Albums in My Life: 2007

2007 was the last half of my junior year and the first half of my senior year of high school. Being 16 for most of it, it was a pretty important year in my development.




Avenged Sevenfold- Avenged Sevenfold
I first heard the band through their inclusion in Guitar Hero II, and this was their first album released after that. I enjoyed their heavier sound (or heavier to me at the time), their guitar skill, and their overall darkness. The first time I saw the video for 'A Little Piece of Heaven', it warped my little mind. It's easily my favorite Avenged Sevenfold song, though not very representative of their sound overall. I just thought the whole cinematic tone and dark subject matter was cool, and them taking cues from the Meatloaf playbook was what they needed for me to really get into it.




Foo Fighters- Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
I've listened to this album a countless amount of time, as when my computer hard crashed my freshman year of college and my music library was temporarily lost (at least until I could grab all my CDs from home), this album, along with Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Gorillaz, were the only CDs I remember having in my dorm room. I always used to study on my bed with my CD player next to my books, and one of those albums on. Maybe not the best album to block out distractions, but it was great. Some of these songs still get me unnecessarily hype, like 'Long Road to Ruin', or 'Cheer Up, Boys (Your Makeup is Running)'.



Linkin Park- Minutes to Midnight
This record initially puzzled me. Being a huge Linkin Park fan as a teen, I got this record the day it dropped, put it in the CD player, and something just didn't click. It was a lot more mellow compared to their previous outings, going for a more alt rock sound. It took me a while to warm up to it, initially gravitating towards the heavier tracks, but after giving it more of a shot, I can appreciate some of their more stripped down songs.





of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, are you the Destroyer?
This was of Montreal's critical peak, and while I love this album, I'm not sure I would say this is my favorite album of theirs. I didn't discover the band until Skeletal Lamping, so maybe I had to be there. This is probably in my top 3 with Cherry Peel and lousy with sylvianbriar. When I saw the band live, they filled the setlist with a lot of songs from this era, and these songs are great for a concert; instantly catchy and interesting with depth. It also marked a major turning point for Kevin Barnes' songwriting, inventing the Georgie Fruit character he'd use throughout the second half of the album, Skeletal Lamping, False Priest, and thecontrollersphere.



Stephen Sondheim- Sweeney Todd OST
Before he ruined his reputation butchering Disney properties, Tim Burton used to make some of my favorite movies. One of the soundtracks from his movies already made an appearance in these lists. So, when this movie came out, needless to say I was excited. I was unfamiliar with the original musical (I now own the soundtrack on vinyl), but the macabre yet musical tone was perfect for me. I still find myself putting the soundtrack on every once in a while, and I feel like this was one of Tim Burton's last great movies.





So, that was 2007. Stay tuned for more albums in my life, and I'll be reviewing a few Record Store Day releases in a double header: King's Mouth by the Flaming Lips, and Sunn 0)))'s Life Metal.


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