80. Kelly Clarkson - Piece By Piece
• Despite not being one of Kelly’s… best efforts, Piece by Piece offers a personal look into the components of our past, present, and future that make up who we are. My personal favorite from this album is the title track, Piece By Piece, because I relate to the lyrics on a very, very personal level.
79. Carrie Underwood – Storyteller
• Carrie Underwood has blessed us with her powerhouse vocals for a decade now. Little Toy Guns was one of my favorite songs in the first half of the year, so I was highly anticipating her album release. I wasn’t too disappointed; my personal favorite is probably Heartbeat. I think it’s a beautiful ballad that captures the simplicity of love in its most one-dimensional state. Another standout I recommend is Mexico – it’s a fun runaway anthem, and hearing Carrie say “sombrero” is so appealing to me! Hehe.
78. Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material
• Another country diva released an album I found myself getting attached to for a few weeks. Overall, I really enjoy the stripped back production of the album. I live in Texas, so this album is perfect for driving through the dirt roads when traveling to other towns.
77. Madonna - Rebel Heart
• To be honest, this is the only Madonna album I’ve ever listened to in full. Not because I don’t like her, I just haven’t exposed myself to her discography yet! I’m working on that. Haha. But in the meantime, Madge definitely put out a pretty decent pop album. Not to mention Ghosttown is one of the best songs this year
76. Owl City - Mobile Orchestra
• I don’t have much to say about this. I really loved Ocean Eyes so I’ve always kept an ear out for Owl City releases since then. There’s nothing particularly strong about the album, but it’s a really sweet album to do homework to.
75. Kid Astray - Home Before the Dark
• I first heard “Back to the Ordinary” in a local shopping mall and had to find out who the artist was. I wasn’t disappointed. Highly recommend them to anyone who hasn’t heard of them. This is a really fun, lighthearted pop album!
74. Night Beds – Ivywild
• Me, Liquor, & God alone is such a powerful track that it landed Ivywild a spot in my countdown. This album is haunting, and if you’re every lying in bed contemplating major life decisions, throw this record on and let the imagery take you over.
73. Ryan Adams – 1989
• I’m a mess for allowing this to chart, but I genuinely adore it as if it were a completely different album from the Taylor version! If you haven’t heard it, I recommend Out of the Woods, Bad Blood, and I Wish You Would; Ryan gave them such new identities you almost wouldn’t recognize them. The production on this is gorgeous.
72. Bea Miller - Not An Apology
• This young pop rocker’s debut effort is very reminiscent of Demi’s debut (Here We Go Again? Or Don’t Forget? Ironically, I forgot which one is her debut. Oh well.) And it’s pretty solid. Bea could have a bright future ahead of her. I Dare You is probably my favorite from the album, and even though it sounds like a cheesy Disney Channel anthem, I genuinely would listen to it some mornings just to build up confidence for the day!
71. Demi Lovato – Confident
• Speaking of Demi… hello! Demi albums aren’t usually my cup of tea; for the most part I usually just enjoy her singles. But the album tracks in Confident are fairly great – Stone Cold, Old Ways, Wildfire, and Lionheart all sound cinematic or just flat out amazing. But as an album, it doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression on me. Still, it landed a spot in my list.