AllMusic Staff Pick Django Reinhardt Postwar Recordings 1944-1953 These sides highlight the guitarist's later stages of development, embracing bebop and the electric guitar. Reinhardt is also reunited with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, picking up where they left off before the war.

R&B's past and present came together to make for some outstanding records in 2025. Up-and-comers like Amber Mark, Coco Jones, and Dijon stood strong alongside genre stalwarts such as Mariah Carey, Mavis Staples, and Kali Uchis.

AllMusic Staff Pick Emmylou Harris Elite Hotel While Harris spent much of her career carrying on the legacy of Gram Parsons, Elite Hotel, released 50 years ago today, ranks among her most overt tributes to his genius, thanks to its covers of the Flying Burrito Brothers' "Sin City" & "Wheels."

Heartfelt themes and personal stories permeated the singer/songwriter albums of the year, from a sprawling three-disc release from Jeff Tweedy (pictured), to the pleading heartbreak of Lucy Dacus, plus a welcome return from Sarah McLachlan.

AllMusic Staff Pick Various Artists Punky Reggae Party: New Wave Jamaica 1975-1980 The mid-'70s reggae featured on this Trojan set may not be as "punky" as the Clash or the Ruts, but the music influenced both, along with many other punk and British ska bands forming around that time.

Rebranding from Dreams of Empire, the Brighton, U.K., duo of Jane and Andrew Craig offer up an appealing set of tuneful noise-singed indie pop as dreamcoaster. dreamcoasterband.bsky.social

Brigitte Bardot, 1934-2025 Though primarily known for her work on film, Brigitte Bardot scored a number of sultry French pop hits in tandem with the infamous singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. www.allmusic.com/artist/brigi...

AllMusic Staff Pick 36 Dreamloops Dennis Huddleston's prodigious output as 36 ("three-six") has ranged from field recording-based ambience to fractured trance deconstructions, not to mention two truly sublime space ambient albums with Past Inside the Present label head zakè.

Time is running out for you to vote in the 2025 AllMusic Readers' Poll. We've pulled together a roster of the highest-rated albums based on our readers' personal ratings. So fat it's a very tight race, so your vote may turn the tide.

This box set collects deluxe editions of all eight albums made during a phase in the '70s of consistently strong output from glam rock staple T. Rex.

AllMusic Staff Pick The Tragically Hip Phantom Power What a better way to soundtrack Boxing Day than with Canada's favorite sons, The Tragically Hip. This album contains some of the brightest and clearest production on any Hip record, showcased beautifully by the epic and pleading "Bobcaygeon."

Every year the AllMusic editors discover new and innovative acts pushing the boundaries of sound, texture and rhythm under the indie/alternative umbrella. Old pals like Stereolab, Tortoise, and Pulp (pictured) paved the way for today's acts Wet Leg, Sharp Pins, and The Cords.

AllMusic Staff Pick Diana Krall Christmas Songs On her first full-length Christmas album, pianist/vocalist Diana Krall delivers a smoky, sophisticated, and slightly melancholy album perfectly suited to accompany eggnog cocktails and romantic afterglow holiday affairs.

Delve into the world of classical music with vocal accompaniment, from a choral exploration of Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream to the flawless vocal control from young sensation Fatma Said (pictured). These are our favorite classical vocal albums of 2025.

AllMusic Staff Pick John Southworth The Red Castle Another gorgeous release from the English-Canadian singer/songwriter, The Red Castle plays like a smart pop hymnal, inspired by a kind of spiritual ramble through the Old World.

Our editors celebrated sounds from Latin America and around the world in 2025, including Bad Bunny's return to Puerto Rico, Ethiopian jazz master Mulatu Astatke revisiting his catalog, and an acoustic turn for West African star Mdou Moctar (pictured). Our favorite Latin and global albums of 2025.

AllMusic Staff Pick The Gap Band The Gap Band II II is the Gap Band's breakthrough album. It contains funk anthems "Party Lights," "Steppin' (Out)," "Who Do You Call," and "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops)."

2025 was an outstanding year for vintage live recordings as well as multi-disc compilations catering to explorers of old school R&B, synth pop, British folk, German rock, and more, even electroclash. Here are our individual editors' personal selections for the best 2025 reissues and archival albums.

AllMusic Staff Pick Original Soundtrack Kill Bill, Vol. 1 [Original Soundtrack] As Tarantino plot lines go, this revenge story may be his simplest, yet by dividing the film into three chapters, he could play with time and kinds of exploitation film -- something that's reflected in the soundtrack.

Chris Rea, 1951-2025 A British singer-songwriter who scored radio hits in the 1970s including the Grammy-nominated U.S. Top 20 hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," Rea transitioned to become respected blues singer by the '90s.

For the poptimist in all of us, 2025 was a year of big names and big releases. Sabrina Carpenter, Kesha, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and The Jonas Brothers (pictured) showed the world how its done. These are our favorite pop albums of 2025.

AllMusic Staff Pick Everything Everything Get to Heaven The Manchester band's third album is a dance-friendly if serious-minded one showcasing their art rock sensibilities via a through line of vigor.

We dug into the data and created a ballot based on your top-rated albums released this year that received more than 50 ratings, and you get five votes to cast for your favorites. We'll tally your votes and put together a list of the year's best albums, according to you, the AllMusic readers.

Water from Your Eyes member This is Lorelei revisits older songs filled with his earnest confessions and irresistible hooks.

AllMusic Staff Pick Eddie Lang Pioneers of Jazz Guitar 1927-1938 Guitar features were very rare in jazz prior to Django Reinhardt, and particularly before the guitar became amplified in the late '30s. This essential reissue has all of Eddie Lang's guitar features.

Friends, it's not too late. Grab some headphones, speakers, books, and tech gear gifts so that your friends and family will talk to you in 2026.

Mick Abrahams, 1943-2025 After leaving Jethro Tull, English guitarist Mick Abrahams founded Blodwyn Pig who made a valuable contribution to the late-'60s U.K. blues rock boom, and continued performing for decades. www.allmusic.com/artist/mick-...

Career-spanning collection of snotty, metallic, and loud-as-hell rockers, including quite a few rare early demos from Fuzz.

AllMusic Staff Pick Robert Fripp / Brian Eno Evening Star Robert Fripp's second team up with Brian Eno, released 50 years ago this month, was a less harsh, more varied affair, closer to Eno's then-developing idea of ambient music than what had come before in (No Pussyfooting).

From dusty back roads, through wild honky tonks, and into massive arenas, roots music and country sounds filled the airwaves. Super talents Margo Price, Rhiannon Giddens, Eric Church, and even Ringo Starr provided the soundtrack for our favorite country, folk, and Americana albums of 2025.

AllMusic Staff Pick The Blue Sky Boys The Blue Sky Boys [1976] The Blue Sky Boys -- brothers Earl and Bill Bolick -- sprang out of the same era of brother duets that produced the Monroe Brothers, the Delmore Brothers, and the Louvin Brothers, but their sound was entirely their own.

Jazz remains the genre displaying the most progressive innovation and creative energy, and this year's collection of albums is a perfect showcase. Albums by Ambrose Akinmusire, Yazz Ahmed, Nils Cline, and Brandee Younger (pictured) highlight the new sounds. Here are our favorite jazz albums of 2025.

AllMusic Staff Pick Turisas The Varangian Way Some listeners may be put off by all of the Renaissance Fair excess or the concept of grown men in pelts, they need not worry, as this delicious feast of strong ale, stale bread, & "flesh from the beasts that stalk us in the night" wasn't made for them.

Established rap icons such as Chuck D, De La Soul, and Open Mike Eagle (pictured) pass the mic to groundbreaking members of the newer generation like OsamaSon, Dave, and $ilkMoney in our favorite rap albums of 2025.

AllMusic Staff Pick Panda Bear Tomboy If Panda Bear’s 2007 breakthrough Person Pitch was his summer album, 2011’s Tomboy is the refrain of winter.

Our editors share a wide variety of their personal favorite albums of 2025, featuring some of the year's biggest releases and a wealth of lesser-heard gems. Each writer hand-picks their own top albums, including some lists of singles and links to streaming playlists. Tune in!

Joe Ely, 1947-2025 A Texas singer-songwriter, Ely was one of the main movers of Austin's progressive country scene of the 1970s and '80s. His smart songwriting and warm delivery was the perfect showcase for his gift for telling a story, making the lives of his characters seem real and relatable.

AllMusic Staff Pick Parliament Mothership Connection The definitive Parliament-Funkadelic album, Mothership Connection (released 50 years ago today) is where George Clinton's revolving band lineups, differing musical approaches, and increasingly thematic album statements reached an ideal state.

Classical instrumental recordings looked to the past with new interpretations of Ravel, Beethoven, Brahms, and a variety of little-known French works from Neave Trio (pictured), while pushing forward with contemporary works by Kronos Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, and organist Anna Lapwood.

AllMusic Staff Pick The Moody Blues Long Distance Voyager Progressive rock bands stumbled into the '80s, some with the crutch of commercial concessions under one arm, which makes the Moody Blues' elegant entrance via Long Distance Voyager all the more impressive.

The 45th Anniversary Edition of synth pop pioneer Gary Numan's dark and atmospheric 1980 album includes four previously unreleased tracks from the making of the record.

AllMusic Staff Pick Lightnin' Hopkins Lightnin' Hopkins [Smithsonian/Folkways] The record is one of the greatest albums in Hopkins' catalog, a skeletal record that is absolutely naked in its loneliness and haunting in its despair.

Beloved indie icon Juliana Hatfield emerges from a difficult period with an album that's as melodic as it is poignant.

AllMusic Staff Pick Burning Spear Marcus Garvey Marcus Garvey, released 50 years ago today, hit Jamaica like a force ten gale, its legacy so great that in later years many fans came to believe it was Burning Spear's debut album (it wasn't, two earlier records were released by Studio One).

As we review our favorite albums of the year, we turn it over to you to vote in our annual readers' poll. Each of you has five votes to spend in our annual year-end poll, with a ballot built from our readership's best-rated albums of 2025.

This 50th anniversary reissue from Pink Floyd includes a Dolby Atmos mix by James Guthrie and adds dozens of bonus tracks and live cuts.

AllMusic Staff Pick Tricky Blowback At first glance, this is not the same artist who created some of trip-hop's most stone-cold classics. This is Tricky's mainstream sellout moment, yet there's plenty of "old" Tricky buried into the mix for those who want more than cool background music.

Sparse, sprawling, invigorating, inventive, sometimes punishing—electronic music in 2025 broke new ground and traveled familiar grooves. We heard from artists from all over the world including Ela Minus, Matmos, Oneohtrix Point Never, and a welcome return from Nine Inch Nails (pictured).

AllMusic Staff Pick Discovery Zone Quantum Web JJ Weill's immersive second album as Discovery Zone blends tech-nostalgia and dreamy ambience with some '80s zing and a quirky wistfulness.

This previously unreleased incendiary 1963 New York concert from Rahsaan Roland Kirk features three alternate pianists, bassist Henry Grimes, and drummer Sonny Brown.