The Top 10 Pop Albums of 2024

Pop does not have to be a bad word. Sadly the music industry takes it down a deeper hole of vapid capitalism, by pumping out products rather than music with anything to say.  Unlike their more mainstream counterparts, these albums were not rolled from the same assembly line and did not need the teams of songwriters and producers to create for them, they generally did this themselves.  Here are albums that stand shoulder to shoulder with other genres, proving pop does not have to be trash, despite being that more often than not these days. 

 After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year for 2024. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Pop albums of 2024.

10- Little Hag -"Not That's What I Call Little Hag" 

Clever indie pop occupies a needed void in this kind of pop music. She sings about her vibrator, and adds quirky touches of actual instruments, more larger artists need to take notes from here.  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/little-hag-now-thats-what-i-call-little.html

9-Lauren Mayberry - "Vicious Creature" 

Here first solo album might not be on the level of  Chvrches but does allow you to hear some different sides of her, though her vocal approach is not wildly different. Solid song diverted my thoughts from obsessing about the fact this could have been studio time invested in a new album from her band, but she seems pretty earnest in her efforts here.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/lauren-mayberry-vicious-creature.html

 

8-Eminem -" The Death of  Slim Shady"  

The opening track to Marshall Mathers' 12th album is a minute and a half, making it more of an intro to remind you who he is without having to knock on your TV set. This album might be s better than most pop music on the radio these days, even if it's not his best album. I am glad he did not censor himself and went for it on this one, which is actually this album's strength. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/eminem-death-of-slim-shady.html

 

7-Allie X - "Girl With No Face" 

She has always created a more thoughtful take on pop music, however, once she thinks too deeply into things the more she drifts in a dark wave direction. The 80s hint of it can certainly be heard on this album. This album is pretty infectious and another act that proves you do not have to have a whole team of songwriters and producers to make pop music.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/allie-x-girl-with-no-face.html

6-Denzel Curry -" The King of the Mischievous South" 

When it comes to Hip-hop this year there seems to be a Bone Thugs N Harmony theme when it comes to what is resonating with me. . While the phrase of lyrics being spat here, does share a similar cadence to Bone, there is more of a trap feel than what $uicide Boy$ were doing,.This much like their Louisiana peers, care about songwriting, and there is a darker vibe to what they are doing. For me to download a hip-hop album these days they have to be doing something right and care about writing songs, even if it is only to gain the kind of clout they rap about

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/denzel-curry-king-of-mischievous-south.html

5-Poppy- "Negative Spaces" 

I think Poppy is pretty sincere in what she does, but she also blurs the lines in what she does. This album is not "Suffocate". This album has nothing to do with Knocked Loose. Just because there is a distorted guitar on some songs does not mean this is not a pop album. It's a little over-produced and relies on her charisma, but it's fun which is what pop should be. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/11/poppy-negative-spaces.html

4 -Mothica -"Kissing Death" 

The third album by this dark pop singer finds a mix of post-millennial dark-wave sounds with thoughtful hooks in a concept album theme of romancing the death as personified as the Grim Reaper. As someone who has a worshipful adoration of death myself, I can appreciate this, as well as an artist who steers clear of the normal pop tropes.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/09/mothica-kissing-death.html

3-$uicide Boy$ - "New World Depression" 

Since Hip-hop does not have its own list just know this was the best hip-hop album of the year by a long shot. This is the fourth album by the New Orleans-based duo. The production value of their albums continues to improve, now finding the raw lo-fi quality that marked their early days as the first wave of Soundcloud rappers gone and it's not unlike when Bone Thugs N Harmony was at their peak in the 90s.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/uicideboy-new-world-depression.html

 2-Charli XCX -"BRAT" 

If you strip away the cultural marketing tactics that put her in the spotlight this year, she already has released an album of Strong Bangers, but she was not letting it just be a great album. It's the nature of the beast she is in the belly of, but that aside, these songs bump seriously, and I have been a fan of hers for some time now, so glad to see she is getting the recognition she deserves. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/charli-xcx-brat.html

1-Taylor Swift - "The Tortured Poets Department" 

She had pretty decent competition, but at the end of the day, it's her songwriting and lyrical ability that continues to dominate pop music. There is a reason she has a fantastical cult of fans. If we weigh her other albums again this one there might be more debate, but that is where she is as an artist, Swift only has her own work to measure things against. I think this is at least as strong as her more recent work, which is enough to put her over the artists like Charli XCX, who made a great album by pop standards, Swift is just head and shoulders above those standards, as she is not as much of a product. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/04/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department.html

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