My Top Ten Albums of 2024

Before I get to my Number One song of 2024, it’s time to take a look at albums. As I mention what’s on this list, and in every list I do, these aren’t necessarily the “best” albums of the year but my own favorites. The fact is, if I tried to do a “best of” list I’d have to listen to everything released in a given year! My list reflects the artists I’ve been exposed to and/or who had something new out this year. I’ve seen many lists here on Substack that feature albums by artists that were nowhere on my radar in 2024. Knowing who they are now, I will check them out in the future. This is not to say I don’t stand by my own list - quite the contrary. It bothers me that older artists aren’t given their due when releasing new music. I’ve always wanted to create a radio station or at least a playlist featuring new music by older artists that many of us once loved that still make quality recordings. Perhaps I’ll do that in 2025… For now, I present my Top Ten Albums of 2024, which features a mix of some newer and established artists that I think released some good stuff this year. You might also note that many of these albums didn’t produce a Top Ten song for me. The reason: some albums are strong on their own without one single track standing out.

10. Happenings – Kasabian

These guys have been around for quite some time. I really liked a lot of their albums during the mid-2000s and then forgot about them. Happenings has a very different sound, for the most part, from those earlier electronic records but I enjoyed a number of the cuts, most especially the very poppy Algorithms, a runner-up to my Top Ten songs of 2024.

9. Sonic Ranch – Fastball

I had no idea these guys were still around! When I started exploring this album I went deeper and deeper and found some very interesting tracks. One of the things I loved about their sound in the 1990s was how diverse their songs sounded. The Way was nothing like Out of My Head. I feel the same about the tracks here. It’s introspective, melodic, pop/rock at its best.

8. The Key to What – Bear Hands

I’ve been a fan of these guys for a while. I ranked both of their previous two albums at number one in the years they were released, 2016’s You’ll Pay For This and 2019’s Fake Tunes. While their latest only comes in at number 8, I still really enjoyed some of the playful tracks and sounds on it. Their infectious and quirky lyrics, for instance, can be found in the track Mosquito Song.

7. Neon Pill – Cage the Elephant

These guys have gotten some Grammy love over the years and continue make some sonically interesting and catchy music. The title track and Same, for instance, couldn’t be more different yet still have seem to exist in a similar universe that is particular to Cage the Elephant.

6. DIVE – almost monday

This is an enjoyable, young, pop/rock band that I came across in 2021 with their single cool enough, which I put in my Top Ten Songs list that year. This is their first full-length album and it doesn’t disappoint with its playful, energetic tracks about all things young people seem to be into. I love their hooks and clever writing.

5. Gary – Blossoms

Blossoms is another group I’ve enjoyed for a few years now. While I felt their last album, 2022’s Ribbon Around the Bomb was a disappointment compared to the hook-laden sound of my number one album of 2020 Foolish Loving Spaces, this year’s Gary continued their exploration of pop sounds and catchy lyrics. They’ve since released a follow-up album of covers, called Gary’s Covers, which I haven’t fully explored but does contain an effective cover of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

4. Mountainhead – Everything Everything

I hadn’t paid much attention to these guys before this year but I was quickly moved by many of the tracks on Mountainhead. While some of the lyrics can be a bit elusive, the wide range of lead singer Jonathan Higgs’s voice is deeply emotional and passionate. He hits my own inner core in a way that I find really fascinating and a bit bewildering. The whole album is filled with some powerhouse songs that reflect this.

3. Mister Domino – Tommy Newport

Newport was born under the name Oliver Milmine in Manchester, England before moving with his family to the U.S. when he was six years old. I wasn’t familiar with him until I heard his cover of the Talking Heads Sugar on My Tongue, which was found on a bonus version of the band’s 1977 debut album. Like a lot of the artists in my Top Ten Albums list, Newport creates a variety of catchy pop/rock tunes that I discovered bit by bit in the months since the release of Mister Domino. I’m excited to hear what he does next.

2. Daniel – Real Estate

These guys have been around for a while but this stripped down album of introspective, melodic, guitar driven songs feels deeply personal to me. (Is it a surprise that the album is called Daniel?!) Tracks like Flowers, Water Underground, and Market Street each crept up on me. I couldn’t deny the stories they painted and the effective soft delivery by lead singer Martin Courtney. The songs are infectious in a melancholic way that I can easily connect with.

1. Blue Electric Light – Lenny Kravitz

I wasn’t in the first wave of followers of Kravitz back in the 1990s. I appreciated his energy, look, and vocals. However, over the years it was the ballads he wrote and recorded that affected me the most. Amidst the pandemic in 2020, his song Ride resonated with me in a big way. When I heard his new album I began searching for tracks that were equally emotional and compelling. As the year went on, as with a number of the albums I’ve mentioned, I kept discovering more tracks that were very different from each other yet also infectious. One constant across the tunes on this album is Kravitz’s vocals, which remain solid and full of passion. Many of the songs could have made my Top Ten songs list this year, ultimately I went with Spirit of My Heart, but check out other tunes such as Heaven and Human and you’ll grasp someone who is still soul searching while holding strong to his principles and place in life. This is a great album all the way through that deserved more attention than it received. Kravitz also missed out on getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. Let’s hope he gets in soon.

What are your favorite albums from 2024??