Top 20 Albums of 2014

2013 was an incredible year in music and albums. 2013 inspired me to go deeper into music than I ever had before and never will again. 2014 has inspired me to back off of music quite a bit in the oncoming new year. 2014 was an indescribable year with nothing that took over our ears for months like Yeezus, Reflektor, and Pure Heroine (3 all-time great albums). St. Vincent's self-titled album is terrific but, it was the only album seemingly every music website could agree on this year. 2014 was sporadic with no big name releases in hip hop or R&B (outside of J. Cole & D'Angelo's late arrivals) that were worthy of A- grades (not even Usher put out an album despite dropping some intriguing slow jams). 2014 was the year of the tacky, meme-able song even though 2014 was the year without a "The Fox", "Gangnam Style", or "Harlem Shake". 2014 was a year with songs that only stuck around to turn people off of the mainstream radio stations and onto a wider variety of channels. 2014 was the death of generic, non-hateable pop music, we either really liked the music a lot or reached for the radio volume knob/button in our cars so quickly that we pulled a muscle. 2014 was Billboard's weirdest year on record. I mean... LOOK at these #1 songs on Billboard this year...

2 weeks of Eminem & Rihanna's "The Monster"
3 weeks of Pitbull & Kesha's "Timber"
4 weeks of Katy Perry & Juicy J's "Dark Horse"
10 weeks of Pharrell Williams' "Happy"
3 weeks of John Legend's "All of Me"
7 weeks of Iggy Azalea & Charli XCX's "Fancy"
6 weeks of Magic!'s "Rude"
2 weeks of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off"
8 weeks of Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass"
2 MORE weeks of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off"
5 weeks of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space"

Canadian Reggae bands, formerly country sell-outs and a nasally girl singing about weight. What the hell is wrong with us? There are two genuinely tolerable songs on that list for most people and they're the songs of the Spring, "Happy" and "All of Me". 2014 was the year of white hip hop in the wake of Macklemore's success (which I still think was a good thing but, this year it went very badly). With all of the steaming pile of crap coming out this year, I wanted to dig deeper to find more saving graces that could shield me from the reality of what popular music was in 2014. I listened to 347 new albums in 2014 in their entirety and I found some awesome stuff but, there weren't enough great new bands/artists that I got addicted to like last year. On that note, I will now check into rehab so I can moderate myself better in 2015.

Oh, and here are all of the album grades (in no exact order but, close to how I feel they should be ranked) before we get into the actual top 20...

KEY: Artist/Band - Album name

A-
Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
D’Angelo - Black Messiah
Tune-Yards - Nikki Nack
Busdriver - Perfect Hair
J. Mascis - Tied To A Star
TV On The Radio - Seeds
J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Imogen Heap - Sparks
Tennis - Ritual In Repeat
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow
Mr Little Jeans - Pocketknife
Asher Roth - RetroHash
Jhene Aiko - Souled Out
Lykke Li - I Never Learn
The Raveonettes - Pe’ahi
Logic - Under Pressure
Bas - Last Winter
The Chain Gang of 1974 - Daydream Forever  
Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Isaiah Rashad - Clivia
Cold War Kids - Hold My Home 

Azealia Banks - Broke with Expensive Taste
Aer - Aer
Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga - Cheek to Cheek
Eli Paperboy Reed - Nights Like This
Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband
The Antlers - Familiars
Passenger - Whispers
Common - Nobody’s Smiling
NONONO - We Are Only What We Feel
Jungle - Jungle
Tweedy - Sukierae
First Aid Kit - Stay Gold 

B+
Paolo Nutini - Caustic Love
Trampled by Turtles - Wild Animals
Jessie Ware - Tough Love
OK Go - Hungry Ghosts
Jesse Thomas - Burn The Boats
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Pinata
Circa Zero - Circus Hero
Karen O - Crush Songs
Weird Al Yankovic - Mandatory Fun
El May - The Other Person Is You
The Black Keys - Turn Blue

Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World
SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land
G-Eazy - These Things Happen
Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were
Miniature Tigers - Cruel Runnings
Jamie T - Carry On The Grudge
Clean Bandit - New Eyes
Lee Fields & The Expressions - Emma Jean
Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso
FKA Twigs - LP1
Wu-Tang Clan - A Better Tomorrow
S. Carey - Range of Light
Broods - Evergreen
Kevin Drew - Darlings
Jeremy Messersmith - Heart Murmurs
Honeyblood - Honeyblood
Timeflies - After Hours
Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes
Atmosphere - Southsiders
The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
Leighton Meester - Heartstrings
Eric Hutchinson - Pure Fiction
La Roux - Trouble In Paradise
Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien
Ingrid Michaelson - Lights Out
Iggy Azalea - The New Classic
Interpol - El Pintor

Pete Molinari - Theosophy

Foxes - Glorious
Got A Girl - I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now
Joan Osborne - Love and Hate
Chuck English - Convertibles
We Are Scientists - TV en Francais
Biffy Clyro - Similarities
Bad Things - Bad Things
Angel Haze - Dirty Gold
Linus Young - Category 5
The Colourist - The Colourist
The Wind and The Wave - From The Wreckage
Chromeo - White Women
Tops - Picture You Staring
Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy
Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL - PRECTUMELECTRUM
The Strypes - Snapshot

B

Noah Gundersen - Ledges
Aloe Blacc - Lift Your Spirit
Lia Ices - Ices
Mayday X Murs - Mursday!
Haerts - Haerts
Oh Darling - Beauty In Commotion
Kelis - Food
Sinkane - Mean Love
Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business
Macy Gray - The Way
The Bug - Angels & Devils
Umphrey’s McGee - Similar Skin
Hiss Golden Messenger - Lateness of Dancers
Kele - Trick
Naughty Boy - Hotel Cabana
Lily Allen - Sheezus
Foster The People - Supermodel
Vince Staples - Hell Can Wait
Arkells - High Noon
Jon Hellion - The Definition
Ariel Pink - Pom Pom
U2 - Songs Of Innocence
Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams
Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint
Counting Crows - Somewhere Under Wonderland
Mariah Carey - Me. I Am Mariah.
50 Cent - Animal Ambition
Andy Grammer - Magazines or Novels
Wye Oak - Shriek
Claire - The Great Escape
Ashanti - Braveheart
Ray Lamontagne - Supernova
K. Michelle - Anybody Wanna Buy A Heart?
French For Rabbits - Spirits
Spanish Gold - South Of Nowhere
White Sea - In Cold Blood
Jason Mraz - Yes!
Blonde Redhead - Barragan
Trey Songz - Trigga
EMA - The Future’s Void
Elizabeth & The Catapult - Like It Never Happened
Joe Louis Walker - Hornet’s Nest
Morning Parade - Pure Adulterated Joy
The Shoe - I’m Okay
The Feeling - Boy Cried Wolf
Daley - Days & Nights
Blondfire - Young Heart
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
Spoon - They Want My Soul
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye
Candice Glover - Music Speaks
Liam Finn - The Nihilist
Kimbra - The Golden Echo
The Autumn Defense - Fifth 

B-
Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lose
Kid Ink - My Own Lane
Ed Sheeran - x
Sunset Sons - No Bad Days
American Authors - Oh, What A Life
Wild Cub - Youth
Tove Lo - Queen of the Clouds
Dum Dum Girls - Too True
Strange Talk - Cast Away
Andrew Jackson Jihad - Christmas Time
Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
Gorgon City - Sirens
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Big K.R.I.T. - Cadillactica
Kid Cudi - Satellite Flight
LIGHTS - Little Machines
Keb’ Mo’ - Bluesamericana
Kindness - Otherness
Avi Buffalo - At Best Cuckold
St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Half The City
Thumpers - Galore
Sage The Gemini - Remember Me
Johnnyswim - Diamonds
Young Money - Rise of An Empire
Christina Perri - head or heart
Pell - Floating While Dreaming
Pixies - Indie Cindy
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots
Olivia Broadfield - Paper Dolls
Haley Bonar - Last War
Twin Forks - Twin Forks
Kasabian - 48:13
Childhood - Lacuna
The Orwells - Disgraceland
Theophilus London - Vibes
Curtis Harding - Soul Power
Bush - Man On The Run
Chrissie Hynde - Stockholm
Kaiser Chiefs - Education, Education, Education & War
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Young the Giant - Mind Over Matter
Sir Michael Rocks - Banco
Asgeir - In The Silence
Sadistic - Ultraviolet
Neon Trees - Pop Psychology
Ratking - So It Goes
IAmSu - Sincerely Yours
The Fresh & Only - House Of Spirits
Little Daylight - Hello Memory
Clipping. - CLPPNG
Flight Facilities - Down to Earth
Bob Gould - Beauty & Ruin
Dan Croll - Sweet Disarray
Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron
Empires - Orphan
Duck Sauce - Quack
Alice Boman - EP II
Real Friends - Maybe This Place is the Same and We’re Just Changing 

C+
Bear Hands - Distraction
G. Love & Special Sauce - Sugar
Ariana Grande - My Everything
White Arrows - In Bardo
Porter Robinson - Worlds
Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror
David Gray - Mutineers
Wunder Wunder - Everything Infinite
Sharon Van Etten - Are We There
Fear of Men - Loom
Phish - Fuego
Hoodie Allen - People Keep Talking
The Drums - Encyclopedia
Matt Sorum’s Fierce Joy - Stratosphere
Justin Townes Earle - Single Mothers
The Ready Set - The Bad & The Better
Magic Man - Before The Waves
Caribou - Our Love
Shakira - Shakira
Real Estate - Atlas
NO - El Prado
Cherub - Year of the Caprese
The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
Real Animals - ZABA
+++ - Crosses
Gardens & Villa - Dunes
Eugene McGuiness - Chroma
Neil Young - A Letter Home
The Fray - Helios
Switchfoot - Fading West
John Newman - Tribute
Afrojack - Forget The World
Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos
Alvvays - Alvvays
Warpaint - Warpaint
Fanfarlo - Let’s Go Extinct
Future - Honest
Ruben Studdard - Unconditional Love
Peggy Sue - Choir of Echoes

She & Him - Classics
Kina Grannis - Elements
Jessie J - Sweet Talker
Dilated Peoples - Directors of Photography
Woman’s Hour - Conversations
The Presidents of the United States of America - Kudos to You! 

C
Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans
Basement Jaxx - Junto
Augustines - Augustines
Ledisi - The Truth
Lenny Kravitz - Strut
Mary Lambert - Heart On My Sleeve
Calvin Harris - Motion
Blackbird Blackbird - Tangerine Sky
Wild Party - Phantom Pop
David Guetta - Listen
Wiz Khalifa - Blacc Hollywood
Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
Sun Structures - Temples
Bassnectar - Noise Nectar
Richard Marx - Beautiful Goodbye
Shariek - Blood Sweat Tears
The Dirty Heads - Sound of Change
Yellowcard - Lift A Sail
Nightmare and the Cat - Simple
Walk the Moon - Talking is Hard
YG - My Krazy Life
Glass Towers - Halcyon Days
Water Liars - Water Liars
Shonlock - A Night To Remember
Lust For Youth - International
Jennifer Hudson - JHud
Jennifer Lopez - A.K.A.
Vertical Scratchers - Daughter of Everything
Neneh Cherry - Blank Project
The Juan Maclean - In A Dream
Young Jeezy - Seen It All
Jessie McCartney - In Technicolor
Leela James - Fall For You
Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden - The Shape the Color the Feel
Jaded Incorporated - The Big Knock
Band of Skulls - Himalayan
Slow Club - Complete Surrender
Rebeloution - Count Me In
Drowners - Drowners
Kylie Minogue - Kiss Me Once 

C-
Rick Ross - Mastermind
Skrillex - Recess
Maroon 5 - V
Tiesto - A Need To Breathe
Ab-Soul - These Days…
NEEDTOBREATHE - Rivers In The Wasteland
The Crystal Method - The Crystal Method
We Are The In Crowd - Weird Kids
A Great Big World - Is There Anybody Out There?
Keyshia Cole - Point of No Return
Chicago - Now
Sinead O’Connor - I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss
The Whigs - Modern Creation
Big Freedia - Just Be Free
Robin Thicke - Paula
Shabazz Palaces - Lese Majesty
Wolf Gang - Alveron
Omarion - Sex Playlist
Sarah McLachlan - Shine On 

D+
The Empty Hearts - The Empty Hearts
Marc Broussard - A Life Worth Living
Mali Music - Mali Is…
Los Lonely Boys - Revelation
Army Navy - The Wilderness Inside
Betty Who - Take Me When You Go
Meligrove Band - Bones of Things
Karmin - Pulses
Priscilla Ahn - This Is Where We Are 

D
August Alsina - Testimony
Rick Ross - Hood Billionaire 

Yes - Heaven & Earth
Linkin Park - The Hunting Party
Twin Peaks - Wild Onions
Cheatahs - Cheatahs
Flying Lotus - You’re Dead! (I'm just not big on Flying Lotus & Kendrick saved this album from an F for me)

D-
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Wig Out At Jagbags
DJ Mustard - 10 Summers
Mapei - Bye Bye

F

Nick Cannon - White People Party Music
Rich Homie Quan - I Will Never Stop Going In
Foxygen - ...And Star Power
Die Antwoord - Donker Mag

N/A: Taylor Swift - 1989 (Thanks for nothing, Swift)

The Top 20 Albums of 2014
#20. Vance Joy - Dream Your Life Away

Standout track: "First Time"
Other Must-Hears: "Riptide", "Mess Is Mine"

Vance Joy is the sensitive white-as-bread folk musician that will have a bunch of desperate young guys picking up ukuleles next year. Vance Joy is a unique artist in that not only does he opt for the ukulele pretty much every time but, he also has an unconventionally shaky voice that really doesn't have any other options in terms of genre. Nearly everyone has heard the "Riptide" song by now but, I doubt many people have actually immersed themselves into Dream Your Life Away. If you, the reader, actually do give this album a chance you won't hear the upbeat, radio-friendly fun of "Riptide" but, I guarantee that Vance Joy is a good storyteller and had one of the better albums for a true songwriter this year.

#19. Jack White - Lazaretto

Standout Track: "Would You Fight For My Love?"
Other Must-Hears: "Lazaretto" & "High Ball Stepper"

Music critics' favorite angry rocker is back for his second solo album in a post-White Stripes world and just like 2012's Blunderbuss, Lazaretto held up despite lofty expectations. Jack White's experimented with many different backup bands and genres of rock music over the years and Lazaretto is jam-packed with more blues and country rock influences than any time previously in his discography. White brings back terrific backing vocalist Ruby Amanfu for much of the album and the two continue to work beautifully together. The main inspiration behind Lazaretto were a bunch of old poems and stories written by White from twenty years ago that he had found in his attic. After olaying around with some of the words, he wrote Lazaretto and is once again deservedly nominated for Best Alternative Album at the Grammy's.

#18. Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else

Standout Track: "I'm Not Part of Me"
Other Must-Hears: "Now Hear In" & "Pattern Walks"

Coming into 2014, I knew virtually (cloud) nothing about Cloud Nothings until April when this huge wave of online music listeners were bragging about this band's new album. Surprise, surprise, I liked the album a lot as well even though I was a few weeks late to the party. Cloud Nothings are the loud, garage rock band that your friends all joined for a year or two only, Cloud Nothings actually reached their potential and, despite just eight songs on Here and Nowhere Else, they showed all of their potential come to fruition. "I'm Not Part of Me" is the catchiest song on this album (and feels reminiscent to "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World) and the happiest song closes an otherwise heavier rock album.

#17. Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In The End

Standout Track: "Da Vinci"
Other Must-Hears: "Back To The Shack" & "The British Are Coming"

Weezer probably hasn't had a great album since 1996's Pinkerton. Fans would even begin saying that the band had "sold out" from being an alt-rock/power pop anthem band to strictly being a power pop band when the truth is pretty simple.

1. After the five-year absence of Rivers Cuomo & crew from Pinkerton to The Green Album, everyone got super disappointed that the band's output wasn't nearly as good.

2. Everybody decided to ignore the band's Fountains of Wayne-like albums after Weezer fatigue set in post-"Beverly Hills".

3. Weezer was dismissed in the public's eye until they promised a comeback to their roots with Everything Will Be Alright In The End's lead single "Back To The Shack".

4. Profit.

and comeback to their roots they did. A great job by Weezer of pleasing those that only knew of them for their mainstream stuff (Beverly Hills & Buddy Holly) and those that have been around since the beginning.

#16. Mary J. Blige - The London Sessions

Standout Track: "Right Now"
Other Must-Hears: "Therapy" & "Whole Damn Year"

Mary J. Blige is another expert veteran who's been in the R&B game for twenty-two years since 1992's What's The 411?. The London Sessions isn't Blige's best album but, it's a major development in her sound's evolution for the first time since 2005's The Breakthrough, an R&B classic that sounded more like Mariah Carey songs than club thumpers and hip hop soul. 2014's The London Sessions was Mary's exploration into the strange yet ever-growing world of house music along with throwback swing classics like the could-fit-in-any-time-period "Therapy". Blige has never been the biggest star around but, as long as she keeps putting all of her emotion into vocals and comes up with new collaborators from Sam Smith to Disclosure to keep her sound fresh, she will persevere and stay relevant.

#15. St. Vincent - St. Vincent

Standout Track: "Birth In Reverse"
Other Must-Hears: "Digital Witness" & "I Prefer Your Love"

In retrospect, I should have ranked this one in the top three AT LEAST. Upon first listen, I thought this album was incredible as it cemented St. Vincent as a musical genius in case anyone had doubts from her first three albums. In my personal opinion, her third album (Strange Mercy) is still her best, most original album but, everybody else is calling it the album of the year so what the hell do I know? After listen upon listen upon purchase upon more listening, St. Vincent crafted a damn masterpiece and I hate myself for only giving the album an A- when it was released in February. She wrote and produced the entire album for crying out loud! After collaborating with David Byrne on their 2012 project, Love This Giant, it's clear the Byrne-ness rubbed off of him into this album as the entire thing is the artsiest, most experimental album of Annie Clarke's yet. As mentioned in my Top 40 songs of 2014 post, "Birth In Reverse" is the song of the year and this album has two of the top eleven tracks on that list. How is it ranked #15 with all of my gushing over St. Vincent? Well, it is still her second best album in my personal opinion and there are still albums to come on this list that are more consistent, tell full stories and have more big hits on them with no misses whatsoever. Looking at the rest of the list that I lock in once I first hear that album, St. Vincent belongs higher billing but not quite inside the top seven. If it's any compensation, Strange Mercy would've been a top three album of 2011.

#14. Phantogram - Voices

Standout Track: "Black Out Days"
Other Must-Hears: "Bill Murray" & "Nothing But Trouble"

A lot of judging on albums is based off of the first track and "Nothing But Trouble" is the perfect intro to a Phantogram album. I have no idea how to describe Phantogram to someone other than "electric" and that's what I love about this band, their indescribability (I'm inventing words now. Take that, Spotify. You have competition). Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter crafted their follow-up to 2009's Eyelid Movies over the span of five years while hip-hop side projects were in the works with Big Boi of Outkast. Barthel's airy vocals and Carter's deep digs for backing tracks work masterfully as a duo and although this is far from a perfect album, they have some amazing tracks on Voices that will keep them in commercials (like this frightening Clay Matthews Gillette ad featuring a song by Phantogram) for a while.

#13. Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

Standout Track: "Chandelier"
Other Must-Hears: "Elastic Heart" & "Big Girls Cry"

Who knew that the poppiest version of Sia would be the best? 1000 Forms of Fear is Sia's darkest album yet (as made clear by the album art) despite being radio-friendly. Without the quirky tracks that I've become accustomed to when listening to full Sia albums, this album surprised me because it showed that she doesn't need a "Soon We'll Be Found" in order to make a great album. There was a major theme in Sia's live performances and music videos and that was the blonde hair that has captivated our attention since she won't show her face. When asked about the album, Sia explained...

"I already have a much larger concept for this album and for how I'm going to present it and that was: I don't want to be famous. If Amy Winehouse was a beehive then I guess I'm a blonde bob. I thought 'well if that's my brand, how can I avoid having to use my face to sell something', so my intention was to create a blonde bob brand. Throughout this whole thing I'll put a different person in a blonde bob and either they lip-synch while I'm doing a live performance or they perform a dance or do some sort of performance while I have my back to the audience, as with Ellen."

So, despite a faceless album, Sia's sixth record is the thirteenth best album of 2014 for it's in-depth emotion and Sia's songwriting finally getting the recognition she deserves.

#12. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager

Standout Track: "Late Bloomer"
Other Must-Hears: "The Voyager" & "Love U Forever"

Jenny Lewis created the perfect road trip album with The Voyager. The album is her third and most grown-up (she's 38 in case you were wondering) album to date. If I were around for the creation of one of the albums on this list, it would be The Voyager because Lewis wrote most of this album after the breakup of Rilo Kiley and enlisted upon rock's most bizarre persona, Ryan Adams, to produce the record. Despite Ryan Adams' albums lack of inclusion on this top 20, he was the perfect choice to produce this album as clearly it is one of the best indie rock albums of the year. "The Voyager" is a must-hear track about a hotel that Lewis spent a lot of her childhood around that burned down later in her life and it's one of the sadder songs I heard all year.

#11. Pharrell Williams - Girl

Standout Track: "Love Queen"

Other Must-Hears: "Gust of Wind" & "Come Get It Bae"

Sia wasn't the only producer/songwriter finally getting the fame they deserved in 2014! Pharrell hit a home run with Girl. Williams waited eight years to put out his second solo album after working with some of the biggest names in the business behind the scenes. He also wanted to wash away any bad publicity he may have gotten for producing "Blurred Lines". The end result? A girl-friendly, star-studded album for the ages with appearances from A-listers like Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, and Daft Punk and some F-listers who were quietly hidden in background vocals like Kelly Osbourne, JoJo, and former American Idol contestant Leah LaBelle. It was the return to funk that the radio needed and will shape the altering of pop music over the rest of the decade. 

#10. Nicole Atkins - Slow Phaser

Standout Track: "We Wait Too Long"
Other Must-Hears: "Girl You Look Amazing" & "Sin Song"

One of the most overlooked singers in the business today, Atkins has been putting out good record after good record and 2014's Slow Phaser was no different. Atkins ditched her psychedelic rock of albums past to create a more fun and more folk pop-rock album that I did not see coming. The entire album is one really solid collection of music where the elite songs are really elite. I'm not sure where Atkins is having the success to keep putting out records but, I'm really happy she still is because she has yet to release anything bad.

#9. James Vincent McMorrow - Post Tropical

Standout Track: "Look Out"
Other Must-Hears: "Gold" & "Cavalier"

I wasn't sure what I expected from an album with a polar bear, flamingo, palm trees and an iceberg on it. Post Tropical is the album Bon Iver hasn't made with actual hooks that get the listener addicted. This was the first I had ever listened to McMorrow and it was a major change from his previous debut album which consisted of mostly independent folk music. Post Tropical goes electronic and McMorrow hits an inside-the-park homer with his more soulful album of the two. The album was released in the second week of the year and holds up decently over the span of one year.

#8. Alt-J - This Is All Yours

Standout Track: "Left Hand Free"
Other Must-Hears: "Hunger of the Pine" & "Every Other Freckle"

2012's An Awesome Wave was not the most exciting debut album and the only real highlight from alt-J's first disc was "Breezeblocks". It wasn't a good year for music as a collective unit but, it was tremendous year for the band from Leeds, England. There were still the same experimental moments on this album as on their first record but, for once, they experimented in the correct ways. "Left Hand Free" should have been one of the hugest songs of the year while a Miley Cyrus sample helped make "Hunger of the Pine" and turn the album into a darker, slower direction. 

#7. You+Me - Rose Ave.

Standout Track: "Break The Cycle"
Other Must-Hears: "You and Me" & "Capsized"

Another overlooked album, You+Me was the side project created by P!nk and Dallas Green (AKA: City and Colour). Here I was, all worried that P!nk's 2012 album The Truth About Love was the sign of her decline into the "Keep getting 'dem checks" territory that so many of the other late-90's, early 00's pop artists have already fallen into. Even though her solo career isn't quite as good as it once was, P!nk and Dallas Green collaborated on one of the most surprising records of 2014. It's a folk album that's incredible in it's simplicity. Two great musicians in different lines of music came together and made a somewhat sad album that should be remembered as one of the best albums P!nk or Dallas Green have ever created.

#6. Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour

Standout Track: "Stay With Me"

Other Must-Hears: "Lay Me Down" & "Like I Can"

My first discovery of Sam Smith was on 2013's "Latch" a Disclosure song which has taken over the radio late this year and I thought "what a unique voice" but didn't go into any further investigation on the artist known as Sam Smith. I had no idea he'd become the breakthrough soul singer of 2014 until I saw him on a Spring episode of Saturday Night Live. The gospel influences on "Stay With Me" and the love-torn lyrics of practically the entire album made In The Lonely Hour a smash hit and a powerful debut from the closest thing we'll get to a male version of Adele. 

#5. Bleachers - Strange Desire

Standout Track: "Who I Want You To Love"

Other Must-Hears: "I Wanna Get Better" & "Shadow"

No artist had a better debut album in 2014 than Fun.'s Jack Antonoff's side project, Bleachers. The album is jam-packed full of pop-rock anthems. Strange Desire has unforgettable moments like the high-pitched yelling in "I Wanna Get Better" or the guitar in "Shadow" or remember that time when Yoko Ono showed up and the party got super weird but stayed awesome? Yeah, Strange Desire is the perfect album for Antonoff in case Fun. stops being so... fun. 

#4. Michael Jackson - Xscape

Standout Track: "Do You Know Where Your Children Are?"

Other Must-Hears: "Love Never Felt So Good" & "A Place With No Name"

Michael Jackson is one of the greatest pop stars the world has ever seen and had one of the most tragic falls from grace the world has ever seen. None of that is debatable. Another thing that is non-debatable is how great it was to hear an album of old rejected, never-before-heard songs that was better than most of the non-rejected music being spewed out by the industry this year. With both the original and modernized versions edited by producers like Timbaland and featuring Justin Timberlake, Xscape surprised me as it is very hard to do a posthumous album as successfully as this one.

#3. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence

Standout Track: "West Coast"

Other Must-Hears: "Brooklyn Baby" & "Cruel World"

Ultraviolence saw Lana Del Rey drop her hip-hop influences for a late-sixties sounding record full of sad psychedelic surfing songs (tongue twister). If Lana Del Rey's first album, Born To Die, didn't do anything for you, Ultraviolence won't either as it's more of the same sultry soft-spoken vocals that Del Rey is an expert at. She even enlisted upon The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach to produce the album for another musical odd couple that worked to perfection.

#2. Beyonce' - Beyonce'

Standout Track: "Heaven"

Other Must-Hears: "Drunk In Love" & "Flawless"

I'm cheating somewhat by placing this album in the 2014 list despite being released to the public on December 13th, 2013. My reasoning is that every year has a cut-off date for music and last year's just happened to be the Tuesday before Beyonce' dropped this work of art. This year, I waited until the last minute just to be safe... Also, procrastination is a wild beast that can barely be tamed. Almost immediately after the unexpected album was released via iTunes, Beyonce' was widely regarded as one of the top albums of the decade so far. The album cover tells the story of an oncoming collection of dark tracks that explores all of Mrs. Carter's musical capabilities and genres. Beyonce' is like multiple other Beyonce' records in that there was a music video released as a second disc for each song. It's the only "feminist" record making an impact in 2014. It is simply the biggest female singer in the world's greatest album to date. Good job, Beyonce' but, you are not #1. That title belongs to.....

The #1 Album of 2014                       

Beck - Morning Phase

Standout Track: "Wave"

Other Must-Hears: "Blue Moon" & "Waking Light"

Nobody comes into a year knowing exactly what will happen that year. Nobody came into 2014 and said "Boy, I think it's time for ebola to make a comeback" or "You know what'd be really weird? for a plane to just... disappear". I certainly never thought that Beck would have the album of the year. Alas, he did. Morning Phase is supposedly a follow-up to 2002's Sea Change and it's Beck's folkiest release yet (There I go again, making up words). Morning Phase is Beck's first release after a lifetime with Interscope Records. It's also his most personal release after suffering a spinal injury before his last album, 2008's Modern Guilt. After six years and a full recovery, Beck was able to belt out his vocals on his newest album and now he's nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy's. Morning Phase is nothing revolutionary or exciting but, it stays fresh throughout all thirteen tracks and was the best album of 2014.