Listed below are the best albums of 2007 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 4 hours ago).
"I had already liked this record, but I thought it wasn't as good as people perceived it out to be. That was until I listened to it in a car journey. The night sky looked so pretty and the sonic waves around me complemented the scenery. I was in a state of awe throughout it. And that's when I unde...""I had already liked this record, but I thought it wasn't as good as people perceived it out to be. That was until I listened to it in a car journey. The night sky looked so pretty and the sonic waves around me complemented the scenery. I was in a state of awe throughout it. And that's when I understood its significance; it's an album full of passionate and emotional alt-rock tunes. Screw everything I said about it being overrated, it deserves its acclaim. A modern masterpiece. "[+]Reply
"This is a brilliant album. I can't believe I've forgotten to add it too my chart for so long! So many good influences on it and the lyrics say so much in so little. Always play it before parties to get in the mood, songs like "Someone Great" and "All My Friends" remind me to cherish my time with ...""This is a brilliant album. I can't believe I've forgotten to add it too my chart for so long! So many good influences on it and the lyrics say so much in so little. Always play it before parties to get in the mood, songs like "Someone Great" and "All My Friends" remind me to cherish my time with my friends. I think thats one of the highest compliments I can give an album."[+]Reply
"Decided to get back into Bon Iver. This is a beautiful album. Justin's voice is so haunting and his falsetto is to die for. The simplicity of it enhances it fully, their second album falls from being over produced. Justin escaped into the Woods for a few months to work on this album and you can h...""Decided to get back into Bon Iver. This is a beautiful album. Justin's voice is so haunting and his falsetto is to die for. The simplicity of it enhances it fully, their second album falls from being over produced. Justin escaped into the Woods for a few months to work on this album and you can hear that perfectly here. The music has this tone and attitude where the wilderness is all you can picture. It sounds as a longing to get free and want to be away.
His vocals on ever song is beautiful, especially the harmonies with himself on The Wolves Act 1 & 2. Musically it's easy and accessible to listen to. The only place this album has some faults is with lyrics. On songs like Lump Sum, Blindsided, and Creature Fear, they are questionable. But at other times they rip through like beautiful poetry, and talent is undeniable.
The Wolves Act 1 & 2, Flume, Skinny Love, and re: Stacks, are the highlight tracks easily. They have the most emotion and power to them and that's where Bon Iver really shines. Sure if you're in a blissful carefree mood, Bon Iver is not the band to go to, but if you need to cry, need to be picked up some, need something nice, this is the perfect place to go.
There isn't too much to comment, because it's an incredible album plain and simple. A must listen to from the last decade.
A-"[+]Reply
"It's probably difficult to find a lead singer with such a deep, bass voice with songs this consistently good, able to vary up his vocal delivery enough to keep it all interesting. (See crash test dummies for an opposite example.) They're sort of an understated, inward-indie version of The Hold St...""It's probably difficult to find a lead singer with such a deep, bass voice with songs this consistently good, able to vary up his vocal delivery enough to keep it all interesting. (See crash test dummies for an opposite example.) They're sort of an understated, inward-indie version of The Hold Steady, with jams that rock, just not in a customary ROCK way. Tough for me to pick a favorite on this album. "fake empire" is the full boxer introduction, with subtly paranoid lyrics ("Tiptoe through our shiny city / With our diamond slippers on / Do our gay ballet on ice / Bluebirds on our shoulders") and a building of horns and piano to the end which is quite engaging. "mistaken for strangers" is where the lower-case rawk starts, with the pounding drums and clanging guitars setting up mr invisible ("Oh, you wouldn't want an angel watching over / Surprise, surprise, they wouldn't wanna watch / Another un-innocent, elegant fall / Into the un-magnificent lives of adults"). In love with a smart woman in "brainy", the guitars are more intricate and atmospheric but the drums are still energetic as the song seems like a lazy stalker song with a chorus of "You might need me more / Than you think you will / Come home in the car you love / Brainy, brainy, brainy" (but i think they're already in a relationship). Love the drums on "squalor victoria" too, with a string section that adds some spooky tension, giving way to piano and lines like "Out of my league, I have birds in my sleeves / And I wanna rush in with the fools". "slow show" wants to "get my shit together", almost seductive in a nerd/oaf way singing "I wanna hurry home to you / put on a slow, dumb show for you / and crack you up". There's a urge to hole up inside with a loved one in "apartment story" ("We?ll stay inside till somebody finds us / Do whatever the TV tells us / Stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz for days")."[+]Reply
"In 2004, Canadian indie rock pioneers Arcade Fire released Funeral, an album that shook the landscape of the alternative music scene. The album was met with praise from critics and many lauded the band's lyrical and musical flexibility with ingenuity to boot. When production began on a much await...""In 2004, Canadian indie rock pioneers Arcade Fire released Funeral, an album that shook the landscape of the alternative music scene. The album was met with praise from critics and many lauded the band's lyrical and musical flexibility with ingenuity to boot. When production began on a much awaited follow up in 2006, the band affixed two more permanent members into the fold, drummer Jeremy Gara and violinist Sarah Neufeld, expanding their repertoire to an even fuller extent. What they would produce with their newfangled, richer musical density would come to be known as Neon Bible, a record that never ceases to radiate dreaminess, twinkling triumphantly with unbridled grace. More importantly, it serves as the band's most prolific artistic statement, steadfast in its shimmering brilliance.
The first landmark on the album, comes in the form of track four, Intervention. The song stresses the dangers of over-dedication, whether it be towards patriotism while unaware of the prospect of incalculable casualties or towards religious zeal which renders an individual to turn a blind eye to familial strife. Frontman Win Butler declares, "Working for the church while your family dies, you take what they give you and you keep it inside, every spark of friendship and love will die without a home, hear the soldier groan, we'll go at it alone". This coincides with sublime organ pulses that engulf the track in a haze of heavenly aura. Eighth track, (Antichrist Television Blues), finds the band at their most 'Springsteenian' as they conjure a unflinching groove while Butler's lyrics call upon an escape from a dead-end American town and ponder what the future may bring. Penultimate cut No Cars Go is a drum-powered, french influenced rallying cry against the hustle and bustle of modern society. The track swelters to a boiling point of cathartic harmonization, perfectly leading into Butler's subdued first words of My Body is a Cage. The final track illustrates Butler's crippling anxiety until the song erupts in its final moments as he claims "his mind holds the key" to breaking the spell.
Arcade Fire's seminal second LP may not garner the same indie street cred as Funeral, however, it does contain a tighter, more cohesive collection of tracks that are effortlessly dynamic, both in musicality and thematic structure. The addition of a more heavily stocked musical arsenal provided the foundation for the band to push the boundaries of their sonic experimentation. The end result is an album that is less preachy and more introspective, attaching an alluring vulnerability to artists who were extremely conscious of their musical prowess. Plainly, this is not the millenially aware Arcade Fire found on Everything Now, nor is it the Arcade Fire who were undeniably ingenious but marginally conceited on Funeral. Neon Bible features the ensemble at the peak of their powers, embedded with confidence while tastefully unguarded. This is frankly mind-blowing considering that Arcade Fire at their worst is a force to be reckoned with.
"Into the light of a bridge that burns,
As I drive from the city with the money that I earned,
Into the dark of a starless sky,
I'm staring into nothing and I'm asking you why."
-(Antichrist Television Blues)
Standout Tracks:
1. No Cars Go
2. Intervention
3. Ocean of Noise
96.3"[+]Reply
"What characterises Arctic Monkeys as a great band and not just a good band in my opinion is the genius of Alex Turner's lyricism. This album may not have the same blinding wit as their first nor the poetic abstract imagery of their third but that's not to say this album has its own moments of bri...""What characterises Arctic Monkeys as a great band and not just a good band in my opinion is the genius of Alex Turner's lyricism. This album may not have the same blinding wit as their first nor the poetic abstract imagery of their third but that's not to say this album has its own moments of brilliance. Songs like "Only Ones Who Know", "Do Me A Favour", "Florescent Adolescent" and "505" deal with the angst felt my many 18/19 year olds leaving school for college in a very honest way. Lines like
"Well all the little promises they don't mean much
When there's memories to be made"
"It's these times that it tends,
The start to breaking up, to start to fall apart
Oh! hold on to your heart."
Are laden with a poignancy and create a sense of a person's comfort zone being torn down and replaced by the uncomfortable vulnerability of a lone individual.
Intentionally or not the speed of this album reflects the speed of these changes. For these reasons I dare call this album a concept album a very good one at that."[+]Reply
"Way inconsistent. Still decent at its worst, but those lows are amplified by how high the best songs are. Congratulations works much better as an album."Reply
"The single greatest document in the most important UK dance movement of the new millennium. Burial straddles the analogue/digital line perfectly, crafting haunting, hazy memories of songs you think you may have heard in a past life. This is the sound of the nightbus after the club, songs in the f...""The single greatest document in the most important UK dance movement of the new millennium. Burial straddles the analogue/digital line perfectly, crafting haunting, hazy memories of songs you think you may have heard in a past life. This is the sound of the nightbus after the club, songs in the form of answerphone messages soundtracking the council tower blocks and electricity pylons passing by the window on your way home. It's the sound of losing sunday to ketamine with your closest mates, and for many of my age it's the sound of sleep. How the fuck can you better a man who created the sound of sleep? Thefuckouttaherewithatshit."[+]Reply
"The only thing that holds this back from being a 100, because this album might otherwise be perfect, are "Barry Bonds" and "Drunk and Hot Girls." Just misusing Mos Def like that? Come on, Kanye. Other than that, "Flashing Lights" is my absolute favorite Kanye song, and in my top ten favorite song...""The only thing that holds this back from being a 100, because this album might otherwise be perfect, are "Barry Bonds" and "Drunk and Hot Girls." Just misusing Mos Def like that? Come on, Kanye. Other than that, "Flashing Lights" is my absolute favorite Kanye song, and in my top ten favorite songs of all time. "Homecoming," "Stronger," "I Wonder," and even "Champion" each are perfect, or pretty damn close. Despite it's lowest lows, the highs on this album are so massive that it's my second favorite Kanye album, and one of my favorite albums of all time. "[+]Reply
"Predetermined prejudice if I've ever seen it. Average track rating: 86 Average album rating: 79 Stop blindly hating on this music and actually develop a REAL opinion on it for once. This has been happening far too often to albums that definitely deserve better than this."Reply