Top 5 Albums of 2015

Hey, y'all! This is the eighth post in a 10-post series listing some of my favorite things. The first seven posts are lists of my current all-time favorites, while the last 3 posts include only favorites of 2015.

If you want to check out the other lists/posts in this series, you can check them out here:

A Few of My Favorite Things [2015]

If this list looks familiar, it's probably because it is. Somehow, my list of my favorite albums didn't change over the past year, so I essentially copied and pasted my list from last year. I wish I had something to change here, but I really don't.

#5: Magazines or Novels [Deluxe] by Andy Grammer

Now, you might consider this cheating because the original of this CD came out in 2014. However, it totally wasn't on my radar at its release and didn't make it on to the list last year because of that. I'm really not sure how I missed its release, because I checked multiple times to see if there was new Andy Grammer music, but somehow I didn't realize that this CD existed until hearing "Honey, I'm Good" on the radio in the spring. Regardless, I immediately downloaded the CD and I've listened to it regularly ever since. And the deluxe edition just has even more songs to love, including Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah), which has definitely become one of my favorite songs on the album. That aside, the songs on this CD fall into either the "endless repeat" category or the "rarely listen" category, which is why this is at the bottom of the list.

Best songs: Honey I'm Good, Back Home, Forever, Holding Out, and Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah)

#4: Astoria by Marianas Trench

Marianas Trench is one of my favorite bands, so getting this CD was a no-brainer. There are a lot of really great songs on this one, but much like Andy Grammer's CD, all the songs on this CD fall under either "endless repeat" or "rarely listen." The reason this one got higher is because A) I prefer Marianas Trench to Andy Grammer and B) Even though I prefer a handful of the songs over the others, I still really enjoy the others that I don't listen to as much. Overall, this definitely isn't my favorite Marianas Trench album, but I'm pretty sure that it will begin to grow on me very soon just like all their other albums have.

Best songs: Shut Up and Kiss Me, This Means War, Yesterday, and Burning Up.

#3: Future Hearts by All Time Low

An All Time Low album only made it to #3 for the year?!?! Yep, unfortunately, that's exactly where this one belongs. If I were to rank this one among all of the other All Time Low albums, this one would be above only Dirty Work, which is most ATL fans' least favorite ATL album- for MANY reasons. This one has some really great ones, a couple not-so-great ones, and then a lot of average ones. And while in general, I do really enjoy this CD, it's not up to the standard that a lot of other ATL albums set. Despite that, it's still a really good CD.

Best songs: Old Scars/Future Hearts, Dancing With a Wolf, and Don't You Go

#2: Blurryface by Twenty One Pilots

2015 was the first year where I really started listening to Twenty One Pilots. I'd heard their music before, but I didn't really have strong feelings one way or another. Then, I gave them another chance this year (I don't totally remember what prompted that) and really just fell in love, especially with this album. The album overall is just really solid, but on top of that there are also several standout songs on top of the rest of the really solid CD.

Best songs: Stressed Out, Lane Boy, Tear In My Heart, and Ride.

#1: Pentatonix by Pentatonix

This. Album. I have no idea how many times I blasted this album on repeat, and I'm not really sure that I want to know. I'm still listening to this on repeat more than 3 months later. It's just so good. I pre-ordered this one, and I remember getting an iTunes alert at about 11 PM the day before its release that said the album was available for download. My roommate and I freaked out and immediately downloaded it and began blasting it and were so, so impressed. This is definitely their best original music to date (except, maybe, On My Way Home, which was my favorite song released last year) and overall, it's just a really awesome album and it was definitely my favorite of 2015.

Best songs: Sing, Na Na Na, Ref, Cracked, and Lean On

So, those are my top 5 album releases of 2015. Let me know down in the comments what you think of the CDs on this list, and what some of your favorite releases of 2015 were!

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Best Songs and Albums of 2014!

Hey, y'all! So, last year, I did a post talking about my top 10 songs and CDs of 2013, and I decided that I should really continue the tradition this year  (link HERE if you want to check out my 2013 faves). This year, however, there are a couple slight changes. The first of those is that I don't have a top 10 this year, at least for CDS. There were only a handful of CDs and that I really, really enjoyed in 2014, so I'm not even going to bother with trying to come up with more just to fill in places.

Last year, I also gave the songs the stipulation that they had to be singles. I didn't do that this year. My favorite songs of the year tended to be the songs that artists didn't release as singles, and I didn't want to neglect them. Last year, I also gave the stipulation that there could only be one song/CD from each artist. That's not the case this year, because I'd be neglecting several amazing songs and CDs.

Best CDs of 2014

#6: Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 6

by Various Artists

These are always just so much fun. Sometimes my biggest problem that I have with a pop song is that I hate the singer or their voice. Punk Goes Pop never fails to take the fun of pop songs and make it just a bit grittier and more enjoyable. 

Best songs: Problem by Set It Off, Royals by Youth in Revolt, and Chocolate by KnucklePuck

#5: Oh, What A Life

by American Authors

For the first half of the year, this was the only CD on my favorites of 2014. I was actually starting to worry that there wouldn't be any others on the list. I really like the folk/pop blend that American Authors create throughout pretty much all of their music. It's really interesting and pretty unique and their songs are nice to just chill out to. Plus, I really love their band name and the album's cover art/ typogrphy. Everything about this CD is just a win.

Best Songs: Heart of Stone, Hit It, Best Day of My Life, Luck

#4: That's Christmas To Me

by Pentatonix

Pentatonix can do no wrong. They're flawless, as is this Christmas CD. I generally don't listen to a ton of Christmas music, but I've listened to this SO. MUCH. I love that they switch up the parts more on this than they usually do, so that everyone gets lead more often. This just got me completely in the holiday spirit. So much fun.

Best Songs: Let It Go, White Winter Hymnal, Sleigh Ride, and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

#3: Don't Kill The Magic

by MAGIC!

I blasted this CD all summer long, and even into the fall. I listened to it over, and over, and over. It's just so good. I love almost all of the songs, and the ones I don't quite love are still pretty good. It's just so chill but so fun. I love the reggae-pop mix that they have going on.

Best Songs: Stupid Me, Paradise, Little Girl Big World, and Mama Didn't Raise No Fool

#2: McBusted

by McBusted

I was actually slightly disappointed that this CD didn't make #1 on my list, but the one at #1 has quickly become one of my all-time favorite albums ever. Anyway, McBusted is absolutely amazing. I still love my beloved McFly more and hope that they'll decide to continue on as just McFly and Busted at some point in the future, but I did really enjoy this CD, and love them as a superband.

Best Songs: Get Over It, Air Guitar, Sensitive Guy, and Hate Your Guts

#1: PTX, Vol. III

by Pentatonix

Yes, I'm fully aware that this is only a 7 song EP and not a full-length album, but I DON'T CARE. This is flawless. I absolutely love this EP. Every song is amazing. I can't accurately express how incredible this is. It was released in September, and I've had it on an almost constant repeat ever since and I'm nowhere near sick of it. I can't imagine how Pentatonix could ever top this. It's just so amazing.

Best Songs: All of them. But since I have to choose, I'll just least them from absolute favorite to less-absolute favorite.
On My Way Home. Problem. La La Latch. Rather Be. See Through. Standing By. Papaoutai.



Best Songs of 2014
I tried really hard to order them from least favorite to favorite, but this order is pretty interchangeable, especially when it comes to #2-7.

#10: Lemonade 
by SOPHIE

This song is so random for me, because I typically don't listen to anything like this at all. But one week on Superfruit (the YouTube channel that Mitch Grassi and Scott Hoying from PTX have together), this was Mitch's song of the week, and I was curious so I went and listened to it, and I've been listening to it ever since. It's so unique and weird but super cool and I love it. 

#9: Kick Me
by Sleeping With Sirens

This is the Sleeping With Sirens that I love. It's so aggressive and angry and I'll be 100% happy if their next album sounds a lot like this song. Love the message, love the music. LOVE.

#8: Here's To The Zeros
by Marianas Trench

Marianas Trench squeaked onto the list at pretty much the last second with this song. I've been listening to it on repeat since its release in the last week of the year, and I really love it. It's got me really excited for their new CD that's coming out in the spring. And the lyrics are great. 

#7: Rather Be
by Pentatonix

I've been obsessed with this song ever since I heard Mitch's first opening theme. I'm not a huge fan of the original song, but I love this one a lot. I also think that the music video is really great. It's fun to see them just wandering around Japan, and I especially love the little Scomiche (Scott+Mitch= Scomiche) moments that we get.

#6: Air Guitar
by McBusted

This was the first single that McFly and Busted released as a single entity, and I really enjoyed it. A lot of people thought that there was too much Busted and not enough McFly, but I didn't really feel that way. I thought that Air Guitar (more than most of the songs on the CD) was a really great mix of the two bands.

#5: La La Latch
by Pentatonix

I love how this song highlights all 3 of the main singers of Pentatonix and gives them all their little moments. The video pays homage to the way that they circle up to do their arrangements. And speaking of arrangements, this one is great. They never fail to combine songs in amazing ways.

#4: Pop 101
by Marianas Trench

This song has been on repeat ever since I found out that it existed. This song is basically just Marianas Trench using the medium of a pop song and sampling pop songs to make fun of pop songs and point out all of their flaws. It's hilarious and amazing and extremely accurate. I really love this song.

#3: Problem
by Pentatonix

When this came out, I didn't listen to anything but this song for about a week. Not kidding. Even though I do still wish that Mitch had gotten to sing the really high parts, that's literally the only complaint I could make about this. Mitch's rap is perfection and so sassy. All of the sass. Kevin's beatboxing and whispers are on point. I don't even know what to call Avi's throat thing, but it's incredible too. Everything about this song is just so awesome.

#2: Get Over It
by McBusted

This is McBusted's latest single, and it's definitely my favorite from their CD. It's just so much fun and I've been listening to it on repeat for quite a while now. I love these boys, and if they continue as a supergroup into the new year, I hope that their music continues to be this awesome.


#1: On My Way Home
by Pentatonix

I don't even have the words to say how much I love this song. The first time I listened to it, my jaw hit the ground. This is by far my new favorite original Pentatonix song, and is honestly probably my favorite Pentatonix song of all-time. It has such a cool world music vibe, and the harmonies are so amazing, and I love everything about this song. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

So, those were my favorite songs and CDs of 2014! This was definitely the year of Pentatonix. It was also definitely not the best year of releases. As much as I loved the ones that were on this list, I had to abandon my usual rules in order to have lists of music that I actually really, really enjoyed. I hope that this time next year, my lists are full of 10 CDs by 10 artists and 10 songs by 10 artists, and that I'm struggling to figure out what amazing music I'm going to have to cut from the list. Wishful thinking? Probably. But with releases from at least 3 of my 5 favorite bands coming out in 2015, I'm thinking that it's going to be a great year. 

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