2015 in Music: Revisited

In my eyes, Music is the artform that grows or fades on you the most over time. Re-visiting a song or an album can allow you to appreciate things didn't notice on past listen, grow sour on things you previously enjoyed, etc. Because of this phenomenon, I've made a tradition of revisiting the previous year's music at the halfway point of the following year to see how these albums have held up after deeper listens and further reflection. Even in just six months, there's been a lot of movement on my list of favorite albums of 2015. Below you'll find my modified list of 2015 albums ranked from worst to best and write-ups of the albums I've listened to since I posted my "2015 in Music: Year in Review" piece in early January. 

()=Ranking on my year-end recap
(new)=An album that I listened after posting my year-end recap

EP's

8.(8)Lil B x Chance the Rapper-Based Freestyle Mixtape (2.5/5)

7.(new)Slaughter to Prevail-Chapters of Misery (3/5)

Russia's Slaughter to Prevail sound like they've come out of a time machine. Their straightforward, breakdown-heavy brand of deathcore is a throwback to the days where B-grade bands like As Blood Runs Black, Molotov Solution and I Declare War were still making waves in the extreme metal scene. Chapters of Misery holds some value because of how competent the musicianship is all-around and the inevitable nostalgia that comes with releasing a pure deathcore album in late 2015, but it's far too generic and predictable to be anything more than a relatively enjoyable yet completely disposable listen.    

6.(6)Incubus-Trust Fall (Side A) (3/5)

5.(5)Rotting Out-Reckoning (3.5/5)

4.(4)Riff Raff-Trench Coat Towers (3.5/5)

3.(3)Entheos-Primal (3.5/5)

2.(2)Freddie Gibbs-Pronto (4/5)

1.(1)FKA twigs-M3LLI55X (4/5)

LP's

130.(122)Beach House-Depression Cherry (0/5)

129.(121)Title Fight-Hyperview (1.5/5)

128.(120)mewithoutyou-Pale Horses (1.5/5)

127.(119)Jay Rock-90059 (2/5)

126.(118)Faith No More-Sol Invictus (2/5)

125.(117)Meek Mill-Dreams Worth More Than Money

124.(116)The Sword-High Country

123.(115)Fetty Wap-Fetty Wap (2/5)

122.(new)Turnover-Peripheral Vision (2/5)

While indie rock has always been a polarizing genre for me, it seems like it's getting more and more stagnant by the day. Turnover's Peripheral Vision does nothing to stop this disheartening trend. The melodies are occasionally nice and vocalist Austin Getz has a pleasant enough voice, but for the most part Peripheral Vision is a repetitive, emotionless bore. 

121.(114)Coheed and Cambria-The Color Before the Sun (2/5)

120.(113)Tyler, the Creator-Cherry Bomb (2/5)

119.(112)Knuckle Puck-Copacetic (2.5/5)

118.(111)Native Construct-Quiet World (2.5/5)

117.(110)Defeater-Abandoned (2.5/5)

116.(106)Juicy J-100% Juice (2.5/5)

115.(107)Jamie xx-In Colour (2.5/5)

114.(108)Big Sean-Dark Sky Paradise (2.5/5)

113.(105)Enter Shakiri-The Mindsweep (2.5/5)

112.(104)Muse-Drones (2.5/5)

111.(103)Being as an Ocean-Being as an Ocean (2.5/5)

110.(102)Tame Impala-Currents (2.5/5)

109.(new)Sirens & Sailors-Rising Moon: Setting Sun (2.5/5)

This is a Sirens & Sailors album alright. The New York-based group take their hybrid of metalcore and djent to previously inconceivable levels of mediocrity on their third LP, Rising Moon: Setting Sun. This record couldn't even hold my attention for its very short 32-minute runtime and it completely exited my brain less than hour after I had finished listening to it. Unless they completely revamp their sound or actually put some diversity and interesting ideas into their compositions, I wouldn't even entertain the possibility of listening to this album or band ever again. 

108.(99)All That Remains-The Order of Things (2.5/5)

107.(100)Turnstile-Nonstop Feeling (2.5/5)

106.(109)Justin Bieber-Purpose (2.5/5)

105.(98)Freddie Gibbs-Shadow of a Doubt (2.5/5)

104.(96)Earl Sweatshirt-I Don't Do Shit, I Don't Go Outside (2.5/5)

103.(97)Parkway Drive-Ire (2.5/5)

102.(94)Between the Buried and Me-Coma Ecliptic (2.5/5)

101.(91)Terror-The 25th Hour (2.5/5)

100.(101)Selena Gomez-Revival (2.5/5)

99.(95)Miguel-Wildheart (2.5/5)

98.(new)Halsey-Badlands (2.5/5)

Badlands is the most frustrating pop record I've heard in ages. At its best, it's a beautiful and haunting slice of downbeat synthpop bliss. At its worst, it's a dull and pretentious pile of trash from an artist that's not nearly as deep or edgy as she think she is. Halsey's use of atmosphere and unique vocals give me hope that her future projects will be worthwhile, she just needs to shake her cringe-worthy lyrics and issues with consistency before she can live up to her immense potential.  

97.(93)Drake & Future-What a Time to Be Alive (2.5/5)

96.(90)It Prevails-Perdition (3/5)

95.(92)Stick to Your Guns-Disobedient (3/5)

94.(89)Vola-Inmazes (3/5)

93.(88)Future-DS2 (3/5)

92.(87)Father John Misty-I Love You, Honeybear (3/5)

91.(83)Juicy J-O's to Oscars (3/5)

90.(86)Gucci Mane-King Gucci (3/5)

89.(85)Marina and the Diamonds-Froot (3/5)

88.(84)Marilyn Manson-The Pale Emperor (3/5)

87.(80)Drake-If You're Reading This, It's Too Late (3/5)

86.(81)Fall Out Boy-American Beauty/American Psycho (3/5)

85.(79)Migos-Yung Rich Nation (3/5)

84.(70)Dark Sermon-The Oracle (3/5)

83.(78)Baroness-Purple (3/5)

82.(77)Logic-The Incredible True Story (3/5)

81.(82)Carley Rae Jepsen-E.MO.TION (3/5)

80.(60)Future-56 Nights (3/5)

79.(76)Slayer-Repentless (3/5)

78.(75)Veil of Maya-Matriarch (3/5)

77.(73)Ingested-The Architect of Extinction (3.5/5)

76.(72)Four Year Strong-Four Year Strong (3.5/5)

75.(71)Miss May I-Deathless (3.5/5)

74.(69)CZARFACE-Every Hero Needs a Villain (3.5/5)

73.(68)Napalm Death-Apex Predator: Easy Meat (3.5/5)

72.(67)Devil You Know-They Bleed Red (3.5/5)

71.(66)Nile-What Should Not Be Unearthed (3.5/5)

70.(65)I the Mighty-Connector (3.5/5)

69.(47)Big K.R.I.T.-It's Better This Way (3.5/5)

68.(new)Florence + the Machine-How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (3.5/5)

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is the first time I've been exposed to Florence + the Machine's music at length and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of it. The variety of the instrumentation is nice and the range and power of Florence Welch's vocals is thoroughly impressive. The drop off in quality from the first to the second half is pretty substantial and the vocals are sometimes way too over-the-top for the subtle arrangements the band specializes in, but it's still a well-constructed art pop album with a number of standout tracks.

67.(64)Crossfaith-Xeno (3.5/5)

66.(46)The Wonder Years-No Closer to Heaven (3.5/5)

65.(63)Demi Lovato-Confident (3.5/5)

64.(62)Blacklisted-When People Grow, People Go (3.5/5)

63.(61)Rae Sremmurd-SremmLife (3.5/5)

62.(59)Stray From the Path-Subliminal Criminals (3.5/5)

61.(new)Horrendous-Anareta (3.5/5)

Anareta epitomizes how detrimental underwhelming vocals can be to the quality of an album. The excellent instrumentation that effortlessly blends traditional, melodic and progressive death metal puts a rock-solid backbone in place only to be failed by the below-average vocals of Damian Herring, who frequently sounds like a bad Chuck Schuldnier impersonator. Anareta is still worth a listen for fans of old-school and modern death metal, it's just nowhere near as good as it could've been.  

60.(58)Hundredth-Free (3.5/5)

59.(new)Chon-Grow (3.5/5)

Chon has been one of the most buzzed-about instrumental bands in modern music and listening to Grow, it's easy to see why. The musicianship is extraordinary, their songs are short and catchy and they're mellow enough to make for a nice, relaxing listening experience. Grow is a must-listen for fans of Animals as Leaders, Explosions in the Sky and 65daysofstatic.

58.(55)Haste the Day-Coward (3.5/5)

57.(57)State Champs-Around the World and Back (3.5/5)

56.(54)Migos-Back to the Bando (3.5/5)

55.(74)Travi$ Scott-Rodeo (3.5/5)

54.(56)Joey Bada$$-B4.Da.$$ (3.5/5)

53.(53)Children of Bodom-I Worship Chaos (3.5/5)

52.(52)Palm Reader-Besides the Ones We Love (3.5/5)

51.(51)Julia Holter-Have You in My Wilderness (3.5/5)

50.(50)Northlane-Node (3.5/5)

49.(49)Steven Wilson-Hand.Cannot.Erase. (3.5/5)

48.(48)Sleater-Kinney-No Cities to Love (3.5/5)

47.(45)Strawberry Girls-American Graffiti (3.5/5)

46.(43)Elder-Lore (3.5/5)

45.(42)TesseracT-Polaris (3.5/5)

44.(27)Born of Osiris-Soul Sphere (3.5/5)

43.(41)Feed Her to the Sharks-Fortitude (3.5/5)

42.(39)Neck Deep-Life's Not Out to Get You (3.5/5)

41.(new)Michael Christmas-What a Weird Day (3.5/5)

My hometown of Boston isn't known for its hip-hop scene, so when somebody out of the city makes any sort of waves on the national level, I'm going to pay close attention. Michael Christmas is a quirky, self-deprecating rapper that is a more than worthy national ambassador for the Boston hip-hop scene. His first full-length What a Weird Day shows flashes of true brilliance and lays down a solid blueprint for future success. Everything from his lyrics to the production is greatly improved from his 2014 debut mixtape Is This Art? and the quality is pretty consistent throughout, despite having an imposing 18-track, 61-minute runtime. Christmas is exactly the unique and unapologetically goofy voice we need more of in the overly serious modern hip-hop climate.

40.(38)Black Fast-Terms of Surrender (3.5/5)

39.(40)Make Them Suffer-Old Souls (3.5/5)

37.(37)Juicy J-Blue Dream & Lean 2 (3.5/5)

36.(36)Royal Thunder-Crooked Doors (3.5/5)

35.(35)High on Fire-Luminiferous (3.5/5)

34.(31)Abiotic-Casuistry (3.5/5)

33.(34)Pusha T-King Push-Prelude: Darkest Before Dawn (3.5/5)

32.(33)Thy Art is Murder-Holy War (3.5/5)

31.(32)Scale the Summit-V (3.5/5)

30.(28)Death Grips-The Powers That B: Disc 2: Jenny Death (3.5/5)

29.(30)Purity Ring-Another Eternity (3.5/5)

28.(29)A$AP Rocky-At.Long.Last.A$AP (3.5/5)

27.(26)Cattle Decapitation-The Anthropocence Extinction (4/5)

26.(25)Lamb of God-VII: Sturm und Drang (4/5)

25.(44)Waka Flocka Flame-Flockaveli 1.5 (4/5)

24.(24)Cult Leader-Lightless Walk (4/5)

23.(23)Clutch-Psychic Warfare (4/5)

22.(22)Sylosis-Dormant Heart (4/5)

21.(21)Alustrium-A Tunnel to Eden (4/5)

20.(20)Counterparts-Tragedy Will Find Us (4/5)

19.(18)Intervals-The Shape of Colour (4/5)

18.(17)The Story So Far-The Story So Far (4/5)

17.(15)Soilwork-The Ride Majestic (4/5)

16.(16)While She Sleeps-Brainwashed (4/5)

15.(14)Mac Miller-GO: OD AM (4/5)

14.(13) iwrestledabearonce-Hail Mary (4/5)

13.(12)Action Bronson-Mr. Wonderful (4/5)

12.(11)Vince Staples-Summertime '06 (4/5)

11.(10)Rivers of Nihil-Monarchy (4/5)

10.(9)Lana Del Rey-Honeymoon (4/5)

9.(8)Dance Gavin Dance-Instant Gratification (4/5)

8.(7)Mutoid Man-Bleeder (4/5)

7.(5)Periphery-Juggernaut (Alpha + Omega)(4/5)

6.(19)The Weeknd-Beauty Behind the Madness (4/5)

5.(4)Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp a Butterfly (4/5)

4.(2)Battlecross-Rise to Power (4.5/5)

3.(6)Intronaut-The Direction of Last Things (4.5/5)

2.(3)The Black Dahlia Murder-Abysmal (4.5/5)

1.(1)August Burns Red-Found in Far Away Places (4.5/5)