Geoffrey Himes’s Eighty Best Albums Of 2025
These are the eighty best albums I heard in 2025. I’m sure I missed some, but at least I can recommend these. They are ranked by quality. –Geoffrey Himes
Charles Lloyd: Figure in Blue (Blue Note)
The Delines: Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom (Décor/Jealous Butcher)
Linda May Han Oh: Strange Heavens (Biophilia)
The Beths: Straight Line Was a Lie (Anti-)
Sam Fender: People Watching (Polydor)
Various Artists: A Tribute to the King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier (Valcour)
First Meeting: Gonzalo Chris Eric Larry Live at Dizzy’s Club (5 Passion)
The Wood Brothers: Puff of Smoke (Honey Jar)
Wet Leg: Moisturizer (Domino)
Charley Crockett: Lonesome Drifter (Son of Davy)
Ken Pomeroy: Cruel Joke (Rounder)
Hayes Carll: We’re Only Human (Highway 87)
Bob Mould: Here We Go Crazy (Granary/BMG)
Henry Threadgill: Listen Ship (Pi)
Willie Nelson: Oh What a Beautiful World (Legacy)
Bon Iver: Sable/Fable (Jagjaguwar)
Taylor Swift: The Life of a Sweetheart (Republic)
Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons: Panther Tracks, Vol. 1 (World Will Turn)
Paul Kelly: Seventy (Cooking Vinyl)
James McMurtry: The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy (New West)
Lucian Ban John Surman Mat Maneri: Cantica Profana (Sunnyside)
Fieldwork: Thereupon (Pi)
Jason Isbell: Foxes in the Snow (Southeastern)
Flock of Dimes: The Life You Save (Sub Pop)
The Dropkick Murphys: For the People (Dummy Luck)
Billy Hart: Just (ECM)
Sabrina Carpenter: Man’s Best Friend (Island)
Joe Farnsworth: The Big Room (Smoke Sessions)
Patterson Hood: Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams (ATO)
Pulp: More. (Rough Trade)
Ron Blake: Scratch Band (7ten33)
Branford Marsalis: Belonging (Blue Note)
Ashley Monroe: Tennessee Lightning (Mountain Sparrow)
Joe Ely: Love + Freedom (Rack-Em)
The David Amram Quintet: The David Amram Quintet Honors the Songs of Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs (Guthrie Legacy)
Baltimore Jazz Collective: Baltimore Jazz Collective (Stricker Street)
Craig Finn: Always Been (Tamarac)
Joe Lovano & the Marcin Wasilewski Trio: Homage (ECM)
Morgan Wallen: I’m the Problem (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic)
The Krayolas: Christmas Candy (Box)
Van Morrison: Remembering Now (Exile/Virgin)
Tyler Childers: Snipe Hunter (RCA)
Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin-Jazz Orchestra: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (Zoho)
Shakti: Mind Explosion: 50th Anniversary Tour Live (Abstract Logix)
Robbie Fulks: Now Then (Compass)
Josh Joplin Group: GpYr (Missing Piece)
Joshua Redman: Words Fall Short (Blue Note)
Willi Carlisle: Winged Victory(Signature Sounds)
Alex Paxton: Delicious (New Amsterdam)
Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind (Red Hook)
Marty Ehrlich Trio: Trio Exaltation/This Time (Sunnyside)
Artemis: Arboresque (Blue Note)
Seth Walker: Why the Worry (RPF)
Madi Diaz: Fatal Optimist (Anti-)
Dan Weiss Quartet: Unclassified Affections (Sunnyside)
La Tanya Hall: If Not Now, When … (Blue Canoe)
Lonnie Holley: Tonky (Jagjaguwar)
Martin Berejano: The Purple Project: Reimagining the Music of Prince (Figgland)
Aaron Parks: By All Means (Blue Note)
Tedeschi-Trucks Band and Leon Russell: Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited Live at Lockin’ (Fantasy)
Dayna Stephens: Hopium (Conscious)
Maria Muldaur: One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey (NOLA Blue)
Wayne Scott: Wayne’s Pain (Full Light)
The Traveling McCourys: One Chord That Rings True (McCoury)
Robert Finley: Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya (Easy Eye)
Gregory Groover Jr.: Old Knew (Criss Cross)
Alison Brown & Steve Martin: Safe, Sensible and Sane (Compass)
Tommy Womack: Live a Little (Schoolkids)
Charlie Musselwhite: Look Out Highway (Deep Blues)
Gabriel Kahane: Heirloom (Nonesuch)
Paquito D’Rivera: La Fleur de Cayenne (Paquito/Sunnyside)
Parker McCollum: Parker McCollum (MCA Nashville)
Missy Raines: Love & Trouble (Compass)
Jimmy Greene: As We Are Now (Greene)
Joan Osborne: Dylanology Live (Womanly Hips)
DJO: The Crux (Twenty 20)
Carmen Staaf: Sounding Line (Sunnyside)
Young Gun Silver Fox: Pleasure (Blue Elan)
Joshua Hedley: All Hat (New West)
Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts (Nonesuch)