This gets harder and harder every year…
Honestly, it’s getting to the point where I don’t even enjoy making lists like this anymore because of how many great country albums are inevitably going to be left off. Great for country music… bad for my own internal struggle… my mind has been twisted into a pretzel for the past two weeks. But make no mistake, people… country music is in a GREAT place compared to where it was even just a handful of years ago.
When the team here sat down and put together our shortlist of albums worthy of consideration… we had over 75 albums on the list, and I admittedly probably wasn’t as thorough as I usually am. Most years, I gather up EVERY album released during the year and then send it to a handful of the team members here and we all rank our own top 40. However this year, I just asked for everyone’s albums and built my list off that. Then I take those lists and blend it into one, an official Top 40 albums list.
2024 gave us so much great music, it’s almost too much to cover, but we really saw the genre continue to have the kind of dominance we saw in 2023. Morgan Wallen continued his run as one of the biggest acts in all of music, Zach Bryan as well. But this year was also the year of the pop crossover… Post Malone released a country album (pretty good one, actually) that topped the charts, Beyonce topped the charts with Cowboy Carter, and even though she explicitly said it wasn’t a country album, it was treated as such by the media. Shaboozey became a viral sensation with his (not very country) J-Kwon remix “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” spending nearly 20 weeks at #1. Even Jelly Roll, who is now firmly established in the country music genre, but began his career as a rapper, topped the Billboard all-genre charts with Beautifully Broken.
And while that’s all well and good, it’s not exactly why we’re here. We’re here to talk about the good stuff…
2024 marked a breakout year for acts like Red Clay Strays, Wyatt Flores, Zach Bryan bandmate JR Carroll, and perhaps even Shane Smith and the Saints. We saw the resurgence of artists like Sturgill Simpson, AKA Johnny Blue Skies, John Moreland got back to form with his latest album, and Jamey Johnson released his first real studio album since 2014. Billy Strings has continued to shine a national spotlight on bluegrass, Appalachian country music is as prevalent as ever, and even them Boys From Oklahoma, Cross Canadian Ragweed, even announced they were finally getting back together for a run of shows… at a football stadium. And a few young guns in the Red Dirt scene have ushered in a new era.
All in all, it’s great to see where the genre is headed, and more importantly, what can be accomplished these days without a label, without mainstream radio play, without an ounce of support from the Nashville music machine… you can be a legitimate country music superstar these days without any of that.
I’m sure a few of your favorite records will be featured on this list, perhaps a lot of your favorite records, but I say this every year… I truly hope you find something new here as well. These year-end lists should really about reflection, appreciation, and discovery, not a means to validate your own music taste. I know as soon as I hit publish, all of the “what about…” or “you forgot…” comments will come raining in, and by all means, go to war for the acts you love… I don’t read the comments anyways.
Some quick ground rules before we get started… we’re only considering full length studio albums. So that means no EPs, no live albums or compilation albums, and no deluxe editions, even though some deluxe albums are adding another 8-10 songs these days.
So without further ado, let’s get to it…
Honorable Mentions
Like I said earlier, every year when we start gathering up our sort list of albums top consider for album of the year, it ends being a LONG list. It is nearly impossible to narrow them down to even just 40 albums. And a number of factors can go into it… maybe we just didn’t get enough listens, maybe it snuck under the radar or came out in a jam-packed window and took a backseat to other albums, maybe it didn’t quite feel like it was in the spirit of country music (Marcus King’s Mood Swings was an R&B/Soul album for me), or maybe it just needs some time to marinate more… I always say this, but ask me again in a few years when each album has a chance to stand the test of time and this list could look VERY different.
Nevertheless, it’s a group effort, so maybe it just didn’t quite resonate with the group here at Whiskey Riff HQ. Either way, here’s a handful of great albums that didn’t exactly make the list, but you should definitely check out this year:
Blackberry Smoke – Be Right Here
Kelsey Waldon – There’s Always a Song
George Strait – Cowboys & Dreamers
Kimmi Bitter – Old School
Carly Pearce – Hummingbird
Lainey Wilson – Whirlwind
Paul Cauthen – Black On Black
Kassi Ashton – Made From The Dirt
Leon Majcen – Leon Majcen
Marcus King – Mood Swings
Red Shahan – Loose Funky Texas Junky
Lauren Watkins – The Heartbroken Record
Drew Parker – Camouflage Cowboy
Midland – Barely Blue
Whiskey Riff’s Top 40 Country Albums of 2024
40. Maggie Antone – Rhinestoned
39. Rob Leines – Headcase
38. Ritch Henderson – Alive In Alabama
37. Evan Honer – Fighting For
36. Josh Meloy – Where You Came From
35. Matt Koziol – Last Of The Old Dogs
34. Taylor Hunnicutt – Alabama Sound
33. Randall King – Into the Neon
32. Benjamin Tod – Shooting Star
31. John Moreland – Visitor
30. Miranda Lambert – Postcards From Texas
29. Josh Abbott Band – Somewhere Down The Road
28. Pony Bradshaw – Thus Spoke The Fool
27. Chase Rice – Go Down Singin’
26. Megan Moroney – Am I Okay?
25. Justin Moore – This Is My Dirt
24. Ernest – Nashville, Tennessee
23. Ella Langley – Hungover
22. American Aquarium – The Fear of Standing Still
21. Riley Green – Don’t Mind If I Do
20. Zach Bryan – The Great American Bar Scene
19. Cody Jinks – Change The Game
18. Charley Crockett – $10 Cowboy
17. Wyatt Flores – Welcome To The Plains
16. Silverada – Silverada
15. Colby Acuff – American Son
14. Koe Wetzel – 9 Lives
13. Kaitlin Butts – Roadrunner!
12. Jesse Daniel – Countin’ The Miles
11. Billy Strings – Highway Prayers
10. J.R. Carroll – Dark Cloud
9. Jamey Johnson – Midnight Gasoline
8. 49 Winchester – Leavin’ This Holler
7. Zach Top – Cold Beer & Country Music
6. Johnny Blue Skies – Passage Du Desir
5. Luke Combs – Fathers & Sons
4. Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers
3. Muscadine Bloodline – The Coastal Plain
2. Shane Smith & the Saints – Norther
1. Red Clay Strays – Made By These Moments
It’s only right that you have a playlist of the best country albums of this year… so we made one for you. After all, what good is a list of albums if you can’t listen to the music on the list, right?
Cheers.
