Top 12 Music Albums of 2015
by Romanelli

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2015 – SOUTHEATERN
Produced By DAVE COBB

1. If It Takes A Lifetime
2. 24 Frames
3. Flagship
4. How To Forget
5. Children Of Children
6. The Life You Choose
7. Something More Than Free
8. Speed Trap Town
9. Hudson Commodore
10. Palmetto Rose
11. To A Band That I Loved

A decade ago, when Jason Isbell was one of three guitarist / songwriters for Drive-By Truckers, you wouldn’t have thought he’d have the number one album in Country music someday. With Something More Than Free, his fifth studio album, he did just that. Following up his highly successful 2013 album Southeastern, Isbell takes that formula and proves once and for all that he’s no kind of fluke whatsoever. And while he moves further away from the sound he crafted while with the Truckers, he proves that the mellowing nature of his music doesn’t mean that he’s softening, or that he’s settling for a lesser blast of thunder. The fact is, and Something More Than Free is the living proof, that Isbell is a rare and powerful songwriting force whose brand of Americana will hopefully become the Nashville standard someday, instead of being great music on the outside looking in at a genre that’s been crippled by a less than exciting pop standard. This was a number one Country album, and it won the Grammy for Best Americana Album. And it’s all deserved.

Continuing the sound he turned to on Southeastern, this is a very acoustic based set of songs. The best works here stand right there with Isbell’s best: “If It Takes A Lifetime” is a joyous romp. “24 Frames” is a should-have been bigger hit than it already was. The centerpiece “Children Of Children” ranks as one of his most beautiful songs…it’s a haunting and lovely song, and the performance is perfect. The second half is even stronger, starting with “The Life You Chose”. The excellent and personal ode to getting on with life title track, the well told story of “Speed Trap Town”, the perfectly catchy “Hudson Commodore”, and the fine celebration that is “Palmetto Rose” make this album another huge victory for Isbell. In some ways, it may be his best work, but more importantly, it compliments everything he’s done to date, and presumably sets the table for more great albums to come. To put it simple. Jason Isbell has done it again. Just wow.
[First added to this chart: 05/02/2017]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
452
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[First added to this chart: 06/08/2017]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
576
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[First added to this chart: 08/04/2020]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
15,778
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Top rated album (86/100 - 1491 votes)  86 (1,491 votes)
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2015 – TOP DAWG / AFTERMATH / INTERSCOPE
Produced By BOI-1DA, FLIPPA, FLYING LOTUS, KNXWLEDGE, KOZ, LARRANCE DOPSON, LOVEDRAGON, PHARRELL WILLIAMS, RAHKI, SOUNWAVE, TAE BEAST, TAZ ARNOLD, TERRACE MARTIN, THE ANTYDOTE, THUNDERCAT, TOMMY BLACK & WHOAREI

1. Wesley’s Theory (Feat. George Clinton & Thundercat)
2. For Free? (Interlude)
3. King Kunta
4. Institutionalized (Feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Snoop Dogg)
5. These Walls (Feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat)
6. U
7. Alright
8. For Sale? (Interlude)
9. Momma
10. Hood Politics
11. How Much A Dollar Cost (Feat. James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley)
12. Complexion (A Zulu Love) (Feat. Rapsody)
13. The Blacker The Berry
14. You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said)
15. I
16. Mortal Man

If you have no faith in hip hop, then you simply have not heard To Pimp A Butterfly. Kendrick Lamar’s third album is probably not only the best album of 2015, it’s a straight out masterpiece. This is not just a rap album. It features elements of jazz, funk, r&b, and soul. It’s avant-garde. It’s experimental. It flows like a mixtape, and it’s important. Not only is it musically captivating from start to finish, it’s also emotionally and culturally and politically viable. Lamar had already proven himself to be an up and coming star before this, but here, he transcends all of what was expected of him. He recalls here the power of racially fueled subjects that Public Enemy burned through in the 90’s. He asks important questions about race, crime and life, and he does it with the touch of a musical genius. To Pimp A Butterfly is simply masterful, and should be listened to with an open mind by all.

“Wesley’s Theory” is about actor Wesley Snipes and his having been jailed for tax evasion. “King Kunta” deals with negative African American stereotypes. “U” is Lamar dealing with depression. There are so many different subjects, and so many different sounds…and somehow, it all fits together perfectly. To Pimp A Butterfly jumps out at you from every angle. It’s raw yet beautiful. It’s coarse yet intelligent. It’s shocking yet truthful. AND it was a hit. Five hit singles and 11 Grammy nominations. Wild yet accessible. I could go on and on and not run out of superlatives for this album. I’m learning to appreciate and understand and love hip hop…I adore this album, respect it greatly, and don’t want to be without it in my life. His fourth album, Damn, came out in 2017 and continued the path that Lamar set down on this album. I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us next.
[First added to this chart: 11/11/2018]
Year of Release:
2015
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30,125
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Top rated album (89/100 - 2321 votes)  89 (2,321 votes)
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[First added to this chart: 07/24/2018]
Year of Release:
2015
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9,617
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2015 – YEP ROC
Produced By MANDOLIN ORANGE

1. Old Ties And Companions
2. Settled Down
3. Little Worlds
4. Rounder
5. From Now On
6. Jump Mountain Blues
7. That Wrecking Ball
8. Blue Ruin
9. Daylight
10. Of Which There Is No Like

Mandolin Orange is a duo from North Carolina whose music is pretty much the definition of Americana. Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz play various stringed instruments perfectly, and they sing together like angels. Marlin’s songs are modern, yet they maintain a folksy, old time feeling that makes this a wonderful find of a group. Such Jubilee is their fourth album, and it’s a gem. This is perfect stuff for sitting on your back porch on a sunny afternoon and evening, drinking sweet tea and enjoying your life. The mix of guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles, and voices is calming, yet never dull. They do not rock, but they are not snoozy, either, even though the songs are pretty mellow. There’s something for almost everyone (metalheads excluded) on this album, which may be the duo’s finest work. Music you can lose yourself in, and that you can easily fall in love with.

If there’s an issue here, it’s this. Marlin emerges as the lead singer of the duo, and he sings lead on everything. Except for “From Now On”. On this track, Frantz shows, without being in the background for once, what a stunning and beautiful voice she has. But you only get to hear it up front for about three and a half minutes, on this one track. Maybe that’s the way they like it, and how they wanted it, but for me, it would make Such Jubilee so much better if the vocals were given more of a split instead of Frantz getting just a token song to sing. Otherwise, this is fine stuff. “Daylight”, “Settled Down”, and, of course, “From Now On” are the highlights, and the feel and mood of this album is pretty much perfect. Look for their other work as well…Quiet Little Room, This Side Of Jordan, Blindfaller…you pretty much can’t go wrong with this group. If you like the Americana thing, then Mandolin Orange is something you should definitely have on your radar.
[First added to this chart: 03/13/2018]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
34
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2015 – HARVEST
Produced By JAKE GOSLING

1. Barbarians
2. Gunga Din
3. Fame And Fortune
4. Anthem For Doomed Youth
5. You’re My Waterloo
6. Belly Of The Beast
7. Iceman
8. Heart Of The Matter
9. Fury Of Chonburi
10. The Milkman’s Horse
11. Glasgow Coma Scale Blues
12. Dead For Love

13. Love On The Dole
14. Bucket Shop
15. Lust Of The Libertines
16. 7 Deadly Sins

The Libertines hail from London, and they sound like they do. After a pair of excellent albums, the band split up in 2004, and got back together a decade later. Anthems For Doomed Youth is their comeback album from 2015, released more than ten years after the previous effort. The first thing that comes to mind here is that they have an obvious admiration for The Clash, which is a really good thing. Considered to be more of a garage band than a punk band, they incorporate elements of both here. The songs are fast and filled with angst, well played and well thought out. Led by guitarists and singers Pete Doherty and Carl Barat, The Libertines get it right.

Anthems For Doomed Youth is not quite up to the standard the band set with their first two records, Up The Bracket and their self-titled second record. But this is still very good stuff. Bands tend to lose something when they break up and regroup, but The Libertines didn’t lose a lot. The best tracks here are “Heart Of The Matter”, “Glasgow Coma Scale Blues”, and “Gunga Din”. In the early 2000’s, The Libertines were one of England’s most exciting bands, and if nothing else, Anthems For Doomed Youth serves as a reminder of that. Definitely worth checking out…and if you like this one, you will absolutely want the other two.
[First added to this chart: 10/30/2023]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
267
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8. (=)
25 
[First added to this chart: 12/13/2023]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
801
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2015 – BROWN / BLACK CRICKET
Produced By SAM BEAM

1. This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)
2. Done This Before
3. Any Day Woman
4. You Know Me More Than I Know
5. Bulletproof Soul
6. There’s No Way Out Of Here
7. God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)
8. The Straight And Narrow
9. Magnolia
10. Am I A Good Man?
11. Ab’s Song
12. Coyote, My Little Brother

This is a pretty sweet pairing. Iron & Wine (Sam Beam) makes beautiful records of folk rock, and Ben Bridwell, who is the face of Band Of Horses, got together to make a country folk album of covers in 2015. The two sound great together, but the album is not without its issues. The songs are very slow, making it more atmospheric than interesting. And while the song choices are good, these covers will not turn many heads. Everything here is pretty obscure. The most recognizable song is the opener, “This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)” from the Talking Heads 1983 album Speaking In Tongues. And the album title, which comes from that song, could be a lot more inviting. But there is, surprisingly, a hefty dose of twang which lifts the material from the level of flatlining.

The artists covered here are from a wide scope. Everyone from Ronnie Lane to Spiritualized to The Marshall Tucker Band to John Cale to Sade gets a song here, all well played but arranged in a far too lazy manner. Songs from much lesser known artists like Unicorn and El Perro Del Mar are here as well. Beam and Bridwell stick to their theme here, and while it sounds great, it becomes invisible after so many consecutive songs at the same slow tempo. This is the only album to date by this pair, both being quite busy with their own careers. If they do decide to do it again, my hope would be that they would bring more beat to the proceedings. Sing Into My Mouth is good, but it could have been much better. Still worth at least a listen.
[First added to this chart: 12/07/2025]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
40
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2015 – SELF RELEASED
Produced By LOUIS CATO

1. Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
2. In A Minute
3. Real Thing
4. Was It Love
5. The Bargain
6. Hurricane
7. Restless
8. Everybody
9. It’s My Time
10. Anchor
11. Fast As I Go
12. Spin
13. In Your Skin

She probably doesn’t remember it, but Megan Burtt and I met about a decade ago, and for a short period of time, hung out together and caught a set by Lyle Lovett at a folk music festival in Colorado. I know she was a musician, but I had never heard her music at that time. She’s a native of our state, and she’s spent the last 15 years or so doing what she loves: making music. She’s still out there, working at touring and recording and being the best singer-songwriter she can be. The Bargain is her second album, released not long after I encountered her. It showcases her fine voice and songwriting, and oozes with her passion for making music. She’s become a very well respected and loved local artist, and she’s always worth checking out live and on record.

Burtt’s most recent album is 2024’s Witness. She is also a member of Gingerbomb, a supergroup of redheads that released their debut album in 2018. Megan Burtt and Gingerbomb can be found on your favorite streaming services, and her albums are available on her website.
[First added to this chart: 01/10/2026]
Year of Release:
2015
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Rank Score:
1
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Total albums: 12. Page 1 of 2
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85/100 (from 1 vote)
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06/29/2020 12:35 Larcx13  Ratings distribution  1,13986/100
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