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Paste came out of the gate with its Top 100 Albums Of 2007 list, and it’s topped by The National’s Boxer, with the Arcade Fire (hey, remember them?) and Bruce Springsteen right behind it. (For those of you who were wondering, Radiohead’s In Rainbows came in at No. 11.) The full list is after the jump, but here are a few impressions:
THE GOOD: The top 20 is pretty much full of the usual triple-A suspects (White Stripes, Wilco, Modest Mouse, Band Of Horses, Iron & Wine), but it’s awful nice to see Miranda Lambert’s genuinely thrilling Crazy Ex-Girlfriend get some love at No. 18.
THE BAD: The clustering of Internet-loved darlings near the list’s bottom–particularly the Menomena-Liars-Deerhunter-Dan Deacon-Art Brut run that makes up Nos. 85-81–makes one wonder if this list really needed to be 100 albums long. 2007 wasn’t that good, folks!
THE WHAAA? Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings’ 100 Days, 100 Nights (No. 45) being bested by the safe-as-milk Norah Jones (No. 44) and the Grey’s Anatomy-approved caterwauler Brandi Carlile (No. 41)? C’mon, Paste–we know you have a target demo, but challenging people can sometimes be fun.
100. Stars, In Our Bedroom After The War
99. The Fiery Furnaces, Widow City
98. Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
97. Marissa Nadler, Song III: Bird on the Water
96. Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare
95. The Good, The Bad & The Queen, The Good, The Bad & The Queen
94. Suzanne Vega, Beauty & Crime
93. Lori McKenna, Unglamorous
92. Jesse Sykes, Like, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul
91. The Fratellis, Costello Music
90. Devendra Banhart, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
89. Anat Cohen, Noir
88. Do Make Say Think, You, You’re A History In Rust
87. White Rabbits, Fort Nightly
86. Ruthie Foster, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster
85. Menomena, Friend and Foe
84. Liars, Liars
83. Deerhunter, Cryptograms
82. Dan Deacon, Spiderman of the Rings
81. Art Brut, It’s A Bit Complicated
80. Akron/Family, Love Is Simple
79. Deerhoof, Friend Opportunity
78. The New Pornographers, Challengers
77. Jeremy Fisher, Goodbye Blue Monday
76. Okkervil River, The Stage Names
75. Great Lake Swimmers, Ongiara
74. Beirut, The Flying Club Cup
73. Warm In The Wake, American Prehistoric
72. Bettye Lavette, Scene Of The Crime
71. Josh Rouse, Country Mouse City House
70. Ween, La Cucaracha
69. Bat For Lashes, Fur & Gold
68. Office, A Night At The Ritz
67. St. Vincent, Marry Me
66. Apples In Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder
65. Caribou, Andorra
64. Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam
63. Explosions In The Sky, All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
62. Joseph Arthur, Let’s Just Be
61. Prince, Planet Earth
60. The Broken West, I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On
59. Imperial Teen, The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band
58. Romantica, America
57. The Clientele, God Save The Clientele
56. Kate Nash, Made of Bricks
55. Sunset Rubdown, Random Spirit Lover
54. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew, Spirit If…
53. Fionn Regan, The End Of History
52. Thurston Moore, Trees Outside the Academy
51. The Frames, The Cost
50. Battles, Mirrored
49. Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dona Got A Ramblin’ Mind
48. The Weakerthans, Reunion Tour
47. Linda Thompson, Versatile Heart
46. Justice, †
45. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights
44. Norah Jones, Not Too Late
43. The Everybodyfields, Nothing Is Okay
42. Lifesavas, Gutterfly
41. Brandi Carlile, The Story
40. Damien Dempsey, To Hell Or Barbados
39. The Perishers, Victorious
38. Olof Arnalds, Vid Og Vid
37. Eleni Mandell, The Miracle Of Five
36. Joe Henry, Civilians
35. Peter Bjorn & John, Writer’s Block
34. Bright Eyes, Cassadaga
33. PJ Harvey, White Chalk
32. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha
31. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
30. Björk, Volta
29. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
28. Mary Gauthier, Between Daylight and Dark
27. Derek Webb, The Ringing Bell
26. The Shins, Wincing the Night Away
25. Over The Rhine, The Trumpet Child
24. Patty Griffin, Children Running Through
23. Black Lips, Good Bad Not Evil
22. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
21. Jens Lekman, Night Falls Over Kortedala
20. Blonde Redhead, 23
19. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Living with the Living
18. Miranda Lambert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
17. Josh Ritter, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
16. Ryan Adams, Easy Tiger
15. Kanye West, Graduation
14. Loney, Dear, Loney, Noir
13. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
12. Avett Brothers, Emotionalism
11. Radiohead, In Rainbows
10. Iron & Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog
09. Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
08. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
07. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
06. M.I.A., Kala
05. Feist, The Reminder
04. The White Stripes, Icky Thump
03. Bruce Springsteen, Magic
02. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
01. The National, Boxer
Paste Picks Boxer As Year’s #1 [Stereogum]
(Last part referring to Lucas’s post two up.)
@Lucas Jensen: Agreed. Alligator was better anyway.
@Rabi: Dude. I was agreeing with you!
Oh come on, comparing The National to Tindersticks is just MEAN.
@SAShepherd: Well, I meant to say “albums,” 100 songs might almost be doable…
@SAShepherd: I could totally go for a 64-album tournament (no play-in game). Call it December Disorder or January…hm…something starting in J. Idolator, please do this so we can vote on it.
Thanks to those who understand that Tindersticks and the National need not be uttered in the same sentence, nor considered in the same league, genre, or art.
The National sounds like CW McCall fronting Dramarama
@ddb4: We did this with 90s albums and Radiohead songs. The technology was lacking, but it was done.
[www.merryswankster.com]
wait a second–there’s only 50 albums listed in the magazine
At least they didn’t pepper the list with 15 shitty Atlanta/Decatur/Athens bands who played the Paste Festival for free two years ago. And did Levon Helm’s “Dirt Farmer” come out too late to make the list?
…THE FAWK? Spoon at 29? Kanye at 15? Look, just because you sample Daft Punk, it doesn’t make up for the rest of a shitty album.
Plus 1990s nowhere in sight. Cobra Starship’s newest is great too. *Shrug* Guess that’s why nobody I talk to knows what I listen to.
Top 100’s are obsolete anyway.
Yes I’m bitter now.
Very hip? Please. This is the most tired predictable list imaginable. Bor-ing.
Clarification – the Joy Division reference was because my friend kept on commenting on his voice. ‘His voice is so good.’ Therefore the Joy Division education was necessary.
Yes, I understand the National is not like Joy Division. Their music is different. But I still don’t *love* them.
@Jfrankparnell:
Did The National steal your basketball or something?
they sold me some bad weed at the U2 show
I bought a headache
They did steal a basketball, but it wasn’t mine, it was Adrian Borland’s
Has there ever been a top (fill in a number) list that has made everyone happy? I think they did a fine job, keeping in mind who their demo is.