The music world refused to stand still in 2025. This wasn’t a year for playing it safe. Across the globe and all over the stylistic map, music kept mutating in the weirdest, wildest ways. The artists behind the year’s best albums were taking big swings, not repeating past successes. Lady Gaga brought the mayhem for her most ambitious record in years. Rosalía made her deeply personal statement about sexual and spiritual transcendence. Bad Bunny traveled through time and space, from San Juan to Nuevayol. Pop visionaries like FKA Twigs and Taylor Swift made bold new moves.

Our list has everything from upstart country to Afropop to shoegaze to flamenco. We’ve got brash young indie bands like Geese and Lifeguard; we’ve got fearless rock storytelling from Wednesday and Craig Finn; we’ve got the

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