The First Half of the Year, Musically

Now that 2015 is a few days beyond being half over, I feel like taking some time to think back on the better moments of the new music I've discovered this year. Everything on this list is a 2015 release -- I've bought older albums this year, as well as some new releases that didn't make my top 10 cut off, but these are the ones that I feel represent the best of what's new that I've been listening to this year. In no particular order:

American Beauty/American Psycho - Fall Out Boy
I understand that expressing either enthusiasm or distaste for Fall Out Boy is about ten years out of vogue now, but I didn’t follow them so much when they were peaking. I bought this in the winter, when I really needed something energetic to propel me through the coldest and ugliest days, especially in the mornings. For about a month, this album was what I would play on the way to school just to give myself a little extra kick start.

The Grand Experiment - The Neal Morse Band
It’s billed as the Neal Morse Band, but, much like any other band Neal Morse has been a part of, it’s very recognizably his album. (You either know exactly what that means or you don’t.) Every song on here is at least good, other than the ten-minute cover of “MacArthur Park,” which is just head-scratchingly odd. Still, the overall album didn’t connect with me as much as his work usually does. This will be one in coming years I’ll dig out from time to time and have a lot to rediscover.

Dope Machines - The Airborne Toxic Event
This gets the nod as the weirdest marketing effort. “Dope Machines” has an uncharacteristically electronic-driven sound, and was released at the same time as a surprise album from the band, “Songs of God and Whiskey,” that is far more acoustic. Two very different albums, both with high and low points, but the I think the high points on this one are better. Plus the other one was originally only available for download from the band’s website, and as a package deal with “Dope Machines,” which I’d already gotten from iTunes and wasn’t about to pay for twice.

Hand Cannot Erase - Steven Wilson
While I’m still holding out hope that someday Porcupine Tree will reform and release a proper album of new music as a band, having new Steven Wilson to listen to is almost as good. There are moments on here that are poppier than usual for him, though there’s still plenty of music that’s ambiently progressive and quite a bit darker. Not a cheerful album by any means, but a great one for when you’re in the proper mood.

Toto XIV - Toto
I won’t say much about this since I already wrote a whole post about it not long ago. But after that post I saw a two and a half hour long Toto concert on Palladia, and was impressed enough to get this back out and give it a few more chances. I still think most of the world will never know it exists, but that doesn’t keep it from being a well-made album. Even if I still hate the soft-jazz feel to parts of “Chinatown.”

Live from the Woods - Needtobreathe
This is the best kind of live album. You get just as many album tracks as you do “hits.” Many of the songs, while still being recognizable when compared to their original versions, have been changed or added to in ways that take advantage of the live performance. The singer has enough stage banter (maybe even a little too much, since some moments stretch into being speeches) to show a connection to the audience. The songwriting and the musicianship of the band is well represented here. This will safely be one of my favorites of the year.

Wilder Mind - Mumford and Sons
I’ve already posted about this one as well. In the time since then, the album has grown on me considerably. Even though it has very little connection to the musical stylings of their earlier albums, it’s still a strong and emotional album all on its own. I really like it.

At Your Service - Sammy Hagar and the Circle
This was a surprise when I saw it turn on up iTunes. The band is made up of Sammy, Michael Anthony (formerly of Van Halen), Jason Bonham, a journeyman rock drummer who’s father was John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, and some guitarist I’ve never heard of before who plays well enough to get the job done. It’s a live album that chronicles the different eras of Sammy’s career with some Led Zeppelin covers thrown in. Nothing new or revealing here, but it’s a great classic rock sounding album to put on for some noisy background music.

The Desired Effect - Brandon Flowers
I was looking forward to this since I really enjoyed the last album by his band, The Killers. This is more pop and dance music than rock, but it still has enough of what I enjoy about The Killers to make it worthwhile.

Drones - Muse
This is a good throwback to Muse being more of a rock band while relying less on showy electronic effects. I think it’s one of their stronger albums overall; usually a Muse album will have one or two or three, or sometimes four, songs on it that just don’t work. This isn’t entirely a surprise since they're so heavily influenced by Queen, and having a few oddly subpar songs on each album was almost a Queen trademark. The album is also vaguely conceptual, and since most concept albums are not based around happier themes, there’s a darkness to it that doesn’t necessarily match up to the openness of summertime for me. I think this will be one for me to like well enough now on the surface, and develop more of an appreciation for later on.

And that takes care of the first half of the year. While I'm anxious to see what's still on the way in 2015, this gives me a lot to listen to and enjoy for now.