Bullz-Eye.com's Year End Music Review: James Eldred

Eldred's 2007 Year End Music Review

By James Eldred (jeldred@bullz-eye.com)

12/21/2007

Music Home / Entertainment Channel / Bullz-Eye Home

Best Albums of 2007

1. Against Me: New Wave
Wow, a punk rock album that’s actually original, thought-provoking and damn good. When’s the last time that happened?

2. Klaxons: Myths of Near Future
Taking Nerd Rock to awesome new nerdy extremes.

3. White Stripes: Icky Thump
Jack White is consistently great to the point where it’s almost annoying.

4. Coheed & Cambria: Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Vol. 2
The world needs more emo prog-rock opera concept albums about Christ-like saviors in a post-apocalyptic alternate world. Or maybe not.

5. Feist: The Reminder
Yes, it’s true that “1234” got overplayed to death by VH-1 and that damned iPod commercial, but don’t hold that against the cute little Canadian songstress.

6. Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero
Wow, two sci-fi post-apocalyptic concept albums in one Top 10 list -- hooray for sci-fi! Trent Reznor rebounded off of the less than stellar With Teeth quickly by focusing all his rage against the Bush administration into this insane story about a world controlled by the government.

7. Kings of Leon: Because of the Times
They may have shaved their beards, but these southern rockers proved that their facial hair had no relation to their talent by releasing this great record. It is just as good as the stellar Aha Shake Heartbreak.

8. El-P: I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
“Do you think that if you were falling in space you would slow down after a while or go faster and faster?” That question may make no sense to anyone with a basic knowledge of physics, but it serves as a great intro to this mind-bending album that combines indie-rap, rock music and industrial beats. Guest appearances by Trent Reznor, Cat Power and half of Mars Volta helped too.

9. Bruce Springsteen: Magic
“Girls in Their Summer Clothes” should be the next “Dancing in the Dark.” Yes, it’s that damn good.

10. Handsome Furs: Plague Park
Do you know how you’re supposed to go apeshit for Wolf Parade, but just can’t bring yourself to enjoy their way-too-Arcade Fire/Modest Mouse sound as much as the hipster kids? Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade released this beautiful album earlier this year and it fell on deaf ears. Embrace it now and out-snob the snobby college kids.

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