Rewind - a look back at music in 2012

music

- It was a good year to be a Green Day fan. Convinced that releasing one album in a year simply wasn’t cool enough, the pop rockers decided to release three instead.
- It was not a good year to be a Jet fan. The alternative rock band broke up, as did pop group Westlife. And one hit wonders Chumbawamba got knocked down, but didn’t get up again...
- My Chemical Romance released a bunch of singles as part of their Conventional Weapons series.
- Muse were given the task to create the official song for the London Olympics, so they made ‘Survival’, a track that took them to a whole new level of corny. The fact that it seemed more suited for soundtracking a battle than a gaming event is clearly irrelevant.
- The Olympics closing ceremony, A Symphony of British Music, included performances by Pet Shop Boys, Madness, Elbow, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Spice Girls, Take That, and The Who.
- Blur released the brilliant ‘Under the Westway’. Not many people noticed.
- Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, Usher, Shakira, Tom Jones, will.i.am, Jessie J, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, and just about everyone who has ever sung a note in public became a judge on one of a gazillion reality TV singing contests, as the quest to produce more mediocrity for the masses continued.
- Singing superstar Whitney Houston passed away unexpectedly at the age of 48. We also said farewell to the brilliant Adam Yauch (Beastie Boys), the Queen of Disco Donna Summer, singer Etta James, the Monkees’ Davy Jones, and the Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb.
- Adele won six Grammys, recorded the theme song for the new Bond movie Skyfall, had a baby, and continued to dazzle us with her awesomeness.
- Taylor Swift had another high-profile, short-lived relationship (this time with Conor Kennedy), and made an album about all her other high-profile, short-lived relationships. She also tried to beatbox; it was embarrassing.
- PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ became an international hit, and turned into a song that we will never forget ... though we will try very, very hard to.
- Carly Rae Jepsen wanted us to call her Maybe. We still prefer calling her Carly Rae Jepsen though.
- Lady Gaga still didn’t go back to her home planet.
- Madonna continued to have a career, for better or for worse. Mostly for the worse.
- Nicki Minaj became the most influential female rapper of all time, proving once and for all that the world’s quality threshold has fallen down a bottomless pit.
- Ke$ha released her second album, which was great to listen to if you like listening to terrible music.
- Miley Cyrus got a haircut.
- Rihanna released her seventh album, and embarked on a mini tour, performing seven shows, in seven countries, in seven days.
- Christina Aguilera released new music. She probably enjoyed making the album; we just didn’t enjoy listening to it.
- Unlike last year, Kim Kardashian did not release a song this year. Our ears were grateful for this.
- Katy Perry shared a part of herself with us in a 3D movie.
- With her propaganda machine working overtime, Lana Del Rey gave a really bad live performance on SNL, and then somehow became very famous. It’s sad how the world works.
- Last year’s Making Mirrors continued to make Gotye a worldwide success.
- fun. were fun to listen to.
- Liv Tyler mangled an INXS song, but looked hot doing it.
- P!nk told us the truth about love.
- Jessie J revealed that she has never heard of PJ Harvey, which is kinda ironic because we wish we had never heard of Jessie J.
- Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger and singer Avril Lavigne got engaged. Here’s hoping they don’t make any music together ... or separately either.
- Girls Aloud reunited.
- Spice Girls’ Viva Forever! showed us what happens when you turn the world’s weakest discography into a musical.
- The news of Kevin Richardson rejoining the Backstreet Boys reminded everyone that the Backstreet Boys still exist for some reason. Feeling left out, 98 Degrees, who had previously had the decency to break up, decided to reunite.
- Paul McCartney collaborated with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear - the surviving members of Nirvana - for the song ‘Cut Me Some Slack’ that was debuted at the 12-12-12 benefit concert in aid of victims of hurricane Sandy.
- Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez broke up. Millions of teenage girls rejoiced. But then the two reportedly got back together, cutting the celebration short.
- One Direction made it hip to be a manufactured product again.
- Calvin Harris triumphed with 18 Months.
- Jack White released an album. It was unsurprisingly good.
- No Doubt released an album. It was unsurprisingly bad.
- Tom Cruise tried to sing. We think we might know why Katie left him ...
- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John reunited to make an awkward Christmas album for charity.
- The Fray released new music to the delight of TV drama producers everywhere.
- Jay-Z met Ellen Grossman on the subway.
- Shifting his allegiance from canine to feline, Snoop Dogg changed his name to Snoop Lion, and also performed with a hologram of Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Music Festival.
- Fiona Apple postponed her tour to spend time with her dying dog, and melted our hearts in the process.
- The Beach Boys came together to mark their 50th anniversary and released That’s Why God Made the Radio, their first album of original material in 20 years.
- Skrillex pleased the fans of electronic music and dubstep, while giving the rest of us a headache.
- Bruce Springsteen continued to be awesome.
- Linkin Park released a new album. It hit all the clichés we love.
- INXS decided to call it a day, approximately 15 years after they should have.
- And acts including Keane, Hoobastank, Maroon 5, John Mayer, Matchbox Twenty, Mumford & Sons, Owl City, Sixpence None the Richer, The Darkness, and The Killers released new albums, much to the joy of the record buying public.

- S.A.

Us Magazine, The News - 28th December, 2012