The 13 Best Rock Albums of 2025 (Ranked)

What were 2025’s best rock albums? While we recently shared with you the 51 Best Rock + Metal Albums of 2025 with you and named Three Days Grace‘s Alienation our Rock Album of the Year, we have not gone through the process of ranking the year’s best as of yet … until now.

The discussions amongst the Loudwire staffers were plentiful and there were great arguments to made for some of the albums that made this list and where they should go, but ultimately the one defining factor that each of these records shared was that in their own unique way they helped shape the sound of hard rock music in 2025.

READ MORE: The 13 Best Metal Albums of 2025 (Ranked)

There are great stories all around, whether it be Deftones becoming one of rock’s most beloved bands on social media some 30 years into their career or Turnstile going from hardcore heroes to one of the most Grammy-nominated rock bands in years.

Our rankings range from the classics — yes, Jethro Tull made the cut — to some of the brightest new stars of the day in Militarie Gun, The Dirty Nil and Sleep Theory.

It’s a broad range of sound and style, but it all rocked our world in 2025. Head down to the gallery below and see how we ranked the Best Rock Albums of 2025.