2018 Golden Boot Awards: Vote Now for Album of the Year

Welcome to the fifth annual Golden Boot Awards! The Boot’s fan-voted digital awards, the Golden Boot Awards feature 10 categories of staff-selected nominees who made waves in the country music world in 2018. Readers can vote for their preferred winner in each category as often as once per hour through 11:59PM ET on Jan. 27. We’ll announce the winners on the site on Jan. 28.

So, so many amazing albums dropped in 2018. Readers can select their pick for Album of the Year in the poll below -- but first, a little bit about this year's nominees.

Dierks Bentley's powerful studio album The Mountain is packed full of hits such as "Woman Amen" and his award-nominated collaboration with the Brothers Osborne, "Burning Man." Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, meanwhile, touches indirectly and soulfully on a number of human and social issues on her album By the Way, I Forgive You.

Eric Church released Desperate Man one heavy-hitting song (including the driving title track) at a time to his fans before the entire project dropped. A few weeks before, up-and-comer Ruston Kelly gave fans his debut album, Dying Star, an intense showcase of his songwriting ability with tracks such as "Mockingbird" and "Son of a Highway Daughter."

Ashley McBryde's Girl Going Nowhere has taken her some amazing places, and she's continued to turn heads with tunes including "American Scandal" and “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega.” Another talented female Golden Boot Awards Album of the Year nominee, Kacey Musgraves won the CMA's Album of the Year honor for Golden Hour, a gorgeous collection that includes the tracks "Space Cowboy" and "High Horse."

Brothers Osborne knocked it out of the park with Port Saint Joe, their sophomore album, which features songs including "Shoot Me Straight" and "Pushing Up Daisies (Love Alive)." Pistol Annies, too, are making waves with their comeback album, Interstate Gospel.

Another comeback kid, John Prine, pulled out all the stops on his new album, The Tree of Forgiveness, which features legendary songwriting and epic collaborations. Finally, Carrie Underwood's epic Cry Pretty is everything a fan could want: Along with the sweeping title track, the artist delivers the moving song "Love Wins" and other big tunes.