So, another year is in the bag and on the books. As usual, I've enjoyed discovering and exploring some of the new music that's been released in the course of 2015, and I've compiled a list of my favorites. It certainly is a matter of my personal favorites, as opposed to any vain and futile attempt on my part to identify the "best" albums of the year. But for what it's worth, I've identified those albums that have caught my ear and held my attention, which have entertained and delighted me, made me think, or otherwise brought joy into my life.
Of course, my favorite new release of 2015 was the youngest baby grand, Gianna Grace Wirgau, who made her beautiful appearance on May the 4th. And to my great delight, I got to spend a week with Ginny and her family in November, in addition to a week with 2014's #1 release, Donovan Richmond Stuckwisch, and his family.
This past year was a milestone for me in a couple of ways, marking my 30th wedding anniversary with the lovely Lady LaRena, and my 50th birthday. Hence, there are 30 albums listed here under each of six genres (Country, Pop, Rock, Hard Rock & Heavy Metal, Ambiguous Alternatives, and Guitarists), and my top 50 favorite albums across all six of these genres. For anyone who may be interested, the headings of each of these lists should hyperlink to extended lists on the Rate Your Music site (in itself a favorite discovery of 2015).
As in the past, kudos to Amazon, Spotify, and the St. Joseph County Library for their invaluable assistance in finding and perusing new music. And thanks to my friend and colleague, Rev. Erich Fickel, for encouraging me and helping me to be more discerning and demanding in my country music tastes and expectations. There's still more pop and rock in my country than his, but my palette has both expanded and become more refined under his tutelage.
There was a lot of great country music released in 2015, and a lot of other great albums of various styles. It is ongoing challenge to know how best to categorize some of it, because the lines between genres have blurred and merged, and many albums span a diversity of styles from start to finish. So, quibble if you will, but I've done my best to gather things into recognizable families of sound. And, with that, without any further ado, here's what I came up with:
The 2015 Grampies
1. Will Hoge — Small Town Dreams
2. Jimmy Barnes — Hindsight
3. Mat Kearney — Just Kids
4. Kid Rock — First Kiss (clean version)
5. Kristian Bush — Southern Gravity
6. Jace Pawlak — Perspective
7. Joe Satriani — Shockwave Supernova
8. All That Remains — The Order of Things
9. Shinedown — Threat to Survival
10. W.A.S.P. — Golgotha
11. Like a Storm — Awaken the Fire
12. Fall Out Boy — American Beauty / American Psycho
13. The Darker My Horizon — Acquiesce
14. James Bay — Chaos and the Calm
15. Tyler Farr — Suffer in Peace
16. A Thousand Horses — Southernality
17. Tremonti — Cauterize
18. Aranda — Not the Same
19. Raven — ExtermiNation
20. Kyle Park — The Blue Roof Sessions
21. Tim McGraw — Damn Country Music
22. Ella Henderson — Chapter One
23. Our Last Night — Younger Dreams
24. Bumblefoot — Little Brother Is Watching
25. Amorphis — Under the Red Cloud
26. Thunder — Wonder Days
27. Zac Brown Band — Jekyll + Hyde
28. Anthony Gomes — Electric Field Holler
29. Manic Bloom — I Know What's Next . . . But You Won't Believe Me
30. Everclear — Black is the New Black
31. Allison Moorer — Down to Believing
32. Kacey Musgraves — Pageant Material
33. Smash Into Pieces — The Apocalypse DJ
34. Blackwelder — Survival of the Fittest
35. Saxon — Battering Ram
36. Eclipse — Armageddonize
37. Kristin Diable — Create Your Own Mythology
38. Laurence Jones — What's It Gonna Be
39. Imagine Dragons — Smoke and Mirrors
40. William Clark Green — Ringling Road
41. Ben Rector — Brand New
42. Ten — Isla de muerta
43. The Bloodline — We Are One
44. Sleeping With Sirens — Madness
45. What's Eating Gilbert — That New Sound You're Looking For
46. The Poodles — Devil in the Details
47. Wolfpakk — Rise of the Animal
48. Wearing Scars — A Thousand Words
49. Marcel Singor — Futureproof
50. Black Star Riders — The Killer Instinct
Country
1. Will Hoge — Small Town Dreams
2. Kristian Bush — Southern Gravity
3. Tyler Farr — Suffer in Peace
4. A Thousand Horses — Southernality
5. Kyle Park — The Blue Roof Sessions
6. Tim McGraw — Damn Country Music
7. Zac Brown Band — Jekyll + Hyde
8. Allison Moorer — Down to Believing
9. Kacey Musgraves — Pageant Material
10. William Clark Green — Ringling Road
11. Cory Morrow — The Good Fight
12. Corb Lund — Things That Can't Be Undone
13. Darius Rucker — Southern Style
14. Jason Michael Carroll — What Color Is Your Sky
15. Eric Church — Mr. Misunderstood
16. The Damn Quails — Out of the Birdcage
17. The Empty Pockets — The Ten Cent Tour
18. Carrie Underwood — Storyteller
19. Don Henley — Cass County
20. The Black Lillies — Hard to Please
21. Blitzen Trapper — All Across This Land
22. American Aquarium — Wolves
23. The Honeycutters — Me Oh My
24. Lindi Ortega — Faded Gloryville
25. Montgomery Gentry — Folks Like Us
26. Maddie & Tae — Start Here
27. Black Mountain Shine — Black Mountain Shine
28. Jason Isbell — Something More Than Free
29. Cam — Untamed
30. Pat Green — Home
Pop
1. Mat Kearney — Just Kids
2. Jace Pawlak — Perspective
3. James Bay — Chaos and the Calm
4. Ella Henderson — Chapter One
5. Kristin Diable — Create Your Own Mythology
6. Ben Rector — Brand New
7. What's Eating Gilbert — That New Sound You're Looking For
8. Imaginary Future — Sunlight
9. Elle King — Love Stuff
10. George Ezra — Wanted on Voyage
11. Rob Thomas — The Great Unknown
12. Ringo — Postcards From Paradise
13. Beth Hart — Better Than Home
14. Kelly Clarkson — Piece by Piece
15. Passenger — Whispers II
16. The Corrs — White Light
17. Dawes — All Your Favorite Bands
18. Sabrina Carpenter — Eyes Wide Open
19. Olly Murs — Never Been Better
20. Kodaline — Coming Up for Air
21. Joshua Radin — Onward and Sideways
22. Nate Ruess — Grand Romantic
23. Family of the Year — Family of the Year
24. Plain White T's — American Nights
25. Owl City — Mobile Orchestra
26. Grace Potter — Midnight
27. Brandi Carlile — The Firewatcher's Daughter
28. Vanessa Carlton — Liberman
29. Shawn Mendes — Handwritten
30. Chris Isaak — First Comes the Night
Rock
1. Jimmy Barnes — Hindsight
2. Kid Rock — First Kiss (clean version)
3. Shinedown — Threat to Survival
4. Like a Storm — Awaken the Fire
5. The Darker My Horizon — Acquiesce
6. Thunder — Wonder Days
7. Smash Into Pieces — The Apocalypse DJ
8. Eclipse — Armageddonize
9. Ten — Isla de muerta
10. The Poodles — Devil in the Details
11. Black Star Riders — The Killer Instinct
12. Terra Nova — Reinvent Yourself
13. Scorpions — Return to Forever
14. Gun — Frantic
15. Revolution Saints — Revolution Saints
16. Three Days Grace — Human
17. Jono — Silence
18. Khymera — The Grand Design
19. Blackberry Smoke — Holding All the Roses
20. Stellar Revival — Love, Lust, and Bad Company
21. Red Sun Rising — Polyester Zeal
22. The Winery Dogs — Hot Streak
23. Europe — War of Kings
24. Halestorm — Into the Wild Life
25. Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle — Whisky Fingers
26. Palace of the King — White Bird / Burn the Sky
27. Find Me — Dark Angel
28. Saint Asonia — Saint Asonia
29. The Answer — Raise a Little Hell
30. Voodoo Hill — Waterfall
Hard Rock & Heavy Metal
1. All That Remains — The Order of Things
2. W.A.S.P. — Golgotha
3. Raven — ExtermiNation
4. Amorphis — Under the Red Cloud
5. Blackwelder — Survival of the Fittest
6. Saxon — Battering Ram
7. The Bloodline — We Are One
8. Wolfpakk — Rise of the Animal
9. Wearing Scars — A Thousand Words
10. Angra — Secret Garden
11. Disturbed — Immortalized
12. Battle Beast — Unholy Savior
13. Orden Ogan — Ravenhead
14. Jorn Lande & Trond Holter — Dracula: Swing of Death
15. Stryper — Fallen
16. Def Leppard — Def Leppard
17. Magic Kingdom — Savage Requiem
18. Royal Hunt — Devil's Dozen
19. Within Silence — Gallery of Life
20. Worldview — The Chosen Few
21. Praying Mantis — Legacy
22. Signum Regis — Chapter IV: The Reckoning
23. Shattered Skies — The World We Used to Know
24. Symphony X — Underworld
25. Grumpynators — Wonderland
26. Bullet for My Valentine — Venom
27. Iron Maiden — The Book of Souls
28. Luca Turilli's Rhapsody — Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus
29. Scanner — The Judgement
30. Temperance — Limitless
Ambiguous Alternatives
1. Fall Out Boy — American Beauty / American Psycho
2. Aranda — Not the Same
3. Our Last Night — Younger Dreams
4. Manic Bloom — I Know What's Next . . . But You Won't Believe Me
5. Everclear — Black is the New Black
6. Imagine Dragons — Smoke and Mirrors
7. Sleeping With Sirens — Madness
8. The Decemberists — What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
9. Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Letters From the Labyrinth
10. Dommin — Rise
11. Karnataka — Secrets of Angels
12. A Life | Divided — Human
13. Young Guns — Ones and Zeros
14. Kingcrow — Eidos
15. The Fratellis — Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied
16. Breaking Benjamin — Dark Before Dawn
17. Houndmouth — Little Neon Limelight
18. Lifehouse — Out of the Wasteland
19. Barenaked Ladies — Silverball
20. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds — Chasing Yesterday
21. Of Monsters and Men — Beneath the Skin
22. Muse — Drones
23. Mumford & Sons — Wilder Mind
24. The Neal Morse Band — The Grand Experiment
25. All Time Low — Future Hearts
26. Born Cages — I'm Glad I'm Not Me
27. Mayday Parade — Black Lines
28. Hidden History — Mysterion
29. Kurt Vile — b'lieve i'm goin down . . .
30. Florence + The Machine — How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Guitarists
1. Joe Satriani — Shockwave Supernova
2. Tremonti — Cauterize
3. Bumblefoot — Little Brother Is Watching
4. Anthony Gomes — Electric Field Holler
5. Laurence Jones — What's It Gonna Be
6. Marcel Singor — Futureproof
7. Tommy Emmanuel — It's Never Too Late
8. Tony MacAlpine — Concrete Gardens
9. Ol Drake — Old Rake
10. Joel Hoekstra's 13 — Dying to Live
11. Paul Wardingham — The Human Affliction
12. Points North — Points North
13. Neal Schon — Vortex
14. Gus G — Brand New Revolution
15. Richie Kotzen — Cannibals
16. Kaki King — The Neck Is a Bridge to the Body
17. Joe Stump — The Dark Lord Rises
18. Pat Travers — Retro Rocket
19. Warren Haynes Featuring Railroad Earth — Ashes & Dust
20. Jeff Fetterman — Bottle Full of Blues
21. Robben Ford — Into the Sun
22. Jimmy LaFave — The Night Tribe
23. Uli Jon Roth — Scorpions Revisited
24. Shardborne — Living Bridges
25. Walter Berterame — Forza Nova
26. Impellitteri — Venom
27. Michael Schenker's Temple of Rock — Spirit on a Mission
28. Scott Henderson — Vibe Station
29. Marco De Francesco — Mdf 1 - The Wizard
30. Ana Popovic — Blue Room
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