AeschTunes

This is a list of our top five favorite albums of 2007.

5. Darren Hayes – This Delicate Thing We’ve Made

This was Darren’s first release as an independent artist. With this album, he took a chance and released a double album. Unfortunately, this chance didn’t entirely pay off. While there are some really good songs on this album, there are also quite a few songs that were either B-side material or “throwaways.” Had this album been one disc with the strongest songs on the album (which is roughly half the album), then This Delicate Thing We’ve Made would’ve been much higher on our top five list.

4. Erasure – Light at the End of the World (limited edition release)

2007 saw the release of Erasure’s twelfth studio album, Light at the End of the World. Overall, this was a decent release, although the last three songs of the material on the “regular” release were rather forgettable. In fact, I felt that the two bonus tracks on the limited edition release were stronger than some of the songs that appeared on the actual album. With a few minor adjustments, this album would’ve ranked higher on this list.

3. Storybox – No Dancing Allowed

The first album underground synthpop artist Dave Montana released under the name Storybox, and it was his first release for Section 44. Overall, this is a pretty good pop-oriented synthpop album. However, there is a three-song section near the end of the album which is more experimental in nature. In some respects, these three songs stand out like a sore thumb on the album, and it does distract from the listening experience somewhat. Like with Erasure, if there were just a couple of minor adjustments, this probably could have ranked even higher. But this is a good album, and is definitely worth checking out if you like synthpop and electronic music.

2. Seal – System

Seal released his fifth album, System, this year. This album saw him make a return to his dance pop sound on his 1991 self-titled album. That’s not to say that he recycles that old sound; he takes that sound and modernizes it. And there are some ballads on the album, but the ballads and slower tempos don’t dominate on this album. There was just one minor weak spot on the album… if not for that, this album would’ve been our number one for the year.

1. Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero

Trent Reznor came up with a definite concept for this album, which he carries successfully through the whole project. This was definitely a stronger album than Nine Inch Nails’ last release, With Teeth.

There were some other good albums released in 2007, but they just didn’t quite have what it took to make our top five. However, I will include them below as “honorable mentions”:

Dave Gahan – Hourglass
Neuropa – The Blitz
Rupesh Cartel – The Disco and the What Not
The Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist
Virtual Server – Setup