Rolling Stone's 20 Best Pop Albums of 2014

Taylor Swift\'s \'80s-inspired fifth studio effort is her first \"official pop album,\" with heavyweights like Max Martin, Shellback, Ryan Tedder, and Jack Antonoff helping construct a sleeker, glitzier sound. \"Shake It Off\" mimics \"Hey Ya,\" OutKast\'s own pledge of allegiance to populism, and echoes of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and Belinda Carlisle can be heard throughout. *1989* is a juggernaut, as brash and brilliant as the lights of Times Square.

There\'s a long history of teens becoming pop stars after gaining fame on TV. What sets Ariana Grande apart from the Justins and Britneys of the world is her force-of-nature voice, which rivals Mariah Carey\'s in its strength and range. While Grande\'s first album was an R&B-pop effort helmed by Babyface, *My Everything* enlists almost *every* A-lister in music (Zedd, Iggy, Nicki, etc.) for an EDM&B hybrid that showcases the full breadth of Grande\'s talents. This is a perfect picture of pop in 2014, from the soaring Ryan Tedder–penned ballad \"Why Try\" to Zedd\'s Vegas-bright \"Break Free\" to the pulsing midtempo groove of \"Love Me Harder,\" featuring The Weeknd. Even One Direction\'s Harry Styles gets a writing credit on \"Just a Little Bit of Your Heart.\" That Grande ably anchors such an all-star lineup is a testament to her gifts, not to mention her staying power.

Although her first two studio albums had moments of girl-group sass, Swedish-born singer/songwriter Lykke Li has always been most powerful when the tempos come down. 2010’s *Wounded Rhymes* featured a mascara-stained ‘60s-influenced charmer called “Sadness is a Blessing”; Li’s third album, *I Never Learn*, hones this gift for wallowing with a collection of miserablist dream pop. Stacked with Wall of Sound strings, lean songwriting, and confessional drama, Li’s doleful highlights (“No Rest for the Wicked,” “Love Me Like I’m Not Made of Stone,” “Never Gonna Love Again”) are carefully constructed ballads that float along in a melancholy, reverb-washed haze. When she fades out with the mournful “Sleeping Alone,” *I Never Learn* emerges as a powerful artistic achievement, every bit as lonely as it is lovely.

Ed Sheeran’s 2011 debut album, *+*, introduced the world to an unassuming pop star. Sheeran, who cut his teeth sofa-surfing and playing gigs in pubs, was a relatable everyman: His tunes combined singer-songwriter melodies with slippery hip-hop rhythms, and his lyrics were imbued with recognizable references and down-to-earth imagery. Sheeran came across as the guy you saw perform at an open mic night, and felt compelled to buy a drink for afterwards—mainly because he *was* that guy. Even when *+* began selling millions of copies, Sheeran was still showing up at gigs wearing a lumberjack shirt, loose-fitting jeans, and chunky sneakers. He was dressing for comfort; as a result, he sometimes looked like he’d wandered onto stage by accident. That approachability is maintained on *x*, his 2014 follow-up. But peel back Sheeran’s modest take on pop, and there’s a quietly experimental thread running through the record—best evidenced on the wanton lead single, “Sing.” Producer Pharrell Williams draws Sheeran away from his nice-guy persona, adding snapping beats, sonar-like electronics, and a grooving rhythm guitar. “I want you to be mine, lady/And to hold your body close,” Sheeran spits on the verse, sounding like a tequila-soaked playboy. Then he slides into a seductive falsetto for the chorus: “If you love me/Come on, get involved.” Such subversion is repeated on “Don’t,” which finds Sheeran taking aim at an adulterous ex-flame, and “The Man,” which is Sheeran at his most bitter. Elsewhere on *x*, he’s seduced by the allure of hedonism (“Bloodstream”) and forced to confront familial trauma—which he does with empowered sassiness (“Runaway”). Sheeran doesn’t abandon his duties as a swooning balladeer, of course: “Photograph” is an aching meditation on the realities of a long-distant relationship, “Tenerife Sea” is a sensuous ode to a lover, and “Thinking Out Loud” remains Sheeran’s most romantic song, forever destined to soundtrack first dances at weddings. The album’s amalgam of adventurous and innovative musicianship with crowd-pleasing reliability now feel synonymous with Sheeran’s music. But it was *x* that first hinted at an artist willing to test the limits of what people expected from him.

Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson—the platinum-selling song parodist \"Weird Al\" Yankovic has had a longer career than all of them. With the release of *Mandatory Fun*, the kinky-haired satirist is approaching his fourth decade lampooning pop music. In Al\'s hands, Lorde\'s \"Royals\" becomes \"Foil,\" a song about food preservation and alien invasions (you\'ll see). Robin Thicke\'s \"Blurred Lines\" is transformed into a grammatical object lesson in \"Word Crimes,\" while \"Handy,\" a goof on Iggy Azalea\'s ubiquitous summer jam \"Fancy,\" finds Al boasting of his contractor skills (sample lyric: \"I\'ve got 99 problems but a switch ain\'t one\"). Daft Punk\'s \"Get Lucky\" makes a cameo on the requisite polka track \"Now That\'s What I Call Polka.\" The real showstopper, though, is \"Jackson Park Express\": a nine-minute Yankovic original in the style of a vintage rock opera.

Five years have passed since La Roux owned the charts with \"Bulletproof,\" during which time vocalist Elly Jackson endured vocal problems and the departure of collaborator Ben Langmaid. Now she\'s released *Trouble in Paradise*, which, despite its ominous title, is full of vibrant, sun-splashed rhythms. Indeed, the rebooted La Roux was worth the wait. Whereas the group\'s debut succeeded on the strength of its icy throb and aggressive sentiments (\"I\'m going in for the kill!\"), *Trouble* proves that Jackson is human after all, infusing her sound with ska, reggae, and the exuberant \'80s pop of groups like General Public and Missing Persons. \"Kiss and Not Tell\" is effervescent electro, while \"Tropical Chancer\" features slinking guitars à la Nile Rodgers. Past and present collide on \"Silent Partner,\" a pulsing reminder that Jackson remains bulletproof when it comes to riling up a dancefloor.

While Ellie Goulding, Gwen Stefani, and John Newman enliven their respective Vegas club staples, and \"Summer\" contains one of the year\'s most grandiose synth crescendos, it\'s the curveballs that steal the show here. The opalescent \"Pray to God\" sounds more like a Haim song spiced up by Calvin Harris than vice versa, and \"Dollar Signs,\" featuring vocals by R&B young turk Tinashé, is a clever funk-EDM hybrid.

Kitten are an L.A.-based group built upon 18-year-old frontwoman Chloe Chaidez and her amazing vocal pipes. Their debut album sounds like someone discovered master tapes from 1985 and, with a little remixing, released them in 2014. Chaidez is already an old hand at music, having been taking the stage since age 10. Executive producer Chad Anderson cowrote the material with Chaidez, formalizing her youthful instincts for music that wouldn’t feel out of place on the first few Madonna albums. “Like a Stranger,” “Sex Drive,” “I’ll Be Your Girl,\" and especially “Devotion” bounce aggressively with potential for the dancefloor and whatever constitutes radio in 2014. Previous EPs suggested a tougher guitar-based approach, but Chaidez sounds far more comfortable with these grooves. The album doesn’t falter, either. The album’s middle features—“G#” and “Why I Wait”—are two of its most-loved songs, while the end closes up with the passionate “Doubt,” the melodic “Kill the Light,\" and the low-key “Apples and Cigarettes,” where Chaidez gives another powerhouse vocal performance.

On his third solo album (he released his first as a preteen before The Jonas Brothers), Nick Jonas hits the final nail on his boy-band image. Here he jettisons bubbly pop-rock for sleek electro and contemplative R&B. The single \"Jealous\" features a sizzling midtempo pulse and Jonas unleashing his comely falsetto, while \"Teacher\" is roller-rink disco down to its bumpy bass and playful synths. On \"Numb,\" he teams with rapper Angel Haze for a slinking slice of trap&B. Even \"Avalanche,\" with its soaring chorus and cameo from fellow Disney grad Demi Lovato, is a reflective, grown-up ballad.

Sia Furler’s sixth album immediately unveils its kinetic potential with the unreined anthem “Chandelier”. *1000 Forms of Fear* offers the artist’s most thunderous and frenetic sound to date, employing her powerful voice to punch through layers of tinny electric drums and glitchy synths. Sia teams with The Weeknd and Diplo on “Elastic Heart”, an uptempo electric ballad that uses a dizzying composition and polished harmonies to showcase both Sia’s talent as a songwriter and the album’s skilful production.