Albums of 2007

[Rob McCow]

Whichever way you look at it, 2007 has been a rubbish year for music. The singles chart has collapsed, album sales are down with the dirty and it seems you need to be on a 'talent show' to get any recognition. Pop is dead, indie is dead and hip-hop / Rnb is still rubbish.

But there have been a few diamonds out this year. Let's have your top 3 albums and your most hated album/artist!

Top 3:


Candylion - Gruff Rhys
A bunch of great tunes played mostly on acoustic guitar and drums. And that's it. Most of the songs are 3 minutes or less and range from the infectiously cute title track to the 15 story-epic of Skylon. This is my most listened-to album of the year.


Justice - 'Cross' †
Psychedelic dance featuring my fave single of the year (D.A.N.C.E.) and some of the dirtiest synth sounds ever heard. Despite being loud and dirty, the album remains largely tuneful and accesible. In a year of reunions, this is new and exciting music.


Crowded House - Time On Earth
Just elbowing out the Klaxons from the top 3, Time on Earth is an album that gets better each time I listen to it. First impressions weren't too favourable, but after seeing them live it really cemented in my mind how good this album is.

This Year's Mega-Stinker
Kate Nash.
Naturally, I didn't buy her album. Her self-important, cutesy-cutesy lyrics drive me up the wall. Dreadful dreary rubbish.

[Si Hunt]

My favourite albums this year:

1. "The Walk" by Hanson.



Another year, another great album by Hanson! They surprised us by letting Zac write and sing most of the songs, but it sort of worked. "The Walk" has an organic, instrumental and rockier sound from "Running Man" and "Tearing It Down" to the rollicking "Great Divide" single and gorgeous ballads like "Georgia". Even the rather odd single choice, "Go", was a grower. Just a really great, professionally written and recorded album. AGAIN.

2. "Pull The Pin" by Stereophonics



Another rough-edged pop masterpeice from the 'phonics, yet still following the usual formula: an unlistenable head-banging intro, a poignant production-pop single or two ("It Means Nothing") and some album track classics in the middle ("Stone", "Daisy Lane"). Of the rest, "Ladyluck" is a lost classic and "Bank Holiday Monday" a rowdy mess, but this just about kept me repeat-playing it for much of the autumn this year.

3. "This Delicate Thing We've Made" by Darren Stanley Hayes



Against all the odds this bloated, self-indulgent opus turned out to contain more than a whole album of great electro-tunes. True, the world could (and still can) live without his silly doodling on "Bombs Up In My Face", but the likes of "Neverland", "Sing To Me" and (my personal favourite) "Lucky Town" are both beautiful and clever. The Kate Bush-esque concept is even rather endearing. Overall, an unexpected triumph.

4. "This Time" by Melanie C



Poor Melanie. No-one expected her to follow up the hit (in Portugal) album "Beautiful Intentions" with this collection of middle-of-the-road Chambers/Alexander esque pop-lite tunes, but that twas what she did. "But wait!" cried I. "These songs are actually really good, and much better than "On The Horizon". Slowly, dame's P-Bal and Rayner came to agree that nuggets like the title track and "Your Mistake" were actually pop gold. And, more importantly, that I WAS RIGHT. Melanie continues to doggedly promote these songs to this day, as they flop everywhere.

5. "Beautiful World" by Take That.



I'm going to include it even though it's technically a 2006 album because I got it for Christmas last year, and was still playing it months into 2007. It stayed in my car for literally ages. The ballads have a modern, slick spin on them like "Reaching Out" or "Patience" but there is also the more adventurous numbers like "Mancunian Way" or the lovely "Wooden Boat". Only the presence of a couple of rubbish ballads in the middle lets the side down, but mostly this was irresistable!

6. "Tori Amos" - American Doll Posse



Most of it was rubbish, it was seven tracks too long and it never quite gelled. But this is the way with all Tori's albums. The important thing was, it had a mad-as-cheese cover and a handful of stabs at musical genius - "Big Wheel", "Secret Spell" and "Bouncing Off Clouds" among them. This year she turned up to gigs in a variety of different wigs 'being' each of the five girls that made this album. How can you not love her?

Si.

[SiHart]

Ok, Top 3, here we come:

Number 1:

No surprises there. My favourite band return with an album that seemed a bit lacklustre to begin with, but slowly and wonderfully revealed it's quiet magnificence. I've grown to love it and it has lots of moments of wonder for me, none more so than the closing song,People Are Like Suns, which was instantly my favourite.

Number 2:

I bought it because I liked Golden Skans and it was cheap. I've loved it since I first heard it! They're silly and their lyrics are pompously portentous, but I love them! The music is really exciting and they make good videos with them all being sci-fi ninjas!

Number 3:

Rufus Wainwright was a bit of a discovery for me this year, and the album was an impulse buy at the supermarket but has become a firm favourite. I love the lush orchestrations and his voice which could be annoying but is used so expressively in his songs to create an album quite unlike anything else I heard all year.

Bubbling under: Candylion by Gruff Rhys, Hey Venus! by the SFA

Least favourite would have to be Kate Nash for me too. Whiny, simple and annoying.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I have updated my list to re-instate some glaring ommisions.

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

Mine are fairly predictable...

Number 1:

No real surprises there! However, when I first heard Somewhere Else, I was actually quite disappointed! Yet, I persevered, and after hearing most of the tracks live, it has turned out to be a grower, to the extent where I absolutely love it! Marillion are releasing their 15th studio album next year, which I am thoroughly looking forward to.

Number 2:

Porcupine Tree's latest offering, Fear of a Blank Planet has turned out to be utterly amazing, with both Alex Lifeson and Robert Fripp taking solos. Offering political commentary through progressive rock that's been tinged with hints of psychedelia and metal, as well as a heavy dose of industrial. There's no real way to describe the genre that this album belongs to - I've heard of it as "Snow Patrol meets Ministery via Marillion" in the past! Absolutely brilliant stuff...

Number 3:

Y'know what? I really enjoyed this album... it's sexy, innovative and it features Brett Anderson's unique voice. It's come in for a lot of stick, but it was fun, and that was all I wanted. From the ballad "Love is Dead" through to the late Suede-esque "Dust and Rain", it has something to offer for most people

Number 4:

The former Blaze Bayley guitarists John Slater and Steve Wray really pulled out all the stops to make a fantastic metal album. It's edgy, rhythmical and very technical. It's certainly one of my favourite metal albums of the last few years, melding together grunge in the vein of Alice In Chains, the rhythmical power of bands such as Machine Head and the singing style of Metallica. A New Shade of Black for the Soul is one of the most interestic and exciting metal albums of this decade so far.

Number 5:

Area 54's album Bring out Your Dead was the most eclectic album that the boys (and girl) from 54 have ever put out, with songs in a variety of styles. Unfortunately, it is also the last album that 54 will ever put out, as front man Lakis Kyriacou has since disbanded 54, and has moved on to his new project, Love and Bullets. However, this album is still well worth checking out.

Ant x

[SiHart]

I have updated my list to re-instate some glaring ommisions.

I don't know how I missed Mel C's album off my list.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

You must have been daydreaming Si - it's everyone's albums of choice this year!

Si.

[Si Hunt]

I can't see the titles in your list Ant - I can work out pretty much what they are from the descriptions, but did you mean to insert titles or cover pictures?

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

I can't see the titles in your list Ant - I can work out pretty much what they are from the descriptions, but did you mean to insert titles or cover pictures?

Si.

cover pictures. I'll try and find better ones tomorrow, in that case!

Ant x

[Rob McCow]

Amazon! Is! Your! Friend!

Sadly, I still choke back the vomit when thinking of Brett Andersen's recent efforts, so even looking at his album this year would create a risk of upchucking. But if someone says it's good, then maybe it is worth checking out!

I also appreciate that someone like Mel C might be out there, just doing good songs, but having little success. Bless her and her fans! Perhaps she needs to be a judge on X-Factor. That'd shift some units.

[Si Hunt]

I fear Dannii's latest chart positions dissprove that theory!

Si.

[Perry Vale]

No pics from me....only just managed to find 10 albums!

1. The Good, The Bad & The Queen (Self-titled) - An album that really has to be listened to as a whole, this re-affirmed what a great songwriter Damon Albarn is (but makes you wonder why the last couple of Blur albums were so poor). Great to hear Paul Simenon playing bass again, and he really has got a distinctive sound/style. Even (almost) 12 months later it still sounds fresh & wonderful.

2. Remi Nicole (My Conscience & I) - Brimming with "hit" singles, and catchier than a dealy virus in tv show '24'. Unfortunately she seems to be getting lumped in with the Lily/Kate 'scene', but she has so much more to offer, if this debut is anything to go by. Charming, funny, and fun!

3. Fiery Furnaces (Widow City) - A return to form from the thinking person's White Stripes. Managing to somehow combine the accessibilty of their debut, with the prog-indie madness of the follow up. Probably the most unique 'sound' of the year.

4. Gruff Rhys (Candylion) - Had forgotten this came out this year until I saw this thread, but agree with all of Steve's comments, an utterly delightful album.

5. Bjork (Volta) - Another return to form, and her most (easily) accessible album since 'Post', imo. Her performance at Glastonbury was the first thing from it I've seen in years that made me wish I was actually there.

6. Super Furry Animals (Hey Venus!) - Not as good as Candylion, but better than Lovecraft. Not as good as the That Petrol Emotion song though.

7. Maria Mckee (Late December) - One of THE best female voices in the world ever, not her best album, but still some very good moments. Caught her live finally too, which was amazing.

8. Shins (Wincing The Night Away) - Nice.

9. Foo Fighters (Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace) - Rock!

10. Prince (Planet Earth) - Most notable for coming with a free shitty newspaper, it also contained the first collaboration with Wendy & Lisa (of 'The Revolution') for some time. Now they do the music for 'Heroes'! Nice ripping off of U2 also.

[Alex]

1) My Life Story - Megaphone Theology - Not a new album from the hardly known nineties britpoppers, but this was the first chance to get your hands on a collection of beautiful tracks that they'd never released before, and it's orchestral loveliness always makes me smile.

2) Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position - A great collection of songs which border sometimes on the melodramatic but just about manage to not go over the top, and it's hard not to like the crazy loon singing these songs...!

3) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible - This was such a disappointment after the brilliance of Funeral, as they went in to a downbeat place a lot of the time with lyrics that were fairly weak, but there's just enough going on here for it to make the top 3.

I've yet to get round to listening to the new Radiohead and Polyphonic Spree albums yet, but I can't imagine anything else will be a contender for the top 3...

And as for the worst record of the year, I'm going for Kate Nash too, predictable it may be, but her really crappy lyrics annoy me more than Lily Allen's, and that's saying something!

[Dave Tudor]

Shamefully, I've bought hardly any of this year's albums, apart from the Manics, Klaxons and the Kaiser Chiefs (sorry - I like 'em! ).

[Dave Tudor]

Oh, and I did buy Cherry Ghost's 'Thirst For Romance', too - very good, worth it alone for 'People Help The People', one of the singles of the year for me.

[Perry Vale]

Forgot to mention, probably because it's an EP, the 'Isis' ep by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Another highlight of 2007.

[Pip Madeley]

Like Dave, I've not got too many albums from 2007, but those I have that are worthy of mention are:

[Si Hunt]

I feel mean for not including James Blunt in my list.

Si.

[P-Bal]

I feel mean for not buying any James Blunt music ever. Not very mean though.

I shall return with my albums, but smell Tina, Kylie and Smelanie on the wind!