Dec. 19, 2025
Timing is Everything

This is it! The last BudepComic of the year. And you know what that means...

THE ANNUAL BUDEP ALBUM REVIEW!

As always, this list is very subjective and by no means the REAL TRUE FACT of how good an album is. If I ranked it low and you happened to like it, good for you! I am not a music critic.

Without further ado...

#94 - Bush - I Beat Loneliness

This album was alright. Every song is a decent rock song, and there's some pretty good lyric work too. Nothing in particular stuck out to me, though.

#93 - Jethro Tull - Curious Ruminant

This was a pleasant listen. It's not my favorite sort of genre, and not anything I'll be giving another listen, but it's fine.

#92 - Ringo Starr - Look Up

Ringo Starr went country with this one, and I'm not sure it works entirely. The songs themselves sound good, but they lack the catchiness that Ringo's past work has always had.

#91 - Califone - The Villager's Companion

I like Califone. I'm not all too into the band, but I enjoyed Roomsound. This album was reliably good, there were a few songs I remember enjoying, but nothing special.

#90 - Superheaven - Superheaven

Another decent album with some good rock songs. I liken it to Bush's album this year, but I think Superheaven did it a little better. If you're going for rock, you need a real special sound to make a great album, but nevertheless, it's enjoyable.

#89 - Penelope Scott - Water Dogs

I really liked every individual song, but they're all so similar. Put 'em all together on an album, and it's very one-note. I get that she's going with a concept, and I respect her for every song being enjoyable, but the album as a whole wasn't as good as I was expecting.

#88 - Dream Theater - Parasomnia

I thought there were some great songs, including the 19 minute "Shadow Man Incident," but it felt like there was a fair amount of filler. I'm sure some metalheads will disagree with me on this, but that's my thoughts.

#87 - Spin Doctors - Face Full Of Cake

It's good, it's catchy, it's lighthearted and enjoyable. The majority of the songs did feel kinda forgettable to me, but where it did well, it was great.

#86 - Matt Maltese - Hers

I'm kind of a casual Matt Maltese fan, so maybe some diehard fans will disagree, but this album just sounded like a Matt Maltese album, nothing particularly special about it, no new ground broken. But then again, maybe that's what we want after all. Solid album, but I never gave it a second listen.

#85 - Van Morrison - Remembering Now

This was a pretty chill album, and a good listen. Not all too much to write home about, but he did a good job on it.

#84 - HAIM - I quit

One of the few pop albums I listened to this year. I found it honestly grating for the most part, but it had some really great moments that bumped it up my rankings, a U2 sample on the closing track in particular that I found they utilized very well.

#83 - The Doobie Brothers - Walk This Road

It was a decent folk rock album. The Doobie Brothers still sound pretty much the same, which is cool to see. An enjoyable listen.

#82 - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Phantom Island

I've never been all too into KGATLW, but this album I feel was on-par with some of their older stuff. Maybe some bigger fans would disagree, but I thought it was pretty good.

#81 - Good Charlotte - Motel Du Cap

Despite all the ridicule Good Charlotte got in the indie crowd back in the day, they return after many years with an album that's better than I was expecting. It's straightforward rock, done well. They're not my favorite band, but I respect a return album with some bones to it.

#80 - Three Days Grace - Alienation

Another solid rock album. There's some fun songs, some real rockers. It's not the greatest rock album of all time, but I honestly don't have much to complain about. There's definitely some filler, but some good songs as well.

#79 - The Head and the Heart - Aperture

A pretty good folk album. Nothing all too memorable, but all the songs were enjoyable. I'm not really inclined to listen to it again, but I did enjoy it.

#78 - Alice Cooper - The Revenge of Alice Cooper

Another return album after many years. This one is alright, I suppose. It sounds like Alice Cooper, which is the point, but I don't see any new big hits coming from this album.

#77 - Playboi Carti - MUSIC

In my opinion, definitely overrated. There's some really interesting beats, and Carti sounds like no one else when he raps, but the songs themselves kind of fall flat. I'm not the foremost expert on rap, but I've given this album a few listens and it never grew on me.

#76 - Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl

Swiftie drama aside, the music itself is... okay. It's passable pop music, not annoying, which is a win, but missing the catchiness that makes the genre. I've never been a Swift fan, this is the first album of hers I've listened to in it's entirety since Red, but I expected more from the titan of the genre.

#75 - Lord Huron - The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1

It's alright, I guess. It's definitely a departure from typical Lord Huron, which I respect, but I feel like it's missing something. Weak complaint, I know, but I just can't get into this album.

#74 - Cynthia Erivo - I Forgive You

Erivo has an incredible voice, but this album feels so overproduced. I respect Erivo for branching out into so many genres, all of which she handles well, but there's something almost clinically dry about this album. Erivo sounds a lot better on Jeff Goldblum's Still Blooming, or even the Wicked soundtrack.

#73 - Fruit Bats - Baby Man

This album is very calm compared to early Fruit Bats. They were never the most intense band, but they always had this peppiness to their sound that is missing here. It's not bad, per se, but I do miss it.

#72 - Cacola - azazil-X

This is one of the very few albums I've listened to of this particular genre, whatever it is. Trance, I guess. It's not bad, I've heard some people really praise it, but it didn't really strike me as all that great. There's great parts, for sure, "BATTERY DRAINER" is a fantastic track, along with sections of others. But not, in my opinion, Cacola's best work.

#71 - Spinal Tap - The End Continues

Regardless of what you thought of the new movie (I liked it), the album is, as always, better than it really needs to be. It's an album made for the movie, which is the main event of course, but you gotta respect them for putting the effort in. There's some ridiculously catchy tunes, just like the original.

#70 - SPELLLING - Portrait of my Heart

I thought it was consistently good. There's some great moments, especially in the lyrics, but I didn't find the music as a whole as good as I heard some other people describing it.

#69 - Ice Cube - Man Up

There's some solid beats in this album. Ice Cube, as always, insults pretty much everything and everyone, but what do you expect. A solid hip-hop album, not his best work, but it's a good listen.

#68 - Arcade Fire - Pink Elephant

I enjoyed this album. Though definitely not Arcade Fire's best work, it's good stuff. They don't sound the same as they did back in the day, understandably, but if you go in with that expectation, it's solid.

#67 - Derivakat - Archive 02: Desire

I've got mixed thoughts on this one. It was good, there's some really nice songs, it just feels kind of cluttered. Derivakat is always one to fill her music with a lot of noise, which worked with great effect on Archive 01: Anger, but on the calmer Desire, it feels a little much. That being said, the more energetic songs are great.

#66 - Twenty One Pilots - Breach

I've never been the biggest Twenty One Pilots fan, but I think this album will be enjoyable to anyone that likes their music. It sounds like them, and there's some decent tracks from start to finish.

#65 - Lorde - Virgin

I'm not really a pop guy, so take what I say with a grain of salt. That being said, I thought this album was pretty good. I love Lorde's voice, "Man of the Year" is well worth the praise it got, in my opinion. I'm not sure all the other songs were on the same caliber, though.

#64 - Barbra Streisand - The Secret of Life: Partners Volume Two

Streisand's voice pairs remarkably well with a wide variety of other singers. There was nothing that stood out to me, but every song was good. The most remarkable feat, however, was getting Bob Dylan to actually sing for once.

#63 - Alex G - Headlights

Definitely some good songs on here. Alex G's gained a lot of traction in the new indie crowd, and I fear I never got all too into him. This album wasn't spectacular or anything, but definitely enjoyable.

#62 - Mobb Deep - Infinite

The last Mobb Deep album, with vocals recorded before Prodigy's death. I was concerned about how it would sound when both rappers' parts were recorded out of sync, but it's not really noticeable. Though understandably not Mobb Deep's best work, it was a good album and a fitting sendoff.

#61 - Conan Gray - Wishbone

I've got friends that really, really liked this album. I thought it was pretty good, Gray's voice is great, and there's some pretty good songwriting, but aside from "Romeo," none of the tracks were all too memorable to me.

#62 - AB3D - District Line

Arguably the most obscure artist on my 2025 list. I, like the majority of his audience, found him through a Jack Manifold video, where he announced he was releasing this album. It's definitely some of the roughest music, mixing wise, but there's some real talent under that for sure.

#59 - Brandi Carlile - Returning to Myself

This album as a whole was decent. There's some parts where it really shines, but definitely some filler as well. Carlile I think sounded better on Who Believes In Angels?, her album with Elton John.

#58 - Epic Rap Battles of History - Season 6

ERB is back with another season, reliably good as always. There's some fairly silly tracks, as always, and none of them are going to be masterpieces, but there's some real effort put in, and the album is a good time.

#57 - Bruce Springsteen - Tracks II: The Lost Albums

This quadruple album is a massive collection of cut songs from albums or scrapped projects, and I've heard real high praise for it. There's definitely some good songs, raising the question of why they were unreleased for so long, but definitely some filler. Understandably so; this goes for any big compilation album,

#56 - Sabrina Carpenter - Man's Best Friend

As far as pop music goes, this is up there. It's never annoying or too overproduced. It's good stuff, Carpenter has a solid voice, and it feels very indie (I think it would sound incredible if she were to sing a little more intensely, like Rio Romeo or Fiona Apple). There's some fantastic synth work every so often that we only hear for like half a second, unfortunately.

#55 - Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override

Tweedy is hard at work as usual. No one cranks out new music like this guy. Twilight Override is a very long triple album, but there's some decent songs on here. It suffers from the same issue as any long album, inevitably having some weaker tracks, but it's pretty good overall.

#54 - Adam Ďurica - Adam

The sole Slovak artist on my 2025 list, Ďurica's lastest album is decent as always. It's pretty straightforward rock, but he does it well, and there's some pretty good lyric work in here as well.

#53 - Leo DiSanto - To Fly so Low

I first saw DiSanto opening for Niall Connolly, and I did like a few of his songs. His voice sounds different on his albums though, a little more folksy, which was jarring to me at first. Putting that aside, though, this album was pretty good, though he does sound better live (like, uh, most singers).

#52 - Radical Face - Mixtape #2

This album was pretty chill, and a good listen. Not that I could sing you a single line from it, but I really enjoyed it as I was listening.

#51 - Set It Off - Set It Off

Some of the best straightforward rock of the year. Nothing indie, nothing alt, just hard rock done well, which I respect. I had never heard of Set It Off before this album; I got it recommended to me and really enjoyed it.

#50 - The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation

Yet another installment of what the Besnard Lakes could possibly be. It's a calm album, like all of their discography, and on-par with some of their older work as far as I'm concerned. It's good stuff.

#49 - Blood Orange - Essex Honey

One of the last albums I listened to this year. I got it recommended to me maybe 2 weeks before writing this? I haven't had a lot of time to get into it, but it's a good listen.

#48 - Snoop Dogg - Iz It a Crime?

Snoop's latest album is reliably good stuff. There's not a lot of filler here, but it's not his best one yet or anything. I don't mean that as criticism; he's got a lot of stuff to top, and Iz It a Crime? fits nicely into the discography.

#47 - Snuggle Peppers - Hat On Fire

The World's Most Joyful Group returns with an abrupt genre change into hip-hop. This is maybe one of the silliest albums I listened to this year, but it's legitimately good nonetheless. I just keep coming back to it. I don't know how good others will find it, but it's right up my alley.

#46 - Lily Allen - West End Girl

Lily Allen's first album in a while is for sure anger fueled and very personal. It's an interesting listen, and some of her best work in my opinion. As an emotional breakup album, I fear I have no experience for it to hit me very hard, but it still stands up from my point of view.

#45 - Elton John & Brandi Carlile - Who Believes In Angels?

This is a solid album in all respects. Elton John and Brandi Carlile's voices work really well together, and the songs are all well written (by Carlile and, of course, Elton John's longtime writing partner Bernie Taupin).

#44 - Deftones - private music

I heard some very high praise for this album, so I have no doubt it's good. I enjoyed it, not to the extent that some others seemed to, but it was good. Alt-metal or whatever they play isn't my genre of choice, but whatever they're doing, they're good at it.

#43 - My Morning Jacket - is

I only listened to this album once, but I liked it. I had heard of My Morning Jacket, but never listened to them before, and this album pleasantly surprised me.

#42 - Stick To Your Guns - Keep Planting Flowers

Stick To Your Guns delivers again with some solid metal. They're one of my favorite metal bands, so maybe I'm biased, but this album was great. Invisible is one of the best metal songs I've ever heard. Granted, there's some filler, but the tracks that aren't more than make up for it.

#41 - Michigander - Michigander

I had never heard of Michigander before this album, but I was really surprised by how good this album was. It was a very nice listen, some great heartfelt lyrics, and the perfectly named Jason Singer's voice fits them very well.

#40 - The War and Treaty - Plus One

The only country artist I listened to this year, this duo had some great vocal work. Country isn't really my genre, newer country in particular, but they surprised me with this album.

#39 - Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra - Still Blooming

Gonna be honest, I had no idea Jeff Goldblum made music, but I thought this album was great. The arrangements were well done, the guest vocalists all did a wonderful job, and it was a very pleasant listen altogether.

#38 - AVTT/PTTN - AVTT/PTTN

The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton joined together to form this new band. It's an odd pairing, The Avett Brothers' folk music with Patton's harder rock, but it works, and it works really well. This album was a lot better than I thought it would be.

#37 - Franz Ferdinand - The Human Fear

Franz Ferdinand's latest album is up there in their discography for me. Every song was a good listen, Audacious is great, and there's no particularly weak tracks.

#36 - James Marriott - Don't Tell The Dog

I guess this would be alt-pop? It's an interesting genre, and Marriott does it well. All the songs are catchy and interesting, without being too repetitive. I knew about Marriott for a while before this album, but never really listened to him, so this album surprised me with how good it was.

#35 - Big Fish - Fyra Liter Stoft

This Swedish band is hard to describe. It's a sort of industrial rock sound, not all too common, but they do it well. They've always had a unique sound, and it's changed over the years for sure, but this album is still solid stuff if you happen to like the genre.

#34 - Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele 2

It's always a bold choice to make a direct sequel to an album, especially an album as acclaimed as the original Supreme Clientele. I don't think it quite measures up, but it's far from bad. There's a lot of sub-par rap out there, and this is definitely not it. Ghostface knows what he's doing.

#33 - Tom Skinner - Kaleidoscopic Visions

It's a weird album. It's pretty chill, but not your typical music, as to be expected from Skinner from his work in The Smile. You don't see too many drum-centric albums, so it's hard to compare this to anything else, but I definitely enjoyed it.

#32 - Sparkbird - Head Like A Nest

Head Like A Nest isn't necessarily all new songs, moreso a compilation of singles from throughout the years with some new ones thrown in. It's a good album, as expected, a lot of these songs have been popular for a few years, and they all seem to mesh well into one album.

#31 - Portugal. The Man - SHISH

Some of their best work to date, I think. It's a really interesting album, rockin' as usual of course, but with their signature sound thrown in. The concepts in here are really interesting, done the way that no one but this Alaskan band could.

#30 - Melina KB - POWER HANGRY

A follow-up to last year's POWER HUNGRY, I feel like POWER HANGRY improves on the formula. It's an anger album for sure, you can practically feel the rage radiating from the songs, and it works really well altogether.

#29 - Lydia the Bard & Ben Tomalin - The Woods

This is a lot of singles coming together into one cohesive concept album, and it works surprisingly well. Lydia the Bard has been building towards this for some time now, and it's been well worth it.

#28 - Geese - Getting Killed

Geese has been making waves in the new indie rock scene, for good reason. They're good, they're unique, and this album more than proves it. They've got a distinct sound that really shines through here more than in any of their past work.

#27 - Josh Ritter - I Believe in You, My Honeydew

Josh Ritter's best work in a while, as far as I'm concerned. Probably my favorite album of his since 2019's Fever Breaks, and that's a tough one to top. IBIYMH is a deeply personal work about childhood, and done remarkably well. Still one of the best folk artists ever, in my opinion.

#26 - Insane Clown Posse - The Naught

I've heard mixed opinions on this album. As with everything they've released in the past two decades, you've got the people saying the old stuff is better. I happen to like the new stuff as well, and if you do too, this album is well worth a listen. If you're solely a fan of the classic stuff, you will not like this album.

#25 - Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong

This is an album I listened to a while after it came out because I kept forgetting to. I listened to it a couple weeks before writing this, not knowing who BCRN were, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Rock as a genre, it seems, is alive and well.

#24 - OK Go - And the Adjacent Possible

OK Go is, of course, mostly known for their music videos (which continue to be great), but their music is truly great as well. I'm not sure how to define the genre, pop rock is my best guess, but whatever it is there's some incredible songs on this album.

#23 - Envy of None - Stygian Wavz

Envy of None is an interesting band. It's always felt like a pop singer in a rock band, which gives them a sound that no one else really has. This album has some great moments, Maiah Wynne's vocals are incredible, and of course, there's that unmistakable Alex Lifeson guitar (not to downplay the contributions of the other half of the band, who are awesome in their own right).

#22 - Tyler, the Creator - DON'T TAP THE GLASS

I ranked CHROMAKOPIA a lot lower than it deserved last year. It, and Tyler, the Creator in general, has since grown on me. This album is a little more lighthearted as CHROMAKOPIA, and not quite as good in my opinion, but still good stuff for sure.

#21 - Mother Mother - Nostalgia

Mother Mother is still reliably good. Though not quite as good as last year's Grief Chapter in my opinion, there's some solid tracks on this album as well. If Grief Chapter was another O My Heart, Nostalgia is more in line with The Sticks.

#20 - The Lumineers - Automatic

Lumineers, reliable as ever. They've got a specific sound and they sticked to it, leading to another solid album. Not much else to day.

#19 - Clipse - Let God Sort 'em Out

I had never heard of Clipse, and I was going to skip this album, but I'm glad I didn't. This rap duo did a fantastic job; their voices and lines fit so well together.

#18 - Wednesday - Bleeds

This alt-rock band has this sort of raw feel to their music that's fairly prevalent on Bleeds. I had never heard of them, and this album was a lot better than I thought it'd be. They just seem to have so much fun.

#17 - Joey Valence & Brae - HYPERYOUTH

Joey Valence & Brae are another relatively new rap duo I had never heard of, but had them recommended to me. I'm very glad I learned about them, because their genre of club rap I guess you'd call it, is something I never thought I'd enjoy, but here we are. Great album.

#16 - The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre

Though not as good as their debut in my opinion, this album is still reliably great. Every song is enjoyable, but it's lacking the bangers of Prelude to Ecstasy; "Caesar on a TV Screen" comes to mind. These are nitpicks though, it is a fantastic album.

#15 - Moron Police - Pachinko

Moron Police are kind of a silly modern prog rock band, and a recent discovery for me. I'm happy to see that prog rock is still alive and well, and Pachinko is an album that proves it track after track. No complaints.

#14 - grandson - INERTIA

This very intense rapper tackled a lot of topics in INERTIA, and summed up the modern human experience very well with the album. It's a really fun listen, not much else I have to say.

#13 - Laufey - A Matter of Time

Laufey's a rare pop artist that I reliably enjoy. Her unique sort of retro take on pop music is endlessly endearing to me, and I thouroughly enjoyed this album.

#12 - Shayfer James - Summoning

Summoning is another album I didn't listen to for months after its release, only because I didn't know who Shayfer James was. But when I did listen to the album, it wowed me. I do have a soft sport for this kind of alt/indie music, so it was right up my alley, but Summoning is a great album if you ask me.

#11 - Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke - Tall Tales

Though there's definitely some weaker points to this album, where it shines it really shines. Mark Pritchard's whole genre fits surprisingly well when blended with Thom Yorke's, who's voice is as beautiful as ever.

#10 - Deerhoof - Noble and Godlike in Ruin

If I'm being honest, I cannot stand Deerhoof's old music. It's always seemed annoying to me. That being said, Noble and Godlike in Ruin is a brilliant album. There's a lot of important themes, handled beautifully, and some of the most intense music and vocals of the year.

#9 - bbno$ - bbno$

bbno$'s self-titled album is a mix of some older music and a lot that's new. There's not a lot of rappers doing this alt-hip hop thing, but he did it perfectly. I wasn't a fan of him at first, but the more I listen to this album, the more I like it. It's over the top and silly, but it's a fun listen for sure.

#8 - Rio Romeo - Good Grief!

Rio Romeo's voice alone is enough to push this fairly high up the list for me. That being said, there's some great instrumentation and some wonderful lyrics as well. I only wish it was longer!

#7 - Naethan Apollo - Tales From Cazilor: Wyldflowers

The second installment in Tales From Cazilor is just as good as the first. Though the original has probably my favorite song and my favorite scene (the last two tracks), every song on Wyldflowers is at least as good as the original's weakest points. It's more lighthearted and doesn't take itself quite as seriously, making it a very fun listen.

#6 - The Narcissist Cookbook: Myth: Side Two

You can't really listen to this without first listening to Side One, not to get the full effect. The whole overarching story of the two albums is beautiful, and comes to a very intense culmination here. It's for sure an album made to be an album, not a collection of singles, but there's some great songs in it as well.

#5 - Mogwai - The Bad Fire

Prog rock is indeed alive and well. Mogwai's latest album is some of their greatest work in my opinion. The songs are all unique but cohesive, and they just sound so great. You don't need screamed lyrics, or any lyrics, to make an intense rock song, and these guys prove it once again.

#4 - Counting Crows - Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!

The long awaited follow-up to 2021's Suite One is, well, worth the wait. The Complete Sweets brings five fantastic new songs, along with some incredible remasters of the original four from the first suite. Probably Counting Crows' best album since their debut.

#3 - Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics - Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman

Well, they still got it. Wu-Tang continues to bring old-school rap done incredibly well, and Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman is the best classic rap album I've heard in a while. Really no complaints.

#2 - Dropkick Murphys - For The People

The Dropkick Murphys latest album is some of their greatest work to date. It's very emotional, equally times joyful and sad (or angry!), but very positive as a whole. Also, the songs go hard, which is important. I really have nothing I could even nitpick about here, it is such a good album.

#1 - The Waterboys - Life, Death and Dennis Hopper

I really didn't think a concept album about Dennis Hopper by the Waterboys was something that would ever exist. Like how do you predict that? But it exists, and it's wonderful. They never stick to a genre, tell a very compelling story, and have some truly incredible songs. No notes. My new favorite Waterboys album.

Well, that's it! Album review complete. Or is it...

There's also a few EPs that released this year! Let's go through 'em.

Caamp - Somewhere

I thought these guys would be the new face of folk. They're certainly good, but this EP was a little weaker than I'd hoped. Not awful, but not their best work.

CG5 - PROJECT U MOVE

The soundtrack to CG5's weird horror film, about the music in this EP. Film aside, the tracks are good, some legitimately catchy pop and some of CG5's better music.

Flume & JPEGMAFIA

As we wait for new albums from both of these guys, this EP will have to so. It's a legendary collaboration and they did a great job with this. Some of the best modern rap of the year.

Waitress - Hell in a Handbasket

This very intense indie band truly delivered some power with this one. It's some crazy music, but it's good stuff.

The Guest List - When The Lights Are Out

It's the Guest List. It sounds like them, and it's as high quality as any of their albums. It's good stuff if you like 'em.

Casper Fox - Stories from Styx: Hades & Persephone

With EPIC: The Musical finished, we nerds are hungry for some new Greek mythology music, and Casper Fox delivers with this incredible concept album. If you're this genre of nerd, give it a listen.

So. There we have it.

There's also a few soundtracks I should mention. I'm hesistant to include soundtracks on my list, because there are simply too many. But Deltarune Chapters 3 & 4 had some incredible music, and Mario Kart World's OST was great as well. Hazbin Hotel Season 2, regardless of what you think of the show, had consistently great songs, and the Blasting Company made 2 fantastic instrumental albums for the D&D campaign Avantris. I don't want to elaborate too much, but yeah. Soundtracks.

And that's it for real! Seldom does a blog post take many times longer than the comic above it, but here we are. Hope you enjoyed.