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The Top 33 Albums Of 2015

  • December 22, 2015
  • Popjustice

albumscrapmontage

Here we are.

THE TOTALLY ACCURATE AND ENTIRELY FACTUAL LIST OF 2015'S 33 BEST ALBUMS.

We know this isn't really in the spirit of #content #promo but do you not sometimes find albums of the year lists a bit boring? The exciting lists are always the singles ones. What it probably comes down to is that singles can be perfect, but we all know that there really isn't any such thing as a perfect album. There's always one song that's a bit 'no thanks', or several songs that sag in the middle. There's often a sense of some songs only being included out of polite­ness, or as a way or per­suad­ing a song­writer or producer to cough up a far better song to release as a single. And so an albums of the year list is really just a list of the albums that are least bad.

Anyway now we've whipped you into a content-devouring frenzy, here are the best albums of 2015. (We did the singles as a countdown for dramatic purposes but this year's album of the year is so obvious that we're not even going to bother doing that.)

(Each selection comes with our pick of the best non-single song — we've whacked all those into a Spotify playlist.)

1. Carly Rae Jepsen – ‘E•MO•TION’

carly-rae-jepsen-emotion

Best non-single: 'Boy Problems'
Rating: 9/10

2. Marina & The Diamonds – ‘Froot’

Marina

Best non-single: 'Better Than That'
Rating: 9/10

3. Troye Sivan – ‘Blue Neighbourhood’

Troye

Best non-single: 'Lost Boy'
Rating: 9/10

4. Ellie Goulding – ‘Delirium’

Ellie-Goulding-Delirium-Artwork

Best non-single: 'Lost & Found'
Rating: 8/10

5. Tove Lo – ‘Queen Of The Clouds’

Tove Lo

Best non-single: 'Got Love'
Rating: 8/10

6. Tove Styrke – ‘Kiddo’

tove-styrke-kiddo

Best non-single: 'Walking A Line'
Rating: 8/10

7. Charli XCX – ‘Sucker’

charli-xcx-sucker-final-artwork-print

Best non-single: 'Need Ur Love'
Rating: 8/10

8. Years & Years – ‘Communion'

Years & Years

Best non-single: 'Gold'
Rating: 8/10

9. Say Lou Lou – ‘Lucid Dreaming’

Say Lou Lou

Best non-single: 'Glitter'
Rating: 8/10

10. Chvrches – ‘Every Open Eye’

Chvrches

Best non-single: 'Keep You On My Side'
Rating: 8/10

11. Galantis – ‘Pharmacy’

Galantis

Best non-single: 'Firebird'
Rating: 8/10

12. Susanne Sundfør – ‘Ten Love Songs’

sundfor

Best non-single: 'Slowly'
Rating: 8/10

13. Grimes — ‘Art Angels'

GRIMES-ART-ANGELS-COVER-ART-1

Best non-single: 'Realiti'
Rating: 8/10

14. Selena Gomez – ‘Revival’

selena-gomez-revival

Best non-single: 'Survivors'
Rating: 8/10

15. Halsey – ‘Badlands’

HALSEY_BADLANDS_JPG-4928

Best non-single: 'Colors'
Rating: 7/10

16. Madonna – ‘Rebel Heart’

Madonna

Best non-single: 'Inside Out'
Rating: 7/10

17. Fleur East — ‘[ALBUM TITLE TOO BAD TO INCLUDE, GOOD MUSIC THOUGH]'

fleur-love-sax

Best non-single: 'Paris'
Rating: 7/10

18. Sve — ‘My Religion'

SVECOVER4-1

Best non-single: 'Paint A Picture'
Rating: 7/10

19. Adam Lambert – ‘The Original High’

adam lambert

Best non-single: 'Shame'
Rating: 7/10

20. The Vamps — ‘Wake Up'

Vamps-Wake-Up-Album-Packshot

Best non-single: 'Cheater'
Rating: 7/10

21. Little Boots – ‘Working Girl’

Little-Boots

Best non-single: 'Real Girl'
Rating: 7/10

22. Little Mix – ‘Get Weird’

Get_weird-1

Best non-single: 'OMG'
Rating: 6/10

23. Lana Del Rey — ‘Honeymoon'

528666

Best non-single: 'Art Deco', they all sound the fucking same though so take your pick
Rating: 6/10

24. Miley Cyrus – ‘Мiley Cyrus And Her Dead Petz’

1035x1035-mgid-uma-image-mtv

Best non-single: None of these songs were singles and 'Hands Of Love' is the only MC&HDP song on Spotify so let's just go for that one and move on.
Rating: 6/10

25. Florence — ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful'

florence-machine-how-big-how-blue-how-beautiful-stream

Best non-single: 'Third Eye'
Rating: 6/10

26. Justin Bieber – ‘Purpose’

Justin Bieber

Best non-single: 'Get Used To It'
Rating: 6/10

27. Will Young – ‘85% Proof’

Will-Young-cover

Best non-single: 'I Don't Need A Lover'
Rating: 6/10

28. The Weeknd – ‘Beauty Behind The Madness’

the-weeknd-beauty-behind-the-madness-1

Best non-single: 'Acquainted'
Rating: 6/10

29. V V Brown – ‘Glitch’

V-V-Brown-Glitch-2015-1200x1200

Best non-single: 'Talk About This'
Rating: 6/10

30. Nero – ‘Between II Worlds’

nero-between-ii-worlds

Best non-single: 'Circles'
Rating: 6/10

31. Seinabo Sey — ‘Pretend'

seinabo-sey-pretend

Best non-single: 'Ruin'
Rating: 6/10

32. One Direction – ‘Made In The AM’

one-direction-album

Best non-single: 'What A Feeling'
Rating: 6/10

33. Hurts – ‘Surrender’

HurtsSurrender

Best non-single: 'Rolling Stone'
Rating: 6/10

324,093,517. Alexander Armstrong — 'A Year Of Songs'

alexanderarmstrongdebutalbum750

Best non-single: NO NO NO NO NO.
Rating: ‑INFINITY/10

So there you go. Have we forgotten something? It feels like we have. Should the Jess Glynne album be on the list? No it should not. Is it strange that Adele's not included? Yes it is, a bit. Do we feel bad about not including Leona? Not really, we said no to work because we had an interview with her booked in, which she then cancelled.

Anyway, not a classic year for albums, but that's every year isn't it? This is why singles are the best.

  • Adam Lambert
  • Carly Rae Jepsen
  • charli xcx
  • Chvrches
  • ellie goulding
  • Fleur East
  • Galantis
  • Grimes
  • Halsey
  • justin bieber
  • lana del rey
  • Little Boots
  • Little Mix
  • Madonna
  • Marina & The Diamonds
  • miley cyrus
  • One Direction
  • say lou lou
  • Selena Gomez
  • Sve
  • the weeknd
  • Tove Lo
  • Tove Styrke
  • troye sivan
  • Years & Years
Previous Article
  • The News

Foxes' second album now has some 'cover art' and song titles etc

  • December 22, 2015
  • Brad O'Mance
Have a read
Next Article
  • The Briefing

The Amazingish Popjustice Quiz Of 2015

  • December 26, 2015
  • Popjustice
Have a read
Further listening
Greatest hits
  • Max Martin interview: "I’ve begun to feel that, well, I kind of know how to write a song now"
  • Giorgio Moroder interview: "I hated the moustache"
  • A lengthy Neil Tennant interview
Further reading
  • 1
    Fine, let's do a Substack then.
  • 2
    The 2022 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: shortlist
  • 3
    2021 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: Laura Mvula wins
  • 4
    Sarah Harding
  • 5
    "You asked me not to leave, well here I am again"
  • 6
    The 2021 Popjustice Twenty Quid Music Prize: shortlist announced
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