I’ve been trying to listen to more new stuff this year than last, on top of all my old favorites. A bit of it is 2026 releases, I think ten, but most of this is just stuff I overlooked or albums I knew the hits from but not the deeper cuts. Add onto that deciding to go through the Beatles’ entire discography for the first time and I’m left with 78 new-to-me albums from the first half of 2026. I dunno if I’ll match that in this second half, but I guess we’ll circle back in January. Not everything is going to be scored numerically, and anything that is is going to be out of five. I don’t love that scale, but these ratings primarily live on my RateYourMusic page and on the 1001 Albums Generator, the latter of which was the impetus for a good chunk of these first listens. Any songs I really love will be highlighted and linked. I’m sure there’s at least something in all this that you haven’t heard of, let alone heard, and hopefully you check it out and like it. All of those highlighted tracks are also available in this playlist below if you want some easier listening; maybe throw it on shuffle. At the very bottom, I’ll list off my absolute favorite projects of these if you want something between a sampler and a longlist.
The Beatles – Please Please Me
Where it all started. Pretty good stuff but not spectacular. Favorite tracks: Do You Want to Know a Secret and Twist and Shout. 3.5/5
The Beatles – With the Beatles
A step back in my eyes. Not bad, but no standouts. 3/5
The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
Quality-wise, more of the same. 3/5
The Beatles – Beatles for Sale
Getting back to debut-level. Favorite tracks: Words of Love and I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party. 3.5/5
The Beatles – Help!
More good stuff. Favorite tracks: Ticket to Ride and Tell Me What You See. 3.5/5
The Beatles – Rubber Soul
They clearly took a step forward here. Their second crack at all originals was their overall best, before or since. Favorite tracks: You Won’t See Me, Nowhere Man, What Goes On, and Girl. 4/5
The Beatles – Revolver
A great listen front to back but it never really manages to peak too high. 3.5/5
The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Same as Revolver, but less so. 3/5
The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour
Same as Sgt. Pepper, but more so. 3.5/5
The Beatles – The Beatles
The White Album is too long, long, long. There’s good stuff on all four sides, with the best stuff to me coming earlier, but if it was 10-15 tracks shorter it could have been their best. Favorite tracks: Glass Onion, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and I Will. 3/5
The Beatles – Yellow Submarine
Only four new Beatles tracks and not much to write home about. 3/5
The Beatles – Abbey Road
Another good effort that probably comes the closest to Rubber Soul for me. Favorite tracks: Octopus’s Garden and I Want You (She’s So Heavy). 3.5/5
The Beatles – Let It Be
A good album to leave off on, though of course you wonder what would have happened throughout the 70s and 80s if they could have stayed together. Favorite track: Across the Universe. 3/5
The Beatles – Past Masters
Thirty-three non-album tracks from all across their history. High highs and forgettable lows, like all across their history. Favorite tracks: I Call Your Name, Day Tripper, and We Can Work It Out. 3/5
Megadeth – Megadeth
In a vacuum, it’s nothing special. As the last Megadeth album, it’s as good as it ever could have been. 3/5
Television Personalities – …And Don’t the Kids Just Love It
Some nice early 80s post-punk. A really nice debut. 3.5/5
J. Cole – The Fall-Off
It won’t end up being his final album, it never is, and it really shouldn’t be. Overhyped and overcooked, it spreads its highs too thin and allows itself to drop too low. Favorite track: Old Dog. 3/5
Hayworth – INPYFAD
Annoying track titles, but pretty good post-hardcore. 3.5/5
Ho-Ag – The Word From Pluto
Normal track titles, still good post-hardcore. Favorite track: Get Peeled. 3.5/5
The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower – Dissertation, Honey
Now this is awesome post-hardcore. Little bit of jazziness at the right times, bass goes crazy, vocals aren’t annoying, everything you could hope for. Favorite tracks: For Marcus, Johnny, You’re All Grown Up, Attached to the Hip, and Circuit. 4/5
Foo Fighters – Your Favorite Toy
I was hoping something better would come after But Here We Are, which was their best since Wasting Light, which is their best work in my book. This isn’t bad, but it sounds as rushed as it was. It is good enough to give me hope for whatever comes next. Ilan Rubin was a great addition, even if they did Josh Freese dirty. 3/5
Flowerbomb – Pretty Dark
I got to see this band for the first time at a local artist showcase. They were the lowest billed and yet were so much better than the other acts (no offense, Venray and Tired All the Time). Of course I rushed to check out their recorded stuff and it was great. Favorite tracks: philly and sorry. 4.5/5
Flowerbomb – Gloom Scroll
Two EPs later combined into an LP, this has some great stuff on it too. Favorite track: Bruise.
Pretty Bitter & Flowerbomb – Take Me Out
Cool little collaboration where the two bands trade off songs until they combine on the fifth and final.
Sonic Youth – Sonic Youth
Started listening to more Sonic Youth after liking what I’ve heard for years. I liked this, but it was the last thing I really liked from them until the next one that gets a blurb. None of it was bad, it just kinda went in one ear and out the other for the most part. This was hot, though. Favorite track: I Dreamed I Dream. 4/5
Sonic Youth – Confusion Is Sex
Sonic Youth – Kill Yr Idols
Sonic Youth – Bad Moon Rising
Favorite track: Death Valley ’69.
Sonic Youth – EVOL
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Somehow managed to skip Sister, but that’s okay. This is what I was waiting for all along, even if I didn’t know it yet. Absolutely great stuff. Favorite tracks: Teen Age Riot, Silver Rocket, The Sprawl, ‘Cross the Breeze, Eric’s Trip, Rain King, and The Wonder.
Isaiah Rashad – It’s Been Awful
For a while this was my favorite release of the year. It’s still in the top few, even though I expect it to be topped more later. Just a fantastic listen that demonstrates a great control of mood and energy. 4/5
Charles Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Beautiful horns, beautiful stuff. I’m not too well-versed in jazz but I love what it’s done for what I am versed in. This is one of the rare times that the song titles really informed how I listened to an album which is really cool. I could feel the stories and motions in a way I surely wouldn’t have picked up on listening blindly. The second track in particular felt so much like the “physical embraces” its subtitle describes (maybe I would have picked up on that one, I dunno). A very pleasant listen. 4/5
Ananda Shankar – Ananda Shankar
Another one where “pleasant” feels like the best descriptor. Especially considering when it was released, it’s good all the way through and especially interesting to me as someone already into east-west fusion through groups like Kula Shaker. Never quite rises to great, although the covers are nice and Sagar is a highlight that flies by despite the runtime. 3/5
Miles Davis – In a Silent Way
Really well played stuff. Probably went crazy live. 3.5/5
The Jam – All Mod Cons
Right up my alley with this brand of power pop. In the Crowd and the last run of five tracks all stood out as great among the really good rest. I’ll be checking out the rest of their stuff. Favorite track: The Place I Love. 4.5/5
Station Model Violence – Station Model Violence
I thought i’d like this more but I still really liked it. Glad this kind of post-punk is still coming out. 3.5/5
Fencing – Fencing EP
Amazing. Didn’t know anything about them going in and became a huge fan just off the strength of these five tracks. 4.5/5
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
You can hear the hunger, you can hear the reality, even when the sound is big you can tell it’s not a group effort, it’s two people killing it. Love love love it. 4.5/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
So good. Such a brilliant run toward the start. Heads Will Roll is a perfect song, and Soft Shock and Skeletons are close to it. Runaway and Dragon Queen hit a back half high that brings it right back up. Karen is a top tier singer and lyricist, especially for the genre, and the other guys whose names I should know by now create such great synthpop worlds for her to inhabit. Favorite tracks: Heads Will Roll, Soft Shock, and Dragon Queen. 4.5/5
The 13th Floor Elevators – The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators
I don’t know if I’ve heard You Don’t Know before or not but as soon as it started it sounded very familiar. Really fun listen that was probably just as fun to make, they were going wild in the studio especially for 1966. 4/5
R.E.M. – Green
Mike Mills might be the GOAT. Orange Crush is a classic and still hits the same as it ever did. The first three songs are great, Turn You Inside-Out is great, I Remember California is so great. Favorite tracks: Orange Crush and I Remember California. 4/5
Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True
Pretty much everything Costello does is up my alley, and the beginning of it all is no exception. No misses on this one, and plenty of great stuff. Alison is so beautiful top to bottom, no wonder that’s where they pulled the title from. The instrumentals on Red Shoes and I’m Not Angry are pretty peak too. Love the random jump back to the 50s on Mystery Dance, plus the fun and not-so-thinly veiled metaphor. Hell of a closer too. Insanely impressive as a debut. Favorite tracks: Alison and I’m Not Angry. 4.5/5
The Band – The Band
Pleasant and competent boomer rock. Never felt more #american. 3/5
Talking Heads – Fear of Music
Another band I’ve meant to dive into and haven’t yet, outside some hits (none from here). Great bass, fun vocals, good grooves. After the intro, everything felt like its own high point, with maybe Memories Can’t Wait and Air (which at times vocally kinda reminds me of Sensor Ghost, a favorite local band) and Drugs being the highlights of the highlights. 4/5
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
Maybe I’m just a philistine but I don’t quite get this one. It sounds good and the players are incredibly talented but it doesn’t move me. 3.5/5
Dry Cleaning – Secret Love
Pretty much made for me. The blend of talk-singing with these lyrics that are actually worth listening and the instrumentals that fight against her lack of energy to keep the songs moving forward is arresting. 4.5/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Rust Never Sleeps
Great opener. Sedan Delivery rips. Great closer. Nothing bad in between. Hard to beat that. 4/5
Run-DMC – Raising Hell
God damn that DJ made my day. Jam Master Jay was so talented and laid the perfect sounds down for Run and DMC to do their thing. This album is so fun and infectious it’s no wonder it was as huge and influential as it was. I’d heard most of it over the years but putting it all in one place really emphasizes it all. It’s Tricky into My Adidas into Walk This Way is an insane run. Wonder if they weren’t listening to some go-go out of DC when they put together the groove for Is It Live. I realized by the title track that they kinda invented nu metal too. 4.5/5
The Doors – Morrison Hotel
It’s very fine. Gets sleepier as it goes on. 3/5
Snail Mail – Ricochet
Some good 90s revival stuff, not my favorite in that scene this year but really nice with some highlights. Favorite tracks: Agony Freak, Butterfly, and Hell. 3.5/5
Arcade Fire – Funeral
It’s weird, I’ve always been told I should check out Arcade Fire, and then I do now and the songs are good, but I still don’t actually like them that much. I think I would love this if it were written the same but performed by anyone else. I don’t know quite why. The instrumentation choices, the vocals, it all adds up I guess. 3/5
Violet Grohl – Be Sweet to Me
Now this is my brand of derivative revival. Not a new idea to be found on here, and yet it all works and doesn’t feel too trite. I don’t know how that’s possible and I really don’t care. If you like this, be on the lookout for what comes next: her song Sun Is Blind is so good live. Favorite track: 595. 4.5/5
Can – Future Days
I’ve been meaning to check this out for a while. Two of my favorite songwriters of all time have brought up CAN in ways that made me excited to hear what they had, even if it took me until this impetus to actually do it. I understood exactly what each of them meant (one more than the other, but definitely both) by their respective endorsements right when the chorus came in on track one. I’ll need to listen to their more focused stuff to get a real appreciation for the band, I think, but this is a good listen nonetheless. Doesn’t ever rise above good for me, though. 3/5
The Verve – A Northern Soul
I always used to get the Verve and the Verve Pipe mixed up; I don’t think I’ll be doing that going forward. This was awesome, way better and different than I expected. Started good and just got better. 4.5/5
Tears for Fears – Songs From the Big Chair
Already know and love basically every other song on here so filling in the gaps was really cool. Roland and Curt are next-level and getting to see them live is something I’m really glad I did. Head Over Heels is the level of song some people work a lifetime trying to create and they did it at like 23. Bonkers. Favorite tracks: Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, and Head Over Heels. 4.5/5
Supergrass – I Should Coco
What an opener. Perked up when Alright came on because of course I’ve heard it but didn’t know who it was or that it’d be on here. Such a departure from the songs before and after it but still good of course. You even get exit music at the end of the album. Favorite tracks: I’d Like to Know, Lenny, Strange Ones, and She’s So Loose. 4.5/5
Spirit – Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Utterly forgettable but not bad. Space Child is like proto-penis music. Even though the album’s basically 56 years old I can’t help but think that all these ideas have been done better, either before or after Spirit took a crack at them, and I’d rather be listening to those takes. 3/5
Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner
A bit of a pleasant surprise. I hit play on the first track expecting to dread the next hour because I generally don’t love British-accented rap. I still didn’t love this, but it wasn’t actively awful. Production is super dated but that’s to be expected. Sittin’ Here is the closest thing to replayable for me. 3/5
The Doors – L.A. Woman
Another just fine entry from the Doors. Starting to think they’re greatest-hit-album merchants. 3/5
Björk – Vulnicura
First track is really really nice stuff. Overall liked it more than I thought I would. Some beautiful strings and the emotions on display felt real and well-expressed. 4/5
Eels – Beautiful Freak
Love this musically and the very 1996 writing and vocal suit it perfectly. Solid opener, Rags to Rags is great, Mental is great, there’s a lot of good moments throughout. Favorite track: Rags to Rags. 4/5
Morrissey – Vauxhall and I
Billy Budd kinda goes. The Closer I Get is nice. It’s all good enough, I just think it would have been a lot better had it had some more bite to it. The songs are begging for the snare to cut through, for louder guitar, a bigger and sharper sound in general. As is, it kinda hangs there when it shouldn’t. 3/5
Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
Wasn’t sure where the album could go after that beginning. Really liked Big Sky but it could have done without a layer or three of random sounds. The rest of side one doesn’t do much for me. And Dream of Sheep was nice and then I’m napping again. Jig of Life vacillates between beer commercial and Hornswoggle entrance music and neither do it for me. It’s a 25% hit rate which is not great even if the good songs are pretty-to-really good. 2.5/5
Hugh Masekala – Home Is Where the Music Is
Holy stank face on track one. Instantly knew I was gonna dig this. Can’t really get much better when it comes to jazz for me and it’s hard to explain why, it’s just really engaging and a fun listen that overcomes the things that jazz doesn’t retain from the more popular forms. 4.5/5
The Backbeat Band – Backbeat
It’s Greg Dulli, Dave Pirner, Thurston Moore, Don Fleming, Mike Mills, and Dave Grohl doing covers of Beatles covers. If that doesn’t grab you, then just move on; if it does, you’re in for a fun half hour.
Machine Head – The Blackening
I forgot basically everything about this after listening to it. It’s not bad at all but nothing stuck.
Blind Faith – Blind Faith
This kinda sucks. I didn’t believe the supergroup hype going in but even still, aside from one decent drum solo, this is the least interesting stuff possible. Even for the time I can’t fathom how people loved it.
A$AP Rocky – Don’t Be Dumb
I really liked this overall, even if I can see why some people weren’t as high on it. Rocky bounces between styles and not all of them work as well as they could but it’s always fun and the features are well-chosen and well-placed.
IDK – e.t.d.s. a Mixtape by .idk.
Speaking of fun, this is a super fun listen. It also sounds like it was fun to make, which I really appreciate. You get a Black Thought feature, you get DMX and DOOM from the great beyond, what more could you want?
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River
Perfectly fine faux-Southern rock. You can tell they’re posers because it all lacks a certain scumbaggery (which I do like in the right doses) in the vocal and the instrumental. That’s probably how they managed to get so big. Wrote a Song for Everyone feels especially egregiously affected. 3/5
Chelsea Wolfe – Hiss Spun
Some really cool doomy stuff, very much worth a listen. 4/5
King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King
21st Century Schizoid Man is a classic, if not in its own right then at least as the basis for Power. I remember it as being impossible in Guitar Hero, might need to go back to it now. Could chop off a minute or three as it doesn’t really develop in a particularly interesting way. The flute solo on I Talk to the Wind took it from just pleasant to pretty good. Epitaph kinda surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I think that one’s going into (semi)regular rotation. The back half (two-thirds? hour?) of Moonchild is absolutely asinine and a real time-waster, which sucks because the actual song part of the song is really nice. At least when the last track kicks in it reminds you that music exists, even if it’s underwhelming. 3/5
spinART Records – lemonlime, Volume Two…a pop compilation
I don’t remember exactly how I found this but it’s a really great sampler of indie, poppy, rocky tracks. Favorite tracks: Witch Hazel – Just Don’t Try, Holiday – Prostitutes in Town, Admiral – Silver Apple Skies (this one just isn’t online anywhere, I don’t think), and Racecar – Shanghaied Messiah (this is on Apple Music and Spotify)
The Muffs – Live at Fort Apache
Not the greatest live album, but anything “new” from the Muffs is always welcome in my book. Hearing the technical difficulties get worked through in real time is cool, and the setlist is perfect.
Black Market Baby – Senseless Offerings
Great 80s DC punk. My laundry list of favorites should say more than I could with words. Favorite tracks: Downward Christian Soldiers, White Boy Funeral, Killing Time, Senseless Offerings, I See-You See, Joe Nobody, Strike First. 4.5/5
Ché – Sounds of Liberation
Some pretty basic stoner stuff. 3.5/5
Sly & the Family Stone – Stand!
Sex Machine is a jam and a half but the album as a whole doesn’t really hit. It’s fine. Thanks Drake’s uncle for inventing slap bass, I really like that. 3/5
Angine de Poitrine – Vol.1
Perhaps the second most controversial band to blow up in the last year or so, I think they’re just fine, which somehow feels like the most radical opinion to have. Being able to pull off the loops and microtonality live is technically impressive but the songs themselves aren’t any sort of challenging or arresting. It’s great background music and I guess people find it great spectacle. Regardless, good on Messrs. Mackin-Guay and Thibeault for finding a massive audience for music that typically can’t amass such.
If you just want this, these are the albums I’m most directly recommending out of this huge crop:
Isaiah Rashad – It’s Been Awful
Dry Cleaning – Secret Love
The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower – Dissertation, Honey
Flowerbomb – Pretty Dark
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
The Jam – All Mod Cons
Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True
Violet Grohl – Be Sweet to Me