Top 12 Albums of 2012: The First Four

Here is the first installment of my three-part blog series of what I perceive to be the Top 12 Albums of 2012 and why I chose them. While some of these are actually not my favorite records of the year, I chose these albums based on the criteria of their importance to their genre, their impact on today's music as whole and finally their popularity in major music critic sources and the common population. Nevertheless, I spent hours listening to and debating over 2,000 songs from various records of all genres released in 2012 to compile this list. As it was a challenge to choose the top 12 albums from well over 100 albums, on January 1st, when I publish my final four selections, I will also include a list of other notable albums released in 2012 as well as state my personal favorites of the year. Enjoy!-B.B.

-Due to the various musical genres/backgrounds of these selections, the following are not ranked in any specific order-

Wrecking Ball-Bruce Springsteen

Genre: Rock

It is vividly evident in music throughout the past century that some of the best albums ever recorded were driven by rage with the plummeting of societal and political morality. As Springsteen’s political awareness blossomed in the early ‘80s, most notably of course with his records Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A., the inclusion of his political/societal frustrations in his music certainly hasn’t been missing since, found most recently in his post-9/11 healing sentiments in The Rising (2002). However, never has Springsteen released such a pained, angry and musically tempestuous record as 2012’s Wrecking Ball. Perhaps inspired by his folk cover filled 2006 record We Shall Overcome:The Seeger Sessions, Springsteen delivers a well-crafted selection of accusing and irate protest songs in response to America’s ever-growing greed, corruption and hypocrisy. From the muddy chain-gang working class march in “Shackled and Drawn”, to the fiery congressional indictments in “Death to My Hometown”, Wrecking Ball is an anthem for economic justice, and in its election year release, an honest political album. Musically, Wrecking Ball is classic Springsteen rock-and-roll, loaded with startling textures (including elements of folk-rock and Irish rebel music) and backed by the massive punch of the E Street Band.  Arguably the best record Springsteen has released in thirty years, Wrecking Ball is Bruce at his finest and a true staple in his legendary discography. Wrecking Ball makes it clear that even at age 63, Bruce is still boss.

Notable Tracks: “We Take Care of Our Own”, “Shackled and Drawn”, “Death To My Hometown”, “Wrecking Ball”, “Land of Hope and Dreams”, “American Land”

Other notes:

-Rolling Stone named Wrecking Ball as the number one album of 2012

-Wrecking Ball was nominated for one Grammy (Best Rock Album)

-Track 1, “We Take Care of Our Own”, was nominated for two Grammys (Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song) and was used heavily by President Barrack Obama during his campaign

-The tracks in Wrecking Ball will most likely be the final recordings of saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who died in June of 2011.

Here-Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes

Genre: Folk-Rock

One of the most peculiar bands of today (if you have seen them live or have seen videos, you’ll understand), Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes have only improved since their 2009 debut record Up From Below. Here reiterates the band’s hippy belief in communal love, but don’t be fooled, the themes in the record go much deeper than Woodstock openness and kumbaya optimism. See “I Don't Wanna Pray,” where front-man Alex Ebert recognizes a creator that he doesn't feel indebted to while simultaneously acknowledging a strong fondness for. The record is full of excessive ideas on love and religious imagery, a fact that may show why the album was overlooked and dismissed by many critics. Nevertheless, Ebert & co create a refreshingly mellow folk-rock sound in Here that takes the listener on a dazed trip to a campfire in the’60s.  And yet, one cannot contend that with its beautifully crafted melodies, insightful lyrics, graceful musicianship, and yes, even the intellect of Manson bearded Alex Ebert, Here ranks high in 2012’s most noteworthy releases.

Notable Tracks: “All Wash Out,” “Man on Fire,” “I Don’t Want to Pray,” “That’s What’s Up”

Other notes:

-Ranked #7 on Rolling Stone magazine’s best albums of 2012


The Idler Wheel Is Wiser The Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do-Fiona Apple
Genre: Alternative
Easily recognized as having the longest album name to receive serious attention this year, The Idler Wheel... is without doubt Fiona Apple's best record in her fifteen year career. One of the highest rated albums of the year from nearly every major music critic source, The Idler Wheel... is also Apple's most revealing album. Born into a family of show business (her parents are singers/actors and her sister is a cabaret singer in New York) and challenged with being raped as a 12 year old, suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and heavy drinking, Apple explores everything from first love, to hopeless love, to desolate love in her newest release. This album certainly isn't one you can like upon first listen. Entirely acoustic, The Idler Wheel... requires serious dissecting of the twisted lyrical and musical construction before the listener can truly appreciate the record's value. Its complexity nonetheless is what makes this record so creepily stunning. Her genius is even incorporated in the title: An idler wheel is the part of an engine that's connected to all the other parts but doesn't actually propel anything (thank you, Wikipedia), showing a metaphor for those who may seem like they're doing nothing when they're actually feeling everything at once. Likewise, whipping cord is used to repair fraying ship ropes, and as Apple states in an interview with the NY times* "If you're going to use the rope-if you're going to live-it's going to get frayed." Vocally dramatic, spacious and majestically unstable, Fiona Apple crafts pure brilliance in The Idler Wheel... and her masterpiece has thrust her musical status into categories of critically acclaimed and well-respected.

Other Notes:

-The Idler Wheel… was nominated for one Grammy (Best Alternative Album)

-The Idler Wheel… was named the best album of 2012 by Time Magazine, Stereogum, Spinner and NPR Music’s Fresh Air

-The Idler Wheel… was number five on Rolling Stone’s “Best Albums of 2012”

-Track 1, “Every Single Night” was ranked at number seven on American Songwriter’s “Top 50 Songs of 2012”

-Track 10, “Hot Knife,” ranked at number twelve in Rolling Stone’s “50 Best Songs of 2012” list

*http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/arts/music/fiona-apples-new-album-the-idler-wheel.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Channel Orange-Frank Ocean

Genre: R&B

Channel Orange, in its young age, is already a classic to many R&B listeners and can be argued as the best R&B record in the past decade. Frank Ocean develops a rare combination of smooth musical make-up with cunning lyrics that would even make Ottis Redding, Marvin Gaye and the greats proud. In its entirety, what makes Channel Orange so unique and yet so powerful is its substance. Frank Ocean by no means has the vocal elegance of present or past R&B legends, but his imaginative lyrical polish offsets any stylistic inadequacies. A victim of Hurricane Katrina, he speaks from experience, and delves into the mixed blessings of endless wealth and prosperity (see tracks “Sweet Life” and “Super Rich Kids”). It’s an album on which identity and ego fervently collide, rather than interweaving and moving forward as one. Ocean’s style is by no means a musical epiphany to the R&B scene, but Ocean’s matchless smoothness in Channel Orange is what makes it one of 2012’s best records.

Notable Tracks: “Thinkin About You,” “Pyramids,” “Super Rich Kids,” “Sweet Life,” “Lost”

Other Notes:

-Channel Orange earned several Grammy Nominations for 2013, including Album of the Year, Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best New Artist and Record of the Year (for “Thinkin About You”)

-Channel Orange won the Album of the Year award at the 2012 Soul Train Music Awards

-Channel Orange was named the best album of 2012 by The A.V. Club, Billboard and Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and Paste among others

-Metacritic cites Channel Orange as both the “top-ranked” and “best-reviewed major album” of 2012, as well as “one of the best-reviewed albums of the past decade”