Wednesday, July 1, 2015

2015 Mid-Year Music Report

There's no getting around it, 2015 has been a pretty underwhelming year for music so far. While there's been some special records released by consistently impressive artists (August Burns Red's Found in Far Away Places, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, Periphery's Juggernaut), excellent debuts (Mutoid Man's Bleeder, Vince Staples' Summertime '06) and pleasant surprises (Dance Gavin Dance's Instant Gratification, iwrestledabearonce's Hail Mary) along the way, 2015 has had a dearth of truly memorable albums. Of the 35 albums I've listened to so far, I would only classify 5-6 of them as legitimately fantastic, can't-miss records.With releases from heavy hitters in metal (The Black Dahlia Murder, Killswitch Engage) hip-hop (Kanye West, Ghostface Killah) and pop (Lana Del Rey, Frank Ocean) slated for the release in the next six months, the second half of 2015 could very well make for the disappointment of the first half of the year. Below are my rankings from worst to best of every EP and LP I've listened for the six months of 2015, complete with star ratings and picks for best song from each release. Hope you all enjoy and feel free to weigh in with your favorites and least favorites of 2015 in the comment box below!

EP's
4.Incubus-Trust Fall (Side A) (3/5) (Best Track: "Absolution Calling")
3.Rotting Out-Reckoning (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Live Fast, Die Young")
2.Entheos-Primal (4/5) (Best Track: "Specific Meaning in a Group of Dots")
1.Freddie Gibbs-Pronto (4/5) (Best Track: "Pronto")
 
LP's
35.Faith No More-Sol Invictus (2/5) (Best Track: "Superhero")
34.mewithoutyou-Pale Horses (2/5) (Best Track: "Watermelon Ascot")
33.Tyler, the Creator-Cherry Bomb (2/5) (Best Track: "Smuckers")
32.Stick to Your Guns-Disobedient (3/5) (Best Track: "I Choose No One")
31.Turnstile-Nonstop Feeling (3/5) (Best Track: "Fazed Out")
30.Earl Sweatshirt-I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside (3/5) (Best Track: "Wool")
29.It Prevails-Perdition (3/5) (Best Track: "Borrowed Time")
28.Drake-If You're Reading This, It's Too Late (3/5) (Best Track: "6 God")
27.Marina and the Diamonds-Froot (3/5) (Best Track: "Blue")
26.Marilyn Manson-The Pale Emperor (3/5) (Best Track: "Deep Six")
25.Fall Out Boy-American Beauty/American Psycho (3/5) (Best Track: "Irresistible")
24.Veil of Maya-Matriarch (3/5) (Best Track: "Leeloo")
23.Ingested-The Architect of Extinction (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Endless Despondency")
22.Four Year Strong-Four Year Strong (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Here's to Swimming with Bow Legged Women")
21.Between the Buried and Me-Coma Ecliptic (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Option Oblivion")
20.Sleater-Kinney-No Cities to Love (3.5/5) (Best Track: "A New Wave")
19.Juicy J-Blue Dream & Lean 2 (3.5/5) (Best Track: "I'm Sicka")
18.Make Them Suffer-Old Souls (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Scraping the Barrel")
17.Royal Thunder-Crooked Doors (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Floor")
16.Purity Ring-Another Eternity (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Flood on the Floor")
15.A$AP Rocky-At.Long.Last.A$AP (3.5/5) (Best Track: "Holy Ghost")
14.High on Fire-Luminiferous (3.5/5) (Best Track: "The Dark Side of the Compass")
13.Death Grips-The Powers That B: Disc 2: Jenny Death (4/5) (Best Track: "The Powers That B")
12.While She Sleeps-Brainwashed (4/5) (Best Track: "Four Walls")
11.Thy Art is Murder-Holy War (4/5) (Best Track: "Coffin Dragger")
10.The Story So Far-The Story So Far (4/5) (Best Track: "Heavy Gloom")
9.iwrestledabearonce-Hail Mary (4/5) (Best Track: "Doomed to Fail Pt.1")
8.Sylosis-Dormant Heart (4/5) (Best Track: "Servitude")
7.Vince Staples-Summertime '06 (4/5) (Best Track: "C.N.B.")
6.Action Bronson-Mr. Wonderful (4/5) (Best Track: "The Rising")
5.Dance Gavin Dance-Instant Gratification (4/5) (Best Track: "Stroke God, Millionaire")
4.Mutoid Man-Bleeder (4/5) (Best Track: "1000 Mile Stare")
3.Periphery-Juggernaut (Alpha + Omega) (4/5) (Best Track: "Priestess")
2.Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp a Butterfly (4/5) (Best Track: "Wesley's Theory")
1.August Burns Red-Found in Far Away Places (4.5/5) (Best Track: "Broken Promises")

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