The Freshman 15: 2018's Best Debut Albums

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – December 9, 2018

We are still a few weeks away from releasing our final list of 2018's best albums. But our best of 2018 coverage continues now with a look at the year's top newcomers in music.

Above is our list of the 15 best-reviewed debut albums of 2018, ranked by Metascore. Note that albums must have at least 7 reviews—and be a full LP, rather than an EP—to be eligible for inclusion. Albums are ranked by Metascore prior to rounding (based on scores as of December 8, 2018).