The top albums of 2012

2012 will be one of the more difficult years to sum up, music-wise. There were lots of great releases, but unlike other years, there wasn't an album that I fell in love with (with the exception of my No. 1 pick). Of course, I said that when I was making my list in 2000, only to realize nine years later, almost 15 albums from that year landed on my "100 Best Albums of the Decade" list.

In general,...