#26 - Mandy Capristo - Grace

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ShAgF7AYgA/T5sswiEEIII/AAAAAAAAD1w/1IIRtpO6Ud0/s1600/Grace%20now%20cover.png

 

Ex-Monrose Mandy's first solo album wasn't something I had any high expectations for, she wasn't my favourite from the band and BeYu (or whatever) from last year sounded like such a rush job/half assed effort it lowered what little expectation I had. Anyway roll on 2012 and The Way I Like It (the lead single) premiered and I was back on board, it's total throwaway pop, but it's unbelievably catchy and was rightly a hit for her. The album has quite a few lovely ballads on it too, including a rather surprising Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover (Otherside), not being familiar with the original I have no view on that beyond it being a nice song. The main efforts worthy of mention are Hurricane and 2nd single Closer though, both midtempo tracks, Closer has the most gorgeous production, especially towards the end with a great build up to the chorus and Hurricane has an amazing powerhouse chorus.

#25 - Jonathan Johansson - Klagomuren

 

http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2011-11/1320157467_jonathan-johansson-klagomuren-2011.jpg

 

More Swedish, and once again male. This time it's more lush electropoppery though, with equally good vocals from Jonathan. Centrum and Stockholm are the 2 tracks I've found myself coming back to most, again despite not understanding what he's saying.

#24 - Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace

 

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4pet7NE1l1r3e6tp.jpg

 

Another slight disappointment came in the form of this, Paloma's second album, Fall To Grace. Her debut album remains one of my favourite 2009 albums and was packed full of brilliant pop songs, especially the oft overlooked Stargazer. Fall To Grace isn't a bad album by any means, but it certainly doesn't hold a light to the debut and for better or worse having such a strong debut I think this was always going to be a slight disappointment. Lead single Picking Up The Pieces is magnificent though, and rightly gave her her first top 10 hit and complete with it's gorgeous video is one of my songs of the year. Other choice cuts for me are the Mr. Brightside inspired Agony, When You're Gone, Black And Blue and 3rd single Just Be.

#23 - Petra Marklund - Inferno

 

http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2012-10/1350482919_600.jpg

 

Petra Marklund aka September dropped the moniker for this release which has a slightly different sound to her usual stuff, which for me is probably her best album to date. The obvious standout here is lead single Handerna Mot Himlem which has one of the most memorable instrumentals of the year and handed her one of her biggest ever hits in Sweden. Forlorad Varld is my choice of the album tracks, a gorgeous big piano ballad with some of her best vocals to date, Sanningen is also very good. I'd be quite happy to see her continue down this path, even though she has said September WILL be back.

#22 - Carrie Underwood - Blown Away

 

http://www.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/50163-carrie-underwood-flaunts-long-lean-legs-on-blown-away-album-cover/1331044807_carrie-underwood-article.jpg

 

I can't say I've ever been a huge Carrie fan before now, I've enjoyed the odd song here and there, especially when she gets her vox on, but for the most part I've been a little underwhelmed. Blown Away definitely changed that, it's more pop oriented than previous albums which is no bad thing. Blown Away, Two Black Cadillac's and Who Are You are the 3 tracks I've found myself coming back to most often, perhaps unsurprisingly they are all fairly voxtastic. Blown Away seems to have turned into a solid HIT for her, though she's never quite nailed it live yet. I hope she does when I go to see her in the new year though, it'd be QUITE the MOMENT.

#21 - Delta Goodrem - Child Of The Universe

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BC0ikKKGidQ/UHKSIAqR0iI/AAAAAAAALxE/V4tndPgbDTQ/s1600/cotualbumcover.jpg

 

Child Of The Universe is a bit of a mixed bag, on one hand it features her best single to date (imo) Sitting On Top Of The World, yet it also houses the wholly uninspired Dancing With A Broken Heart which ended up being her biggest flop to date, and with good reason. It's a better album than Delta though, even if she still sounds somewhat like she's trying to adopt other pop styles to her own sounds, to rather poor effect (see DWABH), but she works best when channeling her own past on SOTOTW or getting her Tori Amos on with The Hunter and The Wolves.

#20 - Passion Pit - Gossamer

 

http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Passion-Pit-Gossamer-e1337095841298.jpg

 

On the surface of it Gossamer sounds likes a pretty basic sugary synth-pop album, and certainly on my first listen I didn't pay all that much attention to the lyrics, but that's what lifts it to something so much better than their contemporaries for me. Of course that the songs are also incredibly catchy doesn't hurt either. Carried Away, Constant Conversations and the singles Take A Walk and I'll Be Alright are my choix cuts.

#19 - Ellie Goulding - Halcyon

 

http://poponandon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ellie-goulding-halcyon-snippets-full-albumalbum-cover-1343649813-custom-0.jpeg

 

I had wanted more from Halcyon, especially based on Anything Could Happen, but sadly some of the same pitfalls that stopped the debut from being as good as it could have been ring true with it as well. Firstly the production often overtakes her voice, far more so here than on the debut, which is fine if that's your thing but I don't like hearing the vocals mixed beneath the backing music. Secondly, it's too long. It's cohesive to the point of being a bit dull by the time you reach the end, especially with the bonus tracks added on. All that doesn't take away from the fact it contains a number of very very good songs though and indeed a number which are less produced and almost all of those rank among my favourites. The stretch in the middle from Halcyon to Joy in particular is brilliant, as are Explosions, I Know You Care and Don't Say A Word PLUS the 2 singles.

#18 - Katherine McPhee, Megan Hilty & The Cast of SMASH - The Music Of SMASH (Deluxe Edition)

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6917332875_5a72b749f6_z.jpg

 

I've already mentioned my love for the show itself, now it's time to bestow some of that love on the music from it. The normal album has a rather annoying imbalance of covers to original tracks and many of the covers aren't THAT good (Breakaway for one sounds pretty poor coming from Megan) but the deluxe adds in a few of the rather brilliant original tracks like Don't Forget Me, Second Hand White Baby Grand and Thousand And One Nights. The real STAR of the show (in every sense) is obviously the voxtastic Let Me Be Your Star, but I won't dwell on that here. The tracks that work best for me are often Katherine solo tracks, I really do LOVE her voice, obviously Megan has an amazing set of pipes on here too but it's often a bit MUCH. Anyway I hope in S2 they focus a little more on original material because most of it is very good and even at its worst is often better than the covers.

#17 - Chad Valley - Young Hunger

 

http://www.miscmusic.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CV-YH-websize-618x618.jpg

 

More male lead synth-indie-pop now. This time in the form of British Chad Valley, with an album that's a bit of mish mash of styles, but ultimately works very well as a whole. Some tracks are very heavily 80's inspired (Up And Down, Fall 4 U), some 90's (My Girl) and others from anywhere in between. The main standouts for me are the guest vocalists tough, especially Glasser who makes Fall 4 U the definite stand out of the album for me. Mr. Valley himself sounds like George Michael half the time which is obviously not a bad thing either, but the guest vocalists do bring some nice variety to proceedings.

#16 - First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QRLsuaZaW9c/UKyXnBWR1rI/AAAAAAAAEHI/s2TAqD8TZYY/s1600/first-aid-kit-lions-roar.jpg

 

It's been a while, but we're back in good old Sweden for First Aid Kit, though this is as far as one can get from the melodi-eurovision-pop of the previous Swedes in this countdown. Released ALL the way back in January this is the oldest album on the list and as such benefits from some of the highest play counts. Lead single Emmylou is a nice melancholy slice of countrified folksy pop, but for me the real standout is second single The Lion's Roar which is a little bigger and more dramatic with a BIG chorus and equally big production. Elsewhere there isn't a bad track and as an album it works brilliantly, it's relatively short length definitely works as an advantage.

#15 - Emeli Sande - Our Version Of Events

 

http://ulstercraic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Emeli-Sande-Our-Version-Of-Events.jpg

 

I know a few people on here have grown very tired of Ms Sande and her constant appearances on any and every big show going, especially her THREE appearances at the Olympic Closing Ceremony. I might have been a bit irked myself had she not performed the amazing Read All About It, ever since I heard the original last year I had wanted a solo version and she delivered it brilliantly. In the chart climate of 2012 it was also lovely to see some genuinely good music impact too (though for every Emeli there's an Ed Sheeran which is frankly just as bad as LMFAO), I don't listen to the radio ever so I don't really know how overexposed she is there, I'm guessing very much so. Anyway the album is a very solid affair, never really dipping below 'good' and often touching on brilliant: Read All About It, Heaven, Daddy, River, My Kind Of Love, Next To Me, Breaking The Law and the brilliant Labrinth duet Beneath Your Beautiful.

#14 - Niki And The Dove - Instinct

 

http://dev.thewildhoneypie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/nikki-dove-instinct.jpeg

 

There's a lot of tracks on this album which have a decidedly classic feel to them, like they are covers of some long forgotten 80's classic resurrected in the guise of 2012 production and their fantastic vocals, but it's all original. That's obviously quite a bit compliment really and should help the album stand the test of time for me very well. Some of the most instant tracks like The Drummer and Somebody remains favourites, but the real standout has to be Tomorrow, which is the perfect blend of left field pop and a HUGE chorus which has resulted in an absolute belter of a song - more on that later.

#13 - Diamond Rings - Free Dimensional

 

http://wp-images.emusic.com/assets/2012/10/diamond-rings-free-dimensional.jpg

 

I was quite a belated fan of his first album Special Affections, only listening to it for the first time late last year, so I was glad this came out this year. I've read a few reviews of it which are less than complimentary, but for me, it's a better album. It's more polished and the songs themselves are stronger and often better thought out and constructed. It's quite a different affair, at least content wise, though with this album focusing more on being a manual for others to profess their identity/self worth blah blah blah compared to the first which was Mr Rings doing just that about himself. The really isn't a single bad track on here and the 2 singles I'm Just Me (which has amazing production) and Runaway Love (which is the closest in sound to the debut) are my highlights, along with Put Me On and Day & Night.

#12 - Leona Lewis - Glassheart

 

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa59/toyabloggeruu/leona-fab.jpg

 

First of all I refuse to use that VILE cover on iTunes/here/anywhere, I can't help but think it damaged the album somewhat, not that it was going to do much anyway but any casual shopper (ie. older women) would probably have been put off immediately. Glassheart was pushed back from 2011 after the attempt to reposition Leona as some kind of personality free dance cypher failed miserable (to the surprise of nobody bar the morons at SyCo). Was it worth the wait? Not really, it's not as good as the marvelous Echo, but it's still a step up from Spirit so not a total loss. There are still some holdovers from that original album, Come Alive which is one of the album highlights and is a great example of how, when done right, Leona IS suited to more current pop trends and Glassheart with it's totally misplaced dubstep sections.

 

The real strength of Glassheart, as ever, is with the ballads. There are 6 very good example on the album, though sadly once again none comes close to the majesty of Echo: I To You, When It Hurts, Fireflies, Lovebirds, Come Alive and Un Love Me. If Leona does get a 4th album I just hope they focus on trying to make it GOOD, I mean it can't do much worse than this which is barely even SILVER after a 10xplatinum debut and 2xplatinum follow-up.

#11 - Delilah - From The Roots Up

 

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m42r43C5aP1qcw4fzo1_500.jpg

 

The real star of this particular show is Delilah's voice. Even when the material isn't quite as good (So Irate and Never Be Another for example) she still sounds great. Of course, for the most part, the material IS very good so it's win-win. She's released a lot of singles from the album now and not many have done much chart wise but it's nice to keep getting videos and some decent remixes. The singles do rank among the best tracks for the most part for me, Shades Of Grey, Breathe (which has a marvellous single mix with Liam Bailey added as a duet), Love You So and Inside My Love but the run from Breathe (track 2) to Go (track 8) is really very very good indeed.

 

#10 - Madonna - MDNA

 

http://www.juanslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Madonna-MDNA-cover-deluxe-low-res.jpg

 

Obviously latter day Madonna output is a far cry from what she was putting out back in the day but I think MDNA is a fine album, certainly a big step up from Hard Candy anyway. It's not without it's fair share of shite, with B-Day Song ranking alongside other such atrocities as Incredible as the very worst song she's ever done. Gimme All Your Luvin' (noted SUPERBOWL ''HIT'') is also one of the very worst tracks, it sounded good for the first 10 or so plays, but it really is the most horribly BASIC shit listening to it now. Girl Gone Wild is better, at least by virtue of being a half decent song, it's still utterly faceless and beneath here, but as far as dancepop goes, I'll happily listen to it. Onto the good stuff, and there is plenty in my opinion, there's a very good 10 track album in there, with 3 songs I absolutely LOVE: I'm Addicted, Love Spent and Masterpiece. Falling Free, Gang Bang, I'm A Sinner, Turn Up The Radio, Beautiful Killer and I f***ed Up are the other tracks I've still got on my playlist.

#09 - Saint Saviour - Union

 

http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2012-07/1341392308_a03cd3cbffddf82d41cd7335bfdf32d2.jpg

 

I've loved SS ever since Woman Scorned (and of course her time with Groove Armada too), so this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it's got a LOT of very very good material on it, though much of that was also contained in the EP's she released prior to the album. The reason it's at #9 and not higher is because there are some pretty poor tracks on it too, the opening track Mercy is an odd one, by itself it's passable, but as an album opener it feels rather poor, Jennifer and Domino midway through also break up a run of fantastic songs too. The run from Tightrope to This Ain't No Hymn though is quite stunning, as is The Rain Falls On The Just through Horse near the end, sadly broken up by the 2 slightly less good tracks in the middle.

#08 - Gossip - A Joyful Noise

 

http://howlblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/gossip-joyful-noise-album-review.jpg

 

I'd never really payed a lot of attention to Gossip prior to this, at least not beyond the singles, but lead singles 'Perfect World' is an absolute pop stomper and got me well and truly on board. The whole album is Xenomania produced (BIG plus point, even if a few of the tracks would have sounded great coming from Florrie) and as a result is packed with their usual slightly odd, but still amazing, pop hooks. Coupled with Beth's marvelous vocals (something I only really paid attention to with her EP in 2011, especially the glorious I Wrote The Book) it makes for one of the best pop albums of the year, tracks like Get A Job, Move In The Right Direction, Perfect World, Casualties Of War and Love In A Foreign Place all got many many spins from me during the course of the year.

#07 - Charlotte Perrelli - The Girl

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f6VyiepocGo/T2SeOWNAvUI/AAAAAAAAOME/5HTyH2gCd_k/s1600/charlotteperrellithegirl.JPG

 

NOTHING was more anticipated by me this year than the return of dear old Harlot and once I knew old Kempe was back on board I was even more excited, after all Hero is the 2nd best song of all time *.*

 

Obviously the CRUSHING DISAPPOINTMENT of watching Charlotte's career die (again, for about the 15th time in a decade) with such a song was difficult to swallow, but the news that an album was mere weeks away was comfort in that dark hour (the rest of 2012). Anyway, the album isn't as good as Hero or Gone Too Long sadly, but for an album of 8 tracks it's pretty consistent, the 3 big uptempo pop numbers (In The Sun, The Girl and Little Braveheart) and by far the best tracks on here, but none of the tracks are BAD, the weakest link being Just For Tonight, but even then it's a perfectly serviceable pop ballad. There was talk of a 2nd EP due out at some point this year, but I think the direction this album and the single took properly put paid to any plans for more Harlot material for at least the next 5 years :(