2018 in music.

Manchester Orchestra's A Black Mile to the Surface pulled the upset and won 2017. Let's see who wins 2018. Not the best year.

Billboard chart-topping albums of 2018:
Eminem - Revival (cont. from 2017)
Taylor Swift - Reputation (cont. from 2017)
Soundtrack - The Greatest Showman (cont. from 2017)
Camila Cabello - Camila
Fall Out Boy - Mania
Migos - Culture II
Justin Timberlake - Man of the Woods
Kendrick Lamar - Black Panther
Bon Jovi - This House is Not For Sale (cont. from 2016?)
Logic - Bobby Tarantino II
XXXTentacion - ?
Jack White - Boarding House Reach
The Weeknd - My Dear Melancholy
Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
Jason Aldean - Rearview Town
J. Cole - KOD
Post Malone - Beerbongs & Bentleys
BTS - Love Yourself: Tear
Shawn Mendes - Shawn Mendes
Kanye West - Ye
Dave Matthews Band - Come Tomorrow
5 Seconds of Summer - Youngblood
Panic! At the Disco - Pray for the Wicked
Drake - Scorpion
Travis Scott - Astroworld
Ariana Grande - Sweetener
BTS - Love Yourself: Answer
Eminem - Kamikaze
Paul McCartney - Egypt Station
Carrie Underwood - Cry Pretty
Brockhampton - Iridescence
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born
Andrea Bocelli - Si
Metro Boomin - Not All Heroes Wear Capes
Kane Brown - Experiment
Mumford and Sons - Delta
Meek Mill - Championships
XXXTentacion - Skins
Kodak Black - Dying to Live

Billboard chart-topping singles of 2018:
Ed Sheeran - Perfect (cont. from 2017)
Camila Cabello - Havana
Drake - God's Plan
Drake - Nice for What
Childish Gambino - This is America
Post Malone - Psycho
XXXTentacion - Sad
Cardi B - I Like It
Drake - In My Feelings
Maroon 5 - Girls Like You
Ariana Grande - Thank You Next
Travis Scott - Sicko Mode

What are your top three albums for 2018? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:
1. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
2. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
3. The Dirty Nil - Master Volume

What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm

 

rest of the top 10:
4. Father John Misty - God’s Favorite Customer
5. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born
6. Wild Pink - Yolk in the Fur
7. Ben Howard - Noonday Dream
8. Turnstile - Time & Space
9. Pusha T - Daytona
10. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star

honorable mentions:
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Anderson Paak - Oxnard
The Armed - Only Love
The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
The Carters - Everything is Love
Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
Cult Leader - A Patient Man
Dawes - Passwords
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Drug Church - Cheer
Eric Church - Desperate Man
Fiddlehead - Springtime and Blind
Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams
Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog
Iceage - Beyondless
Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
Interpol - Marauder
Jack White - Boarding House Reach
Jim James - Uniform Distortion
John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness
Jonathan Wilson - Rare Birds
Low - Double Negative
Lucy Dacus - Historian
Mastersystem - Dance Music
Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past
Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch
Okkervil River - In the Rainbow Rain
Oso Oso - The Yunahon Mixtape
Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
Sleep - The Sciences
Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt
Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing

stuff to check out:
All Them Witches - ATW
Behemoth - I Loved You at Your Darkest
Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You
First Aid Kit - Ruins
Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending
Jeff Rosenstock - Post-
Jon Hopkins - Singularity
Lily Allen - No Shame
Meek Mill - Championships
Mitski - Be the Cowboy
Snail Mail - Lush
Ty Segall - Freedom’s Goblin

 

1. Foxing - Nearer my god
2. Mitski - be the cowboy
3 the 1975 - a brief inquiry

4. Beach house - 7
5. Joyce manor - million dollars to kill me

 

1. MewithoutYou - [Untitled]
2. Perfume - Future Pop
3. Mo - Forever Neverland


lots and lots of good stuff this year.

 

1. mewithoutYou - [Untitled]
2. now, now - saved
3. charmer - charmer

4. the story so far - proper dose
5. beach house - 7
6. joyce manor - million dollars to kill me
7. greyhaven - empty black
8. vein - error zone
9. soccer mommy - clean
10. pianos become the teeth - wait for love
11. idles - joy as an act of restistance
12. frontierer - unloved
13. cursive - vitriola
14. vince staples - fm!
15. the beths - future me hates me
16. saintseneca - pillar of na
17. sectioned - annihilated

 

Fickle Friends - You Are Someone Else
Murder by Death - the Other Shore
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Japamyu
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Elohim - s/t
Christine and the Queens - Chris
Noname - Room 25
Dessa - Chime
My Brightest Diamond - A Million and One
Foxing - Nearer My God
Yasutaka Nakata - Digital Native
Pianos Become the Teeth - Wait for Love
Ariana Grande - Sweetener (half of it)
Vein - Errorzone
Kids See Ghost - s/t
Polyphia - New Levels New Devils

This year was responsible for the song of my dreams.

 

Bad Witch is without doubt my favourite of that run of NIN EPs.

 

1. Nap Eyes - I’m Bad Now
2. John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness
3. Jennifer Castle - Angels of Death
4. Amen Dunes - Freedom
5. Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
5. Phil Cook - People Are My Drug
6. Noname - Room 25
7. Richard Swift - The Hex
8. Kurt Vile - Bottle It In
9. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar
10. Maisha - There is a Place

 

1. Caitlyn Smith - Starfire
2. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
3. Lori McKenna - The Tree

Tough cuts:
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Upside Down Flowers
Ruston Kelly - Dying Star
Donovan Woods - Both Ways
Matt Nathanson - Sings His Sad Heart
Dawes - Passwords
Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
The Night Game - self-titled
Tenille Townes - The Living Room Worktapes
Bruce Springsteen - Springsteen on Broadway

Also love:
Death Cab for Cutie - Thank You for Today
Brothers Osborne - Port Saint Joe
Catherine McGrath - Talk of This Town
The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry into Dumb Album Titles
Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere

Honorables:
Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You
Dashboard Confessional - Crooked Shadows
The Dangerous Summer - self-titled
Dierks Bentley - The Mountain
Eric Church - Desperate Man
Field Report - Summertime Songs
Jillian Jacqueline - Side A/Side B
LANCO - Hallelujah Nights
Snail Mail - Lush
Snow Patrol - Wildness
Steve Moakler - Born Ready
Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain
Ashley Monroe - Sparrow
American Aquarium - Things Change
Adam Hood - Somewhere In Between

 

Crazy, crazy good year.

1. Now, Now - Saved
2. Donovan Woods - Both Ways
3. Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers

HM:
Ruston Kelly - Dying Star
The Dangerous Summer - S/T
Petal - Magic Gone
Spanish Love Songs - Schmaltz
Twenty One Pilots - Trench
William Ryan Key - Thirteen
mewithoutyou - [Untitled]
Rainbow Kitten Surprise - How to: Friend, Love, Freefall
Pianos Become the Teeth - Wait for Love
Story So Far - Proper Dose
Real Friends - Composure
Foxing - Nearer My God
Chvrches - Love is Dead
Andrew McMahon - Upside Down Flowers

 

1. illuminati hotties - Kiss Yr Frenemies

2. Lucy Dacus - Historian

3. Foxing - Nearer My God

Pianos Become the Teeth - Wait for Love
mewithoutYou - [Untitled]
Gregory Alan Isakov - Evening Machines
Wild Pink - Yolk in the Fur
Son Lux - Brighter Wounds
Mae - Multisensory Aesthetic Experience
All Get Out - No Bouquet
Holy Fawn - Death Spells
The Collection - Entropy
Twenty One Pilots - Trench
Death Cab For Cutie - Thank You For Today
Beach House - 7

EPs:
The Oh Hellos - Eurus
My Epic - Ultraviolet
mewithoutYou - [untitled]
Ratboys - GN
Boygenius - S/T

 

1. Lake Street Dive - Free Yourself Up
2. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star
3. Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain

4. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You
5. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
6. Glorietta - Glorietta
7. Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
8. The Night Game - The Night Game
9. Public Access TV - Street Safari
10. Mt. Joy - Mt. Joy
11. Lori McKenna - The Tree
12. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
13. Rhett Miller - The Messenger
14. Houndmouth - Golden Age
15. The Longshot - Love is for Losers
16. Dawes - Passwords
17. The Decemberists - I'll Be Your Girl
18. Kyle Craft - Full Circle Nightmare
19. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
20. Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus

 

1. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
2. Mac Miller - Swimming
3. Amy Shark - Love Monster

4. The Story So Far - Proper Dose
5. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V
6. Coheed and Cambria - The Unheavenly Creatures
7. Death Cab for Cutie - Thank You For Today
8. The Dangerous Summer - The Dangerous Summer
9. Camp Cope - How to Socialize and How to Make Friends
10. Hellogoodbye - S'Only Natural

11. Soccer Mommy - Clean
12. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
13. Pusha T - Daytona
14. Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
15. Ariana Grande - Sweetener
16. First Aid Kit - Ruins
17. Eminem - Kamikaze
18. Pale Waves - My Mind Makes Noises
19. Drake - Scorpion
20. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

EDIT: Had to update my list because I forgot about Camp Cope and Hellogoodbye (wiki's album lists are always missing something!). Had to cut Doja Cat and Logic.

 

1. IDLES - Joy As An Act Of Resistance
2. Press To MECO - Here's To The Fatigue
3. Spanish Love Songs - Schmaltz

 

1. The Blue Stones - Black Holes
2. Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
3. Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis 1: Unheavenly Creatures

 

This year is interesting. My musical tastes finally started expanding enough that I listened to a shitload of different albums and songs, but deeply attached to less.

1. BROCKHAMPTON - iridescence

• I love this album so much. It's dark, ugly, catchy, and all sorts of weird things in between. Despite being 15 tracks long, this is one that I listen to from start to finish whenever I happen upon one of the tracks. It also has one of the best blends of each member's contributions. Maybe their only album that feels like it has enough of everybody.

2. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

• I also love this album so much. Was my #1 back in 2018 and it still holds up. It just sounds like a happier time in life.

3. Tove Styrke - Sway

• An interesting album. 8 songs, 1 of which is a Lorde cover, but I really love 4 of these songs. This had to go #3 just because of how many times I listened to it back in 2018. Pure comfort pop.

Honorable Mentions

The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

• I've actually cooled on this album a bit since it was released. I really love some of the songs, but the sequencing makes the back half a little bit of a chore and there are some songs I wish weren't there altogether (Be My Mistake).

Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer

• Man, this album was EVERYWHERE. And rightfully so. Solid pop bangers!

Alkaline Trio - Is This Thing Cursed?

• Trio makes their best offering since... Crimson?

The Midnight - Kids

• Fun, nostalgic pop that sounds huge.

Fall Out Boy - MANIA

• One of their most divisive albums, both in reception and in actual sound. Love a couple tracks on here, don't like a couple.

The Dirty Nil - Master Volume

• Excellent rock album.

Joyce Manor - A Million Dollars to Kill Me

• This band doesn't really do any wrong. Can see why older fans wouldn't love it though.

The Night Game - The Night Game

• This was extremely close to cracking my top 3. Just a beast of a pop album.

Panic! At the Disco - Pray For the Wicked

• Also a beast of a pop album and one of the most consistent Panic! releases.

Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness - Upside Down Flowers

• The slower, more introspective pop sound really works here.

Lord Huron - Vide Noir

• After perfecting their old sound, it was necessary for Lord Huron to expand a little bit and I'm very glad they did.

Others
A Vulture Wake - The Appropriate Level of Outrage

• A solid punk album.

Frank Turner - Be More Kind

• What the fuck was this man thinking with this album? One of the worst offerings from someone who has either completely lost the ability to read the room or never had it in the first place.

Jack White - Boarding House Reach

• Strange rock. Some great songs.

Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past

• Fun indie funk.

Santigold - I Don't Want

• Excited for a new proper Santigold album this year, but I like this one well enough.

The Sonder Bombs - Modern Female Rockstar

• I think this "album" rocks and is way better than the actual album they ended up releasing a few years later. This just hits harder and is a better showcase for the frontperson's insane voice.

No Rome - RIP Indo Hisashi

• Pretty obvious student of The 1975, but definitely more interested in pushing the sound forward instead of looking back.

Hellogoodbye - S'Only Natural

• Some good songs here! Not the direction I think anyone on this website wanted Forrest to go.

Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers

• One of the more disjointed Fallon records, but I like it.

Caitlyn Smith - Starfire

• Some awesome songs here and a powerhouse voice.

Wet - Still Run

• Really love like 3 songs from this album. Could take or leave the rest.

 

Fallon record is "disjointed"? How so?

 

I just kinda think his other two solo records pick a vibe and stick with it the whole time while this one has a lot of different sounds that never coalesce as an entire project. There are also more songs on this album that I just don't remember what they sound like, like "Neptune" or "Watson."

 

1. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
2. Caitlyn Smith - Starfire
3. Noname - Room 25

4. mewithoutYou - [untitled]
5. Pale Waves - My Mind Makes Noises
6. Camp Cope - How to Socialise & Make Friends
7. Anthony Green - Would You Still Be in Love
8. The Night Game - The Night Game
9. Panic! at the Disco - Pray for the Wicked
10. Brockhampton - Iridescence
11. Gunship - Dark All Day
12. Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer
13. Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes - Wind Up Bird
14. The Wonder Years - Sister Cities
15. Hellogoodbye - S'Only Natural
16. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
17. Denzel Curry - TA13OO
18. Chvrches - Love is Dead
19. Greyhaven - Empty Black
20. Mae - Multisensory Aesthetic Experience
21. Kamelot - The Shadow Theory
22. Death Cab for Cutie - Thank You for Today
23. Saba - Care for Me
24. Soccer Mommy - Clean
25. Justin Courtney Pierre - In the Drink

 

1. Troye Sivan - Bloom
2. Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer
3. DJDS - Big Wave More Fire
4. Tove Styrke - Sway
5. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
6. MØ - Forever Neverland
7. Panic! At The Disco - Pray For The Wicked
8. Camila Cabello - Camila
9. HONNE - Love Me / Love Me Not
10. Lykke Li - So Sad So Sexy
11. Wet - Still Run
12. Coheed & Cambria - Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures
13. Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose
14. Hayley Kiyoko - Expectations
15. Saves The Day - 9
16. Empress Of - Us
17. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
18. Various Artists - Black Panther: The Album
19. Christine and the Queens - Chris
20. Anthony Green - Would You Still Be In Love

 

1. Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog
2. Pusha T - Daytona
3. Snail Mail - Lush

HM: Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs

Might just have been a lazy year for me but god this one feels weak compared to most of the rest of the decade

 

fwiw they call that one a full length

 

1. Foxing - Nearer My God
2. MewithoutYou - [Untitled]
3. Drug Church - Cheer

Close Ones:
Turnstile - Time & Space
Holy Fawn - Death Spells
Vein - Errorzone

Honorable Mentions:
Ben Howard - Noonday Dream
Fiddlehead - Springtime and Blind
Jack White - Boarding House Reach
Jon Hopkins - Singularity
Pianos Become the Teeth- Wait for Love
Rainbow Kitten Surprise - How to: Friend, Love, Freefall
Rich Brian - Amen
Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile
Story So Far - Proper Dose

 

Definitely a weaker year

1. Wild Pink - Yolk in the Fur
2. boygenius - boygenius (not sure it counts, but this is where I'd rank it)
3. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
4. Mitski - Be the Cowboy
5. Arctic Monkey - Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino

6. Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
7. Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog
8. Lucy Dacus - Historian
9. Snail Mail - Lush
10. Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams

11. Robyn - Honey
12. Low - Double Negative
13. Iceage - Beyondless
14. Brian Fallon - Sleepwalkers
15. Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears

 

i was told this site likes dirty nil but y'all are displaying some weaknesses