My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade won 2006. Let's see who wins 2007. Everyone vote Will Smith. Billboard chart-topping albums of 2007: Nas - Hip Hop is Dead (cont. from 2006) Omarion - 21 (cont. from 2006) Soundtrack - Dreamgirls (cont. from 2006) Daughtry - Daughtry (cont. from 2006) Pretty Ricky - Late Night Special Norah Jones - Not Too Late Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High The Notorious B.I.G. - Greatest Hits Musiq Soulchild - Luvanmusiq Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Tim McGraw - Let It Go Various Artists - Now! Vol. 24 Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing Ne-Yo - Because of You Michael Buble - Call Me Irresponsible Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long R. Kelly - Double Up T Pain - Epiphany Toby Keith - Big Dog Daddy Bon Jovi - Lost Highway Miley Cyrus - Meet Miley Cyrus TI - TI vs. TIP Various Artists - Now! Vol. 25 Common - Finding Forever UGK - UGK Cast - High School Musical 2 Kanye West - Graduation Reba - Duets Rascal Flatts - Still Feels Good Bruce Springsteen - Magic Kid Rock - Rock n Roll Jesus Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden Jay Z - American Gangster Alicia Keys - As I Am Josh Groban - Noel Billboard chart-topping singles of 2007: Beyonce - Irreplaceable (cont. from 2006) Nelly Furtado - Say It Right (cont. from 2006) Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around Comes Around (cont. from 2006) Mims - This is Why I'm Hot Fergie - Glamorous (cont. from 2006) Akon - Don't Matter (cont. from 2006) Timbaland - Give It To Me Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder T Pain - Buy U a Drank Rihanna - Umbrella Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry Soulja Boy - Crank That Kanye West - Stronger Chris Brown - Kiss Kiss Alicia Keys - No One What are your top three albums for 2007? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Radiohead - In Rainbows 2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago 3. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later? YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm
1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago 2. Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3 3. Bomb the Music Industry - Get Warmer Good stuff: Radiohead - In Rainbows Jay Z - American Gangster Kanye West - Graduation The National - Boxer Okkervil River -The Stage Names Panda Bear - Person Pitch Burial - Untrue Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
1. Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me 2. Fightstar - One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours 3. City Sleeps - Not an Angel I did not realise how many albums I loved came out in 2007, what a fucking year! Even If It Kills Me is one of the most important albums ever to me, the lyrics connected with me a lot during a very difficult period of my life and the title track in particular made me feel less alone and more hopeful. Musically it's a perfect evolution of their sound for me, adding more poppy melodies and cleaner production. Fightstar go heavier and softer on their second record, stretching their sound in all directions. They have some of their heaviest, softest and poppiest material on here and it's all fantastic. Some of my favourite guitar tones ever on here. City Sleeps have always just felt special to me, they have such a great sound and the vocalist has one of my favourite voices ever. I wish they made more music but I've been listening to this album for 15 years now and it never gets old. Songs like the title track or "Sleep With Me" just feel like magic. Honourable mentions; 4. Emarosa - This is Your Way Out; This is easily my favourite Emarosa release, I love the sound they had on this album and Chris Roetter's vocals are fantastic. I wish they'd stuck with this lineup and sound for longer but at least I've got this EP. 5. Moving Mountains - Pneuma; This has grown on my so much over the last few years, such a fantastic record. It's the perfect mix of post-rock and emo. 6. Anberlin - Cities; The best Anberlin album, really love the evolution of their sound on here. Some really fantastic songs. 7. Epica - The Divine Conspiracy; My favourite Epica album, they get heavier, more progressive and add more interesting influences to their sound. Some incredible vocals from Simone on here! 8. The Birthday Massacre - Walking With Strangers; This is where The Birthday Massacre really perfect their sound, the vocals are better and everything sounds fantastic. "Kill the Lights" and "To Die For" are two of my favourite songs ever. 9. Circa Survive - On Letting Go; Easily my favourite Circa Survive album, Anthony sounds fantastic and the sound is so unique and interesting. 10. Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago; I love this album so much, they move into more of a pop rock sound than the pop punk of Mmhmm and that just suits me more. I think "Deathbed" might be their best song. 11. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre; This is a tough one to rank because I could easily create a single disc album that could potentially be in my top 3 for the year, it has so many fantastic songs and ideas but it's also way too long and has more than a few kinda bad songs. 12. Radiohead - In Rainbows; One of Radiohead's best, might even be second for me after Kid A. Feels like a good mix of everything they'd done previously. 13. Kamelot - Ghost Opera; A bit of a step down in quality from their last few records and a bit inconsistant but this still has some incredible songs on it. 14. Ling Tosite Sigure - Inspiration is DEAD; I love this band so much, such great energy and two fantastic vocalists. It's a full album that sounds like the best anime intros you can get. 15. Kiss Kiss - Reality vs the Optimist; This album has such a cool sound, it kinda reminds me of The Ugly Organ a bit with it's use of strings and the vocal style. It's really fucking great. 16. Dance Gavin Dance - Downtown Battle Mountain; Jonny Craig fucking sucks but man do I love this album. His voice sounds fucking great and the band do some of their best work on here. I somehow like it today more than I ever have. 17. Cartel - Cartel; I know a lot of people used to hate on this one but I think this is easily the best thing Cartel ever did, there's so many great melodies on here and it's way more interesting musically than the rest of their discography. 18. Paramore - Riot!; I've not listened to early Paramore in a long time but I've had a great time revisiting them recently. They're even better than I remember, Hayley's voice and sense of melody is so good. 19. Deas Vail - All the Houses Look the Same; I miss this band! They had such a unique and magical sound. Really love the vocals and mix of guitars and piano. 20. PJ Harvey - White Chalk; This is the newest addition to this list for me, only heard it for the first time late last year I think but I really love it. The sound is so delicate and beautiful, her vocals are fantastic and the lyrics are great. I'd love more stuff that sounds like this. 21. Frank Turner - Sleep is for the Week; Really great debut for one of my favourite songwriters. 22. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light; Probably my favourite Jimmy Eat World album. "Dizzy" is their best song! 23. Tegan and Sara - The Con; I've always been super into a handful of Tegan's songs on here but couldn't really click with the rest but I appreciated this in full a lot more than usual this week. It's so creative and fun, the production is fantastic and every song is interesting. Still much prefer the live version of "Nineteen" though. 24. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago; Really lovely album, I'm glad I eventually got into his voice. Can't imagine disliking it now. There's not many songs that I've gone from hating to loving quite like "Skinny Love". 25. The Used - Lies for the Liars; This is another step down for The Used but I still love most of it honestly. It might be nostalgia or my intense love for Bert's voice/scream back then but I still have a lot of fun listening to these songs. 26. Kanye West - Graduation; This one's a decent step down too from the first two Kanye records but there's still a bunch of great songs on here. 27. Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde; I've never really been able to get into Black Metal or Shoegaze much, I do quite love this mix of the two though. 28. Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revival; This is a bit inconsistant but I love some of these songs, I think the kinda dancey sound they added to some of it really works for them. 29. Hanson - The Walk; This has some fantastic songs but I think the songs without Taylor as the lead vocalist are so much weaker that it makes for a kinda weak full album experience. "Been There Before" and "Georgia" is a killer pair of tracks though. 30. The National - Boxer; I've never really been able to click with this band like a lot of people have but I do really like this album, it's probably my favourite of theirs. "Fake Empire" and "Slow Show" in particular are really great.
This is gonna suck. I don't think I listen to anything on my 2007 list. I'll list a few I still enjoy. 1. 65daysofstatic- The Destruction of Small Ideas 2. Clutch- From Beale Street to Oblivion 3. Justice- Cross Leona Lewis- Spirit Baroness- The Red Album Shad- The Old Prince Battles- Mirrored The Shins- Wincing the Night Away Dustin Kensrue- Please Come Home Saul Williams- The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust! Poison the Well- Versions August Burns Red- Messengers Lupe Fiasco- Lupe Fiasco's The Cool Kiss Kiss- Reality vs The Optimist St. Vincent- Marry Me Rilo Kiley- Under the Blacklight Between the Buried and Me- Colors Stars- In Our Bedroom After the War Streetlight Manifesto- Somewhere in the Between Sage Francis- Human the Death Dance My absolute mess of a list: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/ecirht/best_of_07/
remainder of the top 15: 4. Between the Buried and Me - Colors 5. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero 6. Jay Z - American Gangster 7. The National - Boxer 8. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga 9. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare 10. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour 11. Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris 12. The White Stripes - Icky Thump 13. Baroness - The Red Album 14. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice 15. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond honorable mentions: Alcest - Souvenirs d’un autre Monde Arcade Fire - Neon Bible As Cities Burn - Come Now Sleep Band of Horses - Cease to Begin Beirut - The Flying Club Cup Burial - Untrue The Chariot - The Fiancee Chevelle - Vena Sera Circa Survive - On Letting Go Cohered and Cambria - Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume Two The Cribs - Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves Deerhunter - Cryptograms Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim The Good the Bad and the Queen - The Good the Bad and the Queen The Hives - The Black and White Album Interpol - Our Love to Admire Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light Kanye West - Graduation Kings of Leon - Because of the Times Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me Okkervil River - The Stage Names Poison the Well - Versions The Shins - Wincing the Night Away Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Straylight Run - The Needles the Space Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II stuff to check out: Aereogramme - My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go On Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam Behemoth - The Apostasy Bjork - Volta Bomb the Music Industry - Get Warmer Common - Finding Forever Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity Dr. Dog - We All Belong Feist - The Reminder Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight MIA - Kala Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend PJ Harvey - White Chalk UGK - UGK Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
1. The National - Boxer (masterpiece, the best National album) 2. Radiohead - In Rainbows (masterpiece, the fourth best Radiohead album) 3. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (masterpiece, the best album from the AnCo extended cinematic universe) honorable mentions: LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam Bon Iver - For Emma Dr. Dog - We All Belong Several all time best songs this year for me. Fake Empire, and Someone Great and All My Friends off the LCD album are at the very top. Also some really fun nonessential stuff like Justice - Cross and a relatively mediocre Kanye album that still manages to have a handful of fantastic songs. Shout out to the Dr. Dog album and Jens Lekman's Night Falls Over Kortedala for absolutely blowing away the audio production obsessed side of me.
1. Mayday Parade - Lesson in Romantics 2. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice 3. Gaslight anthem - sink or swim
1. Mayday Parade - A Lesson In Romantics 2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago 3. Biffy Clyro - Puzzle 2007 was weird, Skins just came out so everyone I knew was into nu-rave or trash-pile indie and wore those awful two-tone button up T-shirts from Topman. I was 15 and going through an identity crisis so my music taste was all over the place. All these albums rule though, and I'm surprised there isn't more love for A Lesson In Romantics, which is probably my favourite album that sounds like that.
1. Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me 2. The Birthday Massacre - Kill the Lights 3. Say Anything - Baby Girl, I'm a Blur 4. Emarosa - Epoch Coda 5. City Sleeps - Sleep With Me 6. Moving Mountains - 8105 7. Epica - Chasing the Dragon 8. Relient K - Deathbed 9. Fightstar - Deathcar 10. Anberlin - (*Fin) 11. Dance Gavin Dance - And I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman 12. Hanson - Been There Before 13. Frank Turner - Worse Things Happen at Sea 14. Radiohead - Videotape 15. Tegan and Sara - Nineteen 16. Kamelot - The Human Stain 17. Fall Out Boy - The (After) Life of the Party 18. Cartel - Lose It 19. Jimmy Eat World - Dizzy 20. Circa Survive - The Only Difference Between... 21. Kiss Kiss - Dress Up 22. Paramore - When It Rains 23. The Reign of Kindo - Just Wait 24. The National - Fake Empire 25. Ling Tosite Sigure - Nakano Kill You 26. Deas Vail - Anything You Say 27. The Used - Wake the Dead 28. Thrice - Digital Sea 29. PJ Harvey - The Piano 30. Bon Iver - Skinny Love Favourite songs of the year. Probably forgot something great.
Has...no one heard Da Drought 3? I have never experienced communal excitement like I did during Wayne's prime era 06-09. Scouring the internet for loosies or random verses, diving into random rap blogs for leaks. It was incredible. Idk if anyone will ever come close to that again.
I haven't heard it but I also don't think I've ever enjoyed anything I've heard from Lil Wayne so I've never checked out one of his records.
I wish I could say I was ahead or even on the curve on Wayne but like I'm sure many other people here it wasn't until the carter III that I had any idea how fun and great he was :(
1. Down to Nothing - The Most maybe my favorite hardcore record. One of the best bands to see live. So much fun.
EDITED to include Bon Iver I remember thinking 2007-08 were more growing years in terms of music but then revisiting my itunes library, forgot how many absolute gems are a part of this year: 01) THE NATIONAL - Boxer Beautifully somber and sad, this album expanded my tastes as 2007 was peak year I was moving from Bamboozle-approved to Coachella-approved. I still think this is The National's best as it balances their typical sad-sack slow burns with more urgent numbers. 02) AGAINST ME! - New Wave One of the last controversial "sell-out" releases, this album took everything Against Me did well and provided a big, glossy sheen to make them sound huge while still retaining their working-class punk rock energy. 03) LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - Sound Of Silver A soundtrack to young night life in NYC with fantastic production and on-point lyrics both meant to dance the night away while also pondering your existence. 04) RADIOHEAD - In Rainbows This album brought Radiohead to the millennail audience with their most accessible, concise and beautiful release to date. 05) BON IVER - For Emma, Forever Ago Dude sees both his band and relationship implodes, lives in solitude in the woods (though still has electricity and plumbing) and creates a somber, melancholy masterpiece that no one else has been able to replicate since. 06) FALL OUT BOY - Infinity On High Going multi-platinum encouraged Fall Out Boy to leave the Warped Tour scene behind and go bigger and better, embracing many different styles but still rooted in undeniable hooks 07) STRATA - Presents The End Of The World Middling post-grunge band discovers a delay pedal and strips back the distortion creating a beautiful soundtrack for life falling apart. 08) MOTION CIY SOUNDTRACK - Even If It Kills Me Speaking of life falling apart, Justin Pierre soundtracked his downfall while also trying to put together the pieces. This should have been much bigger 09) FEIST - The Reminder Go-to "Brunch-core", this record is a lovely collection of polite indie folk without ever becoming saccharine. 10) ARCTIC MONKEYS - Favorurite Worst Nightmare Darker and groovier than their debut while still maintaining the British "pub-rock" sound, this proved Arctic Monkeys were here to stay. 11) CARY BROTHERS - Who You Are Fantastic singer/songwriter record that I discovered due to this very site. 12) MINUS THE BEAR - Planet Of Ice MY introduction to MTB was through this album which had them maintain their effortless ability to be catchy with all the jittery, stabbing guitar riffs that make them who they are. 13) ANBERLIN - Cities After two solid earnest pop-punk-influenced records, Anbelrin leveled up and made their magnus opus expanding in both directions while maintaining their typical earnest approach. 14) BIFFY CLYRO - Puzzle Discovered Biffy when they opened for Say Antying in 2008 and this album was the perfect introduction showcasing both their skittish riffs with arena-rock approach. 15) MAROON 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long Perfect combination of silky smooth R&B mixed with excellent pop sensibilities, this was a worthy follow-up to their blockbuster debut 16) PARAMORE - Riot Beginning of the Paramore empire being built with them building upon their debut and sharperning their hooks 17) CIRCA SURVIVE - On Letting Go Soundtrack to a hazy summer day with some of the most beautiful guitar lines ever held together by Anthony Green's soaring vocals 18) QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - Era Vulgaris Very rarely does a mainstream rock band get WEIRDER as they go along but such is the story with Queens (at least in 2007). Some of their grooviest and far out stuff on here. 19) SPOON - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Probably the most straight-forward Spoon album ever with Britt Daniel maintaining his incredible knack for not writing a bad song. 20) THE WHITE STRIPES - Icky Thump The swan song from The White Stripes is still an incredible achievement while showcasing how Jack White was beginning to experiment more 21) FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE - Traffic & Weather While they wouldn't produce another hit, Fountains Of Wayne continued crafting excellent pop/rock records such as this with an emphasis on storytelling as well as their ability to jump between genres while having the whole thing still hold together. 22) THRICE - The Alchemy Index Vol 1 & 2 - Fire & Water Usually making an effort to divide an album sonically can stifle a band but Thrice did this extremely well over both these collections (with Water being my favorite) 23) MATTHEW GOOD - Hospital Music Canadian singer/songwriter Matthew Good went through a painful divorce and emotional breakdown to create his most intensely personal and sad album to date. 24) TIGER ARMY - Music From Regions Beyond Rock-a-billy mixed with punk rock is suprisingly done often but this album still gives me chills, particularly the closing song. 25) BAND OF HORSES - Cease To Begin Beautifully constructed indie/country-folk with sweeping and cinematic guitars and vocals 26) KAISER CHIEFS - Yours Truly, Angry Mob Another UK superstar act that never managed the conquer the states which is a shame since this album still bangs pretty hard 27) FOO FIGHTERS - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Tough thinking about this band today and, normally, I'd put this at the bottom of the Foo list but I do like how they reached outside their comfort zone on this one and experimented with their sound while still providing some pile-driving Foo hits 28) THE HIVES - The Black And White Album After their proper major label debut didn't push them to megastar-status, The Hives worked with a number of different producers to add additional gloss into their garage punk approach which suited them well. 29) IRON & WINE - The Shepherd's Dog Of all the Iron & Wine releases, this one is the best balance between stark minimalist guitar whispers and lush, grand production 30) BLOC PARTY - A Weekend In The City The "difficult" second album that actually unfolds into a unique and cathartic listen if you give it time. HONORABLE MENTIONS: NINE INCH NAILS - Year Zero After his most immediate release, Trent tinkered with beats to create an apocolyptic doomsday soundtrack which was probably 13-14 years ahead of its time. KADDISFLY - Set Sail The Prairie Emo-prog that has been forgotten yet still sounds great LINKIN PARK - Minutes To Midnight Ditching nu metal to create a schizophrenic sounding major label rock release was a daring move but I still think it worked out better than people thought it would YEASAYER - All Hour Symbals Williamsburg, Brooklyn wasn't thought to be an attractive place for spiritually hippie indie rock bands but Yeasayer started driving the indie rock zeitgist in this direction in 2007 JIMMY EAT WORLD - Chase This Light A bit too streamlined in ways but still has some all-timers YELLOWCARD - Paper Walls Created in wake of the muted reception to Lights & Sounds, Yellowcard sound re-invigorated here and much more immediate.