Round Up: Top 20 Albums
After a four day stretch, I've finished the list, and I'm honestly quite proud of it.
The quality of music released in 2007 was high, and because of this, many special albums didn't find their way into my top 20. Therefore, its only fair that I have a post devoted to a round-up, including the notable mentions, who just missed out on the top 20. I will post a couple of great tracks as well...
Top 20 Albums:
1. Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
2. Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position
3. M.I.A.- Kala
4. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
5. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
6. Burial- Untrue
7. ?- The Good, The Bad And The Queen
8. Radiohead- In Rainbows
9. Daft Punk- Alive 2007
10. Les Savy Fav- Let's Stay Friends
11. Kings Of Leon- Because Of The Times
12. The Shins- Wincing The Night Away
13. LCD Soundsystem- Sound Of Silver
14. Justice- †
15. Bloc Party- A Weekend In The City
16. Interpol- Our Love To Admire
17. Klaxons- Myths Of The Near Future
18. Jay-Z- American Gangster
19. Bright Eyes- Cassadaga
20. Foo Fighters- Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace
Notable Mentions:
Rock/Indie/Pop
The Maccabees- Colour It In: If I'd given this a few more listens, it probably would have flown into my top 20. Unfortunately, I never really gave it the time of day. I'll quote my brother on this (a HUGE fan): "I see this album as the coming of a really great band".
The Maccabees- Latchmere
Band Of Horses- Cease To Begin: To the trained ear, this was apparently worse than previous Band Of Horses album 'Everything All The Time'. If that's the truth, Everything All The Time must have been bloody amazing.
Band Of Horses- Is There A Ghost
Feist- The Reminder: The experience from dozens of other projects gave Leslie Feist the necessary grounding to produce such a great solo album. Easy-going, memorable, and remixed to death, The Reminder has established Feist as a serious songwriter.
Feist- My Moon My Man
Maximo Park- Our Earthly Pleasures: Our Earthly Pleasures got destroyed by the NME for some reason, and although I don't believe its top 20 worthy, it still chock full of great pop songs.
Maximo Park- Books From Boxes
Hip-Hop/Rap:
Kanye West- Graduation: Graduation was a return to form after the disappointing Late Registration. Other than 'Drunk And Hot Girls', it gels to perfection.
Kanye West- Good Life (ft. T-Pain)
Wu-Tang Clan- 8 Diagrams: Have you been missing the way rap used to be? Look no further. 8 Diagrams is the Clan doing what they do best, and their sound is almost totally unchanged from the throwback days.
Chris Brown- Exclusive: This guy can do it all. Sing, dance, act (for 15 minutes of Stomp The Yard at least). And whilst Exclusive isn't really good, it does show the smallest bit of progression on Chris' part. Maybe he will be the next Michael Jackson after all?
Dizzee Rascal- Maths+English: Now twice nominated for the Mercury award, and much deserved. No tricks- what you see is what you get.
Dizzee Rascal- Sirens
Chamillionaire- Ultimate Victory: No, he isn't a one hit wonder. His flow is almost unmatched in my opinion ("so fluid its like drinking a song"), and he has really improved between albums.
Chamillionaire- The Ultimate Victory
Things I haven't heard but really should do:
Bruce Sprinstein- Magic
Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
The National- Boxer
The quality of music released in 2007 was high, and because of this, many special albums didn't find their way into my top 20. Therefore, its only fair that I have a post devoted to a round-up, including the notable mentions, who just missed out on the top 20. I will post a couple of great tracks as well...
Top 20 Albums:
1. Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
2. Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position
3. M.I.A.- Kala
4. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
5. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
6. Burial- Untrue
7. ?- The Good, The Bad And The Queen
8. Radiohead- In Rainbows
9. Daft Punk- Alive 2007
10. Les Savy Fav- Let's Stay Friends
11. Kings Of Leon- Because Of The Times
12. The Shins- Wincing The Night Away
13. LCD Soundsystem- Sound Of Silver
14. Justice- †
15. Bloc Party- A Weekend In The City
16. Interpol- Our Love To Admire
17. Klaxons- Myths Of The Near Future
18. Jay-Z- American Gangster
19. Bright Eyes- Cassadaga
20. Foo Fighters- Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace
Notable Mentions:
Rock/Indie/Pop
The Maccabees- Colour It In: If I'd given this a few more listens, it probably would have flown into my top 20. Unfortunately, I never really gave it the time of day. I'll quote my brother on this (a HUGE fan): "I see this album as the coming of a really great band".The Maccabees- Latchmere
Band Of Horses- Cease To Begin: To the trained ear, this was apparently worse than previous Band Of Horses album 'Everything All The Time'. If that's the truth, Everything All The Time must have been bloody amazing.Band Of Horses- Is There A Ghost
Feist- The Reminder: The experience from dozens of other projects gave Leslie Feist the necessary grounding to produce such a great solo album. Easy-going, memorable, and remixed to death, The Reminder has established Feist as a serious songwriter.Feist- My Moon My Man
Maximo Park- Our Earthly Pleasures: Our Earthly Pleasures got destroyed by the NME for some reason, and although I don't believe its top 20 worthy, it still chock full of great pop songs.Maximo Park- Books From Boxes
Hip-Hop/Rap:
Kanye West- Graduation: Graduation was a return to form after the disappointing Late Registration. Other than 'Drunk And Hot Girls', it gels to perfection.Kanye West- Good Life (ft. T-Pain)
Wu-Tang Clan- 8 Diagrams: Have you been missing the way rap used to be? Look no further. 8 Diagrams is the Clan doing what they do best, and their sound is almost totally unchanged from the throwback days.
Chris Brown- Exclusive: This guy can do it all. Sing, dance, act (for 15 minutes of Stomp The Yard at least). And whilst Exclusive isn't really good, it does show the smallest bit of progression on Chris' part. Maybe he will be the next Michael Jackson after all?
Dizzee Rascal- Maths+English: Now twice nominated for the Mercury award, and much deserved. No tricks- what you see is what you get.Dizzee Rascal- Sirens
Chamillionaire- Ultimate Victory: No, he isn't a one hit wonder. His flow is almost unmatched in my opinion ("so fluid its like drinking a song"), and he has really improved between albums.Chamillionaire- The Ultimate Victory
Things I haven't heard but really should do:
Bruce Sprinstein- Magic
Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
The National- Boxer
Nice to see Maximo mentioned. Their album is firmly planted in my top20.
But... why, why doesn't anybody list "VHS and Beta" among their favorites.... :(
VHS and Beta? I didn't even know they released an album this year. Do you have any of their new songs.
I was really annoyed when NME gave Our Earthly Pleasure 5 out of 10. The cheek... its a complete pop album.
What about Ghostface Killah's "Big Doe Rehab" I really thought it was at least equal to 8 Diagrams, and the man has been hardworking with quality products.
Not quite the equal of Fishscale, though, is it? The reason Wu Tang got mentioned is because its a return to form. Ghostface Killah has been around for a while, forging an amazing solo career.
Of course, thats not to say that he isn't ridiculously good (and under-rated).
I'd say it equals Fishscale, and better than More Fish. He's my favorite MC, and I grew up in a time of KRS-ONE and Rakim. I think Ghost could be getting to the 'taken for granted' status. Although Lupe is truly hot. I hope this album gets him and Santos some notoriety lyrically the dudes a Talib or Common type with a sick flow. Like the site you definately have some diverse tastes.
Its a constant annoyance when truly brilliant bands and artists never get the recognition they deserve.
Cheers for all the comments. Its nice to hear you like my site. You don't have a blog of your own, do you? I would love to check it out...