The Top 10 Rock Albums of 2025

Rock music continues to be one of the last vestiges of picking up instruments and playing songs the artist has written.  With metal having a more loyal market, it feels like less straight-up rock music is coming out, but then again, it's not something I always look for. There is a very specific feel of moodiness, melody, and underlying mental health issues I seek out from rock music, and these albums touch on varied corners of that sound.  In fact, this year's list is more varied than last year's list. After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 20 albums of 2025. 

 The fact that 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, and you look forward to listening to it again. You might find your next favorite on this list. I included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway, here are the top 10 Rock albums of 2025.

10-Wet Leg-"moisturizer." 

This quirky power pop band from the Isle of Wight has an odd New Wave vibe to their take on indie rock. They shift slightly from song to song, with subtle hints of punk influences, with a little drive in its strummed shuffle. Their singer has a detached apathy to her voice that carries its own sex appeal.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/07/wet-leg-moisturizer.html

9-Buckcherry- "Roar Like Thunder."   

I have at least heard the bulk of Buckcherry's 10 albums leading up to this one, so I doubt there is going to be a great deal of surprise with album 11. They intend for this album to be fun and lift your spirits, and I am not sure if that is what I want from this band. I prefer them when they are wrestling with the fact that they love cocaine.  It has more of the Hollywood sleaze to it, taking you back to the 80s, which is where their sound originated. They have never been a metal band; they just play a sometimes explosive style of rock n roll. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/buckcherry-roar-like-thunder.html

8-Haunt- "Ignite"

Their 2022 album "Windows To Your Heart' was the last album I checked out by these guys. I was a devoted follower since, for all practical purposes, they are a revamped Beastmaker. But they have been moving in an increasingly slick A0R proto-metal direction. Things have not changed. Trevor Church continues to smooth into a sugary tenor that brings Ghost to mind, but his songwriting has an urgency Ghost lacks. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/08/haunt-ignite.html

7-Skunk Anasie-"The Painful Truth." 

One of my favorite bands from the 90s, who in America were always a best-kept British secret. In my mind, they will always have to measure up against their 1999 album 'Post Orgasmic Chill". Skin's vocals are still on point. They have mellowed into a shimmering pop pulse, with electronic elements becoming hard to decipher from where guitars are plugged into amps, but a the end of the day, they pull it off in a way that does not matter much to me how they got here.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/skunk-anansie-painful-truth.html

 

6-LA Guns -"Leopard Skin."

If Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis are both in the band it's L.A. FUCKING Guns to me. The past few albums have held up their legacy, so here's to hoping this one does, and the first two songs find them staying true yet not stagnant. They have the sleazy vibes from their era, but more slathered in blue grooves. It's more rock n roll than metal.  Phil Lewis sounds great. Amazingly, he is 68 years old. Holy shit. That is four years older than Vince Neil, and he sounds better than Neil has since "Dr. Feelgood". 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/la-guns-leopard-skin.html

5-Hellacopters-"Overdriver"

This album feels more like lost classics from 70s rock radio. The singer places his voice in all the right places to compensate for his limitations, which is a skill in and of itself, as the melodies work really well, and everyone in this band is serving the song with zero overplaying. Granted, if you mainly listen to punk, all of this might seem like overkill to your ears, but it works for what is going on here, regardless. I can hear less dramatic traces of Meatloaf, but aside from a little ELO, I do not hear them heavily tipping their hat to their influences. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-hellacopters-overdriver.html

4-Chokecherry-"Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls." 

 I was a big fan of the band's 2024 EP "Messy Star." They are back with a marginally more shoegazing effort that is still rooted firmly in the sounds of the '90s. The jangling grunge drive provides the backbone. There is more punk energy, but the smooth croon of her vocals balances this out. Even when they amble along, with a dreamy slacker attitude, they are still rocking out with more intention than their peers. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/12/chokecherry-ripe-fruit-rots-and-falls.html

 

3-Jaye Jayle- "After Alter" 

Jaye Jayle went from being Evan Patterson’s solo project that explored sounds outside of what he did in Young Widows, and has now become a full-fledged band. Some of the arrangements are more minimalist, though it's not underproduced as they captured some interesting drum sounds, and the overall mix leans into the ambiance by giving all the instrumentation a great deal of open space, even when things begin to come together dynamically. If Josh Homme wrote songs for Queens of the Stone Age with no radio aspirations, the result might be similar. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/jaye-jayle-after-alter.html

  2-AVATARIUM-"Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead." 

The 6th album from the band formed by Leif Elding from Candlemass, their singer, gives them a more blues-based rock feel. It makes them less metal, but also creates a more Deep Purple feel, setting them apart from all the bands that sound like Sabbath. The production is very organic without being tribute band-level retro. Memorable vocal melodies and thoughts are put into the songwriting. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/avatarium-between-you-god-devil-and-dead.html

1-Alice Cooper -The Revenge of Alice Cooper." 

The first album with the original Alice Cooper band since "Muscle of Love".  Bob Ezrin is also producing it.  Does it perfectly capture the fire enough that it picks up where they left off on "Muscle of Love"? Almost, it is pretty energetic for a band in their mid-70s who have not played together since the 70s.  not at the level of his most classic work, but way better than other rockers close to his age are doing, it's closer to "Muscle of Love" than it is "Love it to Death" s it's not what I expected, but still congruent with what these guys used to do. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/07/alice-cooper-revenge-of-alice-cooper.html

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The Top 10- Indie Rock / Shoe-Gaze Albums of 2025 ... so Far

As the Doomsday Clock races, time speeds up, as 2025 is at its midpoint. With the impending end of times comes the need to get high, and these bands are making substantial soundtracks for that. These lists serve as a decent snapshot of where the year is heading in terms of music. I have already received promos for albums dropping as far out as August in my inbox, so they will need to bring it to compete with the top five albums on this list. For the mid-year report card list, I'm combining shoegaze with its close cousin, indie rock.  So basically, they all are more surreal than post-punk, not punk, and left of center when it comes to rock n roll.  I have included links to full reviews if you want to check these out, and with all that said, here are the top 10 indie-rock / shoegaze albums of 2025 so far. 

10- Korean Cars -"#1" 

This band proves Norway is capable of exporting more music than metal. This band is are fantastic musicians weaving challenging but nuanced instrumentals that find most of the vocals are incidental, but creatively employed. If you like prog that flows and unfolds as it jams along, then these guys are worth a listen. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/korean-cars-1.html

9-Jaye Jayle-"After Alter"

 This project went from being Evan Patterson’s solo project that explored sounds outside of what he did in Young Widows, and has now become a full-fledged band. What makes this album work so well is its vision and artistic direction, not an album that rocks out, but an album that lurks within.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/jaye-jayle-after-alter.html

 

8-Black Country New Road - 'Forever Howlong" 

The third album from these British indie folksters who flirt with rock music less and indulge in more woodwinds and jazz-tinged passages this time around. The vocals are what anchors them in indie rock, as the more folk notions lie in the poetic melodies that run the center course of their songs.  Most of it flows really well and seems like how things just progressed. There is a more Beatles-like tone to things on this album. It reminds me of the more quaint pastoral moments from the White Album. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/black-country-new-road-forever-howlong.html

7-Smut -"Tomorrow Comes Crashing" 

The  Cincinnati-sourced band plays a raw punk-influenced take on indie rock that pulls from the more emotional side of 90s alternative rock. Tay Roebuck has both sugar and spice to her voice, with a syrupy knack for melodies that spill over the attack of the well-layered and intentionally lo-fi guitars.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/smut-tomorrow-comes-crashing.html

 

6-Mogwai- "The Bad Fire" 

11 albums into their career, this Scottish band has a clear focus on their sonic journey. Showing they still have room to grow when it comes to their willingness to use vocals again.They give you what you want from them. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/mogwai-bad-fire.html

5-Bleed -"s/t" 

This Texas band takes you back to the 90s in a weird, unexpected manner.  By unexpected, this does not mean I have not already seen the writing on the wall when it comes to nu-metal making a comeback. These guys just go about it differently. The flourishes of DJs spun, scratched ambiance at the edges of their throb point this band's sound in the direction of nu-metal. There is some darker tension to the grooves that the vocals coo over. 

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/bleed-st.html

4-Swans - "Birthing" 

Listening to this album through headphones is recommended. This album is an event. Almost more of an art show than a rock album. Not their best work, but it remembers to employ similar moods that bring them closer to the more classic sounds of the Jarboe era.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/05/swans-birthing.html

3-Hotline TNT - "Raspberry Moon"  

Going in a more Stone Roses direction for this one. In doing so, this means more melody. The vocals got more love in the studio and are crooned with less apathy. On the other hand, this album jangles more and has less punk rock left in its veins. The atmosphere is thicker and often more melancholic. They are in many ways the same band, but attacking things from a different direction. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/06/hotline-tnt-raspberry-moon.html

 

2-Sharon Von Ettan & the Attachment Theory- " s/t" 

This album was spawned from Sharon walking into band practice and asking to just jam. The magic of spontaneity in this experience showed her that relinquishing creative control and being more collaborative was so freeing for her that it invited her band to become a part of the more organic writing process for this album

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/01/sharon-von-etten-attachment-theory-st.html

       

1-Superheaven - "s/t" 

The third album by this band has built buzz with their first two albums. They have a 90s sound that occupies the middle road between grunge and shoegaze, recalling "Gish" era Smashing Pumpkins, but with a less androgynous vocal approach. This album it gives you what you want from this sort of 90s shoegaze rock. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2025/04/superheaven-st.html

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Jaye Jayle : " After Alter"

 

Jaye Jayle went from being Evan Patterson’s solo project that explored sounds outside of what he did in Young Widows, and has now become a full-fledged band. The opening track is minimalist in how it lingers on the verses. There are some interesting drum sounds, and the overall mix leans into the ambiance by giving all the instrumentation a great deal of open space, even when things begin to come together dynamically. If Josh Homme wrote songs for Queens of the Stone Age with no radio aspirations, the result might be similar. 

Things simmer with the dusky blues, not unlike the back alleys Nick Cave once took you down on "Doctor Green". The slinky drone of the song accompanies Pattereson's hushed baritone here. "Fear is Here" broods over a darker mood that still does not find the band conforming to the standard rock format, though not sure it should be called post-rock either, as it's more like the soundtrack to the smokey after-hours bar rather than cinematic splendor. " A Blackout" feels more like an attempt to rock out,  though it is more restrained, where rock music beats the chords with reckless abandon. The chorus kicks in more than the previous songs. Sections, where fuzzed-out overdrive is used, are mixed in a raw Sonic Youth-like fashion. They commit more to rocking out on this song than they have yet to do on this album. 

There is a doomier blues swagger to "Bloody Me". It's not the album's strongest song, but it works for what it is. Then they go back into a more Nick Cave mood, it's one of the shades this color alternates coloring itself with. This time around, it's darker than how it's previously been used, almost like Leonard Cohen's 90s output. He covers the Beatles' "HELP!", but slows things down into a smoky creep. It brings a more depressive slant to the old pop hit. This pace does drag the song out, but it's entertaining. The "Bloody Me" solo version sounds more like a Swans demo. I will give this album a 9, for it's vision and artistic direction, not an album that rocks out but an album that lurks within. 

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