Top 77 Albums of 1998
| ARTIST | ALBUM | LABEL | ||
| 1 | Billy Bragg & Wilco | Mermaid Avenue | Elektra | |
| 2 | Belle and Sebastian | The Boy With The Arab Strap | Matador | |
| 3 | Neutral Milk Hotel | In The Aeroplane Over The Sea | Merge | |
| 4 | Elliott Smith | XO | Dreamworks | |
| 5 | Dillinger Four | Midwestern Songs For The Americas | Hopeless | |
| 6 | Komeda | What Makes It Go? | Minty Fresh | |
| 7 | Beastie Boys | Hello Nasty | Grand Royal/Capitol | |
| 8 | Sloan | Navy Blues | Murderecords | |
| 9 | The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group | Sniff | Minty Fresh | |
| 10 | Firewater | The Ponzi Scheme | Jetset | |
| 11 | Lifter Puller | The Entertainment and Arts | Threatening Letters | |
| 12 | Pulp | This Is Hardcore | Island | |
| 13 | His Name Is Alive | Ft. Lake | 4AD | |
| 14 | PJ Harvey | Is This Desire? | Island | |
| 15 | 12 Rods | Split Personalities | V2 | |
| 16 | Fugazi | End Hits | Dischord | |
| 17 | Sunny Day Real Estate | How It Feels To Be Something On... | Sub Pop | |
| 18 | The Siren Six | Young and Professional EP | Kingpin | |
| 19 | Selby Tigers | Year of The Tigers | The Bread Machine | |
| 20 | Pernice Brothers | Overcome By Happiness | Sub Pop | |
| 21 | June of 44 | Four Great Points | Touch and Go | |
| 22 | Massive Attack | Mezzanine | Virgin | |
| 23 | The Spinanes | Arches and Aisles | Sub Pop | |
| 24 | Mary Lou Lord | Got No Shadow | Work | |
| 25 | Unwound | Challenge For A Civilized Society | Kill Rock Stars | |
| 26 | Will Oldham | Joya/ Black/Rich Music | Drag City | |
| 27 | Baxter | Baxter | Maverick | |
| 28 | Tortoise | TNT | Thrill Jockey | |
| 29 | R. L. Burnside | Come On In | Fat Possum/Epitaph | |
| 30 | Dylan Hicks | Poughkeepsie | No Alternative/TRG | |
| 31 | Saint Etienne | Good Humor | Sub Pop | |
| 32 | The Push Kings | Far Places | Sealed Fate | |
| 33 | Fatboy Slim | You've Come A Long Way, Baby | Astralwerks/Skint | |
| 34 | Joel R.L. Phelps | The Downer Trio: 3/The Downer Trio | Pacifico | |
| 35 | Liz Phair | Whitechocolatespaceegg | Matador/Capitol | |
| 36 | Of Montreal | The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy | Kindercore | |
| 37 | Esthero | Breath From Another | Work | |
| 38 | Halo Benders | Rebel's Not In | K | |
| 39 | Air | Moon Safari | Caroline | |
| 40 | Frank Black | Frank Black and the Catholics | SpinArt | |
| 41 | A Tribe Called Quest | The Love Movement | Jive | |
| 42 | Unkle | Psyence Fiction | London/Mo Wax | |
| 43 | Beck | Mutations | DGC/Bongload | |
| 44 | Cinerama | Va Va Voom | SpinArt | |
| 45 | Matt Wilson | Burnt, White and Blue | Planetmaker | |
| 46 | The Daktaris | Soul Explosion | Desco | |
| 47 | Shellac | Terraform | Touch and Go | |
| 48 | Lauryn Hill | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | Ruffhouse | |
| 49 | Soul Coughing | El Oso | Slash/Warner Bros. | |
| 50 | Geoff Farina | Usonian Dream Sequence | Southern | |
| 51 | Buffalo Daughter | New Rock | Grand Royal | |
| 52 | The Promise Ring | Boys + Girls EP | Jade Tree | |
| 53 | Curve | Come Clean | Universal | |
| 54 | Arab Strap | Philophobia | Matador | |
| 55 | Mercury Rev | Deserter's Songs | V2 | |
| 56 | Black Eyed Peas | Behind The Front | Interscope | |
| 57 | The Monorchid | Who Put Out The Fire? | Touch and Go | |
| 58 | Rose Melberg | Portola | Double Agent | |
| 59 | Quasi | Featuring "Birds" | Up | |
| 60 | Cloudberry Jam | The Impossible Shuffle | North of No South | |
| 61 | The Minders | Hooray for Tuesday | SpinArt | |
| 62 | Archers of Loaf | White Trash Heroes | Alias | |
| 63 | Astrud | Astrud | Sealed Fate | |
| 64 | various artists | Selector Dub Narcotic | K | |
| 65 | Uzeda | Different Section Wires | Touch and Go | |
| 66 | Die Sterne | Stell Die Verbindung | L'age D'or/Epic | |
| 67 | Trans Am | The Surveillance | Thrill Jockey | |
| 68 | Braid | Frame and Canvas | Polyvinyl | |
| 69 | Calvin Krime | You're Feeling So Attractive | AmRep | |
| 70 | Jack Logan and Bob Kimbell | Little Private Angel | Parasol | |
| 71 | The Make-Up | In Mass Mind | Dischord | |
| 72 | Willie Nelson | Teatro | Island | |
| 73 | Dirty Three | Ocean Songs | Touch & Go | |
| 74 | Caustic Resin | The Medicine Is All Gone | Alias | |
| 75 | Money Mark | Push The Button | Mo Wax/London | |
| 76 | Tricky | Angels With Dirty Faces | Island | |
| 77 | Califone | Califone | Flydaddy |
