Guide To The Misguided: Rolling Stone's Top Albums Of '07 List
We'll get into the homestretch of 2007's work-year, here, with what is probably the last year-end list (save Pitchfork's), and definitely the most aggressively shitty. Congrats, RS! Despite some close calls from other rags, this list pretty much has it all; it's a fully functioning masterclass in boat-missing predictability, so take notes on 'how-to' from the vets at Wenner Media, annotated with #s for extra happy fun times. For starters, after Bob Dylan's win last year, you knew Bruce was gonna be #2 -- dad's choice for top spot, replaced last minute by something hipper to avoid any sense of being out of touch with what the kids are listening to. And what are the kids listening to anyway? Well, the indie kids like that Bright Eyes (#12) and those White Stripes (#17) and this Devendra Banhart (#19) and Rilo Kiley (#8?!?!), right? OK, enough bowing to the crazy fringe acts and their career-defining opuses? Good now get to some bands from Papa Jann's youth, like a little Plant (#24) and Macca (#22), and get Fogerty at #11.
Now something for the older guitar girls, say Lucinda Williams (#18). Did Melissa Ethridge put anything out this year? She did? Are you sure? Far out! Make it top 20. And for those mall kids, say, oh I dunno, Fall Out Boy. Ah and that Apple ad! Put the "1234" gal up there somewhere. OK, one more for you kids (Band Of Horses) and one more for Papa Jann (Mavis Staples). So, that's 48. Who else was in the news this year? Red Sox won the baseball thingy there was that band with the song that gave us the music angle on the Series -- put 'em at #49. And, wasn't there something with limos and underwear and everybody talking about Britney Spears? That's a thing, right? Ladies and gents, I think we've got ourselves a list. Boom, baby.
50 Britney Spears - Blackout
49 Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest of Times
48 Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back
47 Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
46 Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
45 Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
44 Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
43 Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
42 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
41 of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
40 Amy Winehouse - Back to BlackBut to the list's benefit: Another great placement for one of the year's better records (Les Savy Fav), some huge love for one of our personal favorite albums of this year (M.I.A.), and as far as we can tell it's not a cigarette ad.
39 Dr. Dog - We All Belong
38 Imperial Teen - The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band
37 Down - Over the Under
36 Alicia Keys - As I Am
35 Feist - The Reminder
34 Chris Brown - Exclusive
33 Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Ray Price - Last of the Breed
32 Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
31 Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
30 Youssou N'Dour - Rokku Mi Rokka
29 Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains
28 The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
27 Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
26 Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
25 Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight
24 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
23 1990s - Cookies
22 Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
21 Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
20 Melissa Etheridge - The Awakening
19 Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
18 Lucinda Williams - West
17 The White Stripes - Icky Thump
16 Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
15 Common - Finding Forever
14 Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
13 Lily Allen - Alright, Still
12 Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
11 John Fogerty - Revival
10 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
09 Against Me! - New Wave
08 Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
07 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
06 Radiohead - In Rainbows
05 Kanye West - Graduation
04 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
03 Jay-Z - American Gangster
02 Bruce Springsteen - Magic
01 M.I.A. - Kala
Posted at 9:12 AM in Shit List, Year-End List
Tags: M.I.A.
yup those are 50 albums that were released this year, thanks rolling stone. do the chili peppers still get band of the year even though they didn't release anything?
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WHAT THE DAMN
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how very diplomatic of rolling stone to get all bases covered!
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All that matters about any of these lists is that of Montreal isn't number 1. Insane.
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Matt Taibbi should write a diatribe on how laughably misguided Rolling Stone's review staff is. I'd love for him to rip into David "I'm-a-fan-of-every-single-album-released-ever" Fricke. Of course, it would be a conflict of interest, but one can still hope, right?
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It's a better list than Pitchfork.
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ok. it's not as bad as i was expecting from RS. I completely agree with your commentary, but I guess I'm just pleased to see Kala at #1. And there are a lot of albums I loved in there... Granted, there's a lot of crap in there, and they're missing a few of the highlights of the year (Jens, Liars, Menomena, Justice, etc...), but it's not as bad as what a look at their cover would lead you to believe.
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what's wrong with this list? yeah, there are some old people on there, but as far as I can tell, the plant/krauss, lucinda, and fogerty albums are universally acclaimed... and of course RS skews older/boomer, that's their thing. and what the hell is this: "Well, the indie kids like that Bright Eyes (#12) and those White Stripes (#17) and this Devendra Banhart (#19) and Rilo Kiley (#8?!?!)". is it not possible that someone at RS actually (gulp) liked those albums (and MIA at number 1) as much as you did? get over yourself.
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i think it's funny that stereogum can sit here and criticize every list that comes out, yet doesn't have the balls to come up with their own list...only a readers poll.
cop out.
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What's the emoticon for clapping slowly with my head cocked to the side to facilitate easier eye rolling? Someone make this up for me!
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matt, the point is that bright eyes, white stripes, devendra, and rilo kiley are safe indie choices that put out average (white stripes) to terrible (the rest) records this year. but they have names, so of course rolling stone would include them rather than spending their indie allotment on something of value. m.i.a. at number one is awesome of course. but if you have to ask what's wrong with the list, you should probably ask what's wrong with yourself. or, just extend that subscription to rolling stone, looks like it's working for you.
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M.I.A. Number One? you´re joking. Not in my Top 100.
The only Nr.ONE is BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY. So Ask Forgiveness!
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The 1990s?!
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What beef does Stereogum have with Rilo Kiley? There were some fine indie pop tunes on that album, with "Silver lining" being among the finest. Turn down the hate-meter a couple notches, it's not attractive.
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What, What? P-Fork hasn't even put out its top album list yet, how can RS be better?
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I just love how overused 'hater' is. Hater hater hater. Everyone's a hater just because they don't like what you like, and dare to say so. Basically people who aren't articulate enough to defend their position trying to shut down the other side with just one word.
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Britney Spears should not be on that list at all.
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I can't understand why Wilco's getting dissed on all these lists. Was just reading the Philly Inquirer's albums of the year list and they didn't even get an honorable mention nod. Yeah, it's a bit of a mellow album, but it's f-ing beautiful. In 25 years people will be talking about Sky Blue Sky as an all-time great album. No one will be talking about these relative newcomers like Panda Bear or MIA, or old men who are shells of their former selves like Springsteen, McCartney and Fogerty.
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"yup those are 50 albums that were released this year, thanks rolling stone."
Not quite. PB&J sneaked onto this list. If they feel like including it because they didn't hear it until this year, they could at least place it ahead of Zeitgeist. Yikes.
I'm still in total disbelief they didn't put the Boss at #1 and Plant at #2.
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"In 25 years people will be talking about Sky Blue Sky as an all-time great album. No one will be talking about these relative newcomers like Panda Bear or MIA"
Dude, please tell me you are joking. This is a retarded statement. Sky Blue Sky isn't bad, but there were a hell of a lot of better shit released this year. Also, if you think it's Wilco's best album than you really need to, I don't know, BUY SOME OTHER WILCO RECORDS.
@internet gangsta
That album sucked. "Silver Lining" = great track, but crap like "Dejalo" and the other abominable showings on that album make it borderline unlistenable. And even if there are "some great tracks" on it, does it really make it the 8th best album of the year? Please...
All in all, I think this just shows how out of touch and cop-out-leaning the staff at RS is. Fall Out Boy? Common? FRIGGIN LINKIN PARK?!?!?!? Are you joking?
Gotta give them props for giving some love to Chris Brown. Most underrated album of the fourth quarter.
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I call any list that puts Fall Out Boy ahead of Britney bullshit.
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FrankieLee, I'm a Wilco fan (YHF is one of my favorite albums from this decade). I defend them all the time when people talk shit about them, but "Sky Blue Sky" is (probably) not going to ever be considered an "all-time great album" amongst the general consensus. Most of the songs sound same-y and slightly boring. If you think back to 1982, how many albums from that year are considered to be classics now? "Imperial Bedroom," "Nebraska," "Thriller" . . . ? So in twenty-five years, I'm sure only a small handful of 2007 releases will fall into that category. My guesses are (unfortunately) "Neon Bible," "Graduation," and (hopefully) "In Rainbows."
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Yeah, I laughed a lot at this list when I was reading it at home this weekend. Fogerty. Ha. Yeah, and naming "Kala" No. 1 was so blog sites and people unaware could post headlines that say, "RS named MIA record of the year" for that, "Woah, they're way in touch!" effect. I mean, they shot their wad all over the Bruce record yet didn't have the guts to call it No. 1. Ridiculous. This magazine has done the opposite of what most music has: In the Bush era, RS has gotten progressively and embarrassingly worse. Can;t wait til my sub runs out in August.
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Some really fine albums came out this year, no doubt, but I honestly don't think ANY of them will be remembered by the general music listening public in 25 years. Not Sky Blue Sky, not In Rainbows, not Graduation, and certainly not Neon Bible. It just isn't that kind of world anymore.
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I'm with you FrankieLee. I think most people just haven't spent enough time with this record, and granted, there was a lot of music this year for people to spend their time with, it's not hard to think SBS got pushed to the side after initial listens. I agree with you it will be remembered in 25 years--or at least should be.
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You make a good point, RK. I'm trying to think of albums released at the end of the '90s that are considered all-time greats, and the only ones I can legitimately come up with are "OK Computer" and "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea." Maybe "The Soft Bulletin," too. Probably because back when vinyl was the main format the majority of music fans actually listened to albums in their entirety and grew attached to them. Nowadays, albums are listened to once or twice and forgotten once the next "blog band" hits the scene. Sad but true.
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Well, this list just needs some Nickelback and i'd say it's PERFECT. .... .. ...... . .. . .........
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Still no mention of Throbbing Gristle:(
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Uhh... Jay-Z did not make the third-best album this year. I can't even think of why Rolling Stone would place him top-3 besides actually liking the album that much and I don't think that's possible. Is he in contract talks to work there or something?
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I'm still firmly committed in my opinion that the Rilo Kiley album is completely disappointing shite, and I feel like I live in some parallel universe when I keep seeing it appearing on best of lists. Especially high up on best of lists. I can understand it appearing, because people want to be diplomatic and cool and all, but it's a shit album. And I'm a big RK fan. If the best song on that album is Silver Lining, you've got yourself a shit album.
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Rilo Kiley does indeed suck supremely, and I feel as though I am going to die if I once more in my life have to hear the words 'Rilo Kiley' pronounced, or pronounce them myself. Yes, the girl who sings for them is hot and has nice cans. NEXT! God they suck. Really, this list doesn't come off as particularly worse to me than the average 'indie kid with a blog' take on things. all of them always try to add in some old fogies to make the spectrum of their taste seem more broad, so RS just does the same thing in reverse. Rolling Stone can only understand ONE cultural surprise per year, and they unfailingly over-react to it. Thus - M.I.A. at #1. Interesting album, yes. Best of the year - huh? And, am I the only one that thinks Kanye West's lyrics and delivery are massively overrated? His rhymes are so blah! 'Stronger' is wack. Pure crap. But again, as I said, people just think this list is bad because its RS. Its no worse than most of the other lists I've seen. RS is apparently not even aware of 'Boxer', hehe
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"I can't understand why Wilco's getting dissed on all these lists. Was just reading the Philly Inquirer's albums of the year list and they didn't even get an honorable mention nod. Yeah, it's a bit of a mellow album, but it's f-ing beautiful. In 25 years people will be talking about Sky Blue Sky as an all-time great album. No one will be talking about these relative newcomers like Panda Bear or MIA, or old men who are shells of their former selves like Springsteen, McCartney and Fogerty."
Thanks you! Sky Blue Sky is easily in my top five this year, along with In Rainbows and Year Zero.
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Um ... did I miss something, or is "Boxer" not on this list? Is that a typo? Maybe a practical joke?
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Don't hate on American Gangster, its was a very solid album (especially after Kingdom Come, vom). Its not the third best album of the year but it was one of the two or three best rap albums of the year. In my opinion it absolutely killed Graduation and I think RS put it at three to 1)make sure people know they like rap and 2)that said rap liking isn't limited to Kanye.
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maybe rs listened to the boxer, thought 'well, nobody really dug the last strokes album, did they?' and left it off.
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finally a list where "in rainbows" isn't in the top 5.
am i the only one who was severely disappointed with that album? it's pretty bad. i miss "kid A"/"amnesiac".
MIA in number one is very questionable. that was NOT the best album of 2007, not even close. further proved by her bastardization of the pixies in "20 dollar". that is wrong on so many levels. but you know, timbaland was on it, so instant number one i guess.
i'm happy about the kings of leon though. glad to see them getting some love.
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also, where's the new pornographers' "challengers"?
fail.
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Too bad they put the Boss so high. The rest of the list is so wrong, it sullies the good name of Bruce, who actually does deserve such high praise. Especially relative to Toronto/Montreal bullshit fashion-rock.
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THANK GOD, APPLES IN STEREO. I'm happy someone else recognized how good that album is.
also,
"but you know, timbaland was on it, so instant number one i guess."
pissed me off.
I'm not sure why, though.
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Reading a copy of rolling stone, the top album list is surely one of the worst in popular journalism.
That said, thetop 100 songs list is much more to my likings.
Gogol Bordello (82), Los Campesinos(72), Justice (4), and one of my personal favorites at number 20, LCD Soundsystem, this list seems very very good for a magazine whose journalistic integrity was lost somewhere around the time John Lennon died.
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the whole "timbaland = number one" thing was tongue in cheek, for the record...
not EVERYTHING he touches is gold.
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"i think it's funny that stereogum can sit here and criticize every list that comes out, yet doesn't have the balls to come up with their own list...only a readers poll.
cop out."
Good point. I like the reader poll, but show some balls and release your own list.
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Magic is a great album, right next to Graduation as the best of the year for me. Chrome Dreams II would be up there as well.
Anyone who thinks Bruce is a has-been only really liked Bruce because Arcade Fire or The Killers cited him as an influence.
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Half of the RS top 10 is the same as Stereogum's. Same with Time Magazine's, & Filter's.
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I can't believe that linkin park's new album is better than hising fauna.
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Could be worse. I'm glad too to see the Apples in Stereo in there. Maybe I'm a bit indulgent because "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" (best track of the millenium, IMHO) was #13 on RS' singles list.
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The Rolling Stone list isn't too bad, definitly not the best though. The best list i've read so far has been Paste Magazine. Boxer by the National and Sound of Silver from LCD Soundsystem deserve most of the critics top spots this year.
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It's so easy to hate Rolling Stone nowadays for not staying rock-exclusive. But honestly, considering all other popular genres of music, not just indie and alt. rock, this list is not bad.
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Nice to see the Pumpkins new album getting some love.
And NIN's return to the year-end lists.
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Really crappy list (Melissa Etheridge?Breedney Spearse?Linkin Park?).But nice to see NIN and SP get some props.Year Zero and Zeitgeist are both great albums by two bands still doing their thing.
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Britney? Linkin Park? Jay-Z? And M.I.A. on the top spot? Cool.
RS is a love-hate for me. Same stuff with this list. It's cool they try to put out every kind of music over here, but it just doesn't work. And the case is not in 'they like something i don't'. But Linkin Park? That's one of the worst that came out this year! It's just... awful.
And am i the only one over here who thinks PJ Harvey deserves a mention, huh?
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relax dudes. pitchfork put justin timberlake on their '06 list.
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i'm actually really surprised to see the SP album there.
actually since it's the first in 7 years, i guess i shouldn't be. but it's so fucking let's-rewrite-Zero-10-times, it's just... snooze.
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Someone probably already wrote something to this effect, but a couple of things have to be said...first off, if anyone is surprised that we, the awesome readers of Stereogum disagree with RS's list, then it takes less to surprise a cynic than I thought. Second, RS gave up the mantle of the music geek's magazine at least 15 years ago, so if they can turn a Fall Out Boy fan on to LCD (or at least Band of Horses), that can't really be such a bad thing, can it?
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