t was a year without masterpieces. Instead, 2012’s best pop albums felt more like weird friends. They crashed our parties, passed out on our couches and ate all of our Golden Grahams in the morning. Now we’re pals.
Also, I said masterpieces. There was one. It came from Frank Ocean, a 25-year-old R&B rookie whose summer opus, “Channel Orange,” exploded the emotional possibilities of contemporary pop music. At his best, Ocean was sharing deep secrets with a universe of strangers — an approach he parabolized with “Bad Religion,” a ballad about unloading your spiritual confusion on an anonymous taxi driver.
And while nobody came close to matching Ocean’s quiet intensity this year, that doesn’t mean 2012’s best albums lacked quirk, courage or character.
Best friends forever — maybe. Best friends for now — for sure.
1. Frank Ocean, “Channel Orange”
Quote:
| As a singer, songwriter and storyteller, Ocean is every bit as fluid as he is commanding, delivering songs crammed with moods, memories and detailed characters — all sung by a protagonist who’s earned himself a place among the greats. |
3. Jessie Ware, “Devotion”
4. Future, “Pluto”
5. Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang, “En Yay Sah”
6. Fresh and Onlys, “Long Slow Dance”
7. Kellie Pickler, “100 Proof”
8. A Tribe Called Red, “A Tribe Called Red”
9. Dierks Bentley, “Home”
10. Laurel Halo, “Quarantine”
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