The 25 Best Albums of 2018 So Far

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – July 3, 2018

Which albums impressed critics during the first half of the year? Find our ranking of 2018's highest-scoring studio albums (so far) in the gallery above. The list includes releases through June 30, 2018 that have received at least 15 reviews from professional critics as of July 2nd. (Re-releases, EPs, and compilations are also excluded, and note that even though you'll see rounded Metascores, the albums are ranked prior to rounding.)

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89 #1: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves

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The third proper studio album from the country star scored even higher than her stunning 2013 debut Same Trailer Different Park. Musgraves produced the 13-song set alongside Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk.

“It’s an album that imagines a world in which its author is the mainstream, rather than an influential outlier. It says something about its quality that, by the time it’s finished, that doesn’t seem a fanciful notion at all.” —The Guardian

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