Eric Berman publishes his annual list of top albums for 2025
I’ve been making a top albums list for 45 years and the only reason I keep doing them is that I get requests from friends every year. What I can say is that I have physical media for more than 85% of this list, and these are the albums I liked enough to pony up the cash to purchase.
Enjoy, and happy holidays!
Our top album of 2025 is from Jeff Tweedy. A triple album encapsulating 30 songs. Who knew Tweedy had this much consistently great material? A record that was influenced by “The White Album,” that lives up to its example.
- Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override (dBpm)
- Annie and the Caldwells (Luaka Bop)
- Tunde Adeblimpe – Thee Black Boltz (Sub Pop)
- Third Mind – Right Now! (Yep Roc)
- Sloan – Based on the Best Seller (Yep Roc)
- St. Paul & The Broken Bones (Oasis Pizza)
- Canyon Lights – Breathe Easy (Sgt Honey Eater Records)
- Mdou Moctar – Tears of Injustice (Matador)
- The Autumn Defense – Here and Nowhere (Yep Roc)
- Wet Leg – Moisturizer (Domino)
- Ringo Starr – Look Up (Lost Highway)
- Geese – Getting Killed (Partisan)
- David Byrne – Who Is The Sky? (Matador)
- Chrissy Hynde & Pals – Duets Special (Parlophone)
- Neal Francis – Return to Zero (ATO)
- Los Straitjackets – Somos (Yep Roc)
- Van Morrison – Remembering Now (Virgin/Exile)
- Bonnie Prince Billy – The Purple Bird (No Quarter)
- Robert Plant – Saving Grace (Nonesuch)
- Fred Armisan – 100 Sound Effects (Drag City)
The Best of the Rest
- Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow (Thirty Tigers/Southeastern)
- Bob Mould – Here We Go Crazy (Granary Music/BMG)
- Say She She – Cut and Rewind (drink sum wtr)
- Rosalia – Lux (Columbia)
- Bad Bunny – De BI TiRAF MaS FOToS (Bad Bunny)
- Boo Boos – Young Love (Play It Again Sam)
- Superchunk – Songs in the Key of Yikes! (Merge)
- Jonathan Richman – Only Frozen Sky Anyway (Blue Arrow)
- Mavis Staples – Sad and Beautiful World (ANTI)
- King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island (Pdoom)
