Hello and welcome to my end of year countdown of the best songs and albums of the year! The number of songs that will appear will most likely be 50, but the number of albums has yet to be confirmed.

 

The guidelines are that all songs were released or promoted as singles in the UK in 2012, so there are actually two songs that appeared in the 2011 countdown due to appear!

No greatest albums will be included in the rundown, and all were released in the UK in 2012, therefore also excluding albums with deluxe editions released this year (I'm looking at YOU, Katy Perry!)

 

EDIT: I've actually had to bend this for Rebecca Ferguson, whose album I first heard last Christmas and garnered most of its plays this year!

 

Feel free to predict what my song/album of the year is, and please comment once the countdown has begun (and I will try and return the favour :P)

 

The 50 songs:

Alicia Keys – “Girl On Fire”

Amelia Lily – “You Bring Me Joy”

B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift – “Both Of Us”

Ben Howard – “Only Love”

Beyoncé – “End Of Time”

Beyoncé – “Love On Top”

Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe”

Cher Lloyd – “Want U Back”

Cheryl – “Call My Name”

Cheryl – “Under The Sun”

Cheryl ft. Wretch 32 – “Screw You”

Christina Aguilera – “Your Body”

Coldplay ft. Rihanna – “Princess Of China”

David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj – “Turn Me On”

David Guetta ft. Sia – “Titanium”

Ed Sheeran – “Drunk”

Ed Sheeran – “Give Me Love”

Ellie Goulding – “Anything Could Happen”

Emeli Sandé – “My Kind Of Love”

Emeli Sandé – “Next To Me”

Emeli Sandé – “Read All About It (Part III)”

fun. ft. Janelle Monáe – “We Are Young”

Girls Aloud – “Something New”

Gotye ft. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used To Know”

Jessie J – “Domino”

Jessie Ware – “Wildest Moments”

Karmin – “Brokenhearted”

Katy Perry – “Part Of Me”

Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away”

Katy Perry – “Wide Awake”

Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)”

Labrinth ft. Emeli Sandé – “Beneath Your Beautiful”

Leona Lewis – “Trouble”

Little Mix – “DNA”

Little Mix – “Wings”

Loreen – “Euphoria”

M83 – “Midnight City”

Nicki Minaj – “Starships”

One Direction – “Little Things”

One Direction – “Live While We're Young”

Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen – “Good Time”

Paloma Faith – “Picking Up The Pieces”

Rebecca Ferguson – “Backtrack”

Rihanna – “Diamonds”

Rihanna – “Where Have You Been”

Rita Ora – “How We Do (Party)”

Rita Ora ft. Tinie Tempah – “R.I.P.”

Stooshe – “Black Heart”

Taylor Swift – “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

will.i.am ft. Eva Simons – “This Is Love”

 

The 15 albums:

Carly Rae Jepsen – Kiss

Cheryl – A Million Lights

Ellie Goulding – Halcyon

Emeli Sandé – Our Version Of Events

fun. – Some Nights

Jessie Ware – Devotion

Justin Bieber – Believe

Leona Lewis – Glassheart

Marina & The Diamonds – Electra Heart

Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday Roman Reloaded

One Direction – Take Me Home

Paloma Faith – Fall To Grace

Rebecca Ferguson – Heaven

Rihanna – Unapologetic

Taylor Swift – Red

Edited January 4, 201312 yr by THEO.

I've edited the songs and albums in alphabetical order by artist into the first post, and shall post the first couple of songs today! :cheer:

Well there is no time like the present, so here goes!

 

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50. Coldplay ft. Rihanna – “Princess Of China” – 11-6-4-3-6-8-9-19-20-25-31-38-x

49. Cher Lloyd – “Want U Back” – 7-8-8-9-7-15-20-29-34-40-x

48. David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj – “Turn Me On” – 14-18-24-30-x(18)-15-16-18-11-3-4-6-6-6-8-10-16-22-28-25-32-36-x

47. Ed Sheeran – “Drunk” – 39-20-7-7-13-16-11-13-20-26-29-38-x

46. Rita Ora – “How We Do (Party)” – 12-11-9-10-11-11-9-9-8-10-12-18-23-33-x

45. One Direction – “Live While We're Young” – 26-6-10-13-20-35-x

44. Stooshe – “Black Heart” – 18-8-7-7-8-13-14-16-18-26-35-34-40-x

43. Christina Aguilera – “Your Body” – 22-12-4-3-5-4-4-9-11-17-20-31-37-40-x

42. Ben Howard – “Only Love” – 3-5-8-9-14-21-23-26-37-x

41. Rebecca Ferguson – “Backtrack” – 35-27-15-12-9-13-12-8-12-12-20-29-35-40-x

 

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Like last year, Rihanna starts the countdown, this time in partnership with Coldplay on the fourth single from their album Mylo Xyloto, "Princess Of China". It's not my favourite song from either artist, although it is the highest-placed song by the band this year. Miss Marmite is up next, with her breakthrough UK hit, "Want U Back". Despite reaching top ten in on the Billboard Hot 100, the song failed to dent over here despite being Cher's best song to-date. David Guetta and his millionth single from the album Nothing But The Beat features at #48, a song with Nicki Minaj, who properly broke through into the UK charts this year. It's a great dance-pop song, and is better than a lot of songs attempting to sound like this on Nicki's album. Both artists have another entry each further up the chart. Ed Sheeran features for the first time ever in my end-of-year charts with "Drunk", a fun song about drowning your sorrows away with an equally hilarious music video to match. Rita Ora's third (and last, to-date) UK #1 features next, another fun dance-pop song about partying/drinking, and as good as it is, I can't help but compare it to Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", especially the chant. Rita has another entry later on.

 

One Direction appear with "What Makes You Beautiful" part 2, although the lyrics are far less cheesy and I generally prefer it. It was the first single taken from their second album, Take Me Home, and was expected to reach #1 on release, but failed. The follow-up did, however, and will chart later on. Stooshe's only entry here is the beautiful "Black Heart", about a mistreating boyfriend. It was a huge success in the UK, but the next single was a cover of a 90s classic and failed to make an impression (although I did like it! It doesn't feature here, however). Ben Howard's beautiful single, "Only Love", features next. I fell in love with him after he performed this and a cover of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call My Maybe" on Radio 1's Live Lounge, which results in this entry! He failed to chart again on my top 40, although he did release a new EP in November. Rebecca Ferguson's sole entry is the fun uptempo pop number, "Backtrack", which was completely different to everything we've heard from her before, and gave her a second top twenty upon release. The parent album, Heaven, pleasantly surprised me, and is due to début on my end-of-year album chart shortly...

HI THEO.

 

Great start here, I know and like everything bar Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard (never heard this) and Rita Ora, with Princess of China probably being one of the best big hits of the year despite the underwhelming run on my chart. I'm interested to see what your #1 is, I'm predicting a Call My Name/Something New battle to the death :P

Hi Theo, my faves

 

50. Coldplay ft. Rihanna – “Princess Of China” – 11-6-4-3-6-8-9-19-20-25-31-38-x

47. Ed Sheeran – “Drunk” – 39-20-7-7-13-16-11-13-20-26-29-38-x

46. Rita Ora – “How We Do (Party)” – 12-11-9-10-11-11-9-9-8-10-12-18-23-33-x

45. One Direction – “Live While We're Young” – 26-6-10-13-20-35-x

44. Stooshe – “Black Heart” – 18-8-7-7-8-13-14-16-18-26-35-34-40-x

43. Christina Aguilera – “Your Body” – 22-12-4-3-5-4-4-9-11-17-20-31-37-40-x

42. Ben Howard – “Only Love” – 3-5-8-9-14-21-23-26-37-x

41. Rebecca Ferguson – “Backtrack” – 35-27-15-12-9-13-12-8-12-12-20-29-35-40-x

 

Good selection there :D

I literally can't contain my excitement for the rest of this countdown.

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40. Jessie J – “Domino” – 31-22-2-4-6-5-4-2-4-7-10-13-16-14-21-30-37-38-x

39. Rita Ora ft. Tinie Tempah – “R.I.P.” – 6-2-2-5-9-15-18-23-32-35-30-28-32-38-40-x

38. Ed Sheeran – “Give Me Love” – 34-3-7-10-7-7-14-12-12-

37. Ellie Goulding – “Anything Could Happen” – 26-18-15-10-8-7-3-2-7-8-7-10-16-22-30-36-x

36. Katy Perry – “Part Of Me” – 12-8-9-6-4-1-1-1-1-2-6-10-21-24-28-36-39-40-x

35. Nicki Minaj – “Starships” – 5-2-1-1-1-2-3-2-3-5-7-15-20-27-35-x

34. B.o.B ft. Taylor Swift – “Both Of Us” – 10-3-4-5-5-10-16-19-28-38-x

33. Amelia Lily – “You Bring Me Joy” – 9-7-9-7-7-6-9-16-19-20-25-35-x

32. Emeli Sandé – “Next To Me” – 35-30-36-32-28-19-7-5-8-11-9-8-11-18-25-34-40-x

31. Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen – “Good Time” – 34-17-14-11-4-2-3-2-4-5-1-2-6-8-13-22-30-39-39-x

 

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Kicking off the next group is Jessie J with her second UK #1, "Domino". It's a fun and catchy dance-pop track, although like Rita Ora earlier, it's a bit too similar to Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". Speaking of Miss Ora, she's next with her début solo single, "R.I.P.", featuring a rap from Tinie Tempah. The two songs are of completely different genres, although I prefer the slightly edgier sound from her. Ed Sheeran places a sole entry into the top fourty with his recent millionth single from the album +. It's a great acoustic song, which crescendos to feature a choir beautifully chanting the song out with him towards the end of the track. Ellie Goulding appears with the lead single from second album Halcyon, a song which took a few weeks for me to get, and after two months of climbing my chart it finally clicked - peaking at #2, behind Leona Lewis's third #1 single. Katy Perry is the first #1 track to appear here, with "Part Of Me", the lead single from the re-release of her album, Teenage Dream, and the two millionth taken from it overall. It's a fun dance-pop song, although it's not as great as the previous singles released from it and fails to make much of an impact here (despite it having the fourth longest run at #1 in 2012). Two more of the singles from the album are yet to show up here.

 

Another #1 is down, next, as Nicki Minaj places for the second time with the lead single from her second album Pink Friday Roman Reloaded, titled "Starships". It's one of the most generic dance-pop songs of the year (produced by long-time Lady GaGa collaborator, RedOne), but it's a whole lot of fun and was a personal #1 for me upon release. B.o.B is next with the song which should've been a #1 single from his second album, featuring Taylor Swift (someone who we'll see more of later) - it was a #3 hit for me, and is a sweet love song featuring Taylor's beautiful vocals on the chorus whilst B.o.B raps the verses. Amelia Lily is the fourth X Factor contestant to show up here, with her lead single "You Bring Me Joy". It's a Xenomania number, and is very similar to what their key act, Girls Aloud, were releasing last time they had major chart success. It began to get a bit repetitive upon release, and eventually lost out to the winning act, Little Mix, with their single "Wings". Emeli Sandé features for the first of four times with her (second) breakthrough hit, "Next To Me". It's a great soulful pop song, although very misleading of what is to be heard on her album. Owl City features, along with Carly Rae Jepsen (the first of two entries for her), with "Good Time" - one of my favourite songs this summer, although once that passed over, the song's charm did too. It was still fun whilst it lasted and gets a respectable placing here.

HI THEO.

 

Great start here, I know and like everything bar Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard (never heard this) and Rita Ora, with Princess of China probably being one of the best big hits of the year despite the underwhelming run on my chart. I'm interested to see what your #1 is, I'm predicting a Call My Name/Something New battle to the death :P

Thanks James!

 

If you don't like Ed, I doubt you'd like Ben, but they're both sweet songs from sweet albums. No surprise at your Rita dislike, or Rihanna like :P

 

Interesting... You'll have to wait and see!

 

Hi Theo, my faves

 

50. Coldplay ft. Rihanna – “Princess Of China” – 11-6-4-3-6-8-9-19-20-25-31-38-x

47. Ed Sheeran – “Drunk” – 39-20-7-7-13-16-11-13-20-26-29-38-x

46. Rita Ora – “How We Do (Party)” – 12-11-9-10-11-11-9-9-8-10-12-18-23-33-x

45. One Direction – “Live While We're Young” – 26-6-10-13-20-35-x

44. Stooshe – “Black Heart” – 18-8-7-7-8-13-14-16-18-26-35-34-40-x

43. Christina Aguilera – “Your Body” – 22-12-4-3-5-4-4-9-11-17-20-31-37-40-x

42. Ben Howard – “Only Love” – 3-5-8-9-14-21-23-26-37-x

41. Rebecca Ferguson – “Backtrack” – 35-27-15-12-9-13-12-8-12-12-20-29-35-40-x

 

Good selection there :D

Thanks Rob :D

Another great selection - it's quite weird to see hits as big for you as Part of Me' and Starships going out so early, competition must be fierce :o You've picked Jessie and Rita's best singles (well, Radioactive is better than R.I.P but I'll expect that to chart next year!) and it's lovely to see Anything Could Happen and Good Time here too, obviously. Any more Emeli to come? I seem to remember you charting RAAI Part. III.

Another great selection - it's quite weird to see hits as big for you as Part of Me' and Starships going out so early, competition must be fierce :o You've picked Jessie and Rita's best singles (well, Radioactive is better than R.I.P but I'll expect that to chart next year!) and it's lovely to see Anything Could Happen and Good Time here too, obviously. Any more Emeli to come? I seem to remember you charting RAAI Part. III.

Not so fierce, just those two songs in particular haven't aged that well for me! Nice to see you've read my commentary - Emeli has three more songs to come ("Read All About It [Part III]", a former #1 of mine; "My Kind Of Love" and "Beneath Your Beautiful") :P

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30. Cheryl – “Under The Sun” – 10-8-9-6-6-3-3-4-2-1-1-4-10-18-18-25-32-37-x

29. Kelly Clarkson – “Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)” – 14-18-23-26-32-37-x(6)-23-25-13-3-4-6-10-17-20-18-16-17-20-25-32-39-x

28. will.i.am ft. Eva Simons – “This Is Love” – 27-9-5-3-5-7-13-18-23-21-28-33-35-31-39-x

27. Cheryl ft. Wretch 32 – “Screw You” – 1-4-9-9-14-14-23-25-32-40-x

26. Labrinth ft. Emeli Sandé – “Beneath Your Beautiful” – 17-8-6-5-5-4-4-5-3-5-

25. Jessie Ware – “Wildest Moments” – 28-30-32-2-5-6-14-20-32-x

24. Paloma Faith – “Picking Up The Pieces” – 31-29-16-11-9-6-3-4-3-5-8-12-13-16-21-30-37-x

23. Emeli Sandé – “My Kind Of Love” – 18-17-15-20-13-10-10-7-9-12-20-28-36-40-35-36-37-38-x

22. Rihanna – “Diamonds” – 7-7-9-7-5-3-4-4-3-3-2-3-6-10-

21. Little Mix – “DNA” – 16-8-2-2-2-2-3-4-6-8-15-19-25-

 

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Opening the top thirty is Cheryl Cole, or just Cheryl as she now releases music, and the first of her three entries. This was released as the second single from A Million Lights, and despite a lengthy run in the top ten, once summer was over, it lost its charm for me and quickly fell down the chart. Kelly Clarkson, the original American Idol winner is next, with her third US #1 single, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)". It's a great upbeat rock-pop song, although the lyrics are very clichéd like a lot of Kelly's work. will.i.am follows with his own clichéd single, featuring the ever-forgotten Eva Simons on "This Is Love". I do like it a lot though, and the piano riff is my favourite part. It's taken from his to-be-released fourth studio album, with the next single "Scream & Shout" currently charting in my top ten. Cheryl features for a second time with "Screw You", a song which was scheduled to be released as the third single from her third album, but was shelved before release due to the Girls Aloud reunion. I'm hoping it gets a release next year, as it's one of the album highlights and a nice little message to loverat Ashley. Labrinth features for the only time with his current single featuring Scottish singer Emeli Sandé, on the beautiful "Beneath Your Beautiful". It's one of my favourite R&B ballads for a long time, and was only denied #1 on my chart due to strong competition during release.

 

Jessie Ware features for the only time with one of my most unlikely hits of the year. "Wildest Moments" is an enchanting pop/soul song, with breathtaking vocals from Jessie, and it's really one of the hits of 2012 that never was. Her album, Devotion, was of similar high quality and produced a further hit in "Running" on my chart. Paloma Faith also only has the one entry here, taken from another of my year's favourite albums. "Picking Up The Pieces" became her first top ten single in May and along with its beautiful video, set up one of my favourite albums of the year and a strong sophomore effort in Fall To Grace. Emeli Sandé features again with the fourth single from her album, "My Kind Of Love". It's another of my favourite videos of the year, with a beautiful story told throughout. This was the song which made me fall in love with her and the album, Our Version Of Events, after being unimpressed with the first two singles "Heaven" (although I love that now) and "Daddy". Rihanna features with current hit single, "Diamonds", the lead from her current millionth album Unapologetic. Little Mix feature for the first of two times with the second single from their début album, both titled "DNA". It's a great electro-pop song (not too dissimilar from Katy Perry's "E.T.", which they performed whilst competing on The X Factor). It failed to match the peak of their first two singles in the official charts, but spent four weeks at #2 on my chart (the second-longest run at that position this year).

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20. One Direction – “Little Things” – 15-2-2-2-1-2-2-3-

19. M83 – “Midnight City” – 3-2-3-6-14-25-31-35-38-x

18. Little Mix – “Wings” – 18-18-15-7-4-5-5-8-6-5-10-14-19-26-40-x

17. Rihanna – “Where Have You Been” – 19-8-6-7-9-5-4-6-5-11-14-22-25-31-38-x

16. Karmin – “Brokenhearted” – 24-1-1-1-2-6-9-11-17-22-33-x

 

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Kicking off the top twenty is the second single from One Direction's second album, the cute-sy ballad, "Little Things". The song was their first #1 hit on my chart, after my initial disliking for the song, it slowly climbed to #1. M83 appear with the unofficial theme tune to 'scripted reality' show Made in Chelsea (where the song was first brought to my attention). It's iconic for the chorus, and was later compared to Rihanna's single "Diamonds" (#22). Little Mix appear for the last time with their first post-X Factor single, "Wings". The song relates to female-empowerment/anti-bullying, and the group became the first winners of the show since Alexandra Burke to reach #1 with more than one single in the UK charts. Rihanna also appears for the last time with the fourth UK single from her sixth album Talk That Talk, and the Calvin Harris-produced "Where Have You Been". One of her more energetic singles, it's a great dance anthem, which was brought to life when she performed it at Hackney Weekend. One-hit-wonders Karmin close this section with their only UK hit to-date, "Brokenhearted". It's a great bubblegum pop song, in the same vein as "Call Me Maybe" and "How We Do (Party)", both big #1 hits this year, yet the song peaked at a disappointing #6 in the charts and disappeared soon afterwards.

More great sections, and it's lovely to see 'Brokenhearted' show up here! It wasn't all that big for me initially but its somehow done exactly the opposite of what I'd expected and sounds even better to me now than it did before. I do wish it had held up a little bit better, did you ever hear their follow up single 'Hello'?

 

Lovely to see Jessie Ware (even if I think '110%' is far superior!), Cheryl x2 and the amazing 'Where Have You Been', too.

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15. Leona Lewis – “Trouble” – 26-10-8-5-2-1-1-3-3-3-6-8-12-15-20-24-36-40-x

14. Loreen – “Euphoria” – 3-4-5-10-13-15-21-28-28-36-39-x

13. Alicia Keys – “Girl On Fire” – 13-2-1-2-3-5-5-6-5-5-6-11-11-11-13-15-18-

12. Beyoncé – “End Of Time” – 23-16-2-1-2-5-12-16-23-27-34-39-x

11. Emeli Sandé – “Read All About It (Part III)” – 10-1-3-4-13-18-20-24-39-40-40-x

 

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At #15, is Leona Lewis's long-awaited comeback single, the dark mid-tempo track, "Trouble". After weeks of growing on me, it eventually became her third #1 on my chart, but failed to make a commercial impression. It's my favourite song from her since "Run", and it has a similar sound to that (without the uplifting final chorus). A version with Childish Gambino was also released (whose "Heartbeat" hit #4 in my chart but fails to make the top 50 here), but I much prefer the version with Leona on the middle eight. Swedish Eurovision winner Loreen appears with the just-as-haunting dance ballad "Euphoria". The song shot to #3 on my chart after my initial disliking of it, but both performances of the song during the contest (final and semi-final) brought the song to life for me, and it has managed to out-chart eight of my #1 songs from 2012! Alicia Keys appears with her comeback single from fifth studio album, both titled "Girl On Fire". It hit me quite instantly, unlike others, and is similar in style to previous hit "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart", with the heavy-drum-backing. I'm not sure if anybody knows what it's actually about, but it's by far and away my highlight from the album, which was quite underwhelming in comparison with her 2009-released/2010-chart-topper The Element Of Freedom. The fifth single lifted from Beyoncé's 2011 album, 4, was the similarly drum beat-influenced "End Of Time". The song was one of my immediate favourites from the album, and despite there never being an official video for the song, the many performances that were mashed-up into a live video more than make up for that. Emeli Sandé closes off the section with her fourth entry, the ever-present "Read All About It (Part III)", just missing the top 10. The song closed off the London Olympics (which is where my love for it first hit), and it became her only #1 hit on my chart. I far prefer this version to the original on which she features with Professor Green.

SNAP @ Alicia. :o

 

"Only Love" is the only song so far that I dislike. Especially good to see 1D and Loreen this high. :wub:

More great sections, and it's lovely to see 'Brokenhearted' show up here! It wasn't all that big for me initially but its somehow done exactly the opposite of what I'd expected and sounds even better to me now than it did before. I do wish it had held up a little bit better, did you ever hear their follow up single 'Hello'?

 

Lovely to see Jessie Ware (even if I think '110%' is far superior!), Cheryl x2 and the amazing 'Where Have You Been', too.

Yeah I did hear "Hello" - it's not as good, but the chorus is very good. I'm not that keen on the verses though :( I only got into "110%" after hearing the album; it's lovely, but as is "Wildest Moments" :wub:

 

SNAP @ Alicia. :o

 

"Only Love" is the only song so far that I dislike. Especially good to see 1D and Loreen this high. :wub:

Why do you dislike it?! :o It's gorgeous - his whole album is though :wub: I thought you'd be pleased to see those here! Two of the biggest growers of the year for me!

 

Albums coming up now!

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15. fun. – Some Nights (non-single highlight: "It Gets Better")

14. Justin Bieber – Believe (non-single highlight: "All Around The World")

13. Rihanna – Unapologetic (non-single highlight: "Jump")

12. One Direction – Take Me Home (non-single highlight: "Rock Me")

11. Marina & The Diamonds – Electra Heart (non-single highlight: "The State Of Dreaming")

 

Three of the first five albums to appear are the only males on this countdown. US indie rock band fun. appear with their breakthrough album, Some Nights. I listened to it immediately after hearing the single "We Are Young", and was hooked. The sound is quite similar throughout, although a bit too reliant on autotune. Justin Bieber, with his third album, Believe, which featured a radical change in sound from his first (his second being a seasonal release). The single "Boyfriend" sparked my interest in it, and it's actually a very decent collection of songs (ignoring the fact that I liked a lot of his début set too!) We take a break from the boys to focus on Rihanna, who released her seventh studio album in as many years, Unapologetic. Whilst containing many highlights, including the singles "Diamonds" (#22) and "Stay" (currently #1 on my personal chart), there is a bit too much filler. My non-single highlight would be "Jump", which is just begging for a release! Brit-Irish boyband One Direction appear with their sophomore set, Take Me Home. It's very much on the same wavelength as their début, although the highs are much higher ("Little Things" - #20 - and "Kiss You", their current single). Marina & The Diamonds closes off this section with what I originally thought was a disappointing follow-up to the sublime The Family Jewels album, although as and individual piece of work it is very good, just the wrong singles were chosen for release.

Edited January 2, 201312 yr by THEO.

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10. Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday Roman Reloaded (non-single highlight: "Marilyn Monroe")

9. Jessie Ware – Devotion (non-single highlight: "Running" - I'm aware that this was released as a single, but it never charted for me so it doesn't count!)

8. Taylor Swift – Red (non-single highlight: "22")

7. Ellie Goulding – Halcyon (non-single highlight: "Only You")

6. Paloma Faith – Fall To Grace (non-single highlight: "Black & Blue")

 

Nicki Minaj just slips into the top ten with her second album. It's not a patch on her first album, but the second half of it is very strong - I can definitely leave the majority of the first nine tracks, as well as the majority of the re-release EP, The Re-Up. Next up is newcomer Jessie Ware with her début album, which was one of my shock discoveries of the year. It's a beautiful set featuring stunning vocals on the likes of "Wildest Moments" (#25) - unfortunately she had no major mainstream crossover, although she was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Taylor Swift appears with her fourth album, Red. For the most part, it's very much in view of her past work (country mid-tempos), although lead single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", was a slight change in direction towards bubblegum pop, whilst follow-up "I Knew You Were Trouble." features a dubstep breakdown. There are some lovely duets with Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, too, and overall it's just a nice relaxing listen. The second album from Ellie Goulding is at #7. It doesn't contain as many highs for me as début set, Lights, but there are some great tracks which are darker than her previous work, including second single "Figure 8". Finally Paloma Faith also appears with her second album, released off the back of the beautiful "Picking Up The Pieces" (#24). Next single, "30 Minute Love Affair" didn't quite capture my attention, but when Paloma was chosen to feature in the John Lewis Autumn advert, I fell in love with her version of INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart", and subsequently gave the album many more listens. Unlike Ellie's album, it's a lot more timid than her first album, but it's still very beautiful and her voice completely makes the tracks.

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5. Carly Rae Jepsen – Kiss (non-single highlight: "Guitar String / Wedding Ring")

 

 

Girl-next-door Carly Rae kicks off the top five with her breakthrough second album, Kiss. My love for her was first sparked by "Call Me Maybe", and after loving follow-up duet "Good Time" (#31) with Owl City, I contemplated buying the album. I then heard third/promo single, "This Kiss", and ashamedly purchased the album. Fortunately it turned out to be a decision that I haven't regretted, with the album being full of many strong pop songs, most of which could turn into a hit if the label gave them a proper push. This album has definitely picked up my love of bubblegum/pure-pop that Katy Perry has left behind in recent months.

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4. Emeli Sandé – Our Version Of Events (non-single highlight: "River" - although as "Read All About It (Part III)" wasn't an official single, I could say that. I won't though)

 

 

From one extreme to another (genre-wise), it's British success story of 2012, Emeli Sandé, and her début album (as well as its re-release), Our Version Of Events. Overall, the album has a very mature sound, especially in "Read All About It (Part III)" (#11), but there are some funner pop/R&B songs on there, including singles "Heaven" and "Next To Me" (#32). The album first clicked with me (after initially finding it underwhelming/depressing) once I heard "My Kind Of Love" (#23) and hearing the emotion put into it. Needless to say, she wasn't overexposed this year for no reason - she was broadcasted because she is one of the best new talents in the UK. I look forward to the second album and how she can develop her sound.