Top 100 Music Albums of 2018 by babyBlueSedan

Guess it's about time I make one of these. I've been pretty ambivalent about listening to music lately so I haven't listened to much from 2018, but I'll throw what I have heard here. If you want to know how this chart works check my other recent year charts because I'm too lazy to paste it here. Basically check out anything I rated 65 or above.

Now 45% less apathetic, with (mostly nonsensical) genres!

**Update 2/19/20: The first post-2018 update has arrived. Only messed with the stuff at 70 or higher

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55/100
Pop rap

Before I get started, let me make it clear that while I'm going to mention Ameer in this review I'm not advocating that the band should let him back in. I'm merely making observations.

I fell in love with the Saturation trilogy last year, and while I already had nearly three hours of BROCKHAMPTON music to listen to, I was excited for more. Well, until they did Tonya on Fallon or Kimmel or whatever. Anyway, I'm not going to beat around the bush, I found this really disappointing.

One of the things I liked most about the Saturation trilogy was how much interplay there was between all of the members. None of them are great rappers on their own - I've thought about how I wouldn't be interested at all if the band went all Wu-Tang and started releasing solo albums, because I don't think I'd be able to listen to any of the members except Dom rap for an hour. But with each of them getting a verse or a bridge per song their personalities would really start to jump out, and they would never get boring as you leaped from Dom's quick flow to Matt's drawling voice to Merlin's yelping. This time around it feel like that energy is gone, and band members are getting much larger chucks of songs to themselves. Which isn't much of a problem, but it starts to show all of their deficiencies.

This is where Ameer's absence comes in too. I don't think he was a catalyst or a crucial member; in fact I often found his verses to be pretty repetitive in flow and subject matter. That said, he did offer weight to songs that were otherwise filled with the others talking about their insecurities. This made the songs fun even when they dealt with heavy subject matter, and without him the lyrics feel like they're going to float away due to how light they are. The other thing about him being gone is simply that there's one less person to take verses away from the group's weaker members. I've never been a JOBA fan, but he was OK for a verse here or there. Now he's one of the main MCs, and I really don't want to hear him that often. It also means there's a lot more Bearface, and honestly if Bearface popped up on one or two songs per album I'd be fine. So with Ameer gone they lost some variety even if they didn't lose a crucial member.

And not only do the lyrics feel light, they're really repetitive too. There is a lot of talk about betrayal and who your real friends are, which is understandable given when this came out. But at the same time it gets a little tiring after 15 songs of it. There's also your songs about loving yourself, but even they get to feel preachy without anything more fun to balance them out. Their first album had STAR, and on their other albums they were able to mix fun verses into songs like SWEET and HOTTIE that were otherwise a little serious. This one feels like a slog because of how serious it is. And none of the songs are as bad as Tonya, which is the first BROCKHAMPTON song I actively dislike.

Then you have the production. People liked to call the Saturation albums experimental but I really don't think that was the case. Instead, they were fairly typical pop rap enhanced with cool production choices and beat switches. Here those production flourishes and beat switches are turned up to 11, so much so that it makes the songs feel muddy. These songs never get into a groove because there's so much going on, and they hardly even feel like pop songs anymore. And I haven't even mentioned how much the vocal manipulations make this feel like a chore. At this point I realize I'm judging this album based on how it compares to their last three, but the thing that I loved about this band was how poppy they sounded despite having noisier or harder moments. That juxtaposition is pretty much gone now.

I don't even think there are any songs from this I feel like coming back to. New Orleans is pretty good and I like Thug Life too, though the latter is more of an interlude that I'd never listen to on it's own. I like Kevin's verse on Weight a lot, but the rest of the song is pretty forgettable. I cannot stand San Marcos and Tonya, but the album ends well with the outro to Fabric. And I've only listened to this twice, but I can't think of a single great moment from anyone besides Kevin. I can't even think of a JOBA or Merlin part I couldn't wait to be over. Maybe I'll give it another listen and it will click, but I don't think there's anyway I'll ever like it as much as any of the Saturation albums.
[First added to this chart: 10/19/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
623
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82. (81) Down1
Buy album United States
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60/100
Fuzzy indie rock

Stereogum called this the 3rd best album so far this year, which made me really want to listen to it. Granted Panopticon, Mount Eerie, and Camp Cope weren't on their list at all, so maybe we don't share similar tastes this year. But I tried it anyway.

My first impression is that all of these songs have the same guitar sound, which make them blend together. I heard them compared to Sonic Youth, but that really means Murray Street-era Sonic Youth, at least when Kim Gordon is singing. There aren't really rock out or noisy moments, just oddly tuned guitar strumming chords. The lyrics aren't much to write home about, they have their moments but they don't really pull you in.

If you're looking for indie rock from this year you should go with Camp Cope or Hop Along tyvm.
[First added to this chart: 06/09/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
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Rank Score:
694
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Buy album United States
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55/100
Generic alternative rock

Before I listened to this I saw the band compared to a (probably) recently-defunct rock band who shall remain nameless, and I kind of wish I hadn't seen that comparison. Because it's really obvious after it was pointed out, but I don't know that I would have noticed it on my own. And the whole time I was making comparisons when I could have just been enjoying it for what it was. Luckily for me there's not a whole lot here that I would have enjoyed anyway. A lot of the songs feel underdeveloped - they strive to be anthemic but when the choruses hit they feel really limp. There are a lot of lyrics about self-reflection, particularly about grappling with your faith, but some of them are just silly. There's one song where it hits the climax and slows down and you're waiting for some great line and they hit you with "it's really hard to have A SOUL!" Or something like that. The production also makes it feel a bit sterile. BUT maybe it's just not for me, and you might enjoy it if you're looking for something new to listen to after the (almost certain) recent demise of [REDACTED].
[First added to this chart: 06/09/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
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Rank Score:
2
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84. (83) Down1
Ye 
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55/100
Hastily produced Cudi-core

I could talk all day about the story surrounding this album but I'm getting sleepy and ready for bed. A few notes on why this is the first solo-Kanye album I've given less than a 75:

- This feels like it came together in a couple weeks, and not in a good way. TLOP felt like that too, but it still felt like it had a purpose, and there's no Real Friends or Ultralight Beam on this album. We used to talk about how Kanye throwing Rick Ross on Devil in a New Dress at literally the last second was genius; now I think he just got lucky.

- The beats on this are fine, if a little sleepy. But it's a bit one-note.

- I don't care about 90% of the lyrics here. All the lines about his recent controversies feel very "of the moment," like we'll have all forgotten about what they're about by the end of the year. And when he used to talk about the way he's perceived, it felt like he had a reason. Now it just feels like it's the only thing on his mind.

- Kid Cudi cannot sing and makes me laugh.

- That 070 Shake verse is getting a lot of talk but it's pretty repetitive, and "I put my hand on a hot stove to see if I still bleeeed" is so Soundcloud emo-rap it hurts.

- The song about his daughter is pretty creepy.

- I don't mind the length; AJJ's first couple albums aren't much longer and they're some of my favorites. The problem is, at only 7 (very similar sounding songs) it never really feels like it gets going. By the time it starts to get into a groove, it's over. If this was 21 minutes, 7 songs, and each song had its own identity, it might be better. But every song has the same atmosphere and deals with his public persona. It gets a little tiring.
[First added to this chart: 06/07/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
929
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Average Rating:
Comments:
85. (84) Down1
Buy album United States
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55/100
Prog emo

This has been getting a lot of comparisons to TV on the Radio but other than on a few tracks I don't see them. TVOTR were always eclectic and unpredictable but there was an R&B/funk influence on all of their stuff. This on the other hand feels a lot more sterile and leans into anthemic choruses a la U2. Pretty similar to recent TWIABPAIANLATD albums so I don't really get why people are saying this is super unique.
[First added to this chart: 08/18/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
184
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Buy album United States
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55/100
Entourage trap

Some cool sounds on this but no memorable songs. A lot of the guests outshine Scott here and it feels too scattershot.
[First added to this chart: 10/29/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
866
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Comments:
Buy album United States
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55/100
Bourgeoius trap

This is supposed to be the third album in a trilogy that started with Lemonade and 4:44. Well, Beyonce and Jay-Z haven't said that I guess, but that's the Narrative(TM) that the music press is selling and I'm gobbling it down like the first victim in Se7en. Since Lemonade was a combination of betrayal and forgiveness and 4:44* was Jay Z's apology, you'd think this would be a kind of thread that ties them together. But it's really not. Instead, it's Watch the Throne with Beyonce instead of Kanye.

And as such, these songs are not interesting. I'm glad their marriage is ostensibly better, but given that I'm not friends with either of them their marriage doesn't really affect me much. Lemonade had some universal themes to connect to, but this one really doesn't. Instead we get Beyonce rapping like the Migos on Apeshit and then later bragging about how everyone pirated Lemonade because it wasn't on Spotify. In the end I just don't care.

*I haven't actually heard 4:44 because I don't have Tidal and I can't be arsed to find it elsewhere. I'm basing this off of what I've read. As you can tell I'm really invested in this "trilogy" of albums.
[First added to this chart: 08/10/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
96
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Buy album United States
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50/100
Fart pop

It's like they had a lot of good ideas but decided to not write any songs.
[First added to this chart: 05/03/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
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Rank Score:
501
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Buy album United States
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50/100
Midwest Tweemo

I wish I didn't have to give this such an average score, because when I heard there was an up-and-coming emo band from my home state I got excited. Wisconsin has a pretty short list of good music artists, especially when compared to that awful state just to its west.

But unfortunately, this album brings no new ideas and feels like a pale imitation of so many other emo bands, including Remo "the pride of Burnsville" Drive. From the get go this sounds super generic, like the band heard a bunch of recent Midwest emo records and said "let's do that!" Instead of, you know, having good music ideas themselves and fitting them into a Midwest emo context. The couple early singles were fine, but other songs are painful to listen to. RE: Your Lungs starts out with a predictable line of "you said you'd quit smoking...for the third time" which was one of the rare times I knew what a singer was going to say before they finished their sentence. But apparently they thought this was suuuper clever, because every verse starts with "for the Nth time" and by the time we get to 6th it's so grating. The last track is a weepy acoustic song with forgettable lyrics and closes the album off pretty poorly; there's even a "chatter that winks at how we're recording this in a studio" moment at the start of the track. There are some good moments here, but they're overshadowed by a lot of really bland ones.
[First added to this chart: 08/12/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1
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Buy album United States
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50/100
Lackadaisical rap

I liked Ka's last offering because he has a kind of nonchalant style of rapping that's interesting when he's rhyming well and saying something important. He is doing neither of those things here though, so his flow just sounds lazy and tired. The production is also really samey, with lots of strings and things that make every track feel the same.
[First added to this chart: 10/19/2018]
Year of Release:
2018
Appears in:
Rank Score:
141
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Total albums: 100. Page 9 of 10

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Top 100 Music Albums of 2018 composition

Country Albums %


United States 69 69%
United Kingdom 13 13%
Mixed Nationality 6 6%
Australia 5 5%
Canada 3 3%
Germany 1 1%
Sweden 1 1%
Show all

Top 100 Music Albums of 2018 chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 7 from 14th to 7th
Daytona
by Pusha T
Climber Up 5 from 10th to 5th
How To Socialise & Make Friends
by Camp Cope
Climber Up 1 from 12th to 11th
You Won't Get What You Want
by Daughters
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 8 from 8th to 16th
Double Negative
by Low
Faller Down 7 from 21st to 28th
Room 25
by Noname
Faller Down 5 from 17th to 22nd
Veteran
by JPEGMAFIA

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Top 100 Music Albums of 2019 by babyBlueSedan (2020)
Top 100 Music Albums of 2017 by babyBlueSedan (2020)
Top 100 Music Albums of 2016 by babyBlueSedan (2020)
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Top 57 Music Albums of 2014 by babyBlueSedan (2020)
Top 30 Music Albums of 2013 by babyBlueSedan (2020)
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Top 17 Music Albums of 2011 by babyBlueSedan (2020)
Top 12 Music Albums of 2010 by babyBlueSedan (2020)

Top 100 Music Albums of 2018 ratings

Average Rating: 
91/100 (from 7 votes)
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From 10/31/2020 10:26
Mattdup took the words out of my mouth. I really enjoy reading your comments.
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From 12/31/2018 04:22
Nice album diversity and personal insight into rankings.
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From 12/08/2018 04:21
I could read your write-ups all day
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From 09/05/2018 19:51
Thanks for the Whitney Ballen rec...this shit is amazing.
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