Post your top 20 CDs for 2007:

[Initech]

Here is my list (after top 5, no particular order):

1. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
2. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
3. Symphony X - Paradise Lost
4. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
5. Queens Of The Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
- Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise & Liberation Of Niggy Tardust
- Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
- Puscifer - V Is For Vagina
- Radiohead - In Rainbows
- Devin Townsend - Ziltoid The Omniscient
- Chris Cornell - Carry On
- Dave Gahan - Hourglass
- Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times
- Blackfield - Blackfield II
- Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
- Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet
- Serj Tankian - Elect The Dead
- The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
- Manu Chao - La Radiolina
- Neurosis - Given To The Rising

[CatholicEdHead]

1. I haven't bought 20 CDs total all year

[ghostsofgiants]

2. Top 20? Hmmm...This is how the list is looking right now...

Top 5 in no particular order:
Bloc Party - "A Weekend In The City"
Arctic Monkeys - "Favourite Worst Nightmare"
Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible"
Against Me! - "New Wave"
El-P - "I'll Sleep When You're Dead"

The rest in no particular order:
Kanye West - "Graduation"
Thrice - "The Alchemy Index Vols. I and II"
Saul Williams - "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation Of NiggyTardust"
Modest Mouse - "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank"
Coheed and Cambria - "No World For Tomorrow"
Dethklok - The Dethalbum"
Every Time I Die - "The Big Dirty"
Explosions in the Sky - "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone"
Pelican - "City of Echoes"
Neurosis - "Given To The Rising"
Swords - "Oceans"
Geinus - "Live at Distortion"
Radiohead - "In Rainbows"
Bad Brains - "Building A Nation"
Bright Eyes - "Cassadaga"

[Initech]

6. Never heard Coheed & Cambria before, I should check them out.

As far as Dethklok goes, I need to watch Metalocalypse at some point.

[ghostsofgiants]

7. Coheed are excellent.

And Metalocalypse is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen, haha.

Some Coheed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnSR1bKeosM (Not from their newest album, but still awesome.)

[SteppingRazor]

27. Bah. Pretentious prog-rock crapola.

C&C, Mars Volta and Battles can all go shove it. :P

[Danger Mouse]

3. I don't have twenty...

but here are a few...
Buck 65: "The Situation"
Radiohead: "In Rainbows"
Aesop Rock: "None Shall Pass"
Sage Francis: "Human the Death Dance"
El P: "I'll Sleep When You're Dead"
White Stripes: "Icky Thump"

I'd say Buck 65 and El P are tied for first on that short list.

[ghostsofgiants]

4. I didn't know Buck 65 had a new album out.

I need to check that out.

[Danger Mouse]

5. It's friggin awesome.

All of the songs are based on stuff that happened in 1957. It's also much more rap-oriented than his other stuff. Really good beats, interesting concepts, I really enjoyed it.
It's completely different from 'Secret House Against the World' which just shows that he has a lot to offer on different fronts, since I feel that both albums were equally fantastic.
He's a talented artist.

[ghostsofgiants]

8. Nice.

He is very talented indeed. Definitely one of the most creative hip-hop artists out there.

[Danger Mouse]

13. Definitely agreed.

Doing an entire album based on the year 1957...gutsy and creative.

[BulletproofLandshark]

9. Got to give you bonus points for having Devin Townsend on your list

Whether solo or with SYL, the man is just brilliant.

[Initech]

11. He's not called "heavy metal's mad scientist" for nothing!

[Taverner]

10. I'll just give you 2

Ween's La Cucaracha
Belle and Sebastian's The Life Pursuit

[Danger Mouse]

12. Belle and Sebastian...nice choice.

Love them.

[ghostsofgiants]

14. If you like Belle and Sebastian, you might find this amusing...

http://www.myspace.com/thetigermilks

[Basileus Basileon]

26. That's hilarious. nt

[Basileus Basileon]

25. The Life Pursuit was last year. nt

[Mojambo]

15. My pick for album of the year just came out

Here's a review from Retrolowfi

We’ve reported on Fishboy a few times, namely because they keep blowing us away at the Athens PopFest. Since then, we’ve been oh-so-eager to get our hands on the Texas band’s new release, the twee-pop rock opera Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll. And holy god, is it incredible.

First, of course, the story: singer Eric Michener, aka Fishboy, apparently had been singing songs since before he was born. His father was so impressed that he gave him recording equipment and told him that one day his songs would save Texas. Later, while skydiving, the ghost of Buddy Holly visited him and told him that he would write the song that would, indeed, save Texas. So Fishboy gets a job at a taco stand to raise money to tour, where he falls in love. The girl convinces him to go on a crime spree robbing banks, all the while playing shows along his journey. Eventually, Fishboy gets caught and is sent to jail, where he starts a new life, but not before inadvertently writing the song that would become his destiny.

And that’s the simplified version. The story is so much more complicated than that, and missing even a single line means completely losing the plot. Yeah, pretty impressive to do in less than 33 minutes. It might not be entirely logical, but at least it’s more plausible than The Who’s Tommy. I kid, I kid.

At any rate, those 33 minutes are complete twee-pop bliss. Ridiculously energetic, emphatic, and adorable. Fishboy ranges from pensive “Blackout,” in which Fishboy waxes nostalgic against a quiet guitar and piano, to the absolutely frenetic “The Details of Our Trip,” in which drums, keyboards, and guitars thrash and clash against each other. But mostly the latter. And often with a ton of joyous piano. Said pianos in “Thought Balloons” define the aesthetic of the living room dance party. And horns? Forget about it. They make “Proper Name Spelling Bee” absolutely epic. Consequently, Fishboy excells at grandeur and bigness. The final song, “Albatross,” swells to an enormous close, as a choir cries out to a magnitude not often seen from a twee-pop band.

It's fucking AMAZING. Seriously. You can stream the entire record here. I HIGHLY recommend it.

http://www.farewellalbatross.com/

[SKKY]

16. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero for album of the year, without a doubt...

...after that, I really don't care.

[LynneSin]

18. I think he'll have a run for his money with John Fogerty's "Revival"

both are excellen albums!

[Initech]

30. It's most definitely my pick.

I fucking love it. It's the best concept album since "Operation:Mindcrime".

[SKKY]

33. Without a doubt, top to bottom...

...the best album of the year. And probably, in the ranks of NIN albums, #2 behind "The Downward Spiral". IMHO

[LynneSin]

17. Three of my favorites: Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty and the Plant/Krauss CD

Yeah, I know - it's Robert Plant, he's probably screeching at the top of his lungs like a cat in heat running claws over a chalkboard.

Um - just listen to the CD - you'd be shocked, even I am.


I think many of you have stated some of the obvious with White Stripes, NIN and Radiohead but I can't believe NO ONE mentioned the new Bruce Springsteen album - it's one of his best.

So my list would include (in no order)

Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Allison Krauss
Revival - John Fogerty
Magic - Bruce Springsteen
Songs of Mass Destruction - Annie Lennox
Year Zero - NIN
In Rainbows - Radiohead
Icky Thump - White Stripes
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace - Foo Fighters
We All Belong - Dr. Dog
The Search - Son Volt

[LynneSin]

20. oooh - I forgot Velvet Revolver's "Libertad"

That album kinda grew on me

[Initech]

31. I need to get the John Fogerty CD.

[mvd]

19. I prefer to wait until January for my final list

The list looks like this now:

The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
The Pierces - 13 Tales Of Love And Revenge
Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Men
Patty Griffin - Children Running Through
Brandi Carlile - The Story
They Might Be Giants - The Else
Mandy Moore - Wild Hope
New Pornographers - Challengers
Kate Voegele - Don't Look Away
Vanessa Carlton - Heroes & Thieves
Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter
Alexa Wilkinson - Lullabye Appetite
The Clientele - God Save The Clientele
The Dollyrots - Because I'm Awesome
A Fine Frenzy - One Cell In The Sea
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight
Trisha Yearwood - Heaven, Heartache, And The Power Of Love
Little Big Town - A Place To Land
The National - Boxer

Lots of honorable mentions, and I still have to hear all of these major contenders: Lucy Walsh - Lost In The Lights, Kyle Lardner - Sail Among The Stars, Brittney Elizabeth - Breathe In, Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer - Schematics, Cindy Alexander - Wobble With The World..

[nadine_mn]

40. glad to see another Patty Griffin fan

love her...now have to get that CD

[Bennyboy]

21. What is a CD?

J/K..Only bought a few...

Springsteen
Arcade Fire
Plant/Allison Krause
Radiohead

All of them are pretty darn good.

[mvd]

22. Oh, forgot about the Radiohead

It could still go in. My list is preliminary.

[LynneSin]

23. You like the Plant/Krauss CD

I think it's excellent and as a Diehard Zeppelin/Plant fan - it's nothing I'd except from Robert Plant.

[Bennyboy]

24. Yeah it is pretty good though..

I ahve only listned to it almost once....left in a buds car and did not make it through...

[Basileus Basileon]

28. My top 10:

1. The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
2. The New Pornographers - Challengers
3. The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes (American release, though the British was last year)
4. White Stripes - Icky Thump
5. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
6. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
7. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
8. The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
9. Kanye West - Graduation
10. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

[SteppingRazor]

29. I can't give you them in order yet, but here's a top 25.

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace by Foo Fighters
In Rainbows by Radiohead
Neon Bible by The Arcade Fire
La Radiolina by Manu Chao
And Their Refinement Of The Decline by Stars Of The Lid
From Here We Go Sublime by The Field
Let's Stay Friends by Les Savy Fav
Boxer by The National
Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective
Cease To Begin by Band Of Horses
Icky Thump by The White Stripes
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon by Devendra Banhart
The Meanest Of Times by Dropkick Murphys
Washington Square Serenade by Steve Earle
Revival by John Fogerty
White Chalk by PJ Harvey
Super Taranta! by Gogol Bordello
The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine
100 Days, 100 Nights by Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings
Kala by M.I.A.
Under the Blacklight by Rilo Kiley
Magic by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Reunion Tour by The Weakerthans
La Cucaracha by Ween
Nu Med by Balkan Beat Box
Whale by The Heavy Pets

[Amerigo Vespucci]

32. Flower Kings, "The Sum Of No Evil"

This was a "back to basics" release, doing what they do best. One 24 minute epic, three that clock in at 12 to 13 minutes, and a couple of 5 and 6 minute tracks to round it out.



From your list, I own the Symphony X, Dream Theater & Porcupine Tree discs.

:toast:

[PVnRT]

34. People still buy CDs?

:shrug:

[asthmaticeog]

35. 20

Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs

Battles - Mirrored

Machine Go Boom – Music For Parents

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta

Patton Oswalt - Werewolves and Lollipops

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Art Brut – It’s a Bit Complicated

Datarock — s/t

Blitzen Trapper – Wild Mountain Nation

Prinzhorn Dance School – s/t

Gowns - Red State

Times New Viking – Paisley Reich

Ulver – Shadows of the Sun

Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity

Melt-Banana - Bambi's Dilemma

Liars - Liars

Parts & Labor - Mapmaker

Celebration The Modern Tribe

Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends

[tigereye]

44. I'll have to copy this, asth, I never know what to get anymore.

I did like the Gogol Bordello, though.

[trof]

36. Citibank one year at 4.58%.

The rest are pretty much like that one.

[DarkTirade]

37. Were there 20 CDs worth buying this year?

[Forkboy]

41. There's 20 worth buying every MONTH.

:D

[DarkTirade]

43. I suppose I have a lower opinion of the music industry than you do.

Although if I ever get around to recording my own then I'm sure I'll change my tune. No pun intended. :P

[Forkboy]

45. I honestly think this is the best time for music in my life.

My opinion of the music INDUSTRY is lower than a pregnant snake's belly, but there's so much stuff that's under the radar and working outside the normal industry machinations that it's like heaven to me.Bands can get their stuff out there with zero input from the corporate side of things now.It's the best since the tape trading days of the mid to late 80's where you got to hear bands long before they got signed and became homogenized.

[DarkTirade]

48. Well then do you have any advice on where to start looking to find the good stuff? :)

[Forkboy]

49. I read a ton of magazines like Skyscraper, The Wire, Terrorizer, Decibel, etc.

Skyscraper and The Wire cover every form of music out there.Terrorizer and Decibel cover the metal side of things.They give me a lot of good leads.We have local weeklies like the Phoenix and Weekly Dig and The Noise here in Boston, too.There might be something similar where you are.

I also read the liner notes from Cds I like and check out the bands and people thanked there.Each one seems to lead to another, and I've discovered a lot of great things this way.

It really depends on the music you're into, I guess, but scraping beneath the surface will usually land some cool results.

http://www.thewire.co.uk/

http://www.skyscrapermagazine.com/

http://www.terrorizer.com/

http://www.decibelmagazine.com/

[Maestro]

38. Doooooooood it is incredible how much our taste in music

is the same! I will post mine as soon as I can get it together.

[Maestro]

39. My 20

In no particular order

Symphony X – Paradise Lost
Between the Buried and Me – Colors
Dream Theater – Systematic Chaos
Darkest Hour – Deliver Us
Daath – The Hinderers
3 Inches of Blood – Fire Up the Blades
Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon
Kamelot – Ghost Opera
Chimaira – Resurrection
Dimmu Borgir – In Sorti Diaboli
Ministry – The Last Sucker
VnV Nation – Judgement
Rotersand – 1023
Meta - Assemblage 23
In This Moment – Beautiful Tragedy
Otep – The Ascension
Café Tacuba – Sino
Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
The Cult – Born Into This (Sentimental favorite but good in its own right)

Honorable Mention - Rush's Snakes & Arrows

[Forkboy]

42. Too early for any order yet, but here's 20 that will be considered.

Ministry - The Last Sucker
Caina - Mourner
Bloodhorse - EP
Melt Banana - Bambi's Dilemma
Watain - Sworn To The Dark
Cobalt - Eater of Birds
Angels Of Light - We Are Him
Byla and Jarboe - Viscera
Boris w/Michio Kurihara - Rainbow
Akercocke - Antichrist
Caphalic Carnage - Xenosapien
Deathspell Omega - Fas Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum
Xasthur - Defective Epitaph
Witchcraft - The Alchemist
KMFDM - Tohuvabohu
Behold...The Arctopus - Skullgrid
Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb
Ulver - Shadows Of The Sun
Harvey Milk - My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment Of What My Love Could Be
Oxbow - The Narcotic Story

Three disappointments so far...

Neurosis - Given To The Rising
Skinny Puppy - Mythmaker
Bad Religion - New Maps Of Hell

[Maestro]

46. I didn't really like Mythmaker either but it has grown on me.

Gotta give props to Ministry too; three straight anti-* albums and a Revolting Cocks album. Al has been busy.

[Forkboy]

47. Now, if I could just a get new Lard cd I'd really be a happy dude.

The new RevCo was pretty rifftastic.Quite a bit different from their early, more techno stuff like Big Sexy Land.

[Maestro]

50. I'm sorry. I need to add three more.

Consider them in a four way tie for 20th place with my last one mentioned. ;)

Amorphis - Silent Waters
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
Dir En Grey - Withering to Death