The 25 Best Albums of 2012

I also included my review of the albums underneath the name for those I wrote about. If you would like to purchase the albums, the album artwork will take you to Amazon and clicking on the title will take you to iTunes.


1. Handwritten - The Gaslight Anthem
Turn the Record Over, I'll See You on the Flip Side

2. What We Saw from the Cheap Seats - Regina Specktor
Today We’re Younger than We’ll Ever Gonna Be

3. Babel - Mumford and Sons
So Give Me Hope in the Darkness so that I Can See the Light

4. Blak and Blu - Gary Clark Jr.

5. The Lumineers - The Lumineers

6. The Man With the Iron Fists (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Various Artists
I Could Take the Pitchfork from the Devil

7. Tempest - Bob Dylan

8. Girl On Fire - Alicia Keys
Don’t Be Mad, It’s a Brand New Kind of Me

9. The Bright Side - Meiko
You Give a Little Heart, Give a Little Soul

10. The Carpenter - The Avett Brothers
Can You Tell That I Am Alive, Let Me Prove it to You

11. Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones
You Tried to Replace Me but You Didn’t Get Far

12. Channel ORANGE - Frank Ocean

13. Vows - Kimbra
You Can’t Explain Away the Way I Feel

14. The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do - Fiona Apple
He Excites Me, Must Be Like the Genesis of Rhythm

15. Away from the World - Dave Matthews Band
Don’t Waste Time Trying to Be Something You’re Not

16. Born and Raised - John Mayer
I’m a Good Man with a Good Heart, Had a Tugh Time, Got a Rough Start

17. Blunderbuss - Jack White
Who’s Jealous of Who?

18. Sun - Cat Power

19. Write Me Back - R. Kelly
Love Has the Greatest Vision of All Time

20. Port of Morrow - The Shins
I Know Things Can Really Get Rough When You Go it Alone

21. ¡Uno! / ¡Dos! / ¡Tré! - Green Day
Tonight My Heart's on the Loose / I Don’t Want Your Sympathy, I Don’t Want Your Honesty, I Just Want to Get Some Piece of Mind

22. Sweet Sour - Band of Skulls
Something Good, A Little Trouble In Your Neighborhood

23. Voyageur - Kathleen Edwards
When the Weather Breaks We Can Sail the Great Lakes

24. Some Nights - fun.
Let’s Set the World on Fire We'll Burn Brighter than the Sun

25. Red - Taylor Swift
Find Your Peace of Mind with Some Indie Record Much Cooler Than Mind

The 25 Best Live Performances of 2012

I have embedded the first couple, after that, the link will take you to YouTube, usually for some crappy rip that will be taken down at some point (one of these days content suppliers will realize they should put everything on the internet, montinize it, because people are just going to upload it anyway).



1. Losing My Religion – Michael Stipe and Chris Martin (12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief)



2. Ronan – Taylor Swift (Stand Up 2 Cancer)



3. Cut Me Some Slack – Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear (12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief)



4. Hallelujah – The Cast of the Voice



5. Gold on the Ceiling / Lonely Boy – The Black Keys with Johnny Depp (2012 MTV Movie Awards)

6. We Found Love / Princess of China / Paradise – Coldplay and Rihanna (2012 Grammy Awards)

7. Beastie Boys Tribute – The Roots, Kid Rock, and Travie McCoy (2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony)

8. Call Me Maybe – The Roots, Jimmy Fallon, and Carley Rae Jepsen (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)

9. Higher Ground – Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ron Wood, Slash, Billy Joe Armstrong, and George Clinton (2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony)

10. Rolling in the Deep – Adele (2012 Grammy Awards)

11. Dream On – Amanda Brown (The Voice)

12. Let Yourself Go – Green Day (2012 MTV Video Music Awards)

13. Surfer Girl / Wouldn’t it Be Nice / Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys, Maroon 5, and Foster the People (2012 Grammy Awards)

14. Criminal – Melanie Martinez and Nicholas David (The Voice)

15. Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) – Billy Joel (12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief)

16. Crazy – Daryl Hall and Cee-Lo Green (Live From Daryl’s House)

17. Crossroads – Eric Clapton (12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief)

18. Say Aah – Lindsey Pavao (The Voice)

19. We Are Young – Fun. (2012 MTV Movie Awards)

20. Thinkin’ Bbout You – Frank Ocean (2012 MTV Video Music Awards)

21. Not Even the King – Alicia Keys (Stand Up 2 Cancer)

22. Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi (12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief)

23. I’m Yours – Daryl Hall and Jason Mraz (Live From Daryl’s House)

24. Over You – Cassadee Pope (The Voice)

25. Comfortably Numb – Roger Waters and Eddie Vedder (12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief)