Whiskey Riff’s Top 30 Albums Of 2018

It’s that time of year again.

Time to take stock of what country music had to offer this past year and celebrate some of the best albums in country music. We’ve never been shy about the artists we like and I think we can both pretty confidently say that we like a little bit of everything. Whether you’re from the old school, or only listen to Top 40 Country Radio, I think you’ll find some really good stuff on here. Hopefully, you find something new to fall in love with as well.

At the end of the day, a great song is a huge accomplishment on its own, but to put together an entire album of great songs is the sign of a truly talented artist. It takes vision, patience, creativity, not to mention sheer will… it’s a vulnerable process that culminates in about 10 or 12 songs which you hand over to the world, invite into your own story, and just hope that it will resonate with listeners. Every year tons and tons of country artists venture into that process, but only some emerge with a truly inspirational piece of art.

Here’s 30 of the artists that did.

Honorable Mention: Luke Combs – This One’s For You Too

Ordinarily, we would never put a deluxe album on a list like this, but the bonus tracks on this one are just too damn good. Luke’s last two singles, “She Got The Best Of Me” and “Beautiful Crazy,” were both exclusively featured on the deluxe edition, so even though the original album came out in 2017, we had to at least give This One’s For You Too a mention.