• Billboard Pro
  • Subscribe
  • Charts Weekly
    • Hot 100
    • Billboard 200
    • Billboard Global 200
    • Billboard Global Excl. US
    • Artist 100
    • All Weekly Charts
    Year-End
    • Year-End Hot 100 Songs
    • Year-End Billboard 200 Albums
    • 2020 Year-End Boxscore
    • Google's Top Hummed Songs 2020
    • All Year-End Charts
    Decade-End
    • Decade-End Top Artists
    • Decade-End Top Artists - Interactive
    • Decade-End Hot 100 Songs
    • Decade-End Billboard 200 Albums
    • All Decade-End Charts
    Bandsintown X Billboard
    • Buzzing Livestream Artists
    • Rising Livestream Artists
    • Top Livestream Artists
  • News Genres
    • Pop
    • Hip-Hop/R&B
    • Dance
    • Country
    • Latin
    • Rock
    • K-Pop
    Topics
    • Year In Music 2019
    • Pride
    • Podcasts
    • International
    • All News
  • Video Video Series
    • Billboard News
    • Live Videos
    • Quizzed
    • How It Went Down
    • Emerging Artists: You Should Know
    • My Billboard Moment
    • All Videos
  • Photos
  • Pro Industry News
    • Legal and Management
    • Executive Turntable
    • Touring
    • Record Labels
    • Streaming
    • Tech
    • Publishing
    • Radio
    • All Industry News
    Pro Tools
    • Insights
    • Deep Dive
    • - Songs For Sale
    • - Music On TV: What Works Now
    • Close Calls
    • Chart Search
    • Boxscore
    • Billboard Bulletin
    • Artist index
    • Song Index
    Pro Charts
    • Pop Songs
    • Hot R&B / Hip-Hop Songs
    • Hot Country Songs
    • Songwriters & Producers
    • View All Pro Charts
  • Newsletters

Billboard Pro

  • Subscribe
  • Sign In

Follow Billboard

About Billboard

  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdChoices

© 2021 Billboard Media, LLC. All rights reserved. BILLBOARD is a registered trademark of Billboard IP Holdings, LLC

  • Charts Weekly
    • Hot 100
    • Billboard 200
    • Billboard Global 200
    • Billboard Global Excl. US
    • Artist 100
    • All Weekly Charts
    Year-End
    • Year-End Hot 100 Songs
    • Year-End Billboard 200 Albums
    • 2020 Year-End Boxscore
    • Google's Top Hummed Songs 2020
    • All Year-End Charts
    Decade-End
    • Decade-End Top Artists
    • Decade-End Top Artists - Interactive
    • Decade-End Hot 100 Songs
    • Decade-End Billboard 200 Albums
    • All Decade-End Charts
    Bandsintown X Billboard
    • Buzzing Livestream Artists
    • Rising Livestream Artists
    • Top Livestream Artists
  • News Genres
    • Pop
    • Hip-Hop/R&B
    • Dance
    • Country
    • Latin
    • Rock
    • K-Pop
    Topics
    • Year In Music 2019
    • Pride
    • Podcasts
    • International
    • All News
  • Video Video Series
    • Billboard News
    • Live Videos
    • Quizzed
    • How It Went Down
    • Emerging Artists: You Should Know
    • My Billboard Moment
    • All Videos
  • Photos
  • Pro Industry News
    • Legal and Management
    • Executive Turntable
    • Touring
    • Record Labels
    • Streaming
    • Tech
    • Publishing
    • Radio
    • All Industry News
    Pro Tools
    • Insights
    • Deep Dive
    • - Songs For Sale
    • - Music On TV: What Works Now
    • Close Calls
    • Chart Search
    • Boxscore
    • Billboard Bulletin
    • Artist index
    • Song Index
    Pro Charts
    • Pop Songs
    • Hot R&B / Hip-Hop Songs
    • Hot Country Songs
    • Songwriters & Producers
    • View All Pro Charts
  • Newsletters
    • Billboard Pro
    • Subscribe
Three Sixty
Top Artists
View All
Top Charts
Hot 100 Songs
Billboard 200
View All
Top Videos
Taylor Swift Gets Support After Calling Out Netflix, BTS Joins MusiCares & More News | Billboard News
Britney Spears Shares Sweet Photo With Sons | Billboard News
View All
Top Articles
Becky G's PrettyLittleThing Collection Is a California Dream
Who's Your Favorite Winner of 'The Voice'? Vote!
View All
Watch Now
Year in Music 2015

Billboard.com's 25 Best Albums of 2015: Critics' Picks

By Billboard Staff
12/15/2015
  • Copied to clipboard
1 / 26
Item 1 of 26

The 25 Best Albums of the Year

Billboard released the year end charts, and Taylor Swift's '1989' topped the Billboard 200. But now it's time to name our favorite albums based on critical and personal tastes. ('1989' came out in 2014 -- topping our critics' picks for that frame.) Here is the list of Billboard.com's 25 best albums of 2015.
By Billboard Staff
12/15/2015
  • Copied to clipboard
Artist Mentioned
Courtesy
2 / 26
Item 2 of 26

25. 'Hasta La Raiz,' Natalia LaFoucarde

Natalia LaFoucarde 'Hasta La Raiz'
Courtesy
3 / 26
Item 3 of 26

24. 'Emotion,' Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen 'Emotion'
Courtesy
4 / 26
Item 4 of 26

23. 'Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü,' Jack Ü

Jack U
Courtesy
5 / 26
Item 5 of 26

22. 'Surf,' Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment

Fans may have been demanding a follow up to his 2013 mixtape Acid Rap, but Chance The Rapper has been winning in his career by doing anything but what's expected. That's the basis for Surf, the collaborative project from his band the Social Experiment, spearheaded by horn player Donnie Trumpet that is equal parts sprawling, fun, loose, emotional, jazzy and deep without losing its vigor throughout. There are plenty of heavyweight guest appearances -- Busta Rhymes, Big Sean, Quavo and Erykah Badu deserve special mention -- but it's the pure joy of songs like "Slip Slide," the ironic goofiness of "Wanna Be Cool" and the earnest charm of "Sunday Candy" that makes this project truly stand out. It's an avant-garde experiment masquerading as a hip-hop album, and in its experimentation it manages to exist in all genres and none at once.
6 / 26
Item 6 of 26

21. 'Honeymoon,' Lana Del Rey

Courtesy
7 / 26
Item 7 of 26

20. 'Days Gone By,' Bob Moses

Bob Moses 'Days Gone By'
Courtesy
8 / 26
Item 8 of 26

19. 'Amanecer,' Bomba Estero

Bomba Estero 'Amanecer'
Courtesy
9 / 26
Item 9 of 26

18. 'Beauty Behind the Madness,' The Weeknd

After a string of critically acclaimed mixtapes that helped pioneer the PBR&B sound, the Weeknd finally ascended to the top of the pop world with his second album Beauty Behind the Madness. While the Michael Jackson-esque "Can't Feel My Face" made sense as a No. 1 hit, "The Hills" is easily one of the most unlikely, innovative singles to top the Hot 100 in years. Music this edgy doesn't usually own the charts, but the Weeknd's dark, seductive art has proved impossible to resist.
Courtesy
10 / 26
Item 10 of 26

17. 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,' Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful'
Courtesy
11 / 26
Item 11 of 26

16. 'Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit,' Courtney Barnett

Courtney Barnett 'Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit'
Courtesy
12 / 26
Item 12 of 26

15. 'Dark Sky Paradise,' Big Sean

Big Sean's career before this year could have been summed up with near-misses and unfulfilled potential; in short, a lot of people believed that Sean could become a true hip-hop superstar, but he just kept coming up short. That narrative came to an end with Dark Sky Paradise, the first truly great full-length project he's produced thus far. Propelled by the smash hit single "I Don't Fuck With You" featuring E-40, Sean explored -- fittingly -- the darker side of his psyche, addressing the trials and tribulations of his love life, career and family struggles. The Drake-assisted "Blessings" provided the memes, while his ode to his late grandmother, "One Man Can Change The World" with John Legend and Kanye West, could provide him with a few Grammys. But it's the non-singles -- like "All Your Fault" with Kanye or "Deep" with Lil Wayne -- that make the full project better than its parts.
Courtesy
13 / 26
Item 13 of 26

14. 'No Cities To Love,' Sleater Kinney

Sleater 'Kinney, No Cities To Love'
Courtesy
14 / 26
Item 14 of 26

13. 'Traveller,' Chris Stapleton

There is no doubting that this talented singer-songwriter is the critical darling of 2015. With his traditional arrangement, and whiskey-drenched vocal approach on Traveller, Stapleton scored one of the biggest triumphs for a Nashville-based male vocalist in years.
Courtesy
15 / 26
Item 15 of 26

12. 'If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,' Drake

Drake 'If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late'
Courtesy
16 / 26
Item 16 of 26

11. 'DS2,' Future

Few people have so totally and completely dominated their genres over a calendar year than Future's stranglehold over hip-hop in 2015: two brilliant mixtapes and two chart-topping albums spread out over a nine-month period will do that for an artist. But it was his July album DS2, his third studio LP, that was his high water mark, weaving dark and tortured tales of groupies, Xans, codeine and depression over an equally twisted sonic palette from the likes of Southside, Metro Boomin and Zaytoven. From the delicately stated ironic wink of opener "Thought It Was A Drought" to the repetitive anguish of closer "Blood On The Money," Future laid out his demons and excesses for all to see, resulting in the best work of his career.
Courtesy
17 / 26
Item 17 of 26

10. 'Something More Than Free,' Jason Isbell

Jason Isbell 'Something More Than Free'
Courtesy
18 / 26
Item 18 of 26

9. 'I Love You Honeybear,' Father John Misty

Father John Misty 'I Love You Honeybear'
Courtesy
19 / 26
Item 19 of 26

8. 'Black Messiah,' D'Angelo

Somehow, after waiting a decade and a half to put out an album, D'Angelo still managed to surprise fans when Black Messiah dropped into their laps in December 2014. Was it worth the nearly 15-year wait? Without a doubt. Does it match his classic Voodoo album? It comes damn close. And now the smooth masterpiece -- which had a top five Billboard 200 debut -- has the Grammy accolades to show for it, picking up three nominations: best R&B album, best R&B song for "Really Love" and even storming into the Big Four categories with a record of the year nod for that track too. Welcome back.
Courtesy
20 / 26
Item 20 of 26

7. 'Sound and Color,' Alabama Shakes

Alabama Shakes 'Sound and Color'
Courtesy
21 / 26
Item 21 of 26

6. 'In Colour,' Jamie XX

Jamie XX 'In Colour'
Courtesy
22 / 26
Item 22 of 26

Adele, '25' (2015)

Adele '25'
Courtesy
23 / 26
Item 23 of 26

4. 'Summertime ‘06,' Vince Staples

Vince Staples 'Summertime ‘06'
Courtesy
24 / 26
Item 24 of 26

3. 'Art Angels,' Grimes

Grimes 'Art Angels'
Courtesy
25 / 26
Item 25 of 26

2. 'Hamilton,' Original Broadway Cast

Broadway's 'Hamilton'
Courtesy
26 / 26
Item 26 of 26

1. 'To Pimp a Butterfly,' Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar 'To Pimp a Butterfly'
By Billboard Staff
12/15/2015
  • Copied to clipboard

Watch Now

Videos

Joshua Bassett on Hoping His Debut EP Lives 'On Its Own' | Billboard News

4 days ago

Follow Billboard

The Daily

A daily briefing on what matters in the music industry

  • Subscribe
  • Billboard Events
  • Shop
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • FAQ
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Sitemap
  • Media Kit
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdChoices
  • California Privacy Rights

© 2021 Billboard Media, LLC. All rights reserved. BILLBOARD is a registered trademark of Billboard IP Holdings, LLC