13

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'Surfers Paradise'
Cody Simpson

Chart Run
(1-1-1-2-3-5-7-8-9-11-13-17-18-20-17-20)

Highlights

La Da Dee
Pretty Brown Eyes
No Ceiling
Summertime of Our Lives
If You Left Him For Me

And up next at #13 is quite possibly the hottest Australian pop star there is (of the male variety). With the shirtlessness in the video for lead single 'Pretty Brown Eyes', it DISTRACTS you somewhat from the song itself; likewise with the video for second single 'Summertime of Our Lives'. He needs to just TONE down how bloody hot he is so we can concentrate on the music. Anyway, enough about that. This album is fab. It spent three weeks at #1 in Sandénia, and has a few catchy songs on it. 'La Da Dee' is probably the most catchy of them all; you can't help but want to get up and just dance along whenever you play it or if it out of nowhere comes on Shuffle.

CODYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YES

 

TOO LOW.

12

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'Bangerz'
Miley Cyrus

Chart Run
(2-3-6-8-11-15-17)

Highlights

We Can't Stop
Wrecking Ball
Drive
FU (feat. French Montana)
Maybe You're Right

The most controversial star in the music business this year comes in at #12 - and it's Miley Cyrus' album 'Bangerz'. After racking up the controversy in bundles with lead single 'We Can't Stop', she then went on to encourage the likes of Sinead O'Connor to have a go at her after the 'Wrecking Ball' music video was released (along with a director's cut that was a clone of one of Sinead herself's music videos). No matter how good or bad the music videos may be, the music is fucking AMAZING; 'Wrecking Ball' being her absolute best ballad and one of the most beautiful songs of 2013 (although let's face it, Greg James' video is absolutely stunning because he himself is absolutely stunning). The highlight of this album though, and what makes it so good, is 'FU' which features French Montana. It's an absolute tune and the production is SO sexy!

I *like* Bangerz but expected SO much better after the singles... :(

11

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'Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon'
KT Tunstall

Chart Run
(1-1-2-4-5-5-7-9-10-10-13-15-16-18-18)

Highlights

Invisible Empire
Made of Glass
Waiting on the Heart
Feel It All
No Better Shoulder

Just missing out on a spot in the top 10 albums of 2013 is KT Tunstall with her brand new album 'Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon'. The album has a completely different sound to her others. There's a drastic (no pun intended) change, but it just WORKS for her. Her voice is so soothing and the lyrics are all beautiful. You can tell all of the album is influenced a lot by where in the world she was at the time of writing. Lead single 'Feel It All' is absolutely stunning and is a complete change from singles such as 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' and 'Suddenly I See'. Second single 'Invisible Empire' has such a stunning video (the medieval theme is just amazing!) and the song itself is gorgeous; while my absolute favourite on the album ('Made of Glass'), the third single, is a slow but very very rousing song. It's an album you can just listen to whenever you're feeling like you need to relax or take some time out.

Not heard a lot of these albums but 'Surfers Paradise' and in particular 'If You Left Him For Me' (YAY it's in your highlights) is delish.

 

'ARTPOP" too of course. So glad you gave it a chance cus I know how much you hated 'Applause'. Shading the title track though is a no-no; it could mean ANYTHING dont you get ittt!?!!/!

10

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'In Your Hands'
Eliza Doolittle

Chart Run
(1-2-4-7-8-10-14-17)

Highlights

Waste of Time
Let It Rain
No Man Can
Checkmate
Big When I Was Little

Kicking off the top 10 is the absolutely wonderful second studio album 'In Your Hands' from Eliza Doolittle. Following her first album, this was gonna have to be good to live up to the standard of 'Pack Up' and 'Skinny Genes'. The first song on the album 'Waste of Time' is a brilliant way to start - brilliant vocals from Eliza and something you can just sit and jam along to. Second single from the album 'Let It Rain' is such a TUNE - definitely one of her best songs, and it serves as a great follow up to the lead single from the album, 'Big When I Was Little', which is just as much of a tune. The video is amazing too! Definitely a fantastic era from her, and everybody needs to go and listen to the album... NOW.

You should listen to 'Rooftop' if you get a chance (probably not your thing though :P), stunning album!

I may check out A single from Rooftop. :P

 

ARTPOP took AGES to grow; still a handful of tripe on their but your Top 5 from that all are certainly highlights. :wub: Hate for the title track is not welcome though!

09

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'London With the Lights On'
Stooshe

Chart Run
(4-6-2-5-4-6-7-7-7-9-11-8-9-12-13-15-14-15-19-20)

Highlights

Slip
My Man Music
Round 2
Hoochi Mumma
Your Own Kind of Beautiful
Put the Kettle On
Fly Again

It's no secret (well, to Joseph anyway) that when Stooshe first surfaced I absolutely DETESTED them. 'Black Heart' was probably one of my most loathed songs at the time. Since the cancellation of their album and the later release of 'London With the Lights On' the girls have REALLY impressed me. Karis is the obvious star of the group though who just needs to be given more lines and time to shine. She looks especially stunning in the video for 'Slip' which led the album through its release. 'My Man Music' with its Jamaican vibes is such a JAM. 'Your Own Kind of Beautiful' is a song that's screaming out to be a single too (and it's also famous for its overuse in d__'s videos). And 'Fly Again' is one of the most stunning ballads of 2013 - such a beautiful song and the lyrics mean SO MUCH. A 5 star album that they'll have a hard job following up.

Stooshe :wub: SO much better an album than I expected, and I loved their songs before it came out. Black Heart was top 10 in my Y/E chart last year and whilst I'd change that order a fair bit now, it'd still be top 10 and I revisit it a lot.

Stooshe higher than Molly?!

Stooshe higher than Molly?!

Who's Molly when she's at home? :kink:

 

(and anyway Stooshe are fab :angry:)

08

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'Hotel Cabana'
Naughty Boy

Chart Run
(1-1-1-1-1-2-3-6-7-9-13-14-16-20-20)

Highlights

Wonder (feat. Emeli Sandé)
Hollywood (feat. Gabrielle)
One Way (feat. Mic Righteous & Maiday)
Pluto (feat. Emeli Sandé & Wretch 32)
So Strong (feat. Chasing Grace)
Lifted (feat. Emeli Sandé)
Get Lucky (feat. Tanika)

Lower than some may have imagined is the début album from Naughty Boy, heavily featuring mon favourite artist, Emeli Sandé. She features on various songs on the album, including the lead single 'Wonder' which tells the story of people being full of wonder, happiness and joy before heading through the mysterious door that leads them to Hotel Cabana (it's also a FANTASTIC song). 'Pluto' is by far the best song on the album though. We first heard it on Emeli's 'Our Version of Events' tour in late 2012 where she sung the first verse and chorus before leaving the rest of the song to her backing vocalists; since then we were HUNGRY for the rest of the song, and lo-and-behold, we get it with Naughty Boy and Wretch 32! Another of her features is the third single from the album, 'Lifted', which in the video shows the journey of two men making their way into Hotel Cabana and shows exactly what goes on inside the hotel - the twisted ways that people end up with, and what the hotel is a sheer representation of. 'Hollywood' (featuring Gabrielle) is another of the album highlights, but second to best is Tanika's cover of 'Get Lucky' which is not only better than the original, but the marking of the beginning of her career which I imagine will be excellent!

Decent but not AMAZING album there. TOO MUCH EMELI :angry:

07

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'James Arthur'
James Arthur

Chart Run
(2-2-2-3-4)

Highlights

You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You
Get Down
Impossible
Roses (feat. Emeli Sandé)
Is This Love?
Certain Things
Flyin'

So in at #7 as this year's X Factor represent is the one and only James Arthur, another of this year's rather controversial stars in the business, albeit subtle in comparison to Miley Cyrus. He won the ninth series of The X Factor and soon after went on to achieve his first #1 with a cover of Shontelle's 'Impossible' which is absolutely fantastic. The production is undoubtedly the best on any X Factor winner's single, and the song choice is one of the most adventurous. So much better than the original version, and his voice just WORKS with it. It is funny now seeing the song tagged as 'Impossible by James Arthur' and not 'Impossibly by Shontelle'. After achieving success with 'Impossible' he went on to release 'You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You' which was part of a race to #1 with Lorde's immensely shit 'Royals' (had to say that x), but unfortunately only got to #2 before plummeting. I really don't get the hate for it at all because it really is an AMAZING song, and one of the best songs by an X Factor contestant in recent years. The clear highlight of this album though is 'Is This Love?' which just sounds brilliant and works in every single way. 'Certain Things' featuring Chasing Grace is rather FAB though.

Ew.

06

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'Between'
Frankmusik

Chart Run
(1-2-2-2-3-4-4-5-5-6-6-6-9-10-12-13-13-14-16-18-18-18)

Highlights

Chasing Shadows
Map
Fast As I Can
Life (Is My Revenge)
How Do We Know? (feat. Cara Salimando)
Did Love
Final Song

Frankmusik first caught my attention when I (very lately) discovered his AMAZING single 'Confusion Girl' and went on to LOVE his music from there on in. His other singles from previous eras are rather fantastic ('3 Little Words' (not as great, but still good), etc), but he's excelled himself with this era because it really is fantastic. He changed the title to 'Between Us' I believe for the US release, but 'Between' sounds better - more vague and anonymous. The lead single to this album, 'Chasing Shadows', starts off as a very small minute ballad and then from nowhere all of that is thrown out of the window when we are led into the chorus which is an absolute KILLER. It just takes you by complete surprise and turns into one of the best songs of 2013. His vocal range is SUPREME and he is one of the most underrated talents around at the moment. Another beautiful song that I played a rather lot while I was on holiday this year is 'How Do We Know?', featuring Cara Salimando whose voice matches Frankmusik's perfectly, and the song just... works. All of the lyrics are absolutely beautiful and the melody is stunning. This album, on the whole, is extremely strong, and definitely one of the best of 2013!

Oops not heard any of the ones since i last commented (a few have been on my list for months!!1) but LOVE a bit of Frank of course. 'Chasing Shadows' is a beauty <3

 

Think i might have an idea of what's #1 but i shan't reveal and spoil here~

05

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'Demi'
Demi Lovato

Chart Run
(5-2-6-7-7-11-12-15-16-16-16-18-16-17-17-17-16-17-19-17-20-19)

Highlights

Made in the USA
Two Pieces
Nightingale
In Case
Something That We're Not
Shouldn't Come Back
Warrior

Now THIS is the album that captured me by surprise in terms of Disney girls this year. Demi Lovato's newest album 'Demi' is so close to capturing perfection. It has the right balance of up-tempo songs and ballads, and they're all so very sincere and beautiful. One funny lel feature about the album (that's not really relevant to this commentary at all) is that in 'Heart Attack', I always mistake the lyric 'I can play 'em like a Ken doll' for 'I can play 'em like a Kindle'. Anyhow, second single from the album, 'Made in the USA' is such a tune, and the video matches it perfectly! The song itself is just so easy to listen to and is one of the year's best! Neither the first or third singles ('Heart Attack' and 'Neon Lights') are in my highlights, but they're still *good* songs. 'In Case' and 'Nightingale' are probably my two favourites on the album, the latter being my absolute favourite - such a (as said) sincere ballad, and the lyrics are just so direct and touching. Probably Demi's best song (or maybe close behind 'Give Your Heart A Break'). 'Shouldn't Come Back' is another strong ballad though - although I'm sitting here saying this and that are strong songs; I'd be as well saying the whole album is, because it really IS. Definitely worthy of kicking off the top 5 albums of 2013!

Demi :wub: AMAZING album, her best by far. So many highlights but Really Don't Care is such an obvious single that it hurts. :(