CRM114

Better than the last album but I'm a huge fan so any output from them I'm quite pleased with.



I never heard of her before and when I went to sample it, I couldn't make it past the first two songs.

bunkaroo

Curious how many listens you had?

This one took me a few times for it to really gel, and I admit reading all the supplementary stuff helps enhance the experience. His last one I got into right away.

wmermine

I've just been giving this album a chance since you mentioned it, and it's not for me right now. If I were in a particular mood, though, I could dig it.

bd007h

You hadn't even gotten to the best ones yet. Give the whole album a listen.

Supermallet

Better than Write About Love? I have to heartily disagree there. I think Write About Love is a minor classic in the B&S discography, not up to the level of their absolute best (Tigermilk, If You're Feeling Sinister, Dear Catastrophe Waitress), but easily on par with The Life Pursuit, if not just a bit better for me, and better than Boy With The Arab Strap and Girls In Peacetime.

flagstone

That may be why I don't list Hand.Cannot.Erase higher personally - Raven clicked hard for me right away, this one didn't grab me the same way so it probably suffered by comparison.

I don't listen to too much new stuff, but Meliora really surprised me too (the older Ghost albums didn't do much for me personally).

auto

I was also disappointed with Girls in Peacetime. I love Write About Love save the Norah Jones song. The Life Pursuit might be my most listened to album of theirs after Sinister though.

Supermallet

My issue with Hand Cannot Erase is that it sounds a little too much like the world's best classic prog cover band. I can hear such a strong Yes/King Crimson influence (no doubt inspired by Wilson's extensive remixing of those bands' albums) that I find myself just wanting to listen to Yes and King Crimson. It's not a bad album in its own right, but Wilson's paying so much tribute to his heroes that he begins aping them.

wmermine

^ I could understand that complaint being said about The Raven... I disagree that it applies to Hand. Cannot. Erase. Of course, I'm very biased!

Supermallet

I haven't heard The Raven, and it's not like every note on HCA is reminiscent of classic prog, but enough of it is that it led me to draw the comparison.

Supermallet

I've been a fan of Joanna Newsom since I first saw her in a tiny club many years ago, opening for another act that I can't even remember. I'm finally listening to the new album, and this is a quantum leap forward for her. This may end up tying The Pale Emperor for best of the year for me.

bralph

I listened to FFS yesterday after a couple of people listed it, but I didn't like it at all despite liking Franz Ferdinand.

It's short, but I really liked Wavves: V. I also liked Cold War Kids: Hold My Home, and I'm enjoying the new Cage The Elephant that came out today.

beavis69

Damn yep your right, brainfart. I was in the same boat as you. Sunbather was interesting but I didn't think it was as great as most. Went in thinking New Bermuda would be more of the same but he used a little bit different singing style and the shoegaze influence was more organic. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it and how much it has been on repeat since it came out

bunkaroo

Good feedback - thanks. Nice to hear the vocals are a bit different - easily the worst part of Sunbather and I like black metal.

CRM114

I need to add an addendum to my list. It doesn't fit with the rest but obviously, one of the best recordings of the year.

Hamilton - Original Broadway Cast Recording.

CRM114

The Life Pursuit is their best record.

pezsoup

My top ten in no particular order....


Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
John Moreland - High on Tulsa Heat
Josh Ritter - Sermon on the Rocks
Joe Pug - Windfall
The Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home
The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ
Lucero - All A Man Should Do
Mark Utley and Bulletville - Bulletville
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I sit and Think, and Sometimes I just Sit
Brent Best - Your Dog Champ

wendersfan

I wasn't as active in listening to new music this year, but the standouts for me were Courtney Barnett and Beach House, and, to a lesser degree, Kurt Vile. I was very disappointed in the new Jason Isbell.

Dan1boy

My wife LOVES this soundtrack. And she's not into hip-hop. At. All.

Hiro11

Fairly terrible year for music. A lot of what the critics liked I didn't like and there was slim pickings over all...

1. Beach Slang: "The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us", pop punk with grit and substance.
2. Chvches: "Every Open Eye", exhilarating synth pop album stuffed with great songs
3. Wilco: "Star Wars", a loose, crunchy rock album. The best album they've made in years
4. Blur: "Magic Whip", a return to top quality Brit guitar pop for these guys, reminded me that they were briefly the best band in the world.
5. Wolf Alice: "My Love is Cool", a fuzzy dreampop album, filled with great hooks.
6. ...nothing

That's it, I only liked five albums. As I said, I didn't like a lot of what critics liked: Kurt Vile's album was way too long, meandering and boring. Father John Misty is more bearded/folksy Fleet Foxes and I hate Fleet Foxes. Courtney Barnett's album is an inferior Liz Phair release. Kendrick Lamar's album is inventive but trades in the same tired bitch/***** cliches and political silliness. Grimes' album is annoying hipster manic pixie dream girl crap. Tame Impala, Protomartyr and Sleater-Kinney all released middling albums that are far from their best.

slop101

Overall, a bit of a disappointing year for music, especially for rock.

Here are 12 of my favorite albums of the year, in no order;


- MuteMath - Vitals

- Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

- Paul Weller - Saturn's Pattern

- Built To Spill - Untethered Moon

- My Morning Jacket - Waterfall

- D'Angelo - Black Messiah

- The Dead Weather - Dodge & Burn

- The Lone Bellow - Then Came The Morning

- Wilco - Star Wars

- Meg Meyers - Sorry

- Richard Thompson - Still

- Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly

B5Erik

My picks for Best Albums of 2015

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
Trivium - Silence in the Snow
Saxon - Battering Ram
Stryper - Fallen
Black Star Riders - The Killer Instinct
Armored Saint - Win Hands Down
Symphony X - Underworld
Five Finger Death Punch - Got Your Six
Tank - Valley of Tears
Queensryche - Condition Human
W.A.S.P. - Golgotha

Overall, this has been the best year in music in a long time as far as I'm concerned.

The Questyen

I've been slacking on music this year but here's some of my favorites in no order:

Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
Christine and the Queens - S/T
Chvrches - Every Open Eye
Ellie Goulding - Delirium
Grimes - Art Angels
Major Lazer - Peace is the Mission
Meg Myers - Sorry

Metrodub

Here are my top 10 from this year:

10. Doomtree - All Hands
09. Beach House - Depression Cherry
08. Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated at Last
07. Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
06. Kurt Vile - b'lieve I'm goin' down
05. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
04. Tame Impala - Currents
03. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
02. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
01. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

Pretty good year overall.

dvdjunkie32

Who would have ever predicted that out of all the hair metal bands that died after the 80s, Stryper would not only outlast them but release their best material in decades? Michael Sweet is one of the hardest working guys in rock.