Same rules as last year: by 'Best' I mean 'the one's I like the most' - just the ones I liked to hear over & over this year. No Greatest Hits, no 'remasters'. Cover albums are OK as are live albums (though neither made the cut).
Dylan's Bootleg Series, Vol. 12 was a tough call as it is a great listen, but the idea is to capture the creativity of 2015.
For a full explanation, see last year's introduction.
This was the Year of the Woman and no, I don't mean Taylor Swift or Adele or any Barbie Doll with auto-tune. There were no female artists in the Best of 2014 (there was, however, one transgender-led band), but 2015 sports four (five if you think Alabama Shakes is basically Brittany Howard - the main argument against that thesis is the fact that her other project, Thunderbitch, did not make the cut at all; it sounded, shall we say, better in the conception than the execution).
So with all due apologies to Casey Kasem:
10. Fast Forward - Joe Jackson
One of only two acts on the list active when I was in high school (hell, of the solo artists, only three were alive when I was in high school), Jackson's latest release is as hip and observant as anything he's released. Now facing the generational battle from the other side, the title cut is a modern take on Neil Young's 'Old Man':
9. Sound and Color
Damn! What a voice Brittany Howard has. And with Blake Mills's production, it shines, moans, squeals and blasts like a cannon. Musically, this is what 'Some Girls' would have sounded like if Mick Jagger knew shit about singing:
8. Faith in the Future
The Hold Steady just missed the #1 spot last year and front-man Craig Finn's solo effort this year hit the Top Ten. With a voice that will never be on par with, say, the aforementioned Ms. Howard, it is no less distinctive and just as suited to the story being told and the music surrounding it.
Come back tomorrow for 7 through 5.
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