# List of 2012 albums

The following is a list of albums, EPs, and mixtapes released in 2012. These albums are (1) original, i.e. excluding reissues, remasters, and compilations of previously released recordings, and (2) notable, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject.
For additional information for deaths of musicians and for links to other music lists, see 2012 in music.

## First quarter
### January

List of albums released in January 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| January 1 | Raekwon | Unexpected Victory | | | |
| January 6 | Alcest | Les Voyages de l'Âme | Blackgaze, post-rock | Prophecy Productions | |
| January 6 | The Little Willies | For the Good Times | Country | Milking Bull, Parlophone | |
| January 6 | Rick Ross | Rich Forever | Hip hop | Maybach, Def Jam, Warner Bros. | |
| January 9 | Enter Shikari | A Flash Flood of Colour | Electronicore, post-hardcore | Ambush Reality | |
| January 9 | The Maccabees | Given to the Wild | Indie rock | Fiction, Polydor | |
| January 9 | Todd Terje | It's the Arps | | Olsen Records | |
| January 9 | Trailer Trash Tracys | Ester | | Domino, Double Six | |
| January 10 | The Babies | Cry Along with the Babies | Indie rock | New Images | |
| January 10 | Rae Spoon | I Can't Keep All of Our Secrets | | Saved by Radio | |
| January 11 | The Big Pink | Future This | Electronic rock, indie rock, shoegazing | 4AD | |
| January 12 | Waxahatchee | American Weekend | Indie folk, alternative country | Don Giovanni | |
| January 14 | Schoolboy Q | Habits & Contradictions | West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap | Top Dawg | |
| January 16 | Diagrams | Black Light | | Full Time Hobby | |
| January 16 | Karol Gwóźdź | Tamte Czasy | Ambient | Psychonavigation Records | |
| January 16 | Pinch | FabricLive.61 | Electronic | Fabric | |
| January 16 | Tribes | Baby | | Island | |
| January 17 | Attack Attack! | This Means War | Metalcore | Rise | |
| January 17 | Kathleen Edwards | Voyageur | Country, folk, rock | MapleMusic | |
| January 17 | Voodoo Glow Skulls | Break the Spell | Rock, punk, ska punk | Smelvis Records | |
| January 18 | Nada Surf | The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy | Alternative rock | Barsuk, City Slang | |
| January 20 | Aborted | Global Flatline | Death metal | Century Media | |
| January 20 | Anneke van Giersbergen | Everything is Changing | Alternative rock, pop rock | Agua Recordings | |
| January 20 | Biohazard | Reborn in Defiance | Hardcore punk, rapcore, groove metal | Nuclear Blast | |
| January 23 | Deichkind | Befehl von ganz unten | | Vertigo | |
| January 23 | Lacuna Coil | Dark Adrenaline | Alternative metal, gothic metal | Century Media | |
| January 24 | Chairlift | Something | | Columbia | |
| January 24 | Cloud Nothings | Attack on Memory | Post-hardcore, noise rock, emo | Carpark, Wichita | |
| January 24 | Craig Finn | Clear Heart Full Eyes | Indie rock, country | Full Time Hobby | |
| January 24 | Elizaveta | Beatrix Runs | Pop | Universal Republic | |
| January 24 | Foxy Shazam | The Church of Rock and Roll | Hard rock, glam rock | I.R.S. | |
| January 24 | John K. Samson | Provincial | Folk, indie | Anti- | |
| January 24 | Lamb of God | Resolution | Groove metal, thrash metal, metalcore | Epic, Roadrunner | |
| January 24 | mind.in.a.box | Revelations | Electronic, EBM, futurepop | Dreamweb Music, Metropolis | |
| January 24 | Various artists | Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International | Rock, pop, folk | Amnesty International distributed by Fontana | |
| January 27 | John Williamson | The Big Red | Country | Warner Music Australasia | |
| January 27 | Lana Del Rey | Born to Die | Alternative pop, orchestral pop, baroque pop | Interscope, Polydor | |
| January 27 | Sean Paul | Tomahawk Technique | Dancehall, dance-pop, hip house | Atlantic | |
| January 27 | Tord Gustavsen Quartet | The Well | Jazz | ECM | |
| January 29 | Die Antwoord | Ten$ion | Alternative hip hop, rave | Zef Recordz | |
| January 30 | Pepe Deluxé | Queen of the Wave | Psychedelic rock, baroque pop, surf | Asthmatic Kitty, Catskills | |
| January 30 | Ringo Starr | Ringo 2012 | Rock and roll | Hip-O, UM$^e$ | |
| January 31 | Aranda | Stop the World | Hard rock, post-grunge | Wind-up | |
| January 31 | The Asteroids Galaxy Tour | Out of Frequency | Psychedelic pop | BMG | |
| January 31 | Grimes | Visions | Synth-pop, dream pop, art pop | 4AD, Arbutus | |
| January 31 | Imperial Teen | Feel the Sound | Pop rock, alternative rock | Merge | |
| January 31 | K'naan | More Beautiful Than Silence | Alternative hip hop | A&M Octone | |
| January 31 | Leonard Cohen | Old Ideas | Folk | Columbia | |
| January 31 | Lincoln Durham | The Shovel vs. the Howling Bones | Country blues, roots rock, blues | Lincoln Durham, Rayburn Publishing | |

### February

List of albums released in February 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| February 1 | Swallow the Sun | Emerald Forest and the Blackbird | Death-doom, melodic death metal, progressive metal | Spinefarm | |
| February 3 | Hermitude | HyperParadise | Australian hip hop, electronica | Elefant Traks | |
| February 3 | Young Guns | Bones | Alternative rock, hard rock, alternative metal | Live Forever, Wind-up, PIAS | |
| February 6 | Air | Le voyage dans la lune | Electronic, ambient | Virgin | |
| February 6 | Earth | Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II | Experimental rock, post-rock | Southern Lord Records | |
| February 6 | James Levy and the Blood Red Rose | Pray to Be Free | | Heavenly | |
| February 6 | Mark Lanegan Band | Blues Funeral | Alternative rock, blues rock | 4AD | |
| February 6 | Paul McCartney | Kisses on the Bottom | Jazz, traditional pop | Hear Music | |
| February 6 | Therapy? | A Brief Crack of Light | Alternative rock, alternative metal | Blast | |
| February 7 | Dierks Bentley | Home | Country | Capitol Nashville | |
| February 7 | Dr. Dog | Be the Void | Indie rock, blues rock, neo-psychedelia | Anti- | |
| February 7 | The Fray | Scars & Stories | Alternative rock, pop rock | Epic | |
| February 7 | of Montreal | Paralytic Stalks | Psychedelic pop, progressive rock, experimental rock | Polyvinyl | |
| February 7 | Sharon Van Etten | Tramp | Indie rock, folk | Jagjaguwar | |
| February 7 | Silverstein | Short Songs | Post-hardcore, hardcore punk | Hopeless | |
| February 7 | Van Halen | A Different Kind of Truth | Hard rock, heavy metal | Interscope | |
| February 10 | Eluveitie | Helvetios | Folk metal, melodic death metal | Nuclear Blast | |
| February 10 | The Flashbulb | Opus at the End of Everything | | Alphabasic | |
| February 10 | Motorpsycho and Ståle Storløkken | The Death Defying Unicorn | Progressive rock | Stickman Records, Rune Grammofon | |
| February 10 | Soap&Skin | Narrow | Dark wave | Play It Again Sam | |
| February 13 | Burial | Kindred | Dubstep, 2-step garage | Hyperdub | |
| February 13 | Emeli Sandé | Our Version of Events | R&B, soul, pop | Virgin, EMI | |
| February 13 | Goatwhore | Blood for the Master | Blackened death metal | Metal Blade | |
| February 13 | The Jane Bradfords | 100 Miles of Broken Pavement | | | |
| February 14 | Beneath the Massacre | Incongruous | | | |
| February 14 | Edyta Górniak | My | R&B, pop | Anaconda Productions | |
| February 14 | John Talabot | ƒIN | House | Permanent Vacation | |
| February 14 | On Bodies | Planet Hospice | | Eulogy, American Enemy Records | |
| February 14 | Poliça | Give You the Ghost | Indie pop | Totally Gross National Product | |
| February 14 | Prima Donna | Bless this Mess | Glam rock, new wave, surf rock | | |
| February 15 | Soen | Cognitive | Progressive metal, Progressive rock | Spinefarm | |
| February 20 | Band of Skulls | Sweet Sour | Alternative rock, blues rock, hard rock | Electric Blues Recordings, PIAS, Vagrant | |
| February 20 | Sinéad O'Connor | How About I Be Me (and You Be You)? | Rock | Shamrock Solutions, One Little Indian | |
| February 21 | Apparatjik | Square Peg in a Round Hole | Experimental, alternative, electronic rock | Meta Merge Un | |
| February 21 | Chiddy Bang | Breakfast | Indie hip hop, hipster hop, rap rock | Virgin, I.R.S., Regal | |
| February 21 | The Cranberries | Roses | Alternative rock | Cooking Vinyl | |
| February 21 | Dustin Wong | Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads | | Thrill Jockey | |
| February 21 | fun. | Some Nights | Indie pop, pop rock | Fueled by Ramen | |
| February 21 | Lambchop | Mr. M | Rock | Merge | |
| February 21 | The Menzingers | On the Impossible Past | Punk rock, melodic hardcore | Epitaph | |
| February 21 | Sleigh Bells | Reign of Terror | Noise pop | Mom + Pop | |
| February 22 | Ai | Independent | Dance-pop, R&B | EMI Music | |
| February 24 | The Black Sorrows | Crooked Little Thoughts | Soul, blues | Head Records | |
| February 24 | Desaster | The Arts of Destruction | Blackened thrash metal | Metal Blade, Sony Music | |
| February 24 | Dirty Three | Toward the Low Sun | Post-rock | Bella Union, Drag City | |
| February 24 | The Ting Tings | Sounds from Nowheresville | Art pop | Columbia | |
| February 25 | Halloween | Terrortory | Heavy metal | Motor City Metal Records, Pure Steel | |
| February 27 | Primal Rock Rebellion | Awoken Broken | Heavy metal, progressive metal, alternative metal | Spinefarm | |
| February 28 | Corrosion of Conformity | Corrosion of Conformity | Stoner rock, sludge metal | Candlelight | |
| February 28 | For King & Country | Crave | Contemporary Christian | Fervent, Curb | |
| February 28 | Memoryhouse | The Slideshow Effect | Dream pop | Sub Pop | |
| February 28 | Mouse on Mars | Parastrophics | Intelligent dance music, house | Monkeytown | |
| February 28 | Napalm Death | Utilitarian | Grindcore, death metal | Century Media | |
| February 28 | Plants and Animals | The End of That | Indie rock | Secret City | |
| February 28 | Sent by Ravens | Mean What You Say | | Tooth & Nail | |
| February 28 | Shearwater | Animal Joy | Indie rock | Sub Pop | |
| February 28 | Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds | Pound of Dirt | Rock | Modern Vintage Recordings | |
| February 28 | Veil of Maya | Eclipse | Deathcore | Sumerian | |
| February 28 | The Wooden Sky | Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun | | | |
| February 28 | Xiu Xiu | Always | Art rock | Polyvinyl, Bella Union | |

### March

List of albums released in March 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| March 1 | Katie Kim | Cover & Flood | Indie folk, alternative rock | Flaming June Records | |
| March 2 | BOL / Westerhus / Snah | Numb, Number | Jazz | Gigafon | |
| March 5 | Andrew Bird | Break It Yourself | Indie folk, baroque pop | Bella Union, Mom+Pop | |
| March 5 | Big K.R.I.T. | 4eva N a Day | Southern hip hop | Cinematic | |
| March 5 | Caravan Palace | Panic | Electro swing | Wagram | |
| March 5 | Katie Melua | Secret Symphony | Acoustic, blues, jazz | Dramatico | |
| March 5 | Lionel Richie | Tuskegee | Country, R&B, pop | Mercury Nashville | |
| March 5 | The Magnetic Fields | Love at the Bottom of the Sea | Indie pop, synth-pop | Merge, Domino | |
| March 5 | The Stranglers | Giants | Punk rock, post-punk | earMUSIC | |
| March 6 | Bruce Springsteen | Wrecking Ball | Heartland rock, folk rock | Columbia | |
| March 6 | Every Time I Die | Ex Lives | Hardcore punk, mathcore, Southern rock | Epitaph | |
| March 6 | Fireflight | Now | Christian rock, hard rock, post-grunge | Essential | |
| March 6 | Now, Now | Threads | Indie rock | Trans Records | |
| March 8 | Blaze Bayley | The King of Metal | Heavy metal | Blaze Bayley Recordings | |
| March 8 | Nine Muses | Sweet Rendezvous | K-pop, dance-pop | Star Empire, LOEN | |
| March 9 | Hilltop Hoods | Drinking from the Sun | Australian hip hop | Golden Era | |
| March 12 | Michael Kiwanuka | Home Again | Soul, folk | London, Polydor, Interscope | |
| March 13 | Cannibal Corpse | Torture | Death metal | Metal Blade | |
| March 13 | I See Stars | Digital Renegade | Metalcore, electronicore | Sumerian | |
| March 13 | Mac DeMarco | Rock and Roll Night Club | Indie rock, soft rock | Captured Tracks | |
| March 13 | Miike Snow | Happy to You | Indie pop, electropop | Downtown, Universal Republic | |
| March 13 | Ruben Studdard | Letters from Birmingham | R&B, pop, soul | Shanachie | |
| March 13 | Say Anything | Anarchy, My Dear | Pop punk, alternative rock | Equal Vision | |
| March 13 | Spawn of Possession | Incurso | Technical death metal | Relapse | |
| March 16 | Susanna | Wild Dog | Pop, jazz | Rune Grammofon | |
| March 19 | Apologies, I Have None | London | Folk punk, punk rock | Household Name | |
| March 19 | Mirrorring | Foreign Body | Ambient, psychedelic folk | Kranky | |
| March 19 | The Shins | Port of Morrow | Alternative rock | Aural Apothecary, Columbia | |
| March 19 | Toy Dolls | The Album After the Last One | Pop-punk | King Midas | |
| March 20 | Anti-Flag | The General Strike | Punk rock | SideOneDummy | |
| March 20 | Diggy Simmons | Unexpected Arrival | Hip hop, R&B | Atlantic | |
| March 20 | Esperanza Spalding | Radio Music Society | Jazz | Heads Up International | |
| March 20 | Odd Future | The OF Tape Vol. 2 | Alternative hip hop | Odd Future | |
| March 23 | Katy Perry | Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection | Pop | Capitol | |
| March 23 | Madonna | MDNA | Pop, EDM | Interscope | |
| March 23 | Meshuggah | Koloss | Extreme metal, progressive metal | Nuclear Blast | |
| March 23 | Shinedown | Amaryllis | Alternative rock, hard rock, post-grunge | Atlantic, Roadrunner | |
| March 26 | The All-American Rejects | Kids in the Street | Alternative rock, power pop | Interscope, DGC | |
| March 26 | Blood Red Shoes | In Time to Voices | Alternative rock | V2 | |
| March 26 | Iron Maiden | En Vivo! | Heavy metal | EMI, Universal | |
| March 26 | Justin Townes Earle | Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now | Country, folk | Bloodshot | |
| March 26 | My Darkest Days | Sick and Twisted Affair | Hard rock, post-grunge | 604 | |
| March 26 | Rocket Juice & the Moon | Rocket Juice & the Moon | Afrobeat, psychedelic funk | Honest Jon's | |
| March 26 | The Used | Vulnerable | Emo, post-hardcore, alternative rock | Hopeless | |
| March 27 | Before Their Eyes | Redemption | Post-hardcore | inVogue | |
| March 27 | Clay Aiken | Steadfast | | Decca | |
| March 27 | Cowboy Junkies | The Wilderness | Alternative country | Latent | |
| March 27 | Janus | Nox Aeris | Alternative metal, nu metal | REALID Records | |
| March 27 | Jay Brannan | Rob Me Blind | Folk, acoustic | Great Depression, Nettwerk | |
| March 27 | Joan Osborne | Bring It On Home | Blues, R&B | Saguaro Road | |
| March 27 | Joel Plaskett Emergency | Scrappy Happiness | Indie rock | MapleMusic | |
| March 27 | The Mars Volta | Noctourniquet | Progressive rock, experimental rock | Warner Bros., Sargent House, Rodriguez-Lopez Productions | |
| March 27 | OSI | Fire Make Thunder | Progressive rock, progressive metal | Metal Blade | |
| March 27 | Overkill | The Electric Age | Thrash metal | Nuclear Blast | |
| March 27 | Stick to Your Guns | Diamond | Melodic hardcore, hardcore punk, metalcore | Sumerian | |
| March 27 | UFO | Seven Deadly | Hard rock, heavy metal | SPV/Steamhammer | |
| March 27 | Wretched | Son of Perdition | Technical death metal, melodic death metal | Victory | |

## Second quarter
### April

List of albums released in April 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| April 2 | Evans the Death | Evans the Death | | Fortuna Pop! | |
| April 2 | The Futureheads | Rant | A cappella | Nul | |
| April 2 | Graham Coxon | A+E | Pop rock, alternative rock | Parlophone | |
| April 2 | Ian Anderson | Thick as a Brick 2 | Progressive rock | Chrysalis, EMI | |
| April 2 | Killing Joke | MMXII | Post-punk, industrial metal | Spinefarm, Universal | |
| April 2 | Labrinth | Electronic Earth | Hip hop, electronica, dubstep | Syco | |
| April 2 | Lostprophets | Weapons | Rock | Epic, Fearless | |
| April 2 | Nicki Minaj | Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded | Hip hop, dance-pop | Young Money, Cash Money, Universal Republic | |
| April 2 | Willis Earl Beal | Acousmatic Sorcery | Outsider, soul, blues | Hot Charity, XL | |
| April 3 | Great Lake Swimmers | New Wild Everywhere | Folk rock | Nettwerk | |
| April 3 | Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real | Wasted | | Tone Tide Records | |
| April 3 | Our Lady Peace | Curve | Alternative rock, art rock | Warner Music | |
| April 3 | Paul van Dyk | Evolution | Trance music, house music, progressive house | Vandit | |
| April 3 | Zammuto | Zammuto | Experimental, electronic | Temporary Residence Limited | |
| April 6 | M. Ward | A Wasteland Companion | Pop, rock | Merge, Bella Union | |
| April 6 | Monica | New Life | R&B, soul | RCA | |
| April 10 | Cavo | Thick as Thieves | Hard rock, rock, post-grunge | Eleven Seven Music | |
| April 10 | Counting Crows | Underwater Sunshine (or What We Did on Our Summer Vacation) | Alternative rock, country rock, roots rock | Cooking Vinyl | |
| April 10 | Demon Hunter | True Defiance | Groove metal, metalcore | Solid State | |
| April 10 | Halestorm | The Strange Case Of... | Hard rock, alternative metal, heavy metal | Atlantic | |
| April 10 | Kishi Bashi | 151a | Indie pop | Joyful Noise | |
| April 10 | Manafest | Fighter | Christian rock | BEC | |
| April 10 | Municipal Waste | The Fatal Feast | Thrash metal, crossover thrash | Nuclear Blast | |
| April 13 | Future | Pluto | Hip hop | A1, Freebandz Entertainment, Epic | |
| April 13 | Jason Mraz | Love Is a Four Letter Word | Pop rock, alternative rock | Atlantic | |
| April 13 | Train | California 37 | Pop rock, folk rock, roots rock | Columbia, Sony Music | |
| April 15 | DragonForce | The Power Within | Power metal | Essential Music, Roadrunner, JVC Victor | |
| April 16 | Anathema | Weather Systems | Progressive rock, new prog | Kscope, The End | |
| April 16 | Cancer Bats | Dead Set on Living | Hardcore punk, sludge metal, Southern rock | Distort | |
| April 16 | The Gaddabouts | Look Out Now! | Jazz pop, folk rock, Americana | RacecarLOTTA Records | |
| April 16 | Spiritualized | Sweet Heart Sweet Light | Space rock, neo-psychedelia | Double Six | |
| April 17 | Evans Blue | Graveyard of Empires | Alternative metal, hard rock, post-grunge | Sounds+Sights | |
| April 17 | Full of Hell / Code Orange Kids | Full of Hell / Code Orange Kids | Hardcore punk | Topshelf | |
| April 17 | Maps & Atlases | Beware and Be Grateful | Indie rock | Barsuk | |
| April 17 | Neon Trees | Picture Show | Alternative rock, new wave | Mercury | |
| April 17 | Thousand Foot Krutch | The End Is Where We Begin | Hard rock, nu metal, alternative metal | Fuel Music | |
| April 17 | William Beckett | Walk the Talk EP | | Yike Records | |
| April 18 | Europe | Bag of Bones | Hard rock, blues rock | earMUSIC | |
| April 18 | Paradise Lost | Tragic Idol | Doom metal, gothic metal | Century Media | |
| April 20 | Jack White | Blunderbuss | Blues rock | Third Man, XL, Columbia | |
| April 20 | Rufus Wainwright | Out of the Game | Baroque pop | Decca, Polydor | |
| April 23 | Feeder | Generation Freakshow | Alternative rock, post-grunge | Big Teeth Records | |
| April 24 | Alexz Johnson | Skipping Stone | Pop | Laydee Spencer Music Inc. | |
| April 24 | The Dandy Warhols | This Machine | Alternative rock | Beat the World, The End | |
| April 24 | Death by Stereo | Black Sheep of the American Dream | Heavy metal, hardcore punk | Viking Funeral Records | |
| April 24 | Deuce | Nine Lives | Rap rock | Five Seven Music | |
| April 24 | Eve 6 | Speak in Code | Alternative rock | Fearless | |
| April 24 | Kip Moore | Up All Night | Country | MCA Nashville | |
| April 24 | Moving Mountains | New Light | | Triple Crown | |
| April 24 | Santigold | Master of My Make-Believe | New wave, reggae fusion, electronic | Atlantic | |
| April 24 | Torche | Harmonicraft | Sludge metal | Volcom | |
| April 25 | Kent | Jag är inte rädd för mörkret | Alternative rock, pop rock | Sonet, Universal | |
| April 25 | Marilyn Manson | Born Villain | Industrial rock | Cooking Vinyl, Hell, etc. | |
| April 27 | Marina and the Diamonds | Electra Heart | Electronic | 679, Atlantic | |
| April 27 | Moonspell | Alpha Noir/Omega White | Melodic death metal, symphonic metal, gothic metal | Napalm | |
| April 27 | Saint Vitus | Lillie: F-65 | Doom metal | Season of Mist | |
| April 29 | Brendon Small | Brendon Small's Galaktikon | Heavy metal | BS Records | |
| April 30 | Father John Misty | Fear Fun | Indie rock | Sub Pop | |

### May

List of albums released in May 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| May 1 | B.o.B | Strange Clouds | Hip hop | Grand Hustle, Rebel Rock, Atlantic | |
| May 1 | Carrie Underwood | Blown Away | Country | Arista Nashville, 19 | |
| May 1 | K'naan | Country, God or the Girl | Hip hop, alternative rock, pop rock | A&M Octone | |
| May 1 | Lone | Galaxy Garden | Rave | R&S | |
| May 1 | Norah Jones | Little Broken Hearts | Indie pop | Blue Note | |
| May 1 | Pennywise | All or Nothing | Punk rock, melodic hardcore, skate punk | Epitaph | |
| May 1 | Various artists | Avengers Assemble (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) | Alternative rock, hard rock | Hollywood, Marvel Music | |
| May 4 | Keane | Strangeland | Alternative rock | Island | |
| May 7 | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Aufheben | Neo-psychedelia | A Records | |
| May 7 | The Cribs | In the Belly of the Brazen Bull | Indie rock, punk rock, alternative rock | Wichita | |
| May 7 | Cover Drive | Bajan Style | Pop, R&B, hip hop | Polydor | |
| May 7 | Meek Mill | Dreamchasers 2 | Hip hop | MMG | |
| May 8 | Cattle Decapitation | Monolith of Inhumanity | Deathgrind, technical death metal | Metal Blade | |
| May 8 | Infected Mushroom | Army of Mushrooms | Psychedelic trance, dubstep | Dim Mak | |
| May 8 | Pixel | Reminder | Jazz | Cuneiform | |
| May 8 | Silversun Pickups | Neck of the Woods | Alternative rock, indie rock, shoegazing | Dangerbird | |
| May 9 | Iggy Pop | Après | | | |
| May 11 | Garbage | Not Your Kind of People | Alternative rock, electronic rock | Stunvolume | |
| May 11 | Tenacious D | Rize of the Fenix | Comedy rock, hard rock, heavy metal | Columbia | |
| May 11 | Zowie | Love Demolition | Pop, electro, punk | Sony BMG | |
| May 14 | Adam Lambert | Trespassing | Pop, electropop, dance-pop | 19, RCA | |
| May 15 | Beach House | Bloom | Dream pop | Sub Pop | |
| May 15 | Best Coast | The Only Place | Pop rock, jangle pop | Wichita | |
| May 15 | Hot Water Music | Exister | Punk rock, post-hardcore | Rise | |
| May 15 | Killer Mike | R.A.P. Music | Hip hop | Williams Street | |
| May 15 | Krizz Kaliko | Kickin' and Screamin' | Alternative hip hop, dubstep | Strange Music | |
| May 15 | Lisa Marie Presley | Storm & Grace | Roots rock | Universal Republic, XIX Recordings | |
| May 15 | Meiko | The Bright Side | Indie rock, indie pop | Fantasy | |
| May 15 | mewithoutYou | Ten Stories | Indie rock | Pine Street | |
| May 18 | The Temper Trap | The Temper Trap | | | |
| May 21 | Burzum | Umskiptar | Viking metal | Byelobog | |
| May 21 | Paul Buchanan | Mid Air | | Newsroom Records | |
| May 21 | Tom Jones | Spirit in the Room | Americana, blues | Island | |
| May 22 | Blue Foundation | In My Mind I Am Free | Electronic, shoegazing, dream pop | Dead People's Choice | |
| May 22 | The Bunny the Bear | The Stomach for It | Metalcore, post-hardcore, synth-pop | Victory | |
| May 22 | Chris Price | Homesick | Indie pop, garage rock | Price the Band LLC | |
| May 22 | The Cult | Choice of Weapon | Hard rock | Cooking Vinyl | |
| May 22 | El-P | Cancer 4 Cure | Hip hop | Fat Possum | |
| May 22 | Haley Reinhart | Listen Up! | Pop | 19, Interscope | |
| May 22 | John Mayer | Born and Raised | Folk rock, country rock, Americana | Columbia, Sony Music | |
| May 22 | Kris Allen | Thank You Camellia | Pop rock | RCA, 19 | |
| May 22 | MercyMe | The Hurt & The Healer | Contemporary Christian music | Fair Trade, Columbia | |
| May 22 | Mount Eerie | Clear Moon | Indie rock, experimental | P. W. Elverum & Sun | |
| May 22 | The Riverboat Gamblers | The Wolf You Feed | | Volcom Entertainment | |
| May 22 | Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators | Apocalyptic Love | Hard rock, heavy metal | Dik Hayd International | |
| May 22 | Smile Empty Soul | 3's | Alternative metal, post-grunge | eOne Music | |
| May 22 | Sonny Landreth | Elemental Journey | Blues | Landfall Records | |
| May 23 | Kyary Pamyu Pamyu | Pamyu Pamyu Revolution | J-pop, bubblegum pop, electropop | Warner Music Japan | |
| May 23 | Sigur Rós | Valtari | Post-rock, ambient, dream pop | Parlophone | |
| May 25 | alt-J | An Awesome Wave | Indie pop, folktronica | Infectious Music | |
| May 25 | Ladyhawke | Anxiety | New wave, indie rock, power pop | Modular | |
| May 25 | Scissor Sisters | Magic Hour | Dance-pop, dance-rock, nu-disco | Polydor | |
| May 25 | Ultravox | Brilliant | | EMI | |
| May 28 | Architects | Daybreaker | Metalcore, progressive metalcore, post-hardcore | Century Media | |
| May 28 | Jam City | Classical Curves | | Night Slugs | |
| May 28 | Paloma Faith | Fall to Grace | Pop, soul, soft rock | RCA | |
| May 28 | Public Image Ltd | This Is PiL | Alternative rock, post-punk | PiL official | |
| May 28 | Ulver | Childhood's End | Art rock, electronic, dark ambient | Kscope | |
| May 29 | Japandroids | Celebration Rock | Garage rock | Polyvinyl | |
| May 29 | Melody Gardot | The Absence | Jazz, blues, bossa nova | Verve | |
| May 29 | Millencolin | The Melancholy Connection | Punk rock | Burning Heart, Epitaph | |
| May 29 | Regina Spektor | What We Saw from the Cheap Seats | Anti-folk, baroque pop, indie rock | Sire | |
| May 29 | Sun Kil Moon | Among the Leaves | Folk rock | Caldo Verde | |

### June

List of albums released in June 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| June 1 | Alexandra Burke | Heartbreak on Hold | Pop, R&B | RCA | |
| June 1 | Delain | We Are the Others | Symphonic metal | CNR Music | |
| June 1 | The Hives | Lex Hives | Garage rock, garage punk, post-punk revival | Disque Hives | |
| June 1 | Kreator | Phantom Antichrist | Thrash metal | Nuclear Blast | |
| June 1 | Swearin' | Swearin' | Indie rock, punk | Salinas | |
| June 4 | Disclosure | The Face | Balearic beat, UK garage, dubstep | Greco-Roman Records | |
| June 4 | Liars | WIXIW | Experimental rock | Mute | |
| June 5 | The Beach Boys | That's Why God Made the Radio | Soft rock | Capitol | |
| June 5 | Big K.R.I.T. | Live from the Underground | Hip hop | Cinematic, Def Jam | |
| June 5 | Chris Robinson Brotherhood | Big Moon Ritual | Blues rock | Silver Arrow Records | |
| June 5 | Fear Factory | The Industrialist | | Candlelight, AFM, Bodog | |
| June 5 | Jukebox the Ghost | Safe Travels | Power pop | Yep Roc | |
| June 5 | Melvins | Freak Puke | Alternative rock | Ipecac | |
| June 5 | The Mynabirds | Generals | Indie rock | Saddle Creek | |
| June 5 | The Rocket Summer | Life Will Write the Words | Pop rock | Aviate Records | |
| June 5 | A Silent Film | Sand & Snow | Alternative rock | Creative Media Investments | |
| June 8 | Rush | Clockwork Angels | Progressive rock, hard rock | Anthem, Roadrunner | |
| June 8 | Usher | Looking 4 Myself | R&B, hip hop, pop | RCA | |
| June 10 | f(x) | Electric Shock | K-pop, dance-pop, electronic | S.M. Entertainment | |
| June 11 | Amy Macdonald | Life in a Beautiful Light | Folk, rock, soft rock | Melodramatic, Mercury | |
| June 11 | iamamiwhoami | kin | Electronic, synth-pop, dream pop | To whom it may concern., Cooperative Music | |
| June 12 | Future of the Left | The Plot Against Common Sense | Post-hardcore | Xtra Mile | |
| June 12 | Josh Turner | Punching Bag | Country | MCA Nashville | |
| June 12 | Metric | Synthetica | Indie rock, new wave | Metric Music International | |
| June 12 | Miss May I | At Heart | Metalcore | Rise | |
| June 12 | Motion City Soundtrack | Go | Alternative rock | Epitaph | |
| June 15 | Cheryl | A Million Lights | Pop, dance, R&B | Polydor | |
| June 15 | Justin Bieber | Believe | Pop, R&B | Island, RBMG, Schoolboy | |
| June 16 | Manowar | The Lord of Steel | Power metal | Magic Circle Music | |
| June 18 | Fiona Apple | The Idler Wheel... | Art pop | Epic | |
| June 18 | Joey Cape and Tony Sly | Acoustic Volume 2 | | Fat Wreck Chords | |
| June 19 | Blood on the Dance Floor | Evolution | Electronica | Dark Fantasy Records | |
| June 19 | Bobby Womack | The Bravest Man in the Universe | | XL | |
| June 19 | Broadway | Gentlemen's Brawl | Post-hardcore, pop punk, alternative rock | Uprising | |
| June 19 | Dirty Heads | Cabin by the Sea | Reggae | Five Seven Music | |
| June 19 | For All Those Sleeping | Outspoken | | Fearless | |
| June 19 | The Ghost Inside | Get What You Give | | Epitaph | |
| June 19 | Lit | The View from the Bottom | Alternative rock | Megaforce | |
| June 19 | The Smashing Pumpkins | Oceania | Alternative rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock | EMI, Caroline Distribution, Martha's Music | |
| June 19 | Whitechapel | Whitechapel | Deathcore | Metal Blade | |
| June 20 | Linkin Park | Living Things | Alternative rock, electronic rock | Warner Bros. | |
| June 20 | Maroon 5 | Overexposed | Pop, pop rock | A&M Octone | |
| June 25 | The Offspring | Days Go By | Punk rock | Columbia | |
| June 25 | R. Kelly | Write Me Back | R&B, soul | RCA | |
| June 26 | Chris Cagle | Back in the Saddle | Country | Bigger Picture Music | |
| June 26 | DIIV | Oshin | Indie rock, dream pop, shoegaze | Captured Tracks | |
| June 26 | Everclear | Invisible Stars | Alternative rock | eOne | |
| June 26 | Gojira | L'Enfant Sauvage | | Roadrunner | |
| June 26 | Little Feat | Rooster Rag | | Hot Tomato Records | |
| June 26 | Memphis May Fire | Challenger | Metalcore, post-hardcore, Southern rock | Rise | |
| June 26 | A Place to Bury Strangers | Worship | Noise rock | Dead Oceans | |
| June 26 | Ty Segall Band | Slaughterhouse | Garage rock, noise rock | In the Red | |
| June 29 | Chris Brown | Fortune | R&B, pop | RCA | |

## Third quarter
### July

List of albums released in July 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| July 2 | My Tiger My Timing | Celeste | New wave, pop, indie rock | Snakes & Ladders | |
| July 3 | Abandon All Ships | Infamous | Metalcore, electronicore | Universal Music Canada, Rise | |
| July 3 | Flo Rida | Wild Ones | Hip hop | Atlantic, Poe Boy | |
| July 3 | Periphery | Periphery II: This Time It's Personal | Progressive metal | Sumerian, Century Media | |
| July 6 | 50 Cent | 5 (Murder by Numbers) | Hip hop | G-Unit | |
| July 10 | Aesop Rock | Skelethon | Hip hop | Rhymesayers Entertainment | |
| July 10 | Dirty Projectors | Swing Lo Magellan | Indie rock, art pop, experimental | Domino | |
| July 10 | Frank Ocean | Channel Orange | Alternative R&B, progressive soul, neo soul | Def Jam | |
| July 10 | P.O.D. | Murdered Love | Rock | Razor & Tie | |
| July 10 | Saint Motel | Voyeur | Indie rock, power pop | OnThe Records | |
| July 10 | Serj Tankian | Harakiri | Rock | Reprise, Serjical Strike | |
| July 13 | Bury Tomorrow | The Union of Crowns | Melodic metalcore | Nuclear Blast | |
| July 13 | Nas | Life Is Good | Hip hop | Def Jam | |
| July 15 | Psy | Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1 | K-pop | YG Entertainment, Universal Music, YGEX | |
| July 17 | Baroness | Yellow & Green | Sludge metal | Relapse | |
| July 17 | The Contortionist | Intrinsic | Progressive metal | Good Fight | |
| July 17 | KB | Weight & Glory | Christian hip hop | Reach | |
| July 17 | Matisyahu | Spark Seeker | Reggae, hip hop, electronic | Fallen Sparks | |
| July 17 | Milo Greene | Milo Greene | Indie folk, folk rock | Chop Shop, Atlantic | |
| July 17 | Soul Asylum | Delayed Reaction | Alternative rock | 429 | |
| July 17 | Tremonti | All I Was | Hard rock, speed metal | Fret12 | |
| July 17 | William Beckett | Winds Will Change | Pop rock | Yike Records | |
| July 20 | Joss Stone | The Soul Sessions Vol. 2 | Soul, R&B | S-Curve, Stone'd | |
| July 20 | Passion Pit | Gossamer | Electropop, dance-rock | Columbia | |
| July 20 | Purity Ring | Shrines | Electropop | 4AD, Last Gang | |
| July 23 | The Gaslight Anthem | Handwritten | Punk rock, hard rock, heartland rock | Mercury | |
| July 24 | Emilie Autumn | Fight Like a Girl | Dark cabaret, electro-industrial | The Asylum Emporium | |
| July 27 | Testament | Dark Roots of Earth | Thrash metal | Nuclear Blast | |
| July 30 | Blur | Blur 21 | Alternative rock, Britpop, experimental rock | Food, Virgin, Parlophone | |
| July 30 | Rick Ross | God Forgives, I Don't | Hip hop | Slip-n-Slide, Def Jam, Maybach | |
| July 31 | Wildlife Control | Wildlife Control | | | |

### August

List of albums released in August 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| August 7 | Sixpence None the Richer | Lost in Transition | Alternative rock, pop rock | Tyger Jim | |
| August 10 | Mystery | The World Is a Game | Progressive rock | Unicorn Digital | |
| August 13 | Black Light Burns | The Moment You Realize You're Going to Fall | Industrial rock, alternative rock, alternative metal | Rocket Science Ventures, RED Distribution | |
| August 13 | While She Sleeps | This Is the Six | Metalcore | Search and Destroy | |
| August 13 | Why? | Sod in the Seed | Indie rock | City Slang | |
| August 14 | 2 Chainz | Based on a T.R.U. Story | Hip hop, trap | Def Jam | |
| August 14 | In This Moment | Blood | Metalcore, alternative metal, nu metal | Century Media | |
| August 14 | Insane Clown Posse | The Mighty Death Pop! | Horrorcore, Detroit techno, dark ambient | Psychopathic | |
| August 14 | Yellowcard | Southern Air | Pop-punk, alternative rock | Hopeless | |
| August 17 | Owl City | The Midsummer Station | Synth-pop, dance pop, pop | Universal Republic | |
| August 18 | Parquet Courts | Light Up Gold | Indie rock, post-punk revival, garage rock | Dull Tools, What's Your Rupture? | |
| August 20 | Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti | Mature Themes | | 4AD | |
| August 20 | Bloc Party | Four | Alternative rock, art punk | Frenchkiss | |
| August 20 | British Theatre | Dyed in the Wool Ghost | | | |
| August 20 | The Darkness | Hot Cakes | Glam metal, hard rock, heavy metal | Wind-up | |
| August 20 | Yeasayer | Fragrant World | Experimental rock, psychedelic pop | Secretly Canadian | |
| August 21 | DJ Khaled | Kiss the Ring | Hip hop | We the Best, Cash Money, Universal Republic | |
| August 21 | Ivy Queen | Musa | Latin | Siente | |
| August 21 | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Last of a Dyin' Breed | Southern rock, hard rock | Roadrunner | |
| August 21 | Trey Songz | Chapter V | R&B | Songbook, Atlantic | |
| August 22 | Alanis Morissette | Havoc and Bright Lights | Soft rock | Collective Sounds, Columbia, SevenOneMusic | |
| August 24 | Rita Ora | Ora | Pop, R&B, dance | Roc Nation | |
| August 25 | Krallice | Years Past Matter | Black metal, progressive metal | | |
| August 27 | Archive | With Us Until You're Dead | Trip hop, alternative rock | Dangervisit Records | |
| August 27 | Dan Deacon | America | Electronic | Domino | |
| August 27 | Ensiferum | Unsung Heroes | Folk metal, melodic death metal, power metal | Spinefarm | |
| August 27 | Katatonia | Dead End Kings | Progressive metal | Peaceville | |
| August 27 | Marius Neset and Daniel Herskedal | Neck of the Woods | Jazz | Edition | |
| August 28 | The Chariot | One Wing | Metalcore, mathcore | Good Fight, eOne Music | |
| August 28 | Circa Survive | Violent Waves | Indie rock, post-hardcore, progressive rock | Circa Survive, Sumerian | |
| August 28 | Dwele | Greater Than One | R&B | RT Music Group, eOne | |
| August 28 | Faber Drive | Lost in Paradise | Pop rock, alternative rock | 604 | |
| August 28 | Matchbox Twenty | North | Alternative rock, pop rock | Atlantic | |
| August 28 | Minus the Bear | Infinity Overhead | Alternative rock | Dangerbird | |
| August 28 | Morning Glory | Poets Were My Heroes | Punk rock | Fat Wreck | |
| August 28 | The Orb featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry | The Orbserver in the Star House | Electronica, dub, IDM | Cooking Vinyl, The End | |
| August 28 | Robert Cray | Nothin but Love | Blues | Provogue | |
| August 28 | Slaughterhouse | Welcome to: Our House | Hip hop | Shady, Interscope | |
| August 28 | Swans | The Seer | Experimental, post-rock, post-punk | Young God | |
| August 28 | Tamia | Beautiful Surprise | R&B | Plus 1 Music Group, EMI | |
| August 28 | TobyMac | Eye on It | Contemporary Christian music, electronic music, pop | ForeFront | |
| August 29 | Mount Eerie | Ocean Roar | Indie rock, noise rock | P.W. Elverum & Sun | |
| August 31 | Farrah Abraham | My Teenage Dream Ended | Pop, outsider music | | |
| August 31 | Two Door Cinema Club | Beacon | Indie rock | Kitsuné | |

### September

List of albums released in September 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| September 3 | Charlotte Church | One | Indie pop, alternative rock, folk rock | Alligator Wine | |
| September 3 | The Pineapple Thief | All the Wars | Progressive rock, alternative rock | Kscope | |
| September 3 | The Vaccines | Come of Age | Indie rock, post-punk revival | Columbia | |
| September 4 | Animal Collective | Centipede Hz | Psychedelic, experimental rock | Domino | |
| September 4 | Imagine Dragons | Night Visions | Pop rock | Kidinakorner, Interscope | |
| September 4 | Lecrae | Gravity | Christian hip hop | Reach | |
| September 4 | Propagandhi | Failed States | Punk rock, melodic hardcore | Epitaph | |
| September 4 | The Sheepdogs | The Sheepdogs | Southern rock, boogie rock, rock | Atlantic | |
| September 4 | Two Gallants | The Bloom and the Blight | Indie rock | ATO | |
| September 5 | Agnes | Veritas | Electro, disco | Roxy, Universal | |
| September 5 | Pet Shop Boys | Elysium | Synth-pop | EMI | |
| September 5 | The xx | Coexist | Indie pop | Young Turks | |
| September 7 | Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra | Theatre Is Evil | | 8 Ft. Records | |
| September 7 | Elephant9 with Reine Fiske | Atlantis | | Rune Grammofon | |
| September 7 | Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson | Wreck & Ruin | Country | Liberation Music | |
| September 7 | King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard | 12 Bar Bruise | Garage rock, garage punk, acid rock | Flightless | |
| September 7 | Lacrimosa | Revolution | Gothic metal, gothic rock | Hall of Sermon | |
| September 7 | The Presets | Pacifica | House, synth-pop, electronic dance music | Modular | |
| September 7 | The Script | #3 | Alternative rock, soft rock | Phonogenic | |
| September 10 | Bob Dylan | Tempest | | Columbia | |
| September 10 | David Byrne and St. Vincent | Love This Giant | Art pop | 4AD, Todo Mundo | |
| September 10 | Gallows | Gallows | Hardcore punk | Venn Records | |
| September 10 | Joe McElderry | Here's What I Believe | Pop | Decca | |
| September 11 | The Avett Brothers | The Carpenter | Americana | American | |
| September 11 | Billy Talent | Dead Silence | Punk rock, post-hardcore | Atlantic, Roadrunner | |
| September 11 | Bucky Covington | Good Guys | Country | eOne | |
| September 11 | Chris Robinson Brotherhood | The Magic Door | Blues rock | Silver Arrow Records | |
| September 11 | Dave Matthews Band | Away from the World | Alternative rock | RCA | |
| September 11 | Hoobastank | Fight or Flight | Post-grunge, alternative rock | Open E Entertainment | |
| September 11 | Little Big Town | Tornado | Country | Capitol Nashville | |
| September 11 | NOFX | Self Entitled | Punk rock | Fat Wreck Chords | |
| September 12 | John Frusciante | PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone | Synth-pop, alternative rock, pop rock | Record Collection | |
| September 12 | Richie Sambora | Aftermath of the Lowdown | | Dangerbird | |
| September 14 | Carly Rae Jepsen | Kiss | Pop | 604, Schoolboy, Interscope | |
| September 14 | Kreayshawn | Somethin' 'Bout Kreay | Hip hop | Columbia | |
| September 14 | Nelly Furtado | The Spirit Indestructible | Pop, R&B | Interscope, Mosley, Mushroom | |
| September 14 | Various artists | Cruel Summer | Hip hop | GOOD, Def Jam | |
| September 17 | Aimee Mann | Charmer | Pop, rock | SuperEgo Records | |
| September 17 | The Killers | Battle Born | Alternative rock | Island | |
| September 17 | Mika | The Origin of Love | Pop | Casablanca, Mushroom, Warner Bros. | |
| September 17 | Rival Sons | Head Down | Blues rock | Earache | |
| September 17 | We Are the Ocean | Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow | Alternative rock, post-hardcore | Hassle | |
| September 18 | Ben Folds Five | The Sound of the Life of the Mind | Alternative rock | ImaVeePee Records | |
| September 18 | Brother Ali | Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color | Hip hop | Rhymesayers Entertainment | |
| September 18 | Devin Townsend Project | Epicloud | Progressive rock, experimental rock, progressive metal | HevyDevy | |
| September 18 | Down | Down IV – Part I | Heavy metal, sludge metal | | |
| September 18 | Go Radio | Close the Distance | Alternative rock | Fearless | |
| September 18 | Grizzly Bear | Shields | Indie rock, neo-psychedelia, baroque pop | Warp | |
| September 18 | Local H | Hallelujah! I'm a Bum | Rock | SlimStyle Records | |
| September 18 | Michael Jackson | Bad 25 | Pop, R&B, funk | Epic, Legacy | |
| September 18 | Pink | The Truth About Love | Pop, dance-pop, rock | RCA Records | |
| September 19 | Superfly | Force | Pop rock, blues | Warner Music Japan | |
| September 21 | Deadmau5 | Album Title Goes Here | Progressive house, electro house, glitch | Mau5trap, Ultra, Parlophone | |
| September 21 | Green Day | ¡Uno! | Punk rock, pop punk, power pop | Reprise | |
| September 21 | Mumford & Sons | Babel | Indie folk, folk rock | Island, Glassnote, Gentlemen of the Road | |
| September 21 | No Doubt | Push and Shove | Pop | Interscope | |
| September 22 | Cory Wong | Cory Wong and The Green Screen Band | | Cory Wong | |
| September 22 | Dragonette | Bodyparts | Electropop | Universal Music Canada | |
| September 25 | As I Lay Dying | Awakened | Metalcore | Metal Blade | |
| September 25 | Lupe Fiasco | Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 | Hip hop | Atlantic | |
| September 25 | Wanderlust | Record Time | | Sony Music, Zip Records | |
| September 25 | Yoko Ono, Kim Gordon, and Thurston Moore | Yokokimthurston | Rock, experimental rock | Chimera Music | |
| September 28 | Angband | Saved from the Truth | Power metal, progressive metal | Pure Steel | |
| September 28 | Enslaved | RIITIIR | Progressive metal, black metal, Viking metal | Indie Recordings, Nuclear Blast | |
| September 28 | Muse | The 2nd Law | Alternative rock, art rock, progressive rock | Helium 3, Warner Bros. | |

## Fourth quarter
### October

List of albums released in October 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| October 1 | AxeWound | Vultures | Metalcore | Search and Destroy Records | |
| October 1 | John Cale | Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood | Art rock | Double Six | |
| October 1 | Lower Than Atlantis | Changing Tune | Arena rock | Island | |
| October 2 | Cody Simpson | Paradise | Pop, R&B | Atlantic | |
| October 2 | Diana Krall | Glad Rag Doll | Vocal jazz | Verve | |
| October 2 | DJ Drama | Quality Street Music | Hip hop | eOne, Aphilliates, Powerhouse Productions | |
| October 2 | Hammock | Departure Songs | Ambient, post-rock | Hammock Music | |
| October 2 | Jackie Evancho | Songs from the Silver Screen | Classical crossover | Syco, Columbia | |
| October 2 | Matt and Kim | Lightning | Indie pop | Fader Label, Universal | |
| October 2 | The Mountain Goats | Transcendental Youth | Indie rock | Merge | |
| October 2 | Papa Roach | The Connection | Alternative metal, hard rock, alternative rock | Eleven Seven Music | |
| October 2 | Three Days Grace | Transit of Venus | Alternative metal | RCA | |
| October 2 | Tristan Prettyman | Cedar + Gold | Pop | Capitol | |
| October 2 | Van Morrison | Born to Sing: No Plan B | Jazz, blues, pop | Blue Note | |
| October 5 | Ellie Goulding | Halcyon | Electropop | Polydor | |
| October 5 | Peter Buck | Peter Buck | Alternative rock | Mississippi | |
| October 5 | Tame Impala | Lonerism | Psychedelic rock | Modular | |
| October 8 | All Time Low | Don't Panic | Pop-punk, alternative rock | Hopeless | |
| October 8 | Paws | Cokefloat! | | FatCat | |
| October 9 | A. C. Newman | Shut Down the Streets | Indie rock | Matador | |
| October 9 | Between the Buried and Me | The Parallax II: Future Sequence | Progressive metal | Metal Blade | |
| October 9 | The Birthday Massacre | Hide and Seek | Gothic rock | Metropolis | |
| October 9 | Coheed and Cambria | The Afterman: Ascension | Progressive rock, progressive metal | Hundred Handed, Everything Evil | |
| October 9 | Converge | All We Love We Leave Behind | Mathcore, post-hardcore, hardcore punk | Epitaph | |
| October 9 | A Fine Frenzy | Pines | Pop rock | Virgin | |
| October 9 | Kiss | Monster | Hard rock, heavy metal | UM$^e$ | |
| October 9 | Macklemore and Ryan Lewis | The Heist | Alternative hip hop, indie hip hop | Macklemore LLC, ADA | |
| October 9 | MellowHype | Numbers | Alternative hip hop | Odd Future, RED, Sony Music | |
| October 9 | The Wallflowers | Glad All Over | Alternative rock | Columbia | |
| October 9 | Why? | Mumps, Etc. | Indie rock | Anticon, City Slang | |
| October 12 | Brandy | Two Eleven | R&B | RCA, Chameleon | |
| October 12 | Leona Lewis | Glassheart | Pop, R&B | Syco, RCA | |
| October 12 | Urthboy | Smokey's Haunt | Australian hip hop | Elefant Traks | |
| October 15 | Godspeed You! Black Emperor | 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! | Post-rock | Constellation | |
| October 15 | Jake Bugg | Jake Bugg | Indie folk, indie rock | Mercury | |
| October 15 | My Dying Bride | A Map of All Our Failures | Doom metal | Peaceville | |
| October 16 | Anberlin | Vital | Alternative rock | Universal Republic | |
| October 16 | Donald Fagen | Sunken Condos | Jazz-funk | Reprise | |
| October 16 | Jason Aldean | Night Train | Country pop, arena rock, Southern rock | Broken Bow | |
| October 16 | Mac DeMarco | 2 | Soft rock | Captured Tracks | |
| October 16 | ZZ Ward | Til the Casket Drops | Blues rock, hip hop, R&B | Hollywood | |
| October 22 | Bridgit Mendler | Hello My Name Is... | Pop, soul | Hollywood | |
| October 22 | Kendrick Lamar | Good Kid, M.A.A.D City | West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap | Top Dawg, Aftermath, Interscope | |
| October 22 | Stone Sour | House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 | Alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal | Roadrunner | |
| October 22 | Taylor Swift | Red | Pop rock, country pop | Big Machine | |
| October 23 | Anaal Nathrakh | Vanitas | Black metal, grindcore, death metal | Candlelight | |
| October 23 | P.O.S | We Don't Even Live Here | Alternative hip hop | Rhymesayers Entertainment | |
| October 23 | The Sword | Apocryphon | Heavy metal, doom metal | Razor & Tie | |
| October 24 | Kylie Minogue | The Abbey Road Sessions | Orchestral | Parlophone | |
| October 26 | Calvin Harris | 18 Months | Electro house, synth-pop | Deconstruction, Fly Eye, Columbia | |
| October 29 | Madness | Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da | Ska, pop, Two-tone | Lucky 7, Cooking Vinyl | |
| October 29 | Tracey Thorn | Tinsel and Lights | Christmas | Strange Feeling, Merge | |
| October 30 | Cee Lo Green | Cee Lo's Magic Moment | Christmas, R&B | Elektra, Warner Bros. | |
| October 30 | Cody Chesnutt | Landing on a Hundred | Soul | Vibration Vineyard, One Little Indian | |
| October 30 | The Coup | Sorry to Bother You | Hip hop | Anti- | |
| October 30 | Esthero | Everything Is Expensive | Pop, jazz, folk | Esthero | |
| October 30 | Flyleaf | New Horizons | Alternative metal, alternative rock, Christian rock | A&M Octone | |
| October 30 | Meek Mill | Dreams and Nightmares | Hip hop | Maybach Music Group | |
| October 30 | Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Psychedelic Pill | Psychedelic rock, hard rock, folk rock | Reprise | |
| October 30 | Neurosis | Honor Found in Decay | Post-metal | Neurot, Relapse | |
| October 30 | Thrice | Anthology | Alternative, post-hardcore | Staple Records | |
| October 31 | Ne-Yo | R.E.D. | Pop, dance-pop, R&B | Motown | |

### November

List of albums released in November 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| November 2 | Kerser | No Rest for the Sickest | | Obese | |
| November 2 | Jesse Kaikuranta | Vie mut kotiin | | Universal Music Finland | |
| November 5 | Focus | Focus X | Progressive rock | Eastworld Recordings | |
| November 5 | Robbie Williams | Take the Crown | Pop rock | Island | |
| November 5 | Rolo Tomassi | Astraea | Mathcore, experimental rock | Destination Moon | |
| November 5 | Thee Faction | Singing Down the Government, or, The War of Position and How We're Winning It | Garage rock | Soviet Beret | |
| November 6 | Aerosmith | Music from Another Dimension! | Hard rock, blues rock, heavy metal | Columbia | |
| November 6 | E-40 and Too Short | History: Function Music | Hip hop | Heavy on the Grind Entertainment, EMI | |
| November 6 | E-40 and Too Short | History: Mob Music | Hip hop | Heavy on the Grind Entertainment, EMI | |
| November 7 | Boom Boom Satellites | Remixed | Electronica, rock | Sony Music Japan | |
| November 7 | Crystal Castles | (III) | Electronica, witch house | Fiction, Polydor | |
| November 9 | Anastacia | It's a Man's World | Rock, pop | BMG | |
| November 9 | Christina Aguilera | Lotus | Pop, dance | RCA | |
| November 9 | Green Day | ¡Dos! | Punk rock, pop punk, garage rock | Reprise | |
| November 9 | Lana Del Rey | Paradise | Baroque pop, trip hop | Interscope | |
| November 9 | Lorentz & Sakarias | Himlen är som mörkast när stjärnorna lyser starkast | | Baseline Music | |
| November 9 | One Direction | Take Me Home | Pop | Syco, Columbia | |
| November 12 | Deftones | Koi No Yokan | Alternative metal | Reprise | |
| November 12 | Eivind Aarset | Dream Logic | Nu jazz | ECM | |
| November 13 | Aaron Lewis | The Road | Rock, country | Blaster Records | |
| November 13 | The Babies | Our House on the Hill | Indie rock | Woodsist | |
| November 13 | Soundgarden | King Animal | Alternative metal, grunge, psychedelic rock | Seven Four Entertainment, Republic | |
| November 13 | Travis Barker and Yelawolf | Psycho White | Rap rock, alternative hip hop, horrorcore | LaSalle, Killer Distribution | |
| November 16 | The Seekers | The Golden Jubilee Album | Folk, world, folk rock | EMI Music Australia | |
| November 16 | Pitbull | Global Warming | EDM, dance-pop | RCA, Mr. 305 | |
| November 19 | AC/DC | Live at River Plate | Rock | Columbia | |
| November 19 | Example | The Evolution of Man | Alternative hip hop, electro, dubstep | Ministry of Sound, Data | |
| November 19 | Keyshia Cole | Woman to Woman | R&B, pop | Geffen, Interscope | |
| November 19 | Kid Rock | Rebel Soul | Rock and roll, blue-eyed soul | Top Dog, Atlantic | |
| November 19 | Little Mix | DNA | Pop, dance-pop, R&B | Syco | |
| November 19 | Phillip Phillips | The World from the Side of the Moon | Folk rock, alternative rock | Interscope, 19 | |
| November 19 | Rihanna | Unapologetic | Pop, synth-pop, R&B | Def Jam, SRP Records | |
| November 20 | Code Orange Kids | Love Is Love/Return to Dust | Hardcore punk, metalcore | Deathwish | |
| November 20 | Woe, Is Me | Genesi[s] | Metalcore, post-hardcore | Rise, Velocity | |
| November 23 | Olly Murs | Right Place Right Time | Pop | Syco, Epic | |
| November 30 | Kesha | Deconstructed | Pop | RCA, Kemosabe | |
| November 30 | Kesha | Warrior | Electropop, rock | RCA, Kemosabe | |
| November 30 | Tulisa | The Female Boss | Pop, dance | Island, AATW | |

### December

List of albums released in December 2012 :
| Go to:  January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Back to top ||||| |
| Release date | Artist | Album | Genre | Label | Ref. |
| December 3 | Mylène Farmer | Monkey Me | Dance-pop, synth-pop, pop rock | Polydor | |
| December 4 | Wiz Khalifa | O.N.I.F.C. | Hip hop | Atlantic | |
| December 7 | Bruno Mars | Unorthodox Jukebox | Pop, R&B, rock | Atlantic | |
| December 7 | Green Day | ¡Tré! | Pop-punk, alternative rock, power pop | Reprise | |
| December 11 | The Game | Jesus Piece | West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap | DGC, Interscope | |
| December 11 | JK Flesh and Prurient | Worship Is the Cleansing of the Imagination | Industrial, noise | Hydra Head | |
| December 11 | Lifehouse | Almería | Southern rock, acoustic music, country rock | Geffen | |
| December 18 | T.I. | Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head | | Atlantic | |
| December 21 | Flotsam and Jetsam | Ugly Noise | Thrash metal, progressive metal | | |
| December 21 | Minuit | Last Night You Saw This Band | Electronic | Dollhouse Records | |
| December 24 | Wale | Folarin | Hip hop | | |