The Freshman 15: 2018's Best Debut Albums
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).
(#6) A surprisingly prolific 2018 for Kanye West produced mixed results, with the positives generally coming with West as a producer rather than a performer. The exception is Kids See Ghosts, one of his "Wyoming Project" releases which sees West taking on both roles while serving as the long-awaited collaborative debut for the duo of West and Kid Cudi. Note that the duo have described it as an album—which is why we include it here, despite its EP-like running time of 23:53.
“With Cudi playing the role once occupied by his own ego, Kanye’s music sounds freer than ever before. Together, these two studio wzrds have managed to produce something that is equal parts raw, honest, touching, spooky and ethereal. We’re going to need more than seven tracks next time.” —HipHopDX
| Buy on |
|