If you’re anything like me, you’ve already jumped down in this post, not even bothering to read this sentence first, to see what albums and tracks have been chosen as among the best of 2012, from Plugged In’s point of view. After all, it’s the lists that matter, right?
So, OK, now that you’re back (welcome back), I suspect I may need to talk some of you off the ledge a bit. I mean, really, I can hear you muttering under your breath, John Mayer? Alanis Morissette? Katy Perry? Katy Perry? Really?!
Here at Plugged In, we occasionally (OK, fairly frequently) get branded as “haters” by hard-core music lovers because, well, there’s plenty of problematic stuff out there in the entertainment universe. And where there’s bad stuff to take notice of, we’re not afraid to note it.
But we’re also not afraid to give credit where it’s due. And sometimes artists who’ve otherwise had some significant problems in years past can surprise us. From that perspective, 2012 was a year that offered some pretty nice musical moments.
Not perfect, as I said. You’ll definitely want to read each of our linked reviews before running out and purchasing or downloading any of the stuff on my list. Still, it’s heartening to see that even someone as angry and prone to dropping f-bombs as Alanis Morissette once was can also deliver some surprisingly mature musings on marriage and family (among other things).
So here were go (after also taking a quick glance at the preamble Paul Asay already established in his “Television Tops” post). The following comprises five albums and five tracks that stood out to me while reviewing more than 100 musical offerings in 2012 (listed in alphabetical order):
ALBUMS
The Killers, Battle Born: Pop quiz time. What do you get when you mix ‘n’ match musical DNA from The Cars, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, ELO frontman Jeff Lynn and maybe a bit of Bob Dylan? The answer is The Killers. Battle Born, this Las Vegas band’s fourth studio album, finds this band fronted by devout Mormon Brandon Flowers delving into the inevitable difficulties of long-term love but insisting that pushing through those hard times pays off in the end. There’s an earnestness and even an innocence here that’s a rare thing in rock music, as Flowers croons lines like these from “Runaways,” a song about a man’s determination to do right by his unexpectedly pregnant girlfriend: “We got engaged on a Friday night/I swore on the head of our unborn child that I could take care of the three of us.”
Lecrae, Gravity: I don’t know if I’ve ever been quite as captivated by a rap album as I was by Christian hip-hop veteran Lecrae’s sixth album, Gravity. And I’ve listened to a lot of rap doing this job. Very few albums in this genre have I actually wanted to take home. Any way you want to define talent, this 32-year-old artist from Atlanta fits it. And then he layers onto that platform some seriously serious spiritual lyrics. Take these powerful words contrasting our sin with Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf on “Lucky One,” for example: “Evil abounds, weight is pulling us down/ … Deserving of desertion, servants of destruction/And every day we taste of a grace that we’re unconcerned with/My sin I should be burned with, I’m guilty, filthy and stained/But He became a curse, drank my cup and took my pain/Yeah, and for that He reigns, through faith I’m changed.” And there’s plenty more where that came from on Gravity.
John Mayer, Born and Raised: John Mayer knows something about being earnest—almost too much, at times. In 2010, he landed in hot water for a series of racy, TMI-laden comments about his high-profile ex-girlfriends. Sharp criticism prompted a public retreat. Out of the spotlight, it seems Mayer took some of those criticisms to heart, if Born and Raised is any indication. The surprisingly philosophical title track, for instance, ponders the reality that our choices shape our destiny over time, for better or worse: “And all at once it gets hard to take/It gets hard to fake what I won’t be/’Cause one of these days/I’ll be born and raised/ … And it all comes on without warning.” Elsewhere, Mayer says the time has come to quit beating himself up for past mistakes, and he also wisely realizes that trying to drown his troubles in a bottle is a dead end.
Alanis Morissette, Havoc and Bright Lights: As I alluded to above, one of the most shocking musical moments of the 1990s came when Alanis Morissette profanely took an ex to task in her 1995 hit “You Oughta Know.” It was one of Jagged Little Pill’s most jagged moments. Fast-forward 17 years, however, and Alanis is now singing about the joys, struggles and beauties of marriage and motherhood on her eighth studio album, Havoc and Bright Lights. Things get a bit melodramatic at times. But listening to this album, I couldn’t help but think that marriage and family have grounded this Canadian singer in some profound ways as she sings about themes such as forgiveness, confession, temptation, insecurity and the shallowness of celebrity. As I noted in my review, “Against all odds, perhaps, Alanis is growing up. And that’s prompted her to make an album for grown-ups—not because it has ‘adult’ content, but because it deals with the adult journey.”
Mumford & Sons, Babel: This side of Adele, England’s folk-rock sensation Mumford & Sons has been one of the biggest stories of the last several years. The band’s 2010 breakthrough Sigh No More became a massive, surprise hit—making its follow-up, Babel, one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2012. And it didn’t disappoint. Well, it mostly didn’t disappoint. The band’s stubborn insistence upon including f-words in “Broken Crow” is among the few content concerns here. And they’re all the more jarring because of what surrounds them: some of the most deeply faith-infused musical moments of the year. Outside of the contemporary Christian music environment, it’s a rare thing to hear a musical act pour out its innermost thoughts in such consistently theological language. Love. Grace. Forgiveness. Flesh. Sin. Hope. Looking at the lyrics for some of these songs, they seem closer to something you’d hear in an ancient hymn or an epic poem by John Milton than something sandwiched between Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift on the radio.
TRACKS
Kelly Clarkson, “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”: Ten years after Kelly’s inaugural-season American Idol victory, Clarkson’s still belting out hits. On this one, she’s trying to process a breakup with a cohabiting beau (the only real fly in the content ointment). But she’s concluded that his departure is a good thing and is determined not to let this cad’s callous ways define her or her response: “You think you got the best of me/Think you had the last laugh/ … Think you left me broken down/Think that I’d come running back.” Umm, not so much, declares Clarkson: Baby, you don’t know me, ’cause you’re dead wrong/ … Thanks to you I got a new thing started/Thanks to you I’m not the brokenhearted.” In the end, she refuses to let disappointment dictate the way she sees herself—a message all too often lacking among her peers.
Jason Mraz, “I Won’t Give Up”: The title of this hit pretty much sums up its irony- and cynicism-free promise. Jason sings, “I won’t give up on us/Even if the skies get rough/I’m giving you all my love/I’m still looking up.” The result? A rumination on the wonder of mature affection: love that’s enchanted but grounded, full of zeal but devoid of insecurity. He’s delivered a kind of love song that we don’t hear too often these days.
Katy Perry, “Wide Awake”: With the possible exception of Alanis, Katy Perry is clearly the performer on this list voted “Most Likely to Raise an Eyebrow or Two.” After all, this former contemporary Christian musician is now best known for kissing a girl and liking it, and for fusing salaciously suggestive lyrics (and outfits!) with a superficial, saccharine outlook on life and love that’s mostly devoid of consequences or long-term thinking. Except, that is, on “Wide Awake,” a single written after her divorce from comedian Russell Brand. Here, Katy takes the part of a naive young woman who believed blissful love with Brand would last forever. It didn’t. And to hear her tell the story, it sounds as if she was on the receiving end of some deception. But she refuses to let the massive heartbreak of her divorce dominate her life as she sings, “I picked up every piece/And landed on my feet.”
Phillip Phillips, “Home”: It’s been impossible to miss this massive hit from American Idol Season 11 victor Phillip Phillips over the last few months. “Home,” featuring a Mumford & Sons-esque vibe, has played all over the place, from the Olympics to the closing credits of Parental Guidance to commercials for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and American Family Insurance. Unlike some infectious earworms, Phillips’ is as upbeat and hopeful as it is ubiquitous. “Hold on to me as we go,” he advises a struggling friend. “As we roll down this unfamiliar road/ … Just know you’re not alone/’Cause I’m going to make this place your home.” And then this reminder: “If you get lost, you can always be found/Just know you’re not alone.”
Taylor Swift, “Ronan”: If you need to clear your tear ducts out completely, this track’ll get the job done for you … and then some. That’s because its heartbreakingly poignant lyrics borrow from the real-life emotions of a mother trying to come to grips with the unfathomable agony of slowly losing a child to cancer. “I remember your bare feet down the hallway,” it begins. “I remember your little laugh/Race cars on the kitchen floor, plastic dinosaurs/I love you to the moon and back.” See? Tears. But they’re tears we can share together.
Recent Comments