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Strangeglue Writer's Top 40 Albums of 2007: The Top 10

20th December 2007 | by Ross Riley

It's an event so monumental that you almost want to don sandwich boards proclaiming that “The End Is Nigh!”. The time has come to announce our top 10 albums of the year.

Okay, allow us a few minutes to 'get over ourselves'.... puppies, kittens, Margaret Thatcher... wait, that's something else. Anyhoo, to business.

Considering what's at number five, we should remind you that any album that received a release in the U.K throughout 2007 is eligible.

It's difficult to combine so many opinions into one, go for the points system and the album which no one hated ends up at number one, go with the face-to-face debate and you end up having to find an all-night D.I.Y store just so that you can buy a shovel and a chainsaw. As Streetlight Manifesto (who sadly were unable to feature in our top 40) say, it has to be “Somewhere in the Between”.

In the spirit of that thing called democracy, readers of Strange Glue may likewise put forth their opinion of what was great about the year of 2007 in music.

Just pop over to strangeglue.com/vote2007 to take part.

10 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

We have no envy of the task that befell The Arcade Fire in following-up their much loved classic “Funeral”. It is indeed a mountainous undertaking. Change too much, you risk alienating you fans, don't change enough and everyone writes you off as devoid of new ideas. They may of edged nearer to the latter in the case of “Neon Bible”, nonetheless it's a formula which when infused with so much wit and sparkle, it's hard to fault.

As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, keep using it until it shows signs of disrepair, then complain about how the guarantee has just run out and never get round to fixing it, instead leaving it cast off, gathering rust in the small corner of your garden as a constant reminder of that which was. But hey, until then, continue to enjoy.

9 Bright Eyes - Cassadaga

It's said that the greatest poetry is never finished, merely abandoned and forcing Conor Oberst into the vagaries of release schedules almost feels like imposing abandonment on his work. Master of the unexpected, 2005 brought us two albums from Bright Eyes, this year we had to make do with one. Fortunately it was worth it, Four Winds alone gave us some of the most incisive, intelligent lyrics ever set to music and there were plenty more gems hidden inside "Cassadaga".

With every album Conor Oberst inches every closer to crafting the perfect album everyone knows he is capable of. Although this isn't it, it's within throwing distance. Not quite finished but it is certainly abandoned well, as a beautiful piece of music.

8 Biffy Clyro - Puzzle

An outstanding return from Biffy Clyro, they signed to a major, invested in some orchestral arrangements and then went on to create some of the rawest, purest rock that we'd heard in a long time. The first three tracks alone are a relentless sensual attack and the album only gets better as it meanders through changes of pace. Not a single average track, this album is essential on every level.

Nailing styles as diverse as slow building acoustic ballads to staccato slash pop, the Biffy really came into their own with “Puzzle”. We must chastise them somewhat for concocting the incendiary arsonist anthem that is “Who's Got a Match?” which set pyromaniacs alight everywhere. All together now.... “I'm a fire and I burn burn burn tonight, I'm a fire [da da dur da] I'm a fire”.

7 PJ Harvey - White Chalk

Just when you thought you had PJ Harvey pegged as some kind of rock superstar, she goes and reinvents herself as a quiet angelic songstress. 'White Chalk' was the combination of hard work mixed with pure ingrained genius. Nobody could quite make an album like this and get away with it - with the one exception of Polly Jean Harvey.

Back in September, we described the LP as “not for the faint-hearted....It demands deep respect.” And once Polly takes you into her roller-coaster world, its nigh-on impossible for you ever to part from the ethereal world of 'White Chalk' and PJ Harvey. Haunting and beautiful, you'll never want to leave.

6 M.I.A - Kala

At a time when few musicians have any political knowledge, let alone the tenacity to use music to communicate it - this was one of the most refreshing releases of the year. In a country where most of us are ghettoised in remote subcultures M.I.A. explored what it was like to look outside the indifference of the majority. If one album on this list personifies what it was like to be alive in 2007, this one is it.

5 The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes

A band so achingly original that you find yourself searching for the plural of apocalypse. With song titles like “Set Fire to the Face on Fire”, “Huge Gold AK-47” and “Spit Shine Your Black Clouds” the scene is set for stylish, harrowing hardcore pop with some of the catchiest moments ever written about the attempts to make war socially acceptable and consumer driven.

It's somewhat sad that this album will forever be their epitaph following their split this year. In terms of final albums though, there's little more one could ask for in excess of the finely tuned intense, chaotic, emotionally scarring roller-coaster ride of madness known as “Young Machetes”.

4 Shady Bard - From the Ground Up

You know you're entering the domain of the top albums when things take a turn for the beautiful. Despite some quarters pushing for a Hellogoodbye number one slot, there's no denying the power of this mesmerising, haunting and heartfelt album. It is truly the kind of album that will be remembered for generations.

"Passionate, eloquent, tender, bombastic and fragile", said the PR spiel accompanying this Shady Bard LP. For once though, the PR does not lie. Although on a note of constructive criticism, if we see the phrases “infectious hooks”, “pounding bass” or “pulsing rhythms” once more, the CD that accompanies it might just set the new land-speed record. Returning from tangent: It's not long before you're drawn into Shady Bard's world, a world of lofty, inspirational concept albums.

3 Fields - Everything Last Winter

Breaking onto the scene with their amazing video for “Song for the Fields” this band certainly got everyone's attention. What was unexpected was that they would retain it with a fantastically layered, complex debut album which came seriously close to securing our top spot.

Every track sparkles with rich, textured melodies, only broken when the band decide to undercut it with the musical equivalent of a chainsaw. Generally speaking, the sweeter the melody, the harsher and more urgent the instrumentation. Boredom isn't an option here, and each track eschews any kind of standardised structure and teeters along like a runaway mine train with various instruments stepping into the spotlight, stabbing into the song with a perfectly contagious melody, before bowing out, never to be seen again.

2 Manchester Orchestra - I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child

It was desperately close to being number one and for their debut full length release this album was monumentally accomplished. From the opening bars of Wolves at Night through to the final shimmering crescendo of Colly Strings this was, simply put, a beautiful and at times intensely heart wrenching collection of songs.

Hearing 'Where Have You Been' for the first time is an experience to be savoured, one of the few songs we've heard this year that literally makes you stop dead and pay attention. Succinctly put, this is an immense, tangled, rewarding album that deserves a place right next to your wrung out heart.

1 The National - Boxer

So choosing a number one proved to be akin to deciding whether you'd like to be thrown to the lions or the alligators. In a seamless join, The National followed up 'Alligator' with the deep brooding classic that is 'Boxer'. Every track twinkles with the sparkle of genius, lyrically it often feels as though you're staring through a murky window but with every listen the initially opaque sentiments gradually come into focus.

In essence that is the brilliance of this record, it clasps its cards against its chest and is all the more rewarding as you gently prize them away. A deserving album thus to receive the highly coveted (possibly) inaugural number one spot.

See positions 11-20
See positions 21-30
See positions 31-40

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