Hooray and eek in equal measure, it’s time for a round up of my year in albums! Another 100 albums listened to and enjoyed (for the most part), hours of songs consumed and pretty much the same amount of time deciding which belong in my top five of the year - and which, if any, can break through into my top ten.

I feel like it’s been a good year for music, perhaps not as strong as last year, but solid. Lots of good albums were released but I found there were many that I enjoyed but had just one or two things that sort of put me off: too short, too long, one dodgy song, a change in tone that didn’t fit, that kind of thing. It’s interesting for me to feel this way because the whole point of this adventure was to teach me about the concept of an album, and to be picking up reasons why it’s not quite working for me means I’m obviously starting to understand what an album is.

But… the top five!

1. Staying at Tamara’s by George Ezra
2. Chris by Christine and the Queens
3. Resistance is Futile by Manic Street Preachers
4. Pray for the Wicked by Panic! at the Disco
5. Love is Dead by CHVRCHES

George Ezra was an easy winner but the rest were on a shortlist of quite a few and picking the order was tough. Other contenders included Ray BLK, Bugzy Malone and, of course, Imagine Dragons.

And so, do any of the above merit a position in my top ten of all time? I’m less convinced about this list because… meh, of all time it just changes doesn’t it? Depends and changes and moods and situations and all other sorts of excuses. But let’s go with this lineup:

1. Come On Over by Shania Twain
2. Something to Tell You by HAIM
3. Songs in A Minor by Alicia Keys
4. Staying at Tamara’s by George Ezra
5. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
6. WALLS by Kings of Leon
7. Evolve by Imagine Dragons
8. With His Blue and Hot Guitar by Johnny Cash
9. Chris by Christine and the Queens
10. Native by One Republic

I still have a lot of questions about how the best album of all time can be decided… because every time I look at this list (once a year), I feel like my musical tastes have changed so much I don’t even know what I was thinking. Oof, there’s more work to be done here, I may have to revisit in another post later.

So then, for now, the 2018 adventure is done and 2019 is just around the corner. I’m still massively invested and enjoying this album lark and I can’t believe that is the case after three solid years of non-stop listening. Turns out, music’s quite good, isn’t it?