NPR Music's 50 Best Albums of 2018

Even in an era when listeners have been primed to expect the unexpected, the best albums of 2018 are full of surprises: a cascade of discoveries, revelations and artistic rebirths.

Published: December 04, 2018 10:01 Source

# 1
Album • Apr 27 / 2018 Contemporary R&B Art Pop
# 2
Album • Aug 17 / 2018 Art Pop Indie Rock
# 3
Album • Mar 30 / 2018 Country Pop Singer-Songwriter
# 4
Album • Mar 02 / 2018 Indie Rock Singer-Songwriter
# 5
Album • Sep 14 / 2018 Jazz Rap Conscious Hip Hop
# 6
Album • Apr 06 / 2018 Trap East Coast Hip Hop
# 7
Album • Oct 26 / 2018 Dance-Pop Electropop House
# 8
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 Flamenco Pop Flamenco nuevo Art Pop
# 9
Album • Apr 06 / 2018 Neo-Soul Contemporary R&B
# 10
Album • May 30 / 2018 Pop Rap Alternative R&B East Coast Hip Hop
# 11
Album • Apr 06 / 2018 Indie Rock
# 12
EP • Oct 26 / 2018 Indie Rock Indie Folk Singer-Songwriter
# 13
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 Contemporary Country
# 14
Album • Mar 02 / 2018 Indietronica Neo-Psychedelia Glitch Pop
# 15
Album • Sep 21 / 2018
# 16
Album • May 18 / 2018 Indie Rock Singer-Songwriter
# 17
Album • Sep 14 / 2018 Ambient Pop Glitch Pop
# 18
Album • Jun 22 / 2018 Spiritual Jazz
# 19
Album • Feb 16 / 2018 Singer-Songwriter Americana Folk Rock
# 20
Album • Apr 06 / 2018 Indigenous North American Music Art Pop Chamber Music
# 21
Album • Sep 21 / 2018 Synthpop Alt-Pop
# 22
Album • Aug 17 / 2018 Contemporary R&B Electropop
# 23
Album • Jan 26 / 2018 Americana Singer-Songwriter
# 24
Album • Jun 08 / 2018 Alternative R&B Art Pop
# 25
Album • Jan 26 / 2018 Psychedelic Rock
# 26
Album • Apr 05 / 2018 Conscious Hip Hop Jazz Rap
# 27
Album • Apr 13 / 2018
# 28
Album • Apr 13 / 2018 Americana Singer-Songwriter
# 29
Album • Nov 15 / 2018 East Coast Hip Hop
# 30
Album • Oct 26 / 2018 Jazz Fusion Nu Jazz
# 31
Album • Mar 30 / 2018 Mambo Latin Jazz
# 32
Album • Aug 24 / 2018 Ambient Modern Classical
# 33
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 Art Pop
# 34
Album • May 25 / 2018 Latin Pop
# 35
Album • Aug 03 / 2018 Trap Pop Rap Southern Hip Hop
# 36
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 West Coast Hip Hop Trap Hardcore Hip Hop
# 37
Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 "The Year 1905" by Boston Symphony Orchestra  +  Andris Nelsons  +  Дмитрий Шостакович [Dmitri Shostakovich]
Album • Jul 06 / 2018 Modern Classical Symphony
# 38
Album • Oct 12 / 2018 Chamber Jazz
# 39
Album • Jun 15 / 2018 Shaabi Electronic
# 40
Album • Apr 20 / 2018 Queercore Grindcore Powerviolence
# 41
Album • Aug 10 / 2018 Power Pop Indie Rock
# 42
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 Avant-Garde Jazz
# 43
Magus by Thou
Album • Aug 31 / 2018 Doom Metal Sludge Metal
# 44
Album • Mar 23 / 2018 Punk Rock
# 45
Album • Sep 07 / 2018 Baroque Music
# 46
Album • Jul 20 / 2018 Indietronica Dream Pop
# 47
EP • Mar 23 / 2018 Experimental Hip Hop Deconstructed Club
# 48
Album • Nov 26 / 2018 Southern Hip Hop
# 49
Album • Jun 08 / 2018 Indie Rock Indie Pop
# 50
Album • Jun 16 / 2018 Pop Rap Contemporary R&B