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Top 25 Albums of 2007
I've been meaning to post my end of year lists for a while now. My Top Ten movies list for 2007 is still in the works (I have a couple yet I want to get around to seeing), but I'll probably have it up before the Oscars.

I'm not sure if I'm going to do an events of 2007 list or not. But there's definitely one other one I want to do.

2007 was a huge year in music. It just really was. Moreover, it was a big year for me. I branched my tastes out quite a bit. More hip-hop, more rap, more pop, more...well, of everything I guess. And yes, there was the standard alternative rock, but as music in that genre begins to change and the artists I once knew grow older, new tastes have been finding their way onto my palette. The big one was alternative country.

Yes, you read that correctly. Really just one guy (since I still for some reason don't really like Wilco). You probably know who.

At any rate, it was a huge year. Just look at the artists. I think every single one of my favorite groups released an album this year. Shit, even the Smashing Pumpkins put out an album. Oddly enough, neither theirs nor a few others by some of my favorites didn't make my Top 25 Albums of 2007 list. There was simply too much new good stuff.

Or maybe I'm growing up.

Either way, here's my Top 25 Albums of 2007:


Dishonorable Mentions

These albums should have been good, but weren't. That, or they were merely tolerable when, in the face of the artist's previous work, they should have been great.

Incubus, "Light Grenades"
The Nightwatchman, "One Man Revolution"
Chris Cornell, "Carry On"
Straylight Run, "The Needles The Space"
Minus the Bear, "Planet of Ice"


Honorable Mentions

I really find it amazing that these albums got slotted out of my list. I...just simply don't have the words. Or the space. 25, as it turns out, isn't a very large number.

To be fair, most of these only got slotted out because the stuff I picked has a newer sound, and was, I think, was more groundbreaking. Most of the HMs are just solid new albums by artists who know their sound. There were some of my other favorites on the list, but they found new voices where as these did not (with one exception).

Foo Fighters, "Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace"
Dashboard Confessional, "The Shade of Poison Trees"
Jonny Greenwood, "There Will Be Blood" original soundtrack [Note: Someboody has to recognize it. So I am. If it can't count as an original score, let it be a Radiohead side project. But I won't put it on the list.]
Smashing Pumpkins, "Zeitgeist"
The White Stripes, "Icky Thump"


Top 25

25. Maroon 5, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long."

Sure, they can be accused as well of just doing more of the same. But it's simply good stuff. Still sensual, still a little rough around the edges, and at least they didn't fuck up their sophomore album like The Killers did.

24. Motion City Soundtrack, "Even If It Kills Me"

Again, very similar to their early stuff, but they are, at this point, honing their craft. And there are a few tracks with significant motion forward.

23. She Wants Revenge, "This is Forever"

Everyone shit their pants when these guys released their self-titled debut. But then no one seemed to care when this great follow-up slipped out back in October. Probably because everyone was busy doing the Soulja Boy. But seriously, despite the fact that all their songs sound mostly the same, that one song is still a fucking good one.

22. Queens of the Stone Age, "Era Vulgaris"

I don't know a lot of people that are nuts about Queens, and I really have a hard time understanding it. They've always been great, and they only continue to get better. Every song has a certain familiarity that I can't quite place. So I listen and relisten.

21. Kaiser Chiefs, "Yours Truly, Angry Mob"

When these guys burst out with "Employment," I loved the song "I Predict a Riot." The rest of the album was pretty lame though. Every song on their follow-up has the power and fun of that one single. It's the album that should have been their debut; I just hope people will still listen.

20. Arctic Monkeys, "Favourite Worst Nightmare"

It was a big year for British rock for me, as you'll see as we go up this list. Another follow-up to a huge debut, this has everything that makes the Monkeys great. Fun lyrics that could be the soundtrack to any night partying on the town with solid rock to back it up.

19. Will.i.am, "Songs About Girls"

This is another one that I feel like a lot of people didn't notice. In a year that saw a lot of new hip-hop as well as new albums by 50 Cent and Kanye West, this just got lost in the mix. Check it out. The talent people looked for on Fergie's solo album is all on this one.

18. Linkin Park, "Minutes to Midnight"

With producer Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, Johnny Cash) aiding them, gone are the rap-rock days from years past and in is a hard rock sound with a melodic tendency that you wouldn't expect from the guys. Until you actually bother to give it a shot.

17. The Hives, "The Black and White Album

I remember when I first heard these guys. I had put the song "Hate to Say I Told You So" on one of my mixes. It was catchy, and probably my first foray into something with an accent besides The Beatles. Do yourself a favor and check out their return to form in one of the catchiest albums of the year. You'll find yourself singing along in no time.

16. Timbaland, "Timbaland Presents Shock Value"

One of the best producers out there working in hip-hop, the dude knows what the fuck he's doing and more importantly, who he's doing it with. With guests from Timberlake, Dre, and Missy Elliott all the way to Fall Out Boy, She Wants Revenge, The Hives, and Elton Fucking John, I'm convinced the man can work his magic on any artist working today.

15. Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible"

I was really into their previous "Funeral" for a while after it was out. By the time this new one started to get huge, I'd already had my fill of it. But not before listening to absolutely nothing else for a couple weeks back in the spring.

14. Jimmy Eat World, "Chase This Light"

One of many albums this year that really took a couple of listens for me to truly appreciate. It honestly reminds me more of their work on "Clarity" than anything else. Sure, I miss the harder stuff from Futures and Bleed American (I refuse to call it their self-titled album), but mellow and ambient as it is, it is simply too good to miss the other stuff for very long.

13. Noisettes, "What's the Time Mr. Wolf?"

More stuff from the lovely Brits, it has a punk rock sensitivity that makes me want to chill and kick someone's ass at the same time. I'm not sure how such a thing would be possible, but this is what I'd listen to while attempting.

12. Kanye West, "Graduation"

I don't know how 50 Cent thought he'd beat this. Seriously. Leaps and bounds ahead of that shit. The man is amazing, and I'm hoping he wins major awards come Grammy night (not that that means anything really, but I hear that it does to him).

11. Rilo Kiley, "Under the Blacklight"

Very atypical sound for my tastes, but I couldn't stop listening to it. Incredibly soothing, wonderfully addictive, it's just...too good for words. Probably would be ranked higher save for some of my fanboy tendencies for stuff yet to be named. Go listen now.

10. Against Me!, "New Wave"

Against Me! purists hate this album. I am not, so I do not. Being their major label debut (hence more pop/radio friendly), it makes absolute sense that I like it. Regardless, it's very solid punk rock with a purpose. Bad Religion at their peak could play a show with these guys, and it'd be amazing.

9. Feist, "The Reminder"

Screw the iPod commercials. Screw the LG Chocolate commercials. If you haven't heard this album yet, you're doing your ears an injustice. It's beautiful. That's the only word I want to use. Beautiful.

8. Say Anything, "In Defense of the Genre..."

I remember when this came out I compared it to the Pumpkins "Mellon Collie..." That was probably just because they're both double albums. But really, just as much as that alternative rock album served as a precursor to where the genre was headed, so does this for the emo movement. Max Bemis and the boys bring their army (Gerard Way, Matt Skiba, Adam Lazzara, Hayley Williams, Chris Carrabba, Chris Conley...and so many more!) into the charge.

7. Radiohead, "In Rainbows"

If I could include the bonus disc (with songs like "Bangers & Mash" and "Down is the New Up") as part of the album, it would have ranked much higher. As it stands, it's more new Radiohead, which is pretty basic (for them), but still incredible compared to everything else out there. They still make all other music seem like noise. Seriously.

6. Paramore, "Riot!"

This album has so much energy, I can barely stand it. Need something besides Kanye's "Stronger" to work out to? Try most of the tracks on this album. The ones that don't hit hard still resonate with emotion and lyrical genius. These guys (and gal) are off and running.

5. Nine Inch Nails, "Year Zero"

Absolutely epic in scope and fueled by a viral marketing campaign like nothing else you've heard of (except The Dark Knight...done by the same marketing company). But what else could we expect from the first true concept album from Trent Reznor since "The Downward Spiral"? Yes, this is on that level.

4. Tegan & Sara, "The Con"

I listened to more groups with female vocalists this year than I have ever before. But what can I say? It was a good year for chicks to rock out. A lot of the guys could take a lesson. But this was the one group lead by the fairer sex that really stuck with me. Every song is so heartbreaking, powerful, and a flat-out cry for someone to hear the pain. It sounds unpleasant, but I can assure, you it's everything but.

3. Ryan Adams, "Easy Tiger"

If 2006 was the year I got into Beck, 2007 was the year I got into Ryan Adams. If I could put albums like "Heartbreaker," "Demolition," or the outstanding "Love is Hell" here, they might outrank my #1. But as it stands, "Easy Tiger" is good enough to outrank 22 others. Took me a bit to warm up to it, but once I did, I couldn't stop. I owe my appreciation of this man's work to Cameron Crowe and Stephen King. As if they hadn't inspired me enough already.

2. Maxïmo Park, "Our Earthly Pleasures"

Cream of the crop of all the British rock I listened to this year. Lyrically the best album I heard last year. Just look:

When it comes to girls I'm mostly hypothetical
If I list their names it's purely alphabetical
When it comes to girls I'm truely theoretical
If I test a nerve it's merely dialetical

Seeing these guys live at the Double Door last year was one of the best concerts of my life. I thought I was getting too old to rock out at show...until that night.

1. Silverchair, "Young Modern"

2007 marked the revival of one of my favorite alternative rock bands...in the U.S. They've been kicking ass over in Australia for a while now, but Daniel John's medical problems (debilitating arthritis) kept them from promoting 2002's Diorama here. That album was their first step forward into a new sound, leaving behind their grunge/alternative roots. This is the second, third, and fourth steps. Everyone here loves them now, and instead of being resentful and crying out "They were mine first!" I'm just incredibly happy for them. Take a bow, gentlemen. You have certainly earned it.

So that's it. My favorite stuff from last year. What do you think? Did I leave something out? Did I put something in that shouldn't have been? Was some stuff too high, while others were too low? Which ones have you heard and can agree with me on?

I tried to keep each commentary short for a reason. Let's talk about this, people.