OK - I listened to this for the first time annd to be honest, Spiderland is one of those albums where the reputation walks into the room before the music does. The influence is undeniable. You can hear entire genres forming in real time. The tension, the restraint, the quiet-to-loud dynamics, the spoken-word dread. It basically laid the groundwork for post-rock as we know it.

But influence is not the same thing as enjoyment.

The atmosphere is thick and deliberate, but emotionally it keeps you ... read more

I haven’t seen the new Charli XCX movie “The Moment” yet, but this definitely sounds Charli-coded without being Charli - which honestly makes sense given the shared DNA. It’s glossy, synthetic, emotionally weird pop that feels hyper but also oddly distant.

What caught me off guard is how sad some of this sounds. There’s this low-key melancholy running through it that makes you stop and go, wait… is this meant to soundtrack a sad movie or something? ... read more

I gave his last album a 76, and this sits right around the same level for me. If anything, OCTANE feels more consistent front to back; there are just a couple tracks that sag and pull the score down.

This is Donnnny T his comfort zone. Glossy production, floaty melodies, late-night energy. It all fits together nicely and never feels messy. The downside is that when a song doesn’t fully land, it really doesn’t land, and those moments stand out more because the rest of the album is ... read more

Honestly… this is way more fun than I expected.

It's not without flaws and misteps but after whatever the hell Call Da Fireman was (the last Dababy project I listened to) this feels like a genuine step up. It’s not perfect and it’s not a reinvention, but it’s genuinely kinda fun.

And yeah - CLEAR THIS SHIT is ridiculous in the best way. That Flashing Lights (Kanye) feature absolutely does the heavy lifting, but wow… everything clicks. Flow, vibe, replay ... read more

I should say this upfront: I actually really, really weirdly enjoy Wiz when he’s in top form. When he’s locked in, he’s fun, charismatic, and effortlessly replayable in a way a lot of rappers just aren’t.

Unfortunately, Khaotic is not that Wiz.

This album feels like him running entirely on autopilot. Laid-back flows, weed bars, glossy trap beats - all the familiar ingredients are here, but there’s zero urgency or sense of purpose. It’s not bad enough to ... read more

I’ve got no beef with this album. It’s not bad. It’s just boring.

It’s polished, it’s easy to listen to, and it never really commits to being messy or risky - which makes it feel safe to the point of blending into the background.

There are definitely moments where his personality peeks through and the warmth lands (I’m a big fan of Last Night - it’s kinda cute and wholesome), but overall the album doesn’t give me many “oh THAT was a ... read more

Coming off Negative Spaces - which I gave a 79 and is genuinely one of my highest metal-adjacent scores ever - this feels like a step back. And that says a lot, because I do not like metal. That album won me over on sheer artistry alone. This one… doesn’t really do that.

Empty Hands isn’t bad, and that’s almost the problem. It feels safer, flatter, and less striking. The ideas are there, but they don’t land with the same conviction or sharpness. Where Negative ... read more

First time ever listening to Megadeth, and I’ll repeat what I always say: metal isn’t my genre, but I try to listen to enough of it to not be a complete coward.

And look - I can respect what this is. The playing is obviously tight, and I appreciated that it didn’t lean too hard into nonstop screamo, which made it more listenable than I expected. You can hear the experience. It sounds like a band that knows exactly how to do their thing.

But as an actual album experience? ... read more

I don’t usually review tracks but this song is shit and it’s a rip off of another song anyway. F*ck Kelli Holiday.

My 500th review on Albumoftheyear.com. That’s actually cooked. Like… I’ve written five hundred of these opinions.

Also: eight years. EIGHT. Rocky really saw the “drop consistently” memo and said nah, I’m gonna spend my time pumping babies into Rihanna and letting the album marinate like a brisket. Respectfully? Icon behaviour. But bro… EIGHT YEARS.😭

And the annoying part is: he comes back and immediately reminds everyone why the wait was even a ... read more

Honestly… kinda impressed.

Going into this basically blind (I’ve only really heard Madison Beer through some singles), I wasn’t expecting much. But Locket is a tight, moody little pop project that actually knows what it wants to be. It’s intimate, controlled, and surprisingly cohesive - no big swings, just a clean aesthetic carried pretty confidently from start to finish.

The strongest moments lean into that late-night, headphones-on vibe: understated production, ... read more

Robbie’s clearly going for a big, cheeky ’90s throwback - pub-chant energy and that “I’m back on my bullshit” swagger - but the end result is still painfully boring for way too much of the runtime. The vibe is there. The songs just… aren’t.

And the lyrics are where it gets properly unhinged. Not in a “wow he’s so clever” way - more like did nobody in the room say “Robbie, maybe don’t”? On “You”, he ... read more

This is the most unnecessary YoungBoy album in a long time. He absolutely did not need to make it this long, and somehow the filler problem has only gotten worse. Not “background noise” filler either, but genuinely disposable tracks that feel like they were uploaded straight from the drafts folder.

There are moments where he locks back into that paranoid, emotionally raw lane that made people care in the first place. But those highs are completely buried by repetition, limp hooks, ... read more

Zach Bryan is the man who made me not hate country. Like genuinely. If he didn’t exist, I’d probably still be lumping the whole genre in with the 'I drink whiskey and am suicidal' radio stuff and pretending it’s all the same.

Now… is this as great as his last album (The Great American Bar Scene), which I gave an 86? Nah. But considering this thing is 25 tracks (and I HATE long albums), it’s honestly impressive how well it holds together. He definitely ... read more

This album feels like Laroi doing what he does best - heartbreak pop-rap - but with the “this is actually what happened” volume turned all the way up. It’s basically a clean, chronological breakup diary (the Tate McRae split is the obvious shadow over the whole thing), and you can tell he’s trying to make something more personal than just another playlist of sad-boy singles.

Also… he really fumbled Tate McRae, didn’t he. Like yeah mate, of course ... read more

Yeah… 69/100 is borderline mandatory here. An artist called lilbootycall dropping an EP with a track literally titled “bdsm”? The score writes itself. 😭

On paper, pink++ is basically a sugar-rush - 8 tracks, 16minutes, super short songs, glossy internet-rap energy, and hooks that feel engineered to get stuck in your head against your will. 

First listen I honestly hated it - like “why am I subjecting myself to this” levels. The vocals can be grating, ... read more

This is my first spoken-word album review, so maybe I might just not be the target audience for this style. Dry Cleaning are basically a post-punk band where the vocalist delivers these deadpan, talk-sung monologues over wiry guitars and tight grooves - and Secret Love leans hard into that, even if it sprinkles in a bit more melody than I expected.

And look, the instrumentals are genuinely solid a lot of the time. The production is also clean but still a bit weird around the edges in a good ... read more

My friend Jarrod said this is the album of the decade - which is definitely a stretch.

I don’t like metal, so take this as a respect-based review rather than a hype one. This album is clearly made by people who are insanely talented and very intentional about what they’re doing. It’s chaotic, genre-hopping, and packed with ideas - nothing here feels lazy or accidental.

What I appreciate most is how committed it is. The album has a strong concept, a clear artistic vision, and ... read more

A pretty solid Christmas album honestly. Christina still has that voice and it’s genuinely insane hearing how strong it is across a live Christmas set… that also randomly sneaks in some of her biggest hits like it’s a greatest-hits medley with tinsel on it.

The highlight is easily “Express (Santa Baby)” - mixing those two together sounds so chaotic in theory but it works so well. One of her biggest hits with one of the biggest Christmas hits mashed up - and it ... read more

I’m not a huge metal fan in general admitedly, but I totally get why reviews are mixed on this - it kinda doesn’t know what it wants to be. The parts I enjoy most are the cleaner, more melodic bits… but even those can feel a little generic, like they’re reaching for “big hook moment” without always landing something distinct.

This album has that debut energy where they’re trying to prove they can do everything - chunky modern riffs, polished ... read more