Albums of the Year 2025: guitarguitar Staff Picks!

It's close to the end of 2025 and the human race still loves albums! The streaming sites predicted the end of the album years ago, in favour of relentless single releases. That didn’t happen, did it? The playing field has certainly shifted somewhat in this current streaming era, but artists are overwhelmingly attaching their statements to albums. We as an audience are still massively connecting to our music as albums.

The album remains king!

Because of that - and because we like to do this every year - it’s time to see what our staff have been listening to this year. What are our albums of the year for 2025? There are no rules or caveats, apart from the music being released this year. That’s it! 

So without further ado, here are the albums of the year for 2025!

In 2025, Turnstile have been a hard band to ignore, and for good reason. The release of their latest album “NEVER ENOUGH” brings the uncapped energy that you’d expect from a band whose roots are laid deep in the hardcore scene. 

NEVER ENOUGH brings pop and indie elements into the mix alongside powerful vocals, huge guitar tones, super catchy leads, and drums that make it hard to stay on your feet. This album is best experienced through their 14-song visual album “NEVER ENOUGH”, which was released shortly after the initial record came out.

Hardcore is more popular than ever, and whether you consider this latest record a “Hardcore” album or not, Turnstile’s influence played a huge role in the genre's boost in popularity.

Dark, thrashy, frantic and very rewarding. Those would be my words for Greyhaven’s Keep it Quiet, my album of the year. For me, each release of theirs has improved over the last, and the mix of intensity, chaos and melodicism is perfect. They remind me of several of my favourite bands, all mixed together.

Recorded over 30 days and promoted solely through billboards in rural Oklahoma, Price of Admission marked Turnpike’s first project since a triumphant return from hiatus in 2023. Despite a near mythical status, their songs are more grounded than ever, maintaining all the charm of a small town bar band. Despite aiming for a more natural feel, the band are still extremely tight. Blistering hot guitar licks cut through the gentle swell of steel, while fiddle parts add rich harmonies to the vocals. 

Evan Felker’s understated lyrics drive the reflective tone of the album, with a lived in, natural feel which tackles fatherhood, loss and sobriety. His knack for capturing the grit of emotional experience in a few words is so unique, particularly on standout tracks On the Red River, Heaven Passing Through and Be Here. 

The album has a distinct maturity to it which feels very much as though Turnpike have grown up with their audience. It’s the sound of a band shaped by two decades together, confident in telling the stories we all share.

I think to really love Ghost, you need two things: one, you need to be in on the joke (the Satanism and horror aesthetic is not to be taken seriously), and; you need to see them live to fully appreciate the effect their music has on people.

What I mean by that is that people LOVE this band, like Beatlemania levels of love, which is something I didn’t think I’d see in 2025. Particularly not by a fully masked Swedish band with unusual vocals and a sound that’s politely heavy rather than full-on demonic. They are more Blue Oyster Cult than Slayer, despite how they look.

But I attended a recent show on their Skeletour, and I could not believe the energy coming from the audience! Of the hundreds and hundreds of gigs I’ve attended, there was something palpable about the excitement and anticipation I witnessed first hand at this one. I felt like I was amidst a special, unique moment, and the band only increased and sustained that as the show commenced. Banger after banger, and the set borrowed heavily from their newest record, Skeleta, of course. From opener Peacefield onwards, the whole experience just kept growing in size and spectacle. Thank goodness Ghost have the tunes to back it up!

Therein lies the genius. Ghost are a perfect pop band dressed up as a metal band. They have the crunchy riffs and firework guitar solos (courtesy of Opeth’s Fredrik Akesson), but all of that is subservient to the meticulously melodic tunes. Frontman Tobias Forge seems able to sneeze out catchy hooks, and long may it continue! Skeleta doesn’t rewrite any rulebooks: it simply gives us another collection of brilliantly melodic tunes that rock, song after song. Realistically, what more can you ask from a band?

I had high hopes for this album and it delivered. Songs like Ecdysis and Infinite Source have that classic Deftones balance of simple heavy riffs and satisfying, ethereal vocal melodies. It's amazing to see this band being picked up by a new generation and their subsequent rise to stadium rock stardom!

Man’s Best Friend was my album of 2025 for several reasons. Firstly, the controversial cover artwork  was an amazing statement. When it was first revealed, a lot of listeners thought that Carpenter was promoting misogyny and going for a submissive approach (completely the opposite to Short n' Sweet) when in reality the cover shows that looks can be deceiving, and although it looks this way, she's actually the person in control in that situation.

It’s a funny, sarcastic and witty album, whilst she still gets her points across clearly about relationship troubles and the state of dating in 2025. There’s a mix of genres throughout - from pop, disco, and country to soft rock, and there’s the pervasive influence of iconic women, including an alternative font cover based on a famous Marilyn Monroe picture.

Nobody else this year has played the game at this level!

I’ve been a fan of Masters of Reality for ages, but what struck me about The Archer was the levels of restraint involved. There’s the depth that I always look for with them, but this time there was more of the psychedelia and loss of the bludgeoning heaviness. Initially, that wasn’t what I wanted at all, but perseverance paid off and after a few listens, I loved it. A shout out to Chris Gosse’s incredible production, too. 

A slow burn, but very much worth the effort!

One of the most inspiring female guitarists of our times, and my personal guitar hero that got me into playing PRS - Orianthi, is back with her much anticipated solo album. And she is on fire!

Some Kind of Feeling is a genre-blending, feel-good record that blends blues, rock pop, soul and country with effortless swagger. 

From summery anthems to smoky blues bangers, including a killer cover of ZZ Top’s Sharp Dressed Man and a groovy collaboration with Nerdville’s finest Joe Bonamassa in First Time Blues, this album is a true musical feast.

I wasn’t expecting an acoustic tune on this record but the closing track Heaven Right Here had an instant emotional vibe that I was hooked on from the first chord. 

To me this is the best Orianthi album yet. It portrays her not only as the absolute guitar goddess capable of virtually anything one can do with a six-string axe - including face-melting solos - but also as a world class songwriter.

A must-listen for longtime fans and for any guitar loving crowd, Orianthi’s Some Kind of Feeling is the album of the year for me.