I’m going to try something a little different this year. I have a number of albums I want to spotlight and it doesn’t seem fair to compare full-length projects to mini albums. So, I’ll have a countdown for each. Today, I’ll share my top five full-length albums of the year and tomorrow I’ll post my top ten mini albums.
5. SUPER JUNIOR – SUPER JUNIOR 25
It’s always nice when a veteran group surprises you with strong material. So many older K-pop acts deliver diminished returns, but Super Junior found a way to spotlight a number of their past sounds in new ways with this twenty-fifth anniversary project. There’s hardly a dud to be found here, and more importantly there are a few big highlights. So-so title track Express Mode doesn’t tell the full story. Instead, check out the gloriously bombastic D.N.A, breezy funk of Air or the singalong rock of Delight.
Standout Album Tracks: D.N.A, Air, Delight
4. CRAVITY – DARE TO CRAVE
CRAVITY’s standout 2025 began and ended with this album. They stretched promo throughout the year, adding an epilogue with three killer tracks in November. It’s a hefty project, running fifteen tracks. And with so much going on, there’s very little that feels unnecessary. The unit songs are great, the title tracks are among the year’s best, and the entire album refines the group’s past sounds into something that feels fresh and exciting.
Standout Album Tracks: Stadium, Swish, Underdog
3. NCT DREAM – GO BACK TO THE FUTURE
It was a very strong July for SM Entertainment as this and Super Junior’s album dropped back to back. Both harnessed classic sounds from the agency’s past. Go Back To The Future was heralded by two strong title tracks with a consistent concept and storytelling. But move past these tracks and you’ve got a much lighter, more buoyant work. At eight full tracks, its the shortest project on this list, but that leaves very little room for filler.
Standout Album Tracks: I Like It, Dream Team, That Summer
2. NMIXX – BLUE VALENTINE
It’s been rewarding to see NMIXX refine their sound into what feels like its best, most genre-spanning form. Blue Valentine boasted a mammoth single, but if you dig past the promoted material you’ll find even more goodies. I adore the group’s more electro-tinged tracks. Songs like Reality Hurts and Phoenix echo classic K-pop groups like f(x), while RICO and Podium try on more modern tropes and twist them to NMIXX’s will. We’ve got pure pop (Shape Of Love), rock balladry (Adore U) and even a reinvention of a past single (O.O‘s two parts). There’s a little something for everyone here, and it’s all of very high quality.
Standout Album Tracks: Reality Hurts, Phoenix, Shape Of Love
1. RIIZE – ODYSSEY
For the second time in a year, RIIZE dominate this category. This isn’t a surprise, as Odyssey is practically built for my taste. In a way, I consider it a concept album, blitzing through decades of disparate boyband sounds. We’ve got the sugary Swedish pop of Inside My Love, the dramatic SMP style Ember To Solar, the High School Musical romp Fly Up, the One Direction pop-rocker Show Me Love, the OST-esque ballad The End Of The Day and the swaggering hip-hop of Bag Bad Back. Then, the group takes some unexpected turns in the form of Another Life and its searing, psychedelic guitar. It’s a remarkably taut album with no real filler. And though I maintain that the wrong song was chosen as a title track, I’m willing to forgive that lapse in judgement when everything here is so strong.
Standout Album Tracks: Ember To Solar, Another Life, Show Me Love