Last year, with so few full-lengths catching my ear, I didn’t even attempt to compile a list. Instead, I focused my attention solely on the then-ascendent format, the EP, and fully expected to do the same this year.

But something happened on the way to the extinction of the album — 2012. As these artists’ 25 offerings certainly proved to me over the past 12 months, long-players are still relevant when they’re done right. Not every track needs to be perfect nor be a potential radio hit, but it doesn’t hurt to aim high.

1. Bright Light Bright Light – Make Me Believe In Hope

That a solo male pop singer tops this list in 2012 is an amazing achievement, like stepping out of a time machine into 1987 when Michael Jackson and George Michael would have fighting over the crown. Like Bad and Faith, nearly any of the 11 tracks on Bright Light Bright Light‘s debut, Make Me Believe In Hope, could be singles and several have been. Rod Thomas’ references are decidedly more ’90s than ’80s, but his fully realized emotional synthpop is the kind that’s in short supply these days.

The world was waiting for this feeling, and 2012 was made all the better for the arrival of Make Me Believe In Hope.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Feel It,” “Disco Moment,” “Grace”

2. Dragonette – Bodyparts

I love Dragonette‘s sophomore album, 2009’s Fixin To Thrill, but with Bodyparts, the Canadian trio delivered their best set yet. Martina, Dan, and Joel’s exuberant electropop is impossibly well crafted and even more difficult to resist. Even when they turn the tempo down, Dragonette’s tunes demand the repeat button.

Full disclosure: After seeing Dragonette perform several of these tracks live, I fell for Bodyparts even harder.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Live In This City,” “Let It Go,” “Ghost”

3. Pet Shop Boys – Elysium

It’s still too soon to say where Elysium falls in my personal ranking of Pet Shop Boys albums, but the duo’s 11th studio effort provided one of 2012’s most rewarding earfuls. If you think Elysium was some limp, easy-listening affair (leading with “Invisible” and “Winner” is one of 2012’s biggest ‘What the huh?’ moves), give Elysium another go with your full undivided attention.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, working with producer Andrew Dawson, reveal more with every listen of Elysium. I’ve picked up on references to Pet Shop Boys’ decades-long discography, both literal and thematic (if the Behaviour comparisons hold, then “Ego Music” is the 2012 version of “How Can You Expect To Be Taken So Seriously?”). I’ve even grown to dislike “Hold On” less and less, though it would be better placed at the end of the album.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Leaving,” “Breathing Space,” “Memory Of The Future”

4. Lana Del Rey – Born To Die

Few artists could live up to such blogged-up, outsized hype, or weather the backlash that came like quicksilver at Lana Del Rey. Who are these self-appointed arbiters of authenticity, anyway? Pop music has long blurred the line between art and artifice, and while Del Rey’s retro-chick schtick might not be everyone’s cup of tea (or swig of Diet Mountain Dew), I pledge allegiance to the throwback chanteuse and her hip-hop beats.

The dozen songs on Del Rey’s debut, Born To Die, form an entrancing set of cinematic tales. With the singer-songwriter adopting different personas (femme fatale, sad-eyed moll, wide-eyed ingenue) to suit each widescreen production, Lana Del Rey is the role Lizzy Grant was born to play.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “National Anthem,” “Born To Die,” “Dark Paradise”

5. Marina and the Diamonds – Electra Heart

Frankly, I found the persona that Marina Diamandis adopted for her sophomore album, Electra Heart, a distraction. It was all just a bit too much, and for American audiences who were being introduced to Marina and the Diamonds for the first time, unnecessarily confusing.

Thankfully, as the year wore on, there seemed to be less and less of it. Perhaps I just got very good at ignoring various tweets and pictures, and kept my focus on the music beating within Electra Heart. Whatever the inspiration for Diamandis’ exploration of various themes on the album, the songs she birthed with producers Rick Nowels, Greg Kurstin, Liam Howe, and Dr. Luke are pop of the highest quality.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Primadonna,” “Power & Control,” “Hypocrates”

6. Madonna – MDNA

The year’s worst-managed release, everyone seems to have their issues with MDNA. Interestingly though, they’re rarely ever the same. We’d have subtracted different songs (sayonara “Superstar”), moved bonus tracks onto the standard edition (hello “Beautiful Killer”), and pushed others as singles (“Masterpiece,” “I’m Addicted”). So it’s a good bet that Madonna‘s 12th studio album will be looked upon more favorably in retrospect when MDNA is revisited and reassessed at some future point (see: Erotica, American Life).

But I don’t need the intervening years to determine that I already enjoy MDNA more than Music and Hard Candy.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Gang Bang,” “I’m Addicted,” “Love Spent”

7. Jessie Ware – Devotion

Sometimes we don’t know what’s been missing in music until someone comes along to remind us. In 2012, that someone came in the shape of newcomer Jessie Ware, who served up shades of Sade, Prince, Lisa Stansfield, and Portishead on her debut, Devotion.

The London soulster is poised to be even bigger in 2020 when the album receives an official push from Ware’s new U.S. label, which might just have an Adele-level success in waiting.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Wildest Moments,” “Night Light,” “Sweet Talk”

8. Ellie Goulding – Halcyon

Coming in the wake of her still-gleaming 2010 debut, Lights, Ellie Goulding travels a much darker and more difficult path on her follow-up, Halcyon.

Ultimately optimistic first single “Anything Could Happen” notwithstanding, the English singer-songwriter may be down in the dumps on Halcyon — but Goulding’s breakup album is no sophomore slump.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Anything Could Happen,” “Figure 8,” “JOY”

9. Sinead O’Connor – How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?

After a decade of niche releases (Irish traditionals, reggae, and religious), Sinead O’Connor returns to rock on her ninth studio album. How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? is a fearless, ferocious tour de force that fits alongside The Lion And The Cobra and I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.

No, Sinead, you didn’t destroy our celebration (or Bat Mitzvah, birthday party, or Christmas). Your voice, both in music and otherwise, remains a vitally necessary one 25 years on.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “The Wolf Is Getting Married,” “Back Where You Belong,” “Queen Of Denmark”

10. Carly Rae Jepsen – Kiss

Carly Rae Jepsen may never achieve another hit as ridiculously ubiquitous as “Call Me Maybe,” but the Canadian pop singer’s debut album, Kiss, is packed with potential suitors even better than that pop culture phenomenon. The quasi-title track for one. I’m throwing a wish in the well for 2020 that Jepsen isn’t done bussing the charts with Kiss, which encapsulates carefree ’80s pop like no other album has in recent memory.

Seek out the Target deluxe edition of Kiss for “I Know You Have A Girlfriend,” which should have made the album in place of Jepsen’s A&R-orchestrated pairing with the truly dreadful Owl City.

ESSENTIAL TRACKS: “Call Me Maybe,” “This Kiss,” “More Than A Memory”

11. Saint Etienne – Words And Music By Saint Etienne
12. Ice Choir – Afar
13. Garbage – Not Your Kind of People
14. Tracey Thorn – Tinsel And Lights
15. Gossip – A Joyful Noise
16. P!nk – The Truth About Love
17. Rufus Wainwright – Out Of The Game
18. Niki & The Dove – Instinct
19. Esthero – Everything Is Expensive
20. Chairlift – Something
21. Diamond Rings – Free Dimensional
22. MNDR – Feed Me Diamonds
23. Alphabeat – Express Non-Stop
24. Haley Reinhart – Listen Up!
25. Kate Havnevik – You

What were your favorite albums of 2012?