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Rolling Stone’s “Best Music of 2024: Staff Picks” is a collection of personal top-ten album lists from more than 40 staff members—not one ranked, publication-wide verdict. The feature, published December 28, 2024, offers a range of listening tastes alongside Rolling Stone’s separate official year-end album tally.
What Rolling Stone’s staff picks are
Each contributor names ten favorite albums of the year. Rolling Stone presents the lists as a companion to its official annual album tally: a way to see what the people working across the publication’s departments listened to and valued. The rankings belong to their named contributors, rather than adding up to one shared staff ranking.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Greatest Hits | $19.90 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
Purple Rain | $22.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
![Abbey Road (Anniversary Edition)[LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ZIjjsCJWL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Abbey Road (Anniversary Edition)[LP] | $22.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
![Legend [Vinyl]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51zqmyQRPvL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Legend [Vinyl] | $27.97 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
This Music May Contain Hope | $32.99 | Buy on Amazon |
That distinction matters when reading the lists. A contributor’s number-one album is that person’s top pick; it is not necessarily Rolling Stone’s overall winner. The feature says more than 40 staff members took part.
Albums and artists represented in the visible lists
The examples available from the feature show how varied the contributors’ choices are. Sage Anderson’s list begins with Magdalena Bay’s Imaginal Disk and Charli XCX’s Brat. Jon Blistein includes MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks, Sturgill Simpson’s tour recordings Why Not?, Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee and Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood.
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- Greatest Hits is a 1988 compilation album by British-American band Fleetwood Mac. It covers the period of the band's greatest commercial success, from the mid-1970s to the late 1980s. The track listing for the US release differs slightly from that of other territories. It includes the 1975 track "Over My Head" but omits the 1987 track "Seven Wonders."
Sacha Lecca puts IDLES’ Tangk first and also lists albums by the Cure, Fontaines D.C., Beth Gibbons and Kneecap. Brittany Spanos leads with Brat, alongside Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal. Jonathan Zavaleta opens with Tigers Blood and includes Kendrick Lamar’s GNX, Michael Kiwanuka’s Small Changes and Sierra Ferrell’s Trail of Flowers.
These examples illustrate the range, not the complete set of contributors or their choices. The available rendering is partial, so it cannot establish a full staff-wide count of how often an album appears or a definitive aggregate order.
Rank #2
- Prince designed "Purple Rain" as the project that would make him a superstar, and surprisingly, that is exactly what happened. Simultaneously more focused and ambitious than any of his previous records, "Purple Rain" finds Prince consolidating his funk and R&B roots while moving boldly into pop,rock, and heavy metal with nine superbly crafted songs. Although Prince's songwriting is at a peak, the presence of the Revolution pulls the music into sharper focus, giving it a tougher, more aggressive edge. Even with all of his new, but uncompromising, forays into pop Prince hasn't abandoned funk. Taken together, all of the stylistic experiments add up to a stunning statement of purpo
How contributors explain their choices
The personal notes help explain why the lists differ. Spanos describes 2024 as a particularly strong year for pop and praises Brat’s rollout and guests. She writes, “The year rightfully belonged to Charli XCX, whose album was not only her best yet but also one of the most brilliant rollouts in years.” That is Spanos’s assessment, not a claim that the staff reached a consensus.
Zavaleta characterizes his list as a year of moody alt-country while also highlighting favorites beyond that lane. Lecca says Tangk stayed her personal favorite through the year and describes the Cure’s Songs of a Lost World as a record that immediately drew her in. These comments offer a glimpse into each writer’s taste rather than a shared editorial rationale.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Limited edition yellow vinyl...
- Genre: Pop...
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- Label: Rachel Keen P/K/A Raye...
Rank #4
Rank #3
- The new Abbey Road release features the new stereo album mix, sourced directly from the original eight-track session tapes
How to read the rankings
- Start with the contributor’s name. Each ten-album list represents an individual selection.
- Use the lists to explore different tastes. The visible picks range across pop, rock, country, indie and other approaches.
- Treat repeat appearances cautiously. A title appearing on more than one visible list shows overlap among those contributors, but the partial rendering cannot demonstrate staff-wide consensus.
- Keep the two year-end features distinct. The staff lists are personal rankings; Rolling Stone’s official album tally is a separate publication list.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
