The Top 50 Albums of 2007

15 Common
Finding Forever (Geffen)
The high point is "The People," an epistemological investigation of hustling that connects balling to the everyday struggle of being black in America. But with Kanye producing most tracks and guest shots from D'Angelo and Lily Allen, this blast of sunshine and soul has plenty more highs.

16 Les Savy Fav
Let's Stay Friends (Frenchkiss)
After a decade of wowing the circuit with singer Tim Harrington's uncool theatrics and everybody's art-garage barrage, this Providence, Rhode Island-spawned, Brooklyn-based quartet suspended operations in 2005. But LSF didn't break up, and as if they planned it that way, their first true album in six years is their very first where true tunes undergird angular noise. "Has your skin grown thick from bands that make you sick?" the opener inquires, then goes on, "Well, this is where it stops." And by the time they declare themselves "hills all filled with gas and gold," they've proved they were just getting started.