Best (My Favorite) Songs of the Year - 2025

 

To wrap-up my year-end review lists, here are my picks for some of the best songs of the year (Top 20), as well as best instrumentals (Top 10) and best epics (Top 10). Choosing the best individual songs is a bit trickier than the best albums, as there are so many songs, and I could have filled the list with basically all the songs from the very best albums (such as Pachinko, A Shout Into The Void, and Transmutation), but I have opted to include only one song from each album to provide more variety, and thus had to choose among many great song options. So, not surprisingly, most of the songs do come from my favorite albums, but there are a few great songs that came from albums that did not make my top albums list and represent the best from those albums. So here they are, at least at this moment, as these can change very quickly over time. 

Best Songs (For more info on the albums the songs come from, see my albums of the year post as well as my previous reviews of most of these albums [links included in the albums of the year posts])

20. Someone Like Me - Jonas Lindberg & The Other Side

19. Balthazar - Motorpsycho

18. Considerations  - The Flower Kings

17. Frippa - Clann

16. Bend the Clock - Dream Theater

15. De Tre Gatier - Lars Frederik Froislie

14. Tiny Star - Echolyn

13. Gone - Bjorn Riis

12. Tessalate - Smalltape

11. Signals - Ihlo

10. Golden Gate - Madison Cunningham

9. Hello Sunshine - Flyte

8. Better Than This - OK Go

7. Blue-Eyed Raven - Styx

6. Spaceman in Tulsa - Counting Crows

5. The Artist - Big Big Train (from upcoming album, Woodcut)

4. Lose This Ball and Chain - Karmakanic

3. Brain on Fire - Great Wide Nothing

2. Next Step - Spock's Beard

1. Pachinko - Moron Police

 

Best Instrumentals

10. Kip Satie - Motorpsycho

9. Jupiter Suite - Lux Terminus

8. Fimbulvinter - Bjorn Riis

7. Triangulation - Steve Morse Band

6. Mind Obscured, Heart Eclipsed

5. Gamle Mester - Lars Frederik Froislie

4. Sunrise - Anders Buaas

3. Gruvan - Jonas Lindberg

2. One Thousand Eyes - Great Wide Nothing

1. Terraforming - Ambient Den

 

Best Epics (14+ min.) of the Year

There is something special about epic-length songs, when done right, and Prog is known for their epic tracks, and 2025 was a big year for epics (after several years of fewer occurrences), with more than 30 notable epics that I was aware of. Here are the 10 best of he year.

10. The Memory of After Part 1 (15 min.) - Myth of Logic, from album of same name

9. Water in Our Hands (29 min.) - Echolyn, from the album Time Silent Radio vii

8. Our Final Song (14.5 min.) - Arjen Anthony Lucassen, from the album Songs No One Will Hear

7. The Passing (32 min.) - Jacob Roberge, from the album of the same name

6. Neotzar (21 min.) - Motorpsycho, from self-titled album 

5. Opus Imperfectus Pt. 1 (18.5 min.) - Magic Pie, from the album Maestro

4. The Wind (17.5 min.) - Jonas Lindberg, from the album Time Frames

3. Terraforming (16.5 min.) - Ambient Den, from self-titled album

2. The Archaeoptimist (21 min.) - Spock's Beard, from album of same name

1. Transmutation (23 min.) - Karmakanic, from album of same name

So there you have it, that wraps up my look back at the music of 2025, which was a stellar year for music, if you knew where to look and find it. Great songs, great albums. Let me know what your favorite music of the year was. Looking forward to more great music in 2026. I wish everyone a safe and joyous Happy New Year (as much as possible in these trying times) to extend all throughout the year. I'll be back with more music news and analysis soon.