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These are my top ten albums of 2007, this year, with explanations. For me, this wasn't a phenomenal year of music--there was no OH MY GOD album of 2007 (i.e., no John Legend). But there were some albums I truly enjoyed. Key track is not necessarily my favorite track, but one I feel is emblematic of the album. So, without further ado...
Jesse's Top Ten Albums of 2007:
10. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
The White Stripes remain one of my favorite musical groups / duos / Jack-White-and-sometimes-Meg of all time. A couple of years ago, they released what I think could have been their best work ever-Get Behind Me Satan. This is no Get Behind Me Satan. In that album, Jack showed control and understated melodies that were infectious as well as moving. This was the year of big productions, and Jack produced a quasi-concept album of big instruments and loud vocals. It is impressive and moving, but lacks the appealing charm that made me love Get Behind Me Satan so much. Icky Thump is a good, solid album, but not quite a great album, in my opinion. Still, I enjoyed it, and enjoyed it more than his The Raconteurs pet project.
Key track: A Martyr For My Love For You - A hot beat backed with big guitar. It’s catchy and big, which is pretty representative of the album.
9. Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains
Mary is the often imitated, never duplicated face of female R&B. She accomplishes what Beyonce only dreams of-to say nothing of the Rihannas of the world. Her latest album makes it all seem effortless, to boot. She lays down some hot beats and many big notes and the right balance of inner strength and artistic vulnerability. She is only a #9 for me because her album was released so late. It just didn’t get the play time that other albums on this list received.
Key track: What Love Is - Mary can take the most banal lyrics and make a big song of them without breaking a sweat. Her notes at the end just sell it to me.
8. Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool
Lupe, before this album, had a fairly catchy hit with “Kick, Push,” but it was too young or too inconsequential to mean anything to me. I bought this album at the recommendation of critics, who loved it. My only previous comparison of work is his aforementioned single, which has little or nothing to do with this album. Lupe moved away from the mainstream feel of his last song and made a much more solid effort because of it. His opening track establishes his most basic theme, and he moves around with it. That sort of experimentation displays a maturity lacking in a lot of other albums that were released with more fanfare. Sure, Graduation had some genuinely hot tracks, but it lacked the cohesion and the variety that made The Cool, to me, a better album.
Key track: Dumb it Down - A surprisingly honest track representative of an emerging sound and artist.
7. Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars
This is the second part of my year of big productions. Rufus, at his best, takes on a piano melody and a heartbreaking vocal-like he does throughout Poses. Here, and as a recent trend, he has been using as much other as possible-cellos and timpanis and piccolos and a huge cacophony of instrument and sound. It overpowers his vocal, which at times, is whiny and nasal. The album is affecting, and I greatly enjoyed it. I just long for the Rufus who was daring without the need to be overstated. I found the album to be powerful and infectious, but perhaps less honest.
Key track: Between My Legs - A lyric familiar with a sound less characteristic, but still impressive.
6. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I, like everyone else, found Arcade Fire’s last album to be fantastic. I was quick to pick up their second effort, and I think, out of this growing list of over-production, it fared the best. Arcade Fire, for the short time they’ve been around, have always been big. And this layered and loudly subtle album is no exception. Its strengths are different than that of Rufus or even of Jack White. The intricate construction of this album is what draws you to it; it has an alluring loudness to it. It doesn’t overpower you, but rather, draws you in. I was highly impressed that the sound, similar to Funeral, still felt fresh, not recycled. Even their revisit of tracks from their EP didn’t feel disingenuous, but rehearsed and honed. I liked that their songs started big and continued to grow.
Key track: No Cars Go - The song from the EP has similar elements to its previous recording, but is more unrelenting and that much more powerful. It grabs you and doesn’t let you go.
5. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
This, for me, was the little album that could. My first impressions were not favorable, as I found it to be more hype than substance. But it grew on me considerably. I don’t know what else can be said about this album-her throwback sound, weaving runs, brutal vulnerability all work for her.
Key track: Back to Black - Her control over this lyric and this melody are noteworthy, but it’s also incredibly catchy.
4. Travis - The Boy With No Name
Travis did everything right with this one-which is to say, not change a thing. This is Travis being Travis. While I applaud efforts for experimentation, different isn’t always growth and different certainly isn’t always better. The Boy With No Name is not a reinvention nor is it groundbreaking new territory. It is everything it claims to be and nothing more; it does not vastly overreach, like Coldplay, nor does it confuse its listeners with uncharacteristic sound. It is like ordering my favorite meal and getting it exactly right.
Key track: Under The Moonlight - It reminds you exactly what makes these guys old pros.
3. Jimmy Eat World - Chase this Light
This was the surprise album, for me. While The Shins, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Spoon (and Stars and Kayne West and Interpol and Bjork and Modest Mouse…) all released albums this year-and while some were quite good-none of them were as inspired or as genuinely charming as Jimmy. With a more grown-up lyric and a pleasing sound, they made an album that I can listen to the whole way through. None of the previously mentioned artists were able to accomplish that. And pre-2007, I would have ranked them all above Jimmy. And perhaps in some philosophically Platonic understanding of greatness, they all still might rank above Jimmy. But there is something to be said for producing an album worth listening to the whole way through.
Key track: Big Casino - Their opening track really caught my attention and it set the tone for the rest of the album.
2. Bloc Party - Weekend in the City
Much of my list has been a comparison. I think the only “new” artist is Amy Winehouse, but even she had an album before the one listed. Bloc Party, to me, represents a unique sound. It is different than most of the stuff out there. Different isn’t necessarily better, but they back it with sonorous melodies and an attractive vocal. While Rufus is a bit overcooked, and Arcade Fire employs a liberal use of musical layering, Bloc Party relies on the clean individuality of its many instruments. You can hear each one, even though there are often many going on at once. While I enjoyed their last album, Silent Alarm, I think this one builds upon the genre themes they established in a good way. They don’t get louder or bigger, but more refined in their aim-without losing any of their strength. And while at times it falls on the wrong side of “as heard in a very special episode of Dawson’s Creek,” the album does its best to remain truthful.
Key track: On - What a great track.
1. Talib Kweli - Ear Drum
Talib is my favorite album of 2007 because it surprised me so. I found myself listening carefully to each track, repeating it before it got a chance to end. He was deliberate and substantial-employing even the most common of devices to a greater degree. Again, in a year where we got 50 v. Kanye, and creative fluff like T.I., it was nice to hear a grounded, intelligent-not clever-album. He can be funny without losing his gravity; he can be loud without losing his focus. I was honestly taken aback by the finesse of this album.
Key track: Soon the New Day - If only for the line about the sisterhood of the traveling pants.
Jesse's Top Ten Albums of 2007:
10. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
The White Stripes remain one of my favorite musical groups / duos / Jack-White-and-sometimes-Meg of all time. A couple of years ago, they released what I think could have been their best work ever-Get Behind Me Satan. This is no Get Behind Me Satan. In that album, Jack showed control and understated melodies that were infectious as well as moving. This was the year of big productions, and Jack produced a quasi-concept album of big instruments and loud vocals. It is impressive and moving, but lacks the appealing charm that made me love Get Behind Me Satan so much. Icky Thump is a good, solid album, but not quite a great album, in my opinion. Still, I enjoyed it, and enjoyed it more than his The Raconteurs pet project.
Key track: A Martyr For My Love For You - A hot beat backed with big guitar. It’s catchy and big, which is pretty representative of the album.
9. Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains
Mary is the often imitated, never duplicated face of female R&B. She accomplishes what Beyonce only dreams of-to say nothing of the Rihannas of the world. Her latest album makes it all seem effortless, to boot. She lays down some hot beats and many big notes and the right balance of inner strength and artistic vulnerability. She is only a #9 for me because her album was released so late. It just didn’t get the play time that other albums on this list received.
Key track: What Love Is - Mary can take the most banal lyrics and make a big song of them without breaking a sweat. Her notes at the end just sell it to me.
8. Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool
Lupe, before this album, had a fairly catchy hit with “Kick, Push,” but it was too young or too inconsequential to mean anything to me. I bought this album at the recommendation of critics, who loved it. My only previous comparison of work is his aforementioned single, which has little or nothing to do with this album. Lupe moved away from the mainstream feel of his last song and made a much more solid effort because of it. His opening track establishes his most basic theme, and he moves around with it. That sort of experimentation displays a maturity lacking in a lot of other albums that were released with more fanfare. Sure, Graduation had some genuinely hot tracks, but it lacked the cohesion and the variety that made The Cool, to me, a better album.
Key track: Dumb it Down - A surprisingly honest track representative of an emerging sound and artist.
7. Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars
This is the second part of my year of big productions. Rufus, at his best, takes on a piano melody and a heartbreaking vocal-like he does throughout Poses. Here, and as a recent trend, he has been using as much other as possible-cellos and timpanis and piccolos and a huge cacophony of instrument and sound. It overpowers his vocal, which at times, is whiny and nasal. The album is affecting, and I greatly enjoyed it. I just long for the Rufus who was daring without the need to be overstated. I found the album to be powerful and infectious, but perhaps less honest.
Key track: Between My Legs - A lyric familiar with a sound less characteristic, but still impressive.
6. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I, like everyone else, found Arcade Fire’s last album to be fantastic. I was quick to pick up their second effort, and I think, out of this growing list of over-production, it fared the best. Arcade Fire, for the short time they’ve been around, have always been big. And this layered and loudly subtle album is no exception. Its strengths are different than that of Rufus or even of Jack White. The intricate construction of this album is what draws you to it; it has an alluring loudness to it. It doesn’t overpower you, but rather, draws you in. I was highly impressed that the sound, similar to Funeral, still felt fresh, not recycled. Even their revisit of tracks from their EP didn’t feel disingenuous, but rehearsed and honed. I liked that their songs started big and continued to grow.
Key track: No Cars Go - The song from the EP has similar elements to its previous recording, but is more unrelenting and that much more powerful. It grabs you and doesn’t let you go.
5. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
This, for me, was the little album that could. My first impressions were not favorable, as I found it to be more hype than substance. But it grew on me considerably. I don’t know what else can be said about this album-her throwback sound, weaving runs, brutal vulnerability all work for her.
Key track: Back to Black - Her control over this lyric and this melody are noteworthy, but it’s also incredibly catchy.
4. Travis - The Boy With No Name
Travis did everything right with this one-which is to say, not change a thing. This is Travis being Travis. While I applaud efforts for experimentation, different isn’t always growth and different certainly isn’t always better. The Boy With No Name is not a reinvention nor is it groundbreaking new territory. It is everything it claims to be and nothing more; it does not vastly overreach, like Coldplay, nor does it confuse its listeners with uncharacteristic sound. It is like ordering my favorite meal and getting it exactly right.
Key track: Under The Moonlight - It reminds you exactly what makes these guys old pros.
3. Jimmy Eat World - Chase this Light
This was the surprise album, for me. While The Shins, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Spoon (and Stars and Kayne West and Interpol and Bjork and Modest Mouse…) all released albums this year-and while some were quite good-none of them were as inspired or as genuinely charming as Jimmy. With a more grown-up lyric and a pleasing sound, they made an album that I can listen to the whole way through. None of the previously mentioned artists were able to accomplish that. And pre-2007, I would have ranked them all above Jimmy. And perhaps in some philosophically Platonic understanding of greatness, they all still might rank above Jimmy. But there is something to be said for producing an album worth listening to the whole way through.
Key track: Big Casino - Their opening track really caught my attention and it set the tone for the rest of the album.
2. Bloc Party - Weekend in the City
Much of my list has been a comparison. I think the only “new” artist is Amy Winehouse, but even she had an album before the one listed. Bloc Party, to me, represents a unique sound. It is different than most of the stuff out there. Different isn’t necessarily better, but they back it with sonorous melodies and an attractive vocal. While Rufus is a bit overcooked, and Arcade Fire employs a liberal use of musical layering, Bloc Party relies on the clean individuality of its many instruments. You can hear each one, even though there are often many going on at once. While I enjoyed their last album, Silent Alarm, I think this one builds upon the genre themes they established in a good way. They don’t get louder or bigger, but more refined in their aim-without losing any of their strength. And while at times it falls on the wrong side of “as heard in a very special episode of Dawson’s Creek,” the album does its best to remain truthful.
Key track: On - What a great track.
1. Talib Kweli - Ear Drum
Talib is my favorite album of 2007 because it surprised me so. I found myself listening carefully to each track, repeating it before it got a chance to end. He was deliberate and substantial-employing even the most common of devices to a greater degree. Again, in a year where we got 50 v. Kanye, and creative fluff like T.I., it was nice to hear a grounded, intelligent-not clever-album. He can be funny without losing his gravity; he can be loud without losing his focus. I was honestly taken aback by the finesse of this album.
Key track: Soon the New Day - If only for the line about the sisterhood of the traveling pants.