Year-End Lists

American Songwriter: Top 50 Albums of 2012

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Tempest
   Bob Dylan
2. Psychedelic Pill
   Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3. O’ Be Joyful
   Shovels and Rope
4. Old Ideas
   Leonard Cohen
5. Wrecking Ball
   Bruce Springsteen
6. Tramp
   Sharon Van Etten
7. The Carpenter
   Avett Brothers
8. Babel
   Mumford & Sons
9. Slipstream
   Bonnie Raitt
10. Boys & Girls
    Alabama Shakes
11. Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables
    Todd Snider
12. Sing the Delta
    Iris DeMent
13. The Lumineers
    The Lumineers
14. Live From Alabama
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
15. Bear Creek
    Brandi Carlile
16. Fear Fun
    Father John Misty
17. The Idler Wheel…
    Fiona Apple
18. 3 Pears
    Dwight Yoakam
19. Channel Orange
    Frank Ocean
20. Break It Yourself
    Andrew Bird
21. Blunderbuss
    Jack White
22. Port of Morrow
    The Shins
23. Here
    Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
24. Mutt
    Cory Branan
25. Little Broken Hearts
    Norah Jones
26. Home Again
    Michael Kiwanuka
27. Older Than My Old Man Now
    Loudon Wainwright III
28. Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now
    Justin Townes Earle
29. Worried Man
    Andrew Combs
30. Who’s Feeling Young Now?
    Punch Brothers
31. From The Ground Up
    John Fullbright
32. Kin
    Rodney Crowell & Mary Karr
33. The Sound of The Life of The Mind
    Ben Folds Five
34. New Multitudes
    Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Yim Yames
35. The Dreamer
    Rhett Miller
36. Voyageur
    Kathleen Edwards
37. Lonerism
    Tame Impala
38. What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
    Regina Spektor
39. The Lion’s Roar
    First Aid Kit
40. Diamond Rugs
    Diamond Rugs
41. Old Crow Medicine Show
    Carry Me Back
42. Every Kingdom
    Ben Howard
43. Sugaring Reason
    Beth Orton
44. Be the Void
    Dr. Dog
45. Delta Spirit
    Delta Spirit
46. A Wasteland Companion
    M. Ward
47. Go Fly A Kite
    Ben Kweller
48. Handwritten
    The Gaslight Anthem
49. In The Dusk of Everything
    Matthew Ryan
50. Mirage Rock
    Band Of Horses