# What is the single best music album you bought in 2012? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216 "2012-12-16T20:20:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/1 "2012-12-16T20:20:37Z")
I’m mostly curious to know what current (i.e., released in 2012) album people think is the year’s best, but I know that sometimes the best album I buy in a given year was actually released the year before and I just didn’t get around to buying one until after 1 January, so I’m leaving wiggle room for people in case the best album they bought this year is from a previous year. Please only name one album and tell us what year it was released. If you’d like to wax eloquent about the various merits of said album, feel free. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/2 "2012-12-16T20:34:47Z")
For me, it’s not even close this year. [_Portal Of I_ by **Ne Obliviscaris**](http://www.amazon.com/Portal-I-Ne-Obliviscaris/dp/B0085X31VE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1355689298&sr=1-1&keywords=ne+obliviscaris) I had never heard of this band when I found the album in my local Zia Records, but something about it said “yes… yes… pay the full price; you won’t regret it” so I did. I haven’t stopped to listening to it in over 3 months. The band is from Australia, and they are a progressive death metal band. They’re unusual tho in that they have 2 vocalists and a violinist in their ranks. One of the vocalists handles the growly CMVs and the other has one of the clearest voices I’ve ever heard in metal; somehow he manages to avoid sounding saccharine tho. The violin is NOT used sparingly, and manages to not only fit in but at times to control the melody and pacing of the music. It’s mind-blowingly awesome to hear this band traverse from guttural pounding to chamber music and back again, sometimes in the space of just a few seconds. The band apparently spent 5 years perfecting this music, and I do mean perfecting: this is an album without flaws or blemishes. Nothing is hurried or incomplete. There are no wasted opportunities. The musicianship is stunning, the songwriting is complex yet accessible, the production on the album is fantastic (bar-raising, even)… this is, IMO, a perfect album and easily the best thing I’ve bought all year. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/3 "2012-12-16T20:35:17Z")
Rush, Clockwork Angels. I think it came out around May of this year. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/4 "2012-12-16T21:17:34Z")
I am the single reason the record companies will all go bankrupt. The only album I purchased this year was a Christmas present for hubby (I do buy many, many digital singles). He loves Cee Lo Green’s Mary, Did You Know? Plus the album’s got a version of You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch featuring Straight No Chaser. For me. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/5 "2012-12-16T21:32:31Z")
Don’t worry **Biggirl** , I’m taking up the slack for you. I spend enough on music that when I tell people how much (and how many albums I buy per year) they recoil in horror as they realize they are dealing with someone who is decidedly not normal (in an even bigger and stranger way than they previously thought). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/6 "2012-12-16T21:47:35Z")
Flying Colors by the group Flying Colors. ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/7 "2012-12-16T22:22:03Z")
It’s tough to narrow it down to one. Hmm, I’ll have to go with ZZ Ward - Til the Casket Drops. She reminds me of a newer, funkier Adele. Not every song on the album is great, but the ones that are good are so good. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/8 "2012-12-16T22:25:54Z")
I bought only a single album this year, Alex Clare’s _The Lateness of the Hour_. Originally released 2011, released in the U.S. this year (or so Wikipedia says). I checked it out after hearing _Too Close_ on the IE ad. It’s not the kind of thing I’d normally listen to, but I really love almost everything about the album. Highlights: _Too Close_, _Relax My Beloved_, _Sanctuary_. ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/9 "2012-12-16T22:27:16Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > I bought only a single album this year, Alex Clare’s _The Lateness of the Hour_. Originally released 2011, released in the U.S. this year (or so Wikipedia says). > > I checked it out after hearing _Too Close_ on the IE ad. It’s not the kind of thing I’d normally listen to, but I really love almost everything about the album. > > Highlights: _Too Close_, _Relax My Beloved_, _Sanctuary_. This was almost the album I listed. It really is fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/10 "2012-12-16T22:28:56Z")
Mumford & Sons, _Babel_. I could listen to this album pretty much forever. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/11 "2012-12-16T22:30:27Z")
If it’s 2011 or 2012 it becomes difficult. I guess I’d have to go with _Clumsy Words and Bad Pickup Lines_ by **Junior Doctor**. It’s lighter, yet still straight-ahead, pop-punk with slight acoustic influences. [The standout song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w5YNI0rW74) from the album. If I had to pick from only 2012, they would be lesser choices because I’ve only picked up a couple of albums, both scene-influenced emo which seems to be what all the kids like these days but which I don’t like as much as straight-ahead. ---
**Author:** ![irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irritant)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/12 "2012-12-16T22:30:35Z")
“Bought”? What is this, the 20th Century? 😉 My favorite album this year is [Ugly](http://www.screamingfemales.com/ugly.html) by Screaming Females, which sounds gloriously like the product of a sexual union between two of my favorite classics, _You’re Living All Over Me_ by Dinosaur Jr, and _The Woods_ by Sleater-Kinney. Loud, thrashy, punky indie rock with wailing female vocals and messy guitar. And [del]produced[/del] engineered by the great Steve Albini, one of the rare few who can do this kind of music justice. [Some](http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcKXFprFX8w) [Examples](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RGDjowVakU) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/13 "2012-12-16T22:31:38Z")
> [@irritant](#): > > “Bought”? What is this, the 20th Century? 😉 Yes, it is customary to support the artists whose music you enjoy by paying for their work. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/14 "2012-12-16T22:33:44Z")
I didn’t buy anything this year because I’ve been mostly broke and unemployed, but the best album I’ve heard this year has been _151a_ by Kishi Bashi, which was released early in 2012. Nothing came out afterwards that topped it. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/15 "2012-12-16T22:42:17Z")
Well, I didn’t buy it, I checked it out from the library and burned it to CD, but since the artist has been dead for over 100 years I hope it isn’t that big a deal… Franz Liszt, [Annees de Pelerenage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann%C3%A9es_de_p%C3%A8lerinage), vol. 1. Published in 1842, you wouldn’t think it would have any juice left. Instead, it is just about the greatest thing I have ever heard! I think my gf is getting tired of it, but that is probably only because she doesn’t get it. I bet if she hears it _one more time_, Then she’ll get it and will understand why it is so great. I haven’t heard all the various performances of this work but it does seem to matter who plays it. So far I like the Jean Jando version. Somebody buy it to redeem my behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/16 "2012-12-16T23:13:21Z")
Golden Earring’s _Tits 'n Ass_ which I find to be one of their better albums. It’s got a lot of really good songs and is strong all the way through. I really want to get Europe’s new album, but I can’t get it for download here in the states, at least legally. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/17 "2012-12-16T23:36:04Z")
My tastes in music are very, very mainstream. This year I bought: Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen That’s Why God Made the Radio - The Beach Boys Analog Man - Joe Walsh La Futura - ZZ Top Music From Another Dimension - Aerosmith I would say Analog Man has been my favorite album I have bought this year, with That’s Why God Made the Radio running a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/18 "2012-12-16T23:39:04Z")
I don’t buy that much any more, but the Oscar Peterson Christmas [album](http://www.amazon.com/Oscar-Peterson-Christmas/dp/B000003D4X/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1355701113&sr=1-1&keywords=oscar+peterson+christmas) is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/19 "2012-12-16T23:42:22Z")
Chromatics - Kill for Love Listen to some of the songs: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c0mxXrHowHQ/hqdefault.jpg "CHROMATICS "KILL FOR LOVE" (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0mxXrHowHQ) https://www.youtube.com/embed/rSycSBYHitc?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=ALHTd1VmZQRNouoogf_ex4NDr7-9gq_eyH [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6hYPk5m6uuM/hqdefault.jpg "CHROMATICS "THESE STREETS WILL NEVER LOOK THE SAME" (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hYPk5m6uuM) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SwLwLQnInfE/hqdefault.jpg "CHROMATICS "BACK FROM THE GRAVE" (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwLwLQnInfE) Buy the disc from the label for $5: > **[Italians do it Better](https://italiansdoitbetter.bigcartel.com)** > > All music, cd, albums etc. Best of the decade so far. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216/20 "2012-12-16T23:48:08Z")
If I were to obey the thread title (vs. the OP, which says something different), it would definitely be Steve Kilbey’s _Unearthed_ (released late 80’s), which is echoing a ton of current themes in my life. But I guess that’s off-topic, so, whatever… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-music-album-you-bought-in-2012/644216.md?page=2)