Top Ten Albums of 2012
1) Magic Hour—Scissor Sisters
Their
best effort since their debut album the “Sisters” keep delivering solid,
exciting and fabulous music, from Jake’s plead to his lover on the sultry “Baby
come home” to their Calvin Harris collaboration “Only The Horses” one of the
best dancefloor tracks of the year, so much better than “We Found Love” which
Harris gave to Rihanna. “Inevitable”
produced by Pharrell Williams for the Neptunes is lush and gorgeous, Jake’s
falsetto evokes memories of the BeeGees at their best, while “The Year Of Living
Dangerously” feels like a James Bond theme, maybe they could replace Adele next
time.
The album is a bit of a
mixed bag “San Luis Obispo” is a typical Spanish/Island flavoured ditty but hey
if Madonna could do it why can’t they? While never boring some of the tracks
like “Keep Your Shoes On”, and “Shady Love” which I find mildly annoying
especially Jake’s attempt at Hip Hop, are kind of hit and miss, but a “Sister”
miss is still better than a chart hit by any other.
“Self Control” turns to the house beats of the 90’s, while the average “Best In Me” is kind of forgotten by the end of your listen. Luckily the last 2 songs get back on track with the beautifully haunting “The Secret Life of Letters” and “Somewhere” the Pet Shop Boys-esque dance jam that is pure bliss, this song should have been a single.
Then there’s “KIKI”, who would have thought that this would be the song
everybody including Hollywood’s stars would be clamoring about. The little Ms
Matronic jam, with nothing but pulsating drums over her complaints about having
her “par-tee” closed down even took the TV show Glee by storm, yet despite all
that the Sisters have yet to produce a hit single in the USA.
2) The Origin Of Love—Mika
When you open a Mika album
you never know what you are going to get, but melody and lots of fun are a
given. This album his 3rd, feels a little more grown up and less
sugary pop, but he hasn’t lost his sense of wonder, poetry or joy. Many
collaborate with him including some of the industry’s best. Nick Littlemore
from the Australia dance duo Pnau lends a hand for a many of the songs including
the fabulous title track whose melody and lyrics “Love is a drug and you are my
cigarette, love is addiction and you are my Nicorette”, “sticks in your head like
glue, but once the breakdown/guitar verses kicks in, its bliss, this song has
everything from pulsating drums, a double chorus “to the one I love…”, too bad
it’s too unique for radio. “Lola” is a fun synth 70’s bass line romp but
following it is my favorite track “Stardust” produced by Benni Benassi, a fantastical
dance floor pulsating jam over Mika’s fab falsetto. “Make You Happy” whose
video was filmed in Montreal, has a beautiful synth and string arrangements
melded over an auto tuned muffled chorus which produces a really nice effect. “Underwater” is
a stunning and haunting piano electro ballad, a song begging to be a big film
score. “Kids” sound like an old familiar 70’s classic tune but updated to our
time, while “I Love You When I’m Drunk” is a fun take on his love life. “Step with
Me’ is a bit too formulaic for me but I give two thumbs up to the track
“Popular Song” with Priscilla Renea, both authors give a big “middle finger” to
their haters in high school with a cheeky silly synth song.
“Heroes” is a heartfelt and
bittersweet song especially in this time of civil war around the world,
“fighting someone else’s’ war” Mika’s sing “Your blood on me, my blood on you”,
“Heroes aren’t meant to survive”. The moment doesn’t last long as Mika breaks
up the sombre tone with Pharrell Williams for “Celebrate” a Madonna-esque dance
floor anthem perfect to dust off the sadness.
Included is Emily the
English version of his fabulous French song “Elle Me Dit”, whose friends tells
him to stop wasting his life, get off his ass and do something with his life,
write a song, make a million dollars, while he might not be making millions or
having many hits, he and I are having lots of fun, eh Emily?
3) Elysium—Pet Shop Boys
Nobody does smooth electronic dance music like the boys, from the opening track
“Leaving”, you feel like you are covered in a warm and fuzzy blanket of beats.
We aren’t talking about hit you over head like Guetta or Calvin Harris but
soothing melodies. A departure and less “pop” then their previous effort “Yes”
this album takes a few listens to get into. Unfortunately it starts off in my
opinion with a few week tracks. “Invisible’ is a little too low key for me. The
single “Winner” picks it up a bit and it only gets better from there.
I love how the boys they
both don’t take their status too seriously, they get cheeky and make fun of
themselves with the inspired story “Early Stuff” about a cabbie who chats
them up on a ride “You've been around but you don't look too rough, And I still
quite like some of your early stuff” Neil sings “Those old videos look pretty
funny What's in it for you now, need the money?"They say that management never
used to pay, honestly you were ripped off back in the day”. Then there’s “Ego
Music” at first listen I found the song annoying, but I think that was the
point, this song most likely about Kanye West and his rapper buddies “Ego
music, it’s all about me” , sense of entitlement…” How ironic that the boys
hired Andrew Dawson (Kanye’s album engineer) to produce the album.
“A Face Like That” and “Hold On” bring us back to the old PSB’s, I love the
latter whose choir like atmosphere are matched along with the cheeky lyrics “Hold
on hold on or the world will end today”. "Breathing Space" and "Give It A Go" are
just middle ground but the album really shines with 2 songs buried at the end.
“Memory Of the Future” is a Pet Shop Boys opus, Neil sing “It’s taking me all
of my life to find you” his voice surrounded with swirling magical, melodic
synthesizers, covering him in a warm blanket of pure bliss. “Requiem in Denim
and Leopard skin” is like finding an old Pet Shop Boys gem that was lost in a
vault, unfortunately the song sounds like a happy “goodbye” from the boys, let
hope this is not the case.
4) Up All Night—One Direction
Only Simon Cowell can turn
five unknown twinks, into the world’s biggest superstars. It might not last
long but he knows how to get what he wants from the best in the business. From
the brilliant debut single “What Makes You Beautiful” the album is filled with
great slick and fun produced pop songs, almost any song could be single
material. “One Thing” is just as good as it’s predecessor and the title track
was screaming to be released “Katy Perry’s on a plane, she’s on a plane” they
sing over a thumping beat as good as any of Perry’s hits. “More Than This” and
“Taken” fill the slots for pretty ballad which don’t sound kiddy but grown up band. “Tell Me A lie” penned by
Kelly Clarkson” is a rocking rolling dance gem along with the Beatles/Take That
sounding “I Want”. Even the songs they co- write like “Everything About You”
holds up to the other tracks. The album ends off with 2 of the best tracks “Save You
Tonight” and "Stole My Heart" which is one
the best dance songs of the year, I don’t understand why they released a 2nd
album so quickly instead of releasing this as a single, a wasted opportunity.
Inspired by their mega hit
“Moves Like Jagger” the new album produced by hit maker Max Martin (Backstreet
Boys, Kelly Clarkson, and many others),
venture the boys into a pop infused dubstep album, from the opening reggae
influenced song “One More Night” which spent 9 weeks at #1 to their previous
single “Payphone”, the album is jammed packed with winners. “Daylight”, “Lucky
Strike” (with Ryan Tedder) and “Love Somebody” with its clever synth 80’s hook
are future hits in the waiting. “The Man Who Never Lied” is a sly rocking
thumping dance romp with Adam trying to convince himself it’s OK to not tell
the truth. “Ladykiller” is olf Maroon 5 with a funky baseline, less production and more vocals, but “Fortune
Teller” and “Tickets” goes right back into dubstep. Favorite track is the
Shellback produced “Doing’ Dirt” which feels like a long lost 70’s disco gem crossed
with the Sugababes “Red Dress”. Could Maroon 5 be the crowned kings of the
dancefloor? Maybe so.
If you get the deluxe edition be sure to check out their fabulous jazzed up version of Prince's "Kiss".
6) Tuskegee—Lionel Richie
The idea of Lionel Richie
doing a country album might confused the average music listener, but if you
were more attentive you would see that his songs like “Stuck On You” and “Deep
River Woman” are pure Country, not to mention the mega hit “Lady” which he penned
for Kenny Rogers. For this project Lionel got some of country’s best singers
and musicians to duet with him. When I first heard snippets of the album I was
a bit disappointed but after hearing the full LP I love it. R&B staples like my favourite “You Are”
with Blake Sheldon are just as good if not better, this guitar flavoured
version only adds to the song without taking away any of the original magic.
“My Love” with Kenny Chesney, “Sail On” with Tim Mcgraw and “Stuck On You” with
Daruis Rucker are perfect. “Deep River Woman” with Little Big Town, in my
opinion rivals the original sung with Alabama back in 1986 on his “Dancing On
The Ceiling album”, the harmonies here are gorgeous, this song needed this
production. A song that should have been a bigger hit “Just For You” is another
stand out with Billy Currington. “Hello” with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland,
is an interesting mix but I’m not sure their vocals work well together while
“Easy” with Willie Nelson sounds like it could have been written for him.
I only wish it was less of a
Greatest Hits list, “Dancing On The Ceiling” and “All Night Long” do not
translate into country, Lionel what were you thinking? Even Rascal Flatts
couldn’t country-fi “Ceiling”. “All Night Long” gets saved by going more island
flavoured then country with the help of Jimmy Buffet and some cool Hawaiian
like steel drums. “Say You Say Me” with Jason Aldean is another oddity that
doesn’t translate well. I read all about
the lengths Lionel went through to get Shania Twain to record “Endless
Love”, but I don’t think their vocals match well plus did we really need
another version? I never liked the Mariah Carey Luther Vandross one, nothing
compares to the original with Diana Ross. Speaking of vocals, despite the guest
list nobody sounds as good as Lionel singing his own songs, his voice still
sounds great, unlike Kenny Rogers who’s losing it, I would have preferred a
solo version of “Lady” instead.
7) Good Morning To The
Night—Elton John VS Pnau
What happens when you take a
modern electronic Australian duo and give them Elton John’s early classic masters
to play with? You get this little ingenuous piece of heaven. I’ve never like sampled
music, but this album is a whole new ballgame. Elton actually hired the duo
Pnau when he heard their previous recordings and fell in love with their music.
These are not remixes but total reconstructions of his songs. I find that
remixers have gotten quite lazy, Pnau have definitely set the bar high. Every
song has a familiar feel but sounds shiny and new, Pnau have created a certain
atmospheric charm, unlike modern remixes which seem to only hit you with bass
and sound and no melody. Trying to figure out which parts of what song they
used is also part of the fun, they didn’t used his most famous material, the
title track, a UK dance hit, borrows from 'Mona Lisa' and 'Mad Hatters' and 7 other
tracks. “Sad” feels like a long lost disco classic, it doesn’t sound like a
remix but rather a sophisticated new song. “Black Ice Stare” feels like a lost reggae
classic, while “Foreign Fields” is a fantastic take on Elton “High Flying Bird”,
“Telegraph to the Afterlife” slows down to a Beatlesque acid trip and “Phoenix”
take on Elton’s “Grey Seal” to new heights. Only 8 tracks long the album leaves
you wanting more.
8) The Abbey Road
Sessions—Kylie Minogue
I thought I was going to be disappointed,
after all who needs a jazzy acoustic album of Kylie’s dancefloor classics? Kylie
is not known for her vocal prowess, but this album definitely delivers. While
some songs are misses, “On A Night Like This” just doesn’t have enough melody
to work, and who needs “Slow” slower, really? Opening track like “All The Lovers”
proves how good a song really is. “Better The Devil You Know’ is fab but we’ve
heard this version in concert before same goes for “I Believe In You and “I Should
Be So Lucky”. “Never Too Late” is absolutely fabulous, a forgotten gem that translates well, same goes for “Finer Feelings”, interesting how most Stock
Aiken and Waterman tracks work well into many mediums and genres proving
that a good melody counts. While I think that “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”
should be banished to never be heard or recorded again, I actually love this
version, the strings/violins are beautiful. Love At First Sight is cute. I was worried
that we would get the snooze jazzy version of “Locomotion” but luckily we get a
somewhat upbeat version. Having Nick Cage record his vocal for “Where The Wild
Roses Grow” was a definite delight, but the true gem is the only new song “Flower”
a fan favorite which up until now was only sung in concert, the sad song (as
most fans speculate), about her longing to have a child, is emotional and poignant.
Too bad songs like “Spinning Around”
which sounded fabulous when she sang it at the Proms concert was not included
and “Wow” and “In My Arms” were only bonus tracks on certain editions. I would
have preferred less of a hit package and more lost classics that suited the
genre.
9) Take The Crown—Robbie Williams
After a return to Take That greatness
Robbie delivers another solo album, he claims this is the album he wanted to do
instead of “Reality Killed the Video Star” which I actually liked. While “Take
The Crown” it’s no “Sing When You’re Winning”, or “Escapology”, it’s a valiant
effort. “They said the magic was leaving…” he sings on the opening track, “Be A
Boy”, he still has some magic with the #1 saccharine sweet cutesy UK hit “Candy”,
and the synth 80’s inspired “Shit on the Radio” which reminds me of Queen’s “Radio
Gaga”. “Gospel” sounds a bit like early Robbie rebel but it doesn’t come close
to anything on his first 2 albums. “Different” the required power ballad is likable
enough like “Feel” or Come Undone”. The
next 2 tracks are probably my favorites, “All That I Want” is an 80’s funky electro
sounding piece that could make a good single and “Hunting For You sound more
authentic than anything else on the album, Robbie’s vocals and falsetto really
shines. “Into The Silence” could be another power rock ballad but it tries too
hard and sounds overproduced. “Hey Wow Yeah Yeah” is just filler in my opinion,
I don’t get it. “Not Like The Others” is a bit of return to form, the music
reminds me of good old Robbie but after 3 to 4 songs I’m getting tired of
lyrics about his sex life.
The bonus track “Eight
Letters” originally written and sung by Take That proves that Robbie should
just stay with the group who are producing better pop songs and albums.
My guilty pleasure of the
year. A Dr. Luke/Max Martin production I was actually expecting more, but it’s
Ke$ha, trashy, brassy and fun. “Die Young” is the catchiest pop song of the
year, “I hear your heartbeat, to the beat of your drums…”, Ke$ha definitely goes
to the beat of her own drum and she sings, raps and vomits glitter all over the
dancefloor. I almost wish she would give up the silly raps and autotune, the
fabulous country pop track “Wonderland” proves that she can sing and write a
great song, but unfortunately the other stuff has become her signature.
Highlights
are the catchy guitar driven “Crazy Kids” (wishing she would of deleted the awful
rap parts) , and the unusual garage/rock duet with Iggy Pop “Dirty Love”, who
can’t like a song that name checks Rick Santorum and cockroaches and how they “do
it”, no auto tune here. Her voice sounds great on “Thinking Of You”, a big “f*ck
you” to her ex, is as good as any mad Taylor Swift song but much more fun. “Whenever
You Are” could be another single with it brassy baseline and catchy chorus. So
many tracks could be singles including “I Only Wanna Dance With You” a collaboration
with The Strokes, “Supernatural” with it’s beautiful haunting verses and a brassy
pounding chorus, and “All That Matters (The Beautiful Life)” a thumping 90’s
Ace Of Base like track. The regular edition album ends of with a haunting Phil
Collins like ballad “Love Into The Light”, another testament that she is more
than just a silly pop singer.
Best Singles of 2012
1. Only
The Horses—Scissor Sister
2. What
Makes You Beautiful—One Direction
3. Glad
You Came—The Wanted
4. Sad—Elton
John VS Pnau
5. We
Are Never Ever Getting Back Together—Taylor Swift
6. Flower—Kylie
Minogue
7. Parler
A Mon Pere—Celine Dion
8. Call
Me Maybe—Carly Rae Jepsen
9. Memory
Of The Future--Pet Shop Boys
10. Origin
Of Love—Mika
11. Little
Things—One Direction
12. Troublemaker—Olly
Murs
13. Celebrate-Mika
14. One
Thing--One Direction
15. Die
Young—Ke$ha
16. Let’s
Have A Kiki--Scissor Sisters
17. Live While We’re Young-One Direction
18. Chasing
The Sun—The Wanted
19. Baby
Come Home-Scissor Sisters
20. Diamonds--riahnna
1.“Paper Gods” Duran Duran: The boys are like a
very fine wine, they only get better with age. This album is not as
cohesive as their predecessor “All You Need Is Now”, but it is one hell of an album, from the opening anthem “Paper Gods” it is superbly recorded and produced. The album is
much more modern sounding then anything they done in years, from the vinyl groove of “Pressure Off” produced by legend Nile Rodgers to the best cut “Last
Night in the City” which makes you want to never leave the dancefloor. For
those wanting the classic “Duran” sound “Face For Today” and the “Save A
Prayer like”, “What Are The Chances” fit the bill. The album’s opus “You Killed
Me With Silence” with its “Chauffeur” like atmosphere, and odd verses against
the chorus is one of their best. One of my favorites “Sunset Garage” is the
first time I’ve seen Duran channel the Motown sound and to suburb effect, I
could have easily seen the Temptations covering this. “Butterfly Girl” is kind of an
odd track but it’s heavily drum sounds give it a bit of “Power Stations” feel.
Yes there are a few missteps like “Dancephobia” with Lindsey Lohan, and the
album kind of loses steam at the end but it still a very fine wine.
2.“Rebel Heart”—Madonna”: At 19 songs I find the
album a bit long, but pruned down to about 12 tracks, it’s her best album since
“Ray Of Light. From the singles “Living For Love” to “Ghosttown” which should
have been huge hit, this album puts Madonna in ripe form. Best tracks include
the autobiographical “Joan Of Arc”, Devil Pray” and the title song, this is the
direction Madonna should take, the song “Rebel Heart” is her most heartfelt and
endearing ever. “Body Shop” is a cute retro style “True Blue” song that only
Madonna can pull off. I’m not a fan of tracks like “Bitch I’m Madonna” "Iconic"or “Holy
Water” but then some would argue that those are more like “Madonna” the the rest.
4. Made In
The AM”-One Direction: Manufactured or not they make good pop records,
with every album they seem to grow up just a bit. Lead single “Drag Me Down”
written by their songwriting team of Julian Bunetta and Jamie Scott is one of
their finest singles. Unfortunately, they chose 2 of the worst tracks to follow
up, “Perfect” and “Infinity” are OK but they don’t compare to what follows. “If
I could Fly” or “History” could have easily replaced them. All members of the
group seem to have their hand in co- writing most of the songs. They channel a
retro Fleetwood Mac groove on the fab “What A Feeling” and just as lovely is “I
Want To Write You A Song”. Two of my favorites, the totally different “Never Enough” and
the Harry Style co-written beatle-esque “Olivia” could have put the
group in another league above the typical boy band.
5. “X”--Ed—Sheeran: A funky rhythm
and soul album that infuses rock, pop and rap. Ed knows no boundaries; he does
everything to perfection from the emotional ballads of “The One”, “Photograph”
and “Thinking Out Loud”, to his beautiful falsetto and craftsmanship as a
musician. I prefer Ed when he gets down
with the tracks like “Sing” and “Don’t”, it’s hard to believe that a ginger
white guy is this funky.
.
6.“L’orchestre Symphonique De
Montréal”—Mika: Team up one of the most underrated pop stars with Montreal’s
incredible Symphonic Orchestra and you get one of the most fabulous sounding
albums. This project proves just how talented and what a great songwriter Mika
is, even odd chosen tracks like francophone “Boum Boum Boum” are perfect.
1.“Paper Gods” Duran Duran: The boys are like a
very fine wine, they only get better with age. This album is not as
cohesive as their predecessor “All You Need Is Now”, but it is one hell of an album, from the opening anthem “Paper Gods” it is superbly recorded and produced. The album is
much more modern sounding then anything they done in years, from the vinyl groove of “Pressure Off” produced by legend Nile Rodgers to the best cut “Last
Night in the City” which makes you want to never leave the dancefloor. For
those wanting the classic “Duran” sound “Face For Today” and the “Save A
Prayer like”, “What Are The Chances” fit the bill. The album’s opus “You Killed
Me With Silence” with its “Chauffeur” like atmosphere, and odd verses against
the chorus is one of their best. One of my favorites “Sunset Garage” is the
first time I’ve seen Duran channel the Motown sound and to suburb effect, I
could have easily seen the Temptations covering this. “Butterfly Girl” is kind of an
odd track but it’s heavily drum sounds give it a bit of “Power Stations” feel.
Yes there are a few missteps like “Dancephobia” with Lindsey Lohan, and the
album kind of loses steam at the end but it still a very fine wine.
2.“Rebel Heart”—Madonna”: At 19 songs I find the
album a bit long, but pruned down to about 12 tracks, it’s her best album since
“Ray Of Light. From the singles “Living For Love” to “Ghosttown” which should
have been huge hit, this album puts Madonna in ripe form. Best tracks include
the autobiographical “Joan Of Arc”, Devil Pray” and the title song, this is the
direction Madonna should take, the song “Rebel Heart” is her most heartfelt and
endearing ever. “Body Shop” is a cute retro style “True Blue” song that only
Madonna can pull off. I’m not a fan of tracks like “Bitch I’m Madonna” "Iconic"or “Holy
Water” but then some would argue that those are more like “Madonna” the the rest.
.
6.“L’orchestre Symphonique De
Montréal”—Mika: Team up one of the most underrated pop stars with Montreal’s
incredible Symphonic Orchestra and you get one of the most fabulous sounding
albums. This project proves just how talented and what a great songwriter Mika
is, even odd chosen tracks like francophone “Boum Boum Boum” are perfect.
.jpg)
