Is the album dead? Maybe. I'll admit that some of these are just lovely collections of singles, but there are some that are artistic statements that prove the whole can be more important than its components. I'll leave it to you to find out which is which. So, like last year, here's my list. Thirty great albums. Ordered, but otherwise presented without commentary.
30. Hipshot Killer All This Time is Ours (Locket Love Records)
29. Juliana Hatfield Weird (American Laundromat Records)
28. Purple Mountains Purple Mountains (Drag City)
27. The Control Freaks She's the Bomb (Slovenly)
26. Ramona Deals, Deals, Deals! (Red Scare Industries)
25. Gino and the Goons Off the Rails (Big Neck Records)
24. Drugs & Attics Clean Their Room (High Dive Records)
23. The New Pornographers In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights (Concord Records)
22. The Coathangers The Devil You Know (Suicide Squeeze)
21. Jeffrey Lewis Bad Wiring (Don Giovanni Records)
20. Empty Moon The Empty Moon Story (High Dive Records)
19. Bob Mould Sunshine Rock (Merge)
18. Lisa Prank Perfect Love Song (Father/Daughter)
17. Guided by Voices Zeppelin Over China (self released)
16. Pedro the Lion Phoenix (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
15. Fea No Novelties (Blackheart Records)
14. Elva Winter Sun (Tapete Records)
13. Bleached Don't You Think You've Had Enough? (Dead Oceans)
12. Baby Shakes Cause A Scene (self released)
11. Chris Farren Born Hot (Polyvinyl Record Co.)
10. Amyl and The Sniffers Amyl and The Sniffers (ATO Records)
09. Pale Lips After Dark (Alien Snatch!)
08. Potty Mouth SNAFU (Get Better Records)
07. Ex Hex It's Real (Merge Records)
06. No Sugar Rock'n'Roll Isn't Boring, It's You (Dirt Cult Records)
05. Jeanines Jeanines (Slumberland)
04. The Hold Steady Thrashing Thru The Passion (Frenchkiss)
03. Bill Callahan Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (Drag City)
02. BA Johnston The Skid Is Hot Tonight (Transistor66)
01. The Whiffs Another Whiff (Dig! Records)
And that's it. If you're curious about my criteria, I got 192 releases this year, of which 100 of those were new 2019 full length albums eligable to appear in this list. For a run down of my favorite songs of 2019 visit Top Songs of 2019.