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The ultimate, definitive Best Albums Of 2015

The last batch of votes are in so we can now proclaim the AnyDecentMusic definitive summary of the Best Albums Of 2015 lists.

We've compiled the rankings from all those magazines, newspapers and websites among our sources which publish their albums of the year. The end result is a comprehensive reflection of the critical favourites of the year. It's the ultimate, definitive "Best of the Best Albums of 2015" chart.

So here's the rundown of the top 50 albums of the year as seen by music reviewers in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. And below we give a brief appraisal of what it means.

And you can also vote for your own favourite albums on the ADM Readers' Poll.
Mail us at admteam@anydecentmusic.com
Put your Top 5 in order with artist name then album name (they can be albums or EPs).
Put Readers' Poll as the subject and we'll do the rest.

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1. 1791 Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
2. 1504 Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell
3. 1468 Father John Misty I Love You, Honeybear
4. 1216 Grimes Art Angels
5. 1155 Courtney Barnett Sometimes I Sit And Think…
6. 1152 Tame Impala Currents
7. 1084 Björk Vulnicura
8. 1083 Sleater-Kinney No Cities To Love
9. 1028 Julia Holter Have You In My Wilderness
10. 985 Jamie xx In Colour
    
    
11. 811 Joanna Newsom Divers
12. 783 Vince Staples Summertime '06
13. 607 Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion
14. 548 Blur The Magic Whip
15. 537 Oneohtrix Point Never Garden of Delete
16. 512 Kamasi Washington The Epic
17. 468 Kurt Vile B'lieve I'm Going Down
18. 438 Miguel Wildheart
19. 428 Drake If You're Reading This It's Too Late
20. 424 Holly Herndon Platform
    
    
21. 420 Wolf Alice My Love Is Cool
22. 416 Deerhunter Fading Frontier
23. 375 Viet Cong Viet Cong
24. 372 Beach House Depression Cherry
25. 370 Natalie Prass Natalie Prass
26. 370 Unknown Mortal Orchestra Multi-Love
27. 362 New Order Music Complete
28. 359 D'Angelo and the Vanguard Black Messiah
29. 357 Tobias Jesso Jr Goon
30. 335 Jenny Hval Apocolypse, Girl
    
    
31. 333 Floating Points Elaenia
32. 331 Laura Marling Short Movie
33. 328 Shamir Ratchet
34. 322 Alabama Shakes Sound & Color
35. 315 Florence And The Machine How Big, How Blue…
36. 313 Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment Surf
37. 311 Young Fathers White Men Are Black Men Too
38. 305 John Grant Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
39. 294 Protomartyr The Agent Intellect
40. 276 Earl Sweatshirt I Don't Like Shit. I Don't Go Outside
    
    
41. 255 Dr Dre Compton
42. 251 Ezra Furman Perpetual Motion People
43. 250 Girl Band Holding Hands With Jamie
44. 250 Torres Sprinter
45. 246 Deafheaven New Bermuda
46. 246 Foals What Went Down
47. 246 The Weeknd Beauty Behind The Madness
48. 240 Hop Along Painted Shut
49. 237 Jason Isbell Something More Than Free
50. 236 Future DS2

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Given that it sits aloft our all-time chart with a probably never-to-be-surpassed 9.3 rating, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly is the least surprising winner of our Best Of The Best Ofs since records began (i.e. seven years ago).

However it is worth dwelling on just how impressive is the Compton rapper's dominance of 2015's musical output in the eyes of the critics.

Firstly, the album was released back in March, potentially giving time for its appeal to wane. Secondly the year has seen significant releases from artists generally regarded as critical darlings which could have upset the odds: Father John Misty, Grimes, Sufjan Stevens and Tame Impala would probably have all fancied their chances. It has happened before, when Arcade Fire's The Suburbs pipped Kanye West's hugely-lauded (and our all-time No.5 album) My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

But so widespread is the appeal of Lamar's creation that it's triumph was never in doubt. In fact only five of our sources didn't include the album among their top 5s.

Meanwhile just below the all-conquering To Pimp A Butterfly, there is yet more remarkable  consistency of choice among sources in nominating the closest also-rans. Father John Misty, Sufjan Stevens, Courtney Barnett and Tame Impala all figured in the majority of top 5s.

Indeed you have to look hard for surprises in the upper reaches of this year's list.  Courtney Barnett is probably the least established of the names appearing there, but anticipation for her full-length debut had been at maximum level ever since her two acclaimed EPs. Jamie XX makes a first appearance as a solo artist but his pedigree has been widely recognised for several years.

There are occasional names which raise an eyebrow, such as Kamasi Washington, but the jazz saxophonist's appeal was probably bolstered by his contribution on To Pimp A Butterfly. Similarly the heights achieved by the debut from Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment will owe a certain amount to the significant contribution from Chance The Rapper.

Does this all-round cohesiveness indicate a trend towards predictability among critics?
Maybe, but then again for as long as artists such as Hieroglyphic Being & J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Buhl or Stara Rzeka continue to appear somewhere, there are always going to be leftfield surprises in amongst the familiar names.

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SEE 2009 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2010 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2011 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2012 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2013 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2014 RESULTS HERE

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SOURCES: Q, Mojo, Uncut, Rolling Stone, The Skinny, Crack, NME, Consequence Of Sound, Spin, Paste, The Quietus, Faster Louder, , The Irish Times, Pop Matters, The 405, AV Club, Exclaim, Beardfood, Loud And Quiet, God Is In The TV, Slant, Drowned In Sound, Under The Radar, Tiny Mixed Tapes, Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, State, No Ripcord, muscOMH, Earbuddy, Pretty Much Amazing, Spectrum Culture, Spectrum Culture, Sputnikmusic, Time Out, Clash, NOW, Gig Soup
(50pts are awarded to the album named No.1, 49pts to the No.2 and so on. If any of our sources don't post a numerical list then all available points are shared equally)

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Top 5 from each publication / site:

Q: 1 Tame Impala, Currents. 2 Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness. 3 Jamie xx, In Colour. 4 Blur, The Magic Whip. 5 New Order, Music Complete

Mojo: 1 Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness. 2 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 3 New Order, Music Complete. 4 Tame Impala, Currents. 5 Jim O'Rourke, Simple Songs

Uncut: 1 Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness. 2 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 3 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 4 Ryley Walker, Primrose Green. 5 Father John Misty, I Love You. Honeybear

Rolling Stone: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Adele, 25. 3 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late. 4 D'Angelo and the Vanguard, Black Messiah. 5 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind The Madness

The Skinny: 1 Sleater-Kinney, No Cities To Love. 2 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 3 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 4 Blanck Mass, Dumb Flesh. 5 Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness

Crack : 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Bjørk, Vulnicura. 3 Holy Herndon, Platform. 4 Miguel, Wildheart. 5 Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness.

NME : 1 Grimes, Art Angels. 3 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 3 Jamie xx, In Colour. 4 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 5 Tame Impala, Currents.

Consequence Of Sound: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 3 Grimes, Art Angels. 4 Oneohtrix Point Never, Garden of Delete. 5 Tame Impala, Currents.

Spin: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 3 Jamie xx, In Colour. 4 Tame Impala, Currents. 5 Vince Staples, Summertime '06.

Paste: 1 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 2 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 3 Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 4 Sleater-Kinney, No Cities To Love. 5 Hop Along, Painted Shut.

The Quietus: 1 Jlin, Dark Energy. 2 Stara Rzeka, Zamknęły się oczy ziemi. 3 Mbongwana Star, From Kinshasa. 4 Carter Tutti Void, f(x). 5 Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Three.

Faster Louder: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 3 Tame Impala, Currents. 4 Sleater-Kinney, No Cities To Love. 5 Jamie xx, In Colour.

AV Club: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Sleater-Kinney, No Cities To Love. 3 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 4 Grimes, Art Angels. 5 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear.

The 405: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Hieroglyphic Being & J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Buhl, We Are Not The First. 3 Bjørk, Vulnicura. 4 Oneohtrix Point Never, Garden of Delete. 5 Little Simz, A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons.

Pop Matters: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 3 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 4 Kasami Washington, The Epic. 5 Chris Stapleton, Traveller.

Beardfood: 1  Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 2 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 3 Tame Impala, Currents. 4 Vince Staples, Summertime '06. 5 Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit.

Loud And Quiet: 1 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 2 Gewnno, Y Dydd Olaf. 3 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 4 Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness. 5 Tobias Jesso Jr, Goon

God Is In The TV: 1 Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 2 Bjork, Vulnicura. 3 Blur, The Magic Whip. 4 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 5 Ezra Furman, Perpetual Motion People.

Slant: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 3 Grimes, Art Angels. 4 Vince Staples, Summertime '06. 5 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear.

Drowned In Sound: 1 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 2 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 3 Bjork, Vulnicura. 4 Wolf Alice, My Love Is Cool. 5 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell.

Under The Radar: 1 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 2 Tame Impala, Currents. 3 Wolf Alice, My Love Is Cool. 4 Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness. 5 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell.

Tiny Mixed Tapes: 1 Arca, Mutant. 2 Young Thug, Barter 6. 3 James Ferraro, Skid Row. 4 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 5 Oneohtrix Point Never, Garden of Delete.

Pitchfork: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Jamie xx, In Colour. 3 Grimes, Art Angels. 4 Vince Staples, Summertime '06. 5 Tame Impala, Currents.

Resident Advisor: 1 Floating Points, Elaenia. 2 Levon Vincent, Self Titled. 3 Jlin, Dark Energy. 4 LNRDCROY, Much Less Normal. 5 Bjork, Vulnicura.

State: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Jamie xx, In Colour. 3 Tame Impala, Currents. 4 Blur, The Magic Whip. 5 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear.

No Ripcord: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 3 Courtney Barnet, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 4  Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 5 Jamie xx, In Colour.

musicOMH: 1 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 2 Sleater-Kinney, No Cities To Love. 3 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 4 Joanna Newson, Divers. 5 Bjork, Vulnicura

Earbuddy: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Jamie xx, In Colour. 3 Tame Impala, Currents. 4 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 5 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell.

Pretty Much Amazing: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 D'Angelo And The Vanguard, Black Messiah. 3 Grimes, Art Angels. 4 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 5 Jamie xx, In Colour.

Spectrum Culture: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Courtney Barnet, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 3 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 4 Kasami Washington, The Epic. 5 Vince Staples, Summertime '06

Sputnikmusic: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 3 Grimes, Art Angels. 4 The Dear Hunter, Act IV- Rebirth in Reprise. Viet Cong, Viet Cong.

Time Out: 1 The Internet, Ego Death. 2 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 3 Courtney Barnet, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. 4 Florence And The Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. 5 Julio Bashmore, Knocking Boots.

Clash: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Tame Impala, Currents. 3 Grimes, Art Angels. 4 Bjork, Vulnicura. 5 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell

NOW: 1 Tame Impala, Currents. 2 Roisin Murphy, Hairless Toys. 3 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 4 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 5 Floating Points, Elaenia

GigSoup: 1 Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly. 2 Tame Impala, Currents. 3 Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear. 4 Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell. 5 Courtney Barnet, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit.