Just like Jon Hamm's "bubble"-encased Drew Baird character on "30 Rock", we let Justin Timberlake get away with so much. His 2013 started strong (we'll get to that in a moment) but his bit part in an excellent Coen Brothers movie was overshadowed by a leading role in one of the worst major studio films of the year (trust me, I saw it), not to mention an album that managed to offend domestic abuse survivors and HBO viewers in one fell swoop. His most fervent admirers (trust me, I'm one of them) could only hide their eyes with embarrassment. "I'm not cut out for it," Timberlake bitterly complained about the avalanche of late-year criticism to GQ in a piece titled "#Hashtag of the Year", a confirmation of his ubiquity in the face of all odds. A resolute showman who spent the first phase of his nearly two-decade career facing constant scrutiny, it can sometimes seem that Timberlake's main goal isn't to be good—it's to be liked.

"Drink You Away" be damned, though, Justin Timberlake continues to be liked (loved, by many) and the first volume of The 20/20 Experience provides plenty of reasons why. Sure, just writing down some of the album's most notable conceits—the best nü-metal deep-cut weeper since Limp Bizkit covered the Who, a power ballad about looking at yourself in the mirror, the only Michael Flatley-meets-Miami Sound Machine mashup you ever need to hear—might suggest that a few pairs of Bad Idea Jeans were worn in the studio. And yet, along with Timbaland and J-Roc (who were more or less left for dead after that embarrassing "electronic" Chris Cornell album), Timberlake ended up with one of the year's most enjoyable pop records, a document of endless musical largesse that earns its 70-minute runtime with lush sonics and a moony-eyed fixation on monogamy so hopelessly corny that it ends up coming across as totally endearing. It's disappointing that Justin Timberlake didn't put out two great albums in 2013, but as hindsight (har har) suggests, that one of them ended up being very good is nothing short of a miracle. —Larry Fitzmaurice

Justin Timberlake: "Mirrors"