50. Matt Pond PA - The State of Gold (Doghouse)
While I only play a single track from each album on the Too Much Rock Podcast, every album gets many many complete listens before I pick that track. Those tracks are recognized and discussed on my Top Songs of 2015 list, but here is where I get to celebrate the bands who put together albums that were just fantastic to listen to. The list is bigger than usual this year, but there were a lot of bands that deserved to be mentioned. Take a moment and sample the albums listed below. If you like one or two tracks, you're going to like the whole album so just buy it already.
49. Girlpool - Before the World Was Big (Wichita)
48. The Sidekicks - Runners In The Nerved World (Epitaph)
47. Great Cynics - I Feel Weird (Specialist Subject)
46. Speedy Ortiz - Foil Deer (Carpark)
45. Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin Down... (Matador)
44. Radical Dads - Universal Coolers (Old Flame)
43. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle (6131)
42. Shopping - Why Choose (FatCat)
41. The Mountain Goats - Beat The Champ (Merge)
40. Mikal Cronin - MCIII (Merge)
39. Mary Lou Lord - Backstreet Angels (Self Released)
38. Graham Parker & The Rumour - Mystery Glue (Universal)
37. Beach Slang - The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us (Polyvinyl)
36. Adna - Run, Lucifer (Despotz)
35. Darren Hayman - Chants For Socialists (Wiaiwya)
34. Wreckless Eric - amERICa (Fire)
33. Publicist UK - Forgive Yourself (Relapse)
32. Milky Wimpshake - Encore, Un Effort! (Fortuna POP!)
31. Mammoth Penguins - Hide and Seek (Fortuna POP!)
30. Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp (Merge)
29. Chastity Belt - Time to Go Home (Hardly Art)
28. Doe - First Four LP (Old Flame)
27. Rev Gusto - Burnt Out Friends (High Dive)
26. of Montreal - Aureate Gloom (Polyvinyl)
25. Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People (Interscope)
24. Fidlar - Too (Mom+Pop)
23. Torres - Sprinter (Partisan)
22. Downtown Boys - Full Communism (Don Giovanni)
21. Worriers - Imaginary Life (Don Giovanni)
20. Tufthunter - Deep Hits (Self Released)
19. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)
18. Ought - Sun Coming Down (Constellation)
17. The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (Capitol)
16. Advance Base - Nephew in the Wild (Ordinal)
15. Daniel Romano - If I've Only One Time Askin' (New West)
14. Veruca Salt - Ghost Notes (El Camino)
13. The Connection - Labor Of Love (Rum Bar)
12. The Wave Pictures - Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon (Team Love)
11. Belle and Sebastian - Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (Matador)
10. Kurt Baker - Play It Cool (Rum Bar)
9. Colleen Green - I Want to Grow Up (Hardly Art)
8. Sports - All of Something (Father/Daughter)
7. The School - Wasting Away And Wondering (Elefant)
6. Brideshead - Never Grow Up (Shelflife)
5. The Front Bottoms - Back On Top (Fueled By Ramen)
4. Screaming Females - Rose Mountain (Don Giovanni)
3. Michael Monroe - Blackout States (Spinefarm)
2. BA Johnston - Shit Sucks (Mammoth Cave Recording Co)
1. The Juliana Hatfield Three - Whatever, My Love (American Laundromat)
And that's it. If you're curious about my criteria, I got 250 releases this year, of which 131 of those were new 2015 full length albums eligable to appear in the list (in the spirit of "from start to finish excellence" EPs and singles were ommitted). Please note that this is not the best albums or the most important albums, but the ones that I liked the best. Did I miss something? Maybe I dismissed an album, but should give it another listen? Let me know your thoughts via Twitter.
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