2012 has been a prolific year for music, with many new releases, some interesting new artists, reunions and astonishing live shows. But which albums can be considered the greatest marvels of 2012? The Toonari Post presents you its very own top-five list of albums on which you should have put your hands during this year.

5. Of Monsters and Men – My Head Is an Animal

The debut album of the indie-folk Icelandic band, it was first released in 2011 in Iceland, and only in 2012 in North America. The album debuted at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200. The extremely successful single ‘Little Talks,’ a catchy tune accompanied by dark and inspiring lyrics, reached the Top 20 in over five countries and positioned as No. 1 on the US Alternative Songs chart. Catchy choruses are a characteristic which pertains to the entire album, along with the contrast created by the male and female voices, and with the monumental sound generated by the accordance of the many instruments used on the tracks. The biggest strength is probably the union, given by sound and lyric, of joyful feelings with very dark ones. Great starting point for a band which seems to be very promising.

4. Tenacious D – Rize of The Fenix

This might be a hazard, but the American rock band delivered this year its best studio album. The originality of the band, which succeeded in developing a mature and smooth rock sound together with extremely ironic lyrics, has to be rewarded. The solid rock‘n’roll is helped by the presence of Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) on drums, sustaining a series of ridiculous stories told through ironic lyrics and skits. This album is the demonstration that Tenacious D wants to play with everything but the music. Rock’n’roll, indeed, stays as serious as it can get. Rize of The Fenix is the perfect meeting point for two opposite attitudes, with Tenacious D presenting a sound that is completely mature, and an attitude that never matured instead.

3. The Black Keys – El Camino

The album was released in December 2011, but it surely has gained a lot of fame in 2012. Preceded by the single ‘Lonely Boy,’ which captured the attention of most with its catchy melody and amusing video, El Camino reserves many facets to be enjoyed by the listener. With this album The Black Keys have been able to maintain the enormous success gained with the previous studio album Brothers. El Camino is the fastest of the band’s albums, and the rock duo has demonstrated, through its live performances, to be able to keep up with the new tempo and the renovated energy. Drummer Patrick Carney told CBS Local “It [an album] is definitely gonna happen in 2013. It’s just a matter of how long it takes us to make the album and deciding when we want to get back on the road.” With this premises, the expectations are surely set high.

2. Mumford & Sons – Babel

After the success of 2009 Sigh No more, folk-rock band Mumford & Sons released their second studio album, Babel, last September. The fastest selling album of the year in both the UK and the US, Babel keeps up with the great professionalism that characterizes the British band. The band stayed faithful to its musical soul in this album, delivering a highly rocking folk reinvention. Babel, though, sounds angrier, bitterer in respect to Sigh no More. Not to be misinterpreted though, the main message coming from the album is love, the real and deepest meaning of it. Sounding like a crude look at the world, with the frustration won over by the hope created through love, Babel perfectly draws all these different moments of the soul. Excellent work overall, the track ‘Holland Road’ will take the listener into a musical journey hard to forget.

1. Jack White – Blunderbuss

The most awaited album of 2012. After the White Stripes split last year, the future of one of the most talented musicians currently in circulation, as Jack White is, was some sort of concern for most music lovers. In his album Blunderbuss, the Detroit musician experimented with less than expected by many; he mixed in a perfectly smooth and harmonic result different momentum of rock and blues, refreshing old sounds to perform in an innovative final outcome. The mood of the album is a dark one, with the lyrics letting perspire White’s inner demons, although never resulting heavy. ‘Blunderbuss,’ the song that gives the title to the album, is the pearl hidden in the record. A brilliant album, which succeeds to crown White as a solo artist.

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Jack White finally made his debut with his first solo album after the White Stripes break-up in 2011; ‘Blunderbuss,’ the new White’s album, is now available for purchasing. The record will serve music lovers to enjoy almost 45 minutes of good Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Surely quite a surprise for those who expected White to experiment something new in the album, as he instead retraces the old routes of rock, enhancing it with blues, soul and sometimes a psychedelic attitude. He does it with such an extreme grace and sense of completeness, that it seems impossible not to be captured by the record as if it featured, instead, something never experienced.

The roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll seem to comfortably lie together with the soul and blues sounds that accompany the entire work, where the piano seems to have more importance than the guitar itself. In this mixture of different sonorities nothing goes lost, and everything seems to fit properly to create a reliable and comfortable sound.

In the album it is possible to retrieve many of the influences that made Rock ‘n’ Roll what it is now; it is possible to hear The Doors, as well as the AC/DC and Dylan. None of the tracks though come as a repetitive form of the previous work done by those or other artists, a gentle reinvention of it instead.

The whole record stays faithful to the basic attitude with which White decided to approach the sound, although the songs express a variety of moments of that attitude. The album opens with ‘Missing Pieces’ which seems to be a declaration of what the album will be. ‘Sixteen Saltines,’ the second single released prior to the album, then goes on reminding everybody where White comes from, musically speaking, and ‘Love Interruption’ serves the exact contrary, almost separating the artist from his musical past.

Some of the songs, such as ‘Trash Tongue Talker’ and ‘Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy,’ are extremely catchy, the latter almost reminding of  a kids rhyme, resulting in a fresh sound. ‘Trash Tongue Talker’ comes to the listener in a very straightforward manner, raw and strong, almost setting a “saloon” state of mind.

There is also a well done cover of ‘I’m Shakin,’ which does Little Willie John justice. The ending of the album is intriguing, with the last song, ‘Take Me with You When You Go,’ remaining faithful to the rest of the record until towards the end, when vibrant, and almost hysterical, vocals and sounds regenerate the listener’s interest in the album. ‘Blunderbuss,’ the song that gives the title to the album, is probably the delicate pearl of the record.

Concerning the lyrics, the first single ‘Love Interruption,’ well expresses the dark side that White seems to have chosen for many songs of his first solo album. In several tracks it is possible to retrieve, indeed, that powerful, angry, hurt, resentful as well as resigned feeling expressed in the first single, released at the end of January this year.

Being the debut album of White as a solo musician, the record succeeds to trace that line wanted by the artist to divide the image of Jack White from the White Stripes, and it does this in a pleasant and elegant way, catching the listener’s mind with its rhythm and with its ‘Rock ‘n’ Blues’ approach.

Image Courtesy of   http://jackwhiteiii.com

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Fans of The White Stripes were disappointed by Jack White’s recent announcement that there is no chance of the band getting back together in the future. The rock duo from Detroit hit it big in 2003, and kept feeding its success with musical pearls until February 2011, when the band officially announced its break-up.

In a recent interview with NME magazine, Jack White was asked about a possible White Stripes reunion. He responded, “I would probably say absolutely not. Absolutely no chance. I couldn’t see any reason to ever do that. I’m not the kind of person that would retire from baseball and come out of retirement the next year. I mean, if we went to all the trouble of telling people we’re done, we meant it, you know?”

The musician went on to say, “If we were forced to change our mind about that, I can only imagine the reason being if we went bankrupt or really needed the cash, which would be a really sad thing. I would probably be issuing an apology along with the announcement of the show dates.”

Jack White is coming back to the scene with a solo album, however, which will be released next month on April 23 in Europe and April 24 in the U.S. Regarding the reason for waiting over a year after the White Stripes’ break-up before releasing a solo album, Jack White explained, “I said eventually – I had no plans at the time – but eventually, I’m going to record by myself under my name, and I don’t really feel like going through the dumb perception battle of people who couldn’t be broad-minded enough to understand the difference between Jack White and The White Stripes.”

Through this new approach to his musical career, Jack White, who has often been referred to as one of the most talented musicians of the last decade, is promising a thrilling future. His first solo single, ‘Love Interruption,’ was released at the end of January.

The track generated surprise, as the style that White explores there is quite distant from what White Stripes fans were used to; nevertheless, it also generated excitement, as the musician succeeded once again in performing a beautiful piece of art. ‘Love Interruption’ probably served well in defining that separation between The White Stripes and Jack White in people’s minds, as the artist wanted.

The single was followed by the release of its graceful b-side, ‘Machine Gun Silhouette,’ and of the second single, ‘Sixteen Saltines,’ the latter coming closer to The White Stripes typical sound.

At the end of the day, fans might not get The White Stripes back, but they are getting an exceptionally energetic and original Jack White, walking his solo way into music history.

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Jack White has often been referred to as one of the most talented musicians of the last decade. In 2011, the White Stripes, the rock band composed of Jack and Meg White, broke up. The band rose to prominence during the 2000s and continue to be recognized through and associated worldwide with their biggest hit “Seven Nation Army.”

After the band disbanded, Jack White’s musical future was unclear. He collaborated with different kind of musicians such as Dead Weather, Tom Jones, The Raconteurs, and Insane Clown Posse, with whom White explored new and very particular ways of approaching music.

Now, the Detroit-born artist is returning to the music scene as a complete musician, announcing the release of his first solo album ‘Blunderbuss’, due on April 23-24. The record will be produced by White’s self-owned record label Third Man Records in collaboration with Columbia.

Jack White declared that ‘Blunderbuss’ is “an album I couldn’t have released until now. I’ve put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas.”

The first single from the album, ‘Love Interruption’, was released on the 30th of January and is now available for streaming on Jack White’s website and for purchasing on the main digital music platforms. The single will also be released as a 7-inch vinyl edition on the 7th of February; it will contain ‘Love Interruption’ and the non-album track B-side ‘Machine Gun Silhouette’. The vinyl edition of the single is already available for pre-order on White’s website.

The critically acclaimed artist will surprise the audience with this very particular track as the introduction of the new album. Love Interruption is a gentle track built on keyboard and acoustic guitar; it taps into folk and country, giving the impression that White chose to walk a path for his solo career that differs from the powerful rock that has previously characterized the artist.

The lyrics are quite dark, with White saying he wants love to “stick a knife inside me, and twist it all around” and “change my friends to enemies and show me how it’s all my fault.” This dark feeling, though, is then smoothed by what seems to be a raise of self consciousness and a positive attitude of self preservation with the chorus “I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt, or interrupt me anymore.”

As if the bulk and talent of Jack White’s achievements so far was not enough to awake the interest of most music lovers, this single has given the audience an additional reason to raise their expectations for the upcoming album release.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikekatzif/

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