Joe Ayling – 2007 Review

Top 10 Albums of 2007

10. The Wombats – Proudly Present… A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation
Upbeat album with frequent mentions of Liverpool, New York and Shakespeare. Fun to listen to, and Backfire At The Disco is hilarious: "It backfired at the disco... she slapped me at the disco".

9. Plain White T's – Every Second Counts
Hey There Delilah and Come Back To Me were both good pop tracks, but the album has plenty of depth too. The track Write You A Song is a novel way to, well, write a love song.

8. Babyshambles – Shotter’s Nation
Maybe Pete Doherty is onto something - his latest album is inventive, melodic and well produced. Much slower and more acoustic sounding than their last album. The song Delivery is a hit with most indie DJs and Unstookie Titled is as fascinatingly frail as the man himself.

7. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Decent second album by this band/orchestra/choir operation. Even more powerful than the first album, but not as easy to listen, in my opinion.

6. The Pigeon Detectives - Wait For Me
Frantic, intense album and really good band to hear on a night out. The chanted backing vocals sound like a melodic football crowd, never mind the clapping on I Found Out.

5. Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
What a step forward for the British invasion, full of great drumming and inventiveness. This album flows brilliantly from the first track and everyone loves Golden Skans. Also picked up the Mercury Prize.

4. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
A good solid third album after a weak second with A-ha Shake Heartbreak. Hang on, shouldn't that be the other way round... Well, front man Caleb has apparently cleaned his act up and it shows. You once again get the impression he'd burst a lung if he had to. On Call is an anthem, while Ragoo reminds me of how catchy this Tennessee quartet's first album was.

3. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
The third best album of the year by the UK's best band, in my opinion. Lead singer Alex Turner stuck two fingers up at the second album vultures with telling lyrics and a really varied playlist. From the cutting edge of D Is For Dangerous to the climatic 505, these songs sound as good onstage as they did in the studio too.

2. The Enemy - We'll Live and Die In These Towns
Nearly won just for their Richard and Judy line in Away From Here. A brilliant debut album that explains the wrongs of town and city life as a whole, not just Coventry (from where the band hail). The track This Song, for example, explains how half of the bands pals from school were pushing prams at 16, while the other half are now pushing pills. Front man Tom Clarke is an accomplished musician and it shows with the strings etc.

1. The Twang - Love It When I Feel Like This
First things first, what a great name for an album, which is as uplifting and honest as the title suggests. The lyrics are humorous and heartfelt, if a little hardhitting at times, while the music itself is supported with strong backing melodies. The Twang's first album has plenty of soul, and will stick in the memory. My favourite tracks are Either Way, Two Lovers, Push The Ghosts and Got Me Sussed.

Top 10 Tracks of 2007

10. Arctic Monkeys - D Is For Dangerous
9. Alicia Keys - No One
8. Amy Winehouse - Valerie
7. Kate Nash - Foundations
6. Leonie Lewis - Bleeding Love
5. Klaxons - Golden Skans
4. Stereophonics - It Means Nothing
3. Wombats - Moving To New York
2. Oasis - Lord Don't Slow Me Down
1. The Twang - Either Way

2007's It's Good But It's Not That Good

Kasabian – Empire (Ed: Last year?)

2007's Emperor's New Clothes

Kaiser Chiefs – Your’s Truly, Angry Mob