A Happy New Year to you all.
This year’s chart has been entirely created by the hard work of @salwarpe, who has been the brains and the energy behind the compilation of the results, so hats off and thanks from all of us to him – a sterling job!
Before revealing 2025’s winners, almosts and also-rans, here is a reminder of our previous champions.
2018 642 albums nominated – winner Ry Cooder: Prodigal Son
2019 563 albums nominated – winner Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars
2020 531 albums nominated – winner Bob Dylan: Rough & Rowdy Ways
2021 565 albums nominated – winner Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Raise The Roof
2022 556 albums nominated – winner Half Man Half Biscuit: The Voltarol Years
2023 574 albums nominated – winner Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit: Weathervanes
2024 – 558 albums nominated – winner: The Cure: Songs Of A Lost World
2025 – 590 albums nominated – winner: ??????????????????
First of all, as has become a tradition, let’s see the albums that earned one point for being one voter’s twentieth favourite album of the year. I’m not sure why we always put this category up, but Lodestone of Wrongness used to do it and I’m copying him.
Those albums are:
Louis Dunford – Be Lucky
The Murder Capital – Blindness
Jethro Tull – Curious Ruminant
Sofia Karlsson – En sång till Selma
Florence & the Machine – Everybody Scream.
Ring van Mobius – Firebrand
Monnone Alone – Here Comes The Afternoon
Lisa Knapp & Gerry Diver – Hinterland
Femi Kuti – Journey Through Life
Tanita Tikaram – LIAR (Love Isn’t a Right)
Earl Thomas & the Gospel Ambassadors feat Sister Leola – Live In London
Tunng – Love you All Over Again
John Scofield & Dave Holland – Memories Of Home
Distant Animals – Night Swimming
Ed Harcourt – Orphic
Royal Arctic Institute – Royal Arctic Institute
Babygirl – Stay Here Where It’s Warm
Tunde Adebimpe – Three black boltz
Kokoroko – Tuff Times Never Last
Willie Nelson – Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle
Shocked (and stunned) that no-one else voted for Ring Van Mobius…
Next come the albums that were the favourite of one Afterworder, but earned no other votes. There are always a surprisingly large number of these I think.
Everyone Says Hi – Everyone Says Hi
Madison Cunningham – Ace
Theon Cross – Affirmations (Live At The Blue Note, New York)
Constance Amiot – After Summer
Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon – Bach – Mass in B Minor
Xuefei Yang – Chapeau Satie
The Airport 77`s – Dont Let Go
Cardiacs – L.S.D
The Young Knives – Landfill
Tingsek – Lights Out Association
McKinley Dixon – Magic, Alive!
Naragonia Quartet – Nehalennia
Willie Nelson – Oh What A Beautiful World
Backxwash – Only Dust Remains
Ruth Lyon – Poems & Non-Fiction
Joris Voorn – Serotonin
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives – Space Junk
Esther Rose – Want
Bush Gothic – What Pop People Folk This Popular
I had Willie on my list but then thought it might be a compilation of previously recorded / released and new tracks and maybe not eligible. His voice sounds younger on some of the songs…maybe I’m wrong.
It is an all new album, but some of the recordings go back a few years, predating, possibly, albums released ahead of it. For instance, it includes the last two recordings by his sister, Bobbie, a stalwart in his band, if now dead for around 4 years. All but 2 tracks have had earlier renditions put out by Nelson, often as duets with Haggard, in whose memory these new recordings have been made.
(So yes, he was a mere boy in his late 80’s for some of them.)
Thanks Retro – You might be talking about his new one featuring covers of Merle Haggard songs (I’ve not got that yet) I was thinking of the earlier 2025 release of Rodney Crowell covers…
O, I was, given it was my number 20. From what I recall, the Crowell was put together in a similar fashion, over a year or three.
My fave, The Pursuit of Pleasure – Songs Mostly in Waltz Time, should be in here. Not that anyone (else) cares!
It seems my votes have been overlooked, not that they would have affected the results.
That’s my fault, not Paul’s. When I read your words “If you like, please scatter the points equally between these (I don’t think it will affect the end result)”, I mistakenly gave all your choices an even 10 points, including the one that you have now corrected.
I’ll amend the results in the Google Sheets poll, which in happy to share the url for anyone interested.
Paul’s been very kind to give me credit. I take this opportunity to praise him for launching the poll, and then doing a fine job of drawing charts from the stats and unveiling the results in a suitably countdowntastic way.
No worries and it really doesn’t affect the results. My favourite album of 2025 came out in 1972. I didn’t think Shirley Bassey is ever going to be in an AW poll.
Thanks Sal – I really do just do the very easy bit.
Ooh – was there another vote for the Lovely Eggs? Who was it?
That would be Bogart’s 17th place choice, giving a grand total of 24 points – sadly just outside the Hot 100.
Thank you! Only discovered them last year, but love their stuff.
“Waves flag for The Airport 77`s”
Was listening to them upon your prompt as that was the first film I ever saw in the cinema (it was rubbish) – most enjoyable old-fashioned power pop (Afterword Friendly Score: 10).,
And so to the top 100. In joint 100th place with 27 points are:
Held By Trees – Hinterland
Humdrum Express – Rastrophiliopustrocity Pomposity.
Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke – Tall Tales
So deeper into the top 100.
99 (28 points)
Bon Iver – Sable, Fable
97= (29 points)
Patricia Brennan – Of the Near and Far
Alain Altinoglu Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra – Shostakovich: Symphonies 4 & 5
93= (30 points)
Alison Krauss & Union Station -Arcadia
Alison Goldfrapp – Flux
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Live God
86= (31 points)
Haim – I Quit
Amanda Shires – Nobody’s Girl
Emma-Jean Thackray – Weirdo
Olafur Analds & Talos – A Dawning
Divorce – Drive to Goldenhammer
Heartworms – Glutton For Punishment
Big Special – National Average
81= (32 points)
Anouar Brahem, Anja Lechner, Django Bates, Dave Holland – After The Last Sky
Don Was And The Pan-Detroit Ensemble – Groove in The Face of Adversity
Wednesday – Bleeds
Okonski – Entrance Music
Valerie June – Owls, Omens & Oracles
79= (33 points)
Chris Eckman – The Land We Knew The Best
Lady Gaga – Mayhem
77= (34 points)
Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band – New Threats From The Soul
Pavel Hass Quartet – Martinů / String Quartets 2-3-5-7.
76 (35 points)
Fergus McCreadie – The Shieling
75 (36 points)
Lucy Dacus – Forever Is A Feeling
Pavel Haas Quartet smashes in at no 77= …huzzah!
Now there’s a sentence you don’t see often.
Well, indeed!
And, of course, many thanks to @salwarpe and @Paul-Hewston!
Nice to see Fergus McCreadie holding down the coveted no.76 position.
Indeed!
And so onwards towards the top 50.
72= (37 points)
Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
Poor Creature – All Smiles Tonight
Nash Ensemble – Ravel
68= (38 points)
Wolf Alice – The Clearing
GoGo Penguin – Necessary Fictions
Caroline – Caroline 2
Juana Molina – Doga
64= (39 points)
Brown Horse – All The Right Weaknesses
Benmont Tench – The Melancholy Season
Marshall Allen – New Dawn
Gigspanner Big Band – Turnstone
63 (40 points)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Tranquilizer
58= (41 points)
Margo Price – Hard Headed Woman
Taylor Swift – The Life Of A Showgirl
Ringo Starr – Look Up
Lorde – Virgin
56= (42 points)
Patterson Hood – Exploding Trees and Airplane Screams
Deafheaven – Lonely People With Power
54= (43 points)
Luke Haines & Peter Buck – Going Down to the River to Blow my Mind
Young Gun Silver Fox – Pleasure
53 (44 points)
Katie Spencer – What Love Is
52 (45 points)
Charles Lloyd, Jason Moran, Marvin Sewell – Figure in Blue
51 (47 points)
Anna von Hausswolf – Iconoclasts
Top 50 coming up shortly…..
Great to see The Nash Ensemble sharing a slot with Sabrina Carpenter! 😉
Nice to see The Gigspanner Big Band finish higher* than someone named Sabrina Carpenter
* Or given that the Top100 is descending
And a big thank you to @Paul-Hewston and @salwarpe
So heading into the top 50.
50 (48 points)
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Public Works and Utilities
49 (49 points)
Snarky Puppy, Metropole Orkest, Jules Buckley – Somni
48 (50 points)
Anthony Toner – Long Long Way
47 (52 points)
Jade – That’s Showbiz Baby!
46 (55 points)
Kae Tempest – Self Titled
45 (56 points)
The Tubs – Cotton Crown
42= (59 points)
Baxter Dury – Allbarone
Doves – Constellations For The Lonely
I’m With Her – Wild And Clear And Blue
41 (60 points)
James Yorkston – Songs for Nina and Johanna
39= (62 points)
Saint Etienne – International
Craig Finn – Always Been
37= (63 points)
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis & Karine Polwart – Looking For The Thread
Thea Gilmore – These Quiet Friends
35= (64 points)
Lily Allen – West End Girl
Lord Huron – The Cosmic Selector Vol 1
34 (69 points)
Manic Street Preachers – Critical Thinking
33 (71 points)
Cass McCombs – Interior Live Oak
32 (73 points)
Suede – Antidepressants
31 (74 points)
Edwyn Collins – Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation
30 (78 points)
Robert Forster – Strawberries
As always happens when these results come out, I’ve already spotted three albums* in the list so far that I should have voted for but didn’t, mostly through having not realised that they’ve only been with us for 12 months or less, so familiar have I become with their excellence.
Maybe that’s a sign that there’s actually more great music around than any of us think at any one time.
And there’s still another 29 to go…
*from Fergus McCreadie, Katy Spencer and I’m With Her.
So on to the next batch, from 30-12.
29 (79 points)
Rodney Crowell – Airline Highway
28 (82 points)
Matt Berninger – Get Sunk
27 (86 points)
Steven Wilson – The Overview
26 (90 points)
Ron Sexsmith – Hangover Terrace
25 (94 points)
The Necks – Disquiet
24 (100 points)
The Last Dinner Party – From The Pyre
23 (104 points)
Midlake – A Bridge To Far
22 (107 points)
James McMurtry – The Black Dog & The Wandering Boy
21 (110 points)
Sam Fender – People Watching
20 (116 points)
Stereolab – Instant Holograms on Metal Film
19 (117 points)
Paul Weller – Find El Dorado
18 (118 points)
David Byrne – Who Is The Sky?
16= (119 points)
Big Thief – Double Infinity
Kathleen Edwards – Billionaire
15 (128 points)
Mavis Staples – Sad & Beautiful World
14 (131 points)
Sparks – Mad!
13 (132 points)
Wet Leg – Moisturizer
12 (139 points)
Geese – Getting Killed
A pause here for you to admire the sheer range and variety in the albums featured so far. Top 10 coming up later this afternoon. Bet the suspense is killing you….
Ok, so we are into the top ten-ish.
10= (141 points)
Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow
Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override
9 (145 points)
Van Morrison – Remembering Now
7= (162 points)
The Divine Comedy – Rainy Sunday Afternoon
The Delines – Mr Luck & Ms Doom
6 (168 points)
Suzanne Vega – Flying With Angels
5 (180 points)
Rosalia – Lux
4 (192 points)
CMAT – Euro-Country
3 (200 points)
Half Man Half Biscuit – All Asimov And No Fresh Air
So who is it to be?
Anyone following the entries during December will probably know that two albums have been well clear of the rest. So which is the winner? It was very close but….
2 (282 points)
Robert Plant with Suzi Dian – Saving Grace
Meaning that this year’s Afterword Album Of The Year is……..
A worthy champion and a genuine article comeback.
1 (295 points)
Pulp – More
And this is a banger right up with anything they produced in the Britpop era. Well done Pulp – I bet they’ll be absolutely stoked to hear that they are our winner.
Thanks for voting everyone – the most pleasing thing about the whole poll is that the site and forum site appears to be in rude health with a similar number of voters and albums as in previous years. So massive thanks to those who do all the work to maintain it. You should be proud of yourselves and we should all cherish this pleasant corner of the internet.
That’s the first track from the winning album that I’ve heard
Is that the best track on the album if so I doubt I’ll be listening any more from it BUT that’s just me not to detract from the joy others have listening to it
AW agrees with Uncut/Mojo shocker….. Or is it?
I haven’t actually listened to More yet, possibly on some off-kilter point of principle. Not that there is any substance to my random vetos, as I had similarly decided that I wouldn’t be bothered by the new Midlake, feeling it would be warmed up more of their same. But I made the mistake of listening to it last week. And it’s blimming marvellous, and would have made my top 10 with ease.
Bravo @salwarpe and @paul-hewston
Yes, good work guys (and the reason why we post the last place entries is – in my head – to give me a chance to see at least one of my choices in a list!)
I haven’t heard the winning album, or indeed any of their previous albums, but I clicked the video and it was OK, and got better the longer it went on.
The one that I have heard, and am baffled over how high up it got, is the album by The Delines. I tried and tried, but I thought it was their worst album yet. I’m clearly in the minority!
It isn’t their best, certainly, especially the godawful Nancy & the Pensacola Pimp. But there’s another one due in March, which is better.
Wonderful work. Well done @salwarpe and @Paul-Hewston.
Yes absolutely top show those chaps.
Absolutely – I loved reading the rundown. – and will be back to check out missed gems. Thanks for your time
Thanks a lot fellas. Always look forward to this rundown.
Nice work. Best “best album list of the year” of course. As always, there will likely be at least 5 albums I discover from this list that will make my top 10 for 25 at the end of 26. Looking forward to exploring.
Good work, both.
Fabulous stuff, gents – thanks for all your work on that. I haven’t heard the Pulp, and quite like Robert Plant’s but it really isn’t that special to these ears. But for all that we send ourselves up for our safe choices of artists who’ve been around forever (though excellent that Van Morrison is in the top ten with a genuinely good record) how great to see CMAT and Rosalia in the top five.
Top notch collating you two!!
I never listen to enough albums in any given year to contribute meaningfully but I really look forward to the results every time. Maybe I should make more of an effort. I’m more inclined to listen to radio. Moreso than the list, I look forward to the playlist should some kind soul undertake the mammoth task. They usually accompany my evening chores well into Spring and always give me new artists on my radar. I tend to share the list with friends too.
There’s a playlist wot I made featuring almost every album nominated, best experienced in spurts of shuffling. Maybe you’d be more interested in a specific top 100 playlist, in which case there may be another along shortly..
I’ve been listening to that one. I look forward to the next one. Thanks for your efforts @sewer-robot
Yes indeed. Thanks a lot @sewer-robot– I’m really looking forward to this.
That’s my January listening sorted.
And of course thanks a lot to you too @paul-hewstone for all your hard work.
Cheers. It was actually you @kaisfatdad I had my money on to do the top 100 playlist..
I line them up but if no-one else will knock them down…
Spurts Of Shuffling TMFTL
Well done everyone one involved, January will be a month catching up on some of those top 20 albums that have past me by . Like others have said I tend to listen to tracks rather than albums but top 100 Afterword Albums is a lovely way to end the year off . 👍
Great work.
Unusual to see a Nick Cave album so far down the rankings. Justified mind you IMO.
I think it was only released in December. I loved it – found the newer stuff much more appealing in the live setting.
Yes the production on Wild God has many perturbed.
Excellent work and in retrospect I kind of agree with the no 1 position for Pulp – it is not just a return to form it (for me) exceeds any of their previous albums.
My late discovery was the Jason Isbel album – which I got as a Xmas gift from bro in law. Never heard a note of his before and was rather impressed with quality of songwriting and playing.
Because it was nominated, I acquired the latest album by Kim Wilde, although I haven’t listened to it yet.
Did I ever tell you about the time she made me a cup of tea? {AW: Yes, you did…}
I am resolved to listen to top ten albums I did not catch. So far:
Jason Isbell – like a lot of his work but really missing a band presence.
Suzanne Vega – nobody’s idea of groundbreaking but a very engaging listen and nice to reconnect with an artist I really only knew for her first two albums.
Jeff tweedy – a third in – 30 tracks! – and can see what the fuss is about. Again, Wilco I have never quite bonded with though this is cracking.
Divine Comedy and Delines to go.
Not on your nelly am I listening to late-period Van sorry. Bailed out at the end of eighties.
As I’m sure Dai will happily point you in the right direction, there’s a really good Van compilation album out of the last 35 years (and what seems like 35* albums)
(*) I checked – only 31 albums since 1990. Slacker.
I didn’t want to put a negative vibe on this wonderful thread, but I have to say I agree on a couple of your points. I love Jason Isbell, but I can’t stand this cd. IMHO, weak songs, and they don’t come across well with just his guitar. On the anniversary set of Southeastern, there is a cd with him playing the songs solo on an acoustic guitar, and it is superb, but not this one I’m afraid.
I was conned into buying Remembering Now by the folks on here telling me it was a return to form. I certainly won’t make that mistake again with Van…that’s me done. His voice is great, and the band are great, but to me, the songs are absolute drivel. Can’t remember the track(because I only played it twice), but one of them has only about 4 or 5 lines in it, and one gets repeated about 17 times….sheesh!
The two cds are filed away, probably never to be listened to again. I didn’t even rip either to my PC.