Top 35 Albums of 2012

I'm not going to lie. 2012 has been rather disappointing when it comes to pop artists offering albums full of great content. Most of them consisted of a few hopeful radio singles with the rest being mostly uninteresting filler. This list is a collection of albums that kept me interest long enough to remember them at this point.

As always, I want to hear your thoughts on this list in the comments. I'm sure I missed something! 

:-D

This list is not based on chart positions, sales, critical acclaim, etc. It's purely based on the opinion of the writers of this blog.

35. MDNA by Madonna

34. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded by Nicki Minaj

33. Kiss by Carly Rae Jepson

32. Two Eleven by Brandy

31. Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars

30. Unapologetic by Rihanna

29. Perfectly Imperfect by Elle Varner

28. The Haunted Man by Bats for Lashes

27. A Joyful Noise by Gossip

26. Halcyon by Ellie Goulding

25. Trilogy by The Weeknd

24. Gossamer by Passion Pit

23. Til The Casket Drops by ZZ Ward

22. Red by Taylor Swift

21. A Million Lights by Cheryl Cole

20. Push & Shove by No Doubt

19. Reign of Terror by Sleigh Bells

18. The Truth About Love by P!nk

17. Tornado by Little Big Town

16. Kaleidoscope Dream by Miguel

15. 18 Months by Calvin Harris

14. Heal by Loreen

13. Electra Heart by Marina & the Diamonds

12. Little Broken Hearts by Norah Jones

11. The Idle Wheel... by Fiona Apple

10.Visions by Grimes

This album is pretty trippy. I hated it at first. 11 months later and it's one of my most listened to albums. I'll be making more room for experimental pop like this on the blog next year. I tend to miss out on sharing some of my favorite acts because of the low demand and small amount of time I have to spare.  That will change. You need this album and many more like it.

09. Devotion by Jessie Ware

I don't think I've ever made a comparison to Sade before, but this is the closet thing we've gotten in a long time. Though she'll remain horrendously underrated as an artist, she probably has a few incredible albums in her. This album gave me everything I wanted from Kimbra's "Vows." I'm excited to see where her careers goes in the future.

08. Shel by Shel

I've become such an avid fan of this sisters.

Their debut album is a rich mixture of many cultures and genres including Celtic folk and bluesy country. Musically, this is the strongest album of 2012. I would love to hear this girls on a major pop star's budget.

07.Clarity by Zedd

If you like music that, as I like to say, goes plum the fuck off, you may want to check out Clarity. 

For those in the dark, Zedd is the mastermind behind the only Bieber song I like, "Beauty and the Beat." He is also executive producing albums for Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne. He'll basically be the Dr. Luke of 2013.

 

06. Blown Away by Carrie Underwood 

Carrie is one of the strongest vocalist in the music industry, let alone country music. It's kind of strange that she has such a great production team behind her. Some of her equally talented vocalist peers don't have such luck on their albums.

Blown Away is vocally flashy, but is also filled with strong lyrical content and a nice mixture of country, pop and rock that doesn't quite spell "sellout."

05. good kid, m.A.A.d. city by Kendrick Lamar

It's about fucking time we got an album like this. Rap music has fallen way to far. He really should have dedicated "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" to some of this pop rappers on radio.

Instead of putting out a bunch of hard beats with catchy lyrics, Kendrick goes for a more voluble styled flow... and it is good. 

04. Cruel Summer by GOOD Music

Ugh. Can Kanye West do wrong? Not when it comes to music.

Cruel Summer is a collection of songs that serve as an ode to where Hip-Hop should be. With the help of Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Pusha-T, 2Chainz and more, there was really no way this album could have failed.

03. channel ORANGE by Frank Ocean

Frank really burst onto the scene with this album. I don't think anyone was really expecting his debut to put both Usher's and Chris Brown's 2012 releases to shame... but it did. Mercilessly. 

"Thinkin Bout You" on it's own was enough to help this album make the list, but when you top this album of with incredible love anthems like "Bad Religion," "Pilot Jones" and "Pink Matter" you have yourself an R&B album that will be remembered and acclaimed forever.

02. What We Saw From The Cheap Seats by Regina Spektor

Regina Spektor never disappoints. I see her as one of the most talented artists of the 2000s. 

...Cheap Seats is just another notch in the belt for Spektor, who has already delivered 5 other flawless albums. Songs like "Small Town Moon" and "Don't Leave Me" reintroduce the more fun an upbeat Spektor that rose to popularity during Vh1's "You Outta Know" segment with "Fidelity." Other songs like "Ballad of a Politician," and "Oh Marcello" stay true to the original Spektor sound found on 11:11 through Soviet Kitsch.

01. Born To Die - Paradise Edition by Lana Del Rey 

Let's face it. Every year we have one artist that slays our pathetic, unworthy souls with their depressive and soulful pop music. We've had Amy Winehouse. Then there was Duffy. Last year Adele took the world by Storm. Now, it's Lana Del Rey. 

Born To Die was the years most cohesive pop album, featuring classical blues styled vocals over new-age hipster pop and R&B beats. She may not be everyone's cup of tea, but she has created her own niche between pop and soul.

With songs like "American" or "National Anthem," which stand as two of our favorite songs of 2012, and other songs that have lines like "My pussy tastes Pepsi-Cola," this deluxe album package is an eargasm from track one all the way through the end.