Idolator
Hey, Spin—thanks for finally letting us use an image for one of these year-end roundups that isn't of Neon Bible or In Rainbows! Yes, Against Me!'s New Wave topped the magazine's year-end best albums list, which went online last night. The mag's tracks list hasn't been revealed yet, but I personally am kind of hoping that it reprises its "Best Albums You Didn't Hear" list, if only because I would really like to know just where Spin would find said records in the current blog-and-MySpace-saturated musical climate.
THE GOOD: I spy former Idolator editor Brian Raftery's influence at No. 33, where The Wildhearts landed!
THE BAD: Don't let New Wave's pole position fool you: Spin's top 10 is otherwise pretty similar to every other list we've run down in this space this year. See if you can guess the other nine albums on the list without clicking through to the next page! OK, OK, I'll give you a hint: Bruce Springsteen and the National are actually in the top 20, and—gasp—Wilco is nowhere to be found. Now, go!
THE WHAAAA? Aside from Prince's Planet Earth at No. 12 and the lack of Wilco, this list is kind of curveball-free as far as matching up with critical consensus in 2007. Here's another fun game, though: How many of Spin's 2007 cover stars did not show up on this list? I count three. And if Rilo Kiley hadn't snuck in at No. 40...
40. Rilo Kiley, Under The Blacklight
39. Turbonegro, Retox
38. Dizzee Rascal, Maths + English
37. Ted Leo & The Pharmicists, Living With The Living
36. Bonde Do Role, With Lasers
35. Say Anything, In Defense Of The Genre
34. Bat For Lashes, Fur And Gold
33. The Wildhearts, The Wildhearts
32. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Baby 81
31. Handsome Furs, Plague Park
30. Brother Ali, Undisputed Truth
29. Panda Bear, Person Pitch
28. Iron And Wine, The Shepherd's Dog
27. Band Of Horses, Cease To Begin
26. Bright Eyes, Cassadaga
25. Queens Of The Stone Age, Era Vulgaris
24. The Shins, Wincing The Night Away
23. Peter Bjorn & John, Writer's Block
22. Elliott Smith, New Moon
21. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
20. of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
19. Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare
18. Feist, The Reminder
17. The National, Boxer
16. Lily Allen, Alright, Still...
15. Justice, †
14. Bruce Springsteen, Magic
13. The Hives, The Black And White Album
12. Prince, Planet Earth
11. Lil Wayne, Da Drought 3
10. The White Stripes, Icky Thump
9. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. Jay-Z, American Gangster
7. Amy Winehouse, Back To Black
6. Radiohead, In Rainbows
5. M.I.A., Kala
4. Kanye West, Graduation
3. LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver
2. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
1. Against Me!, New Wave
Best Of 2007: Albums [Spin]
Comments
Go Wildhearts!
I like the Ben Lee cover of the Against Me album better than the original, mostly because Lee doesn't sing like he's trying to squeeze one out.
You've been trying to goad me into talking about Wilco all week. I'm not doing it anymore!
For anyone who gives a shit, Pitchfork put up a really good list feature today.
[www.pitchforkmedia.com]
If nothing else it isn't another snoozy, passionless iteration of the same stuff we've seen on all these lists. Plus, it's actual musicians; making it either way more or way less credible, depending on how you look at it.
can the bruce springsteen apologists please just go away? dude hasn't made a good album since nebraska. go listen to "badlands" and forget dude has existed for 25 years. it may not be a sin to be glad you're alive but it sure is a sin in my book to become a parody of yourself (i'm looking your way too mr. waits).
@SuperUnison: Maura/Jess, please email these artists for a P'Fork-like list of what they were listening to this year:
Britney Spears
Lindsay Lohan
Paris Hilton
Pete Wentz
Ashlee Simpson
Tay Zonday
Colbie Caillat
any member of Wilco
kisses...
Waitaminnit--I'd have to add the inclusion of Turbonegro's Retox to the WHAAAA? list, please. Band hasn't done a damn thing worth listening to since Apocalypse Dudes, even if Spin did just discover them. Did they have a "faux-gay meathead-punx" quota to fill?
@SuperUnison: Only decent thing they do all year, the guest lists, and this 'best of guest lists' was a long time coming. Although the most predictable lists came from the least interesting artists (Blitzen Trapper etc).
And Grizzly Bear are Jay Reatard fans? Best news I've heard all year. 2006's Slept On Of the Year Album.
As for this Spin list - I stopped reading before my sleep apnea finally killed me.
@DHMBIB: You have quite a bit of faith in my Rolodex, dude.
My lone complaint, no Easy Tiger, I've enjoyed the hell out of that album for the past 6-7 months.
This is a pretty good list though, truth be told.
So, Spin takes everyone else's list and slaps Against Me! on the top to snag all the blog credibility pub it can muster. Clever.
Oh burn! No Interpol!
Hurray Band of Horses made the cut!
Does Writer's Block really count as a 2007 release?
@science vs romance: sure, in America.
Maura: didn't Doug Brod do a big feature on the Wildhearts/Darkness co-tour a few years ago?
7 albums in that list coincide with mine - congratulations SPIN, you win again.
The new Wildhearts album is their first truly bad record. I was (Wild)heartbroken.
@SuperUnison: Are you as unhealthily obsessed with them as I am?
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