The top 10 albums of 2013

10. “Wrote A Song For Everyone”, John Fogerty
The songs Fogerty wrote in Creedence Clearwater Revival are as embedded in the American grain as any in rock & roll. But this collection of recut CCR hits and solo tracks -- recorded with fans like Bob Seger, My Morning Jacket, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and Foo Fighters -- shows how vital and relevant his songwriting remains. Fogerty updates his Vietnam War missive “Fortunate Son” for the Iraq-Afghanistan era backed by the Foos, belts out “Born on the Bayou” alongside Kid Rock and gets locked in a guitar duel with Brad Paisley on the underrated solo gem “Hot Rod Heart”.

9. “AM”, Arctic Monkeys,
On its fifth album, this quintessentially British band moved to LA, took inspiration from old Aaliyah hits and glam Bowie, and made a spiky, slinky beast of a record. Songs like “Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High” and the achingly slow “Do I Wanna Know” are full of slow-simmering heartache.

8. “Trouble Will Find Me”, The National
These Brooklyn guys have spent the past decade building their rep as the most resplendent sadsters in indie rock. But on the best record of their career, they pare back that richly ornamental sound to reveal its black-candy pop core. The National's fast songs have never had such immediate surge, and their slow ones have never had such elegiac power.

7. “Pure Heroine”, Lorde
Lorde's debut album ended up ruling the pop charts, thanks to a sultry, swaggering, hip-hop-savvy, fully grown voice and stark synth jams as earworm-y as Miley's or Katy's splashiest hits. Set against the music's minimal throb, Lorde's languidly aphoristic lyrics balance rock-star swagger and torqued-up teenage angst.

6. “…Like Clockwork”, QotSA
Josh Homme came back after a life-threatening illness, called up some rock-star pals Dave Grohl, Trent Reznor, Elton John and revived his arch-metal outfit to kick out a darkly suave Camaro rock like only he can. Yet for all the awesomely negative vibing and genuine twisted-ness, Clockwork hit with an every-dude heaviness that's getting rarer and rarer these days.

5. “Reflektor”, Arcade Fire
The Grammy-grabbing indie-earnest family band does what the Clash, Talking Heads and so many before it have done: reconnect rock to its dance-floor soul. There are flashes of glam, punk, disco, electro, dub reggae and Haitian rara. No release this year had a more entertaining rollout brouhaha.

4. “New”, Paul McCartney
It's the sound of a 71-year-old Beatle getting back in the ring. McCartney plays to his strengths: Wings-like glam rock, Little Richard howls and some remarkably Beatlesque pop tunes and George Martin-ish arrangements. Sir Paul also engages 21st-century pop with sharp ears, bringing in young-gun producers like Paul Epworth, Mark Ronson and Ethan Johns.

3. “Random Access Memories”
Now that the pop world has caught up with what Daft Punk were doing 15 years ago, naturally the French electro pioneers decide to rip it up and start again. So they spend most of Random Access Memories doing lush Seventies-style studio funk fusion. For all the lovingly detailed live-band touches, Daft Punk proves they're still pop fans at heart with “Get Lucky” -- an instant disco classic.

2. “Yeezus”, Kanye West
Kanye's electro masterpiece is his most extreme album ever. The music is part Eighties synthblitz dark wave, part Jamaican dancehall. But it's all Kanye, taking you on a guided tour of the dark matter inside his brain.

1. “Modern Vampires of the City”, Vampire Weekend
The first two Vampire Weekend albums showed off a precocious mix of indie pop, African guitar grooves and wry lyrics. But with this album, they went deeper, adding scope and ambition to all the sophistication. In 2013, no other record mixed emotional weight with studio-rat craft and stuck-in-your-head hummability like this one.

Source: Rolling Stones