Old Music Tuesdays: Top Fifteen Albums of 2015

I don’t know if you heard, but the music business is in shambles. While this is very bad news for artists, it’s good news for the fans in that everyone has to tour to survive. I made a goal in 2015 to see as many live concerts as I could, and I pretty much did that. Scroll to the bottom to read my reviews of each concert, plus a ranking.
That’s not what this post is about, however. It’s about the new music I liked the best in 2015. It’s not “the best music”… that’s very subjective. It’s just my favorite fifteen albums of 2015. I’m a bit eclectic, but I focus mostly on rock music. I like the heavier stuff, but there’s a few lighter acts on this list. The top row consists of my top three albums, but the rest are organized randomly. What do think? Agree? Disagree? What’s missing? What doesn’t belong? Click on the album covers to purchase or hear samples.
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- Spylacopa Parallels: Tied for first place with the new Faith No More album. Features Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan.
- Faith No More Sol Invictus: A new Faith No More album after 18 years? Yes, please.
- August Burns Red Found in Far Away Places: The Pennsylvania metalcore band keeps getting better.
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- Haste the Day Coward: Indiana’s Haste the Day gets back together and releases a fantastic album far better than I expected.
- Between the Buried and Me Coma Ecliptic: An imaginative album accompanied by an equally impressive live show.
- Baroness Purple: To be honest, I didn’t love the Yellow & Green double album. Purple is a vast improvement and a return to form for the stoner rock group.
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- Clutch Psychic Warfare: Another strong effort from the rock veterans, and their best album since 2004.
- Puscifer Money Shot: Not as good as Conditions of My Parole, but a strong effort with quite a few catchy tunes.
- mewithoutYou Pale Horses: Another indie rock masterpiece from one of rock’s most criminally underrated bands. Check them out!
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- Silversun Pickups Better Nature: Haunting, poppy, and beautiful, all at once.
- Apocalyptica Shadowmaker: The latest from Finland’s premiere cellists includes one of my favorite songs of 2015, the title track.
- Nyves Anxiety: An electro project from Demon Hunter’s Ryan Clark and Project 86’s Randy Torres. Works better than it should.
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- lamb of god Sturm Und Drang: Strong metal album with an impressive guestlist.
- Coheed and Cambria The Color Before the Sun: My second least favorite Coheed album, but c’mon: it’s Coheed and Cambria. Still better than most.
- incubus Trust Fall (Side A): After a couple “meh” albums, incubus reinvigorates the fans with a fun EP. And a tour!
I’d love to see your list, so share it with me in the comments. Thanks for reading!
More Music on This Site
Top Albums of the Year
- Best Albums of 2012
- Best Albums of 2013
- Best Albums of 2014
- Best Albums of 2015
- Best Albums of 2016
- Best Albums of 2017
- Best Albums of 2018
Old Music Tuesdays
Click here for my past Old Music Tuesdays posts. There are too many to list!
Concert Reviews
- Tomahawk (feat. Retox)
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. BTBAM & Russian Circles)
- Palms
- Black Sabbath (feat. Andrew WK)
- Vampire Weekend (feat. Beirut)
- Fit for a King & For Today
- ††† (Crosses) (feat. Omniflux & Spirit in the Room)
- Soundgarden & NIN 2014
- Dr. Octagon (feat. Avalon, Gap Dream & No Parents)
- Faith No More (feat. The Urinals)
- Mastodon & Clutch (feat. Graveyard)
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. Seahaven)
- The Appleseed Cast (feat. Adjy & Coaster)
- The Smashing Pumpkins & Marilyn Manson
- Danzig (feat. Cancer Bats & Saviours)
- Imagine Dragons (feat. Halsey & Metric)
- Between the Buried and Me & Animals As Leaders (feat. The Contortionist)
- Deftones & Incubus (feat. Death from Above 1979)
- 2015 Summer Rankings
- Blindside (feat. Hearts Like Lions)
- Puscifer (feat. Luchafer)
- The Black Queen (feat. Drab Majesty)
- Joe Satriani
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. Glassjaw, I the Mighty, Silver Snakes)
- Killswitch Engage (feat. Memphis May Fire, 36 Crazyfists, and Toothgrinder)
- Andrew Bird (feat. John Grant)
- Lamb of God (feat. Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity)
- At the Drive-In (feat. Le Butcherettes)
- The Dillinger Escape Plan (feat. Author & Punisher)
- Guns N’ Roses (feat. The Cult)
- Animal Collective (feat. Stuart Copeland)
- Alice in Chains (feat. The New Regime)
- Temple of the Dog (feat. Fantastic Negrito)
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra (cancelled)- Metallica
- 2016 Concert Rankings
- August Burns Red (feat. Protest the Hero, In Hearts Wake, ’68)
- Norma Jean (feat. He Is Legend, Capsize, Comrades)
- Red (feat. Wolves at the Gate, Message from Sylvia, Death Therapy) (coming soon)
- Mastodon (feat. Eagles of Death Metal, Russian Circles) (coming soon)
- Pixies (coming soon)
- Tool (feat. Clutch, Fantomas, Primus, Melvins, Crystal Method) (coming soon)
- Rise Against (feat. Deftones, Thrice) (coming soon)
Green Day- Dead Cross (feat. Neil Hamburger, Ho99o9) (coming soon)
- Banks (coming soon)
- Between the Buried and Me (feat. The Contortionist, Poluphia, Toothgrinder) (coming soon)
- The Offspring (feat. Well Hung Heart) (coming soon)
- Russian Circles (feat. MGR) (coming soon)
- Our Lady Peace (feat. Smashing Hearts) (coming soon)
- Animals As Leaders (feat. Periphery and Astronoid) (coming soon)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Mike Patton stuff on this website
- Mike Patton’s Guest Spots
- Faith No More concert review
- Old Music Tuesdays: Faith No More
- Faith No More Stripsearch
- Old Music Tuesdays: Mr. Bungle
- Tomahawk concert review
- Tomahawk Red Fox
Chino Moreno stuff on this website
- Chino’s Harder Guest Spots
- Chino’s Softer Guest Spots
- Chino’s Mainstream Work
- Palms concert
- (†††) Crosses concert
- Old Music Tuesday: (†††) Crosses
- Deftones & Incubus (feat. Death from Above 1979)
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