Albums Of The Year: 2007
It’s time for my 3rd annual ‘Albums Of The Year’ round up! 2007 has been another great year for music and I have spent a lot of time discovering both new and old bands, as well as rediscovering bands I’d forgotten about – mainly after going through my much neglected and dust covered CD collection.
Below are my top picks for 2007… (Don’t forget to post yours in the comments!)
Kings Of Leon – Because Of The Times
I’ve never been a particularly big fan of KOL, in fact they’ve annoyed me somewhat in the past being inconsistent and never delivering a great album. I’m pleased to say that with ‘Because Of The Times’ they have finally delivered a great album.
When I saw them in April 2007 the live show more than lived up to the album, in fact there were moments where the live versions of songs outshone the studio recordings. Third time lucky? I think so!
Stand out tracks: ‘On Call’, ‘Charmer’ and ‘Knocked Up’.
Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
‘Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace’ carries on from where ‘In Your Honour’ left off, with a mixture of hard rocking ‘classic’ Foo Fighters tunes and several softer, stripped down acoustic tunes reminiscent of the acoustic portion of ‘In Your Honour’. Add to this a sprinkling of 70’s rock stardust (did Taylor Hawkins’ love of The Eagles finally rub off?) and you have another great rock album from one of the world’s greatest ever rock bands.
Having caught the Foos at the O2 Arena in November (my 10th Foo Fighters gig since 1995!) I was pleased to see that their live show now includes both electric and acoustic sets – perfectly representing this latest album and it’s predecessor. Roll on Wembley Stadium next June – I can’t wait!
Stand out tracks: ‘Let It Die’, ‘The Pretender’, ‘But Honestly’, ‘Home’.
Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
Part of the reason Biffy Clyro are so great is because they don’t do things by the book. Just as you are getting into a big sing-along chorus, they throw in 16 bars of white noise in an obscure time signature. There was a point where I thought Biffy Clyro would never achieve any commercial success, whether they wanted to or not.
With ‘Puzzle’ Biffy have remained true to their ’spaz-rock’ roots, but also managed to include the ‘Questions & Answers’ element they touched upon during previous albums, and produce what is their most commercial sounding and commercially successful album (no.2 in the UK album chart) to date, without becoming a different band.
‘Puzzle’ includes all the things that make Biffy Clyro great and you’ll do well to find a tighter or noisier live band on the planet!
Stand out tracks: ‘Saturday Superhouse’, ‘Get Fucked Stud’, ‘The Conversation Is…’, ‘Now I’m Everyone’.
Wilco – Blue Sky Blue
Wilco are a band I’ve only discovered in the last two or three years and yet they’ve made it into my albums of the year list in both 2005 (with ‘A Ghost Is Born’) and 2007 with ‘Blue Sky Blue’. Because of this I was especially disappointed when they cancelled their UK tour in November this year, fingers crossed they’ll return in 2008!
‘Blue Sky Blue’ opens with what has become one of my favourite Wilco songs ‘Either Way’, a song that embodies everything I love about Wilco. When I listen to ‘Blue Sky Blue’ it reminds me of summer evenings spent in the garden with my girlfriend. To say that it’s ‘more of the same’ would be an insult to a great band, however ‘Blue Sky Blue’ continues the Wilco tradition of beautifully crafted songs, full of subtleties and colour.
Stand out tracks: ‘Either Way’, ‘Impossible Germany’, ‘Hate It Here’.
My Morning Jacket – Okonokos (live)
Like Wilco, I was late getting in on the act with My Morning Jacket. I had ‘It Still Moves’ a couple of years ago and quite liked it, but somehow I missed ‘Z’ until about 6 months ago – once I realised just how good it was, it didn’t take me long to discover ‘Okonokos’ which may just be the best live album I’ve ever heard! Maybe it’s because I’m having a real My Morning Jacket-fest at the moment, but I just can’t get enough of this double live album. I must get the DVD!
Many comparisons can and frequently are made; acts such as Neil Young and Led Zeppelin come to mind and these are conjured by the dreamy epicness created on ‘Okonokos’. There are moments on this album where it sounds as if there are 3 bands playing at the same time, such is the power of the haunting vocals and pounding drums. Even the quieter moments (of which there are plenty) sound truly massive.
‘Epic’ is a word I keep coming back to when describing My Morning Jacket and it’s one I like!
Stand out tracks: ‘Gideon’, ‘Off The Record’, ‘One Big Holiday’.
Albums that only just missed out on the top 5 include:
Idlewild – Make Another World
Mute Math – Mute Math
Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
Eddie Vedder – Into The Wild
Related Posts:
Roddy Woomble’s take on the state of the music industry…
An excerpt from Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble’s diary at www.idlewild.co.uk:
“It’s true that the music industry has been brought down to it’s proverbial knees in recent years, but it’s not true that people have stopped buying albums, it’s just that they’re still buying the shit ones. People that tend to be into good music tend also to be into downloading it, and therein lies the problem.”
I’m not sure I agree 100%, but he’s got a point!
