The Best Albums Of 2007, Part I (Finally!)
Again, as I did in ‘06 (I think I did a list in ‘06…), I’m listing these in no particular order of preference. These are, in my opinion, the best, most interesting records I’ve heard that were released in 2007. I’ll get Part II out soon, but for now, let’s get started:
Nicole Atkins And The Sea-Neptune City: Patsy Cline and Roy Orbison’s illegitimate grandchild drags Phil Spector away from all the legal proceedings and cuts an album. Results: brilliance. Nicole’s got a huge voice that we’re never going to hear the end of once the rest of the world finishes catching on (they’re getting there), so enjoy her as much as you can now before the overplay REALLY kicks in. If you’re going to any festivals in the US this summer, she’s probably playing the one you’re going to, and I definitely recommend catching her, as her voice will downright scare you with how amazingly big it is.
Download-Fixer: the Skinny Puppy record we wanted to hear this year. As instrumental electronic records go (and I’m still not huge on ‘em), this was the best ‘07 had to offer in my view.
Rush-Snakes & Arrows: their best in 20 years, and I’d call it a Rush record for people who don’t like Rush records (it’s more moody than manic, but not so moody that they totally lose the plot or forget what people do love about Rush), as well as one for people who kind of dig them. They’re doing another leg of the tour for this album, and as I thoroughly enjoyed the first leg, I’d recommend catching them if you haven’t.
Throbbing Gristle-Part II: The Endless Not: how can you not love a comeback album from TG? It wasn’t even a “kinder, gentler” Throbbing Gristle record (though there’s no real “Subhuman” on it). It still brought the weird n’ creepy, though as a bonus, you get to hear how nearly 30 years of music per band member since they called it a day shapes their sound, so while they’re neither kind nor gentle, they’re certainly mature. I hope they continue their efforts for as long as they can, as they still have a lot to offer, collectively, in addition to what they do on their own.
Radiohead-In Rainbows: amazingly, this is one of those mega-hyped, mega-played records that really does bring the goods, and I’m still happy to hear it months after the fact, when I come across it. It’s actually one of those records that not only stands up well on its own, but ends up being “the rug that really ties the room together” in their catalog, and frames the last few records they’ve done perfectly. After listening to “In Rainbows”, all their other post-”OK Computer” output made a lot more sense to me in context, and stood out better as songs rather than just “Radiohead trying to make important music rather than likeable music”, which was my opinion up to this point. It’s not that they were ahead of their time necessarily, or that it took me time to “get” what they were doing, I don’t think. I really do think of this of a situation where the albums fit together sort of like a puzzle, musically speaking. Not that there’s some high, deep “concept” to them, just that, until they got where they are now, it sounded like pieces were missing, and now that they’re here, they’re not anymore. I’m looking forward to hearing where they go from here, certainly, and enjoying where they are now.
Nine Inch Nails-Year Zero: “And the award for Backhanded Compliment Of The Year goes to…”
I might as well get the two overhyped ones out of the way, back-to-back, heh. I think most people who know me and read my stuff know that I don’t have the world’s highest opinion of Trent Reznor, and know that I think he’s really coasted through most of this decade (and parts of the last) while being hailed as a “visionary” by people who don’t know any better. Trent would probably yell “I learned it from watching you, Bowie!” if cornered on the matter, but the fact remains, a lot of the time, Trent’s kind of a lazy flake. However, that rant aside, as that’s not really what we’re here to discuss, there are times when he gets off his ass and does something to justify the disproportionate amount of attention he’s gotten over the years. “Year Zero” was one of those times. If you’ve been avoiding his stuff for a while, since (insert name of album where you think he jumped the shark here), this one is worth giving him another chance on, as it’s pretty good. Download it if you can, though, because giving him money just encourages him to dump crap like “Ghosts”, “With Teeth” and “The Slip” on his poor fans.
Nena-Cover Me: nope, not a typo. I said Nena. Yes, her! You know, she of the Luftballons, all 99 of them? Well, she’s got a 2 CD record of covers out! And it’s quite good, in that “returning star from the ’80’s releases an album of occasionally-overly-faithful-but-still-good cover songs” way! The first CD is all German stuff, and I’ll admit, I’m not all that familiar beyond Bowie’s “Helden” and the Rammstein number (which I wish I wasn’t familiar with, but hey, Nena makes everything better!), so it’s a “deeper” listen than the second disc, which is all English language covers, and what covers they are! Everything from Floyd to Air to Dylan to Mazzy Star to that pop-punk-ish cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love” that you dreaded someone annoying like Avril Lavigne doing, but ha, fuck you, Avril! “Fuck you in the ass with a big rubber dick!”, as my man George Carlin might say, because Nena got to it first! She even busts out T. Rex’s “Children Of The Revolution” and “Darkness”, from Peter Gabriel’s last one, “Up”, and through all of it, she sounds great, like she hasn’t aged a day. The band and production at times are a touch safe, but overall, it’s a worthwhile, interesting listen, and it’s great to hear Nena still doing viable music, even if it’s not her own, necessarily.
The Scorpions-Humanity Hour I: moving on through our list of “veteran German performers who released albums in 2007 that aren’t Einsturzende Neubauten (sorry, guys!)”, we have Klaus and the boys, who paired with producer Desmond Child (Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” among a ton of others) and somehow, defying logic, came up with an album that sounds fresh, contemporary, and still sounds like The Scorpions! This one was a really nice surprise, from a band who seemingly have nine lives.
Happy Rhodes-Find Me: this was the last addition to the list, but it very well may be the best. Absolutely sublime record from an idol of dozens who, if there were any justice, would be the idol of millions, and still be able to have a private life and creative control. I hate to make the usual comparisons here, but to give you an idea of where she comes from, if you’re a fan of Kate Bush, Annie Lennox or Peter Gabriel, you need to hear Happy Rhodes in general, and for the purposes of this discussion, “Find Me” in particular. This record has utterly blown me away.
Semi-Precious Weapons-We Love You: this one comes with a lot of qualifiers, just because I’ve been following them for almost 2 years now, and I’m pretty familiar. First off, if you can, along with this, I heartily recommend that you get the Precious EP and the Magnetic EP from ‘06 (both of which may be out of print and sold out now, but to be sure, you can email or MySpace message Justin and ask if he has any left…feel free to tell him I sent you, he might actually know who you’re talking about…), as there are alternate versions of some of the songs on “We Love You” that benefit from the more raw production on those EPs (though, with former Bowie producer Tony Visconti at the mixing board for “We Love You”, the production isn’t exactly a slouch here). Second, you MUST see this band live to fully appreciate them. As I’ve said before, they’re the best band in New York right now, and one of the best in the world. Absolutely electric. That said, “We Love You” is a perfectly acceptable introduction to SPW until you can snag the EPs and see them live, and it’s got some material that isn’t on the earlier EPs that I’d consider instant classics. “Time Zones” (which could be straight off the soundtrack to “The Rose”) and the epic “Genius” are definitely the standouts here, and if the right people hear these songs, we’re all going to be hearing them for a very long time. If you like loud, obnoxious, catchy glam rock/metal, you really need to latch onto this band.
Reviews of more albums you need to hear in the Best of 2007 part II, here.
June 24th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Had no idea the Scorpions were still around. I’ll hafta check that one out.