2015 Album Awards
I did my first album awards in 2011. I don’t really fancy myself as an album reviewer (guys over at sites like Sputnik do just fine at that). However, I have a real passion for sharing music, and love the thought of putting something in front of people out there that might not have heard it yet. Because of that, and because the albums I love fuel my concert decisions, I wanted to share some of my favorite albums from 2015. Last year featured releases by countless big names in the industry – names like Trivium, Sevendust, Three Days Grace, Halestorm, Shinedown, Marilyn Manson, Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, Bullet for My Valentine, and on and on. Many of these releases landed somewhere on the scale between mediocre and very good, but unfortunately, none of them really stood out as impressionable.
However, 2015 was definitely not void of spectacular albums. As I looked back at my catalog and reviewed countless other “top albums of 2015” lists to make sure I didn’t miss any albums, I had a more difficult time than usual whittling down to the top 5 albums. In fact, I couldn’t, and so what you’re left with below is 5 really great runners up, and one album of the year.
So, without further adieu, here are the 2015 Album Awards from The Music Pill. Hope you enjoy!
Runners’ Up
Muse – Drones
Muse continues to blow me away, and their latest effort, Drones, is no exception. People balk at their integration of more electronics, or say they’ve oversimplified, but I couldn’t disagree more. They do continue to evolve their sound, but the result here is catchy rock anthems, killer musicianship, and just enough of that magical Muse song writing. The album features all the best we’ve come to expect from Muse (really epic bass parts, guitar work that is second to none, and falsetto screams from Bellamy that will blow your mind), but also packs just enough creativity to land it among Muse’s best albums. This is a really great album that’s capable of changing your mind about Muse, if by some chance you were confused in the first place.
Listen to: Reapers – the guitar work rivals the incredible bass line from Hysteria – and I didn’t think that was possible.
Bring Me the Horizon – That’s The Spirit
I discovered Bring Me the Horizon in my more….aggressive days. Their previous release, Sempiternal, saw a shift away from the harder sound they were known for, and started to bring in some clean vocals and less harsh arrangements. However, with That’s The Spirit, they’ve abandoned their roots all together. That certainly wasn’t what I was hoping for, but this album shows that Bring Me the Horizon is absolutely capable of making that shift successfully, and really makes me wonder if they were in the wrong genre to begin with. The songs on this album are well constructed, and have hooks that you will be repeating subconsciously for hours. What does this material do to their live show? No idea. Can’t wait to find out. (I’m looking at you, Rock on the Range!) Give this album a shot, ignore the critics (and me), and see if you think it holds up as a great album. My guess is that you will.
Listen to: Throne
10 Years – From Birth to Burial
10 Years continues to fly under the radar, but they’ve built a great catalog of music, and have a great live show. The title track on this album is an absolutely perfect example of the intensity and mystery that 10 Years can write into a song – it builds from slow, intense piano tracks to huge drum fills and guitar riffs that never quite resolve completely and ultimately leave your stomach in knots, in the best way. Such an incredible experience, especially live. What sets this album apart is that 10 Years returned to their roots to give us some refreshingly aggressive tracks like Selling Skeletons and Triggers and Tripwires. The album isn’t void of pace-changing anthems, but overall, feels much more like the 10 Years I fell in love with circa 2006 because it never quite lets you breathe and relax. Not the best 10 Years album to date (The Autumn Effect is pretty much unbeatable), but pretty damn close. Check it out.
Listen to: From Birth to Burial, and if you’re feeling feisty, move on to Triggers and Tripwires, if you can find it. It’s AWESOME.
Aranda – Not the Same
I’ve been known to put a high emphasis on vocals, and maybe that’s why I like Aranda so much more than basically everyone on the planet. Or, maybe it’s because you all are just missing out. Not only do they have the best rock vocals around (proof), but they have unbelievable song writing as well. Admittedly, 2012’s Stop the World fell short of their self-titled masterpiece, but this album has them right back on track. They are so much more talented than bands they get lumped with (like Adelita’s Way and Pop Evil), and that fact is never more obvious than it is with this album. It starts off feisty with songs like Don’t Wake Me and Dead Man Running, and then finishes off with three or four songs that make you wish you are driving on the California turnpike with the top down. They do a great job highlighting all elements, and there just isn’t a weakness to be found. I’m biased, but I’m just not sure how fans of all genres won’t love this album.
Listen to: We are the Enemy and then while you’re in YouTube, search “Aranda Acoustic” and plan on rearranging the rest of your day.
Atreyu – Long Live
I’ve been an Atreyu fan for a really long time, and quite simply, this album is Atreyu at it’s best. Congregation of the Damned (2009) was full of great songs, but also can’t hold a candle to the early albums that featured songs that make you want to tear the house down. Long Live features all of those clean, catchy elements that made Atreyu unique, but re-balances those with the face-paced solo, the incredible screams, and flat out intensity. The result in a monster album. It’s rare that a band comes back after a hiatus in rare form, but Atreyu really kicked the doors in here. This album is in first place – by a mile – on my “List of 2015 albums that has made me accidentally scream out loud in my office.”
Listen to: I Would Kill / Lie / Die (for You)
Album of the Year:
Clutch – Psychic Warfare
In doing preparation for this post I read possibly my favorite quote about Clutch ever. From this review over at Sputnik: “There comes a time in everyone’s life when you realize that you will never be as cool as Neil Fallon.” How true that is. Psychic Warfare is an exceptional album, and while some of the albums in the middle of the Clutch catalog suffered from a lack of focus, this album lasers in on everything that makes Clutch the best rock band in existence right now, and really fires on all cylinders. This is the eleventh album for the group from Maryland, and yet somehow it still feels inventive and new, and I can speak from personal experience in saying that the tracks on the album are incredibly fun to see live. Songs like A Quick Death in Texas and Behold the Colossus have been completely worn through for me, and yet I keep coming back to this album again and again. MONSTER album from Clutch, and one with just enough creativity and lasting power to be The Music Pill’s album of the year for 2015.
Listen to: X-Ray Vision and do your absolute best not to start randomly yelling SCORRPPIOOO in the grocery store.
Honorable Mentions:
Coheed and Cambria’s latest album, The Color Before the Sun, does a great job of highlighting the band’s talents, and gives us the great Coheed sound that we’ve come to love. However, strong pop influences and the band’s first foray away from the Armory Wars comic series caused the record to suffer in identity.
Breaking Benjamin showed they are still a force to be reckoned with as they toured the country and supported a very solid album in Dark Before Dawn. However, it was a safe album, and doesn’t have the staying power to keep this album in the top tier for 2015.
For Something Different, Check Out:
Smash Into Pieces, a band that I stumbled upon during an Amaranthe show in Connecticut, put out a really solid album this past year called The Apocalypse DJ. They execute well, and while their vocal style is unique in the US, it works well with the rock solid alternative metal backing they provide. This is a great album to play in the background while you go for a jog or work on a project. Full album streamed here.
Between the Buried and Me continues to stretch me as a music fan. The play fast and loose with time signatures in the prog-iest way, but this album seems to do a better job of harnessing the chaos and really drew me in. If’ you’re looking for something that will sound unfamiliar but sort of blow your mind, check it out. Full album streamed here.
What were your favorite albums in 2015? Please share!