MSN's Best 'Albums' of 2007

1. Arcade Fire: "Neon Bible"
The Montreal band's vivid mix of idealism and eclecticism earned them nearly instant notoriety with their debut, "Funeral," making the Arcade Fire's follow-up among 2007's most keenly anticipated releases. Any fears of a sophomore slump were dissolved by the new set's even grander ambitions and its urgent, angry political subtext, while Win Butler's songs reflected an expanded array of influences (including, among others, the Boss himself).

2. Bruce Springsteen: "Magic"
At midlife, Asbury Park's most famous son has hit a brisker stride, stepping up the flow of new releases, rekindling his stage passions with both the Seeger Sessions Band and his E Street cohorts and, most vitally, taking his writing back to street level. "Magic" manages to echo Springsteen's most triumphal past records while displaying new tricks (including rhapsodic pure pop worthy of Brian Wilson) and honing its social themes to the sharpest edges of his career.

3. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: "Raising Sand"
The calculus of collaborations between established stars typically leads to simple addition (as in the supergroup model) or polite standoffs between established styles. Such expectations made this left-field combination all the more startling as producer T Bone Burnett lured the hard-rock howler and the decorous bluegrass queen out of their comfort zones and into a newly imagined, gothic frontier between blues, country and folk. Plant has never sounded subtler or more nuanced, Krauss reveals a more sultry edge and their collective sound proves truly sui generis.

4. Miranda Lambert: "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"
How do you reach the finals on "Nashville Star," snare a major label contract and still pull cred from alt-country hipsters living time zones away from Music Row? Miranda Lambert's solution is to channel seething revenge fables (the rocking "Gunpowder and Lead" and the unhinged title track), evoke life beyond the metroplexes ("Famous in a Small Town") and tap into heartbreak with fresh conviction ("Desperation") -- and do it all with poise and intelligence.


5. The Shins: "Wincing the Night Away"
Between their relocation from Albuquerque, N.M., to Portland, Ore., and their evolution from lo-fi debut to the slightly lusher, lyrical pop-rock of their sophomore breakout, the Shins raised both ambitions and expectations for this more polished, expansive set. A higher-octane label push may have prompted more divided critical reactions, but when front man and songwriter James Mercer hits the target, the Shins remain slyly seductive.

6. Amy Winehouse: "Back to Black"
It's sobering (no pun intended) to contemplate the prospect that the young British singer's personal troubles may eclipse her artistry with tabloid melodrama. Take away the headlines and the career fumbles, and the virtues of this evolutionary second album remain bracing. Beyond the much-publicized neo-soul component, punctuated by the record's retooled Stax/JB accents, her vocal alloy of jazz, pop and R&B plus unexpurgated confessional lyrics earn Winehouse her rung on our list.

7. Wilco: "Sky Blue Sky"
For all the newer Wilco fans disappointed by the band's seeming retreat from the overt experimentalism of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "A Ghost Is Born," we'd recommend a closer listen to conversational ease of these virtually live performances and the sturdy song craft that Jeff Tweedy brings to this latest set of songs. By now, the current lineup has achieved nearly telepathic communication that may be subtler but no less accomplished on these more concise ensemble excursions.

8. (TIE) M.I.A.: "Kala" and the National: "Boxer"
Nearly polar opposites in style and sensibility, M.I.A.'s second album and the fourth full set from the National split votes for eighth place on our rankings.

For the once and future Maya Arulpragasam, the fierce intelligence and sharp social consciousness of her acclaimed 2005 debut were extended with "Kala," which Consumer Guide chief Robert Christgau raves "just gets stronger and more intelligent over time" both in its sonic adventurism and its "cannier," defiant political vision of an international, multicultural underclass. The only surprise for M.I.A. in our poll was that she didn't place higher.

For the National, "Boxer" proved as low-keyed as "Kala" was extroverted. Anchored by Matt Berninger's mournful, reserved baritone and murmured lyrics, the quintet (abetted by orchestrator and sometimes sixth member Padma Newsome) lowered the flame under their brooding new songs, paring arrangements to often skeletal frameworks. The results demanded, then rewarded, closer and more careful listens than the breakthrough predecessor, "Alligator."

9. Spoon: "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"
Like the Shins, Austin's Spoon graduated with their prior set to media notoriety without sacrificing their smarts. Britt Daniel continues to frame often oblique but allusive lyrics with canny, stripped-down instrumental hooks that are even sharper for their concision. Their sixth album adds tantalizing pop accents such as beefy horn choruses and tolling vibes that hint at Motown without openly aping it. Don't let the intentional nonsense of the title fool you -- this is seriously smart -- even ingenious -- rock.

10. The White Stripes: "Icky Thump"
Detroit's dynamic duo continues to extend the loaves-and-fishes miracle of wringing a surprisingly broad and adventurous palette from Meg White's thrashing drums and Jack White's fearless guitars and occasional keyboards, augmented by left-field sonic additives from mariachi horns to bagpipes. His fevered vocals and their typically antic spectrum of effects may have traded novelty for familiarity by now, but the Stripes still pulled enough votes to make the cut.

http://music.msn.com/music/2007review/bestalbums?GT1=7702

Otherwise, no dice.

because there was a tie for #8... otherwise, you have 11 albums in your top 10.

Minor pet peeve, sorry...