15. Loreena McKennitt - The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Country: Canada
Genre: Celtic
Highlight: "The Star Of The County Down"
I'm a huge fan of Loreena McKennitt and was overjoyed when I found out she was releasing another album this year. For this one she stepped back from other world music influences and went pure Celtic like her first albums over 20 years ago. Another great listen, but it's missing some epic tracks to complete the experience.
14. Christina Aguilera - Bionic
Country: US
Genre: Pop
Highlight: "Birds Of Prey"
Honestly,
Bionic did not deserve to flop. It has a lot of really good songs. I admit it's fun to drag Christina through the mud and ridicule her, but really there was nothing wrong with this album. Even "Not Myself Tonight" was great. Certainly a better effort than that
Burlesque mess.
13. Amy Macdonald - A Curious Thing
Country: UK
Genre: Pop rock
Highlight: "Don't Tell Me That It's Over"
Amy Macdonald had a big hit two years ago with "This Is The Life", but I didn't really like that song. The first single of her new album, "Don't Tell Me That It's Over", came as a big surprise. I really liked it and the rest of the album was really good as well. Of course, me liking it made it more likely to flop, which it pretty much did.
12. Eminem - Recovery
Country: US
Genre: Rap
Highlight: "No Love"
I'm usually not big on Eminem albums. I just like some singles here and there. But this album is different. It's pretty awesome all the way through, especially tracks like "No Love" and "Space Bound". Great stuff.
11. MAA - Monkey Kingdom
Country: Japan
Genre: J-pop
Highlight: "Virgin Killer Santa"
The best thing to come from ATRL's J/K-Pop Discussion Thread, this album is really cool. It's not just standard J-pop, MAA adds a unique flavor to her sound. Her songs "Virgin Killer Santa" and "Ghost Enemy" are fantastic.
10. Chihiro Onitsuka - One of Pillars: Best of Chihiro Onitsuka 2000-2010
Country: Japan
Genre: J-pop
Highlight: "Infection"
I first discovered Chihiro last year when warriorsoul recommended her song "Kagerou" to me, and I really enjoyed it, but was not inspired to seek out her stuff. That changed when a song of hers, "Gekkou", was mentioned in a funeral song thread on another board. I was amazed by the song and downloaded her recently released GH album, which contained more great tracks. I was especially floored by the heart-wrenching "Infection". Her voice is something else for sure.
9. CocoRosie - Grey Oceans
Country: US
Genre: Experimental, alternative
Highlight: "Smokey Taboo"
Crazy sisters Bianca and Sierra of CocoRosie returned this year with a new album, and it didn't disappoint. Their music is so bizarre but so beautiful. The song "Smokey Taboo" is like a Native American and a Chinese making a baby and letting it sail off into the darkness.
8. Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
Country: US
Genre: Pop rock
Highlight: "Crossfire"
I wasn't really expecting much from his solo album as I'm not a fan of The Killers, so "Crossfire" was a huge surprise for me. I have no idea how that didn't become a smash hit everywhere. The rest of the album is great as well.
7. Ayumi Hamasaki - Love Songs
Country: Japan
Genre: J-pop
Highlight: "Do It Again"
Empress of pop Ayumi Hamasaki released not one but two studio albums this year. The latter of the two,
Love Songs, has only just leaked, and it's definitely the better of the two. Although Ayumi peaked a couple of years ago when she released one amazing song after another, she still has flashes of brilliance. This consistent album includes a few of those.
6. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Country: US
Genre: Rap
Highlight: "So Appalled"
My hatred for Kanye West is pretty well documented. I used to despise all of his songs, especially that horrible "Gold Digger". But he won me over with "Love Lockdown" and the rest of
808s & Heartbreak and this new amazing album completes his redemption. When it comes to rap it doesn't get much better than this. Lots of epic songs on this album and not one weak track.
