Best Songs of 2007

Was 2007 the fastest year ever for everyone else? I don’t know what it was, but this year flew by quicker than any other I can remember. And unlike most years, I was conscious of it the whole time it was happening. Geeze, is it June already? November? Damn. 2008? Man, there goes the decade.

I may just be getting older and snobbier, but with the perpetuating proliferation of emo groups and brood bands, I maintain that the quality of rock music being put out these days just keeps getting worse. (I think Tom Petty would agree with me.) It's evident in the number of albums I've bought over the past seven years. Let's examine:

• 2001: 16 albums bought
• 2002: 49
• 2003: 32
• 2004: 7
• 2005: 17
• 2006: 13
• 2007: 2

That's right, I purchased just two albums this year: Rush's Snakes & Arrows and Sigur Rós's Huerf/Heim, which, as a double-disc EP with only five new songs, barely qualifies. But I bought it, and Rush needs some company anyway.

So given the dearth of albums I liked in 2007, I thought I'd go a different route, and for the first time rank my favorite songs of the year. So, without further ado....

Top 10 Songs of 2007

1. “Keep The Car Running” — The Arcade Fire
   Opens with an elegant buildup of strings and drums, and never lets up.
   
   
2. "Life Is Beautiful" — Sixx: A.M. (Nikki Sixx)
   Quite simply has one of the most ferociously ass-kicking guitar riffs I've ever heard.
   
   
3. "Bouncing Off Clouds" — Tori Amos
   Could be the hippest, most bobbing-beat song from the Redhead Piano Princess.
   
   
4. "Underground Dream" — Son Volt
   A pretty ballad that shines small but brilliant rays of hope.
   
   
5. "The Last Fight" — Velvet Revolver
   A throwback to Scott Weiland's Stone Temple Pilots days, and the only really good thing to come out of the second Velvet Revolver album.
   
   
6. "Your Illusion" — Hanson
   Yes, Hanson is still around, and they're really on my list. Shut up.
   
   
7. "Anniversary" — Suzanne Vega
   Vega returns with a quiet but pensive track for mandatory end-of-the-day unwinding.
   
   
8. "Pour Le Monde" — Crowded House
   A more serious ballad that uses the French phrase "Pour le monde, pas pour la guerre," which translates to "For the world, not for the war," and allows me a rare opportunity to apply five years of French.
   
   
9. "Good Morning After All" — Collective Soul
   Another year, another pick-me-up ballad from Atlanta's alterna-pop rockers. And another opportunity to plug my review of their Home album.
   
   
10. "Dreamworld" — Rilo Kiley
    An ignorance-is-bliss tale that combines melodic grooves and Ivy-like harmonization