Best Albums of 2008
Ranked by our critic's grades, best first.
808s & HeartbreakA cold, blank, hugely influential record that half the next decade grew out of, and one you reach for rarely.Read the review
Tha Carter IIIA million copies in a week and a genuinely deranged album underneath the numbers. Both facts are true.
Paper TrailT.I. writes his lyrics down again and makes the biggest album of his career: huge singles, and a few too many tracks.
The FameCheap, loud, relentless dance pop that understood exactly what the next five years wanted.
UntitledThe most political record he ever makes, and the one where the beats most often let the argument down.
FearlessThe teenage blockbuster: a handful of songs that defined a generation of proms and a lot of filler between them.
Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. DreamsThe Motown pastiche record, charming and a little borrowed, and the first time she sounds like herself.
19A teenager with an enormous voice and a small set of songs, and one ballad that changed everything.
DevotionWarmer, longer and better sung than the debut, still hazy, and one great song ahead of it.
LAXNineteen tracks looking for a reason, saved in patches by a rapper who is better than his beat selection.