Mariah Carey's timeless Christmas album features many covers of classics and three original songs. The star, of course, is "All I Want for Christmas is You," which is so timeless that it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 a full 25 years after its release, and has continued to top the chart every holiday season since.

"There are the classics — the standards that everybody grew up with — and then there are the reinterpretations or new originals," Dave Bakula, a senior analyst for Nielsen Music, told The New York Times. "Mariah lives in that sweet spot of both."

Ariana Grande's surprise-released Christmas EP experienced a surge in popularity after she added some of the project's six original songs to her 2019 Sweetener World Tour setlist. That year, it even surpassed "Thank U, Next" as Grande's most-streamed album.

"my favorite body of work," she wrote on Twitter. "she is rising from the dead ! thank u new listeners of christmas n chill and hello everyone that is just now discovering it. i'm so happy."

Grande also praised an analysis of the album by Vulture's Rachel Handler, who described the collection of songs as "surreal" and "extremely horny."

"The first thing you need to know about 'Christmas and Chill' is that, unlike most celebrity Christmas albums, it contains zero covers. Nay, this is an entirely original work; Grande does not perform a playful riff on 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' because she is too busy staying inside, having tons of unhinged sex to a trap beat," Handler wrote. 

Michael Bublé's essential Christmas album is entirely comprised of classic covers, from "Jingle Bells" to "Santa Baby" — but "Christmas" actually benefits from Bublé's lack of originality. His rich, Rat Pack-worthy voice is perfectly suited to retain the chestnut-roasting, spirit-brightening, holly-jolly magic of the holiday season.

These days, Justin Bieber's brand may not scream "holiday cheer," but his 2011 album "Under the Mistletoe" molds the genre to suit his sound.

Anyone who convinced Busta Rhymes to hop on a delightfully unhinged cover of "Drummer Boy" (Bieber's trap-tinged version features the lyric "Playing for the king, playing for the title / I'm surprised you didn't hear this in the Bible") deserves a spot on this list.

John Legend's aptly titled "A Legendary Christmas" includes eight covers (including his much-debated woke version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Kelly Clarkson) and six jazzy original tracks, which are equal parts endearing and cheesy. (When it comes to holiday music, cheese is the whole point.)

Legend is ideally suited for this kind of project, which would've fallen flat without the sincerity that defines his voice and brand. "A Legendary Christmas" was even nominated for best traditional pop vocal album at the 2020 Grammy Awards, alongside other legends like Elvis Costello and Barbra Streisand.

Save for the closing track, "White Xmas," Sabrina Carpenter's "Fruitcake" is full of original bops, each equally as catchy as the last.

Much like Grande's EP, "Fruitcake" blends contemporary pop production, wintry innuendos, and Carpenter's signature wit to great effect: "A Nonsense Christmas" is a festive twist on her viral hit, "Buy Me Presents" is a cheeky ode to Santa as the ideal romantic suitor, while "Cindy Lou Who" stands out as the sole genuine tear-jerker.

Davis Hasselhoff's Christmas album would be endearing if it had leaned into the weirdness (like, why does this exist?). Instead, it's just plain bad. As CBC Music put it so elegantly, the "Baywatch" star's attempt to recreate holiday classics was just "incredibly unnecessary."

Taylor Swift was still a teenage country darling when she released "The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection" and botched seasonal favorites like "Last Christmas" and "Silent Night." As Courteney Larocca previously wrote for BI, her "Santa Baby" cover is the EP's worst offender: "It's difficult to listen to her croon about how she's been an 'awful good girl' while trying to flirt her way into a light blue convertible without gagging."

Even though "The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection" features two original songs from this generation's preeminent lyricist ("Christmases When You Were Mine" and "Christmas Must Be Something More"), neither is executed well enough to rescue the experience.

Seth MacFarlane has a surprisingly robust singing voice, but it's hard to separate his brand from "Holiday for Swing" — especially if you associate his vocals with Brian, the talking dog from "Family Guy." The album barely reimagines any of its holiday classics and takes itself way too seriously for MacFarlane's boyish comedy instincts.

"CeeLo's Magic Moment" was an obvious extension of CeeLo Green's rebrand as the family-friendly coach on NBC's "The Voice," a much duller version of the iconic Gnarls Barkley singer who once gave us transcendent jazz-pop-funk fusion hits like "Crazy."

As a result, "CeeLo's Magic Moment" comes across as forced and contrived. 

Do you remember (or even know) that Sia released a Christmas album within the last decade?

The powerhouse singer tried to infuse a bit of tropical funk into the holiday season with "Everyday is Christmas," but it just doesn't work the way she clearly intended. As Katherine St. Asaph wrote for Pitchfork, the album "feels inconsistent and underwritten, like opening a gift where someone's forgotten to remove the tags."

Making holiday music is always a bit of a risk; it usually reeks of a cash grab, rather than a serious artistic pursuit. That can be a death knell for pop stars who already have to fight against that anti-artistic stereotype.

Such is the case for Gwen Stefani, who used to make albums like "Return of Saturn" and "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." but now makes flavorless country-pop about being married.

For many fans, Stefani's fourth solo album, "You Make It Feel Like Christmas," punctuated her unfortunate fall from the cool-girl pedestal. The album bears no hint of personality or idiosyncratic spin — just Stefani delivering the billionth faithful rendition of "Jingle Bells" and dueting with her husband, Blake Shelton, on the cookie-cutter title track.

Each night during the Eras Tour, Swift performed an acoustic set with two surprise songs.

The dress for this segment was designed for a quick change; Swift slipped it over her outfit from the previous segment (first it was "1989," then it was "The Tortured Poets Department") while still onstage. It makes sense for the dress to be simple, but it doesn't make sense for the fabric to be the same color as Big Bird.

Frankly, the yellow dress is ugly. It's way too yellow.

It's too orange.

The green dress isn't ugly, but it's not especially notable either.

The original pink variant still isn't anything to write home about, but generally speaking, Swift looks good in pink.

I do appreciate that Swift eschewed the butterfly sleeves and unnecessary ruffles for this updated variant, but this dress still looks like it came from Forever 21.

Swift wore blue versions of several classic tour looks for the night she announced "1989 (Taylor's Version)."

Blue is the best option for a surprise song dress, partially because the color complements Swift's eyes that put those Georgia stars to shame and partially because it reminds me of Sharpay Evans singing "Bop to the Top."

You know the drill by now. This version of the dress is fine. Mostly it just looks simpler and cheaper than we'd expect from a billionaire — likely an intentional choice aligned with Swift's masterful PR strategy.

Swift debuted three versions of this chiffon wrap dress in Miami: magenta-violet-teal, bluish-purple, and orange-pink. Thanks to their ombré hues and flowy fabrics, these were promptly dubbed "betta fish dresses" by fans online.

The flowers plopped all over this dress are flimsy and weird-looking. I would be glad to never see it again.

Swift debuted a new collection of designer looks in Nanterre, France, the first stop on the tour's European leg.

The new style for "1989" was a sequined top and ombré skirt pairing by Roberto Cavalli, much like the skater skirts from the album's original era.

There are dozens of color combinations that Swift wore throughout the tour — blue and pink, orange and purple, yellow and red like her boyfriend's football team — but none of them were particularly chic. The silhouette aims to evoke nostalgia but ends up feeling outdated.

Honestly, Swift's outfits never slayed during the "Red" segment, but the ombré romper is the worst offender. It's not terrible, but it doesn't do anything for her.

Swift donned glittery, floor-grazing outerwear to perform "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)," which helped make the "Red" segment a bit more sophisticated — though it didn't match the somber vibe of the song. I much preferred the sleek look that Swift wore to perform the song on "Saturday Night Live."

There were six versions of this shirt, inspired by an outfit worn by Swift in the "22" music video: "A lot going on at the moment," "We are never getting back together like ever," "Who's Taylor Swift anyway? Ew," "This is not Taylor's Version," "I bet you think about me," and "I knew you were trouble." The shirt was always paired with a black bowler hat.

This look doesn't exactly scream high fashion, but it gets extra points for sentimentality. The hat is the antithesis of cool, but it gets extra points for the cuteness factor, since Swift would always give it to a special fan in the crowd.

This is a custom Roberto Cavalli dress, embellished with Swarovski crystals, but somehow it looks like a stringy array of ramen noodles.

Silver is slightly better than gold, but the tassels still look like octopus tentacles.

It's too puffy!

It's too pink!

This is a much nicer shade of pink.

This is a classic combination, but it lacks contrast and intrigue.

Blue is a natural fit for the "Midnights" segment, especially because the standard album cover features a light-blue font.

This version of the T-shirt dress is slightly elevated, with multicolored gems scattered across the fabric.

The fuzzy coat that Swift wore to open the "Midnights" segment was a reference to the "Lavender Haze" music video. This connection was most obvious when Swift wore the opalescent T-shirt dress underneath.

It kind of looks like Swift skinned a Muppet to make this coat, but don't worry: she confirmed in a behind-the-scenes clip that she would never wear real fur.

Blue-on-blue is a logical combo for the closing number, if a little predictable.

Chaotic, yet fun.

The contrast between Swift's bright skin, dark-blue bodysuit, and hot-pink fringe makes this the best option for the show's closing number.

I assume the gown for "The Tortured Poets Department" segment was designed to look like a "crumpled-up piece of paper lying here," evoking both the tragedy of "All Too Well" and the dark-academia aesthetic of the album itself.

It's a solid concept (and the neckline is divine), but ultimately, I can't support Swift's obsession with high-low mullet dresses. I thought we left this trend behind in 2010.

Worse still, the lyrics scrawled on the fabric ("I love you, it's ruining my life," from the single "Fortnight," and "Who's afraid of little old me? You should be") made it look like Swift was wearing a high-school theater costume, not couture Vivienne Westwood.

Swift added a military jacket atop her "Tortured Poets" gown to sing "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," an impassioned performance that casts Swift as a soldier on the front lines of a battlefield. The look is still a little corny, but at least it fully embraced the theatrical costume vibe.

After singing "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," Swift and her dancers would perform a brief skit, in which Swift was forced to strip off her dress, put on heels, and smile through the pain.

The onstage outfit change yielded a bralette and matching high-waisted bottoms, subsequently topped with a duster. The different color combos included black and gold, white with silver accents, and sparkly gray with a metallic jacket.

These ensembles recall the jackets and two-piece sets from The 1989 World Tour, combined with the ringmaster motif from the "Red" era.

At that time, Swift was battling an eating disorder and often feared she might faint onstage.

While the Eras Tour outfit was relatively simple, this callback added an extra layer of poignance to Swift's performance of "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart."

For the majority of the US leg, Swift only had one look for the "Evermore" segment: a mustard-yellow dress that screams cottagecore. It's cute, but nothing particularly special, and it did grow a little dull over time.

Note: There is a slightly less saturated version of this dress, but they're so similar, they don't warrant separate entries on this list.

Swift only wore this alternate "Evermore" dress a handful of times, but it made for a nice change of pace — and the deep, sparkling bronze compliments the moody, wintery vibe of songs like "'Tis the Damn Season," "Champagne Problems," and "Tolerate It." 

The tiered and embroidered "Folklore" outfits, custom-made by Alberta Ferretti, were always winners. The flowy style made Swift look like a friendly witch, much like her recent collaborator Florence Welch, which is a compliment.

However, the yellow one doesn't suit the era's aesthetic one bit. The mismatch was especially glaring during "My Tears Ricochet," which was intended to parallel a funeral procession.

This dress was likely designed to evoke the fusion of "Folklore" and "Evermore" into one segment, which came with Swift's newly altered setlist for the European leg. But still, as we previously established, yellow — especially this shade — should not be in Swift's color palette. It doesn't suit her.

Swift unveiled a berry-pink rendition of the woodsy "Folklore" gown during her second show in France.

The shade is stunning in a vacuum, but much like my previous complaint, it's the wrong color for the sister albums segment of the show.

The songs that populate "Folklore" and "Evermore" are full of yearning, betrayal, regret, depression, and even murder. These are not the hot-girl party bops of "1989" or "Midnights," which call for brighter hues and more pizzazz.

And if you think I'm being too nitpicky, I'll kindly remind you that Swift has embraced each album's individual color theory, down to the official Eras Tour branding. I'm simply following her lead.

The ballgown was a callback to the Speak Now World Tour, when Swift wore sparkly gowns while singing "Enchanted." For the Eras Tour, Swift pumped up the drama with voluminous skirts and embroidered jewels.

The gold version looks slightly cheaper than its counterparts, like an extravagant prom dress.

As opposed to muted gold, silver offers a lovely contrast with the purple visuals of "Speak Now."

The baby-pink version of the "Speak Now" ballgown is the best among the original set of options, with its flattering neckline and strips of sparkles that resemble falling rain.

This newer "Fearless" look, which Swift debuted in Milan, was a solid, mid-tier choice. It's much better than the era's stringy options, though it can't measure up to the original fringed minidress.

Swift debuted this version of the "Fearless" minidress in France, gleefully tossing her body around to show off the shimmery fringe. Again, it offered a mid-tier option, but definitely more fun and fresh than its Italian counterpart.

The deep purple hue made for an exciting change when Swift debuted this look in East Rutherford, New Jersey — but the tassels threw off the whole effect. They make the bodysuit look sillier and cheaper than it is.

Orange is the weakest link of the original Roberto Cavalli sets (and it signaled that she'd wear the yellow surprise-song dress. Yuck).

Maybe it was intended as a subtle Easter egg for "Karma," the rumored album that Swift scrapped between "1989" and "Reputation." (In the music video for "The Man," the word is graffitied on the wall in orange paint.)

The green is prettier than orange, but not as pretty as pink.

Although hot pink isn't quite right for the overall vibe of "1989," it did pair well with the feminine charm of "Blank Space" and the fiery passion of "Bad Blood."

After 26 concerts, we finally got to see Swift perform songs from "1989" wearing the album's distinctive color. This glittering blue set recalls the New York City skyline that inspired Swift's iconic pop songs.

This version of the "Midnights" bodysuit was designed by Zuhair Murad and unveiled in France. It subtly evokes millennial fashion trends with a halter neckline, waist slits, and a chevron-esque pattern.

This version of the "Midnights" bodysuit, which Swift debuted in Los Angeles, was likely designed to resemble an outfit that Swift wore during the 1989 World Tour. It was declared one of her most daring looks yet.

For over a year, Swifties had been jonesing for an updated "Reputation" costume — largely because they believed a new look would come paired with an announcement for "Reputation (Taylor's Version)," in the same way Swift debuted blue outfits on the same night that she announced "1989 (Taylor's Version)."

Alas, when Swift finally emerged wearing a new asymmetric catsuit in Miami, no such announcement came — and that's not the only reason this version is a letdown.

Swapping the red snakes for gold cobras does make thematic sense given the album's many references to the color (gold bodies, gold cages, gold tattoos), but these ones are extra chunky and extra sparkly, like tinsel you find at the party store, rather than lithe and fierce like Swift's original serpents. It made for a fun change of pace, but a downgrade nonetheless. 

The glitzy "Lover" bodysuits, custom-made by Versace, were an aesthetic highlight of Swift's Eras Tour wardrobe.

However, compared to its peers, there's something slightly underwhelming about the blue-and-yellow color combination. The tones are too muted to complement the show's opening visuals.

In theory, this is a strong color combo; it reminds me of a sunset. In reality, the bodysuit is just slightly too orange.

Swift slipped a bedazzled blazer over her "Lover" bodysuit to perform "The Man" and "You Need to Calm Down." This iteration is a pretty pale orange, though it didn't feel quite as commanding as the other options.

The glittering silver blazer was the first costume change ever seen during the Eras Tour. With the matching red-bottomed Christian Louboutin boots, it remained an effective mix of elements.

We all love the silver blazer, but the blue blazer is extremely hot.

The black blazer is even hotter than blue.

Although blue isn't the traditional "Speak Now" color, nearly everything about this dress is dazzling, from the floral details to the elegant train.

Plus, the color recalls a sky-blue ballgown that Swift wore during the original "Speak Now" tour in 2011, giving this look an extra layer of nostalgic charm.

The sheer, baby-blue cape sleeves are lovely, but this color isn't quite the right fit for "Folklore," which is not a blue-sounding album in the slightest. ("1989" and "Midnights" already have that vibe locked down.)

"Folklore" isn't a purple-sounding album either, but this dress does look like something a young widow might wear in a Jane Austen film adaptation, so it works.

Cream is a fitting color for "Folklore," an album that evokes earthy and neutral tones.

This is only slightly different from "Folklore" in cream, but the lace adds a new edge — romantic and old-timey, well-suited for the "pioneer woman in a forbidden love affair" that Swift imagined while she was writing these songs.

The "Speak Now" gown that Swift debuted in France is the best of the bunch.

The skirt has just enough volume to look elegant instead of puffy — while the delicate, glittering details evoke a similar dress that Swift wore to perform "Enchanted" in 2011, designed by Reem Acra.

Like the original "Fearless" minidress, Swift's final iteration was custom-made by Roberto Cavalli's creative director Fausto Puglisi.

The blue crystals, set against a shimmering silver backdrop, appear arranged to resemble a butterfly — most likely as a callback to the girlish, doodle-filled cover of Swift's self-titled debut album.

"Taylor Swift" didn't get its own segment on the Eras Tour, so it felt right to pay homage while Swift performed her other high school-era album.

The navy bodysuit is an Eras Tour classic, dark and twinkling like midnight rain.

Swift debuted her newest Zuhair Murad bodysuit at Wembley Stadium in London, the final stop on the European leg of the Eras Tour. With its star-spangled bodice and crescent-moon detail, it's the most on-the-nose "Midnights" look to ever exist.

Out of all the flowy "Folklore" gowns, green is the prettiest and best suited for the album's aura. It made Swift look like a woodland fairy.

Swift's flapper-inspired dress was ideal for performing classics like "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story." The fringe is fun and youthful, just like the original "Fearless" era, but paired with knee-high Chrisian Louboutin boots, it's still chic and modern.

In fact, according to Vogue, the dress was designed to resemble a similar Roberto Cavalli dress that Swift wore during her original "Fearless" tour.

"We chose a beautiful champagne color, which is very Taylor," Puglisi told the magazine.

For 130 consecutive shows, Swift wore the same one-legged catsuit to perform "Reputation." Some slandered this consistency as boring, but in my professional opinion, a classic proverb is more appropriate here: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

This red reptilian number, also by Roberto Cavalli, is bold and sexy with a hint of danger, just like the album itself. Puglisi described it as "more of a badass, rock and roll look."

Stars and moons are great, but there is something especially ethereal about this version of the "Midnights" bodysuit, custom-made by Oscar de la Renta.

The blue has a slightly warmer, richer tone — a better match for Swift's ocean eyes and pinkish undertones than navy — and the scalloped detailing on the bodice is exquisite up close. Paired with Swift's now-signature garter, this look is a total knockout.

Swift looked like a Barbie come to life in this version of the blazer, which she debuted onstage in Argentina. It also gave her performance of "The Man" a flirty, feminine edge.

Swift also debuted this pink version of her opening look in Argentina. The gorgeous combination of shades, from baby pink to strawberry and fuchsia, compliments the tone of songs like "Cruel Summer" and "Lover."

This was the first outfit Swift wore when she arrived on The Eras Tour stage back in March, and to the end, it remained the best.

The blue, purple, and pink gems create the perfect color combo, especially suited for the warmth and whimsy of the "Lover" era.

As a fan of "One Tree Hill," "A Cinderella Story," "Freaky Friday," and even "Agent Carter," it pains me to say this Chad Michael Murray-led holiday rom-com is just bad.

Murray's love interest is played by Britt Robertson, and yet they just don't have chemistry. The plot is nonsensical — three inexperienced male dancers somehow bring in $30,000 for a struggling bar in a tiny town in less than a month — and it doesn't seem as if Murray's or Roberston's characters get a happy ending.

Robertson plays Ashley, who turns down a 25% raise and a three-year contract at her dream job and gives up her New York City apartment to become a choreographer for the male strippers and to date a man she barely knows. Why couldn't Luke (Murray) take his handyman skills to the Big Apple?

Spend your 87 minutes watching two "One Tree Hill" holiday episodes instead.

Christina Milian is one of Netflix's romance queens, and it's easy to see why. She's charming as Layla, our hero, who breaks up with her boyfriend after finding out he's cheating on her and decides to find the man she had a meet-cute with at an airport lounge the year prior.

Yet, that's not what the movie is about. Instead, it's the story of Layla actually falling in love with her personal concierge, Teddy (Devale Ellis).

But … why does she need a personal concierge? And why is the main driving force of this film Layla's desperate need to get tickets to a Pentatonix concert?

Yes, the a cappella sensation Pentatonix plays a huge role in this movie, which unfortunately dates it a bit. There's no denying that the members of Pentatonix are talented (and they're pretty funny in the film), but it's hard to believe anyone cares about them this much in 2024.

Maybe if this movie was made a decade ago when they were at the height of their virality and the a cappella craze led by "Pitch Perfect" and "Glee" was still all the rage, but not now.

I also found it hard to tell whether Layla lived in New York City or was just visiting — I think we're meant to believe she lives in NYC, but she acts like she's never left the suburbs. She unquestioningly trusts a ticket broker who's clearly scamming her, and she doesn't know her way around the city.

This film had its fun (if not a bit misplaced) moments — see: the drag show that happens mid-movie — but the romance ultimately left me a bit bored.

There's a lot happening in "Our Little Secret." Our story begins 10 years after Avery (Lindsay Lohan) and Logan (Ian Harding) have dramatically broken up after a failed proposal from Logan.

They reunite, only to find out that their current significant others, Cameron (Jon Rudnitsky) and Cassie (Katie Baker), are siblings. To avoid any awkwardness, they decide not to tell anyone they're exes — while this doesn't make any sense, it gives ample opportunities for hijinks.

This film lives and dies by its cast, which also includes Kristin Chenoweth and Dan Bucatinsky as Cameron and Cassie's parents and Tim Meadows and Judy Reyes as their family friends; yes, that makes this movie a "Mean Girls" reunion.

Harding and Lohan are both charming in this film, even if their chemistry isn't the strongest we've seen. But Chenoweth is truly off the wall in this film, bringing a "Monster-in-Law" quality to the proceedings.

This is easily the best of Lohan's three Netflix films, and one scene in which she has to act high while reading at a church proves her comedic chops are as strong as ever.

In "Hot Frosty," after Kathy (Lacey Chabert, another holiday-romance queen) is gifted a scarf by her kindly neighbors, she gives it to a strangely jacked snowman.

And wouldn't you know it, the very next day, the juiced-up snowman comes to life and is now a human man named Jack (Dustin Milligan, aka Ted from "Schitt's Creek").

He has the mind of a toddler but somehow speaks perfect English and can learn anything from YouTube except what cancer is. He essentially imprints on Kathy, who's still grieving the loss of her husband.

Does this movie make any sense? Of course not. But under the overwhelming thirstiness for Jack the Hot Snowman, there's a sweet message about learning to paddle your own canoe.

This movie is also elevated by supporting performances from Joe Lo Truglio, Craig Robinson, and Katy Mixon.

Of course, one of Netflix's best holiday films is the one written by the same person who wrote "Love Actually" and features the voice of Logan Roy (Brian Cox) as Santa Claus. Was it even a question?

"That Christmas" owes a lot to "Love Actually," actually, since it has a similar structure of separate yet overlapping stories. One follows a group of parents who have been stranded in a snowbank, another follows Santa as he's caught in a blizzard, and yet another is about a group of kids whose parents cannot get home for Christmas.

The sweet tale features an all-star cast. In addition to Cox, there's Fiona Shaw, Bill Nighy, Jodie Whittaker, and Lolly Adefope.

Plus, it's only 92 minutes, which makes it the perfect runtime for anyone with kids.

"Carry-On" is the exact type of action movie that we love to watch with the whole family during the holidays — it's a little dumb, but highly entertaining.

Taron Egerton (an actual movie star) plays Ethan, a TSA agent who wants nothing more than to become a police officer to support his girlfriend, Nora (Sofia Carson), and their unborn child.

Instead, he gets rejected from the police academy and is forced to work on Christmas Eve — which is when he meets the mysterious Traveler, played by the always-compelling Jason Bateman.

When the Traveler demands Ethan let a suspicious package through security or he'll murder Nora, all hell breaks loose. It's basically "Die Hard" in the airport. Sure, that might already exist as "Die Hard 2," but it doesn't mean it's not exceedingly fun to watch.

If you're part of a family who would rather chug expired egg nog than watch a rom-com, queue up "Carry-On." You won't regret it.

When a song resonates so broadly and intensely that it becomes the longest-reigning No. 1 hit in Billboard Hot 100 history, a music critic needs to pay attention. Thankfully, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" is well worth the focus.

Shaboozey's breakout hit came on the heels of his star-making turn in "Cowboy Carter," an album that knows the value of an unpredictable, well-placed sample. Shaboozey used that strategy to great effect, flipping J-Kwon's 2004 club hit "Tipsy" into a heady pub chant. It was a Beyoncé-level stroke of genius; the hook has shown to transcend both genre and generation.

If you like this, listen to: "Anabelle," "My Fault (feat. Noah Cyrus)," "Vegas"

Just one month before Sabrina Carpenter released "Espresso" and commenced her plan for world domination, she stole the show in "You Need Me Now?" with a cheeky fourth-wall break.

Carpenter presumably crossed paths with Marie Ulven, aka girl in red, the darling of sapphic bedroom pop, while they were both booked as openers for the Eras Tour. At first glance, this feels like an unlikely team-up — but Carpenter's polished vocal shimmer is the perfect foil for Ulven's grittier vibe.

"You Need Me Now?" was released as the third single from Ulven's sophomore album as girl in red, "I'm Doing It Again Baby!" Her unrelenting, feisty tone recalls the fan-favorite track "Serotonin," while the lyrics reveal a scathing kiss-off to an ex, which turns out to be Carpenter's specialty.

"You know what would be really fucking cool on this? Sabrina," Ulven declares in the bridge, turning a solidly good indie-rock song into a lively, interactive experience. Now that Carpenter is as famous as she is, Ulven's epiphany feels slightly prophetic — and Carpenter's enthusiasm is even more delightful.

"Oh my god, you're so right!" Carpenter cuts in, eager and prepared for her moment. "I'm gonna sing now."

If you like this, listen to: "Too Much," "Phantom Pain," "New Love"

Hana Vu is only in her early 20s, and she already has a timeless song under her belt.

The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is truly of the millennium (she was born in 2000, making her the same age as Ice Spice and Reneé Rapp), and yet, her single "Care" is not mired in trends or modern touchstones. (Sure, there's a thinly veiled jab at consumerism, but it's not like Gen Z invented existential ire toward the status quo.)

This isn't the case for all of Vu's music; in 2019, she named her EP "Nicole Kidman/Anne Hathaway" after her two favorite actors. But "Care" is an extra special song, anchored by Vu's lush melodies, soulful delivery, and ever-relevant ruminations — about what it means to be human, to love, to hope, and to "find it all too much."

If you like this, listen to: "Hammer," "Dreams," "Find Me Under Wilted Trees"

Katie Gavin is known as the lead singer of MUNA, but in her debut solo album, "What a Relief," she strips away much of the band's arena-sized bravado to make room for more intimate meditations.

"The Baton" is Gavin's masterpiece: stark, folksy, and acutely compassionate. The song pays homage to her mother, who guided Gavin's growth, and the hazy silhouette of her future daughter, for whom she'll follow her mother's example.

"I'd pass her the baton and I'd say you better run / 'Cause this thing has been going / For many generations," she sings, suggesting an optimistic inversion of Fiona Apple's "Relay." Still, Gavin's lens is not entirely rosy: "There is so much healing / That still needs to be done."

Unfortunately, "The Baton" hits way harder post election, now that women and queer people across the US are getting ready to fight for control over their own bodies — and, ideally in doing so, to protect future generations from having to do the same.

If you like this, listen to: "As Good As It Gets," "Sanitized," "Sparrow"

Earlier this year, acting on little beyond a gut feeling, I was lucky enough to catch Fabi Reyna, aka Reyna Tropical, perform in Brooklyn. I found myself hypnotized by her organic production style, her seamless weave of multicultural traditions (Reyna was raised between Mexico, Texas, and Oregon), her tender embrace of queer themes, and, most of all, by "Conocerla."

Now, whenever I return to this song, I have a hard time putting my finger on what it is I love so much — but I always have the same recurring, insufficient thought: "This is the coolest thing I've ever heard."

Luckily, for Reyna, that instinctive pleasure is the whole point. She told Paper that "Conocerla" is about "personal exploration" and creating a space to nurture emotion, not logic. "Through art and music," Reyna explained, "we can hold more than we realize when we don't rely solely on our minds."

If you like this, listen to: "Cartagena," "Lo Siento," "Conexión Ancestral"

Donald Glover's final release as Childish Gambino, "Bando Stone and the New World," is an apocalyptic concept album that follows his character, also a musician, while he navigates doomsday on a remote island.

"Bando Stone" is presented as a holistic body of work, but as with many survival epics, the hero is better off with some company. The album hits its peak when Glover is joined by Jorja Smith and Amaarae for "In the Night," which soundtracks a humid, nocturnal love affair. The women strike conspiratorial tones, singing about lustful dreams and illicit rendezvous; the mini-drama seems immaterial to the end of the world, but it succeeds in infusing the saga with fresh textures and intrigue.

If you like this, listen to: "Lithonia," "Talk My Shit (feat. Amaarae & Flo Milli)," "Running Around (feat. Fousheé)"

Immediately upon the release of "Eternal Sunshine," Ariana Grande's sixth studio album, "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" became the runaway favorite across the board. Fans sent it straight to No. 1 on the Hot 100. Keith Urban called it "audible heroin." Many critics (including myself) compared the sparkling synths and propulsive rhythm to Robyn's "Dancing on My Own," a compliment of the highest order among pop nerds. (Max Martin, who produced much of "Eternal Sunshine," has also worked with Robyn. The pair earned two top-10 hits in 1997.)

"We Can't Be Friends" is patently a reaction to Grande's recent divorce, but subtextually, it confronts the inevitable public fallout — that is, the stigma of being a famous woman with a string of romantic missteps. Still, at least in song, Grande can emerge from the fray with her ecstatic falsetto, unashamed and resilient as ever. "Know that you made me / I don't like how you paint me," she insists, "yet I'm still here hanging."

If you like this, listen to: "Don't Wanna Break Up Again," "Eternal Sunshine," "I Wish I Hated You"

Maggie Rogers has always been an exceptional producer, as evidenced by her famous Pharrell critique (or, more accurately, his lack of critique) that catapulted her from NYU student to indie darling.

In her underappreciated sophomore album "Surrender," Rogers pivoted from folk-electronica to a more organic rock sound as she came into her own as a vocalist. "I learned how to use my lower register," she told The New York Times, "to just sing with my whole body."

When it came time to record her third studio album, "Don't Forget Me," Rogers was already equipped with these polished-up skills. This time, it's her songwriting that comes into clearer focus, totally shorn of self-doubt and pretense.

This is especially true of the title track, in which every word has been chosen with keen precision. Throughout each verse and chorus, Rogers paints miniature portraits of Sally (a vision of domestic bliss), Molly (a besotted portent of mediocre love), and herself (an autonomous woman with a lust for emotional heirlooms).

As Rogers explained in her email newsletter, some of these details were invented for the song. "Pen to paper. Fully formed. There they were," she wrote. But that doesn't make them feel any less lifelike: "I think in this way, some of the deepest truths about my present were able to come forward."

If you like this, listen to: "The Kill," "If Now Was Then," "On & On & On"

Grace Cummings makes music as though she's building a bridge between the old and the new. Her album "Ramona" is vivid and nostalgic, saturated with hues of old-school blues, yet dauntless in a distinctly modern way — the kind of music that a Gen X dad and Gen Z daughter could play on a roadtrip and equally enjoy.

The centerpiece is "Common Man," which juxtaposes vintage instrumentation and familiar pastoral imagery (thunder booming overhead, a sunrise on the horizon) with Cummings' singular, androgynous, anything-but-predictable voice.

Even in this wide-open landscape, her belting easily swells to fill the space. So when Cummings delivers the song's thesis, "I can't stand to be the common man," it's no challenge to believe her.

If you like this, listen to: "On and On," "A Precious Thing," "Help Is On Its Way"

"Too Sweet" is Hozier's highest-charting song ever on the Hot 100, which is kind of a miracle, since he didn't even bother to include it on his latest full-length album, 2023's "Unreal Unearth."

Thankfully, "Too Sweet" didn't get buried forever. It was released seven months later on the EP "Unheard," a brief collection of songs from the "Unreal Unearth" sessions that Hozier had scrapped "for different reasons."

Perhaps Hozier felt the song was too radiant and playful — or, ahem, too sweet — for the album's conceptual journey through the nine circles of hell. That could explain it, although the narrator is certainly at risk of being punished for gluttony (he has a whiskey habit and a 3 a.m. bedtime, so I'm assuming he's not a fan of moderation). Or perhaps Hozier sensed that he had a smash hit on his hands, and didn't want it to overshadow the rest of the project, like "Take Me to Church" did with his debut.

We may never know his reasons for unleashing "Too Sweet" when he did. We can only be grateful that he did it at all — and maybe consider this a learning experience. As his career trajectory has proven, he's a more patient man than most, and something this sweet is worth the wait.

If you like this, listen to: "Nobody's Soldier," "July," "Fare Well"

"Soup," the second track and fifth single from Remi Wolf's "Big Ideas," is a shining example of an earworm done right. Backed by Tame Impala-esque guitar riffs and bright '80s synths, Wolf delivers a series of airtight melodies and just the right amount of quirk.

Like all the greatest top-40 bops, the chorus is ideal for screaming in the car — yet there's no risk of tedium or replay-induced headaches. "Soup" can be played on a loop and Wolf's songcraft stays fresh.

If you like this, listen to: "Cinderella," "Toro," "Alone in Miami"

As with the two singles from "Guts" that preceded it ("Bad Idea Right?" and "Get Him Back!"), I remain aghast that "Obsessed" wasn't a No. 1 hit.

Olivia Rodrigo is at her best when she's a little punk, a little rock, and completely unhinged — and this "Guts (Spilled)" deluxe track about developing a fetish for her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend ("I know her star sign, I know her blood type") may be the most loosely hinged track in her entire catalog.

In polite society, it's rare that women are allowed to express the full spectrum of emotion — rage, envy, lust, self-loathing, and, of course, obsession — without getting labeled crazy. Rodrigo actively bucks against that sexist custom with her songwriting, flinging herself into the deepest trenches of her psyche and emerging even stronger. In her capable hands, "I can't help it, I've got issues" becomes less of a confession and more of a rallying cry.

If you like this, listen to: "So American"

I tuned in to Fontaines D.C. last fall, when I saw them open for the Arctic Monkeys' The Car Tour. The Irish band had already released three albums and won a Brit Award, but it still felt like they were on the cusp of greatness, like they were building toward a true breakthrough.

That catalyst arrived seven months later with "Starbuster," the celebrated lead single from their new album, "Romance." The song is punchy and cinematic, like Kasabian's "L.S.F." meets Gorillaz's "Dare" meets the atmospheric, suburban angst of "Skins" (the original UK series, not the busted US version). But despite its traceable lineage, "Starburster" is no mere imitation; it synthesizes its post-punk and rap-rock influences to craft something new.

If you like this, listen to: "In the Modern World," "Sundowner," "Death Kink"

In Luca Guadagnino's horny tennis drama "Challengers," the thrilling reveal of a young, headed-for-stardom Tashi Duncan ("The hottest woman I've ever seen," in the words of Patrick Zweig) is set to the equally thrilling thumps of "Yeah x10."

The aptly named song is the highlight of the movie's soundtrack, created by Nine Inch Nails maestros Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The Oscar-winning duo provides the precise mix of tension, delight, youthful awe, and "unending homoerotic desire" that's needed to match the characters' churning drama.

Tashi (played by Zendaya) struts onto the court, lithe and confident, as her two future suitors (Josh O'Connor as Patrick and Mike Faist as Art) revel in their shared surge of desire. The scene-and-song combo kicks off a riveting chain of events that dominated cinephile discourse this year. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," indeed.

If you like this, listen to: "I Know," "The Signal," "Challengers: Match Point"

In 2022, FKA twigs launched a new era of pleasure with "Caprisongs," an aura-heavy, electro-pop mixtape designed to sweat out the demons.

This year, she doubled down with "Eusexua," the lead single from her upcoming album of the same name. The twigs-invented word seems to be derived from the Greek word "euphoria," modified to reflect something more erotic, something truly ineffable. The song is an intricate choreography of techno beats and cascading synths, the exact kind of soundscape where twigs and her peculiar mystique tend to thrive.

If I had to define "Eusexua" based on how the song makes me feel, it would be "feeling present in one's body." Not the body-positive platitude of "feeling comfortable in one's skin," per se, but a sensation of full aliveness — every hair on your arms standing in salute, your heartbeat thumping in your fingertips.

If you like this, listen to: "Perfect Stranger," "Drums of Death"

Over the summer, shortly before the release of her new single, Raye told me how she's willing to sacrifice profit for her creative vision.

"It upsets me to do a half-assed gig or to do a half-hearted thing," Raye explained. "If I was in this to make money, I wouldn't even be releasing the kind of music that I am."

"Genesis." is proof positive of that credo; the amorphous, seven-minute song is the kind of big swing that artists take after years of hard work and honing their creative vision. During the three-part odyssey, Raye unspools everything weighing on her mind, from algorithmically encouraged envy, self-loathing, and substance abuse to political causes she cares about, like universal healthcare and worker rights. It's a lot to digest in one go, but this song deserves the time and effort.

If you like this, listen to: "Oscar Winning Tears."

The cultural impact of "Not Like Us" is self-evident. By many accounts, Kendrick Lamar was already winning in his rap beef with Drake, largely thanks to his Pulitzer Prize-winning lyrical skill. But then, Lamar did the most devastating thing he could to a chart-topping, best-selling behemoth. He dropped an absolute banger.

It takes a truly remarkable diss track to have consumers, gatekeepers, and corporations alike in a chokehold: No. 1 on the Hot 100 for two weeks; six Grammy nominations, including both record and song of the year; plus a much-anticipated performance at the Apple Music-sponsored Super Bowl in February.

Lamar may be the only artist alive who could've pulled it off — that is to say, the only rapper who's shrewd, ruthless, and respected enough to convince stuffy executives to let him call Drake a "certified lover boy, certified pedophile" on national TV.

If you like this, listen to: "Squabble Up," "Luther (with SZA)," "Heart Pt. 6"

There was a time this summer when I couldn't go on Instagram without seeing "Nissan Altima" shared on someone's story. More recently, videos of Doechii performing the frantic first verse — in which she calls herself "the new hip-hop Madonna" and "the trap Grace Jones" — have taken over my TikTok feed.

Despite the never-ending clips, I have yet to see Doechii botch the lyrics or trip over her tongue. "Nissan Altima" puts her star power on full display; she's a formidable, top-tier rapper with a flair for eccentric phrasing.

Released as the lead single from Doechii's latest mixtape, "Alligator Bites Never Heal," this is the kind of cult-classic crowd-pleaser that, sooner or later, fans will hold up as a turning point in the artist's career.

Although "Nissan Altima" is still relatively niche and has yet to appear on the Hot 100, it has sparked an undeniable groundswell of support, even snagging a Grammy nomination for best rap performance. Don't be surprised when you start to hear Doechii's music everywhere.

If you like this, listen to: "Boiled Peanuts," "Denial is a River," "Beverly Hills"

This time last year, I crowned Chappell Roan's "Red Wine Supernova" as the best song of 2023.

I'm willing to bet Roan wasn't stunned by the praise; "I'm not that surprised people like it because it's really good," she told Dork at the time. But the selection did get some pushback from friends and lurkers online. Back then, Roan was little known by mainstream standards, performing for crowds of a couple thousand at most on The Midwest Princess Tour. Upon its release, "Red Wine Supernova" debuted at No. 75 on the Hot 100 — nothing to sniff at, certainly, but nothing sensational.

Now, "sensation" is just one of many suitable labels for Roan's career. She's become a main character in pop music, performing for massive crowds at music festivals and millions of viewers on network TV. Her rise to stardom has been ferociously analyzed, nitpicked, and gawked at, but as Roan said herself, it should've come as no surprise. She boasts an exceptional, magnetic talent that, once witnessed, makes it impossible to ignore or forget.

This became clearer than ever at Coachella, where Roan performed the as-yet-unreleased single "Good Luck Babe!" with the conviction of a much bigger star. A clip of her singing the bridge while staring down the barrel of the camera, eyes alight with both anguish and clarity, went viral online. There, in the desert, standing face-to-face with "I told you so," she banished every flicker of doubt.

"Good Luck Babe!" is now a top-five hit on the Hot 100, a Grammy nominee for song of the year, and the epicenter of this year's so-called "lesbian renaissance."

In retrospect, it's no wonder that Roan's watershed moment was a song that nods to her own staying power, a magic touch that lingers for a lifetime. She was right all along: You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.

If you like this, listen to: Roan only released this one song in 2024, but keep an eye out for her much-teased sophomore album, expected to arrive next year.

It'll presumably feature unreleased songs "The Subway," which Roan has performed at several music festivals, and "The Giver," a sapphic Shania Twain-esque bop that Roan debuted on "Saturday Night Live."

Charli XCX's "Brat" already earned the No. 2 slot on this year's best albums ranking — but I'm breaking my own rule, which forbids overlap on both end-of-year lists, for two reasons.

First, the "Girl, So Confusing" remix does not technically appear on the standard edition of "Brat." It was released as a single before its inclusion on the remix album, "Brat and It's Completely Different But Also Still Brat," which, as the name suggests, is a completely different thing. Second, the "Girl, So Confusing" remix is a force of nature unto itself and needs to be treated as such.

I can't remember another time there was such a consensus, from critics and fans alike, about the year's most affecting, most visceral pop song — let alone a spontaneous remix like this one.

Lorde had already heard the original "Girl, So Confusing" by the time Charli sent her a heads-up that, hey, long time no see, but there's a song about our unspoken rivalry on my album. Any Lorde fan would've expected her to respond with grace and mercy, but she went several steps further, offering a real-time resolution: "Let's work it out on the remix." She sent her entire verse over text, the same way it appears on the track, to which Charli reacted the same way everyone else did: "Fucking hell."

Cultural observers and political pundits have been asking each other all year, what makes someone or something "Brat"? Even Charli has struggled to articulate it, but of course, Lorde understood implicitly. Their public truce encapsulates the true essence and charm of the album: off-the-cuff, unedited, and vulnerable in the same way that throwing up in the club and letting a friend hold your hair back ends up bringing you closer.

If you like this, listen to: "Everything is Romantic featuring Caroline Polachek," "Apple featuring The Japanese House," "B2b featuring Tinashe"

Listen to BI's complete list of 100 best songs on Spotify.

There is no party playlist you could make that would be better than playing "Timeless" top to bottom. Across 21 songs, Kaytranada proves himself a top-notch curator of grooves, summoning the perfect cast of sidekicks for his mission — put simply, to make you dance dance dance dance — from Ravyn Lenae, Tinashe, and PinkPantheress to Channel Tres, Anderson .Paak, Childish Gambino, and Thundercat.

Best songs: "Drip Sweat," "Do 2 Me," "Witchy," "Wasted Words," "Snap My Finger"

Before Kendrick Lamar surprise-dropped "GNX," Vince Staples had hip-hop heads fully covered. The two rappers share an affinity for intellectual lyrics, an aptitude for tackling complex themes, and a history of critical acclaim — but where Lamar's music is at least somewhat motivated by commercial interests, Staples is unburdened by ego and expectations.

"No one's coming to me," he told Zane Lowe, "looking for a single or looking for a party record, or things of that nature. I don't feel those pressures."

Staples thrives in the album's brooding sonic landscape, which invites the listener to stay fully absorbed. Take 35 minutes to do nothing but listen.

Best songs: "Black&Blue," "Shame on the Devil," "Étouffée," "'Radio,'" "Little Homies"

The Last Dinner Party's much-hyped debut album, "Prelude to Ecstasy," over-delivers on the promise of excitement and novelty. Although several of its highlights were released ahead of time as singles, the album's in-between moments are the furthest thing from filler; each composition is lush and grandiose, never allowing for a dull moment. You may be tempted to accuse the British quintet of melodrama, but you get the feeling that's exactly what they were going for.

Best songs: "Burn Alive," "The Feminine Urge," "Beautiful Boy," "Portrait of a Dead Girl," "Nothing Matters"

"Wilson" is Ashe's third full-length album, completing the trilogy that spells out her real name (Ashlyn Rae Wilson), but it's her first as an independent artist.

After canceling her global tour in 2023, Ashe decamped to Nashville, where she'd planted the seeds of her songwriting career. After a period of tending to her burnout and building a life with her now-fiancé, she was able to be creative again for creativity's sake. "I painted the walls and renovated and gardened. I bought power tools and put up the wainscoting in the bathroom. I got dirt under my fingernails," she told Forbes. "That was a huge part of separating myself from what my entire identity was wrapped up in, which was my career."

Ashe has always made music that breaks with trends and conventions, but with "Wilson," her unfettered approach is more apparent than ever. Throughout the album, she sings quite literally about liberation, autonomy, and shedding her people-pleasing tendencies, backed by spacious, soaring production that sounds as free as she feels.

Best songs: "Please Don't Fall In Love With Me," "Running Out of Time," "Cherry Trees," "I Wanna Love You (But I Don't)," "Ashe"

The third studio album from New York-founded foursome Charly Bliss is the perfect musical sugar rush, packed with fizzy vocals and guitar riffs so candy-coated you'll mistake them for synths.

Charly Bliss has often been described as "bubblegrunge," earning high praise for their poppy takes on '90s indie-rock. "Forever" leans more bubble than grunge, echoing Taylor Swift's "The Archer" in the Jack Antonoff-approved standout "Nineteen" and often evoking Carly Rae Jepsen's beloved "Emotion."

But make no mistake: Even as Charly Bliss' soundscape has evolved, their songwriting hasn't lost its Warped Tour-adjacent angst. "I'm Not Dead" yearns for a life with more fuck-ups and fulfillment ("If I'm a rock star, I'm not doing it right") while "I Don't Know Anything" is explicit about the harrowing realities of the music industry ("You bet on yourself and you lose every day"). But it's the deceptively upbeat single "Back There Now" that contains the album's spikiest turn of phrase: "A boy like you would hang me if I gave you the rope."

Best songs: "Calling You Out," "Back There Now," "Nineteen," "I'm Not Dead," "I Don't Know Anything"

Chinouriri's disarming candor, empathy, and attentiveness come through loud and clear in her songwriting. Listening to her debut album, "What a Devastating Turn of Events," you get the feeling that she walks around with her arms outstretched, ready to engage anyone in conversation. Her best songs are personal but rarely self-serving; she'll narrate tales about a lonely month she spent in Los Angeles ("When you don't belong, the hills will know") or a cousin in Zimbabwe who committed suicide after getting pregnant ("Out of wedlock which her family despised / But if she lost it, it would still be a crime") that double as meditations on racism and reproductive healthcare.

But not all of her songs are heavy. Chinouriri is a proud student of Britpop (Blur, Oasis) and noughties indie-rock (Phoenix, Kings of Leon), though she filters her research through a modern feminine lens (Olivia Rodrigo, Lily Allen circa "It's Not Me, It's You"). "What a Devastating Turn of Events" strikes a tricky balance between being substantial, at times intense, and being downright fun to listen to.

Best songs: "Garden of Eden," "The Hills," "Never Need Me," "All I Ever Asked," "What a Devastating Turn of Events"

Lorely Rodriguez, known professionally as Empress Of, has collaborated with an array of indie-pop geniuses, from Blood Orange to Caroline Polachek to MUNA and toured with Carly Rae Jepsen and Maggie Rogers.

If you like any of those artists — or, better yet, all of them — you'll love Rodriguez's magnum opus, "For Your Consideration." The compact 11-song tracklist sounds like someone put all the best experimental dance music and punchy synth-pop into a blender and sprinkled it with the essence of Rosalía's "Motomami." The result is a treat that's jam-packed with flavor, made to be slurped and savored.

Best songs: "Preciosa," "Femenine," "Sucia," "Baby Boy," "What's Love"

"Bright Future," the sixth solo album by Adrianne Lenker (also known as the frontwoman for Big Thief), is at once haunting and comforting.

Lenker's singular brand of songwriting honors the traditions of folk music while breaking new ground, unfurling scenes of unrequited queer love ("We could be friends / You could love me through and through / If I were him") and the desire for a gentle, patient life ("Do you wanna dance? / Sometimes I think I try too hard") in her signature one-take warble.

There's a palpable melancholy in her reveries — an awareness that nothing is quite so easy or so pure — but still undeniable beauty in the hope of it all. "I have so much nuance and complexity to what I need," Lenker told Crack Magazine, "and I do not feel by any means I've wrapped my mind around it."

Best songs: "Sadness As a Gift," "Fool," "No Machine," "Free Treasure," "Vampire Empire"

Clairo is doing her best Carole King on "Charm," and she could take this role to the bank.

Much like King's seminal work, "Tapestry," Clairo's third studio album is characterized by billowing warmth, a soundscape largely achieved with jazzy piano chords, woodwinds, and humble lyrics that capture basic truths of love, devotion, and heartache: "It's second nature," "You make me wanna go buy a new dress / You make me wanna slip off a new dress," "Honey, was it enough? Is it ever enough?"

Best songs: "Sexy to Someone," "Second Nature," "Terrapin," "Juna," "Add Up My Love"

Tems has already left her fingerprints across the pop landscape, whether listeners realize it or not. You may recognize her voice from Drake's "Fountains," Future's "Wait for U," Beyoncé's "Move," or, most likely, Wizkid's "Essence," which was nominated for a Grammy and became the first song by all Nigerian artists to reach the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But Tems was not destined to be a featured guest. Her first full-length album, "Born in the Wild," makes it clear that her fate is musical royalty. (Prophetically, her parents named her Temilade, which means "the crown is mine" in Yoruba.)

"Born in the Wild" pulls triple duty, showcasing Tems as a dynamic vocalist, producer, and, in the words of Boutayna Chokrane for Pitchfork, "author of her own lore." Although the album carries traces of her forebears, from Lauryn Hill, Destiny's Child, and SZA to the reggae-fusion legend Diana King, whose "L-L-Lies" is interpolated in "Gangsta," Tems is credited as the lead songwriter on all 18 tracks. Her voice and vision remain at the forefront.

Best songs: "Burning," "Love Me JeJe," "Ready," "Boy O Boy," "T-Unit"

Halsey has long been devoted to concept albums, whether it's the Shakespearean fever dream of 2017's "Hopeless Fountain Kingdom" or the pregnancy-induced body horror of 2021's "If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power."

Their latest album, "The Great Impersonator," both cements and subverts their legacy as a shapeshifter. Across the 18-song tracklist, Halsey adopts different genres, tones, and impressions, but she constantly oscillates between fantasy and sincerity. On the opening track, "Only Living Girl in LA," Halsey takes a cue from Simon & Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York" — written as a tender farewell to the duo's partnership — while cracking dark jokes about the crowd at her funeral. The PJ Harvey-inspired scorcher "Dog Years" draws a parallel between suicidal ideation and putting down her pet. "Letter to God (1983)" is a convincing Bruce Springsteen pastiche, which nearly distracts from the desperate pleas for divine intervention.

Only by trying on costumes, Halsey seems to suggest, can she feel safe enough to expose her most private fears and urges.

There's a sense of tragedy that pervades this practice, as well as the music itself. "The Great Impersonator" was written during a time of grave physical illness and familial upheaval, or, in Halsey's words, "the space between life and death."

Halsey confronts her catastrophes with emotions scaled to match. She is at turns furious, devastated, resentful, resigned, and wracked with guilt — both of the survivor's and mother's variety. "I don't ever wanna leave him," she sings of her young son, Ender, "but I don't think it's my choice."

More than anything, "The Great Impersonator" captures the never-enoughness of life itself. Halsey is doing everything, saying everything, feeling everything, because it might be their last chance — and isn't that the point?

Best songs: "Ego," "Panic Attack," "I Believe In Magic," "Lonely Is the Muse," "Arsonist"

Thanks to her rich timbre and multi-octave range, Brittany Howard's voice is immediately discernible, whatever style of rock 'n' roll she happens to be commanding that day.

As the frontwoman for Alabama Shakes, it was '60s-flavored Southern soul ("Boys & Girls") and psychedelia ("Sound & Color"). In her second solo album, Howard leans even deeper into her soul and funk instincts, swathed in fuzzy guitar licks and jazz-inflected brass arrangements. "What Now" reveals Howard at the peak of her powers, bending every instrument to her virtuosic will.

Best songs: "I Don't," "What Now," "Red Flags," "Prove It To You," "Power to Undo"

Sabrina Carpenter is a pop star with a capital P and a capital S. She knows exactly what she's doing, and this clarity of purpose and personality is what makes "Short n' Sweet" shine through 2024's deluge of pop albums.

These days, most of the top singer-songwriters follow the Taylor Swift Theory of Pop Music, believing they must be confessional and soul-bearing in order for their music to resonate with fans. Carpenter's sixth studio album (yes, sixth, though she considers it to be her second "big girl" album) offers a rebuttal.

That's not to say Carpenter isn't a skilled lyricist; Jack Antonoff, who produced much of "Short n' Sweet," confirmed that Carpenter wrote every word in "Sharpest Tool," the album's best song. She's just a different kind of lyricist, wielding humor, innuendo, and wordplay as many of her peers might wield their diaristic details.

Even the most generalized, nonspecific songs in the tracklist, like the smash hit "Espresso" or the sexy standout "Bed Chem," manage to feel sticky and memorable. Carpenter delivers each line with vocal flair and charisma, reshaping the broadest phrases to fit her specific persona. On paper, "That's that me espresso" could've been written by anyone, but now that we've heard the song, it could only make sense coming out of Carpenter's mouth.

Best songs: "Please Please Please," "Sharpest Tool," "Coincidence," "Bed Chem," "Espresso"

Magdalena Bay is the indie-pop band that every music critic and chronically-online-cool-girl is obsessed with right now.

If you're not familiar with their surrealist TikTok account or the album cover that inspired Rosalía's Halloween costume, the band is actually just two people: Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, both Miami natives with Argentinian-Jewish roots, who met in high school. They're a couple now, though some people mistakenly believe they're related. Think of it like The White Stripes for the digital age — if Jack and Meg White were listening to a lot of early Grimes and doom-scrolling on their phones.

"Imaginal Disk" is the culmination of their 13-year partnership, the fruit of two true creatives who are perfectly in sync. The music is very much of the moment, full of distorted synths and anxious lyrics about "divine digits," warped mirrors, and TV-induced nightmares — but, miraculously, it never strays into the realm of pretentious, patronizing slush. Tenenbaum and Lewin may be preoccupied with the splendors and ills of the modern world, but they're not preaching or speaking down to us because they are us.

Best songs: "Killing Time," "Image," "Death & Romance," "Fear, Sex," "That's My Floor"

Tyla's self-titled is the most impressive debut album of the year, parading an assortment of moods and genres — namely Afrobeats, amapiano, pop, and R&B — with the poise of a seasoned superstar.

Listening to "Tyla," I can't help but remember how I felt listening to Rihanna's "Music of the Sun" in 2005, that flutter in my stomach when I knew something big was about to happen — or, more accurately, someone.

Like most great pop albums, "Tyla" is accessible and versatile with a song for every mood. "Water" may be her "Pon de Replay," but she's also got her independent-girl anthem ("No.1"), her timeless love song ("Butterflies"), her heartbreak memento ("To Last"), and, of course, her party-starters ("Jump," "On My Body"). Through it all, Tyla never sacrifices her signature sound for the sake of mass appeal.

Best songs: "Truth Or Dare," "Butterflies," "On and On," "Jump," "To Last"

Taylor Swift as a concept looms large over her 11th studio album — so much so that it was summarily dismissed by people who've grown tired of "her whole thing." As Swiftian history shows us, this fatigue happens cyclically every few years.

But as Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield wrote in "Heartbreak is the National Anthem," his new book about Swift's place in music history, "Many people often find Taylor infuriating and exhausting. So does Taylor Swift."

That may as well be the thesis for "The Tortured Poets Department." At 31 songs, the album is instantly overwhelming. It's self-effacing and self-aware to a truly comical degree. (I will never forget where I was when I first heard Swift sing, "I'm having his baby. No, I'm not! But you should see your faces.") It's full of heel turns, hallucinations, and contradictions. She pledges, "I can fix him," then ends the same song with, "Woah! Maybe I can't." Later, she swears she'll forget him — in a song that also swears he's a swindler who deserves jail time. She begs God to send her a soulmate, but three tracks later, she compares the sensation of leaving a man to emerging from a frozen lake. In the album's lead single, she literally casts herself as an asylum patient.

As Sheffield notes, "There's something scary about all her try-try-try energy, but that's the only possible way she could write songs like these." Swift is always erupting, never walking it back, and never playing it cool. It's annoying. It's relatable. It's annoyingly relatable. But for her fellow triers, it's sheer magic. It's a crucial part of her allure as an artist, and it's also what makes the "The Tortured Poets Department" — yes, even the extra 15 songs — such a damned, accursed thrill.

Best songs: "But Daddy I Love Him," "Guilty as Sin?," "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?," "Loml," "The Black Dog," "How Did It End?," "The Prophecy"

One year after The Marías released their debut album, 2021's "Cinema," the band reached a watershed moment: They were featured on Bad Bunny's 2022 blockbuster "Un Verano Sin Ti." Their duet, "Otro Atardecer," has over 481 million streams on Spotify to date.

Bad Bunny's cosign promised more ears and a much bigger platform; a well-executed sophomore album could change their trajectory forever. It seemed the stars had aligned.

In reality, their path forward wasn't promised. Lead singer María Zardoya and drummer and producer Josh Conway, the duo that founded the band and cowrote the songs, broke up. They'd begun dating shortly after meeting, drawn together by their artistic chemistry. Dousing that spark could've spelled the end of The Marías.

To avoid this fate, the bandmates had the wisdom to impose a six-week sabbatical — the longest they'd been apart in their eight years of knowing each other, Zardoya told Elle. They both took the time to travel. "We were in our 'Eat, Pray, Love' era for sure," she said. "The isolation was necessary for us to heal, then come together and make this project. We overcame a lot to make it happen."

"Submarine" may be the best album written by actively splitting lovers since Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours," though The Marías' version is markedly more serene. Zardoya swaps the righteous fury of Stevie Nicks for soothing melodies and abiding tenderness, sounding more like Selena mixed with Sade. Conway compliments his ex's hushed vocals with glinting synths and waves of reverb.

The effect is all-encompassing, fluid, almost reverent — quite like sitting at the bottom of a pool, watching the sunlight glitter on the surface, as Zardoya does in the cover art. There isn't a single dissonant moment or skippable song to pull you out of its depths.

Best songs: "Echo," "Run Your Mouth," "Blur," "No One Noticed," "Vicious Sensitive Robot"

"Hit Me Hard and Soft" is Billie Eilish's third studio album and her best yet by far. Compared to the lonely visions of 2019's "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" or the self-indulgent soliloquies of 2021's "Happier Than Ever," this world feels richer, more curious and expansive.

Although the tracklist only has 10 songs, every chord, every ad-lib, and every transition has been carefully considered as part of a whole. String motifs and key lyrics resurface across the album, and the eerie and reflective closing track, "Blue," fuses two scrapped songs from Eilish's past into something new.

Eilish's brother and collaborator Finneas O'Connell once described this album as containing "real ghosts" because they resurrected old material. This may explain why its centerpiece, "Chihiro," shares a name with the protagonist of "Spirited Away," a movie about stumbling through a portal to an alternate dimension that's full of strange monsters and spirits. Chihiro is thrust into a great adventure at an extremely young age — much like Eilish when she shot to fame as a teenager. His only options are escape or immersion.

Eilish's previous albums ooze with the itch to escape. In "Hit Me Hard and Soft," Eilish finally chooses the latter.

Best songs: "Chihiro," "Birds of a Feather," "The Greatest," "The Diner," "Blue"

The "best" album of the year is always debatable, but one thing is for sure: "Brat" will go down in history as the main character in 2024's cultural discourse.

The artwork's acid green seeped into every corner of observable life, from statue gardens and brand campaigns to Times Square and the White House. Even NASA hopped on the trend, using "Brat" lyrics in an Instagram caption to describe the lingering glow of a supernova. "Buried at the center is the star's tell-tale heart," the agency wrote, "which beats with rhythmic precision." How very fitting.

After many years of languishing in pop's middle class (justice for "How I'm Feeling Now"), Charli XCX broke into the mainstream with her most idiosyncratic work to date. Ironically, it was her previous effort, 2022's "Crash," that was created with the intention of showing off her pop-star chops — both as a cynical stunt and an earnest bid for attention.

At the time, the experiment seemed to fail. "Crash" was well received by critics but failed to lift Charli into pop's upper echelon.

And yet, it was precisely this kind of failure — or, at least, the perception of failure in the competitive world of "stan Twitter" — that made the existence of "Brat" possible. Throughout the tracklist, Charli is haunted by her own legacy. She frets constantly about being compared to other women in the industry. Do they even notice when she's fixing her hair or snagging her tights? Do they see her standing in the background? Do they also wish they could rewind to simpler times, before they cared about Billboard charts and sales numbers? She even wonders whether her music career is worth putting her personal life on hold for.

Even when Charli is playing her familiar role, the "365 party girl," her brags are still legacy-oriented. "I'm your favorite reference, baby," she insists in the opening track, "360." In the standout single "Von Dutch," she teases, "It's OK to just admit that you're jealous of me." Put in conversation with the album's deep cuts, these lyrics seem more defensive than they do at first brush. Charli is ready to call herself an icon, but she wants you to say it back.

"Brat" is a uniquely Charli album, but as NASA accidentally noted, it's also a tale as old as time: Buried at the center, beneath the neon lights and pulsing synths, Charli's tell-tale heart is beating, keeping her alive, begging to be heard.

Best songs: "Sympathy Is a Knife," "Von Dutch," "So I," "Girl, So Confusing," "365"

"Brat Summer" may have taken over the online lexicon in 2024, but once again, it was Beyoncé who made the most technically impressive and thematically effective album of the year.

Following the footsteps of "Renaissance," the best album of 2022, "Cowboy Carter" is part of an ongoing trilogy that probes the limits of genre — and, crucially, the roles that race and gender play in imposing those limits. Beyoncé is the perfect and perhaps only musician alive who could stage such an experiment with this level of mastery, foresight, and cultural impact.

You could pinpoint pretty much any three-track run on "Cowboy Carter," and you'd find proof why it's the album of the year. Take "Ameriican Reqiuem," a mini-dissertation on prejudice in the music industry, then "Blackbiird," an illuminating blend of young Black voices in country music with a classic-rock song that was inspired by the Little Rock Nine, topped by "16 Carriages," a soulful ballad that draws from Beyoncé's outlaw-esque roots, and you've still only covered the first 11-ish minutes.

Beyoncé has many musical gifts, including (but not limited to) identifying fresh talent, reinventing samples, fine-tuning even the tiniest details, and synthesizing many themes and perspectives to form one coherent narrative. Her range is already well established, but on "Cowboy Carter," each of these skills is deployed to its fullest extent.

The album opens with a pointed set of questions: "Can you hear me? Or do you fear me?" But Beyoncé knows the breadth of her power, so she already knows what the answer will be. She closes the album by asking again, but this time, it's tinted by the shadow of a smirk: "Tell me, can you hear me now?"

Best songs: "Ameriican Reqiuem," "Bodyguard," "Daughter," "Alliigator Tears," "II Most Wanted," "Ya Ya," "II Hands II Heaven," "Sweet Honey Buckiin'"

Unfortunately, there has to be a country that comes in last, and for me, it's Germany.

That said, I've been twice, and the second time was better than the first. When I travel, I really value interacting with locals and other people, and I found that more difficult for me to do here.

Even so, Germany has a lot of history, and seeing everything from the Berlin Wall to Neuschwanstein Castle was incredible.

I seem to rank countries that speak my native language, English, on the lower end of the list. I think I find them less adventurous — less of a challenge. That's primarily why the UK is second to last.

Plus, the skies are gloomy many days of the year, and I'm not a huge fan of the local cuisine.

Full disclosure: I've been four times, and each visit occurred during the dark, cold winter months. That definitely could've colored my opinion on the country.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Christmas markets, the cute city of Bath, and major attractions like Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Canada is a beautiful country and an outdoors lover's paradise, with national parks like Banff and amazing winter sports in Whistler.

But outside Quebec and a handful of other provinces, English is the primary language. It was hard to decide where to rank it, but by that standard, it ended up lower on my list.

Canada has a great mixture of bustling cities and stunning nature. However, it's so close to the US and has a similar topography in many regions, so it feels like less of an adventure to me.

I primarily live in the United States, so I find it a little less exciting to travel around.

I do, however, love that you can spend months here and experience varying landscapes, people, and cuisines across the country.

I've been to 48 states, and California is my favorite. It has a healthy mix of cities, state parks, epic scenery, and beautiful beaches.

Bahrain, a tiny country in the Middle East, is a quarter of the size of Rhode Island, which is the smallest state in the US.

Unfortunately, that limits the number of things to do. But I love visiting the Manama Souq and the Bahrain National Museum.

The delicious variety of Gulf food is also a plus.

I couldn't find a ton to do in Senegal.

From what I experienced, though, I enjoyed taking a boat to the car-free Gorée Island to learn more about the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and visiting the gigantic African Renaissance Monument in Dakar.

I also absolutely loved my hotel, Hotel Casa Mara Dakar. It was somewhat of a hub for nomad travelers from all over the world.

I have to admit, the main reason I ranked Honduras in the bottom 10 is because of the endless potholes that plague the roads and highways in the country. Its notoriously rough roads made getting from one place to the other quite stressful.

Aside from that, the country is beautiful.

I recommend visiting the Macaw Mountain Bird Park and Nature Reserve and the archeological ruins of Copán. Taking a zipline tour across Pulhapanzak waterfall and exploring Pico Bonito National Park were also highlights of my trip.

If you're looking for places to stay, Hotel Marina Copán, Finca Las Glorias, and Angeli Gardens are all great options.

It has been quite a long time since I was in Saudi Arabia, which is partially why it ended up where it did.

When I visited in 2008, I couldn't find much for tourists to do. Nowadays, I've heard the country is bustling with tourism, music festivals, unique desert and overwater stays, fashion boutiques, and adventure sports.

Plus, it's ranked No. 41 on the Travel and Tourism Index, so I know, economically, things have grown since 2019.

I'll have to go back to see if that changes my decision.

Although I love a challenge — and this goes against my above sentiments — I really struggled with the language and food in China.

I'm a pescatarian, and I wasn't able to find a lot of local cuisine to enjoy. Plus, outside Shanghai, hardly anyone I came across spoke English, which was not surprising. Still, because I wasn't familiar with the language, I found it difficult to get around from place to place.

It was an adventure, to say the least. Nevertheless, my favorite activities were taking a food tour, visiting the Great Wall of China, and seeing the mesmerizing Terracotta Army in Xi'an.

This is where it really started to get difficult to rank all the countries because I've loved traveling through all of them.

I road-tripped around El Salvador with my Dad, and it was quite a memorable vacation.

We met a lot of hospitable locals, but the food was what really left a lasting impression on me. I recommend trying nuegados de yuca (Salvadoran doughnuts), quesadilla Salvadoreña (sweet cheesecake), sopa de pescado (seafood stew), torta (sandwich), tamales pisques, tamarind juice, horchata, and the country's national dish, pupusa (thick flatbread).

Places I loved were El Rosario Church, the volcanic crater at El Boquerón National Park, and the colorful slide at Picnic Steak House.

I also enjoyed staying at the Cardedeu Hotel. The rooms were made of shipping containers and had stunning views of Lake Coatepeque.

I drove across the border from Georgia into Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

Although I didn't spend many nights in the country, I remember it had beautiful landscapes and stunning cathedrals.

I definitely want to go back to explore more.

I also didn't spend a long time in Austria, but I remember Vienna embodying so much culture and beauty.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is a must-visit for any world traveler — I'm glad I checked it off my list.

My main reason for ranking Egypt on the lower half of the list is that it can be quite hectic — especially for first-time visitors. I experienced a lot of culture shock during my trip.

However, seeing such fascinating and historic landmarks firsthand was incredible.

While in Cairo, be sure to get to the Giza Pyramid Complex early for the opportunity to go inside the pyramids. I also recommend taking a Nile cruise, seeing a belly dancing performance at a local restaurant, and spending time shopping at Khan el-Khalili market.

There are also many places outside Giza worth exploring, including Aswan, Luxor, Alexandria, and El Gouna.

Like many islands in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is a fun place to vacation. It's a great destination for couples, families, or groups of friends.

While there, I enjoyed the beautiful beaches, took a catamaran tour, rented my own boat, and went on a four-wheel adventure through the jungle.

I spent three nights in Singapore, and I felt like that was enough time to see everything I wanted to.

Overall, I was fascinated by the country's cleanliness, organization, and (for lack of a better word) perfection.

Marina Bay Sands was a beautiful place to stay, and I enjoyed visiting Gardens by the Bay and the ArtScience Museum.

The cafés and shops on Haji Lane are worth strolling around, as is the Lau Pa Sat hawker center (which was featured in "Crazy Rich Asians").

Tunisia is a beautiful country.

One of the top things I remember is that it had a lot of cute coffee shops, which I love.

Some of the highlights of my trip were visiting Tunis, Hammamet, Kairouan, Sousse, and El Jem.

I had unique experiences staying in homes throughout Tajikistan.

A highlight was hiring a driver to do the scenic Pamir Highway.

A good chunk of the drive borders Afghanistan, and it was fascinating to see villager life across the river that separates the two countries.

I may be biased because I'm originally from Kuwait and travel back to visit my family every year, but I love the country. That's a testament to how difficult this ranking was because it didn't even break into my top 25.

My favorite part of every trip is spending time with family, but my second favorite thing to do is explore all the new restaurants, shops, museums, and pop-up events.

I realize that compared to some tourism hot-spots, Kuwait doesn't have that much for tourists to do. If you're thinking of visiting, I think it's best if a local can show you around.

The old souk, Mubarakiya, and Kuwait Towers are a must-visit. And be sure to try some delicious dishes, such as hareesa (creamy soup), margoog (lamb stew), and muhammar (sweet rice dish), as well.

Malaysia has a lot to offer, from beaches to jungles to cities.

Some of my favorite places to visit in the country were the night markets of Kuala Lumpur, the colonial city in Penang, the UNESCO sites of Malacca, the island of Langkawi, and the Batu Caves of Selangor.

I love the biking culture in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, locals seem to cycle everywhere, and it's fun to see rush hour happen on bicycles.

Amsterdam also has beautiful canals where you can stay on a houseboat.

The country has some of the best cheese in the world, and biking to the countryside to see the tulips and windmills was well worth the adventure.

The island country of Malta has so much history.

I enjoyed exploring the town of Valletta, staying in the palazzo of Domus Zamittello, jumping into St Peter's Pool in Marsaxlokk, watching the sunset from Sliema and Rabat, dining at Bahia, and lounging at Golden Beach and Gnejna Bay.

In 2018, Qatar didn't seem to have a lot to offer tourists, but hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022 changed the landscape of the country.

Now, it's ranked No. 52 on the Index, and there's so much for people to explore. I think it's such a beautiful place full of Arab hospitality.

When I visited, I found myself constantly returning to Souq Waqif, Katara Cultural Village, Msheireb Downtown Doha, and the Pearl Island.

France is another country whose regions cater to a lot of varied interests.

Visit Courchevel in the French Alps for a lovely ski vacation, the glamorous French Riviera for some of the most relaxing beaches, the charming town of Annecy that's been dubbed the "Venice of the Alps," or the regions of the Loire Valley or Bordeaux for wine.

Even though some might think the capital city is overrated or overdone, you can't discount all the fantastic shopping, romantic walks, museums, monuments, and restaurants in Paris.

Switzerland has stunning natural beauty and is perfect for any outdoors lover.

The country offers breathtaking lake and mountain vistas, and cities like Geneva are remarkably clean.

Some of my favorite places in the country are Zermatt, Interlaken, Zurich, Lake Lucerne, St. Moritz, Lugano, and Bern.

I think the UAE is the perfect introduction to the Gulf Arab culture for tourists.

I regularly travel alone, and this is one of the places I felt the most safe. Plus, it has everything a cosmopolitan city should offer — including plenty of museums (the Museum of the Future is my favorite), restaurants, and activities.

Although Dubai has some of the best shopping and nightlife, Abu Dhabi has the best cultural attractions, such as Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

Hatta is a wonderland for hikers, and Ras Al-Khaimah is perfect for travelers looking for a desert experience.

If you're interested in taking an African safari, I highly recommend going to Kenya.

My first safari experience was here, and it was unforgettable. We saw breathtaking landscapes and got up-close experiences with animals. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced.

I also recommend checking out the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

When I visited Uzbekistan, I started in Tashkent.

I saw the Chorsu Bazaar before visiting Samarkand's Registan Square and Bibi Khanum Mosque. I ended my sightseeing tour in Bukhara, which was a major stop on the Silk Road.

The country is definitely top-25 worthy, and I can't wait to go back. On my next visit, I'd like to see the archeological sites in Khiva.

Tanzania will always hold a special place in my heart because I hiked Mount Kilimanjaro. It was so gratifying to check that famous site off my list.

I also went on a safari in the Serengeti with my Dad. It was just as amazing as the one in Kenya.

Zanzibar was another highlight. I saw the giant tortoises on Prison Island and did some epic snorkeling.

I love that each region of Mexico is so different. Every time I return, everything from the cuisine to the landscapes makes it feel like an entirely new experience.

Some of my favorite regions are Mexico City for a bustling city, Baja California (specifically Todos Santos and La Paz) and Sayulita in Riviera Nayarit for laid-back beach vibes, and the cenotes and jungles in the Playa del Carmen.

I look forward to visiting Oaxaca and San Miguel de Allende on my next trips.

Mumbai and Delhi are must-visit destinations in India, but don't discount the beauty of Jaipur.

The city is so rich with colors, bazaars, and ornate buildings. I loved driving down the street alongside elephants, horses, and mopeds loaded with an entire band of people.

Kerala is a tropical beach town with thriving wildlife, but Varanasi was my favorite place to visit.

It was unlike anywhere else I've been. It's a pilgrimage site for Hindus, and people make the journey there to die, heal, and mourn.

Costa Rica is the ultimate destination for adventurers and outdoors lovers.

I had wild experiences in nature, ranging from white-water rafting and night hikes through the jungle to camping and ziplining.

The flora and fauna are also unmatched — so much of the country is lush.

I constantly think about returning to Turkey to explore more of the country.

If you're new to traveling beyond the US and Western Europe, it can be a bit of a culture shock. However, it's a great country to visit if you want to get acquainted with aspects of Middle Eastern culture.

Istanbul is a vibrant city with delicious cuisine and stunning sights like the Hagia Sophia. The city is split — half located in Europe and the other half in Asia — which makes for a fascinating wander.

Next time, I'd love to visit Bodrum, the capital of the Turkish Riviera.

Nicaragua is another country with a special place in my heart because I spent weeks there producing a documentary for my master's thesis.

Highlights include capital-city Managua, the beaches of San Juan del Sur, colonial architecture in Granada, the cathedrals of Léon, and volcano-surfing in Cerro Negro.

I think Iceland has the most distinct topography of all the countries I've visited. Seeing glaciers, fjords, and volcanoes up close isn't something I can do every day.

Some of my favorite places in the country were Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Akureyri, Mývatn Nature Baths, Hallgrímskirkja church, and the attractions along the Golden Circle.

Oman is a major highlight of the Persian Gulf. It's one of the most hospitable Arab countries I've been to and has such beautiful nature.

In the capital of Muscat, the Royal Opera House, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, and Oman National Museum are must-sees. Outside the capital, the mountainous regions of Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams are stunning hiking destinations.

Some of my favorite stops were Wadi Shab, a canyon with clear water to swim in, and Wahiba Sands, the desert region of the country. Nizwa is also a fascinating ancient city, and Salalah is known for its beaches.

Peru was the first South American country I visited, and it did not disappoint.

I could've spent months wandering around, but in my 10 days there, I made it to Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Arequipa, and the Amazon.

The locals were incredibly warm to me, the food was delicious, and the vistas were breathtaking.

I'd like to return to visit Rainbow Mountain and spend a few more nights in the Amazon.

I love Thailand. The only reason it isn't higher on the list is that I'm not a huge fan of Bangkok, its capital.

Luckily, the country has something for nature lovers, city dwellers, water fanatics, adventurers, and partiers.

Chiang Mai is laid-back and has beautiful temples, great night markets, and endless outdoor activities, such as white-water rafting. Whereas, the islands of Koh Phi Phi, Phuket, and Koh Samui are great for diving and have lively party scenes.

I was pleasantly surprised by Georgia — probably because I hadn't heard that much about it before visiting.

The country has various regions to visit depending on what you'd like to do.

I went to Tbilisi to get a sense of city life, Mtskheta to see Jvari Monastery, Vardzia for the cave monastery, Svaneti to see the Caucasus Mountains, Kazbegi to see the Gergeti Trinity Church, and Sighnaghi for the historic wineries.

I love Finland — especially in the winter.

I spent a few November days exploring Helsinki, partaking in a food tour, stopping in Hietalahden kauppahalli food hall, and experiencing a Finnish sauna at Löyly Helsinki.

Then, I took a short flight to Lapland, where I went dog sledding, sat around a campfire, and experienced a winter hammock nap at HaliPuu.

Above all, there was nothing quite like soaking in the beauty of the northern lights at Levin Iglut.

I only explored Cape Town on my trip to South Africa, but I absolutely fell in love with the city. I'm excited to return to see even more of the country.

From shark-cage diving to hiking Lion's Head at sunset, I found some thrilling things to do.

Foodies should do wine tastings in Stellenbosch, and animal lovers should know about the penguins at Boulders Beach. Riding the cable car to Table Mountain was also the perfect place to snap beautiful photos.

Other highlights include historic Robben Island and the beaches of Camps Bay.

Colombia sometimes gets a reputation as being unsafe, but I've been twice and had zero issues. In fact, it's one of my 10 favorite countries to visit.

My favorite places in the country are the bustling city of Medellin, and Cartagena, a smaller town with so much personality.

If you go to Guatapé, there's a gigantic granite rock that can be climbed. It's quite famous and fun to see.

Ecuador has a beautiful mix of city and nature.

Many travel to the country to summit Cotopaxi, but I've been twice because I am fascinated by the Galápagos Islands.

The second time I visited, I took Ecoventura's weeklong cruise that combined educational information with island exploration. It was mesmerizing to observe the island grouping's endemic species and flora thriving in the wild.

Indonesia was easily one of the most memorable trips of my life.

I went to Bali, Nusa Penida, and the Gili Islands, and all the locals I met were incredibly kind and helpful. The cuisine was delicious, I felt safe, and there were endless activities.

Bali, in particular, has a great balance of culture, nature, and modern amenities.

Morocco triumphs in my book of Arab countries. Traveling by train from Fez to Marrakech was one of my greatest adventures.

Chefchaouen (the blue city), Essaouira, and the Sahara were all highlights of my trip to the African country.

Portugal had such a rich mix of landscapes, cultures, and vibes. I spent a few days soaking up the tourist attractions in Lisbon before I made my way to Sintra, which was once a summer getaway for royalty.

I continued up the coast to Nazare, a coastal town known for its epic waves, and Aveiro, known for its canals. Then, I spent a few days in Porto before ending my trip with a wine tasting in the Douro Valley.

If I return, I'd love to explore the country's southern regions and islands.

Vietnam is one of my favorite Southeast Asian countries because there are seemingly endless places to visit and things to do.

My favorite itinerary begins in the city of Ho Chi Minh before going to Hoi An to visit the famous Night Market and experience a basket-boat tour.

Next, I recommend making your way to Hanoi. I explored the city before sleeping a few nights on a houseboat in Halong Bay.

I'd love to return to Vietnam to see the rice terraces in Sapa.

I spent months island-hopping between the Cycladic Islands and Athens and loved every minute of it.

I was welcomed into locals' homes, ate the freshest seafood on the islands, and sunbathed on remarkable beaches.

Some of my favorite Greek Islands were Milos (for local life and beauty), Mykonos (for nightlife and shopping), and Santorini (for sunsets and views). But Crete was the cream of the crop — the large island offered so many opportunities for exploration.

I could spend years exploring the beauty of Italy.

Rome, Milan, and Venice are full of history, stylish people, and fantastic shopping. However, my favorite trips have been to the country's southern parts, from Naples through the Amalfi Coast.

Sicily is definitely one of my top spots in the country. I loved roaming Taormina's charming streets, taking a ferry to the Aeolian Island of Salina, and staying a few nights at Principe di Saline.

I spent many wonderful summers in Cyprus as a child, and the island nation is still one of my favorite travel destinations.

I love taking road trips around the island. I begin in Limassol, where I explore the quaint streets and walk along the seafront. Then, I'll move on to Paphos to visit archeological sights before driving through the Troodos Mountains and stopping in beautiful vineyards along the way.

I usually spend at least a day in Nicosia — a capital city that's divided between Cypriot and Turkish governing bodies. Then, I like to end my stay in Ayia Napa for its beaches and nightlife.

Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult for me to select my No. 1 country — Spain has always been near and dear to my heart.

Again, I may be biased. It's where I lived as a child and studied abroad, but every return trip has been memorable.

You really can't go wrong anywhere you travel in the country. Sevilla and Granada are great places for history buffs, San Sebastián is a foodie's paradise, and Madrid and Barcelona have amazing shopping and nightlife.

Mallorca is my favorite Spanish island because it's home to stunning beaches, cultural festivals, and stunning scenery. Even though it's very popular, it somehow still has a relaxing aura.

The movie musical has always been a huge part of Hollywood, but in recent years, it's been a bit of a rough road. A movie musical hasn't won best picture at the Academy Awards in over 20 years, since "Chicago" in 2003.

Thankfully, "Wicked" seems to be turning the tide, earning rave reviews from critics and fans alike.

Including "Wicked," here are 15 of the best musicals-turned-movies.

People have been trying to make a film adaptation of "Wicked" happen since at least 2010, Deadline reported. The musical, which debuted on Broadway in 2003, is the fourth-longest-running musical in Broadway history.

While it's certainly been a long wait, it was worth it. "Wicked Part One" is a faithful adaptation of the musical's first act. Every song you love is there, lovingly recreated and performed by actors Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, and more.

The scope of the musical has been leveled up using practical sets, hundreds of dancers, and well-placed CGI.

Any fan of "Wicked" should be pleased by this film — and don't be shocked if it ends up picking up a few Oscar nominations.

Next up: "Wicked Part Two," out November 21, 2025.

Based on the 1975 stage musical about two murderous women directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, "Chicago" remains an important, beloved, and most importantly, meme-able film.

"They both reached for the gun" was inescapable on TikTok this year, 22 years after the film's release.

"Chicago" onstage is a relatively bare-bones production — the set is all black and brought to life with dancers. The film adaptation completely changes this, bringing all the iconic locations like the Cook County Jail, the courthouse, and numerous jazz clubs to roaring life.

Performances by Catherine Zeta-Jones (who won an Oscar for best supporting actress), Renée Zellweger (nominated for best actress), Richard Gere, John C. Reilly (nominated for best supporting actor), and Queen Latifah (nominated for best supporting actress) all helped make this movie the awards and box-office juggernaut it became.

In total, it won five Oscars from 13 nominations (including best picture) and grossed over $300 million worldwide.

"Cabaret" — another Bob Fosse musical — was a contender for best picture of 1972 at the Oscars.

It didn't win, but it did take home eight statues, including best director for Fosse, best actress for Liza Minnelli, and best supporting actor for Joel Grey.

"Cabaret," which is based on a 1966 musical, has themes that still resonate today. The plot focuses on the events in and surrounding the Kit Kat Klub, a cabaret nightclub in Berlin in the late 1920s. As Nazi fascism begins its rise to power outside the walls, performers and guests can pretend that everything will be OK inside the Kit Kat Klub.

The movie makes significant changes from the musical, excluding whole plots and characters, but it doesn't detract from its power. The most significant change is the addition of the song "Maybe This Time," sung by Minnelli as Kit Kat performer Sally Bowles. The song has become an iconic theater staple and has even been added to every subsequent revival of the show.

"Dreamgirls" is based on the 1981 stage musical of the same name, which in turn is loosely based on the rise of Diana Ross and the Supremes in the '60s and '70s.

The music is what makes this movie worthy of a watch, with stellar performances by Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé (as Ross), Eddie Murphy (who was nominated for an Oscar), Anika Noni Rose, and, most of all, Jennifer Hudson.

Hudson, who made her acting debut and won an Academy Award for this film, is, to put it lightly, electric. Just watch her performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and try to find any flaws.

The first movie adaptation of the 1957 musical "West Side Story" is not without its faults. Natalie Wood, a white actor, was cast to play Maria, who is Puerto Rican — and she didn't even sing her own songs, she was dubbed over by Marni Nixon. In fact, most of the actors are dubbed over in at least one song.

But the film in its entirety is still breathtaking. Its music (written by Stephen Sondheim), choreography, set design, performances, and cinematography still hold up 63 years later.

And that's all without mentioning the legendary Rita Moreno, who became the first Latina to win an Academy Award for her performance as Anita, a young woman who wants to accept New York City as her new home, but finds it nearly impossible.

"West Side Story" won best picture at the 1962 Academy Awards.

If you can overlook the problematic elements of its time, this film is worth the watch.

The 2021 remake of "West Side Story" may be even better than its predecessor. First of all, the casting of actual Puerto Rican actors cannot be overstated — thank you, Steven Spielberg, for introducing mainstream audiences to Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose.

(DeBose won an Oscar for playing Anita — Anita is only the first character in history to be portrayed in multiple Oscar-winning performances.)

Second, almost everyone in this film has a beautiful voice and fills up the screen — again, thank you, Spielberg, for casting Mike Faist.

This film is not without its controversies either: Ansel Elgort was accused of sexual misconduct in 2020, a year before its release, which he denied.

Still, it's been rightly hailed as one of the best movie musicals of all time and was nominated for best picture at the 2022 Oscars.

At this point, the film adaptation of "Grease" is more famous than the 1972 stage musical due to the iconic performances of John Travolta, Olivia-Newton, Jeff Conaway, and Stockard Channing.

Plus, the movie cuts out all of the original musical's subpar songs and adds bangers like "Hopelessly Devoted to You," "Grease," and "You're the One That I Want."

"Grease" was so beloved at the time of its release that the soundtrack was the No. 2 bestselling album of the year, according to Billboard.

"The Music Man" is very faithful to its source material: the 1957 stage musical. In fact, the film was directed by Morton DaCosta, who also directed the stage production, which is why it was so similar.

Songs like "76 Trombones," "Ya Got Trouble," "The Wells Fargo Wagon," and "Shipoopi" are classics of the stage for a reason, so seeing them on the big screen on a huge scale is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Moviegoers agreed — it was the fifth-highest-grossing film of 1962, according to The Numbers, and was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.

"Little Shop of Horrors" is an interesting case — it's based on the Off-Broadway musical from 1982, which is turn based on a non-musical film from 1960 titled "The Little Shop of Horrors."

In a cinematic world so filled with CGI, it's satisfying to see the giant puppet of Audrey II (a carnivorous flytrap-esque plant with a taste for humans) interacting with stars Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene.

Director Frank Oz has the absurd tone of this story down perfectly, and the songs by Broadway legends Howard Ashman and Alan Menken hold up today.

"Les Mis," as it's known by fans, is a musical of epic proportions, spanning decades in 19th-century France. It's based on the 1980 musical of the same name, which has been running in London since 1985. That makes it the longest-running musical in West End history.

This movie has some critics, especially regarding the vocal performance of Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert.

It was a smash success at the box office, grossing $442 million worldwide, and nominated for eight Academy Awards, including a win for Anne Hathaway as Fantine.

Seven years after the musical premiered in 1964, a film adaptation of "Fiddler on the Roof" debuted in cinemas and instantly became one of the most beloved movie musicals ever. According to The Numbers, it was the No. 2 film at the box office that year.

Even though this isn't the most universal story — a group of Russian Jews living in a small village in 1902 as they deal with pogroms — the themes of family, growing up, falling in love, religion, and intolerance are still applicable today.

"Hairspray" stars John Travolta, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Bynes, Queen Latifah, Elijah Kelley, James Marsden, Brittany Snow, Christopher Walken, and Nikki Blonsky in the film adaptation of the 2002 musical (which itself was based on n 1988 comedy).

This film is camp at the highest level, and the songs are earworms 17 years later.

It was nominated for three Golden Globes for best comedy/musical, best actress (for Blonsky), and best supporting actor (for Travolta).

"Wicked" isn't the first musical that Jon M. Chu has directed — in 2021, he directed the cinematic adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's first musical, "In the Heights."

While the film was a box-office disappointment (though its release during the pandemic wasn't ideal), this movie was a hit with critics and the people who actually saw it, with a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and audiences.

"In the Heights" was a way for more people to see themselves represented in musicals in a non-tragic way — the other most famous musical about Latinos is "West Side Story" which, while great, is fundamentally a tragedy. "In the Heights" is a joyful experience to watch, with love and care for its characters shining out of every frame.

"Funny Girl" introduced us to Barbra Streisand. Enough said.

Not really, but "Funny Girl's" lasting legacy is, of course, its star. When it premiered on Broadway in 1964, it made Streisand a star of the theater. And four years later, when she reprised the role of comedienne Fanny Brice on the big screen, she won her first Academy Award.

Hey, Mr. Arnstein, indeed.

Even though Marlon Brando can't really sing, the 1955 adaptation of the 1950 musical is delightful.

The other three stars (Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine, and most importantly, Frank Sinatra) more than make up for Brando's lack of talent, and he's so charismatic that we don't mind much anyway.

The viewing public in 1955 agreed. According to Variety, "Guys and Dolls" was the highest-grossing movie of the year.

Not every movie musical gracefully transfers the magic of live theater to the big screen.

The main problem with "Cats," based on the 1981 musical, is that it's horrifying to look at. Watching people dressed up as cats onstage makes sense, but trying to actually turn actors into cats onscreen using "digital fur technology" sends viewers headlong into the Uncanny Valley.

The plot of "Cats" is barely comprehensible in the musical, but when transferred to a film, it's even worse. We'd only recommend watching "Cats" if you're in the mood for a laugh.

There's a lot to be said about the marketing of the "Mean Girls" musical movie. Specifically, it wasn't marketed as a musical, leaving people to think that a studio was (unnecessarily) remaking the 2004 film.

Instead, this is a movie adaptation of the 2017 musical, which itself is based on the 2004 version.

Frankly, the music in this isn't all that good. Reneé Rapp, of course, is wonderful as Regina George, but the rest of the cast is largely forgettable, and the production changes made from stage to screen upset some fans.

This is the first movie musical on this list to star James Corden, though it won't be the last. "Into the Woods," perhaps Stephen Sondheim's most well-known musical after "West Side Story," originally premiered on Broadway in 1987.

The original cast was recorded and that performance is available to stream, which we'd highly recommend instead of this adaptation.

The biggest issue, again, is that the actors simply don't have the vocal chops. Corden, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Billy Magnussen, and Johnny Depp are all decently talented singers, but Sondheim's music is notoriously difficult for even the most skilled singers.

It was a rough day to be Ben Platt, the titular Evan Hansen, when the trailer for this film dropped on the internet. Jokes were flying about his age (he was 28 playing a 17-year-old), his wig, and the content of the movie, which has been relatively controversial since the musical premiered in 2015.

Platt's performance onstage was critically acclaimed and earned him a Tony Award, but the histrionics that worked well onstage didn't translate to the silver screen, which usually requires a more subtle touch.

The film ended up bombing, grossing $19 million against a $27 million budget.

"Phantom of the Opera" remains the longest-running musical of all time, and was on Broadway from 1988 to 2023.

That means it has generations of fans who are attached to the musical and might have high expectations for a film adaptation.

Unfortunately, the Joel Schumacher-directed adaptation was a bit of a let-down. Some people felt the main problem was that Gerard Butler, who plays the Phantom, was just too handsome for the role.

"Rock of Ages," based on the 2005 musical of the same name, was first and foremost a box-office bomb. It grossed just shy of $60 million, making it one of the biggest bombs of star Tom Cruise's career.

Speaking of Cruise, people seemed to take the biggest issue with his performance. "Rock of Ages" is a jukebox musical consisting of '80s hits, which requires a huge vocal range. Cruise, talented though he may be, does not have the vocal talent needed.

"The Prom" is the second musical adaption to star James Corden on this list, though his role in this one is more controversial. "The Prom" is based on the 2018 musical of the same name. It's the story of a lesbian teenager in middle America who defies her school's PTA by wanting to bring a female date to prom.

In the film, Corden plays a flamboyant, stereotypical gay character, which is problematic in and of itself — but the fact that Corden himself is straight adds another complicated layer.

As Business Insider's Frank Olito pointed out, LGBTQ teens can "experience disillusionment and confusion" when seeing straight actors play queer characters, and noted that there were plenty of gay actors who could've played the role.

Redditor Yoyti described the issues with "Carousel," the adaptation of the 1945 musical about a romance between an amusement-park barker and a mill worker, perfectly. "It's bad in an insidious way," they wrote, adding that "the changes made to the script, and the direction, turn it entirely on its head and turn a subtle and heartbreaking musical into the horribly problematic thing."

Writer Mark Robinson also wrote that "the stage magic had to be drained to create a film that was of reasonable length."

The 1975 musical is about a group of chorus dancers who are trying everything they can to secure a dancing job before injuries or aging prevents them from dancing again.

As one of the stars from the musical, Kelly Bishop, later said, director Richard Attenborough seemed to misunderstand this.

"It was appalling when director Richard Attenborough went on a talk show and said 'This is a story about kids trying to break into show business.' I almost tossed my TV out the window; I mean what an idiot! It's about veteran dancers looking for one last job before it's too late for them to dance anymore. No wonder the film sucked," she said.

The film adaptation of a story about hippies in Vietnam War-era New York City makes many changes to the 1968 musical of the same name, much to the chagrin of its creators, Gerome Ragni and James Rado.

According to the book "The Age of Hair: Evolution and Impact of Broadway's First Rock Musical," the creators don't even consider it a real adaptation.

"Any resemblance between the 1979 film and the original Biltmore version, other than some of the songs, the names of the characters, and a common title, eludes us," they said.