Criteria: These music albums from the year 2012 were chosen for their immediate and lasting popularity, impact, influence, and acclaim from critics and musicians. This list does not include 'Greatest Hits' albums.
Edited By: Ryan
1. good kid, M.A.A.D. city - Kendrick Lamar 2. Channel Orange - Frank Ocean 3. Babel - Mumford & Sons 4. Red - Taylor Swift 5. Some Nights - fun. 6. The Idler Wheel - Fiona Apple 7. Unorthodox Jukebox - Bruno Mars 8. Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen 9. Blunderbuss - Jack White 10. The Heist - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 11. R.A.P. Music - Killer Mike 12. Kaleidoscope Dream - Miguel 13. Night Visions - Imagine Dragons 14. Life is Good - Nas 15. Unapologetic - Rihanna 16. R.E.D. - Ne-Yo 17. An Awesome Wave - Alt-J 18. The 2nd Law - Muse 19. The Truth About Love - Pink 20. Tempest - Bob Dylan 21. Lonerism - Tame Impala 22. 18 Months - Calvin Harris 23. Born to Die - Lana Del Rey 24. Looking 4 Myself - Usher 25. Our Version of Events - Emeli Sandé 26. Boys & Girls - Alabama Shakes 27. Koi No Yokan - Deftones 28. Psychedelic Pill - Neil Young & Crazy Horse 29. The Lumineers - The Lumineers 30. Attack on Memory - Cloud Nothings 31. Bloom - Beach House 32. Cancer for Cure - El-P 33. Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! - Godspeed You! Black Emperor 34. That’s Why God Made the Radio - The Beach Boys 35. Celebration Rock - Japandroids 36. Old Ideas - Leonard Cohen 37. Port of Morrow - The Shins 38. Tramp - Sharon Van Etten 39. Two Eleven - Brandy 40. Love This Giant - David Byrne & St. Vincent 41. Gossamer - Passion Pit 42. The Money Store - Death Grips 43. Handwritten - The Gaslight Anthem 44. Sun - Cat Power 45. Sunken Condos - Donald Fagen 46. Shields - Grizzly Bear 47. Clockwork Angels - Rush 48. Something - Chairlift 49. Kill for Love - Chromatics 50. Coexist - The xx 51. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - Nicki Minaj 52. Total Loss - How to Dress Well 53. Swing Lo Magellan - Dirty Projectors 54. Oceania - The Smashing Pumpkins 55. Les Voyages de l' me - Alcest 56. The Seer - Swans 57. III - Crystal Castles 58. A Thing Called Divine Fits - Divine Fits 59. Bish Bosch - Scott Walker 60. Skelethon - Aesop Rock 61. Shrines - Purity Ring 62. Halcyon - Ellie Goulding 63. Silver Age - Bob Mould 64. The Haunted Man - Bat for Lashes 65. The Only Place - Best Coast 66. Overexposed - Maroon 5 67. Take Me Home - One Direction 68. MDNA - Madonna 69. Reign of Terror - Sleigh Bells 70. Warrior - Ke$ha 71. Synthetica - Metric 72. 2 - Mac DeMarco 73. Visions - Grimes 74. Oshin - DIIV 75. Sweet Heart Sweet Light - Spiritualized 76. Centipede Hz - Animal Collective 77. Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg 78. Valtari - Sigur Ros 79. Yellow & Green - Baroness 80. Neck Of The Woods - Silversun Pickups 81. World, You Need a Change of Mind - Kindness 82. Habits & Contradictions - Schoolboy Q 83. Mature Themes - Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti 84. Local Business - Titus Andronicus 85. Uno! - Green Day 86. All the Little Lights - Passenger 87. Tank Full of Blues - Dion 88. Fear Fun - Father John Misty 89. The Bears for Lunch - Guided by Voices 90. Love At The Bottom of the Sea - The Magnetic Fields 91. In Our Heads - Hot Chip 92. Beacon - Two Door Cinema Club 93. We Don't Even Live Here - P.O.S. 94. Little Broken Hearts - Norah Jones 95. Until the Quiet Comes - Flying Lotus 96. What We Saw From The Cheap Seats - Regina Spektor 97. Open Your Heart - The Men 98. WIXIW - Liars 99. Among the Leaves - Sun Kil Moon 100. Kiss - Carly Rae Jepsen
More Lists
DigitalDreamDoor Editor Picks for 2012
Ryan's choice - An unheralded great album from 2012
• 2:54 - 2:54
Lew's choice:
• Once Upon a Time in the West - The White Buffalo
Note: Yearly album lists go by earliest 'release date'. Not necessarily the year an album peaked in the U.S. charts.
