There’s no big surprise that Adele pops onto my list. After all, on the strength of one single (for the majority of the year) and her stellar voice, she helped reverse the decline in record sales and managed to top the charts week after week and win countless awards.

My only drawback is that the songs on the album hop from genre to genre. There’s neo-soul on “Rolling in the Deep”, country twang on “Don’t You Remember?” and gospel on “One and Only”.

Usually, I like my albums to have a bit of a more cohesive sound, but thankfully Adele’s voice is arresting enough to provide that uniting thread. And it’s best showcased with sparse musical accompaniment (see: “Someone Like You”), not fighting with overdone production (see: “Set Fire To The Rain” – I think I’m the only person who can’t stand that song).