Best Albums of 2012

Listed below are the best albums of 2012 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 6 hours ago).
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2012 year summaryThe best artists of 2012 were Kendrick Lamar, Tame Impala, Frank Ocean, Beach House, Death Grips, alt-J, Fiona Apple, Lana Del Rey, Swans and Grimes.
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Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
514
Rank in 2012:
Rank in 2010s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"So there’s a problem with The Killers and this problem has existed, it seems, for quite a while. All of their songs are blending together. It seems like with each album, they’re not making any progress. “Hot Fuss" was an awesome album, I loved it and I remember when it came out. Their sound was d..."  [+]  Reply
- RockyRaccoon | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (4 helpful | 1 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
511
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album just pulls on my heartstrings. I don't care if it's full of music cliches...it's just so well executed and it invokes strong emotions in me, so it's one of my favorite albums at the moment. Emotional, passionate, well crafted, legendary."  Reply
- Deckiller | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
503
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Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
497
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Comments:
"Why in the world is this album ranked number 108 on THIS YEAR'S list? This album is one of Rush's best, full of challenging instrumental passages, wonderful strings, and some solid melodies on songs like "The Wreckers". Rush haven't been very melodic in the last 15 years, but they seem to be turn..."  [+]  Reply
- Deckiller | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
484
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"All shapes of sadness on this album. But as a whole the album seems a bit boring. Good songs: 1. Normal song. Magic mix of voice and acoustic guitar. Dreamy 2. Dark parts. Sentimental and honest with nice image: "dark parts" 3. Hood. The most interesting, has drive. I like the line "U would never..."  [+]  Reply
- kertanov | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
480
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Comments:
"It is strange that this is considered as EP. It is more than 30 minutes long after all. "Reign in Blood" by Slayer is 29 minutes long and it is not even the shortest album of all-time. The Donnas made shorter with "American Teenage Rock N' Roll Machine". However, this just amazing. It is like a s..."  [+]  Reply
- Rekko | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
475
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Comments:
"Really fascinating, the feel of an ambient album but her soft yet forceful voice cuts through each song like a saw, giving it an ominious feel among all the ethereal beauty. Definitely something to put on repeat"  Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
460
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"This is the type of pop music i'm into nowadays. Combine queen and elo with a geeky, beat-centric hip-hop album obsessed with lonely nights spent with friends and you have "some nights". "we are young" is great, even if janelle's vocals are rather plain and underutilized. I wish the "some nights ..."  [+]  Reply
- paladisiac | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (7 helpful | 1 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
457
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Comments:
"It's that great Kinks thing of optimistic uplifting music with pessimistic depressing lyrics. His voice is fantastic and I'd say this is better than their debut. It's more cohesive. It's 21st Century young adult troubles funneled into blissful and meticulous electro-pop."  Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
2012
Appears in:
Rank Score:
443
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Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 6 of 100

Best Albums of 2012 composition

Recognised  Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
3. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
4. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
5. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
6. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
7. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
8. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
9. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
10. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
11. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
12. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
13. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
14. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
15. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
16. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
17. Tiny Mix Tapes 2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade by Tiny Mix Tapes (2019)
18. Die besten Platten 2010-2019 by Spex (2019)
19. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
20. BEST OF 2011 - 2020: Die besten Alben des Jahrzehnts by laut (2020)