The 2015 Charts Are Just A Replay Of 2014

Not many were surprised with the news that UK singer Adele's multi-platinum album 25 had been named as Australia's highest selling album of the year earlier this week, but a few were left scratching their heads when it was revealed that Mark Ronson's 2014 track Uptown Funk was the top single of the year and it was even more baffling to see a number of other albums and singles from 2014 featured in the latest ARIA end of year charts, so the question needs to be asked: Was 2015 just an off year for new music?  

While it is no doubt an impressive feat that Adele's latest record shot to #1 after only being released on 20 November and just six weeks out from the end of the year, but we can't shy away from the fact that four albums out of the top ten on the Albums list weren't released in 2015. 

Of those four, three were released in 2014 - Ed Sheeran's X (#2), Taylor Swift's 1989 (#3) and Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour (#6), while Michael Buble's 2011 holiday album Christmas (#7) again crept in as it always seems to come December.

Overall however, 28 albums from the 2014 chart found its way into the 2015 chart which just seems...weird. 

Aussie artists who had 2014 albums place in the Top 100 for 2015 include Flight Facilities with Down To Earth (#94), Jimmy Barnes' 30:30 Hindsight (#90), self-titled offerings from The Veronicas (#78) and Angus & Julia Stone (#68), AC/DC's Rock Or Bust (#40), Chet Faker's Built On Glass (#40), Hilltop Hoods' Walking Under Stars (#25), Vance Joy's Dream Your Life Away (#16) and Sia's 1000 Forms Of Fear (#14).

The top 100 Singles chart was just as perplexing as the aforementioned Uptown Funk came in at #1, while two other 2014 songs finished in the top ten in Irish singer Hozier's Take Me To Church (#4) and Walk The Moon's Shut Up & Dance (#8). 

Overall ten singles from 2014's Top 100 again featured in the 2015 chart.

We are holding out hope that it will be a different story come the end of this year though, as a number of big acts are set to drop new material in 2016 including David Bowie, Blink-182, Kanye West, The 1975, Beyonce, Drake, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Bon Iver and more.

Here's hoping that 2016 produces the goods (pending Adele-mania doesn't continue through to December).