Best albums of 2014 [English]

Before I start enlisting and commenting the five best albums of the year, I want to emphasize how bad 2014 was in music. It didn’t show in that extent regarding the best songs of the year, however, there were only a very few albums released that I really fell in love with and listened to for weeks. In fact, I was in trouble making this year-end chart as well, since there were only three records that I felt like deserved to have a place among the five best albums of the year. Nevertheless, in the end, I could create this final list, but unlike in past years, when each and every CD on the chart was close to my heart, I’m not really satisfied with 2014’s music supply. 

5.) Calvin Harris – Motion

Last year, I thought Calvin Harris was one of the worst DJs, I hated his own hits (like You’re Not Alone or Sweet Nothing) and I particularly was pissed about his job on Rihanna’s singles We Found Love and Where Have You Been. However, Summer was one of the hits of the summer for me, and I liked Blame, too, so I decided to listen to Motion. I didn’t regret my decision, the album is full of huge dance hits, like the singles. My favorite one off it is Outside without question, which is one of my favorite songs of 2014. However, there are some songs, which are solo performances by Calvin, and often don’t contain lyrics at all. These ones (such as Slow Acid) break the incredible party that the hits provide, and are not enjoyable to me at all. Yet the worst part of the album isn’t one of these songs, but Open Wide featuring Big Sean, which has a horrible music and disgusting lyrics (just like we could expect from Big Sean). All in all, I have to say that I’m not a huge fan of Motion, yet I quite liked it, and it is more than I can say about most albums released this year.

Awesome ones: Outside (feat. Ellie Goulding), Summer, Ecstasy (feat. Hurts)

Bad ones: Open Wide (feat. Big Sean), Overdrive, Burnin’

4.) MØ – No Mythologies to Follow

MØ’s musical style caught me, when I listened to No Mythologies to Follow for the first time. It’s similar to Lana’s slow and deep indie pop genre, yet it is a bit happier and faster than that, because of which the album isn’t boring (my major problem with Ultraviolence is that it gets boring at song #7 right before the best part). It combines the slower type of indie pop with dance elements, and thus creates something unusual yet great. However, several songs on the record sound the same to me, so at one point, this one gets a little boring as well.

Awesome ones: Dust Is Gone, XXX 88 (feat. Diplo), No Mythologies to Follow

Not that good ones: Maiden, The Sea

3.) Lily Allen – Sheezus

After the awesomeness of Hard Out Here, I was really looking forward to finally hear Lily Allen’s newest record, Sheezus. The album is good all in all with dance-pop hits (Silver Soon), slow ballads (Miserable without Your Love), alternative records (Sheezus), and even a country-song (As Long As You Love Me). In addition to this, the album takes Lily’s incredible lyrics to whole new levels. However, maybe because of its diversity in genres, the album isn’t well-structured, when I listen to it, I don’t feel like it’s one piece of art, rather like an album performed by various artists.

Awesome ones: Take My Place, Silver Spoon, Hard Out Here, Miserable without Your Love

Not that good ones: Insincerely Yours, Close Your Eyes, Life for Me

2.) Karmin – Pulses

The first studio album of the American pop-duo amazed me when I first listened to it, and keeps on amazing me since then. When I heard it in March, I thought that 2014 couldn’t bring anything better than that (I was wrong). I love everything about this record: the genre, the tunes, the lyrics, the structure, everything. Its upbeat pop-dance style comes together with slow ballads, I honestly think every pop album should sound like that.

Awesome ones: Drifter, What’s in It for Me, Pulses, Acapella

Not that good ones: Night Like This, I Want It All

1.) Foxes – Glorious

Foxes has already ruled the best songs of the year list of mine, and now it’s time that she takes the crown for the best album of the year as well. Her debut album, Glorious is 2014’s Trouble for me, after its release, I couldn’t listen to anything else for about a month. I love that the record resembles a perfect balance between classical and modern pop with its powerful pianos, and downbeat drums. The album consists of perfect songs one after another, lacking a single boring, bad or even average moment from the start until the seventh song. Although the album gets less incredible towards the end, the title song, Glorious kicks back to the listener, and the last one, Count the Saints closes it all perfectly. Foxes’ voice deserves an applause as well, since she is an exceptional talent, and I think that – although she has won a Grammy – she is extremely underappreciated. Glorious is the record of the year, it’s impossible to get bored of it.

Awesome ones: Holding Onto Heaven, White Coats, Let Go for Tonight, Glorious

Not that good ones: Echo, Shaking Heads