2007
So, I set out at the beginning of this month to write up a Top 10 albums of 2007 (from my musical perspective anyway). I've done it every year since 2004, and its always a struggle because I often don't have 10 albums that came out in said year, but this year I managed to find and listen to 14 new albums, so I will present here my top 10 and my 4 honorable mentions. Hooray.

1. Hafez & Shahram Nazeri - Passion of Rumi
This album is excellent. It is such a brilliant fusion of Persian and Western Classical musical ideas, the musicianship is masterful,  the vocals are as moving as always, and another album by the same ensemble (plus a full orchestra) is expected for arrival in 2008. I absolutely cannot wait.

2. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
This was not a hard album to place. Porcupine Tree may not be heading in the overall greatest direction lyrically and production-wise (the drums keep getting pushed more and more into the background) but this album was really an improvement over Deadwing and I just enjoyed it overall... plus I saw them play it live in Cleveland in May.

3. Grails - Burning off Impurities
A psychedelic post rock romp, what more could I ask for? The percussion and drumming was far more organized and better than their previous album, and overally the whole sound of the album was just excellent. I really enjoyed the tribal/jungle feel to a lot of the songs as well as the layered instrumentation and the unique approach to post rock that this album featured.

4. The National - Boxer
Many thanks to Steel for this album. The songs on this album are just so excellent. The musicianship isnt up to my normal tastes, but the group play and excellent vocals/lyrics of this album had it frequently playing on my iPod throughout the summer and fall.

5. Blackfield - Blackfield II
This album really grew on me. I wasn't a particular fan of Blackfield after their first album, and at first listen I was rather disappointed with this album. I left it in my shuffle playlist, however, and over time as I heard individual songs from the album on their own, I really grew to appreciate some of the things that I missed when I only listened to it passively. Where the songs lack the things that I find best about Steven Wilson's music, they make up for it by having catchy hooks and slick instrumentation, and are overall very enjoyable as far as pop-rock goes in my book. That aside, it is a good album.

6. Porcupine Tree - Nil Recurring EP
Hey hey hey, Steven Wilson was busy this year. Actually not really, as this EP is mostly outtakes and cuts from FoaBP. It has moments that are absolutely incredible (the outro to Normal for example) and it is obvious where Robert Fripp had considerable influence over the music, so listening for that element that didn't appear as much as I was expecting on FoaBP was very enjoyable. Some of the sections in the songs are pretty weak though, or contain material that actually made it to the album and thus sound so strangely out of place. Either way, very enjoyable.

7. Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
Another album that really grew on me. This album is so ethereal and heady that it is difficult to appreciate via passive listening. It wasn't until I sat down and turned off the lights and turned the volume up that I really grasped the amount of work that went into this seemingly minimalist record. Sound effects and background noise abound, but the actual music is entrancing. The haunting vocals, mellotrons and theremin parts really define this album and are what make it stand out to me. I have a feeling that this album will continue growing on me, I feel as though I've only barely nicked the surface of what it has to offer sonically.

8. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
This album is definitely EitS's best produced album. I don't really feel that they've broken new musical ground, but at the same time they aren't completely repeating themselves, including some new instruments here and there and a slight departure from the quiet - build - loud - quiet form that they've perfected over the years. Good stuff.

9. Pelican - City of Echoes
While I feel that this album is a departure from a far more enjoyable sludgy and epic sound that Pelican have put forth before, it is still a good album, and I can see where they've left themselves open to explore a lot more musical territory next time around. I'm glad they aren't making the same album as they did the last two times, but its still a bit rough around the edges. Gone are the dirty sounding dark riffs, and in are the clean, tight and crisp lead guitar lines... and yet it still sounds like Pelican. Some of the songs are highly repetitive and formulaic, but others are interesting and catch me off-guard when I hear them. Interesting album... with the chance to grow on me yet.

10. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
While this album is a return the the poor production quality of Sam Beam's first few albums, I think that the quality of the songwriting and the lyrics have not suffered at all. This would be far more enjoyable to listen to if it were up to the sound quality standards of the EP with Calexico, but overall it is not bad.

11. Caspian - The Four Trees
This album was pretty good. I don't believe I've given it the proper amount of listening yet. From what I do know though, it is a powerful album with many very busy passages and a lot of stuff going on. I know I enjoy listening to it more than the other three honorable mentions, so it gets 11th place.

12. Billy Bob Thornton - Beautiful Door
This album is so hilariously bad that its actually good. I really get a kick out of listening to it for a couple reasons. Firstly, the music itself is actually much better than in mainstream country. Much better. I can't stress this enough. It is good country music. Secondly, Billy Bob's singing voice is strange, but unique and I actually enjoy it. Lastly, the lyrics are so horrendously awful that I laugh my ass off at most of the songs. I don't know if he was trying to be funny or if he really does wonder about some of the things that he has posited in this album. For anyone who has the chance to pick it up, do so if only to hear the lyrics on songs like "Carnival Girl" and "I Gotta Grow Up".

13. Pain of Salvation - Scarsick
I was just so disappointed with this album. BE was so good. Musically and lyrically, Scarsick is just such a huge step down that I am pretty disgusted. The music isn't really that bad, but it borders on the ridiculous in far too many songs for me to even care to listen to the rest of the album. Coupled with that are Gildenlöw's atrocious lyrics and feeble social commentary. It makes me about sick if I listen to half the words he speaks/raps/sings on this album. Shit Y'all.

14. Dark Tranquillity - Fiction
I feel that if this were 2004 I would have rated this album very high on my yearly top 10 list. I just couldn't get into this album, though I feel that it is a well put together album, and probably better than what any other Melodic Death Metal band is doing right now. I just.. I'm not really groovin to this kind of music anymore and I can't really bring myself to listen to the whole album, so I rank it last.

Thats all for now. Maybe some album covers later? who knows