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7 January 2026

Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 sources worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.

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The ADM Report 2025 3 cols

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

SnocapsSnocaps

"They are back playing pop that is pretty darn unmatched" (8.6/10 - Northern Transmissions). "A hailstorm of warm, exceptionally-written country-rock bangers backed by MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook" (8.5/10 - Paste)

Florence + The MachineEverybody Scream

"Florence Welch enlists horror and magic to harness hope" (10/10 - NME). "An urgent and vital testimony to survival and rebirth, Florence Welch’s sixth album is a defiant middle finger to doubters" (9/10 - musicOMH)

Lily AllenWest End Girl

"Her best album in 16 years, an incisive diary of a marriage in freefall" (10/10 - The Independent). "A hard-hitting pop exposition, while also providing an endless supply of hooks" (8/10 - Clash)

The Last Dinner PartyFrom The Pyre

"Insanely rich with ideas, hooks, smart artifice and real emotion, From The Pyre is a feast of giddy raptures" (10/10 - Record Collector). "Both thematically and sonically richer" (10/10 - DIY)

BrògealTuesday Paper Club

"2026 is there for Brogeal’s taking, they’re gonna be a lot of people’s new favourite band" (8/10 - God Is In The TV). "This is what it sounds like when a band get it right the first time" (10/10 - Dork)

Rosalia - Poll of Polls 2025

The ultimate, definitive Best Albums Of 2025

It's the annual ADM Poll of Polls, our roundup of the critics' end-of-year best albums lists - the ultimate, definitive Best Of The Best Ofs, 2025.

We've compiled the rankings from all those magazines, newspapers and websites among our sources which publish their albums of the year. The end result is a comprehensive reflection of the critical favourites of the year. It's the ultimate, definitive "Best of the Best Albums of 2025" chart

(50pts are awarded to the album named No.1, 49pts to the No.2 and so on).

So here is the final list along with the points each album earned.

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1190 ROSALÍA - LUX- Reviews
1182 Geese - Getting Killed - Reviews
775 CMAT - EURO-COUNTRY- Reviews739
775 Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party- Reviews
722 FKA twigs - EUSEXUA- Reviews
643 Wednesday - Bleeds- Reviews
612 Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH- Reviews
594 Bad Bunny - DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS- Reviews
572 Blood Orange - Essex Honey- Reviews
585 PinkPantheress - Fancy That- Reviews
552 Lily Allen - West End Girl
549 billy woods - GOLLIWOG
533 Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out
531 Little Simz - Lotus
482 Addison Rae - Addison
481 Oklou - choke enough
480 Wet Leg - moisturizer
439 Big Thief - Double Infinity
437 Dijon - Baby
427 Jim Legxacy - black british music (2025)
402 Nourished By Time - The Passionate Ones
399 Perfume Genius - Glory
385 caroline - caroline 2
384 Pulp - More
364 Deftones - private music
344 YHWH Nailgun - 45 Pounds
322 Olivia Dean - The Art of Loving
314 Sudan Archives - THE BPM
304 JADE - THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY!
302 Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You
301 Lady Gaga - MAYHEM
293 Suede - Antidepressants
290 Anna von Hausswolff - ICONOCLASTS
280 Alex G - Headlights
254 Wolf Alice - The Clearing
248 Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band - New Threats From...
243 Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE
236 Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film
227 Lorde - Virgin
225 Rich Dawson - End of the Middle
219 Lambrini Girls - Who Let the Dogs Out
215 Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
214 John Glacier - Like A Ribbon
213 McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
210 Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
209 aya - hexed!
203 Rochelle Jordan - Through The Wall
201 Model/Actriz - Pirouette
200 Viagra Boys - viagra boys
193 Cameron Winter - Heavy Metal

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SEE 2009 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2010 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2011 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2012 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2013 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2014 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2015 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2016 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2017 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2018 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2019 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2020 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2021 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2022 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2023 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2024 RESULTS HERE

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Latest Reviews

Dry Cleaning Secret Love

Florence Shaw returns to her usual writerly concerns while expanding her methods of delivery The Skinny

Dry Cleaning Secret Love

The standout act in the sprechgesang wave, the four-piece’s newly expansive sound carries singer Florence Shaw’s distinctive tales of mundane lives spiralling out of control The Guardian

Armand Hammer & The Alchemist Mercy

On their second collaboration with The Alchemist, billy woods and E L U C I D refuse grand answers, turning instead to the quiet labor of endurance—attention, routine, and survival inside a world that won’t stop grinding Paste Magazine

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Our roundup of the critics' end-of-year best albums lists - the ultimate, definitive Best Of The Best Ofs, 2025

Fresh stuff

Fresh stuff

Blizzard by Dove Ellis

"With shades of Jeff and Tim Buckley, the Galway-born artist writes tunes so strong they seem as familiar as old friends" (10/10 - The Guardian). "The sound is entirely his" (8/10 - DIY)

Oneohtrix Point NeverTranquilizer
"An impossibly dense and transportive electronic album that takes impermanence as its inspiration" (8.6/10 - Pitchfork). "A demonstration of Daniel Lopatin’s mastery of structural tension" (9/10 - Slant)

Melody’s Echo ChamberUnclouded
"The music is immaculate and interesting throughout" (8/10 - Northern Transmissions). "A record that is just as impressively crafted as anything she has done" (9/10 - All Music)

Keaton HensonParader
"An increase in volume paired with a new immediacy and confidence make this his most accessible album to date" (8/10 - musicOMH). "A huge step forwards" (8/10 - Mojo)

Mavis StaplesSad And Beautiful World
Sad and Beautiful World is much more than a mere collection of Staples’ incredible gospel and soul-soaked mastery; it is a reminder of what has been before and what the future could be (8/10 - Far Out)

All-time top 10

Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past twelve years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.