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Discussion: Rolling Stone: 50 Best Albums of 2015
Member Since: 4/28/2012
Posts: 37,654
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Rolling Stone: 50 Best Albums of 2015
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50 Best Albums of 2015
Kendrick fought the power, Adele soared higher, D’Angelo shocked the world and more
As the curtain falls on 2015, it might be hard to remember any albums released this year besides Adele's record-breaking, generation-uniting, triple-platinum-and-counting 25. But there was so much more to hear. Kendrick Lamar's Molotov-cocktail-tossing hip-hop, D'Angelo’s razor-sharp R&B and Kamasi Washington's restorative jazz all made major statements, feeling like three crucial dispatches from the #BlackLivesMatter protests under three black-and-white covers. Over on the pop charts, Halsey celebrated the "New Americana" (rhymes with "Biggie and Nirvana"), and some of 2015's best albums upended the old one: Upstart Chris Stapleton sang country songs like Sam Cooke, Jason Isbell made roots-rock that shouts out Sylvia Plath, and both Rhiannon Giddens and Bob Dylan took turns running the American songbook through their unique prisms. This year saw some fantastic releases from Rock & Roll Hall of Famers (Keith Richards, Don Henley, Darlene Love), along with a few strong returns from the alt-rock heroes of the Nineties (Blur, Sleater-Kinney, Wilco). R&B innovators like the Weeknd and Miguel walked a reverb-saturated lane into the future and past, while rappers like Drake, Future and Rae Sremmrurd brought cohesive, immediate statements for the Internet's insatiable now. Here are the 50 records that defined our year.
50 | Bomba Estéreo, 'Amanecer'
49 | Bob Dylan, 'Shadows in the Night'
48 | Carly Rae Jepsen, 'Emotion'
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On Emotion, Carly Rae Jepsen moves past 2012's still-stuck-in-your-head "Call Me Maybe" in a way that solidifies her as not only one of the strongest pop writers of her generation but also one of the most compelling pop stars of the moment. Her second album revels in neon-lit 1985 textures, filled to the brim with long night-drive soundtracks and lyrical pining that broaches the debate of what is more intense: crushing hard or being crushed. Even when tackling heartbreak, Jepsen serves as a beam of light and a sister-in-arms. Plus, the Sia-assisted "Boy Problems" was a criminally overlooked addition to a year of songs about phone calls.
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47 | James Taylor, 'Before This World'
46 | Rhiannon Giddens, 'Tomorrow Is My Turn'
45 | Madonna, 'Rebel Heart'
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How did it take this long for Madonna to write herself a theme song titled "Unapologetic Bitch"? No apologies offered or needed – Rebel Heart was the queen's finest album in a decade, picking up the disco-stick baton of her 2005 Confessions on a Dance Floor as Madonna voyages back into the groove and reflects on where she's been lately. "Ghosttown," "Devil Pray" and "Living My Life" offer state-of-the-art radio beats with producers like Diplo and Avicii, while she testifies about endurance in the aftermath of divorce. Yet she's even stronger when she gets further out, as in the Nicki Minaj-seasoned "Bitch I'm Madonna," or her conspiracy-minded Kanye collabo "Illuminati," which comes on like a "Vogue" for the New World Order. She also throws down with rappers from the new school (Chance The Rapper), the old school (Nas), and the non-school (Mike Tyson). Of course she goes too far – this is a Madonna album, capisce? – with "S.E.X." ("Perfume, switchblade, absinthe, Novocaine / Chopsticks, underwear, bar of soap, dental chair") and "Holy Water," where she chants, "Yeezus loves my ***** best." Bitch, get off her pole.
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44 | Rae Sremmurd, 'SremmLife'
43 | Selena Gomez, 'Revival'
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Gomez's loyal fans are probably the only people who expected the former Disney star to make one of the most three-dimensional pop albums of 2015, but she pulled it off with flying colors. She steps up her game in every way on Revival: The production is cooler, the melodies are stickier, the lyrics are sexier and her vocals are more comfortable and confident than ever. There are no duds to be found as Gomez takes a spin on the dance floor with Max Martin ("Hands to Myself"), plays a self-possessed femme fatale ("Good For You") and air-kisses goodbye to a no-good ex ("Sober," "Same Old Love"), all with the same understated flair. The wildest part? The heartfelt ballads ("Camouflage") are some of the smartest and best-crafted songs here. If Gomez started the year as one of many bright young celebrity faces, she ended it as a pop star who demands to be taken seriously.
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42 | Björk, 'Vulnicura'
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An opulently-ornamented wound, Björk's ninth solo set is a riveting document of grief, reported and recorded around the end of her marriage to artist Matthew Barney. With visceral electronic assists from Kanye associate Arca and U.K. bass abstractionist Haxan Cloak alongside wide-screen strings arranged by Björk herself, the music moves slowly, like storm systems, emotions flashing in lightning-like bursts. Extraordinarily detailed, it's a set about being thrown back onto your own island, and made to be savored in headphones – or elaborately-engineered museum installations, like the advanced multi-speaker room built at New York's Museum of Modern Art built specifically to present "Black Lake," Vulnicura's dramatic 10-minute centerpiece. Yet ultimately it's her voice – breaking, trilling, soaring, each word sharpened – that cuts deepest, the instrumental backdrops shaping themselves around her articulations like scars. As the stream of Vulnicura remakes and remixes shows, the woman keeps moving forward, ex-husbands and art critics be damned.
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41 | Kamasi Washington, 'The Epic'
40 | Songhoy Blues, 'Music in Exile'
39 | Muse, 'Drones'
38 | Ashley Monroe, 'The Blade'
37 | Alabama Shakes, 'Sound & Color'
36 | Hop Along, 'Painted Shut'
35 | Vince Staples, 'Summertime '06'
34 | Marilyn Manson, 'The Pale Emperor'
33 | Beach House, 'Depression Cherry'
32 | Jazmine Sullivan, 'Reality Show'
31 | Leon Bridges, 'Coming Home'
30 | Car Seat Headrest, 'Teens of Style'
29 | Joanna Newsom, 'Divers'
28 | Miguel, 'Wildheart'
27 | Eric Church, 'Mr. Misunderstood'
26 | Future, 'DS2'
25 | Darlene Love, 'Introducing Darlene Love'
24 | Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment, 'Surf'
23 | Mark Knopfler, 'Tracker'
22 | Florence and the Machine, 'How Big How Blue How Beautiful'
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Florence Welch's most personal, vulnerable and moving album to date explodes with confusion from the very first song, the urgent and catchy "Ship to Wreck." From there, though, it's the uplifting and often anthemic way she exorcises her doubts, fears and anxieties that makes the LP one of the most moving and inspiring breakup albums in recent years. She howls in disgust on the pounding, almost Zeppelin-esque "What Kind of Man," condemning the lover who's holding her heart captive. She writhes amongst orchestral strings and funky horns on "Queen of Peace," declaring "all that's left is hurt." She finds some solace in St. Jude, the "patron saint of the lost cause." And she welcomes an executioner to end the relationship on the surprisingly upbeat final track "Make Up Your Mind." With songs that drift between disco, hard rock and impressionistic pop – while all retaining that beguiling Florence feel – the record makes for the best kind of concept album: a journey on which each song she sings has a life of its own.
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21 | Chris Stapleton, 'Traveller'
20 | Don Henley, 'Cass County'
19 | Kurt Vile, 'B'lieve I'm Goin Down...'
18 | Boz Scaggs, 'A Fool to Care'
17 | Keith Richards, 'Crosseyed Heart'
16 | Jack Ü, 'Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü'
15 | Father John Misty, 'I Love You, Honeybear'
14 | Wilco, 'Star Wars
13 | Tame Impala, 'Currents'
12 | Lana Del Rey, 'Honeymoon'
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"We both know that it's not fashionable to love me," Lana Del Rey intones at the beginning of her third album. It's quite a way to kick off a Honeymoon, and exactly the kind of sultry gloominess we've come to expect and love from the high priestess of moody torch-pop. After injecting some garage-y guitars into 2014's Dan Auerbach-produced Ultraviolence, Del Rey returned to the cinematic trip-hop of her star-making 2012 debut Born to Die, balancing catchy slow-burn come-ons like "Freaks" and the hit single "High By the Beach" with artier moments like "Burnt Norton," her dreamy recitation of a T.S. Eliot poem, and the goth-soul Nina Simone/Animals cover "Don't Let Me Be Understood." Her gauzily distracted Peggy Lee persona and coolly sensual vocals were as alluringly provocative as ever ("you're so art deco baby out on the floor," she sings on "Art Deco"). But it was the haunting sense of heartache and aloneness in her evocations of the emulsified L.A. high-life that made Honeymoon such a devastating listen
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11 | Sleater-Kinney, 'No Cities to Love'
10 | Blur, 'The Magic Whip'
9 | The Arcs, 'Yours, Dreamily'
8 | Various Artists, 'Hamilton: Original Broadway Soundtrack'
7 | Jason Isbell, 'Something More Than Free'
6 | Courtney Barnett, 'Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit'
5 | The Weeknd, 'Beauty Behind the Madness'
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Canada's Abel Tesfaye redefined what it means to be an R&B auteur with his breakthrough second LP. After a series of mysterious mixtape releases built around weeded-out goth moodiness (and one half-baked major-label debut, in 2011), he went for full-on Top 40 grandeur this time, without diluting any of his eerie allure. The sumptuous Max Martin joint "Can't Feel My Face" got America dancing to a sex-as-cocaine metaphor, thanks to a joyful hook Michael Jackson could have moonwalked to; "In the Night" amped up the violent undercurrents of MJ circa Bad while still feeling like a party; and bleary ballads like "Earned It" and "The Hills" spun gossamer sensuality into unlikely hit singles. Who else but the Weeknd could make a line like "Only my mother could love me for me" work as pillow talk? It's just that kind of raw honesty that makes him such a revolutionary player.
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4 | D'Angelo and the Vanguard, 'Black Messiah'
3 | Drake, 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late'
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What a time to be Drake. Toronto's finest enjoyed a hell of a year – his beef with Meek Mill turned out to be the most lopsided rap battle since LL Cool J crushed Canibus, and he dominated playlists from "Know Yourself" in the winter to "Hotline Bling" in the fall. It all started with this, his purest hip-hop move in ages, which he called a mixtape even though it sold through the roof. No pop hooks, no romance, just a tightly sequenced set of rap cuts where he plays directly to his base by venting his anger and paranoia. He disses his own record label and kvetches about groupies as only he can: "I got bitches asking me about the code for the Wi-Fi." He even complains about driving his girl to her bar exam through the snow – perhaps the most Drake-ish grouse ever. This is the darkest record he's ever made, yet it easily cleared a million copies sold in a year when virtually no one else did. Even when Aubrey Drake Graham downplays his pop side, he runs the game.
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2 | Adele, '25'
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The feverish four-year wait for the follow-up to Adele's triple-platinum blockbuster, 21, was unlike anything we've seen this decade – and she didn't disappoint on this thunderous triumph. 25 tells the story of a young woman making her uneasy peace with adulthood, like Carole King on Tapestry. The pop-savvy "Water Under the Bridge" and the soaring piano ballad "Remedy" take on relationship drama with realist fire, while the lighthearted "Sweetest Devotion" dances right into ecstasy. Adele and her A-list co-conspirators (Max Martin, Tobias Jesso Jr.) fly from drum-cannon Eighties balladry to classic gospel and blues to the kind of piano power surges that are her epic signature, holding it all together with the nuanced, towering vocal performances that have already made her iconic. "If you're not the one for me/Then how come I can bring you to your knees?" she sings. On 25, she does it over and over again.
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1 | Kendrick Lamar, 'To Pimp a Butterfly'
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Musically, lyrically and emotionally, Kendrick Lamar's third album is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece – a sprawling epic that's both the year's most bumptious party music and its most gripping therapy session. A rap superstar at last, after years on the underground grind, Lamar wrestles with the depression and survivor's guilt that followed his fame and success by turning to heroes from Ralph Ellison and Richard Pryor to Smokey Robinson and Kris Kross to Nelson Mandela and Tupac. He lives large. He contains multitudes.
The pleasures and rewards of To Pimp a Butterfly aren't easy. Leading the charge to bring live instrumentation back to hip-hop, Lamar and producer Sounwave call forth a sound as ambitious, free-associative and challenging as his rhymes: sci-fi funk on "Wesley's Theory," snatches of free jazz on "For Free?," steady-rolling G-funk on "King Kunta." Over all this, Lamar – his voice raw or multitracked into its own chorus – interrogates himself and a country where everything from his ancestors to his art has always been for sale. He repeatedly returns to a moment when he found himself alone in a hotel room, distraught and screaming. "I didn't want to self-destruct," he says. "So I went running for answers." The search is never-ending.
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Member Since: 2/4/2014
Posts: 714
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Adele is no 1? That's my bet without looking the list.
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Member Since: 5/18/2012
Posts: 27,141
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i have been waiting for this
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Member Since: 4/28/2012
Posts: 37,654
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Adele in the picture ddahhvfhsaf Devouring our faves
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 25,228
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Quote:
Originally posted by Mecano
Adele is no 1? That's my bet without looking the list.
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Kendrick is number 1, she's number 2.
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Member Since: 11/17/2011
Posts: 52,363
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Member Since: 1/6/2014
Posts: 6,717
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43. Selena Gomez - Revival
Queen of acclaim, talent always wins
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 6,033
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43 - Survival
48- Emotion
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Member Since: 10/14/2008
Posts: 9,686
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The worst Top 5 I've seen so far. Actually, the whole list is awful.
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Member Since: 5/3/2012
Posts: 42,099
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Revival, Rebel Heart, and Emotion made the list?
Invalidated already.
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Member Since: 8/7/2015
Posts: 2,405
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No 新しい日の誕生, Jenny Death or PRODUCT
This list is ****ing ****
At least To Pink A Butterfly was No.1
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Member Since: 8/31/2013
Posts: 6,189
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Quote:
Originally posted by Mecano
Adele is no 1? That's my bet without looking the list.
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You'd be wrong
Rebel Heart making it in is slightly laughable, but even more laughable is ranking that Selena Gomez album above it
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Member Since: 2/28/2012
Posts: 1,757
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12. Honeymoon
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 28,415
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REVIVAL
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Member Since: 9/16/2011
Posts: 50,981
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45. Rebel Heart
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Ghosttown," "Devil Pray" and "Living My Life" offer state-of-the-art radio beats with producers like Diplo and Avicii
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Member Since: 11/29/2008
Posts: 2,452
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45. Madonna, 'Rebel Heart'
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Member Since: 7/15/2012
Posts: 35,409
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Carly is only #48 the sabotage
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 2,964
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Revival making the cut
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Member Since: 8/18/2013
Posts: 2,533
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Slay at Honeymoon being so high
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Member Since: 2/4/2014
Posts: 714
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Thank god they didn't put Adele on top.
But excluding Sufjan and Grimes and considering The Weeknd and Adele so high is wrong.
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