Guitar World's 50 Best Albums of 2015

Despite one or two nasty rumors to the contrary, the guitar is alive and well in late 2015.

Just one listen to new studio releases by Joe Satriani, Buddy Guy, Iron Maiden, Keith Richards, Muse and Lamb of God would be all the convincing you need—but let's not forget that guitars (and basses) also turned out to be popular holiday gifts this year (at least among the crowd we hang with).

The guitar—whether we're talkin' about six-, seven-, eight- or 12-string varieties, acoustic or electric (or both)—survived the rise of the keyboard in the Eighties and the bass-barrage of electronic dance music of the early 21st century and, as evidenced by the 50-plus selections below, shows no signs of waning in relevancy.

Whether you're plugging into a vintage Vox AC30 with a medium-roasted Palir Guitars Titan model, or you just got your hands on an Axe FX and a new Ibanez eight-string, the guitar isn't going away any time soon.

Below, check out Guitar World's picks for the 50 best albums of 2015, as chosen by the editorial staff. The list features staff-consensus picks plus several personal choices from individual editors. Of course, we can't get or listen to every new release, so if you feel something is seriously missing, let us know in the comments below or on Facebook. And, in keeping with GW tradition, this top 50 list actually contains 53 albums. It's what we do. Enjoy!

As always, click on each photo to take a closer look. See you next year! Actually, we'll see you in a few minutes...

NOTE: This list is presented in alphabetical order, not from worst to best or best to worst. So there's no order of preference. Enjoy!

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