[#1 ALBUM]TeamRHI's Top 20 of 2012 (Divided by Genre!!!)

Auris

A list of what (in my opinion) are the top 20 albums and singles released throughout the year! I decided to break it into three genres, my three most listened to genres (along with electronic, but most of that is old music not from 2012!) because I felt like they would express the different moods I'm in, and yes, songs can go into both categories (such as STIUTK - which could go in both pop and alternative) The eligibility period is from July 2011 to December 2012, with only a few songs being from 2011.
Lists being made:
Top 20 Pop Songs
Top 20 Alternative Songs
Top 20 Hip-Hop Songs
Top 20 Albums
Top 5 Artists
Top 5 Disappointments

I will do two per day until ten left, then I will do one per day. The disappointments list will not count toward or against the results, but the artists will.

RESULTS:

1. "Beneath Your Beautiful" - Labrinth ft. Emili Sande
2. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye ft. Kimbra
3. "Give Me Love" - Ed Sheeran
4. "Sign Language" - Kinetics & One Love ft. Wynter Gordon
5. "We Found Love" - Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris
6. "Candy" - Robbie Williams
7. "Clarity" - Zedd ft. Foxes
8. "Scream & Shout" - will.i.am ft. Britney Spears
9. "Battle Scars" - Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian
10. "Silhouettes" - Avicii ft. Salem Al Fakir (uncredited)
11. "Carried Away" - Passion Pit (TeamRHI Remix)
12. "Princess of China" - Coldplay ft. Rihanna
13. "This Is Love" - will.i.am ft. Eva Simmons
14. "Don't You Worry Child" - Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin
15. "We'll Be Coming Back" - Calvin Harris ft. Example
16. "Youngblood" - 3OH!3
17. "So Good" - B.o.B ft. Ryan Tedder (uncredited)
18. "Let Me Love You" - Ne-Yo
19. "Where Have You Been?" - Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris (uncredited)
20. "I Knew You Were Trouble." - Taylor Swift

1. "Pyramids" - Frank Ocean
2. "The A Team" - Ed Sheeran
3. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye
4. "Kids In The Street" - The All-American Rejects
5. "The Veldt" - deadmau5 ft. Chris James
6. "Give Me Love" - Ed Sheeran
7. "Midnight City" - M83
8. "Bronte" - Gotye
9. "Telemiscommunications" - deadmau5 ft. Imogen Heap
10. "I Will Wait" - Mumford & Sons
11. "Some Nights" - fun.
12. "State of the Art" - Gotye
13. "Babel" - Mumford & Sons
14. "Radioactive" -Imagine Dragons
15. "It's Time" - Imagine Dragons
16. "Burn It Down" - Linkin Park
17. "Princess of China" - Coldplay ft. Rihanna
18. "Professional Griefers" - Deadmau5 ft. Gerard Way
19. "Easy Way Out" - Gotye
20. "Until It Breaks" - Linkin Park

1. "Sign Language" - Kinetics & One Love
2. "You Could Save Us All" - Kinetics & One Love
3. "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" - Ed Sheeran
4. "Never Enough" - Hi-Rez ft. Kinetics
5. "So Hard To Breathe" / "Where Are You? (B.o.B vs Bobby Ray) - B.o.B
6. "Watchtower" - Devlin ft. Ed Sheeran
7. "Am I A Psycho?" - Tech N9ne ft. B.o.B & Hopsin
8. "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)" - Lupe Fiasco
9. "Thrift Shop" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz
10. "U.N.I." - Ed Sheeran
11. "Battle Scars" - Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian
12. "Professional Griefers" - Deadmau5 ft. Gerard Way
13. "Will You Be Remembered? (Remix)" - Kinetics & One Love ft. Ktsb, B.Love & Hunter Stout
14. "Just A Sign" - B.o.B ft. Playboy Tre
15. "Lamborghini Angels" - Lupe Fiasco
16. "Hippies Always Smell Like Balls" - Rucka Rucka Ali
17. "Chandelier" - B.o.B ft. Lauriana Mae
18. "Lost In The Echo" - Linkin Park
19. "Mercy" - Kanye West ft. 2 Chainz, Pusha T, Big Sean
20. "The Boys" - Nicki Minaj ft. Cassie

1. You Are Not Alone - Kinetics & One Love
2. + - Ed Sheeran
3. Making Mirrors - Gotye
4. Kids In The Street - The All-American Rejects
5. >album title goes here< - deadmau5
6. Living Things - Linkin Park
7. Night Visions - Imagine Dragons
8. Channel Orange - Frank Ocean
9. Strange Clouds - B.o.B
10. Electronic Earth - Labrinth
11. Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album pt. 1 - Lupe Fiasco
12. What Model Are You? - Kinetics & One Love
13. Some Nights - fun.
14. The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey - Skylar Grey
15. Babel - Mumford & Sons
16. Rucka's World - Rucka Rucka Ali
17. The Heist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
18. The Odd Future Tape Vol. 2 - Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Don't Give A F*ck Litter Life Bacon Boys Loiter Squad Trippp Sixxx Crew Butt F*ck B*tch N*ggas Golf Wang Free Earl F*ck
18. Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay
20. Kanye West Presents GOOD Music Cruel Summer - GOOD Music

ARTISTS

DISAPPOINTMENTS

RESULTS:
Ed Sheeran - 8
B.o.B - 7
Gotye - 7
Kinetics - 7
One Love - 6
deadmau5 - 5
Lupe Fiasco - 5
Linkin Park - 4
Rihanna - 4
The All-American Rejects - 3
Calvin Harris - 3
Coldplay - 3
Imagine Dragons - 3
Labrinth - 3
Mumford & Sons - 3
Frank Ocean - 2
fun. - 2
Gerard Way - 2
Guy Sebastian - 2
Kanye West - 2
Macklemore - 2
Rucka Rucka Ali - 2
Ryan Lewis - 2
will.i.am - 2
Avicii - 1
Big Sean - 1
Britney Spears - 1
B.Love - 1
Cassie - 1
Chris James - 1
Devlin - 1
Emili Sandé - 1
Eva Simmons - 1
Example - 1
Foxes - 1
Hi-Rez - 1
Hopsin - 1
Hunter Stout - 1
Imogen Heap - 1
John Martin - 1
Kimbra - 2
Ktsb - 1
Lauriana Mae - 1
M83 - 1
Nicki Minaj - 1
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Don't Give A F*ck Litter Life Bacon Boys Loiter Squad Trippp Sixxx Crew Butt F*ck B*tch N*ggas Golf Wang Free Earl F*ck - 1
Passion Pit - 1
Playboy Tre - 1
Pusha T - 1
Robbie Williams - 1
Ryan Tedder - 1
Salem Al Fakir - 1
Skylar Grey - 1
Swedish House Mafia - 1
TeamRHI - 1
Tech N9ne - 1
Wanz - 1
Zedd - 1
2 Chainz - 1
3OH!3 - 1

Jeiboy

Bring it on!

Hope you ca check mine out!

AshleeSimpsonFan

I want to see the Alternative songs list

can't wait!

Auris

19. "Where Have You Been?" - Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris

This song (YES IT HAS CALVIN HARRIS IN IT. DO NOT DEBATE ME ON THIS GURLS) was surprising to me, I thought it would be an underground hit due to its "Raise Your Weapon"-type dubstep drop, but nope, this was a top 5 on the hot 100! lol. I love Rihanna's vocals here, they're among her best recordings ever in my opinion. I also love the music video, great choreography!

20. "I Knew You Were Trouble." - Taylor Swift

Interesting choice here, as usually I'm not too big a fan of Taylor Swift. I really like this song, however. Its not really hardcore dubstep or house music, but it has just the right mix of alternative production and electronic production to become one of the most catchy and energetic songs I've heard all year. Taylor hardly sounds like herself here, and I personally love it.

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19. "Easy Way Out" - Gotye

The shortest song on this entire list, coming in at 1:58. This song perfectly captures a short burst of indie energy, with great production and moderately interesting lyricism. Not to mention the music video is amazing, claymation demonstrated with live action = awesome.

20. "Until It Breaks" - Linkin Park

Whats better than a normal Linkin Park song? A Linkin Park song where the guitarist sings of course! I love how it starts out with a filtered rap, goes into the first hook which is also filtered, then into a second rap with tons of catchy one-liners. The bridge/outro at the end is also extremely well produced, love the harmonic feel to it.

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19. "Mercy" - Kanye West

I love this song, its just different from everything else out there. While the lyrics are absolutely horrendous (what can you expect, its a GOOD Music record without KiD CuDi on it) the production is gold. The dancehall sample used as a hook couldn't be any more perfect and terrifying. The piano riff used under the rap additionally never seems to get old. I applaud the production of this song and the boundaries it pushes in hip-hop with the dancehall sample, but I really wish that CuDi would start writing all their lyrics.

20. "The Boys" - Nicki Minaj ft. Cassie

Cassie's chorus or GTFO. Personally, I'm a fan of some Nicki Minaj songs, and some of her lyrics/flows, but this song is not one of those songs. This song has absolutely AMAZING production, and even more amazing vocals from Cassie. Its included on this list mainly because of Cassie's incredible vocals and the fact that the producer made it sound like 4 songs smashed into one.

*SPECIAL MENTION: If "Tron Cat" by Tyler, the Creator was released later in 2011 (it was released in May) then it would have placed at #2 on this list. I only got into the song this year so I was considering it, but forgot how early Goblin was released last year.

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19. Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

A great album by Coldplay, they didn't really do anything new here, but it sure a fun listen and includes some great alternative/pop songs like "Princess of China" and "Paradise". Chris Martin sounds good as ever on this record.

20. Kanye West Presents GOOD Music Cruel Summer - GOOD Music

For this album, I was actually extremely disappointed. This was no My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, hell it wasn't even a Watch The Throne, but I still love this album. There are a few disappointments on this album (COLD), but it still proves to be a great album with Kanye constantly pushing the boundaries of hip hop. Standout tracks from this album include "Mercy", "Creepers", and "Clique".

D/X

I like the fact that you divide your lists by genre.

WHYB.

Japoy

Good start. Nice to see Taylor and Rihanna

Auris

Quote:

Originally posted by D/X

I like the fact that you divide your lists by genre.

WHYB.

Why thank you

I thought it'd be better (for me) since I usually judge songs differently in different genres :P

Auris

17. "So Good" - B.o.B

This song peaked at #11, unfortunately, but was a great summer jam and had one of the most lyrical choruses I've heard in a summer pop song, excluding the la la las. Ryan Tedder providing backup vocals and production makes this feel kinda like OneRepublic's own hit "Good Life", but for some reason "Good Life" isn't as happy and exiting as this. B.o.B's storytelling skills don't shine that bright here, but they shine a little bit and so this song places at #17 on my pop songs countdown. "So Good" is not on my rap countdown, however, because it is hardly hip-hop at all, everything about the production-from the drums to the keys-is pop. Did I mention that its music video came out in 3D for 3DS owners like me?

18. "Let Me Love You" - Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo I've always admired for his vocal talents, this song, however, doesn't show off his vocals nearly as much as I wanted it to, and the bridge sucks. But the verses are amazing, the way that he swings his voice back and forth from low to high, perfect! And his voice is always so... idk how to say it... clean. The chorus too isn't just one line over and over again, it actually has some lyrical power unlike most dance-pop songs out there today.

Nikko

IKYWT and WHYB being Top20

So Good

Auris

17. "Princess of China" - Coldplay ft. Rihanna

From the intro synth right out of a Dr. Luke production to the airy breakup lyrics sung by Chris Martin, this song is a great alternative track from Rihanna and Coldplay. The hook is uber-catchy and should be repeated more than twice in the song, but it also provides a reason to listen to the song over and over again to hear Rihanna sing "I could have been a princess, you'd be a king". I also love the outro on this song, there is hardly anything to criticize about it nor the rest of the song. I suppose that I wish it was longer, an 8-minute long edit would be amazing.

18. Professional Griefers - Deadmau5 ft. Gerard Way

I find this song to be the perfect mix of grungy rock vocals, hip hop, and electronic music. The song structure on this song is very interesting, with an 8 bar verse, then an 8 bar hook, then a 16 bar verse, then a 16 bar chorus. The radio edit also includes an instrumental bridge. I love the nonsense lyrics and how they flow together perfectly bar after bar on this track, and the clean hook that counters the grungy verses. Not the best Deadmau5 song, but its certainly up there.

Dj.

here for Gotye
I'm curious about the rest

AshleeSimpsonFan

Where Have You Been? feat. Calvin

+ deadmau5! I really love that song, it was one of my favorites from this year

Auris

Quote:

Originally posted by AshleeSimpsonFan

Where Have You Been? feat. Calvin

+ deadmau5! I really love that song, it was one of my favorites from this year

I know right? :P WHYB deserved a ft. Calvin on it, he did so much to that song that Dr. Luke and Circut couldn't.

Auris

17. "Chandelier" - B.o.B ft. Lauriana Mae

The dark horse of pretty much this entire top twenty thread. Who is Lauriana Mae? Who is Frequency and Super Water Sympathy (the producers)? The song is also often overlooked in reviews of the album. I, personally love this track and praise everything about it. Lauriana's great soprano melody and harmonizing with herself makes for a great hook, and the organ in the instrumental make this song stand out for me. The lyricism is also pretty great, its not a bunch of crap written that is purposeless (Flo Rida), instead, this track kinda goes with the whole "YOLO" theme started by Drake. B.o.B raps about how he only has one life, and how he wants to make the most of it. Mae's lyrics follow this theme, and are more straightforward than B.o.B's more intricate rap.

18. "Lost In The Echo" - Linkin Park

A great song by Linkin Park with great hip-hop potential, unfortunately the song was only sent to pop and rock radio as far as I know. Mike Shinoda's verses are somewhat lyrical, but the instrumental is what truly shines here. Weird to judge in a rap song, but this beat does go extremely hard and deserves recognition for that. Not to mention, the music video is creepily amazing.

AshleeSimpsonFan

Lost In The Echo

I think is better than the first single

Auris

Quote:

Originally posted by AshleeSimpsonFan

Lost In The Echo

I think is better than the first single

I totally agree! Lost In The Echo is better than Burn It Down imo, but they're not the same genre tbh. Burn It Down is more rock/alternative while Lost In The Echo is more Hip-Hop.

Since the day is almost over... guess I better post the 18-17 albums.

17. The Heist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

This hip-hop album by a white rapper impressed me with its great lyrical content. The one disappointment on the album is how almost every song has a feature, it doesn't show enough of Macklemore or Ryan Lewis's talent. I love the comedy song "Thrift Shop" ft. Wanz (along with its BA video) and the more serious songs such as the gay rights song "Same Love" ft. Mary Lambert, even if I don't fully agree with the messages. This guy has lyrical talent, and I admire that.

18. The OF Tape Vol. 2 - Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Don't Give A F*ck Litter Life Bacon Boys Loiter Squad Trippp Sixxx Crew Golf Wang Free Earl F*ck

The full name of these guys is so damn long! lol. The lyrical power of Odd Future isn't fully demonstrated here as it is in albums like Goblin, Channel Orange, and Earl, but its fine. The amazing vocal talents of this hip-hop collective and the production by Left Brain and Tyler make up for the lack of lyrical power that Odd Future is usually known for. This album also marked the return of Earl Sweatshirt, who was in Samoa for over a year. His verse on "Oldie" is one of the best on the whole album, and this album as a whole leaves you wanting more from each and every member on the album. So far, only Mellowhype (Hodgy Beats and Left Brain) and Frank Ocean have delivered since the album, with Tyler's album Wolf coming soon.

D/X

Professional Griefers.

Your write up is really pro.

Auris

Quote:

Originally posted by D/X

Professional Griefers.

Your write up is really pro.

Thank you :3

15. "We'll Be Coming Back" - Calvin Harris ft. Example

First off - AshleeSimpsonFan should enjoy this choice as it has two of her faves lol. Now, this song I found to be a breath of fresh air to the EDM/Pop crossover songs. Why? Because it uses a freaking guitar. Other than Good Feeling, not many EDM/Pop crossovers use guitar, probably because the DJ's don't play any instrument other than piano. But hey, it adds such an interesting dynamic to a song! This may sound a little weird, but I also LOVE the kick drum in this song, it seems layered from a few different kicks and maybe even snares. Too bad this never charted in the US

PS: The first time I heard this song I thought it was Calvin singing They sound so alike, Example and Calvin!

16. "Youngblood" - 3OH!3

These next two songs didn't chart in the US, this one not charting anywhere

Quite unfortunate, however, because this is among 3OH!3's best songs ever released. Youngblood's lyrics show that 3OH!3 is improving lyric-wise, and the drums that Nate put in the song are perfect! The guitar-led bridge adds a nice break from the piano/percussion driven chorus, and best of all, this isn't a party song! For 3OH!3, this may seem very experimental based on their previous two albums (Want and Streets of Gold, but they actually do the transition quite nicely. The only thing I might criticize about this song is how at times the production seems muddy, Nat probably could've used an additional producer on this song.

AshleeSimpsonFan

Quote:

AshleeSimpsonFan should enjoy this choice as it has two of her faves lol.

YASSS!!!

(but I'm a guy, not a girl

)
We'll Be Coming Back is the most amazing song ever, and like you said, the guitar is so freaking awesome! (just like "Feel so Close's guitar

) and you're kinda right, Example & Harris sounds alike...

best song ever!

and I love 3OH!3 too

Auris

15. "It's Time" - Imagine Dragons

Alex Da Kid seems to have switched his focus from hit single production to hit album production in the past year. This song, from Imagine Dragon's Alex Da Kid-produced album Night Visions shows off what this band is and how they create this unique soundscape with their music. Unique? The incorporate elements of house music, folk music, and rock music into their music. Of course rock is the most prominent, but the mandolin being used as a prime instrument in about half the songs (including this one) really shows off that they want to be different from other bands. This song shows off who the band is, and it does it very well. The only downside to this is that the video sucks.

16. "Burn it Down" - Linkin Park

The lead single off of Linkin Park's #1 album Living Things combines electronic music, rock music, and hip-hop all in one. Just like old Linkin Park. This song's catchy synth and ambient rock verses carry the amazing track and keep it interesting when its not screaming at you with a surprisingly catchy anthematic hook or punchline-full rap verse. The track sure as hell doesn't do anything new, but it was a nice return to the old Linkin Park and its a step closer to perfection in the rap-rock genre.