The 65 Best Songs of 2018

Best album. Ezra Furman, Transangelic Exodus. Best song. Ezra Furman, Suck the Blood from My Wound. The album is a treatise on liberty and the song its anthem. Ezra is the current soul of rock and roll. Few artists are willing to expose themselves (and by extension ourselves) as the spiritually flawed creatures searching for both acceptance and freedom we are. But even better, and more importantly, the band rocks. Something most of the artists on this list refuse to do. Frankly, they are dull. So consequently not worth the effort to listen enough to get what they are trying to say. Having said that I am really starting to listen to Kendrick Lamar, on certain songs his delivery is reminiscent of an old Alvin Lee guitar solo, getting every possible note in the shortest amount of time. Fascinating.

The music industry still thinks they need to target children with bubblegum. Young people don't buy music. I go to clubs and see local bands and some national acts at larger venues. I find many new and very good artists who I prefer to listen to. I don't listen to radio. I occasionally surf You Tube when trying to decide if I want to go see an act at a local venue. You wouldn't believe the talent out there that few know about. It appears to me that the masses like childish.

It’s a curious but common theme that the NYT tends to focus almost all of its current music energy largely on pop music. There is no question there is good and important music there along with more formulaic pop approaches. I would expect better from the NYT. There really is good non pop music being developed and made everyday. This is a great time for new music. You have to dig in a seek to discover it.

Hard to believe that this kind of noise actually makes people happy

Sade's song is good. I am too old for the current music scene so it is expected for me to be grumbly about the other songs on the lists. Although not on the list, I do like Migos (the Migos?) and their Carpool Karaoke with James Corden is a classic.

Much to my surprise, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's Shallow was the most impactful and memorable song of the year, as well as the answer to the claims by certain posters that none of these songs has a nice melody or is likely to be sung in the shower. Lady Gaga's Madonna-like shapeshifting is not my taste, but in Shallow, she shows an unadorned beautiful and powerful voice.

Where are Rosalía´s songs from her album "El Mal Querer"?!

Is there honestly a single song that will garner a millisecond of time in the next decade here? 'Cry Pretty' - seriously? Thank U, Next - sheesh.

One of the best albums I listened to was astroworld by Travis scott. It had been hyped up for about 2 years and I believe it lived up to the hype. A few of songs I like to listen to are Freshman List by NAV, 1400 / 999 Freestyle by Trippie Redd and Juice WRLD, Champion By Travis Scott and NAV. The standout artists were Drake, Juice WRLD, and Travis Scott. Critics don't rate these songs very high. So far I have not seen them on the list. Drakes songs and albums seem very overlooked I feel there should be more of his songs on the list. I did not discover any songs off of this list.

Of this lengthy list of recordings, is there even a single song with a memorable melody? Can any of them be recognizably whistled, or sung in the shower or around a campfire? I doubt it.

Oh my. If there is a Top 65 List of "Most Arbitrary and Subjective Lists", this would rank at the top. I'd "Venture(s)" to "Guess" the odds of any 65 music critiques having similar rankings would be, say, 65 million to one.

65 Best?? that's more like offering a smorgasbord instead of a sit down dinner because of gustation anxiety caused by too many finicky guests. IS every one of these a song that the reviewer really couldn't live without hearing again? Or just curiosities of the moment?

Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. I wonder if the author is familiar with Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

While some of these songs are not my personal taste, I'm not here to argue with any of the selections (except maybe to lament the omission of some great tunes from Billie Eilish, Maggie Rogers, Mac Miller, Tierra Whack, Lykke Li, Childish Gambino, Post Malone, Khalid, Portugal. The Man, Nicki Minaj and many others)...BUT I would like to respectfully request that The New York Times start to showcase more music criticism and recommendations from someone other than middle-aged white men named Jon. The music section is in dire need of more perspectives from women and people of color. The Jons are very thoughtful music journalists, but with some fresh voices that better reflect the diversity of your readers, we might see a few more surprises.

Oh no, we've started the "Somebody's Favorites" list season. Sure, they are experts and pundits in their chosen fields, but seriously, who's better, who's best? It's like "must-see/read/hear," which smacks of arrogance and one-size-fits-all mentality. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Very forgetabbles! nobody can sing no more to please the heart and soul!

Sure, some of the names of the artists are odd - sometimes ridiculous; so is the case of the song titles. Some are sung by people most everyone is tired of hearing about - like Lady Gaga, whose song is a duet with an actor many dudes are tired of hearing about. None of these factors indicate how good or bad the song is. Ultimately, it's everyone's choice to listen or not listen to the songs. And yes, with the Internet (also the name of a great band, BTW), we're over-saturated with music and can't possibly listen to everything out there. But doing the music equivalent of judging a book by its cover is just a stupid way of moving about in life. So everyone taking pride at not-hearing-but-judging-anyway, grow up. Get out of your shell. R&B is good again. My only complaint is that nothing from Janelle Monae's "Dirty Computer" appears on either list. But maybe the list makers never got to it; again, there's too much music.

No Gorillaz, who released one of the best albums of the year, The Now Now, with incredible artistry and collaborations including George Benson? Instead, somehow, crazily, there is Kanye West? This list is wack and your reviewers apparently only listen to iHeart Radio channels, which play Top 40 only. So Sad. NYT readers deserve a better list than this.

Right, it's the end of the year, so now we get to see all the top-65 lists about everything... Wait, top *65*??

Looking at this list, it's sad to learn the basic three-chord structure of popular music has now been reduced to two. Or one.

Wow, not having heard a note, to the best of my knowledge, of any of these songs, I can only marvel at their inanity. Something I learned in 40 years of retail, quantity degrades quality. If there were 1000 Hope diamonds, they'd all be worth much much less. That's how I view the current music 'scene'. How many American Idol winners are actually idols? How many winners of the talent based reality shows are less that flashes in the pan? There's a reason that people still want to see the acts of the Sixties and Seventies, the test of time.

I can proudly declare I have not heard any of these songs.

Is there some reason for 65? Top 100 I can see; top 10 too. But 65? smh

Each of these songs is artless and annoying. Even the singers sound like soulless machines, completely interchangeable and canned.

People who only listen to what is foisted on us on terrestrial radio have no idea what they are missing. The most interesting music rarely gets to the mainstream because of it. So, kudos to giving boygenius their due. It’s only a six song ep, but it is a slice of heaven.

Check out the album "El mal querer" by Rosalia It's Spanish, but excellent - why would we restrict the music list to the U.S.?

Dominoes by Paul McCartney.

Who the heck came up with this list? First son hurt my ears.

Bhad Barbie and no Swae Lee? Seriously?

It is both a thankless and meaningless job to compile a “best” list most people have never heard. As the limits of music expand, the vocabulary used to describe it falls short. Much of the art on your list is not popular or representational, but some is merely popular. A rethink of how these lists are put together and why, what they are called and who makes the calls should be in store for 2019.

What you're doing making these lists isn't easy, I sympathize, but you overlooked PJ Morton's Gumbo last year and Gumbo Unplugged this year. You could have plucked literally any song of either album or just put either album on the best album list. It's really all that good.

Constantly wants me to login to spotify, which, could I left because they can't serve glitch free streams.

Once upon a time, anyone you asked could tell you the top selling single in the USA. These are 65 best songs that no one has ever heard.

In the new internet age with hundreds of channels and unlimited ways to hear current music the irony is that few of these "top 75" are even familiar to most people. Too many sources, too much information and too little viable critical vetting. Now who is listening? Pop "culture" is dead, long live pop culture.