2015 is a another proof of how healthy is the creative scene all around the world – although we are all aware that the music industry is crapping its pants as we speak. The year that has received with open arms the return of true legends like Faith No More, Joanna Newsom, Iron Maiden, Paradise Lost, Sleater-Kinney, Refused, and others, also found space and time to love newcomers like Algiers, Courtney Barnett, War On Women, Downtown Boys, Myrkur, etc. It was through all of that, and what stands in the middle, that we came up with this list of 60 albums that we believe to be the very best of what is an another undeniably great year.
20. The Wonder Years – No Closer To Heaven (Hopeless Records)
It’s records like No Closer To Heaven that makes bands reinvigorate themselves and go deeper into their feelings and emotions. It’s one of the best records of this year, just simple as that!
19. Faith No More – Invictus (Ipecac)
They’ve just written the next logical step in their discography in the most honest possible way, it’s just that simple. It only took eighteen years, but Invictus finally arrived and it came out to be not pretentiously incredible, but incredibly good.
18. Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls (PLG)
This is one of Maiden’s finest and most solid records. We can clearly say that this is the strongest record ever done by Maiden’s three-guitar line up in the 16 years ever since Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to the band.
17. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty Records)
Raw and extremely personal, Carrie & Lowell is perhaps Sufjan Stevens strongest effort ever and also the most rich and diverse. Heartbreaking music that will make you emotional and nostalgic.
16. Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy (Merge Records)
This is Titus Andronicus’ magnum opus and an essential rock album in this 21st century – proving the great value of the band. A magical and utterly amazing piece of art.
15. Swim Deep – Mothers (RCA)
Mothers is a indie-pop-rock album, that goes deep into the crazy and wild world of psychedelia. From Krautrock to the classic brit pop anthems, nothing seems to get out of their control. Impressive!
14. Anti-Flag – American Spring (Spinefarm)
American Spring is a statement, a chance of rebellion against all this corporate and moral corrupt world and it might be the perfect antidote to challenge yourselves to change…
13. Young Fathers – White Men Are Black Men Too (Big Dada)
It could be different but it’s with huge choruses, some joy, and an original sound that Young Fathers write their name on the, unfortunately, small group of people that truly cares and is authentic.
12. Ken Mode – Success (Season Of Mist)
Success proves KEN Mode have great observers and its lyrics reflect how much these guys mastered the arts of dark humor. Music and production wise, well, it’s probably their most mature record.
11. Steven Wilson – Hand.Cannot.Erase (Kscope)
It’s really hard to come across records like these nowadays. Hand. Cannot. Erase. isn’t just an album. It’s a rich, detailed and stunningly engaging experience, and above all a gift from Wilson to the world.
10. Sleater-Kinney – No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)
No Cities To Love puts them where they belong – on the front lines. Raucous, relevant and gifted with a career’s worth of single material in a series of short, sharp stabs to the heart, it shows that, even now, they’re still showing people how it should be done.
09. Marriages – Salome
Salome is a departure from what Kitsune was and it’s definitely a leap forward in Marriages’ sound. It’s powerful and ferocious; an experience really worth to go through.
08. Florence + Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (Island)
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful sounds big, is damn beautiful and it can make you feel blue from every listening. An easy record to digest, even with the heartbreaking, passionate lyrics and the intense melodies.
07. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (Mom + Pop)
Just like her previous release, this album is invigorating and sharp with garage-pop tunes with a little bit of folk and punk. Her Sheryl Crow’s vocal style alike and her wicked sense of humor on such incisive lyrics takes Barnett to a whole new level. Well done!
06. Algiers – Algiers (Matador)
Algiers’ self-titled debut transcends any simple compartmentalization. Documents a struggle and it’s fearless not just because it wants to be fearless, but because it needs to be. Born out of necessity. A battle cry and one of the most important musical documents of the twenty first century. The perfect flow!
05. Grimes – Art Angels (ESGN)
Grimes plays a game of “give and take” with the listener, never allowing the dust to settle in the ground nor letting the sweetness often displayed belittle the rage and anger. The ravishing and profound nature of the self-produced Art Angels is enthusiastically received and perceived not only for what it is, but for what it represents.
04. Gallows – Desolation Sounds (Venn/PIAS)
Desolation Sounds achieves perfection, this might be their very own masterpiece, their statement into the punk and rock scene, providing a new chapter for them and for a whole new and old generation that is anxious to be challenged about it. An accomplished offering and a genre-defining modern classic.
03. Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss (Sargent House)
There’s always something intriguing and fascinating about Chelsea Wolfe. Abyss is probably Chelsea Wolfe’s heaviest, darkest and even the most personal record. Her songwriting skills and organic way to express the beauty and ugliness of life gets better every time she releases something new. It’s definitely a memorable and superb record.
02. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (Polydor)
To Pimp A Butterfly was born out of a man who, after being pushed against the wall and stopped at the crossroads, dared to open his eyes and drop his cape and chains. Kendrick Lamar stands courageously naked in an album that connects with the past to understand the present and tries to project a better future. The political and social features on TPAB’s face arise effortlessly, without an inch of pretension, because the importance given to every single individual is of the essence. An album where every single detail matters.
01. Bring Me The Horizon – That’s The Spirit (RCA)
Complex and dynamic, Bring Me The Horizon have created a monster, a masterpiece that will for sure define the lines of what modern rock will follow for the next 2, 5 or even 10 years…