Unapologetic vs ARTPOP
Red vs Prism
Lotus vs Stars Dance
Born To Die vs BEYONCE Warrior vs Britney Jean PF: Roman Reloaded vs Bangerz The Truth About Love vs Avril Lavigne
MDNA vs Ciara
3-5
never even heard the ones i deleted (and haven't heard a couple of these either besides samples)
It's always hit or miss for pop albums every year. That's a definite given the nature of pop music. I only thoroughly enjoy about 5 of the albums listed: Born To Die, Halcyon, Trouble, BEYONCÉ, and ARTPOP.
With that being said, I think 2012 had the overall better music.