Giddyup slays lives.

Peroxide is great and I really like Nina. Still can't believe that midweek to end of week album peak position fall though :lol:

I was so excited that she was midweek #1, but she had to go and release in the BRITs week :drama: I mean, she wouldn't have stayed #1 anyway but top 10 would have been good!

 

Giddyup slays lives.

"Spice it up don't let it cool down" *.*

08

My peak: #1

UK peak: #3

 

Highlights:

1. One Last Time

2. Problem (ft. Iggy Azalea)

3. Break Free (ft. Zedd)

4. Love Me Harder (ft. The Weeknd)

5. Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart

 

She might be a bit Mariah-lite in my ways, but this album (much like Mariah's Music Box I suppose, to a smaller extent) proved Ariana as a real star! Problem was a worldwide smash thanks to the perfect pairing of Ariana and Iggy Azalea, hitting #1, whilst the subsequent singles Break Free and Love Me Harder were hits too. However, the absolute pinnacle of this album (and one of the best songs of the year altogether) is the David Guetta produced One Last Time, which is a perfectly euphoric pop track with a huge, gorgeous chorus.

 

07

My peak: #1

UK peak: #1

 

Highlights:

1. Up (ft. Demi Lovato)

2. Did You Miss Me?

3. Never been Better

4. Seasons

5. Wrapped Up (ft. Travie McCoy)

 

The second highest male album here comes from the king of my penis heart, Olly Murs <3 This, his fourth album, might have had a slightly more disappointing lead single than his previous efforts but it just might be his best album! It's elevated even further by the existence of Up, the jaunty Demi Lovato collab, as well as the sexy and funky opening track Did You Miss Me. The title track is another highlight, and it puts me in mind of the song that Army Of Two should have been.

Both are amazing albums so great to see them here. Definitely agree about up being the highlight, that song is so stunning and Demi is incredible on it :wub:

Oh yes perfect highlights from My Everything although I think I'd stick Break Your Heart Right Back in there. Really glad she's nailed this era and I hope she sticks around as a popstar now because makes very good pop music and her vocals *-*

 

Never Been Better is a great album too, just what I expected from an Olly album full of great pop tunes which is all Olly ever seems to produce. Glad Up is getting a push and a T10 placing seems on lock because it's a great collaboration.

Both are amazing albums so great to see them here. Definitely agree about up being the highlight, that song is so stunning and Demi is incredible on it :wub:

When is she not? :kink:

 

Oh yes perfect highlights from My Everything although I think I'd stick Break Your Heart Right Back in there. Really glad she's nailed this era and I hope she sticks around as a popstar now because makes very good pop music and her vocals *-*

 

Never Been Better is a great album too, just what I expected from an Olly album full of great pop tunes which is all Olly ever seems to produce. Glad Up is getting a push and a T10 placing seems on lock because it's a great collaboration.

I agree, I really liked the last era too tbf but this is so much more polished and she's becoming a real star *.* I'd love her next era to be even bigger.

 

Up is #4 this week *.*

06

My peak: #1

UK peak: #1

 

Highlights:

1. Ghost

2. Mirror Man

3. Missed

4. Yours

5. Empire

 

I am STILL not over her coming 6th (!!!) behind such horrors as Union J, Christopher and especially ChowMein in 2012's X Factor, but she gets the last laugh with a single that is certain to cross a million sales soon - even if she is actually 6th again here... And an amazing debut album ofc. From her time on X Factor, anybody would be forgiven for expecting some sort of Adele tribute act chained to a piano but this isn't quite the case. Ghost smashed all those expectations by smashing to #1 in the UK and becoming a worldwide hit, and the other highlight Mirror Man has more sass than Adele could dream of. Whilst Missed and Yours (among others) are piano ballads, Ella's voice and the tempo variations in places make sure this isn't as samey a listen as people expect.

 

05

My peak: #1

UK peak: #5

 

Highlights:

1. Fancy

2. Bounce

3. Goddess

4. f*** Love

5. New Bitch

 

Kicking off the top 5 is the highest Australian album (there have been quite a few!) from Iggy Azalea (or Itchy Areola/Igloo Australia as noted Bitter Betty Azealia Banks calls her). For all her popularity, Iggy gets quite a lot of hate online for not being as "talented" as other rappers, but tbh I don't take a lot of notice of her "flow" when the music is this good. Fancy is of course a jam and rightfully one of the biggest songs of the year, Bounce is still a total tune and f*** Love is ridiculous catchy. All in all, this is a fabulous blend of pop and hip-hop - it's just a shame the album didn't sell quite as well as some of the singles.

Empire is SO overrated :( a 4 at BEST.

Both are amazing albums so great to see them both here :wub:

Empire is SO overrated :( a 4 at BEST.

Your taste is a 3 at best so we'll just ignore that x

Nice to see Goddess and New Bitch in the Iggy highlights, two of my faves also ~

 

Expected My Everything to be top 5 if i'm being honest :o it continues to grow on me the more i listen, i just never return to it as much as i should.

 

TEAMTAYLOR4#1

only ever listened to the original version of TNC once and liked it but don't really remember anything. fancy and change your life are my favourites, the latter is so under-appreciated. work is very good too.

 

chapter one is so boring and i really want to like her because she's so likeable and she has such a lovely voice. empire is stunning, really would've loved that to be a hit.

Nice to see Goddess and New Bitch in the Iggy highlights, two of my faves also ~

 

Expected My Everything to be top 5 if i'm being honest :o it continues to grow on me the more i listen, i just never return to it as much as i should.

 

TEAMTAYLOR4#1

2014 was just quite a good year for albums at the top end so it was a hard fight for her!

 

only ever listened to the original version of TNC once and liked it but don't really remember anything. fancy and change your life are my favourites, the latter is so under-appreciated. work is very good too.

 

chapter one is so boring and i really want to like her because she's so likeable and she has such a lovely voice. empire is stunning, really would've loved that to be a hit.

Nooo and noooo :( At least you like Empire and Work though.

04 Ed Sheeran - x

My peak: #1

UK peak: #1

 

Highlights:

1. Nina

2. Sing

3. Runaway

4. Afire Love

5. Don't

 

The highest male album, and just falling short of the top 3, is a man who is pretty much everywhere at the moment, but unlike Sam Smith he's not an intolerable whiny mess. With him (especially Thinking out Loud) being so omnipresent, I should hate him but with an album like this I just can't! The pinnacle is Nina, written about the artist behind 2014's 10th best album, but the massive single Sing is brilliantly Justin Timberlake and the gorgeous Afire Love HAS to be a single. Some find him intolerable or smug, but I find his songs to be so honest and often very relatable.

 

03

My peak: #1

UK peak: #78

 

Highlights:

1. All Hands on Deck

2. 2 On (ft. Schoolboy Q)

3. Bated Breath

4. Pretend (ft. A$AP Rocky)

5. Bet (ft. Dev Hynes)

 

Just falling short of the top 2 is easily the most unjust flop of the year - especially with the buzz it had! Tinashe is about the closest any R&B diva has come to Aaliyah since her untimely death in 2001, but unfortunately has yet to find much mainstream success aside from 2 On being a top 40 hit in the US. The jam that is All Hands On Deck just makes the whole album and must be a single! Amongst the lower tempo tracks, Bated Breath is just gorgeous, she has an unbelievably gorgeous tone to her voice that makes pretty much everything on here sound at least shockingly good. I'm hoping that, like Aaliyah, this is eventually rendered a true success - just under much better circumstances of course :(

I don't mind X. I like some of it (such as sing) but some of it is too boring and overplayed for me

And I really need to listen to a Tinashe track soon judging by the love for her on buzzjack :)

Your Iggy top 5

 

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Hey Liam! Tinashe, Iggy, and Katy B are all EXCELLENT albums, there are a couple others great ones scattered throughout as well :)

 

Great countdown ~

And here we go, the albums are finally done...

 

02

My peak: #1

UK peak: #2

 

Highlights:

1. XO

2. Partition

3. ***Flawless (ft. Nicki Minaj)

4. Pretty Hurts

5. Haunted

 

The second best album of the year was actually released in 2013, oops. But Beyoncé's random surprise release last December, all with no prior announcement, was too late for last year's countdown and it's too damn good to miss out in 2014 too. Nobody can accuse Beyoncé being boring or predictable as they have before, because this album pushes sonic boundaries far more than any of her previous work and there's something for everyone. XO is a Ryan Tedder penned pop anthem; Pretty Hurts is a Sia penned soulful ballad; Haunted is an eerie dubstep R&B track; Partition is a sparse and sexy electro-R&B trap with a trap-esque beat. All of these different styles, each with a music video to compliment them, and it's all still a hugely cohesive listening experience. Beyoncé has really outdone herself!

 

 

So what's #1? :o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

01 Taylor Swift - 1989

My peak: #1

UK peak: #1

 

Highlights:

1. Welcome To New York

2. Shake It Off

3. Blank Space

4. Style

5. Wildest Dreams

 

And the pinnacle of 2014 was never going to be anything else was it? Of course, my favourite album of the year is Taylor Swift :wub: This is her "first official pop album", and some worried about the change in sound although I never doubted her for a second! Shake It Off hit me from the very first listen, and I just had to spam my repeat button. But the huge highlight is the wonderful Welcome a To New York <3 Those synths just fill me with instant joy every damn time; it feels like I'm stood there myself taking in the New York experience for the first time. As with Beyoncé, this is a multi-faceted album with many styles - the horns of Shake It Off, the minimal beats of Blank Space, the slick electro-pop of Style and the ethereal daze of Wildest Dreams are all executed to perfection. I was worried I'd miss country Taylor, and I do kind of want a lovelorn teen crush anthem in one way, but with music of this quality I couldn't care less what genre she dabbles in!

Awful top 2, seriously big awful awfulness.

Beyonce's album is good and what a perfect #1 album from the best album this year :wub:

Definitely agree with your highlights, SIO/WD/BS being 3 of my favourite 4 from the album (along with the one you find a bit overrated :kink:) and it is just the perfect album :wub: