the thought randomly came to me to download kin (I think it might have something to do with Iz??)

 

I got a good quality version of Kin out of this thought. :wub:

 

Fantastic albums in Kin and Heal. I loved Paloma's debut but Picking Up The Pieces put me off Fall To Grace and I haven't heard anything from it.

 

A lot of Paradise is fairly forgettable compared to Born To Die but yay for more Lana - that's always good.

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#4: Marina & The Diamonds – Electra Heart

 

Similar to A Million Lights, Electra Heart is a commercial pop album that I was obsessed with upon release but gradually lost its lustre. However, unlike Cheryl, Marina is actually CREDIBLE so it is acceptable to like this. I’ve been a huge fan of Marina since her first album – back in 2010 I even preferred her to HRH Ellie Goulding. As such, I was hugely looking forward to her follow up. Hearing it would be Marina doing generipop unsettled me somewhat, but ‘Radioactive’ calmed those nerves. From then on it was plain sailing, and Marina did not fail to serve up an incredible album. It’s an album that reveals its secrets early, and indeed much of it has not really stuck with me, but there are so many moments. The peaks (‘Radioactive’, ‘Power & Control’, ‘Valley of the Dolls’, ‘Lonely Hearts Club’ and MORE) don’t quite hit the heights of The Family Jewels (and I do prefer her début) but the consistency is remarkable. It’s just a shame this didn’t deliver Marina the success she so wanted with it.

 

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#3: Ellie Goulding – Halcyon

 

And #3 is what my most anticipated release was this year – Ellie Goulding’s sophomore. Obviously, I’m a huge Ellie fan. Her début was fantastic and I couldn’t really see album #2 not being good. However, Ellie has always had somewhat hipsterish tendencies, so I worried her second album could get bogged down in her efforts to appear indie. The album title and cover didn’t help this worry, but thankfully lead single ‘Anything Could Happen’ was quite the moment. It was a weird listen for me, and I can’t say it was entirely instant (its 4 weeks at #1 on my chart upon release were misleading – sales were super duper low) but it grew, and in retrospect was the perfect lead single. I don’t think there’s a single song on the album that bridges the gap between Ellie’s two albums better.

 

And yet oddly, while ACH took time to grow on me, Halcyon was very instant. Stuff like ‘My Blood’, ‘Only You’ and ‘Figure 8’ hit me instantly, and the rest of the album soon followed. As of right now the only tracks that continue to leave me cold are ‘Dead In The Water’ (sorry, Dave) and ‘Explosions’. Halcyon is often called an exhausting listen, but it isn’t at all for me. It’s far more consistent and while the duo of ‘Explosions’ and ‘I Know You Care’ can be a bit testing, with ‘Dead In The Water’ being an intermission of 4:45 before the wonderful deluxe tracks kick in, the rest is a very easy listen. That said, I don’t know if this is better than (Bright) Lights. The highs aren’t as high (nothing here hits as hard as ‘Starry Eyed’ or ‘Lights’) but then it doesn’t contain ‘Wish I Stayed’, either. In any case, Halcyon has given me a newfound confidence in Ellie. If she made a good album out of her “indie” phase then I’m not sure how she could craft a bad one! Unless she decides to do RedOne bangers. But let’s hope she doesn’t.

 

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#2: Lana Del Rey – Born To Die

 

To the surprise of anyone who didn’t see my awards, Lana doesn’t take #1 here. I wonder who could possibly be #1.

 

Born To Die is an incredible album. I have a lot of love for début albums most of the time, but this outstrips any I’ve heard bar the wonderful ‘Hands’. I did expect something amazing when I first listened (misgivings over the lack of ‘Kinda Outta Luck’ aside) but was surprised at JUST how good it was. For it to be so good as for the album tracks to be as strong as the singles was just shocking, but ‘Off To The Races’, ‘Dark Paradise’ and ‘Radio’ (not to mention bonus track ‘Without You’ which is just the most heartbreaking thing ever) were all up to scratch when compared to ‘Video Games’ and ‘Born To Die’.

 

That said, as strong as the album is, I was unsure if Lana could ever deliver anything like it again. Thanksfully she did with the Paradise EP (which I’ve already reviewed) and I’m now sure I’m in it with Lana for the longrun.

 

Oh my god, I was fully expecting Lana to be #1! :o Who will it be? :kink:

 

ANything Can Happen went to #1 in my personal chart in a quiet week for music as well! :lol: I still love the song and the album though. :wub:

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#1: Shy’m – Caméleon

 

So the album that prevents Lana getting the top spot that she had on lock for the vast majority of the year is the 4th effort of French songstress Shy’m. Caméléon is the most pop album to date of an artist whose roots are in RnB, but thankfully manages to avoid being her equivalent of Nicki Minaj and Usher’s latest releases. This is probably because Shy’m’s transition from RnB to pop has taken place over the course of her four albums, rather than being an abrupt genre change. Début Mes Fantaisies was pure RnB, Reflets started to go that bit more pop and Prendre L’air was somewhere in between RnB and pop. Caméléon is the first Shy’m album largely free of RnB influences and while I love RnB Shy’m as much as anyone (Reflets is a classic album), she’s benefited hugely from the shift.

 

Caméléon is one of the most accomplished commercial pop releases in recent years – even the “OK guys let’s get that generic dance hit” lead single that is ‘Et alors !’ doesn’t feel tired, while the other dance efforts like ‘Elle’, ‘En plein coeur’ and ‘Je rêve’ pull off that all too rare trick of being both dancey and classy. Nor is this album wanting for variety – ‘Contrôle’ is a popstep song that actually feels like it’s using dubstep with some thought put into it, rather than just chucking in a breakdown to please the masses. Meanwhile, ‘Et si’ and ‘On se fout de nous’ make sure the humble guitar isn’t left entirely out of the cold while the title track and ‘Comme un oiseau’ provide the customary ballads.

 

With variety like this, it’s quite hard to imagine everything gelling well, and thus it’s perhaps the album’s biggest strength that it does. There’s not one song on here that feels like it belongs on a different album. How something like ‘En plein coeur’ sounds good coming after ‘Comme un oiseau’ I don’t know, but it does. I tend to listen to albums as a whole, so the perfect level of cohesion (it never borders on samey), the flow to the tracklisting and I suppose the relatively short length of the album making Caméléon the easiest album of the year to listen to in full hugely helps its case here.

 

But let’s talk highlights. Of course, this album is almost all highlights, but the very best track here is ‘Elle’, a huge career highlight for Shy’m and a rival to ‘Prendre l’air’ as her best song. ‘Elle’ is one of the “classy dance” songs I mentioned earlier, and is definitely the best of them. It’s just a perfect song – the chorus is irresistible. How the production can manage to sound both summery and icy at the same time, I don’t know, but it does. And Shy’m has never delivered a better vocal either, aiding the song in sounding both sexual and dark. I won’t pretend to know what the song is about (even in English the lyrics look quite nonsensical) but the mystery of it all only adds to the majesty of it. Interestingly, ‘Je rêve’ is really just an inferior version of this, and yet it’s another highlight for me. Clearly this genre is one that more people should do, because it seems to be a one-way ticket to my heart.

 

But I should really stop rambling about ‘Elle’. Caméléon – it’s cheap, it’s brilliant, buy it.

Not paid much attention to Shy'm before but she's blocked Lana? Queen *.*

Electra Heart, Halcyon and Born To Die - fantastic run of albums there!

‘Dead In The Water’ (sorry, Dave)

 

:nono: (woo namecheck)

 

I am actually surprised that Shy'm beat Lana to #1. 'Et alors!' grew on me hugely after the contest (sorry about that) so maybe I will check out the album. (Marina always has and does outstrip Ellie though. And then some. Just sayin'.)

it’s cheap, it’s brilliant, buy it.

 

Love you for this! :lol:

 

Lana as your #2... behind Shy’m? Hav u evr herd the espreshen 2 rongs dnt mek a rite?

Lana and Marina appearing so MUCH on end of year charts in this forum!! :D I really like Ellie too so yay. All three really great albums.

 

Based off 'Et alors' Shy'm is average compared but I guess there must be SOMETHING beyond that if it knocked Lana out of contention. Not saying I'll listen but I might *searches commentary* listen to Elle, maybe.

Great album choices Umi!! Especially Stardust, Heal, Electra Heart, Halcyon and A Million Lights! :wub:

Oi 'Dead In The Water' is like the 7th best song on 'Halcyon' (aka amaze) die.

Edited December 29, 201212 yr by Bré

Your album countdown *.*

 

Loof :wub:

Shy'm, the queen slaying from left to right (bar some other faves of mine). Et Alors ! is an amazing pop song, with Et Si..., On Se Fout De Nous, Je Reve and Elle as other decent tracks on the album. Very much glad she's your #1 on your album countdown. :wub:

Tbh, only here for KISS THE STARS.

Oh, DIE.

Apologies Lee, but Kiss The Stars probably won't chart :(

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Hi James! No surprise as to your #s 2-4 albums! I've not heard your #1 though, but am delighted at that #5! :wub: I'm delighted to see Paloma here as well!

 

Boo at no Cheryl/GA in your top five songs, in fact, they should be in every top five (ESPECIALLY "Something New" as Best Video! :angry:). Great countdown thing/whatever anyway!