Top 20 Albums Of 2012: 14-13

14. Justin Bieber - Believe



A surprisingly mature and well-produced pop album. I was never all that interested in Justin during the younger years (months?) of his career, but now that he's at that point where he needs to prove that he's got staying power in the adult music world, I'm psyched that he's turning into an interesting popstar. The album's not a perfect pop release. There are plenty of songs that could be trimmed. But, the ones that work, work really well.

13. Elton John vs. Pnau



An inspired mash-up. On their own, Australia's Pnau are a formidable force in any music genre. Give them Elton John's back catalogue and they're pretty much unstoppable. Music geeks will find a lot to love in their intricate reworkings of Elton's classics. Most of them are near unrecognizable when melded into the new songs they've constructed.