Album of the year lists rarely make everyone happy. We’ve all had that experience where we make it to the end of a list just to find out some overrated indie darling or inescapable cultural force made the album of the year.

The past year of music has seen unique releases across all kinds of different genres at an almost impossible clip. It would be hard enough to keep up with even just the major releases, but bandcamp and other services helped to breathe new life into dormant genres. It would be impossible to narrow down the entire year into a compact list.

Rather than a ranked list, I decided to make a bunch of random and incredibly specific superlatives, so I could highlight some of my favourite records of the year in no particular order. So, let’s all take a long look back at all the best and worst musical moments of 2018.

Best reunion album:

The Sciences by Sleep

Best album recorded at the Kanye West ranch in Wyoming:

Daytona by Pusha T

Worst album recorded at the Kanye West ranch in Wyoming:

Nasir by Nas

Best bluegrass, black-metal double album:

The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness (Parts I and II) by Panopticon

Album most beloved by the guy outside the bar who keeps asking you if he can “bum a dart”:

Beerbongs & Bentleys by Post Malone

Album most likely to become a cult classic by 2029:

TRU by Ovlov

Best rap album under 24 minutes:

FM! by Vince Staples

Best rap album exceeding 24 tracks:

Scorpion by Drake

Best horn section on a post-punk record:

Beyondless by Iceage

Least great “greatest hits” release of the year:

Greatest Hits by Train

Most wholesome punk record:

Joy as an Act of Resistance by IDLES

Best genetically engineered weapon of musical mass destruction:

Only Love by The Armed

Best rap album according to people who listen to everything except rap and country:

Iridescence by Brockhampton

Best country album according to people who listen to everything except rap and country:

Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves

Best album for people who are embarrassed about their pop-punk past but still secretly listen to pop punk:

POST- by Jeff Rosenstock

Worst comeback album:

Kamikaze by Eminem

Best song in which Drake brags about using the recommended dosage of Xanax:

“Sicko Mode” by Travis Scott featuring Drake

Best entrance by a guest featured rapper:

Future on “King’s Dead” from the Black Panther soundtrack

Best mainstream crossover record by a vegan feminist-hardcore band:

Burnt Sugar by Gouge Away

Best Canadian album of 2018:

In a Poem Unlimited by U.S. Girls

Best music beef of 2018:

Kanye West vs. music fans, good taste and the general population

Worst music beef of 2018:

Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly

Best Album of 2018:

Clean by Soccer Mommy

Worst Album of 2018: 

Dummy Boy by 6ix9ine

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Cole Chretien / Culture Editor