YOUR Top 10 Totally Rad Albums of 2007

[-mk-]

I'm a music nut and was just wondering what the highlights of the year were for Totally Rad viewers. I think it'd be a cool way to get exposed to stuff I missed, and I like hearing what others really "felt" this year, regardless of how it was received by others/critics/etc. If 10 is too hard, just list 5.

Here are mine (not in top to bottom order, just listing):

1. Alter Bridge - Blackbird - just an awesome, straight-ahead rock album. Several radio-friendly tunes, but all great songs. Scott Stapp leaving was the best thing to happen to Creed.

2. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black - this album blew me away. It's Motown, but it's modern. Mark Ronson is a genius.

3. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Too Long - is anyone as catchy as this band? Funky too, for a bunch of white guys.

4. Atreyu - Lead Sails Paper Anchors - the emo kids are crying "sellout," and I'm crying "thank god - Atreyu is more approachable now!" This album best represents (for 2007) what my "id" sounds like if you could hear it. If you're mad at your work/boss/spouse/whatever, just listen to "Blow."

5. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace - I LOVE the Foo Fighters, and this was an amazing look inside Dave's soul.

6. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand - two of my favorite voices combined on a sonic wonder of an album. You can FEEL their voices on this thing - unreal.

7. Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride - she's my guilty pleasure, and one of the few country artists I'm really digging these days.

8. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - these guys are INSANELY good. Creativity is through the roof and production is refreshing.

9. Kanye West - Graduation - one of the best in the rap game, one of the best in the production game. Who else could bring Daft Punk samples such exposure?

10. Fair to Midland - Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True - my first exposure to these guys. My prog-rock geeky pick of the year, and an incredible anti-mainstream album with tons going on in the music.

Other honorable mentions:

Silverchair - Young Modern
Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
Velvet Revolver - Libertad
Musiq Souldchild - Luvandmusiq

[neverendingwhitelights]

I'm probably one of the only people who is almost completely detached from the mainstream when it comes to music. I don't listen to critics, I don't listen to friends, the radio, blogs, nothing. I just kind of... explore.

This year, has been a rather disappointing year for me, a lot of albums I looked forward to were complete and utter failures. Though Maroon 5 did do much better on this second album, I must say. Better than I was expecting, anyway.

All that said, it's hard for me to really note strong albums, I tend to notice strong songs more, and when I say something is a good album, I'm usually saying that there are more great songs than bad or "meh" on it.

In any event, here's not, my top 10, but the first 10 I thought of...

1.) Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living With the Living - Track after track on here, wow, this albums fills me with such energy.

2.) Bloc Party - A Weekend In the City - Not as strong of an album as Silent Alarm, but not a disappointing one.

3.) Rhett Miller - The Believer - Rhett is a great guy and this is honestly the best thing he's done since the breakup of the Old 97's if you asked me. Must listen if you enjoy singer/songwriters in the least.

4.) Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers - Didn't like Lifeblood, glad they're back into the swing of things bigtime with this one. Some of their catchiest material in ages. One of my favorites of the year by far. Must listen!

5.) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible - I was probably the only person that thought Funeral was meh, I hear in Neon Bible what people are saying they heard in Funeral, oddly enough.

6.) The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes - Very talented girls! Great throwback pop, came out of leftfield and put a big grin on my face. Yes it was released in the US in '07, so it still counts!

7.) Dan Wilson - Free Life - About time this one came out! I wasn't happy with some of the song choices he made with this album though. I had heard demos and some songs were supposed to be arranged differently but they turned into something less than what they used to be. The first half is very strong whereas the second just drags, comparatively, the sequencing bothers me, but Dan is still a great guy.

8.) Hard-Fi - Once Upon A Time In the West - Lots and lots of catchy tunes here. A must listen for any music fan this year, I think.

9.) Matt Pond PA - Last Light - Another singer-songwriter that I'm a fan of.

10.) Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch - Some very nice tracks here as well.

I also must admit, I enjoyed the Music & Lyrics soundtrack as well, my guilty pleasure of the year.

Now that list is mostly the more well known ones, so in case I need to up my indie cred a smidge. Here's my Top 5 more "indie" picks, in no order.

1.) Emerson Hart - Cigarettes and Gasoline
2.) Soular - Love Crash Heal
3.) Trembling Blue Stars - The Last Holy Writer
4.) Ultratone - A Long Year
5.) Future of Forestry - Twilight

Let's not get into best songs of the year, because then I'll just have to post the tracklisting to each mix of new music I made this year for friends, which would result in an ever longer post than this. Much, much longer.

[samureye]

Oh Boy...

1. Kanye West - Graduation
Straight fire from start to finish.

2. 50 Cent - Curtis
Hate him or love him, he made a damn good album.

3.Wu-Tang Clan - The 8 Diagrams

4. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
Lupe is on a whole other level, man. Go pick this up.

5. Timbaland Presents: Shock Value - Various Artists
Great album, entire album is worth listening to.

FIVE MORE TO COME.

[yibn]

Originally Posted by -MK-

9. Kanye West - Graduation - one of the best in the rap game, one of the best in the production game. Who else could bring Daft Punk samples such exposure?

Busta Rhymes - Touch It

Nice Guybrush icon.

[gi_josh]

Lets see here...I'll probably kick myself later because I've left something really good out, but here are my first thoughts, in no particular order:

1. Motion city Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me - Whether you're "scene" or not doesn't matter, MCS knows how to write a damn good pop song.

2. Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now - The title says it all. TBS dropped some of their emo-ish-ness and pumped up the volume and became more rock-oriented, while still holding onto their hardcore roots. A great album to rock out to in the car.

3. Saosin - Self Titled - Saosin finally put out a full lenth, and its full of high energy rockin' tunes. I love it. They write catchy songs.

4. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High - Say what you want, these guys write catchy tunes as well. I went to a concert of theirs this summer (to see +44) and it was filled with way too much of a teenage girl quotient, but my friends and I started a mosh pit anyway.

5. Cobra Starship - Viva La Cobra! - wow, my whole list is guilty pleasures, haha. These guys are fun to watch live and fun to dance to, pure and simple.

[-mk-]

Originally Posted by Yibn

Busta Rhymes - Touch It

Nice Guybrush icon.

Forgot about that one - props to Swizz Beats for also spreading the Daft.

And thanks! The Monkey Island's (along with other LucasArts games) were always my favs.

[siraim]

Originally Posted by neverendingwhitelights

3.) Rhett Miller - The Believer - Rhett is a great guy and this is honestly the best thing he's done since the breakup of the Old 97's if you asked me. Must listen if you enjoy singer/songwriters in the least.

I love me some Rhett.. All of the Old 97's albums are permanently pinned on my iPhone and iPod as is all of Rhett's solo stuff. He's great to see in concert too.. of course, I worry that his right arm is going to snap clean off when he's playing guitar.

I couldn't possibly give a top 10 of 2007... I have no idea what was released this year.. or what of that I really enjoyed.. just wanted to second the comment about Rhett.

I take that back.. I bought this album in 2007 on the recommendation of a friend and I know it came out in 2007... Good stuff if you like folky americana type music: Great Lake Swimmers : Ongiara

[blooper]

Originally Posted by GI_Josh

3. Saosin - Self Titled - Saosin finally put out a full lenth, and its full of high energy rockin' tunes. I love it. They write catchy songs.

Shhhhhh... 2006

[az0madman]

I've been recently looking over a bunch of the best of 2007 lists (mostly from stereogum) so I can check up on the music I've missed over the year. Of course, this thread is totally rad to me.

Here's my #9 (because I couldn't find 10) list in no particular order. I'm bad at "reviewing" music. I just like what I like.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Song by the same name is one of my favorites to listen to. The entire album is solid too, but I don't listen to it nearly as much as I want to.

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Imitosis is so addictive to listen to as is the rest of the album. Andrew Bird's quickly became one of my favorites. He jumped up to my top 10 list at last.fm surprisingly fast.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
15 Steps was such a fresh song for me. I love listening to it. Rest of the album is good too, but once I find a song I really like in an album, I usually listen to nothing but that song.

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
It's not as good as Gimme Fiction, but Spoon is one of my favorites. This album is no exception to that.

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Listened to Is There a Ghost and was hooked on this album. I never got into their first album that much, but this one seemed to do it for me.

Feist - The Reminder
Okay, so I'm a sucker for songs promoted by Apple and iPods... First it was Jet, then it was Fratellis, and now it's Feist (I already liked Gorillaz before they were promoted). And once again, the entire album is just as good as the single.

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass
Now this guy's a poet. I don't listen to rap on radio because they're mostly those dance party ones (the ones I don't like)... and because Aesop Rock isn't on there.

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
I really loved the first album, The Gulag Orkestar and this one is almost just as good. It's not as memorable as the first one is for me, but maybe I just haven't listened to it as much.

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
First album was great and so is this one. They're like Jet and Fratellis and just has that upbeat rock that I like.

[iccanui]

Just picked up this game on PSN and its pretty rad. I didnt see any topics in search so ...

First off this game is very much like our beloved stardust HD. Cept instead of being on a revolving planet its on a flat surface and its all got this kinda cell shaded feel thats real slick. The music for it is very fun and as you kill things you make music to go along with everything. Very fun idea. But the real fun keeping me coming back is that it has a progression system. You earn points as you go and points unlock maps in single map mode, more starting lives, etc. The things is , you dont have to be great, you dont have to be dedicated, you can just log in for a few min here and there at your pleasure and you progress and expand as time goes on. Thats a game i can really digg these days, a game that doesnt penalize you for having a life or simply wanting to do something other then sit in front of you tv for hours at a time and still rewards you for long term commitment. for a little indie game made by a guy in his basement im pleased.

10 bucks and i am very happy and i see myself playing this for some time, even if only in small bunches. But thats really what matters if you ask me, not that im excited for 2 weeks then never play it again, but that its sitting there welcoming me with advancement and fun anytime i want to for a long time. Check it out PS3 owners.

Peace.