Top of the five-a. I'm feeling kinda sick today, so multiple updates might be upcoming. No promises though.
5. Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes
Best Song- "Don't Wanna Fight"
Also- "Shoegaze" , "Future People" , "The Greatest" , "Gimme All Your Love"
-This is probably one of the more obvious choices in the top 5 since it has been everywhere. It was certainly a surprise for me though! I enjoyed "Hold On", and didn't hate myself as I was going throufh the first album. But that kind of folksy singing around the campfire stuff just isn't my thing. I had heard enough, until Sound and Color reviews started popping up with words like "experimental" , "edgy" and "rock". Well now that sounds very interesting and sure enough it was. "Sound and Color" is a fine way to start. Slow, but indicative of whats to come. It has been way overused in tv and commercials since then, but I can't fault the song for that. "Don't Wanna Fight" is where the action begins. It's like the plane scene in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. Not only is their the badly needed edge, but an attitude too. They are no hippies singing around a campfire. At the very least they've graduated to protesting in the streets. Nothing is able to top that, but there's still plenty of heavy hitters with the late track "Shoegaze" being my second favorite - thus the video. And even with all the experimentation, Alabama Shakes leave no doubt of this being a rock album. A monster riff will smack you in the face if you suggest otherwise.
4. Badlands by Halsey
Best Song- "Roman Holiday"
Also- "Hold Me Down" , "Ghost" , "Colors" , "Drive"
-Another very tough choice in the best song department as "Hold Me Down" is absolutely deserving of that spot. But "Roman Holiday" gets me more pumped so I had to go with that for the song and embed. Halsey is my winner for Best New Artist and it came about in a weird way. I had to work the Imagine Dragons concert and as you may know am not too fond of the band. Metric, however, was opening up and you may know that besides the new album I am
Very very fond of them. So here's this chick I've never heard of, Halsey, playing first, with the weight of the show on her shoulders. And my goodness did she tip the scales in the favor of good. It's what you always hope for, but so rarely get with the unknown opener. A few months later, I had kind of forgotten about her until I see an ad for Badland on Apple Music. For the next hour she blew my mind all over again. The album starts off so well, just relentless for the first half. However, I must point out that for some strange reason the deluxe edition and normal are ordered differently. Definitely go deluxe. The "Roman" / "Ghost" / "Colors" run in the middle of the album is as good as altpop gets. I'll end with a slight criticism. While I like "New Americana" alot, I don't think it was the best choice for single one. The lyrics are very in your face and may be offputting. "Hold Me Down" sells that same quality without telling you its doing so. Subtlety works too! Mr Robot must be making the decision on the singles.
I was kind of in the opposite camp with the Shakes. I didn't like how they took their old sound and decided to shake it off, but they won me over with the album which is admittedly filled with plenty of Sound and color (especially for those with synesthesia).
Haven't seen much love for Halsey here. Badlands was an alright album from the non-New Americana bits and pieces I've heard. I also really liked what you had to say about subtlety at the end of the Badlands write-up. Subtlety is so underrated.
Tick tick tick we are getting towards the end and the lack of activity on the forum proved it lol. The top three would all be suitable winners for 2015, but there can only be One...
3. Every Open Eye by Chvrches
Best Song- "Keep You On My Side"
Also- "Bury It" , "High Enough To Carry You Over" , "Leave A Trace" , "Never Ending Circles" , "Make Them Gold"
-Chvrches, perhaps the breakout stars of 2013, returned this year with some pretty high expectations. The general consensus seems to be "not as good as the first", and maybe it isn't, but it is daammnnn good. While I think the highs of Bones are a bit higher, the lows are definitely lower as well. In fact, Every Open Eye turns the biggest weakness of the first, the dude singer, into one of its biggest strengths. "High Enough To Carry You Over" is so good that I was slightly disaappointed to hear Lauren come back on "Empty Threat". That didn't last long as she is wonderful, but I never thought I would feel that way even for a second. I think these songs will their true mettle in the live shows. I already Chvrches when they only had one album and some of these new songs seem to be written especially for the road. I could mosh to my favorite song "Keep You On My Side". "Bury It" could easily replace its groovy synths with power chords from a guitar. And "Leave A Trace" is a future singalong legend. Can they come back to the Land now please? I don't wanna pay $8000 dollars to see them at Coachella (though that day 2 lineup made me a little hard). I'll end with saying that if you have only listened to the normal version of Every Open Eye, seek out the deluxe. "Bow Down" alone is worth it and should have been on the main album. I can certainly appreciate wanting to cut it down to 11 though.
2. The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers
Best Song- "Dreams Come True"
Also- "Can't Deny My Love" , "Lonely Town" , "Never Get You Right" , "Between Me and You" , "Diggin Up The Heart"
-It makes me so happy to see my man Brandon Flowers back. Sure he's had plenty of stuff in between now and 2008s Day & Age, but now he is Back. For those who live under rocks, Brandon Flowers is the lead singer for former #1 song makers, The Killers. He had done a solo album called Crossfire in 2010, and it was fine. It did sound mostly like songs that didn't make it onto Day & Age though. Following that with the underwhelming Battleborn, BFlow had me convinced The Killers were a band that would never reach that very high peak again. And maybe that is still true. Venturing out on his own again, and making an album with a much different sound, Brandon struck gold. The Desired Effect achieves the effect of evoking the past with a current sound, but it's more than just Bruce Sprigsteen and 80s new wave. This album feels like it summed up late 70s to mid 80s pop scene without making a single dance song. That probably doesn't make sense, nor should it really. The first two songs may be my overall favorites, and they bring back the vintage Killers sound. It's the run of "Between Me and You" to "Never Get You Right" that really sets it above and beyond. These four songs use a variety of sounds, but are just carried by Brandon's vocals no matter what is in the background. As far as singing goes this is the showcase of the year. Best Alternative Pop Vocal or whatever the award season people would call it. I'm just going on and on now so I'll wrap up. Maybe this should be #1, it certainly deserves it, but its not. Still, this feels like a result of a meeting between my current taste and what it was ten years ago. It certainly achieved the desired effect. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.
So one left. For most people, it will probably be a boring pick that shows my age. Sorry about that, but I promise to at least sell it well in my write up haha. I'll post it after work or tomorrow before football. Witness!
Football is in ten minutes which is just enough time for this to end. 2015 has seem a lot of great albums, but there can only be one highlander. Thanks to everyone for the comments.
Can I get a drumroll please?
Dadda
Dadda
And the new world heavyweight champion is
1. Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Best song-
1. "Riverman"
2. "The Dying of the Light"
3. "In the Heat of the Moment"
4. "The Mexican"
5. "Lock All The Doors"
6. "You Know We Can't Go Back"
7. "The Girl With X-Ray Eyes"
8. "The Song Remains The Same"
9. "Do The Damage"*
10. "Ballad of Mighty I"
11. "The Right Stuff"
-Yep it's Noel Gallagher. Proving once and for all that he was always the more talented Gallagher. I still love ya Liam, but facts are facts. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, Noel Gallagher used to be the guitarist and occasional vocalist for a 90s band called Oasis. They do that "Wonderwall" song you've heard in a thousand movies and tv shows. But the brothers were always at odds and a split was inevitable. Liam emerged with Beady Eye, which was fine. But Noel came back with the High Flying Birds who have already earned their names. One could probably point out that both of the top spots went to people who were in bands I absolutely loved ten years ago. And you'd be right. The theme of the year, across all lists as you'll see over the next week, is getting back what I thought I had lost. Even though its much different, Brandon Flowers gave me back The Killers. Noel Gallagher is giving me back Oasis. That's not the only reason, but it sure is a good start.
Chasing Yesterday is not an Oasis album though. I'm not gonna sit here and say that it is better than Morning Glory or Definitely Maybe, but it stands beside them and on its own. I'd say that his first album, while still great, was about getting all that leftover Oasis out of his system. This is Album 2 and these guys are a real band instead of a project. To do a cross genre comparison, Run The Jewels pulled off a similar feat with last years #3 album RTJ2. Now that they didn't have to worry about Oasis analogies dogging them the entire recording process, the Birds can relax and just make great tunes. It comes off and then some. "The Right Stuff" is ranked last and "The Rigt Stuff" is a really good song. There's another big reason it climbed above the rest to the top spot.
The most important reason it got the rub is the songs though. "Riverman" is a top 5 song of the year for me. Sure some songs have better solos, but can you name a song that has an equally great saxophone solo right after? Not since Pink Floyd's "Money". "The Dying of the Light" is also a top ten song. Inspired songwriting with expertly crafted music backing it up. Wave them lighters (of phone flashlights) during the hook of that one. And of course "In the Heat of the Moment" provides the power pop catchiness with a hook that will be stuck in your heads for years (I assume). Nothing else im 2015 could match that trio and that's the biggest reason they were deemed unworthy and the Birds stand alone at the top.
Thanks for sticking with me through the album list! That's the one that is most important to me, so your attention means the world. I'll have a song list, movie list, tv list, game list and wrestling list over the next week so don't tune out just yet. Woo woo woo.
EMOTION is one of my favorites of the year. Carly came through so effortlessly.
BADLANDS is a cute album. I wasn't amazed by it, but there's some quality tracks (Colors, Gasoline and Control are my top 3.)
Good thing that you love Dreams Come True. The chorus is great, and I think it's underrated. And I'm pretty sure Brandon's first album was called Flamingo (never listened to it, though...). The best part of The Desired Effect is that its sound reaches into the past without ever feeling dated. The songwriting is great and catchy enough to make every moment feel fresh. And then there's his voice of course.
Ha, you think Noel's album shows your age? I'm under twenty and Chasing Yesterday is definitely gonna place in my top 5 this year. I think the album is just overlooked here on ATRL because it's more appealing to straight guys... Nonetheless, I have to agree with everything you said! The Right Stuff is definitely my least fave, too, but still good. The songwriting on Chasing Yesterday is just so great and melodic throughout. It's the type of album that you can just put on whenever and jam to (Lock All the Doors, You Know We Can't Go Back), but some of the songs also pack an emotional punch (The Dying of the Light, While the Song Remains the Same). Like I said, the album manages to have a ton of replay value because of the quality of the songwriting; it proves that you don't need something totally experimental or strange to be memorable or timeless. Chasing Yesterday's genre is basically rooted in pop-rock with hints of psychedelia, so it's nothing out of the ordinary, but the sound is definitely modern and crisp. And god damn, if every song doesn't have a memorable hook or chorus with unlimited replay value. The chord changes on songs like Riverman, The Girl with X-Ray Eyes, and The Dying of the Light are simply flawless. I'll never get tired of singing along. Great #1!
Love that you included the Cage the Elephant album! The first time I read that CTE and Auerbach were teaming up I thought "wow, this is O-Bait all the way!" and i'm glad it delivered for you! CTE knew you had fallen out of love with them, and brainstormed the best way to get them back in your good graces haha! Really good album, you're right. CRJ is great, seems like that album is the consensus favourite on ATRL and for good reason. Alabama Shakes! We both agree that this was the album that turned us around on them (though my tolerance for as you hilariously call it "folksy singing around the campfire stuff" is higher haha!). Great album, and Rogue Nation reference!!! And was that a Mr Robot slam I saw at the end of the Halsey paragraph hahaha? In talking about subtlly, you make a great subtle joke about it proving your point! I didn't like the Chvrches album as much as the first, but you're right there's some good stuff on there. And then Brandon Flowers!! I liked your paragraph on it overall, but maybe the truest statement you have made this entire year-end is in praise of the stretch of songs of Between Me and You and Never Get You Right. Those are my favourite songs on the album, I like the rest of it just fine, but if it wasn't for those songs I wouldn't rate the album as highly as I am going to. And then your #1, which I initially didn't see coming but now is super obvious: Noel!! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have given the album a chance, and i'm glad I did! Really, really good! You're right that Noel is the better brother, not just at music, but comedically he's easily the funniest haha. A year in which we got a new Blur album and a great new Noel Gallagher album is really The Dream of the BritPop '90s! I'm a Blur guy above all, but i've always appreciated Oasis too. Now Damon is chummy with the Gallaghers, so those silly party lines look to be over for good now, thank goodness!
Amazing albums set as always! Not to keep harping on this, but that you did it all on your iPhone is remarkable. To tie this in to one of your future lists, Kurt Angle used to say he wrestled with a broken freakin' neck, now you can say you did your entire year-end on your freakin iPhone! Just as courageous! Looking forward to the next sets!
Pop-rock with hints of psychadelia would also be accurate ways of describing Dr. Dog and Vampire Weekend's albums. Even They Want My Soul fits under that. So if not for the Taylor Swift upset last year, we'd have a four year theme going. Well said sir.
And thanks to everyone else for comments. Especially Ben as that was an essay in itself! You are 1000% right that the Cage album was O-Bait though lol.
Here is the list for those too lazy to check the OP. Song list coming before the next game.
37. High by Royal Headache
36. Mr. Misunderstood by Eric Church
35. Chaos and the Calm by James Bay
34. Twelve Spells by The Stone Foxes
33. Mr. Wonderful by Action Bronson
32. Natalie Prass by Natalie Prass
31. No Cities To Love by Sleater-Kinney
30. Kicker by Zella Day
29. Peace Is the Mission by Major Lazer
28. ii by Fuzz
27. Let The Good Times Roll by JD McPherson
26. Storyteller by Carrie Underwood
25. Kintsugi by Death Cab For Cutie
24. Revival by Selena Gomez
23. Higher Truth by Chris Cornell
22. Our Own House by Misterwives
21. Undertow by Drenge
20. Delirium by Ellie Goulding
19. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett
18. Summertime '06 by Vince Staples
17. What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World by The Decemberists
16. The Documentary 2.5 by The Game
15. The Incredible True Story by Logic
14. Future Nostalgia by The Sheepdogs
13. Postive Songs For Negative People by Frank Turner
12. Dark Sky Rising by Big Sean
11. The Most Lamentable Tragedy by Titus Andronicus
10. To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
9. Jekyll + Hyde by Zach Brown Band
8. Dodge and Burn by The Dead Weather
7. Tell Me I'm Pretty by Cage The Elephant
6. E•Mo•Tion by Carly Rae Jepsen
5. Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes
4. Badlands by Halsey
3. Every Open Eye by Chvrches
2. The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers
1. Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
I haven't done a proper song list in quite awhile. Up until 2010, the song list was the dominant one and the album secondary. Big song lists are just too much for me to deal with now though. I can't keep track of whats released as a single. I tried just going freeflow, but then four or five artists dominate the entire list. So the albums took precedence and still do to this day. I'm gonna do a top 20 this year though, instead of just rewarding something like the last few years.
20. "No Future Part IV: No Future Triumphant" by Titus Andronicus
19. "Beautiful Drug" by Zach Brown Band
18. "Dreams Come True" by Brandon Flowers
17. "Keep You On My Side" by Chvrches
16. "Rengade Runaway" by Carrie Underwood
15. "My Type" by Saint Motel
14. "In the Heat of the Moment" by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
13. "Hold Me Down" by Halsey
12. "All Your Fault" by Big Sean and Kanye West
11. "King Kunta" by Kendrick Lamar
10. "Roman Holiday" by Halsey
9. "Run Away With Me" by Carly Rae Jepson
8. "Hypnotic" by Zella Day
7. "Sparks" by Hilary Duff
6. The Dying of the Light" by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
5. "Don't Wanna Fight" by Alabama Shakes
4. "Riverman" by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
3. "Get Better" by Frank Turner
2. "I Don't F With You" by Big Sean, E-40 and DJ Mustard
1. "Dead Inside" by Muse
Nothing on here should be a surprise after what I've written so far. I think that the undeniable drum riff is what put Muse above the rest here. It's not fancy or complicated, but for me, the hard part of drumming is keeping a rhythm. So if a drummer can not only keep a rhythm but own a rhythm, all while keeping his place in the background the that drummer is a champion. The guitars and vocals are A+, but the drums push it above Mustard, Sean and 40 to become the Song Champion of 2015. Grats guys. They've been very high many times, but could never quite reach the mountain peak. The boyhood dream has come true!
Video games time. While each of the top ten deserves its own write up, I don't wanna drag this out any longer than needed. So all lists will be done in this format.
Close Calls
Bayonetta 2
Chrono Trigger
Dust: An Elysian Tale
Evolve
Guacamelee
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Mario Kart 8
Mega Man: Legacy Collection
Mega Man X3
Pokemon: Omega Ruby
Rogue Legacy
Shovel Knight
Super Mario 3D World
Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
10. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
9. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
8. WWE 2k16
7. Disgaea 5: An Alliance of Vengeance
6. Hotline Miami 2
5. Rocket League
4. Splatoon
3. Bloodborne
2. Batman: Arkahm Knight
1. Fallout 4
-All but one of the close calls are old games that I played for the first time this year. Of these, I'd rank it 1) Smash 2) Zelda 3) Rogue Legacy 4) Shovel Knight 5) Dust. Evolve was fun when you played the monster.
Witcher and Metal Gear are two highly acclaimed games that I enjoyed, but didn't find as fun as the games above them. WWE, Disgaea and Hotline Miami deliver upgraded versions of their predecessors, who were already pretty great. Hotline Miami especially, and its a shame it couldnt make the top 5. Anecdotally speaking, that is also a game for non gamers. Everyone loves it.
Rocket League and Splatoon were the big surprises of the year and made me love online multiplayer again. Still, I play games to get lost in singlet player worlds, and if either had one of those they'd probably be #1.
So instead we go to the big open world rpg experiences. I was a little surprised by how much more I liked Bloodborne over the Dark Souls series. But the gothic Victorian setting is also more unique than medieval high fantasy. No game or movie has made me feel quite as tense as Bloodborne either. I can't count the times I was desperately looking for a save point, but turned a corner right into a giant man with tentacles coming out of his face, or something else equally scary. Being eaten is one thing, but in Bloodborne you lose all your money when you die too. So run like hell!
Batman: Arkham Knight was disappointing in a lot of ways. The lack of proper boss fights and the repetitive tank battles being the biggest reasons. For me, it more than made up for it with the Gothams Most Wanted wheel though. Each supervillian came with a series of unique missions, encouraging you to play the game in every way possible. So while Arkham Asylum was a Metroidvania, Arkham City an action sandbox, Arkham Knight is a true Batman simulator. The main reason I play these games is to be Batman, so that's a huge success for me. I hope Rocksteady makes Justice League next.
There's something special about a true Bethasda game. Their last, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, ranks among my all time favorites. Fallout 4 doesn't quite hit that level, but it is close enough to be the #1 game of the year. There's always something fun to do in Fallout. The exploration is the biggest draw delivered there. I've never been in Boston outside of the airport, but I recognized enough landmarks. The combat is much improved from Fallout 3, making VATs almost unnecessary, as it should be. The story isn't amazing most of the time, but it delivers a great unexpected turn halfway through. And each of the four factions have a unqiue storyline from then on. The Brotherhood of Steel, while very cruel, have the best storyline. I had a blast with the return of a certain Fallout fan favorite, and you only get it with the Brotherhood. Fallout 4 gave me exactly what I wanted at the right time, and that is why it wins 2015 Game of the Year.
. It's the run of "Between Me and You" to "Never Get You Right" that really sets it above and beyond. These four songs use a variety of sounds, but are just carried by Brandon's vocals no matter what is in the background.
BFlow (I am stealing this and using it if it's ok with you, I promise to use proper citations), really delivered with the Desired Effect, especially on that four song stretch. Between me And you, Between Me And You is my favorite on the album, so it's nice to see some spotlight there.
I haven't listened to the number one, but have been meaning to get around to it.
Great song list, take out the "Don't" in Big Sean's song title and it describes my sentiments about the list
As for the video games, I unfortunately didn't play too much. I did enjoy Ruby and Majora's Mask (but then again, Majora's Mask is my favorite video game ever made), and I am very intrigued by Batman and Fallout 4
Use Bflow all you want. Maybe we can get him to make a hip hop album with that name. Can you imagine?
TV time. I feel bad for leaving some stuff off, but this is supposed to be the Best of 2015 list not the every show I watch list.
Close Calls
Archer
Better Call Saul
Big Time in Hollywood, FL
The Last Man on Earth
Louie
Master of None
Nathan For You
W/ Bob and David
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
In Memorium
Community
The League
Parks and Recreation
10. South Park
9. Review
8. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
7. Game of Thrones
6. Mad Men
5. Daredevil
4. Rick and Morty
3. The Flash
2. Jessica Jones
1. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
-Netflix rules the nation with 3 out the top 5 being their new shows. A few great shows left us this year and will be missed though. Netflix cant save everyone! South Park and Sunny post impressive seasons even for them, with "Where My Country Gone?" And "Charlie Work" respectively being not only season highlights, but series highlights.
Game of Thrones has been #2 every single year on this list, and was the heavy favorite to finally take #1 after the excellent "Hardholme" episode. However, the last two episodes left me with me with a bad taste. The transition from adapted screenplays to basically fan fiction was rougher than anticipated. Still an amazing show.
At this time last year, I only watched one comic book show, Rob Thomas' iZombie. Now it is up to 5, with a sixth incoming in a week lol. I gave Jessica the rub over Flash mostly because the best Flash episode came in 2014, despite me watching the entire series this year. Jessica is also an emotional rollercoaster. Truly a brilliant piece of programming.
Nothing me made me laugh or smile or appreciate life in general more than Unbreakable though. I knew nothing about the show going im, other than it was made by two of my favorite tv people ever. Unbreakable trailed off a little near the end, the OJ stuff didn't click with me, but my gosh so many giant laughs all season. The best writing around. And the best actors to properly deliver those lines.
I wanted to see every movie before doing that list but dont know if it will be possible. So that will come next most likely.
There's still movies I want to see from last year, but that will probably always be the case lol. I only saw 34 films from 2015 though, plus Sharknado, which is pretty low for me. Luckily I enjoyed most of them.
Close Calls Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Hateful Eight
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Spotlight
Steve Jobs
Straight Outta Compton
Trainwreck
What We Do In The Shadows
10. It Follows
9. Spy
8. Sisters
7. Furious 7
6. Tomorrowland
5. The Martian
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
3. Jurassic World
2. Creed
1. Inside Out
-Disney wins, though not with the film I expected it to win with. I could go on and on about why Star Wars is and isn't the greatest, but meh I don't feel like it. The top two are both brilliant though. I highly highly highly rec them to anyone holding out.
Your song list is great! Nice companion the albums list. I don't have much to say about the vidya games, but I like that WWE 2K16 is good. I just remember the post-No Mercy years for WWE games and they were pretty brutal, and I never cared for the Smackdown games for Playstation. That was over 15 years ago though, so I need to get out of the dark ages and try it myself.
TV! Now this I can comment on! Your Close Calls list is spectacular! So many great shows, glad you singled them out! You're right about Netflix being king, I need to get used to that. Glad Review made it into the top ten! And Kimmy Schmidt is a great #1 especially for you the big 30 Rock fan! And Mad Men at #6! This looks to be the first year where you rank Mad Men higher than me! Glad you gave it a proper send-off. And I need to watch all those comic book shows, as well as the newest GOT!
Movies! Great list! I was surprised to see Star Wars at #4, as I thought it would be lower, but then as you say the amazing stuff in it helps it. Glad Hateful Eight made it in there, too! And no one can argue with that #1. Well, I mean, other people may like different movies morel like myself, but it's a great consensus pick. Who has a problem with Inside Out?? I have yet to mean one person who does!
<3
Carly came through so effortlessly.
And I'm pretty sure Brandon's first album was called Flamingo (never listened to it, though...). The best part of The Desired Effect is that its sound reaches into the past without ever feeling dated. The songwriting is great and catchy enough to make every moment feel fresh. And then there's his voice of course. 
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