Hello and welcome to This Was 2025. If you aren't familiar, This Was... is a series where we rate some of the most critically acclaimed and buzzed about albums of each year. It's a chance for us to reflect on a collection of albums that, on the surface, have very little in common, but in one way or another have captured the attention of music listeners across the world. The lineup this year includes former TikTok stars, future Super Bowl headliners, long-awaited comebacks, and highly-anticipated debuts. There's something for everybody! If you want to find out more about the six albums we will be rating and why they have been included, please have a read below. If you don't care and just want to get straight to the point, see the rules at the bottom of this post. Happy rating!

The Albums

Addison

It was 2021. Addison Rae had capitalized on her TikTok success with the commercially released single "Obsessed" and the critically reviewed Netflix original He's All That. The eagle-eyed among us noticed that she was a true student of pop, with playlists spanning from Arca to Madonna. Some of us were tuned in by 2023's AR EP, but it was last year's "Diet Pepsi" which emerged as Addison's breakthrough, yielding her both commercial success and approval from the Pitchfork crowd. Released in June 2025 after a string of increasingly critically acclaimed singles, Addison became an instant favourite among pop aficionados and critics alike. Written and produced entirely by three women, Addison and Max Martin protégées Luka Kloser and Elvira, Addison's sharp hooks and tastefully curated influences made it the pop album of the year.  

choke enough

Released in February 2025 to little fanfare, Oklou's debut album, choke enough, could have easily become another charming but quickly forgotten alt-pop album. Fate had other plans, however. Few people worked harder this year than Oklou; headlining her own tour, interviewing at any magazine that would have her, performing on an ice rink, collaborations with FKA twigs and Pinkpantheress… She also became a mother! Thanks to her tireless work ethic and a lot of good word of mouth, choke enough emerged as a true sleeper hit. Dominating the end-of-year lists, the quiet minimalism of choke enough has won over both critics and her peers. Your favourite artist's favourite artist.

Debí Tirar Más Fotos

If 2025 belonged to any artist, it was Bad Bunny. Spotify's most-streamed artist released his sixth studio album, DtMF, at the top of the year. An eclectic album, Bad Bunny sought to blend reggaetón and house with the traditional Puerto Rican music he loved growing up. Needless to say, he succeeded. DtMF would become his fourth album to top the Billboard 200, while its title track would top the Billboard Global 200. Doing it for the arts as well the charts, critics lauded the album for its personal songwriting and effortless homage to the music of Puerto Rico.

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Before it emerged as the album you see here today, Hayley Williams did something unexpected. Never one for a conventional album rollout, Hayley uploaded 17 original tracks to her website in July and encouraged fans to make their own DIY albums. Inspired to create her own track-list, the album eventually materialised on streaming services as Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party the following month. Released in the aftermath of her departure from Atlantic Records, Hayley's third solo album saw her looking inward. Chronicling her breakup with Paramore bandmate Taylor York, as well as exploring themes of mental health and ageing, Ego Death was lauded by critics and fans for balancing its ambition and depth with melodic and accessible songwriting.

Getting Killed

Love them or hate them, everyone has been talking about Geese. While 2023's 3D Country and frontman Cameron Winter's 2024 solo effort, Heavy Metal, had both yielded acclaim, it was this year that Geese truly arrived. Recorded in January 2025, just a month after Heavy Metal's release, the band recruited producer Kenny Beats to refine their rough, unfocused demos. Preceded by the eccentric art-rock singles "Taxes" and "Trinidad", Getting Killed arrived in September to widespread acclaim. Named as the AOTY by publications from The New Yorker to Stereogum, the album has been quickly embraced as a new indie classic.  

Let God Sort Em Out

After a near decade-long hiatus, brothers Malice and Pusha T decided to work it out on the remix and reform their "coke rap" duo, Clipse. Rumours of a new album first emerged in 2023 after longtime producer Pharrell debuted a new Clipse song during a Louis Vuitton fashion show. Label hijinks would prevent the duo from releasing the album when originally planned, only increasing the anticipation. Eventually arriving in July 2025, Let God Sort Em Out proved to be more than worth the wait. Critics praised the duo's lyrical prowess, as well as their always-reliable chemistry with the album's various features. Beloved by music fans as well as professional critics, the album currently at the top of Album of the Year's 2025 user aggregate, beating out many of ATRL's faves in the process.

The Rules

1. Listen to all six albums and score everything from 1-10.

2. You can give one lucky song a score of 11 and one unfortunate song a score of 0.

3. Decimals are allowed, up to two decimal places.

4. No trolling - I know how some you feel about certain artists here, but scoring every song on an album 1-3 will get your ballot thrown out.

5. Commentary is optional, but encouraged. Any thoughts you have about a song will be shared when it eventually gets the boot.

6. Once you're done, send your scores to me via PM before the deadline.

Deadline: February 13th 2026

PM-Friendly List

Addison

New York

Diet Pepsi

Money is Everything

Aquamarine

High Fashion

Summer Forever

In the Rain

Fame is a Gun

Times Like These

Headphones On

 

choke enough

endless

thank you for recording

family and friends

obvious

ict

choke enough

take me by the hand

plague dogs

harvest sky

want to wanna come back

blade bird

viscus

what's good

the fishsong unplugged

dance 2

 

DtMF

NUEVAYol

VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR

BAILE INoLVIDABLE

PERFuMITO NUEVO

WELTiTA

VeLDÁ

EL CLúB

KETU TeCRÉ

BOKeTE

KLOuFRIENS

TURiSTA

CAFé CON RON

PIToRRO DE COCO

LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii

EoO

DtMF

LA MuDANZA

 

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Ice in My OJ

Glum

Kill Me

Whim

Mirtazapine

Disappearing Man

Love Me Different

Brotherly Hate

Negative Self Talk

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Hard

Discovery Channel

True Believer

Zissou

Dream Girl in Shibuya

Blood Bros

I Won't Quit on You

Parachute

Good Ol' Days

Showbiz

 

Getting Killed

Trinidad

Cobra

Husbands

Getting Killed

Islands of Men

100 Horses

Half Real

Au Pays Du Cocaine

Bow Down

Taxes

Long Island City Here I Come

 

Let God Sort Em Out

The Birds Don't Sing

Chains & Whips

P.O.V.

So Be It

Ace Trumpets

All Things Considered

M.T.B.T.T.F.

E.B.I.T.D.A.

F.I.C.O.

Inglorious Bastards

So Far Ahead

Let God Sort Em Out/Chandeliers

By The Grace of God

Spotify Playlist

Edited March 2Mar 2 by Eeveelution

Participants

1. Eeveelution

2. California

3. MP2K

4. Pendulum

5. Ewan Chaos

6. Reverie

7. Curaga

8. Ghibli

9. Indie Go Mind

10. jacklovesyou1

11. Hyune

12. Suilen

13. Norte

14. Ace Reject

15. theblackestday

16. conatus

17. Technicolor

18. eli's_rhythm

19. supaspaz

20. Cruel Summer

21. Alessandra

Results

86 Geese - "Trinidad"

85 Geese - "Long Island City Here I Come"

84 Hayley Williams - "Brotherly Hate"

83 Geese - "Getting Killed"

82 Geese - "Half Real"

81 Bad Bunny - "VeLDÁ"

80 Geese - "100 Horses"

79 Clipse - "So Far Ahead"

78 Geese - "Husbands"

77 Bad Bunny - "BOKeTE"

76 Hayley Williams - "Blood Bros"

75 Hayley Williams - "Discovery Channel"

74 Clipse - "By the Grace of God"

73 Oklou - "the fishsong unplugged"

72 Geese - "Taxes"

71 Clipse - "Ace Trumpets"

70 Clipse - "F.I.C.O."

69 Oklou - "what's good"

68 Bad Bunny - "WELTiTA"

67 Geese - "Islands of Men"

66 Geese - "Bow Down"

65 Clipse - "Inglorious Bastards"

64 Bad Bunny - "KLOuFRIENS"

63 Oklou - "want to wanna come back"

62 Bad Bunny - "TURiSTA"

61 Bad Bunny - "PIToRRO DE COCO"

60 Clipse - "M.T.B.T.T.F."

59 Geese - "Au Pays Du Cocaine"

57 Clipse - "E.B.I.T.D.A."

57 Bad Bunny - "KETU TeCRÉ"

56 Hayley Williams - "Zissou"

55 Addison Rae - "Money is Everything"

54 Bad Bunny - "CAFé CON RON"

53 Hayley Williams - "Dream Girl in Shibuya"

52 Addison Rae - "Summer Forever"

51 Clipse - "Let God Sort Em Out / Chandeliers"

50 Geese - "Cobra"

49 Bad Bunny - "LA MuDANZA"

48 Bad Bunny - "EL CLúB"

47 Hayley Williams - "Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party"

46 Bad Bunny - "PERFuMITO NUEVO"

45 Oklou - "plague dogs"

44 Bad Bunny - "VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR"

43 Clipse - "All Things Considered"

42 Clipse - "So Be It"

41 Hayley Williams - "Ice in My OJ"

40 Oklou - "viscus"

39 Oklou - "thank you for recording"

38 Oklou - "choke enough"

37 Hayley Williams - "Good Ol' Days"

36 Clipse - "The Birds Don't Sing"

35 Hayley Williams - "I Won't Quit on You"

34 Bad Bunny - "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii"

33 Addison Rae - "Diet Pepsi"

32 Hayley Williams - "Whim"

31 Oklou - "endless"

30 Addison Rae - "High Fashion"

29 Oklou - "ict"

28 Hayley Williams - "Glum"

27 Clipse - "P.O.V."

26 Hayley Williams - "Showbiz"

25 Hayley Williams - "Negative Self Talk"

24 Hayley Williams - "Hard"

23 Hayley Williams - "Disappearing Man"

22 Addison Rae - "New York"

21 Hayley Williams - "True Believer"

20 Oklou - "take me by the hand"

19 Oklou - "family and friends"

18 Bad Bunny - "EoO"

17 Hayley Williams - "Hard"

16 Bad Bunny - "DtMF"

15 Bad Bunny - "BAILE INoLVIDABLE"

14 Hayley Williams - "Love Me Different"

13 Oklou - "obvious"

12 Addison Rae - "Times Like These"

11 Clipse - "Chains & Whips"

10 Hayley Williams - "Parachute"

09 Hayley Williams - "Mirtazapine"

08 Oklou - "dance 2"

07 Bad Bunny - "NUEVAYol"

06 Addison Rae - "Aquamarine"

05 Addison Rae - "In the Rain"

04 Oklou - "blade bird"

03 Addison Rae - "Headphones On"

02 Addison Rae - "Fame is a Gun"

01 Oklou - "Harvest Sky"

Edited March 2Mar 2 by Eeveelution

We can just vote for the female albums, right?

1 minute ago, Toxic Love said:

We can just vote for the female albums, right?

You will love Geese.

17 minutes ago, Eeveelution said:

Getting Killed

Love them or hate them, everyone has been talking about Geese. While 2023's 3D Country and frontman Cameron Winter's 2024 solo effort, Heavy Metal, had both yielded acclaim, it was this year that Geese truly arrived. Recorded in January 2025, just a month after Heavy Metal's release, the band recruited producer Kenny Beats to refine their rough, unfocused demos. Preceded by the eccentric art-rock singles "Taxes" and "Trinidad", Getting Killed arrived in September to widespread acclaim. Named as the AOTY by publications from The New Yorker to Stereogum, the album has been quickly embraced as a new indie classic.  

2 minutes ago, California said:

I fear they are ratings poison

Edited December 27, 2025Dec 27 by Eeveelution

17 Bad Bunny songs... 20(!?) Hayley Williams songs...

Love Hayley but we will be tanking Brotherly Hate

1 minute ago, Graves said:

17 Bad Bunny songs... 20(!?) Hayley Williams songs...

You can stream one song a day and still make it in time for the deadline. i'm so generous

4 minutes ago, California said:

Love Hayley but we will be tanking Brotherly Hate

I don't know who to tag or where to promote this. Anybody know if Clipse have stans on atrl?

11 minutes ago, Eeveelution said:

You can stream one song a day and still make it in time for the deadline. i'm so generous

I will try to approach with an open mind, but 20 damn tracks already has me on the defensive.

37 minutes ago, Eeveelution said:

one unfortunate song a score of 0.

boooooring

My female albums scores are gonna be so boring it's just 10s across the board sorry

Just now, Graves said:

I will try to approach with an open mind, but 20 damn tracks already has me on the defensive.

I think most of the 20 Hayley are good and that it's an easy album to sit through, so I hope you don't completely hate it. The only song I think is a chop is Discovery Channel.

I will be struggling with Geese, Evil Rabbit, and most of all Clipse

4 minutes ago, Graves said:

I will try to approach with an open mind, but 20 damn tracks already has me on the defensive.

I think that's understandable to be honest, but one of the things I enjoy about the album is how much range it has. There's louder rock moments, folksy stuff, catchier pop songs… the title track is a neo-soul classic. I'm sure there will be something that appeals to you.

Duck Duck Geese will be getting a 10 from me, someone else please finish what I couldn't.

The song is too good unfortunately

1 minute ago, California said:

Duck Duck Geese will be getting a 10 from me, someone else please finish what I couldn't.

The song is too good unfortunately

Condragulations Taxes

Ace set you up bad with this lineup. You may be entitled to compensation.

1 minute ago, Achilles. said:

Ace set you up bad with this lineup. You may be entitled to compensation.

Now sis who were you expecting to see here

2 minutes ago, Achilles. said:

Ace set you up bad with this lineup. You may be entitled to compensation.

If it tanks, it tanks

Which Geese song is going to be last?

Also, was Rosa released too late for this