2015 was another amazing year in music, and saw the release of numerous albums of merit, most notably the incredible Blurryface from twenty øne piløts, How Big How Blue How Beautiful from Florence + the Machine, Beauty Behind the Madness from The Weeknd, Currents from Tame Impala, Wilder Mind from Mumford & Sons, What Went Down from Foals, Sound and Color from Alabama Shakes, To Pimp a Butterfly from Kendrick Lamar, Drones from Muse, Every Open Eye from CHVRCHES, Kintsugi from Death Cab For Cutie, My Love is Cool from Wolf Alice, Caracal from Disclosure, Get to Heaven from Everything Everything and, at the end of the year, Adele’s eagerly awaited and record-setting 25.  One of my personal favorites was No Devotion’s exceptional debut album Permanence, which I previously reviewed in this blog.

One of the biggest hits of the year was the hugely popular “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. The wildly entertaining and oft-imitated video paid homage to masters of funk James Brown, Funkadelic and Prince. Another break-out artist was Elle King, whose “Ex’s and Oh’s” was one of the biggest and most enjoyable songs of the year, and I especially loved “My Type” from Saint Motel, a fun and stylish tune. My pick for best song of 2015 is “Tear in My Heart,” a rousing anthem to the highs and lows of love from my favorite band of the year, twenty øne piløts.

1. TEAR IN MY HEART – twenty øne piløts

2. UPTOWN FUNK! – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
3. EX’S & OH’S – Elle King
4. THE LESS I KNOW THE BETTER – Tame Impala
5. FIRST – Cold War Kids
6. SHUT UP AND DANCE – Walk the Moon
7. RENEGADES – X Ambassadors
8. BELIEVE – Mumford & Sons
9. STRESSED OUT – twenty øne piløts
10. CAN’T FEEL MY FACE – The Weeknd
11. DREAMS – Beck
12. MY TYPE – Saint Motel
13. HELLO – Adele
14. LAMPSHADES ON FIRE – Modest Mouse
15. THINKING OUT LOUD – Ed Sheeran
16. HOLLOW MOON (BAD WOLF) – AWOLNATION
17. LONG WAY DOWN – Robert DeLong
18. SHIP TO WRECK – Florence + the Machine
19. DON’T WANNA FIGHT – Alabama Shakes
20. DEAD INSIDE – Muse
21. BLACK SUN – Death Cab For Cutie
22. CRYSTALS – Of Monsters and Men
23. WHAT KIND OF MAN? – Florence + the Machine
24. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING – Foo Fighters
25. S.O.B. – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
26. ROLLERCOASTER – Bleachers
27. ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME – Coldplay
28. BUDAPEST – George Ezra
29. MOANING LISA SMILE – Wolf Alice
30. NEARLY FORGOT MY BROKEN HEART – Chris Cornell
31. ELECTRIC LOVE – BØRNS
32. SEDONA – Houndmouth
33. BLAME IT ON ME – George Ezra
34. WHAT WENT DOWN – Foals
35. I AM – AWOLNATION
36. EARNED IT (FIFTY SHADES OF GREY) – The Weeknd
37. CIGARETTE DAYDREAMS – Cage the Elephant
38. COULD HAVE BEEN ME – The Struts
39. EVERY OTHER FRECKLE – alt-J
40. THE WOLF – Mumford & Sons
41. MESS IS MINE – Vance Joy
42. CECILIA AND THE SATELLITE – Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
43. THE GHOSTS OF BEVERLY DRIVE – Death Cab for Cutie
44. 2 HEADS – Coleman Hell
45. HOLD BACK THE RIVER – James Bay
46. I BET MY LIFE – Imagine Dragons
47. R.I.P. 2 MY YOUTH – The Neighbourhood
48. FIGURE IT OUT – Royal Blood
49. SOMEBODY NEW – Joywave
50. ADDITION – No Devotion
51. MOUNTAIN AT MY GATES – Foals
52. MERCY – Muse
53. KATHLEEN – Catfish & the Bottlemen
54. FAIRLY LOCAL – twenty øne piløts
55. R U MINE? – Arctic Monkeys
56. SOMEONE NEW – Hozier
57. HOTLINE BLING – Drake
58. COLD COLD MAN – Saint Motel
59. THE GROUND WALKS, WITH TIME IN A BOX – Modest Mouse
60. LEAVE A TRACE – CHVRCHES
61. DIFFERENT COLORS – Walk the Moon
62. MOLECULES – Atlas Genius
63. COMING HOME – Leon Bridges
64. FLASHED JUNK MIND – Milky Chance
65. THE WEIGHT OF LOVE – The Black Keys
66. FROM EDEN – Hozier
67. UMA THURMAN – Fall Out Boy
68. WHAT DO YOU MEAN? – Justin Bieber
69. REGRET – Everything Everything
70. SHOTS – Imagine Dragons
71. EVERY BREAKING WAVE – U2
72. COMING FOR YOU – The Offspring
73. SOUND OF CHANGE – Dirty Heads
74. EVERYTHING IS WRONG – Interpol
75. KARMA – Disciples of Babylon
76. DISTANT PAST – Everything Everything
77. DYING TO SHINE – She Pulled the Trigger
78. REALiTi – Grimes
79. WANT TO WANT ME – Jason Derulo
80. CIGARETTES AND SAINTS – The Wonder Years
81. REALLY LOVE – D’Angelo and the Vanguard
82. I LIVED – OneRepublic
83. CIVIL WAR – Ages Apart
84. BEST OF ME – The Awareness
85. PERMANENT SUNLIGHT – No Devotion
86. STYLE – Taylor Swift
87. I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE – Sam Smith
88. FOOL FOR LOVE – Lord Huron
89. WAVES – Mr. Probst
90. KING KUNTA – Kendrick Lamar
91. LITTLE MONSTER – Royal Blood
92. JEALOUS – Nick Jonas
93. BAD BLOOD – Ryan Adams
94. SEE YOU AGAIN – Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
95. OUTTA MY MIND – The ARCS
96. CONGREGATION – Foo Fighters
97. ELASTIC HEART – Sia
98. LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO – Ellie Goulding
99. HALLELUJAH – Panic! At the Disco
100. ABSOLUTION CALLING – Incubus