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Colin’s Album Chart 2007
Well, 2007 was a year
of both quality and quantity, with a remarkable number of albums all worthy of
a place in the Top 5, but there have also been some notable duds from some big
names, as we will see later in the chart. Particularly noticeable this year is
the glorious range of musical styles in my Top 10, and despite me wittering on
for some years now that all the spotty oiks are boring and derivative, I am
delighted to see a few of them determined to prove me wrong, with spectacularly
success by one lot in particular, who have crashed their way into my Top 5,
let’s hope this is not just a blip and that the trend continues into 2008!
Pre-2007 Albums, bought for historical
reasons or as remastered re-issues, so not included in the main 2007 Chart :-
Wishbone Ash
Argus Remastered
CD 02
A truly timeless classic…..
Wishbone Ash
Live Affairs
CD 06
Bonnie Tyler The Best
CD 93
Rush
Chronicles
CD 04
Rush
Hold Your Fire Remastered
CD 87
Rush
Power Windows Remastered
CD 85
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gimme Back My Bullets
CD 06
Flock The Best of CD 93
Barclay James Harvest
Berlin
Concert For The People CD 06
Joe Jackson
Night and Day CD 82
Joe Jackson
Night and Day 2
CD 00
Fairport Convention
Liege
And Lief Remastered CD 02
Still the greatest folk-rock album of all
time…….
Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills Live
CD 75
Dave Mason
The Definitive Collection
CD 06
Hapshash & The Coloured Coat Western Flier CD
69
Bought because it contains the legendary
“The Wall”, track, but predictably, The Wall is the only decent track on the
album, but it is the end of a 30+ year quest……. Outside the Top 30 for 2007, so
unclassified, which is a shameful section to be in, especially for the Smashing
Pumpkins, Ray Davies, and Joan Osbourne :-
Kristin Hersh
Learn to Sing Like A Star
CD 07
Hips and Makers Part 3, time for a new
tune…….
Smashing Pumpkins
Zeitgeist CD 07
Just dreadful, no variation, just an
uninspired noise….
Joan Osbourne Breakfast In Bed
CD 07
A couple of good covers, but otherwise all too safe and
unremarkable…………….
Ray Davies
Working Man’s Café
CD 07
It’s all too predictable Ray, and this
album was a free insert in The Sunday Times, says it all really…………
Yungchen Lhamo
Ama CD 05
Bewildering Tibetan nonsense……..
Laura Veirs
Saltbreakers CD 07
Much was expected of this debut album, but
it is just not original or memorable……………..
Radiohead
In Rainbows
DL 07
They have completely lost the plot, this is
just monotonous gibberish………….
Eels
With Strings:Live At Town Hall CD
06
Sadly, it just did not work for me…………
Various Artists
Canterbury
Tales CD 00
A fascinating historical record, and some
unbelievably obscure bands have been dug up for this box set, but the all too
few rare gems are heavily outnumbered by the noodlers………
So, on to the real quality,here we go with
Colin’s Top 30 for 2007!!
33) Fairport Convention Sense Of Occasion CD
07
Maybe a tad lacking in stand out tracks, but a worthy effort for a band that have been playing for over 40 years!!!
32) Alison Krauss/Union Station So Long So Wrong CD 97
An intriguing early collaboration between Alison and the Union Castle band, a partnership that would blossom on later albums….
31) Edie Brickell Stranger Things CD
06
We need to give her time, it’s been a long long lay off, but the signs are there for a full return to the standards of Ghost Of A Dog……
30) Marissa Nadler Ballads Of Living And Dying CD
04
The self recorded debut album, amazing guitar playing and a clearly embryonic song writing talent, impressively dark and moody!
29) Marissa Nadler
The Saga Of Mayflower May CD 05
And this second album is even darker, a real talent emerging on this album…
28) Ricki Lee Jones Sermon On
Exposition Boulevard
CD 06
Truly bizarre, at times utterly brilliant, a times bewildering, long may she continue…….
27) Alison Krauss Now That I Have Found You
CD 95
A truly beautiful early solo effort
26) Tori Amos
American Doll Posse
CD 07
I believe Tori needs a rethink, some lovely tracks but a a lot of indulgence also
25) Peter Hammill
Singularity CD 06
Similarly to Tori, maybe PH needs to work on the melodies a bit…..
24) Various Artists
The Best of
Bluegrass CD
07
An amazing collection of 30+ tracks, from the 1930s to 2005, just amazing!
23) Magnum
Princess Alice & Broken
Arrow CD
07
A return to form for Maggers, the best album for some years, but spoilt once again by the muddy production
22) Katie Melua Pictures
CD 07
Despite the widespread criticism, I remain a fan, beautiful simple songs, exquisitely performed and recorded…..
21) Lucie Silvas
The Same Side
CD 07
A classic difficult 2nd album, a bit too samey to the great first album, and not enough anthems; still very good but can do better…..
20) Laurie Freelove 7 Songs CD 03
An amazing voice and truly original songwriting, and bizarrely almost impossible to buy, thank you for the tip off matey, this really is a gem of an album.
19) Jethro Tull
Live At Montreux CD
07
The ole rockers in remarkably ebullient form with a double live CD, containing some excellent versions of old standards, plus some interesting new arrangements, and once again good ole Spillers for turning this one up!
18) Marissa Nadler Songs 3:Bird On The Water
CD 07
A wonderful album from a fast maturing natural talent. This is the 3rd album, and as with the first 2 she writes all the songs and produces it, and her guitar playing is just incredible. There are also some beautiful melodies on here as well as trademark Marissa dark songs in delicious minor keys.
17) Alison Krauss
A Hundred Miles Or More
CD 07
This lady is for me the find of the year, although she has been around since the early 90’s. This is an intriguing collection covering a 5 – 6 year period, and contains a combination of some great original songs combined with some classic cover versions. As with other Alison Krauss albums, the songs range from alt-country through traditional bluegrass to Great American Songbook standards. In most years this album would have been firmly in the Top 10.
16) The Who
Endless Wire CD 06
Well the original britrockers are back with their first new studio album in about 25 years, along with a world tour. There are some great songs on here, plus a few fillers, and in true Townsend style a confusing mini opera. This album would also have been easily Top 10 in most years!
15) Bebel Gilberto
Momento CD
07
The sound of summer! Who could resist the velvet voice and effortless melodies, as Bebel waxes through an album of pure class. If you wanted to be critical you could say that it is very similar to the first album, but as the quality is so oozingly wonderful there is nothing wrong in that. If the Chart was compiled at the end of the summer this would be easily Top 3!
14) Marillion Somewhere Else
CD 07
A welcome return to form for Aylesbury’s finest. There is a refreshing return to the laid back style of the mid to late 90’s, the futile attempts at heavy rockers from recent albums are thankfully gone, and those unmistakeable Marillion melodies and wistful songs have rarely sounded better.
13) Christy Moore
Live From
Dublin
2006 CD 06
What a great live album! A double CD capturing a magical night in Dublin, with a fantastic range of songs from traditional Irish folk ballads right up to contemporary political observations. This album has a tremendous warmth and feel to it, it really really should be Top 5 and for most of the year it was! It just goes to show just how high the standard is in this year’s chart. Just listen to the words of this extract……
12) An Pierle
An Pierle & White Velvet
CD 06
And here is another intriguing individual! Why Ann Pierle albums are not easily available in the UK is just beyond me, especially as most of the songs are sung in English. This lady has a unique voice and the combination of her voice and the beautifully sympathetic playing of White Velvet is just wonderful.
11) Emmylou Harris Red
Dirt Girl CD
00
I finally tracked down this 2nd album from Emmylou’s 90’s trilogy, and I have to say that it is every bit as good as Wrecking Ball and Stumble Into Grace. Some wonderful songs, especially the title track, and Emmylou’s voice has never sounded better.
10) Great
White Back To The Rhythm CD
07
Well after the trauma’s of a few years ago it is good to see that Great White appear to be back on track, nobody else has their effortless combination of rhythm and rock, and the songs on her are well up to standard. And here is another album that only seems to be available as an import, what on Earth are the UK record companies playing at???? And well done Great White for squeezing into the Top 10 against formidable competition this year!!!
9) Plant/Krauss Raising Sand CD 07
This has to be the most unlikely duet ever! Birmingham’s finest vocalist (sorry Ozzy) and the Queen of Bluegrass!!! Whoever came up with the idea of teaming up these 2 must have had divine inspiration, the 2 voices meld together amazingly well, and Producer T Bone Burnett has come up with a fabulous selection of American standards. This album is certainly the most unlikely success of the year!
8) Mozart Requiem CD 91
The definitive analogue recording of this great work, captured in exact sonic detail by an inspired production team, combined with the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra at their majestic best, and Von Karajan managing to hold it all together with wonderful delicacy and subtlety. This album is an object lesson in how a great orchestra on top form should be recorded, and remarkably the re-mastering to CD has also been a great success. This is music so beautiful that it really is music to die to, literally…..
7) The
Jayhawks
Hollywood
Town Hall CD
92
Well, not exactly a new release, but somehow I had tragically missed this great album when it was first released in 1992, but hey, better late than never! The feel of these songs is just irresistible, they sound every bit as good in the studio as on the earlier live EP, but when o when will they ever tour the cold and dark and rainy UK???
6) Rush Snakes And Arrows CD 07
And here’s another bunch of rockers well into their 50’s back with a great return to form. This has to be the best Rush album for many years, and it takes back me to those heady days of Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. Well done guys, another poke in the eye for all those homogenous spotty oiks who could never aspire to produce anything 1/100th as good as this!!! And, of course, this album was in the Top 3 right up until the last compilation of this chart.....
5) Joni
Mitchell Shine CD 07
So here is another 50+ artist back with a great album after a number of years away from it all. As ever with Joni, she blows away most of the younger generation of ‘those women’ with effortless ease. It is also curious that like the new album from Rush, this album also contains a combination of songs and instrumentals, which is sadly all too rare these days.
4) Emiliana
Torrini Fisherman’s Woman CD 04
A genuinely unique talent, there is nobody else who sounds like Emiliana, and this, as you already know, is an album just oozing with atmosphere from start to finish. The songs are endearingly and refreshingly simple, and the production is utter perfection. In most years this would have been a clear No 1, as it was I believe in Matey’s chart last year.
3) Nellie
McKay Pretty Little Head CD
06
At last! After a tortuous 3 year wait, here is the long heralded 2nd album from this unquenchable bundle of New York energy! This lady really does have an excess of talent, she is totally original and unfailingly appealing. One of the more unique features of Nellie McKay is that whenever she starts a song by yowling like a dog you just know that you instantly have another favourite Nellie Mckay song! And as with the first album there is an amazing range of song styles on here ranging from 1940’s ballads to 21st century rap! How this album is not No 1 in the chart is totally unfathomable, I was sorely tempted to have 3 equal No 1’s, but I figured that that would be a cop out, so by the shortest of short heads this got squeezed into 3rd place, but every time I play it I think ‘this is definitely the best album of 2007’, so, confused or what!! And it is fantastic to see that she has repeated the example of her first album of having a separate CD for each ‘side’ of the album, who else would have thought of doing that??? Certainly the most played album of the year, because it never fails to lift the spirits, and (almost certainly) the best loved album of 2007, how can it not be No 1?????????
2) Pink Martini Hey
Eugene CD 07
Wow!! After year’s of me wittering on about spotty oiks being incapable of doing anything original or worthwhile these days, along come a bunch of college kids from the musical graveyard of Portland Oregon, with an utterly original album that owes nothing to anything that has gone before. Ok, so there are some traces of influences from the 1940’s and 1950’s, but they get absorbed into this amazingly original sound. After a few tracks from this incredible record, it seems entirely natural that the lyrics on this album are sung in about 6 or 7 different languages, even though all the songs are written by members of the band, and they all come from Portland Oregon!!! And, of course, the instrumentation and arrangements are equally unlikely, featuring everything from Mexican brass to a Welsh harp, but somehow it all comes together to create this amazing sound!
So, just like Nellie McKay’s brilliant ‘Pretty Little Head’, here is another album that every time I play I find myself thinking ‘this has to be the best record of 2007’, so how come it is only at Number 2????
1) Richard
Cork Avalon CD 07
Well, here it is! Over 30 years in the making, Richard Cork has finally finished his masterwork Avalon. He wrote most of this in the early 1970s, and Caduceus struggled manfully to absorb some of it into the setlist, but at over 90 minutes long, it was a herculean task even then.
It is, of course, the story of King Arthur, and musically it is so majestic it scales unbelievable heights of melody and grandeur, and paints wonderful pictures of each stage of this fabled story. Musically, it is Richard Cork at his majestic best, and the lyrics complement the musical arrangements perfectly. Incredibly, Richard has recorded this in his home studio, and as well as playing all the keyboards, and singing all the lyrics, he has also in recent years taught himself to play guitar and bass, and has spent countless hours mastering drum machines better than anyone else. One of the many highlights has to be Merlin, which is arguably the grandest and most powerful track on this double CD, but everything on this masterwork sounds rich and deeply moving.
I have to say that this has to be the ultimate for Richard, I know he has started on a ‘follow up’ called Architects of Aquarius’, but by any standards this is one helluva act to follow, and yes, it is justifiably good enough to secure the No 1 position in this Year’s chart. Well done Richard!!!!!
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