Top 3 Most Disappointing Albums of 2012

While I'd say 2012 was a pretty fantastic year for music in general. There are a few albums from artists I love, that just didn't meet my expectations. Here are my top 3 that fit that description.

                                         
                                  No. 3: G.O.O.D Music Presents: Cruel Summer.

          Sure, I didn't think watch the throne was especially great or anything. But at least on that album
Yeezy & Jay Z seemed to know how to put an album together; whereas "Cruel Summer" comes together like an assembly of random feature tracks ( in a way, it is.) But where the real problem lies is in the actual quality of the tracks themselves. "Mercy" and "Clique" are the only two worthwhile moments on here ( and R. Kelly on the opener ), but the rest of the album is pretty average in both rapping and beats. Which is odd for Kanye West, since he's usually pretty strict on what beats he lets on any given project. In short, I was expecting a better show from G.O.O.D Music on "Cruel Summer", but what I got was an underwhelming album with very few worthwhile moments.

                                       No.2:  The Avett Brothers: The Carpenter.
           
           Before I start, let me just say this... I do like the Avett Brothers. In fact, I think their last album "I and Love and You" is a great piece of modern folk, and the rest of their back catalogue is reasonably good too. But sadly, "The Carpenter" was just not enjoyable for me...
Aside from the pretty and rather poetic opener, none of these tracks struck me as being as good any song on their last release. And the song "Live and Die" is cringe worthy. So yeah; I wasn't felling this album at all... and I know I probably just lost some cred somewhere in the indie circle, but hey, I'm just being honest.

                                                     No. 1: Crystal Castles: (III)

            *Sigh*, I loved this band's first album so much. It was bright, colorful and bursting at the seems with ambition. But (III) doesn't come close to being as interesting or enjoyable. The dull, repetitive, and sometimes amateur sounding beats and the cacophonous reverb completely soil any chance of this album resonating with me for longer than a day or two. While at first I was drawn to (III) for tracks like "Kerosene" and "Child I Will Hurt You". The rest of the album is such a drag... making those few bright spots utterly meaningless.

Like I said in my review of the album; I don't think CC have lost their ability to craft worthwhile electro-pop. I just think they may be heading in a direction that I'm not into. And if that's the case: so be it.


But this is just my opinion; you may find these albums to be some of your favorite, and I totally respect that and encourage you to check all three of these albums out.