There have been plenty of memorable goodbyes over the past few decades, though it never makes saying farewell to your favorite band sting any less. Whether marked by tragedy, inner band turmoil, or just wanting to go out on the best note possible, finality makes for high stakes and sometimes harsher critiques. Consider classics like Joy Division’s Closer or modern greats like David Bowie’s Blackstar. With this in mind, we asked our readers to vote on the best final albums of all time. Out of hundreds of options, these are their top picks, ranked accordingly below.
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5. Every Time I Die – Radical
Radical, the long-anticipated follow-up to 2016’s Low Teens, is a lot different than other Every Time I Die records. Between those two LPs, Keith Buckley went through a major reevaluation of his life, yielding a more balanced, glass-half-full POV — it’s why he calls Radical an “uplifting, hopeful record.” “These songs are about fears that I had and things that I needed to manifest or else I didn’t feel like I would be living a fulfilling life,” he told us in 2021. “I endured the pandemic, during which I realized that my life really needed to change. I made a quote-unquote radical change in my life, and I decided to find my own truth, embrace it, and then just live according to it.” For a final album, you couldn’t ask for more.
4. Sum 41 – Heaven :x: Hell
Sum 41’s farewell may have been unexpected, but for Deryck Whibley, it made complete sense. The band he’d been in since 10th grade had reached countless milestones, and after finishing up Heaven :x: Hell, he realized it was a “great record to be our final — it sums up the whole band sonically.” Described as “early Sum 41 pop punk” on Heaven and “newer, heavier Sum 41” on Hell, the pop-punk veterans more than deliver. Between sugary and riffy, hard-hitting songs, two spectrums that Sum 41 have always excelled at, the album is a total nostalgia trip that ends their decades-long run on a high note.
3. David Bowie – Blackstar
No one knew Blackstar would be David Bowie’s final album, except David Bowie. He had a long relationship with jazz and took inspiration from Kendrick Lamar’s pivot on To Pimp A Butterfly, enlisting a quartet that he first heard at 55 Bar in Greenwich Village. From the prophetic “Lazarus” to the shapeshifting title track, Bowie knew these songs would be his last and set out to make a slick, experimental parting. The album embodies the mentality that makes him a rock immortal, always looking forward, listening, and never afraid to challenge his audience. The fact that he died two days after its release makes Blackstar hit that much harder.
2. Nirvana – In Utero
It would have been easy for Nirvana to lean more commercially after the tremendous success of 1991’s Nevermind. Instead, they followed it up with an album just as subversive. Helmed by Steve Albini, who wrote an epic four-page proposal to produce the album, the band were able to replicate the energy of their caustic live shows and put it on record. The result is a dozen searing songs that act as a testament to the band’s raw urgency, unwillingness to conform, and the power of the grunge movement as a whole. Standing in stark comparison to their MTV Unplugged performance, released as a live LP in 1994, it’s debated which is considered their true “final album,” but our readers landed on In Utero.
1. Brand New – Science Fiction
For years, Brand New’s fifth record felt like a mirage. The band hadn’t released a proper studio album since 2009’s Daisy, although they were still touring and sharing demos from the Devil and God sessions. Then, out of nowhere, they launched preorders for an untitled album, surprise-releasing the project on streaming two days later. The thick dread that permeates Science Fiction makes for an enormously unsettling listen, but it’s also cathartic and filled with pop culture references that buoy the ripping screams — and ultimately a mature, satisfying goodbye that resonates with our readers.
