Top 10 Albums of 2015
- Chvrches -- Every Open Eye
I was really looking forward to this release and it did not disappoint. The vocals! (hers and his) the beats! the lyrics! A home run!!
Fave tracks: High Enough To Carry You Over, Bow Down & Make Them Gold
Lyrics below from "High Enough To Carry You Over"
Run if you like
All of the things that you left behind
Hold me down
You can't deny and I can't deny
Open your eyes
I'll look away and you come around
To build your words
High enough to carry you over - Ellie Goulding -- Delirium
Amazing production, lyrics and vocals. And 21 tracks (plus the intro) that I love!! I can''t stop listening to it!
Fave tracks: Codes, Devotion & Don't Need Nobody
Lyrics below from "Codes"
It's a mystery
I know that something happened in your history
Oh, it's too much to risk
You give me some, but you've been holding most of it
Back, so it's no surprise
Everything you do, I over analyze
Breathe, in and out
Baby, give me something new to think about
Tell me black and white
Why I'm here tonight
I can't read the signs
Stop talking in codes - Purity Ring -- Another Eternity
This one was a "late entry" because I didn't get this album until December 21st but man do I love it!
Fave tracks: heartsigh, push pull & repetition
Lyrics below from "push pull"
You push and you pull and you tell yourself no
It's like when you lie down, the veins grow in slow
You push and you pull
But you'd never know
I crept up in you and I
Wouldn't let go - Meg Myers -- Sorry
It's so nice to hear a woman get angry and not apologize for it. There's far too many songs with women trying to be cute and sexy but Meg is pissed and wants you to know. She also grew up as JW so I feel a bit of kindred spirits with a lot of her lyrics.
Fave tracks: I Really Want You To Hate Me, Sorry & Lemon Eyes
Lyrics below from "Sorry"
My voice is twisted, guilty goes the tongue
Your eyes are faded, that used to turn me on
And our skin is dangerous, villains when we touch
No matter what we're feeling, it never feels enough - Melanie Martinez -- Cry Baby
This album is so wonderfully crafted and it all fits together; toy piano sounds, babytalk and devastating sadness -- you know, all the pieces of growing up. I love the way the album uses childish themes to address adult issues.
Fave tracks: Mrs. Potato Head, Dollhouse & Tag, You're It
Lyrics below from "Mrs. Potato Head"
Don't be dramatic it's only some plastic
No one will love you if you're unattractive
Oh Mrs. Potato Head tell me, is it true that pain is beauty?
Does a new face come with a warranty?
Will a pretty face make it better?
Oh Mr. Potato Head tell me
How did you afford her surgery?
Do you swear you'll stay forever - Halestorm -- Into the Wild Life
It seems so rare to have a female-fronted rock band and this is a really great one. Saw them live this year and that was definitely a highlight; lots of energy and a kick-ass attitude.
Fave tracks: What Sober Couldn't Say, Bad Girl's World & I Like It Heavy
Lyrics below from "What Sober Couldn't Say"
What sober couldn't say
Couldn't break thru
Under the influence of you
Incoherent, truth serum
Just enough to make me bullet proof
I'm so over this love gone violent
I'm drunk and brave enough to say
What sober couldn't say - Madonna -- Rebel Heart
This is so perfectly sacrilegious and provocative and what did you expect? Bitch, she's Madonna!
Fave tracks: Ghosttown, Joan of Arc & Rebel Heart
Lyrics below from"Ghosttown"
Maybe it was all too much
Too much for a man to take
Everything's bound to break
Sooner or later, sooner or later - Janet Jackson -- Unbreakable
I loved Janet so much in the 80s and early 90s and I've been waiting to love an album of hers again. I haven't been this into a Janet Jackson album since "janet" in 1993. This a really great album and I find she sounds a lot of Michael sometimes, especially on "The Great Forever".
Fave tracks: Dammn Baby, The Great Forever & Shoulda Known Better
Lyrics below from "Shoulda Known Better"
Part of the revolution
Ready for real solutions
We won't accept excuses
We tolerate no abuses
Cause I don't want my face to be
That poster child for being naive
Why why why why
I guess I shoulda known better - Brian M. Weidemann -- Buy Popular Demand
My husband worked really hard to put an album out this year and I'm so proud of the results. He's been playing guitar for over 20 years now and about a year ago he had his first vocal training ever and his technique grew in leaps and bounds seemingly overnight. I've been listening to this album probably more than the others just by being around him while he recorded and mastered the album but I've also listened to it a lot on my own because I enjoy it so much.
Fave tracks: Disappear, The Message (Political or Otherwise) & Sold My Soul
Lyrics below from "Sold My Soul"
Selfish, reprehensible, my shelf-life ends on principle;
The faithless sell appointments any way they can.
Allegory, axiom; the moral code is taxing them.
For once they formed a point they stuck it in the man.
At its best before the time that it's been dated
Bound, confessed, engaged, committed, drawn, and slated.
Unheard at any decibel, it's never louder than. - Frankmusik -- For You
I love his voice so much the fact that he used some electronic effects on it for this album really disappointed me. There's still plenty of things to love about the album but his voice and the lyrics are really the key for me.
Fave tracks: Majestic, Never Left & This
Lyrics below from "This"
This is where we'll die
History gonna see that only one of survives
And this is how it starts
Pulling us apart
Every word's so sharp
Putting fire in our hearts
This is for my friends
This is for my foes
Now the world will know
Top 10 Songs of 2015 (by artists whose albums did not make the list or artists that only put out EPs)
- Katharine McPhee -- Love Strikes
This song is so amazing! The lyrics are perfect and the vocals are incredible!!! Also the piano opening sounds like a part in "I Am the One (reprise) from the musical Next To Normal which is chilling.
"If love strikes once and one time only
All I’d have is broken dreams inside of me" - JoJo -- Say Love
I am so glad JoJo is back, even if we only got 3 new songs; they're all great but this one really caught my ear off the bat, esp. the woo woo yeah yeah vocals at the end!
"When I say 'love you'
You just say 'me too'But I want you to say love" - Adam Lambert -- Lucy (Feat.Brian May)
This one is so great because of Brian May's awesome guitar and it I always remember that Adam toured with Queen and then I appreciate his incredible range all over again!
"She was bound to break free from the start
Girl got that rebel heart" - Kelly Clarkson -- Nostalgic
This one is so deliciously 80s it hit me right away; a really fun track!
"I wonder if you're wearing that gold chain with a promise from me" - Color Theory -- The Light Inside
This is sad and sweet and melancholy in the most perfect way, goes well with the piano and the vocals are fantastic, as always.
"If there's something I can do to make things easier for you
Nothing's too much for someone I love
Yes, I can still love" - Björk -- Stonemilker
This song is so devastating and beautiful. I blame it for not getting into the album because this is track 1 and it set the bar way too high for the rest of the songs. Amazing!
"What is it that I have
That makes me feel your pain
Like milking a stone
To get you to say it" - Marina & the Diamonds -- Forget
The verse melody of this reminds me of "Teen Idol" off her last album, which is not a bad thing, but when the chorus kicks in it's all fresh and so awesome!
"I've put my money where my mouth is
For the first time in my life
I've made mistakes, but I believe that
Everything was worth the fight" - Florence + the Machine -- Hiding
The lyrics are a home run! Nice upbeat track too.
"You cry a little, so do I, so do I
Tell me I will be released
Not sure I can deal with this
Up all night again this week
Breaking things that I should keep" - Patty Griffin -- Servant of Love
This is the opening track, title track and it's so intense; gets a little crazy and unraveled a couple times and I love it!!
"Flying close to the ground
Held by your silent
Words from the deep
Calling to me" - Metric -- The Shade
This one is upbeat and so fun!
"With eternal love, the stars above
All there is and ever was
I want it all, I want it all"
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