The 15 Best Rock Albums of 2024: the best in alternative, metal and more from a year that sorely needed musical solace.
2024. What a year, huh? I’m personally worn out from it and dreading 2025, but I take my pleasures where I can find them, and music remains a source of solace for me in a world that makes less sense by the day.
And this year certainly had its fair share of great music to help us through trying times and to celebrate those brief peaks of pleasure that broke through the chaos.
So, without further ado, here are the best rock, alternative, metal and electronic albums of 2024.
15. Dale Crover – Glossolalia
The Melvins drummer showcases his versatility with Glossolalia, blending experimental rock with infectious rhythms. Tracks like “Broken Tongues” are as quirky as they are captivating.
14. Dandy Warhols – Rockmaker
Psychedelic charm meets rock swagger on Rockmaker, an album that ventures into unexplored musical terrain with collaborators like Slash and Debbie Harry adding new sonic wrinkles to their sonic attack.
13. Sleepmakeswaves – It’s Here but I Have No Name for It
Post-rock at its most emotive and expansive. The band crafts sprawling tracks that ebb and flow with cinematic grandeur, inviting listeners into a meditative sonic realm.
12. Smashing Pumpkins – Aghori Mhori Mei
Layered and ambitious, this album showcases Billy Corgan’s penchant for grandiose concepts and intricate songwriting, with the band indulging their heavier buzzsaw guitar heroics in satisfying fashion.
11. Blushing – Sugarcoat
The Austin shoegazers deliver a radiant mix of dreamy textures and punchy rhythms on their 2024 release. Tracks such as “Tether” epitomize their ability to craft ethereal melodies anchored by dynamic energy. Their rich sonic layering continues to expand the boundaries of the shoegaze revival.
10. Better Lovers – Highly Irresponsible
An incendiary blend of metalcore and post-hardcore, this debut bursts with energy and innovation, with ex-Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato’s tortured wail sending scalding shockwaves atop blistering riffs and unrelenting intensity.
9. Ministry – Hopiumforthemasses
Nobody weds politically charged lyrics with abrasive sonics like Ministry, and Al Jourgensen and co. pulls no punches in their industrial metal assault, offering a blistering critique of modern societal corrosion on ragers like Goddamn White Trash and Aryan Embarrassment.
8. The Melvins – Tarantula Heart
The Melvins return with their 27th studio album, Tarantula Heart, a bold experiment in their genre-defying legacy. Tracks like the sprawling 19-minute opener, Pain Equals Funny, showcase the band’s psychedelic chaos and knack for surprising shifts. The album blends sludgy riffs, experimental jams, and even hints of Captain Beefheart-style eccentricity.
7. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Glasgow Eyes
The Reid brothers still craft bubblegum fuzz with an acidic aftertaste better than any of their imitators, and Glasgow Eyes is a masterclass in their finely honed, deeply effective fuzz guitar-fueled simplicity.
6. John Carpenter – Lost Themes IV: Noir
Carpenter and sons channel the shadowy allure of classic film noir while maintaining the electronic finesse he’s celebrated for. Tracks like “My Name Is Death” and “Kiss the Blood Off My Fingers” blend atmospheric dread with gothic grandeur, showcasing Carpenter’s ability to make instrumental soundscapes feel like fully realized cinematic experiences.
5. Nick Cave – Wild God
Intense and poetic as only he can deliver, Cave explores themes of divinity and despair, crafting a hauntingly beautiful collection of songs with his signature narrative depth.
4. The Jesus Lizard – Rack
Fierce and unrelenting, this release by the recently reunited iconic outfit captures the chaotic energy and angular rhythms that define Jesus Lizard’s legacy. A triumphant return to form for noise-rock pioneers.
3. Jerry Cantrell – I Want Blood
Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell roars back with his heaviest solo album yet. I Want Blood combines sludgy riffs and aggressive alt-rock energy, reminiscent of his iconic 90s sound but with a modern twist. Featuring guest appearances from stars like Robert Trujillo, Duff McKagan, and Greg Puciato (making his second appearance on our list), the album balances raw power and melodic depth. Tracks like the title anthem and the darkly poignant Afterglow highlight Cantrell’s signature blend of menace and introspection. It’s a tour de force of blistering guitar work and potent storytelling.
2. The Church – Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars
The Church continues their legacy with this companion piece to 2023’s The Hypnogouge. This album’s dreamy psychedelia and disorienting narrative shows the Aussie psychedelic legends (led by soothsayer vocalist Steve Kilbey) have lost none of their alt-prog mastery, as evidenced on songs like the immersive A Strange Past and atmospheric closer, Music from the Ghost Hotel.
1. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World
Cure fans have awaited a new album for 16 long years. But their patience was rewarded with an album ably worth the wait. In line with the band’s morose classics like Pornography and Disintegration but infused with the wisdom of age and sobering meditations on mortality. The end result is deeply affecting, such as I Could Never Say Goodbye (written about the death of Robert Smith’s brother), and the haunting, transcendent Endsong.
That’s it! Agree? Want to add your own best-of 2024 list? Let us know in the comments.