Top 30 Albums of 2018

A bit of background from my 2013 preamble for those new to my lists:

I do this more for me — as a way of discovering new music — than for you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to get as much joy from these amazing artists as I did this year. My list-making secret is to start a “long list” of albums I like at the beginning of the year. I keep adding when something strikes my fancy and use the year-end holidays to figure out which ones really made the cut.

For those interested, my previous Top 30 Albums are still online:

I feel this was another good year for music although I didn’t find as many of the mainstream releases inspiring this year. Kacey Musgraves is probably the only chart hit on the list. And really only one straight-up rock band this year – She Drew The Gun.

I’ve made a concerted effort to listen to women more. More female musicians, authors, directors, commentators, etc. It’s been very fruitful and is reflected in this list. 17 of my Top 30 are by women or bands with women in them.

And now, my Top 30 Albums of 2018! Enjoy!

Note these are in alphabetical order. I could never rank-order these — it would change daily.

My 2019 list will be my 10th and I’m thinking I’ll look at the 300 albums I’ve recommended this decade and do a Top 30 of my Top 30 along with my annual list. Stay tuned!