2015 BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

As I write this, it is December 2016, so I thought it about time to make my picks for the best albums of 2015.

Hey, better late than never.

Right?

So,

Without Further Ado

The Best Albums of the Year

Best Christian Album of the Year

Contemporary Christian Music has been a big part of my musical life for a long time and I have a huge collection  of Christian CDs that would probably shock most people.  So, it is with great sadness that there were no Christian albums released in 2015 that I bought.  Thank God, Carman and Michael W. Smith both released albums in 2014 which has kept me going.

Best Pop Album

Mikky Ekko - Time

Released in January, Mikky Ekko's debut album, Time, started the year off as a high point which no further pop releases were able to top. Time features an eclectic group of tunes that showcase Ekko's high voice with a sound reminiscent of Maroon 5's, Adam Levine.  Good stuff.
Here is the video of the first track of the album, Watch Me Rise:

Best New Age Album

Enya - Dark Sky Island

Yay!!!  Enya released a new album this year, her first since her Christmas album in 2008, and it is good but maybe not great. But, Enya is definitely back and this album is a good example of her style without being a classic album like earlier efforts such as Shepherd Moons.
BTW, I call this album a New Age album but don't take that to mean this is some kind of weird transcendental album that puts you in a trance.  It's really just a description of music that might be called meditative mixed with a heavy synthesized sound often repetitive melodic motives.
Here is a video of the title track of the album:

Best Electronic Album

Ratatat - Magnifique

Yay!!! Ratatat released a new album this year, and it was pretty good.  After their foray into a highly synthesized sound for LP3 and LP4 (their two previous albums) that resulted in their music sounding a bit like old-style video game music, Ratatat returns to a more guitar-heavy sound resulting in some cool grooves that remind me of their earliest albums such as Classics.  A welcome return.
Here is a video of the opening track and first single from the album, Cream on Chrome, which really exemplifies the sound of this album:

Best Christmas Album

I try to buy a Christmas album every year and up till last year, I was able to keep that tradition going, but due to circumstances, I didn't get any Christmas albums in 2015, so no pick for this category this year.

Best Classical Crossover Album

2Cellos - Celloverse

The Slovenian/Croatian cello duo of Luka Sullic and Stjepan Hauser released their 3rd album in 2015, Celloverse, and it is their most mature and barnstorming album showcasing this duo's awesome talents.  I have to say that if you haven't heard 2Cellos, do yourself a favor and give them a listen.

Here is the video of my favorite track from the album, a cello version of Michael Jackson's They Don't Care About Us:

Best Album of the Year

Pentatonix - Pentatonix

The acapella group Pentatonix released their first album of original material in 2015 and it was a triumph featuring catchy pop-flavored acapella songs that showcase their talents not only as performers but as songwriters as well.  I'm a sucker for acapella music and Pentatonix is the best in that type of music that we have right now and this is a great album and my pick for best of the year.
Here is the video of my favorite track and the first single from the album, Can't Sleep Love:

I know I didn't go into much detail about each album which is why I include videos just to give a taste of the albums and hopefully inspire you, the reader, to go and sample these albums further.

But wait...

How could I forget?

Best Film Score Album of the Year

The Force Awakens - John Williams

Yay!!! John Williams composed a new Star Wars film score this year.

John Williams once again proves he is the best film composer of this time or any time and it came in a new Star Wars movie.  Now, as a movie, I wasn't too thrilled with The Force Awakens but the music was definitely Star Wars quality and far and away the best of the year and the best thing about the movie.  Not too great a movie but a great score.

Here is the final track of the score in which we finally get to the only reason I went to see this movie (No Spoilers but his initials are L and S):

OK, that was the best of the music of 2015 in a nutshell.

Happy Listening!!!