The 50 Greatest Albums of 2018, Compiled by Martin Canine

2018 sincerely questioned what we consider an album and what we do not. In one week, a big name in the music scene decided that seven tracks and less than half an hour were enough for a full-length experience, while the next week, another artist stuffed their record to the extreme. As a result, we saw a larger number of commercially successful and usually high-charting double albums than in previous years, while some other releases could have easily passed as an EP or even a maxi-single. The shortest album on my list fits into the longest one roughly five times.

Reactions to this phenomenon were naturally divided. Some said that the short albums had everything they needed and maintained great quality throughout. Others were furious, calling it a cash grab. Meanwhile, the long albums were similarly polarizing: some praised how much content you get from a single release, while others found them uneven, with too many fillers.

It probably all comes down to how you consume your music. If you purchase albums, you want to get as much music as possible for your money. For someone who solely streams songs, the length is mostly irrelevant. As I said in my songs list, I am new to streaming, but I personally approach it this way: I listen to music online first, and if I really like it, I buy it - physically if possible, digitally if necessary.

To make it onto my list, it ultimately came down to the releases' overall quality and whether the album in its entirety could provide a rich and varied impression. Does the 22-minute record have a huge amount of different layers and facets to explore? Did the 100-minute album feel half as long as it actually is? Then they both probably have just the right length for what they aim to be.

As always, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Albums are often entirely different experiences than the individual tracks, whether the release is an album, EP, or mixtape.

This year, I started writing music reviews on TheTopTens. Please know that the records I reviewed aren't all that I listened to this year - there are several more, many of which appear here. However, there is one album readers of my posts will likely miss from this list. If you decide to browse through my reviews and compare them to this list, you will notice the absence of #TubeClash: The Album by darkviktory and 24/7 Sound, the soundtrack of the animated web series of the same name that ran from 2014 to 2017. I awarded it a full 5 stars. And yes, it's still as good, but I felt that an album featuring music that was widely heard over the previous few years wouldn't quite fit on a 2018 music ranking. As I wrote in my review, it's not really a compilation, as all the tracks appear on an album for the first time. Still, it felt out of place here.

A year ago, I declared tru. by German singer-rapper-producer Cro the greatest album of 2017. 365 days later, it still holds up as an outstanding track of the decade. Who will be the heiress or heir to the throne in 2018? We'll see.

Here is my full list in reverse order for more thrills (accompanying texts will only be available in the main list, though):

50. Drake - Scorpion
49. Mike Shinoda - Post-Traumatic
48. Fantastic Negrito - Please Don’t Be Dead
47. Migos - Culture II
46. Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts
45. Auri - Auri
44. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter V
43. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Take 2
42. Fall Out Boy - M A N I A
41. BTS - Love Yourself 轉 ‘tear’
40. Ufo361 - VVS
39. Malinda - Love Letter
38. Marsimoto - Verde
37. Foxes and Peppers - Spread Thy Wings
36. Beyond The Black - Heart of the Hurricane
35. Wiley - Godfather II
34. A$AP Rocky - Testing
33. GARNiDELiA - G.R.N.D.
32. Doro - Forever Warriors / Forever United
31. Scarlxrd - Dxxm
30. Kollegah - Monument
29. Jessie J - R.O.S.E.
28. Vanessa Mai - Schlager
27. Genetikk - Y.A.L.A.
26. Buddy Guy - The Blues is Alive and Well
25. Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending
24. Poppy - Am I A Girl?
23. Herbert Grönemeyer - Tumult
22. Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer
21. Kollegah & Farid Bang - Platin war gestern
20. Travis Scott - Astroworld
19. Sophie - Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
18. Kanye West - ye
17. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born
16. Cupcakke - Ephorize
15. Lil Peep - Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 2
14. Pusha T - Daytona
13. Denzel Curry - TA13OO
12. Post Malone - beerbongs & bentleys
11. Conchita & Wiener Symphoniker - From Vienna With Love
10. Black Eyed Peas - Masters of the Sun, Vol. 1
9. Jaden Smith - The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story
8. Ufo361 - 808
7. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
6. Marianne Faithfull - Negative Capability
5. Inner Tongue - Favours
4. Bushido - Mythos
3. Christina Aguilera - Liberation
2. Kim Wilde - Here Come The Aliens
1. XXXTentacion - ?

This list was released on January 1st, 2019, and solely reflects my knowledge up to that date. I am not an encyclopedia that knows every album released in 2018.
The Top Ten
1 ? - XXXTentacion

Length: 37:28
Tracks: 18

I considered not putting this album in this position. Not because I doubted it belonged here, but because of the entire situation surrounding it. Ranking the final album of an artist who died shortly after, especially in such a tragic way at such a young age, invites criticism. Some might say it's only placed so high due to the circumstances and the myth surrounding it. To avoid such confrontations, I considered giving it another spot, but the truth is, it was the clear winner ever since its release, even while he was alive (though not well). Nothing that came afterward, no matter how good, could surpass it.

Tormenting angst, shocking self-reflection, and raw lyricism dominate the album, which draws from hip hop as much as from grunge and emo (the '90s genre even more so than the 2000s version). His bleak, often apathetic vocals add to the emotional intensity that unfolds from the start. This isn't a joyous trap album about flexing - you're invited to the darkest depths of a complicated, often troubled mind, and once you press play, there's no turning back. Lasting 37 minutes, "? " is the only proper album released by XXXTentacion, and it shows the full extent of his potential.

2 Here Come The Aliens - Kim Wilde

Length: 49:15
Tracks: 12

The 1980s might be the decade that gave us the most pop culture classics, both in music and film. Kim Wilde, who contributed to the iconic sound of the era with hits like "Kids in America" and "Cambodia," does her best to bring those golden times back with Here Come The Aliens in 2018.

The album feels like a second coming of the criminally underrated genre of new wave. This isn't just an attempt at nostalgia for those stuck in the past. Wilde's vocals, the drums, guitars, and even the production feel as though not a single day has passed since the genre's peak. Most importantly, at 57 years of age, Wilde still delivers the punkish energy and spirit needed to make the album a truly rocking collection of tracks that rival the quality of her classic hits.

3 Liberation - Christina Aguilera

Length: 49:19
Tracks: 15

With her newest album, Christina Aguilera - still a strong contender for the title of best female non-classical singer alive - demonstrates what popular music is capable of, beyond just being catchy. Drawing from classic soul (not neo-soul), hard rock, hip hop, and reggae, Aguilera's comeback after a six-year hiatus is as spectacular as it gets.

The album manages to astonish with old-fashioned, classic songwriting, while still sounding very current, especially in its feminist themes and recurring emphasis on personal and creative independence. While the early 2010s may have been a creative low for her, Liberation stands alongside Stripped as one of her strongest works to date.

4 Mythos - Bushido

Length: 56:02
Tracks: 15

After leaving his ties to the Abou-Chaker Clan and some other fake friends behind, Bushido focused on his future with his family and his role as a mentor to Capital Bra and Samra (who had two and seven number-one hits this year, respectively). Mythos was released at a turning point in his career, one that has seen him become the biggest German hip hop act ever.

Musically, this is the closest he has come to the sound and quality of his 2003 milestone Vom Bordstein bis zur Skyline. His beats are mysterious, graceful, and melodic, while his lyrics oscillate between modern poetry and raw emotion, depending on the situation. Bushido feels free of expectations now, and that sense of liberation comes through in both his MPC and his voice.

5 Favours - Inner Tongue

Length: 39:13
Tracks: 12

With barely any views and no chart position in any country, Inner Tongue might be one of the most undiscovered talents on Earth. Due to a risky vocal cord operation, his debut album almost didn't come to be, but thankfully, he recovered well. His voice may still be weak and reliant on effects, but his musical vision is too significant not to share with the world.

The first album from the Austrian independent singer-producer consists of soothing, offbeat synth soundscapes that transport you to a dreamy, musical realm. In this world, everything feels free and easy, where melancholic philosophizing meets hope and imagination. It's one of those albums where you close your eyes and give in to the world the songs create. It never feels hectic and never tries to meet mainstream expectations.

6 Negative Capability - Marianne Faithfull

Length: 42:30
Tracks: 10

In the 1960s, Marianne Faithfull was a young pop sensation, often seen alongside Mick Jagger, much like Mary Hopkin was to Paul McCartney. When her debut album was released, she was 18 years old - now she is 72. Comparing that first record to her recent Negative Capability is like comparing two lifetimes. Each passing year has changed her profoundly.

Age has weakened her body but strengthened her mind. Her voice and songwriting have been transformed by years of both positive and negative experiences (with the album title suggesting more of the latter). Over time, she learned how to turn tragedies and rough patches into art. Faithfull acknowledges her age, and unlike some artists who try to hide it, she embraces it fully, making it a central theme of her music. She shares her thoughts and wisdom with anyone willing to listen.

7 Invasion of Privacy - Cardi B

Length: 48:13
Tracks: 13

In 2017, before her massive breakthrough with "Bodak Yellow," Cardi B released a great mixtape called Gangsta B---h Music, Vol. 2, which revolved around different aspects of independence and strength. A year, plenty of media coverage, and one leap into superstardom later, she put out her debut album, and it lived up to the promises of her earlier work.

Cardi B doesn't waste time with fillers, delivering a collection of hard-hitting punchlines - often creatively funny, but always with a touch of female dominance. At some points, there are emotional statements warning not to toy with her feelings, which can really boost self-esteem. She rides a selection of great and varied trap beats, using numerous creative ideas in her flow and rhymes, claiming the title of best female rapper of 2018. Cardi B outshines Nicki Minaj, Cupcakke, and even German rappers Pilz and Antifuchs, who all delivered solid albums - but Cardi takes the cake.

8 808 - Ufo361

Length: 45:58
Tracks: 13

In 2018, Ufo361 turned from being just another German trap rapper to the German trap rapper, by releasing two studio albums that couldn't be more different within the boundaries of the same genre. 808 is the first one, and it's a gloomy, atmospheric experience.

Often, the rapper gives a completely drugged-out and semi-unconscious performance. Sometimes, the lines range from complete boasting to utter paranoia. This is the soundtrack to a man's trippy night as he reflects on both his fame and success, as well as his most painful inner feelings, drowning both in a big sip of codeine.

The beats are bleak, sometimes even a bit disturbing, and perfectly capture the tone of the lyrics.

9 The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story - Jaden Smith

Length: 36:40
Tracks: 11

Jaden Smith introduces the sound of the new bohéme, somewhere between utopian freedom, postmodern values, and relationships delicate and vulnerable like a newborn. His music presents a lifestyle between wealth and luxury.

The tape is set in a world of self-fulfillment and best depicts the wishes and desires of his generation, especially that of his MSFTSrep movement, with the musical soundscapes underlining the calm delivery and (sometimes) introspective lyricism.

Somewhere between trap, cloud rap, and Kanye-esque experimentalism, The Sunset Tapes departs so far from the material you'd expect from the kid who starred in After Earth. It feels as offbeat and freed from commercial trends as an indie artist's work.

10 Masters of the Sun, Vol. 1 - Black Eyed Peas

Length: 58:16
Tracks: 12

And then suddenly, they were back again. Completely vanished from the Earth's surface - at least as a combined force - they one day returned after 8 years to drop another record, which ranks among the absolute best they have yet recorded.

Their past records were torn between songs that were either aesthetically or lyrically pleasing, but on Masters of the Sun, Vol. 1, which is their most political and conscious album to date, they manage to do both at the same time throughout the entire record. Over jazz, slightly classical, or electronic elements, their poppy old-school hip hop songs deal with topics such as police brutality, technology, and the media.

A still anonymous female singer, as well as a few guest stars, replaces Fergie, who left the group in 2017.

The Contenders
11 From Vienna with Love - Conchita & Wiener Symphoniker
12 Beerbongs & Bentleys - Post Malone
13 Ta13oo - Denzel Curry
14 Daytona - Pusha T
15 Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2 - Lil Peep
16 Ephorize - Cupcakke
17 A Star is Born - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
18 Ye - Kanye West
19 Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides - Sophie
20 Astroworld - Travis Scott
21 Platin War Gestern - Kollegah & Farid Bang
22 Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe
23 Tumult - Herbert Grönemeyer
24 Am I a Girl? - Poppy
25 Always Ascending - Franz Ferdinand
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