When it comes to music I mostly listen to pop. Even when they're R&B, rock or country, they have strong pop influence. I listen to some hip-hop, jazz, and blues as well, but I mostly listen to individual tracks not the entire albums. I like "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis but it's the only tune from that duo I can swallow; similarly I like some country singles here and there but I don't really listen to a full country album. You'll see most of the albums mentioned below are either directly or indirectly pop.
Due to the extreme competitiveness of digital download, most of the artists chose to released their albums in multiple formats, and then re-released them again in even more formats with additional bonus tracks. In the end, you get a super deluxe album with so many tracks you can't finish listening to it in 2 hours. To me, that is a good thing. We consumers get the maximum values out of the prices we paid. Many of the albums listed below are deluxe editions.
Okay now, let's begin.
CANTOPOP COMPILATION
I grew up listening to cantopop & mandopop, so it's fit to start with them. There were not many brand new cantonese / mandarin albums out there worth my pick so instead I chose three cantopop compilation albums. Through these compilation albums you'll get the best of these cantopop artists in the last few years, a short cut to start knowing these singers and their songs.
张敬轩 《是时候。。。》 (Hins Cheung - It's Time...)
With 3 CDs + 1 DVD, this is truly a great compilation of the best songs from Hins Cheung. He is one of the under-appreciated singers in cantopop world, and if you listen to his songs you'll wonder why he's yet to achieve a career peak like Eason Chan.
Recommended Tracks: Almost all songs are equally good (after all, this is the purpose of a compilation album), but I'll pick three to start with: 酷爱，曝光，Deadline
谢安琪 《最好的时刻》 (Kay Tse - Kay 2008 - 2012)
And because I have OCD of symmetry (no, there's no such syndrome, I made that up), I pick an exact duplicate of Hins Cheung's compilation album by another under-appreciated singer of the opposite gender. This is also a 3 CDs + 1 DVD compilation album with lots of typical cantopops and a few mandarin songs. She never truly reached Joey Yung's diva status but she deserves to be.
Recommended Tracks: Not all of her songs are karaoke-ready so it's safe to start with her biggest hit to-date: 囍贴街
容祖儿 Joey Yung 《All Delicious Compilation》 & Joey Yung 《Hopelessly Romantic Compilation》
And speaking of Joey Yung, she released a couple of compilation albums herself in 2013. "All Delicious Compilation" features her non-ballad tunes while "Hopelessly Romantic Compilations" compiles her ballads over the years. Some of her best (especially ballads) are not featured here but when you have tons of hit songs it's hard to include all.
Recommended Tracks: Many years ago before she was the sole-diva in Hong Kong's music world, she had two delicious hits: 未知 (a.k.a. cantonese version of Jennifer Paige's Crush) and 痛爱
MOVIE SOUNDTRACK
I don't usually like movie soundtracks as they comprise of one over-dramatic piece of music after another but here's one I'm willing to tolerate.
Cloud Atlas - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
When I declared "Cloud Atlas" as my most favorite movie in 2013 I didn't realize this, but when I compiled this list I finally get it: one of the key elements that made the movie a success was the score that played an important part in the movie. May it be touching or intense (depends on the subplots of the movie, which has six different stories with six different genres), the music never failed to support the movie.
Recommended Tracks: If you are not willing to sit through a whole album of just orchestral music, the "Cloud Atlas End Title" pretty much sums up the whole soundtrack
BEST OF "BEST OF..."
As mentioned before, compilation album is the fastest way to start knowing an artist through the collection of his / her previous hits.
Keane - The Best of Keane (Deluxe Edition)
If you asked me to name 3 of Keane's songs three months ago, I was able to name only one: Somewhere Only We Know. But after listening to this 2-CDs collection of Keane's songs, I can honestly say that I am a fan now.
Recommended Tracks: I suggest you start with "Somewhere Only We Know"
Britney Spears - The Essential
True, you don't need a compilation album to know Britney's songs, you probably can sing most of her hits without even looking at the lyrics as most of them were chart toppers during her career peak. But now we have the chance to listen to all of them all over again. This 2-CDs collection is probably the most complete compilation of all Britney's hits from her first "Baby One More Time" to the most recent "Scream & Shout".
Recommended Tracks: She has many catchy hits that make you wanna dance, but I choose her ballad "Everytime"
DIVA SHOWDOWN
These two ladies are blessed with big voices but sometimes they overused it and screamed in every opportunity they have. Nevertheless their pop ballads are the best.
Celine Dion - Loved Me Back To Life (Deluxe Version)
Celine Dion's first English album since "Taking Chances" in 2007. There are a few powerful ballads but she also explored other genres like contemporary R&B and hip-hop. She reduced her trademarked big-lung screaming to a minimal level but still managed to touch us with her voice.
Recommended Tracks: "Breakaway", the typical Celine Dion-esque ballad she's famous for
Delta Goodrem - Child of the Universe (Deluxe Edition)
If you have not heard of her name before, she is a songstress from Australia with an angelic voice. In the deluxe edition of her latest album, there is an additional disc with her acoustic rendition of most of her songs from the first disc, which admittedly she sounds amazing in live.
Recommended Tracks: "Child of the Universe", a perfect opening title-track for the album
POP CHICKS
You can call these three ladies "divas" too, depending on your definition of "diva". I prefer to segregate them from the two divas above, just for fun.
Pop-Rock Chick: P!nk - The Truth About Love (Fan Edition)
This album has a lot of rock elements in it, and of course, a lot of explicit words as well. These have come to be two things we'd expect from Pink, who never hides her rebellious nature through her songs.
Recommended Tracks: We can't mention this album without bringing up the song "Just Give Me a Reason", her duet with Nate Ruess which was one of the biggest hits in 2013. There's also a song supposedly she wrote for her daughter called "Run", which shows us a softer side of Pink.
Electro-pop Chick: Ellie Goulding - Halcyon Days (Deluxe Edition)
Though she never reached the height of her success again like she did through her previous hit "Lights" from her previous album, this deluxe edition of the re-release of her second album consists of 29 tracks that are equally good if not better. Her songs are often very electro-pop (read: less karaoke-ready), and probably that's the reason her success is limited.
Recommended Tracks: I want to say "I Need Your Love" but that's cheating as it was originally featured in Calvin Harris's album, so why not try these two: Figure 8 & Hanging On
Country-pop Chick: Taylor Swift - Red
True, she's vastly overrated if you ask me, but that doesn't mean she does not produce good album. It merely means she doesn't deserve all 859 awards she received, maybe only 15 of them. True, she always regards herself as a country star but her songs are mostly pop. That's why I was able to sit through her entire album and thought it was not bad.
Recommended Tracks: Before it became over-played by the radio stations, I would say "I Knew You Were Trouble"; now I will say "The Moment I Knew", a song can only be found in the deluxe edition
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
That's right, Justin Timberlake has his own category.
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience, 1 of 2
If you love his previous solo albums, here's JT returning to his best form after many years of exiling himself to the movie world. Despite some very catchy tunes, sometimes the songs are so long it makes you wonder if those endless closing music are necessary.
Recommended Tracks: "Mirrors", a song that reminds us of his previous hit "What Goes Around... Comes Around"
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience, 2 of 2
Because of my OCD of completeness (yes, there's no such thing, I made it up again) I chose to keep the two albums separately instead of the combined version "The Complete Experience", because the latter took away two songs from each album, making it incomplete in my POV.
Recommended Tracks: Move your feet to "Take Back the Night"
GRAMMY'S ALBUM OF THE YEAR
I knew I have to include this album but when I planned this article I didn't know how to categorize this album as it seems so different from others, and then it won the Grammy's most prestigious "Album of the Year".
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
The tracks are so unique you won't even notice most of the time the melodies came without lyrics. Oh, one more thing, if you're not from Japan go online and download its additional track called "Horizon" which is only featured in the Japanese edition.
Recommended Tracks: Undoubtedly it's "Get Lucky", the song that also won "Record of the Year" in the Grammy awards
(Side note: I read somewhere that there are always additional bonus tracks featured in most of the albums released in Japan that cannot be found in other countries, because in Japan it is invariably cheaper for Japanese buyers to import CDs rather than to purchase them in their local record store. The extra tracks are there to provide an incentive for buying the domestic version. Without the extra tracks, Japanese retailers are reluctant to sell the CDs knowing that a large portion of the potential purchasers will simply be importing the product.)
BOY BANDS WONDER
These two boy bands have been battled it out from England all the way to America. So far, One Direction won in the game of popularity, but comparing their latest albums makes me wonder why it is not the other way around.
The Wanted - Word of Mouth (Deluxe Edition)
It's a typical boy band effort, with a mix of ballads and catchy pop hits. It's an album that in my opinion, consists of all tracks that are equally good and none being "filler". The lead singer Nathan Sykes really can sing, especially in "I Found You", a tune that reminds us of the Bee Gees. I doubt One Direction can sing that way (no offense, all 1D fans please don't kill me).
Recommended Tracks: All are equally good. I'll name a few for you to start: "Show Me Love (America)", "Demons" & "Read My Mind", three powerful ballads; "Summer Alive", "Glow in the Dark" & "Drunk on Love", three up-tempos you can dance to
One Direction - Midnight Memories
Though I think they are the lesser group among the two, there's no denying that this third album from One Direction is still worth checking out.
Recommended Tracks: "Happily", a song that sounds like Mumford & Sons
ROCK BANDS
These three bands have one thing in common: They have 4 members. They have totally different styles when it comes to music.
Lawson - Chapman Square Chapter II (Deluxe Edition)
Sometimes people compare Lawson to boy bands like One Direction or The Wanted (the lead singer was even in a band with Max George of The Wanted before they formed their respective new bands), but Lawson does not sing sweet boy-band-ish tunes. I choose the re-release version of their album with a second disc comprising of acoustic tunes, but you have to go online and download 4 of the bonus tracks from the deluxe edition of the original release that are excluded in this edition. One of them, "Touch", is actually the best song among all.
Recommended Tracks: Besides "Touch", you might also know their two hits "Standing in the Dark" and "Taking Over Me", but "Make It Happen" is my second favorite track after "Touch"
Bastille - All This Bad Blood
The lead singer, Dan Smith, sounds a lot like Chris Martin of Coldplay. This 2-CDs album needs repeated listening before it grows on you, as some of the tracks are just not pop enough to stick on you upon first listening.
Recommended Tracks: "Oblivion" is the best track in showcasing Dan Smith's voice, both "Pompeii" and "Icarus" infuse Greek mythology into their melodies and lyrics, while "Of the Night" mixes two 1990s dance hits (The Rhythm of the Night & Rhythm is a Dancer) into one song
Imagine Dragons - Night Visions
You have to enjoy the little elements in every song to truly enjoy this album, like the mandolin hook of "It's Time", the jaunty whistle in "On Top of the World" and the lively drum in the beginning of "Amsterdam". If you do, you'll find in every song there's a different element to it that makes it unique.
Recommended Tracks: You have heard "On Top of the World" before through Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 commercial; but my favorite track is "Nothing Left To Say", a rock ballad that is plain and simple but the vocal is amazing
That's it, my favorite albums in 2013. If you have suggestion on what other albums you think worth checking out, you may let me know.
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