.

From the projects that exceeded our expectations to the breakthrough releases that still have us in a chokehold, HuffPost staff members look back at the best albums of the year.