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Poll Results: Listeners Pick Their Favorite Albums Of 2015

By Robin Hilton,
Bob Boilen
Published December 16, 2015 at 3:01 PM CST
Top row, left to right: Cover art for Wilco, Kamasi Washington and Grimes; Middle row, left to right: Sufjan Stevens, Chvrches and Kendrick Lamar; Bottom row, left to right: Father John Misty, Joanna Newsom, Courtney Barnett
Courtesy of the artists
Top row, left to right: Cover art for Wilco, Kamasi Washington and Grimes; Middle row, left to right: Sufjan Stevens, Chvrches and Kendrick Lamar; Bottom row, left to right: Father John Misty, Joanna Newsom, Courtney Barnett

You never entirely know what you're going to get when you ask listeners to rank their favorite albums of the year. But the results of All Songs Considered's 2015 listener poll may be the most diverse we've seen in ten years of doing these lists. From Kendrick Lamar's hip-hop masterpiece To Pimp A Butterfly and the dense harp-poetry of Joanna Newsom, to the effervescent pop of Carly Rae Jepsen, soul singer Leon Bridges and the immense jazz album The Epic from Kamasi Washington, listeners showed a lot of love for a broad range of sounds.

The battle for the most popular album came down to a neck-and-neck race between Sufjan Stevens and Kendrick Lamar, with everyone else in the pack trying to keep up. In the end, Stevens just edged Lamar out for our listeners' number one album. The two were followed, in order, by Courtney Barnett, Tame Impala and Father John Misty.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the weak showing by much beloved legacy bands. Death Cab For Cutie and The Decemberists have repeatedly dominated best-of lists in past years, but in 2015 their albums didn't crack the Top 25. My Morning Jacket, another longtime favorite, just made it in at number 22.

Below, you'll find a playlist with songs from each of the Top 25 albums listeners chose as their favorites. If you want to hear us count down those 25 albums, click the audio link at the top of the page. And if you scroll down, you can also see a full list of your Top 100 albums below.

Thanks for tuning in with us this for another year and for being the greatest listeners in the world!

The Top 100 Listener Picks For 2015

  • Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell

  • Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

  • Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit

  • Tame Impala, Currents

  • Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear

  • Alabama Shakes, Sound & Color

  • Grimes, Art Angels

  • Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free

  • Jamie xx, In Colour

  • Adele, 25

  • Sleater-Kinney, No Cities To Love

  • Leon Bridges, Coming Home

  • Joanna Newsom, Divers

  • Wilco, Star Wars

  • Beach House, Depression Cherry

  • Original Broadway Cast Recording, Hamilton

  • Kamasi Washington, The Epic

  • Florence & The Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

  • Chvrches, Every Open Eye

  • Björk, Vulnicura

  • Lord Huron, Strange Trails

  • My Morning Jacket, The Waterfall

  • Hop Along, Painted Shut

  • Josh Ritter, Sermon On The Rocks

  • Carly Rae Jepsen, E•MO•TION

  • Chris Stapleton, Traveller

  • Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

  • Ryan Adams, 1989

  • Torres, Sprinter

  • Kurt Vile, B'lieve I'm Goin Down

  • Kacey Musgraves, Pageant Material

  • Dawes, All Your Favorite Bands

  • Vince Staples, Summertime '06

  • The Front Bottoms, Back On Top

  • Deafheaven, New Bermuda

  • Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness

  • D'Angelo and The Vanguard, Black Messiah

  • Waxahatchee, Ivy Tripp

  • The Decemberists, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World

  • Joe Jackson, Fast Forward

  • Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, Surf

  • Brandi Carlile, The Firewatcher's Daughter

  • Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Multi-Love

  • Drake, If You're Reading This, It's Too Late

  • El Vy, Return To The Moon

  • Deerhunter, Fading Frontier

  • Death Cab For Cutie, Kintsugi

  • Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface

  • Titus Andronicus, The Most Lamentable Tragedy

  • Beach House, Thank Your Lucky Stars

  • Girlpool, Before The World Was Big

  • The Mountain Goats, Beat The Champ

  • The Arcs, Yours, Dreamily

  • Viet Cong, Viet Cong

  • Laura Marling, Short Movies

  • Modest Mouse, Strangers To Ourselves

  • Low, Ones And Sixes

  • Ibeyi, Ibeyi

  • The Weeknd, Beauty Behind The Madness

  • The Tallest Man On Earth, Dark Bird Is Home

  • Julieta Venegas, Algo Sucede

  • Mumford & Sons, Wilder Mind

  • Foals, What Went Down

  • Houndmouth, Little Neon Limelight

  • Blur, The Magic Whip

  • Panda Bear, Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper

  • Rhiannon Giddens, Tomorrow Is My Turn

  • Purity Ring, Another Eternity

  • Punch Brothers, The Phosphorescent Blues

  • Beirut, No No No

  • Lana Del Rey, Honeymoon

  • San Fermin, Jackrabbit

  • Bully, Feels Like

  • Eskimeaux, O.K.

  • Wolf Alice, My Love Is Cool

  • Hiatus Kaiyote, Choose Your Weapon

  • Miguel, Wildheart

  • The Lone Bellow, Then Came The Morning

  • Tobias Jesso Jr., Goon

  • Of Monsters And Men, Beneath The Skin

  • Pugwash, Play This Intimately (As If Among Friends)

  • Natalie Prass, Natalie Prass

  • Lianne La Havas, Blood

  • Veruca Salt, Ghost Notes

  • Neon Indian, Vega INTL. Night School

  • Mac DeMarco, Another One

  • Earl Sweatshirt, I Don't Like S***, I Don't Go Outside

  • Built To Spill, Untethered Moon

  • James McMurtry, Complicated Game

  • Public Service Broadcasting, The Race For Space

  • Destroyer, Poison Season

  • Death Grips, The Powers That B

  • Hasley, Badlands

  • One Direction, Made In The A.M.

  • Justin Bieber, Purpose

  • Monsieur Periné, Caja De Música

  • Belle & Sebastian, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance

  • Frank Turner, Positive Songs For Negative People

  • The Hillbenders, Tommy: A Bluegrass Opry

  • The Internet, Ego Death

    • Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    Robin Hilton
    Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.
    See stories by Robin Hilton
    Bob Boilen
    In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.
    See stories by Bob Boilen