The best, the worst, the weirdest (original) (raw)

	OUR CRITICS' TOP 5 ALBUMSEdna Gundersen1. Arcade Fire, _Neon Bible_2. Queens of the Stone Age, _Era Vulgaris_3. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, _Raising Sand_4. Kanye West, _Graduation_5. M.I.A, Kala Steve Jones1. Kanye West, _Graduation_2. Jay-Z, _American Gangster_3. Alicia Keys, _As I Am_4. Timbaland, _Timbaland Presents Shock Value_5. Common, Finding Forever Elysa Gardner1. Patti Austin, _Avant Gershwin_2. Junior Senior, _Hey Hey My My Yo Yo_3. Bruce Springsteen, _Magic_4. Paula Cole, _Courage_5. Cliff Eberhardt, The High Above and the Down Below Brian Mansfield1. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, _Raising Sand_2. Miranda Lambert, _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_3. Bruce Springsteen, M_agic_4. Relient K, _Five Score and Seven Years Ago_5. Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers, Glassjaw Boxer Ken Barnes1. New Pornographers, _Challengers_2. The Sadies, _New Seasons_3. Kanye West, _Graduation_4. Bruce Springsteen, _Magic_5. Aly & AJ, Insomniatic

By USA TODAY music critics Ken Barnes, Edna Gundersen, Steve Jones, Elysa Gardner and Brian Mansfield

The hits keep coming. .. and so do the misses. USA TODAY's music staff picks the best, the worst and the oddest music,trends and developments of 2007.

Album of the year

Kanye West, Graduation

For once, the biggest was the best. West's third album scored the largest opening week of the year (957,000 copies sold) and drew deserved raves from critics for its musical and thematic variety and its articulate and witty rhyming. USA TODAY's Steve Jones summed it up: "The Louis Vuitton Don may major in rap, but he liberally borrows from other music schools to create a much broader soundscape."

Song of the year

Justin Timberlake, What Goes Around. .. Comes Around

The wildly inconsistent and overexposed Timberlake delivers an ethereal masterpiece in a song that floated over the airwaves with angelic grace.

Most annoying song of the year

Soulja Boy, Crank That

This inescapable chant alternated sheer monotony with enough vulgarity to alarm parents whose kids became obsessed with doing the song's associated dance moves.

Most memorable moments

Massive live moment: Live Earth's ambitious, seven-continent day on the green.

Intimate live moment: Paul McCartney at L.A.'s Amoeba Music record store, a raucous, emotional joy ride through the Fab Four catalog and his solo career.

Half-alive moment: Britney Spears' sleepwalk/ stumble at MTV's Video Music Awards.

Most overkill

First annual T-Pain Vocoder Overkill Award: T-Pain overused the robotic effect on something like a dozen of 2007's most irritating hits.

Rock-star envy

The rock-star lifestyle appeared newly glamorous this year.

The Shop Boyz' Party Like a Rockstar bragged (improbably) about being "on the golf course/ Trippin' wit da Osbournes," while Nickelback's Rockstar summed up the wishful desires of millions: "We all just wanna be big rock stars/ And live in hilltop houses driving 15 cars/ The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap/ We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat." Finally, the video game Rock Band brought the lifestyle to (virtual) reality, except for the golfing, multi-car, drugs and skinny parts.

The beat goes on

Fresh M.I.A.: The artist less commonly known as Maya Arulpragasam crafted an ambitious, beat-savvy stew of world music and dance rhythms that made globalization hip.

Same old M.I.A.: The long-promised albums by Guns N' Roses and Michael Jackson.

Best Freudian concept foreshadowing real-life events:

T.I.'s T.I. vs T.I.P. album, which depicted a struggle between the Atlanta rapper's bright and dark sides. After its release in July, T.I. was charged with, among other things, possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers.

Soul survival

Amy Winehouse's retro-soul, Ryan Shaw's nods to Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, Alicia Keys' old-school R&B, Ne-Yo's soulful bent, Bettye LaVette's triumphant return and the rise of soul traditionalist Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (Winehouse's backing band on Back to Black) all testified to the enduring power and appeal of the Motown/Stax vibe.

Now you hear me, now you don't

The Poof Daddy Instant Disappearance Award:Mims, whose _This Is Why I'm Ho_t triggered downloads and ringtone sales in the millions, album sales around 300,000 and no follow-up hits.

Same cover concept, radically different results

Feist's The Reminder (one of the year's most striking covers) and New Pornographers' Challengers (one you'd want to strike from the best-album-cover list).

TV guides

Chris Daughtry's American Idol run sparks 3 million album sales. High School Musical 2 and Hannah Montana parlay Disney Channel (over)exposure into massive sales and tour demand. Josh Groban's Oprah appearance kick-starts his 2007 best seller Noël. Feist rides an iPod commercial to a Grammy new-artist nomination. Is television today's top recordbreaking medium?

Together again

Most overblown reunion: The Police

Most potentially earthshaking reunion: Led Zeppelin (if they keep going)

Awards determined and compiled by USA TODAY music critics Ken Barnes, Edna Gundersen, Steve Jones, Elysa Gardner and Brian Mansfield.

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