10 Most Disappointing Albums of 2025
The good. The bad. The ugly.
Another year, another batch of albums that made us question our taste, our patience, and sometimes even our morals. Let’s go over the albums that made the year worse.
#10 A Complicated Woman by Self Esteem
Self Esteem’s A Complicated Woman lands here not because it lacks ambition, but because it fumbles nearly every balance it aims for. Everything that made 2021’s Prioritise Pleasure so sharp and compelling just doesn’t land this time—the boldness feels tacky, the experimentation loses coherence, and the writing becomes awkward. Despite a few strong tracks, the album’s confident façade can’t hide how surprisingly disappointing it is.
#9 You’ll Be Alright, Kid by Alex Warren
Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid is disappointing not because it’s outright bad (it is bad, but not insulting, you know), but because it feels relentlessly calculated. Across 21 tracks, the album leans so heavily on formulaic, radio-friendly melodies and over-polished production that its emotionally empty writing can practically be seen from space. Even the brighter moments can’t shake the feeling that Warren is more of a product than an artist still searching for his voice.
#8 Pink Elephant by Arcade Fire
Having a band in this list that once earned a perfect 10.0/10 on my site is, of course, heartbreaking. Pink Elephant feels like an echo of the Arcade Fire I once admired. The album drifts through vague production, filler interludes, and clichés instead of the emotional clarity and ambition that once defined them, leaving us with sloppy lyrics and a kind of forced optimism—“we’re doing better, we promise” (we didn’t ask).
#7 Tha Carter VI by Lil Wayne
Well, that was painful. Tha Carter VI is obviously the weakest entry in Wayne’s legendary series. The album starts off passably, but the second half collapses into some of the most dated and unlistenable ideas he’s put to tape in years. It’s so messy and out of touch that you almost want to pretend it doesn’t exist at all.
#6 American Heart by Benson Boone
Benson Boone’s American Heart is the kind of album that’s so polished and risk-free it practically dissolves on contact. It’s a glossy, algorithm-friendly blur of mushy melodies, awkward lyrics, and zero artistic identity, seemingly created in conference rooms by PR teams and label execs armed with data sheets and radio charts. Boone may have the voice and the platform, but this record is absolutely empty, proving once again that commercial momentum isn’t the same as having something to say.
#5 The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift
Nobody is perfect. Every artist has weaknesses scattered across their discography, and an important part of evolution is learning how to cover those weaknesses, finding the right team, and growing. The Life of a Showgirl, however, becomes the pure concentrated form of every single one of Taylor Swift’s flaws in one album: self-importance, ignorance, thin skin, inability to listen and take notes, endless self-pity, and sheer audacity. The self-proclaimed “English teacher” thinks she’s the smartest person in the room—the problem is that there’s no one else in that room.
Imagine any other pop star releasing this album—it would’ve been an execution on the spot. Nobody would be giving it a second or fifth chance or desperately trying to find meaning where there is none. We’ve literally seen this happen: Katy Perry’s ridiculous 143, which sits firmly in the “very bad” category even if you ignore who was involved in making it, was crucified instantly. Somehow, Taylor’s tenure and mythos still buy her an infinite benefit of the doubt—at least from fans who force themselves to believe that everything is fine.
For someone who has operated in pop for nearly two decades, she still seems baffled by the fact that being taken seriously actually requires a certain standard of ambition, risk, and craft. And instead of rising to that, she’s drifted into a creative league of Imagine Dragons, offering the worst writing of her career, blended melodies, and mismatched aesthetics. She feels out of touch, has nothing left to say, and shows little interest in art beyond its commercial utility—yet remains convinced the public hasn’t noticed. I noticed. Do you?
#4 Love Is Like by Maroon 5
Well, here they are—the regulars of my lists, never failing to disappoint. Maroon 5’s Love is Like continues their streak of soulless, glossy pop radio sludge. Adam Levine’s vocals sound tired, the production is bland and indistinguishable, and most tracks blur into one another. Even guests—Sexyy Red, LISA, Lil Wayne—can’t inject any life into this body of work. Boring, safe, forgettable… but let’s look at the bright side: only 27 minutes. Yay!
#3 $ome $exy $ongs 4 U by Drake x PARTYNEXTDOOR
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U feels like Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR tried to make a “sexy comeback album” while forgetting to actually make… an album. It’s impossible to distinguish one song from another, and the only way I managed to get through it was on a walk—because every time I tried at home, I just fell asleep. It’s embarrassing, sure, but that feeling isn’t exactly new for Drake, so… let’s call it a new stability.
#2 I'm The Problem by Morgan Wallen
Yes, you are the problem—and it’s not exactly something to brag about. Go stand in the corner and stay quiet.
#1 Sex Hysteria by Jessie Murph
Oh. My. God. What a disaster.
I don’t know how anyone can listen to her music unironically—and even then it’s a hard pill to swallow. The vocals are pretty much unlistenable, the writing is somehow both overdramatic and undercooked, and the whole album feels like a TikTok try-hard aimed at a corner of the app I pray will never appear on my FYP.
Don’t even ask me to talk about “1965”. She wants to be edgy and imitate successful acts like Sabrina Carpenter or Lana Del Rey, only to end up sounding like a YouTube parody video that would’ve gone viral in 2013.
There is nothing here: no identity, no cohesion, barely even a melody.
