What were the top albums of 2024? Our critics list their favorites.

One quick glance at a list of 2024′s top-selling titles, and you’ll know that albums still matter in the digital music era.

Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Noah Kahan, Billie Eilish and Zach Bryan are all in the top 10. A large portion of all those artists’ audiences is not old enough to drink in the bars that another top seller, Morgan Wallen, needs to start avoiding. Even Minneapolis’ old record store with the hopelessly hippie-dated name, the Electric Fetus, saw an influx of young pop stars dominate its registers this year.

Some of those top titles were actually quite good, too. Here are the albums we liked the best:

1. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “The Past Is Still Alive.” Redefining Americana music for over a decade now, New Orleans-based, Bronx-raised Alynda Segarra has arrived to a very strong definition here, with stories of gritty gutter-punk life and lost friends set to gorgeous neo-twang.

2. Hermanos Gutiérrez, “Sonido Cosmico.” The chill-but-groovy vibes and hypnotic guitar work made this all-instrumental Ecuadorian-Swiss duo’s sixth LP a go-to for quieting the noise of 2024.

3. Johnny Blue Skies (aka Sturgill Simpson), “Passage du Desir.” After forays into bluegrass and Southern synth-rock on his other most recent albums, the Kentucky native sticks more to his classic twang sound here. It’s still quite a variety, though, from the sweeping mega-ballad “Jupiter’s Faerie” to the fun new slacker anthem “Scooter Blues.”

4. Beyoncé, “Cowboy Carter.” Spiked with the don’t-mess-with-me attitude of her landmark “Lemonade” album alongside the country music influences that – duh – is a huge part of growing up in Houston, it’s the most Texan album of her career, and her second best.

6. Mdou Moctar, “Funeral for Justice.” You don’t need to understand the seething political emotions behind the Nigerian desert-blues groover’s 2024 album to feel it in his manic guitar work and his band’s steamy delivery. Lots of wows listening to this one.

7. Waxahatchee, “Tigers Blood.” Sparked in part by collaborator MJ Lenderman (whose own “Manning Fireworks” is also an album-of-the-year contender), alt-twangy Kansas warbler Katie Crutchfield followed up her triumphantly vulnerable 2020 record “Saint Cloud” with one that’s more assured and content but still heart-tugging.

8. The Last Dinner Party, “Prelude to Ecstasy.” Echoes of Kate Bush, the Smiths and Blondie filled this London chamber-pop/synth-rock quintet’s playfully elegant and snidely feminist full-length debut, highlighted by the ultra-catchy NSFW hit “Nothing Matters.”

9. Tyler, the Creator, “Chromakopia.” A devilish and really kind of gross rapper in his youth, the Los Angeles wiz-kid star is still making some of the wildest-sounding records in hip-hop even as he’s matured and mellowed.

10. Charli XCX, “Brat.” OK, I’ll admit it. The artist I called “the most laughably horrendous act we saw at South by Southwest 2014″ came up with a banger of a record a decade later.

1. Beyoncé, “Cowboy Carter.” Another ambitious and visionary project from Queen Bey, this time exploring the roots of Black musicians in American music. Not only does she dazzle with remarkably diverse originals (and a cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird”) but she showcases so many artists from Post Malone to Dolly Parton to Shaboozey for musical, not marketing reasons.

2. Sierra Ferrell, “Trail of Flowers.” This Americana darling blends bluegrass, pop, folk, honky-tonk, mountain music and other roots sounds into a mildly intoxicating brew spiked with intriguing stories and social commentary.

3. Billie Eilish, “Hit Me Hard and Soft.” The Oscar- and Grammy-grabbing wonder adds some more aggressive sounds and libidinous thoughts to her usual soft palette while proving she’s a pretty convincing torchy jazz thrush.

4. Tyla, “Tyla.” On her debut, the 22-year-old Grammy-winning South African seduces with her breathy voice and intimate amapiano pop-soul.

5. Johnny Blue Skies (aka Sturgill Simpson), “Passage Du Desir.” Working under a pseudonym, the sonic adventurer returns to modern country music with flair singing about despair.

7. Jack White, “No Name.” The guitar hero revisits the bracing bluesy garage-rock aesthetic of the White Stripes. It must get loud.

8. Andra Day, “Cassandra (cherith).” The powerful R&B/gospel/jazz singer chronicles a relationship gone wrong, showing her vulnerability and resilience with remarkable frankness set to a delectable variety of deeply soulful sounds.

9. Brittany Howard, “What Now.” A breakup album never sounded so groovy, courtesy of this Southern rockin’ soul woman’s sophomore solo album.

10. Sabrina Carpenter, “Short n’ Sweet.” Sassy, saucy and suggestive, the Disney vet delivers her big breakthrough with age-appropriate lust, irresistible pop sonics and winking cleverness.