Last week I finally began recounting the albums I got in 2007, beginning things with the honorable mention list, which featured the albums that didn’t make my top 20 favorites. Today I feature part II of the series, where I begin the actual list and count down numbers 20 through 11. Look for the top ten sometime next week. Some will rate these albums much higher or much lower, and I may change my mind about them over time, but this is how I feel about them right now.
Note: these are albums that I got in 2007 and while they represent a huge portion of the music that I spent my year listening to, most of them were released in earlier years, and thus this should not be confused for a “best albums of 2007″ list, which would recount the best albums released in a particular year. After the album titles I have put in parentheses the year each was originally released, and after my comments I note my favorite songs on each album, the order of which is, for the most part, their chronological order on their respective albums and not in the order of which songs I liked most.
20. Black Tie Dynasty – Movements (2006)
Movements is an album that almost had to be good because its title would have provided a readymade headline for any critic who hated it. Fortunately, it’s a good album from a Dallas-area band that likes their rock music danceable and synth-driven, their drums syncopated, and their vocals sung like they mean it. They’ll get some comparisons to the Killers from people who never listened to music in the 80s, and this album has some similarities to that band’s debut album, but there’s much more of a Depeche Mode kind of sound to Black Tie Dynasty. They put on a good live show, and singer/guitarist Cory Watson has charisma to spare. Replace Brandon Flowers with him and The Killers’ 2nd album might have sold twice as many copies.
The album begins in rocking fashion with “Bells” and closes with the moody and atmospheric “Devotion”, which takes its time building up like a good Coldplay closer before the guitars finally come in just after the 4 minute mark. In between the those there are two of the most endlessly listenable songs I heard all of last year, “Once Around”, and “I Like U”. Not all of the others are as great or stick with you as much, but it’s an album that made me want to play it several times, and listening to it one gets the feeling that Black Tie Dynasty is an album or two away from being a nationally-known act. Look for their 2nd album later this year. Best songs: “Bells”, “Once Around”, “I Like U”, “Antarctica”, and “Devotion”.
19. Sigur Ros – Hvarf/Heim (2007)
Hvarf/Heim is a double-disc album featuring a mix of rare and live tracks by the Icelandic masters of epic and atmospheric orchestral rock. At least that’s the best description I can give the band, which I’ve been a fan of for around 4 years. The first time I ever heard of them, they were described as “Radiohead on tranquilizers with falsettos”. They have some similarities to Explosions in the Sky, although their music actually has lyrics and makes frequent use of strings and sometimes brass instruments. The songs here included ones I was mostly unfamiliar with, and it’s not as good overall as 2005’s Takk, or as memorable as the best songs on 1999’s Agaetis Byrjun, but it’s still a hypnotic listen. Best songs: “Hijomalind”, “Hafsol”, and live versions of “Staralfur”, “Samskeyti”, and “Von”.
18. Dan Wilson – Free Life (2007)
Free Life is the solo debut of singer/songwriter Dan Wilson, who was formerly the lead singer of the late, great band Semisonic. Wilson is one of my favorite vocalists and Semisonic was one of my favorite bands of the late 90s/early 00s, so I bought the album after I ran across it at a Best Buy, having had no previous knowledge of its existence. It doesn’t sound much like Wilson’s Semisonic work, at least not like the Semisonic that did “Closing Time” or “Chemistry”, but if “Secret Smile”, “Surprise”, or “El Matador” were among your favorite Semisonic tunes, then you just might dig it. It will also help if you’re a fan of other contemporary singer/songwriter pop-rockers. The songs here are a lot slower and downbeat than most of his previous work, though it befits the songs quite well. (His two Semisonic bandmates actually contributed to a few of the songs). Wilson co-wrote several of the songs on the Dixie Chicks’ Grammy-winning Taking the Long Way album, and he ends this album with his own version of “Easy Silence”. It’s an angry political song, sounding less angry than it really is because of the gentle way Wilson sings it, but it’s probably the first song I’d point to for evidence of Wilson’s vocal greatness. The only real knock I can give on this album is that some of the best songs sound like ones he should have written for other artists, as he has already done for the Dixie Chicks. “Sugar” would have made a great song for Ray LaMontagne, and “Against History” would have been right at home on either of Pete Yorn’s last two albums. That being said, these are some of the strongest songs Wilson has written, if not exactly the most iPod-friendly. Best songs: “Free Life”, “Breathless”, “Sugar”, “Cry”, “Against History”, and “Easy Silence”.
17. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (2007)
It took me a long time to warm up to this album, mainly because it was a bit darker and, to me, not nearly as good as the band’s debut, Funeral. I liked “Keep the Car Running” and played “Windowsill” a lot but didn’t appreciate the rest of it until I really listened through it. I had a brief bout with pink eye a couple months ago and spent most of 2 days in bed resting and playing various albums from start to finish. Neon Bible was one of the ones I played, and listening to it that way I gained a new appreciation for it. “Intervention” is my favorite song on the set and it evokes the kind of epic, sad grandeur that marks the band’s best songs. I also liked “Black Mirror” and “The Well and the Lighthouse” more than I did at first. I considered putting this on the honorable mention list because I tend to listen to songs from it more than I do the whole album, but I decided to rank it this high on the basis of how I felt about my favorite songs on it, and the band’s ability to create songs that take their time for a few minutes before switching gears halfway or two-thirds of the way through and finishing in grand style (see: “The Well and the Lighthouse” and “Black Waves / Bad Vibrations”). Best songs: “Keep the Car Running”, “Intervention”, “The Well and the Lighthouse”, and “Windowsill”.
16. Newsboys – Go (2006)
I’ve been a fan of this Australian Christian pop-rock band for several years and they’ve been one of the top artists in that sub-genre for a decade and a half. I’ve seen them live 3 times and love their penchant for addictive power pop hooks and lyrics that are by turns insightful and tongue-in-cheek. 6 years ago they released Thrive, probably my favorite album they’ve done. In the years that followed they hopped onto the praise and worship bandwagon that was rolling through the Christian music industry at the time and released 2 hit-or-miss albums largely dedicated to that type of music. Thankfully they returned to what they do best with Go, and album that recalls the best of their big, bouncy rockers. There’s no “Shine”, “Breakfast”, or even “Million Pieces” equivalent here, but it has a number of strong tracks. The title track and “The Mission” are among my favorites, along with the Gorillaz-esque “Your Love is Better Than Life”, which should become a staple of their live shows for years to come. “Secret Kingdom” sounds more like vintage Newsboys than any song on the album; it would have fit right in on Thrive or would have been a welcome addition to 1999’s mediocre effort Love Liberty Disco. Best songs: “Go”, “Something Beautiful”, “The Mission”, “In Wonder”, and “Your Love is Better Than Life”.
15. Editors – An End Has a Start (2007)
Editors gets a lot of Interpol and Echo and the Bunnymen comparisons, and while this album, the follow-up to their excellent debut The Back Room, won’t end those comparisons, it does at least invite new ones. Some songs reminded me a little of Doves, and “Spiders” reminded me of R.E.M. Their first album made the top ten on my “best albums I got in 2006″ list. Their 2nd isn’t as good, as interesting, or as memorable from beginning to end as that one was, but it’s definitely not a bad effort. The opener “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” gets things off on the right foot, followed by the title track, which sounds a little like Interpol-meets-Doves. “The Weight of the World” is a thick, moody piece that reminded me of “Distance”, the closing track on The Back Room. If there’s any negative about this album it’s that after the midway point the tracks begin to sound a little too alike, a problem not as prevalent on their debut. They didn’t reach or surpass the standard they’d set with album #1, but they remain a band I will keep up with and hope to see live one day. Best songs: “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors”, “An End Has a Start”, “When Anger Shows”, “Bones”, and “When Anger Shows”.
14. Delirious? – The Mission Bell (2005)
2000’s Glo will always be the standard by which I judge any release from Delirious?, the British Christian rock band that essentially pioneered modern praise and worship music. The Mission Bell, while not being as innovative or sonically adventurous as Glo, is an admirable effort, and another one it took me a while to appreciate. There are crunchy guitars on “Now is the Time”, and “Solid Rock” features great work on the drums and bass, as well as guitar. “Here I Am Send Me” and “Paint the Town Red” are the other rockers, and the album also has a few typically good worship songs, most notably “Our God Reigns” and “Take Off My Shoes”. On albums past, Delirious? showed a big U2 influence and guitars that would recall epic Radiohead (especially Glo), and while that isn’t as strong on this album, it is still there and a few songs sound like they were done by a band that had listened to some Muse lately. Best songs: “Now is the Time”, “Solid Rock”, “Here I Am Send Me”, “Our God Reigns”, “Paint the Town Red”, and “Take Off My Shoes”.
13. Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea (2003)
Zwan was the solid, but short-lived band that Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain formed with players from other notable rock bands after the demise of Smashing Pumpkins. Mary Star of the Sea will probably be best remembered for the behind-the-scenes turmoil that went on among members of the band and Billy Corgan’s subsequent statements about feeling betrayed by the recruited members of the band, saying “I detest them” and that this album, the only one the band released out of reportedly dozens of songs they recorded together, sounded to him like “thousands of lies upon lies upon lies.” It was an unfortunate turn of events, partly because of how the band ended, and because Mary Star of the Sea was actually a pretty solid album.
I remember really liking “Honestly”, the first radio single released from it. Years later I also downloaded “Lyric” and “Settle Down”, the first two tracks on the album and two of their 3 most-played songs, according to the band’s last.fm page. It’s a noticeably more upbeat set of songs than anything Smashing Pumpkins did, especially on their last 3 albums. The layered guitars are still here, as is Chamberlain’s good drumwork, which contributes greatly to “Honestly” and “Lyric”. The quieter, acoustic guitar and strings-driven “Of a Broken Heart” would have fit in well on the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1998 album Adore, and it’s one of my faves on this one. The rest of the album is good but without any particular standouts, aside from the 14 minute “Jesus, I / Mary Star of the Sea”. Best songs: “Lyric”, “Settle Down”, “Of A Broken Heart”, “Honestly”, and “Ride a Black Swan”.
12. James Blunt – Back to Bedlam (2004)
He’s an artist music critics love to hate and write scathingly (and sometimes hilariously) about, but this was an album I played a lot last year. My tastes tend toward pop-rock, especially the kind that has an appreciation for the 60s and 70s, which is largely what I grew up listening to at home, and Blunt, on his debut album at least, fits right into that. I bought Back to Bedlam as a birthday gift for a friend in May 2006, but never got it for myself until early last year. One dismissive Dallas writer said he sang like a guy wearing a pair of underwear 3 sizes too small, but who cares. That doesn’t make it any easier to avoid singing along to them. Sure, “You’re Beautiful” was way overplayed, and there’s just something about seeing him on Oprah’s show, singing it for a rapt audience of women who ate up every word, that makes me say, “give me a break”. But overall I’ve found it to be a hard song to dislike, and “Wisemen” and “Tears and Rain” mine their own melodic ground. As I’ve said before, any album that I can listen to and enjoy both while fully awake and while trying to fall asleep is one that will rate high with me, and last year Back to Bedlam was easily in the top 3 of albums I put on the most when trying to fall asleep at night, which I don’t at all mean as an indictment. Best songs: “High”, “You’re Beautiful”, “Wisemen”, “Tears and Rain”, and “No Bravery”.
11. Once Soundtrack (2007)
Once was my favorite movie of 2007 and its soundtrack was rich in emotionally-charged pop songs. When I first saw the movie I thought Glen Hansard sounded like a more earnest and (much) more emotionally naked version of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, but their styles are far different. Some songs on the soundtrack feature Hansard with co-star Marketa Irglova (often backed by strings and a full band), while others are just Hansard solo on his beaten-up acoustic guitar. Hansard’s solo songs (such as “Leave” and “Say it To Me Now”) have a Pink Moon-era Nick Drake quality about them and represent some of the most poignantly anguished songs I’ve ever heard. Irglova even has one song done solo on piano with some background strings, which is featured in one of the film’s more memorable musical scenes (of which there are many). “Falling Slowly” won the award for Best Original Song at this year’s Oscars, and while it’s a great song, and the first one Hansard and Irglova play together in the movie, my favorite is “When Your Mind’s Made Up”, which was featured in my single favorite sequence in the movie. So why is it only #11? I don’t know, that’s just where it was when I first made the list. I feel like it should be higher now that I’ve just written all of this, but the 10 albums ahead of it are all very good ones. Best songs: “Falling Slowly”, “If You Want Me”, “When Your Mind’s Made Up”, “Leave”, “Trying to Pull Myself Away”, and “Say it To Me Now”.
I’m hoping to post the top 10 next week, so look for that, all 1 or 2 of you who might have managed to read this far down.
