7. Pet Shop Boys, Electric (3,729 votes)
Pat says: “So exciting to listen to. Again and again. And the masterful way the intros build…….singalong stuff too. Perfect yang to Elysium ying. Life affirming.”
Tom added: “That IS tough, as I’ve just discovered Rhye’s album, and Cass McCombs is growing on me, but it has to be Pet Shop Boys Electric – what a marvelous set, despite the rather by-numbers Love is a bourgeois construct. Fluorescent is their finest slice of deep electro, while Thursday is old pet shop boys but new and Vocal the very definition of grower.”
A final note from Sparky: “The greatest pop act of the last thirty years returns with a stunning album of thrilling beats, melodies and rhythm and which leaves you breathless from the opening beats of the instrumental tour opener Axis, through the hymn Love Is A Bourgeois Construct and the Visage (Fade To Grey) style Flouroscent, the perfect Bruce Springsteen cover for his Magic cut Last To Die to the euphoric finale of Vocal. All this without mentioning the glorious b-sided released both for this album and their 2012 release Elysium and the wonderful Electric tour. Long may they continue to rule!”
6. Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience – 2 Of 2 (3,949 votes)
Editor’s note: Are you people
sure you didn’t mistake this for the first
20/20 album?! Because, like…
5. Selena Gomez, Stars Dance (4,213 votes)
Editor’s note: Selena’s album also our
editors’ roundup of the year’s best albums. Idolator’s Mike Wass wrote, “Impressively, there’s no shortage of potential hits on the album. The spooky electro title track would sound great on radio, ‘Birthday’ has been heartily embraced by fans and ‘Like A Champion’ is already being played at major sporting events. Oh, and ‘Undercover’ rhymes ‘sexy machine”’with ‘Hollywood dream’, so you know it’s future cult classic.”