So, a few weeks ago I came out with my Best of 2012 list, and for the most part I was pleased with how it turned out. I managed to include a lot of the albums I really liked this year, as well as a fairly diverse selection of artists and genres. With that said, my list fell victim to one common problem with end-of-the-year countdowns: there were still a lot of albums from this year that I hadn't heard yet.
And really, there's still a ton of haven't gotten around to. After all, music is a vast, vast universe, with thousands of new releases each year. It would be pretty much impossible for anyone to make a "definitive" list of the best albums of any year, because no one could have possibly listened to all of them, unless they have absolutely no life whatsoever. Still, I think my list missed two big ones, and I'd like to fix that right now. If I could take another crack at it, there were two other albums that I definitely would've included: Japandroids excellent second album Celebration Rock and Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, m.A.A.D City, which was one of the best debut albums in recent memory.
Both of these were amazing albums, and I hadn't gotten to them before it was time to send my list in. Obviously, this was a huge mistake on my part, since these were two very well-hyped albums, but hey, I do a lot of things, and I had to live without a computer for about 6 weeks, which seriously hindered my ability to discover new music. Even with the music in question was already really popular... Since I'm a "glass half full" sort of guy, I suppose it's not the worst thing in the world that I missed these artists. After all, a ton of people had already known about these albums by the time I finally heard them, and the two spaces they would've occupied on my list were now freed up for albums that didn't get as much press coverage, like Nada Surf's sadly overlooked The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, or either of the excellent albums made by the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. So, you know, things work out in one way or another.
Still, I was absolutely blown away both albums, and they should have made my list. Celebration Rock in particular was thrilling to me, since it basically took everything I like about rock music and put it in a blender. So, my apologies for leaving these truly excellent albums off my list. As for the other great albums from this year I still haven't heard yet...can I get back to you around St. Patrick's Day? I'm a little backed up here.
It's strange. I did not like Post Nothing at all, but Celebration Rock is soooooooooo good. What happened to this band?
Post Nothing was great Jon, but CR could not be touched
Meh