The more I analyze these Best of '07 lists (and by "analyze" I mean check to see which of my Top 10 picks made each list) the more pissed off I get. Here's another list, this one is from British magazine Q.
My take: I agree with Idolator, who says this list (and probably every other one we've seen thus far) is full of "boring-ass, dude-centric indie rock." They are even so heavy on the "boring-ass, dude-centric indie rock" that they can't find room for Wilco, Iron & Wine or Band of Whorses (good for them, but still). Also, Fall Out Boy? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?! I mean, I expect to get tons of shit for putting My December in my Top 10 (which I'll post in a sec) but seriously. Fall Out Boy?
The list, courtesy of Idolator:
1. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
3. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
5. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
6. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
7. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
8. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
9. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
10. Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars
11. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
12. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
13. Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob
14. Cherry Ghost - Thirst for Romance
15. Interpol - Our Love to Admire
16. Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers
17. Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
18. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
19. Björk - Volta
20. The Rumble Strips - Girls and Weather
21. Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
22. The Coral - Roots & Echoes
23. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
24. PJ Harvey - White Chalk
25. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
26. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
27. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
28. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
29. Roìsìn Murphy - Overpowered
30. The National - Boxer
31. Soulsavers - It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
32. Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
33. Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
34. M.I.A. - Kala
35. Hard-Fi - Once upon a Time in the West
36. Common - Finding Forever
37. Robyn - Robyn
38. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
39. Joni Mitchell - Shine
40. Field Music - Tones of Town
41. Keren Ann - Keren Ann
42. The Enemy - We'll Live and Die in These Towns
43. Patrick Watson - Close to Paradise
44. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
45. Lucinda Williams - West
46. Sigur Ròs - Hvarf-Heim
47. Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
48. Justice - †
49. Jamie T - Panic Prevention
50. Stereophonics - Pull the Pin
1 imaginary dana said on December 3, 2007
Dear Q,
The Decemberists' The Crane Wife released in October 2006. Perhaps it was late in the UK? I don't know. Also, this list has some huge offenders. Jamie "the T stands for twat" T?? Fall Out Boy? Kings of Leon??
I MEH in your general direction,
igDana
2 cosby said on December 3, 2007
the good, the bad, and the queen... number 5? i don't think i could be truly satisfied with any of these top 50 / top 100 lists.
i know i'll probably be alone on this, but is m.i.a. really, really uninteresting to anyone else? the tamil tiger world music superhero facade is nice, but it's not enough to carry an album that is poorly crafted and has no lyrical content of note.
3 Erik Gonzalez said on December 3, 2007
This list is very very mainstream UK. I mean, Stereophonics? Stereophonics scored a hardy 49/100 on Metacritic (a review compiler). The Hold Steady is from 2006. Foo Fighters? Yeah, this is more or less the Amazon.uk best seller list for people who think they're cool.
4 randy said on December 3, 2007
"i know i'll probably be alone on this, but is m.i.a. really, really uninteresting to anyone else?"
You're not alone.
5 imaginary liz said on December 3, 2007
agreed cosby #2 and randy #4.
6 John said on December 3, 2007
Cold War Kids was released in 2006 too.
7 Imaginary Kiku said on December 3, 2007
Come on, NEON BIBLE? That was the best thing that came out this year?? Leaves a bad taste in my mouth...
8 Danniel said on December 3, 2007
Here's Metacritic's "Top 30 of 2007" list... like Erik said, it's a database that compiles reviews from tons of different sources, and then compiles them into one score. The scores are on the rightmost of each record.
http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2007.shtml#topten
9 toby said on December 3, 2007
ever since Select went bust, the UK hasn't had a good music magazine. i like Mojo and Word well enough, but Select was great. Q on the other hand is pretty bad.
10 julia said on December 4, 2007
Fall Out Boy is the sh*t, dude. Love them. ( I mean, like... you so totally didn't hear me say that...)
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