Indie Music ruled in 2007!!!

The year in music: Indie sounds ruled ’07

By Sarah Nason
George Washington High School
article from: http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/FlipSide/2008010415


There were plenty of big music moments in 2007. The year was off to an exciting start with the reunion of The Police, who opened the Grammy Awards in February and announced their reunion tour, which started in May.

The Police were not the only band to return to the music scene, either. Smashing Pumpkins, Spice Girls, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, The Verve, and Rage Against the Machine all reunited in some form over the year, whether for tours, new albums or recordings for “Guitar Hero.”

Topping the charts in 2007 were Amy Winehouse’s Motown-esque album “Back to Black” and its hit single “Rehab,” Rihanna and Jay-Z’s “Umbrella,” Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” the “High School Musical 2” soundtrack, Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” and Nelly Furtado’s album “Loose,” among others. Despite the fact that most of what sat atop the music charts was of no particular musical merit, a lot of great material was released over the 12-month course.

This year also featured the much-anticipated return of former pop princess Britney Spears, whose career has been overshadowed by her personal life in recent years. Though her disastrous performance of “Blackout’s” first single, “Gimme More,” during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards (in which she wore a too-small, too-revealing outfit and delivered a lackluster rendition of what was supposed to be her comeback routine), she and her team managed to deliver an exciting dance-worthy album full of decent songs of great production.

In another return of sorts, “New Moon,” a posthumous double CD by Elliott Smith, was released, containing material recorded during the production of his albums “Elliott Smith” and “Either/Or.” Much of the album’s profits were given to a social service agency for low-income adults and homeless youth in Portland, Ore.

In July, the Live Earth concerts, founded by Al Gore and Kevin Wall, were held in 12 locations across the globe. These benefit concerts to raise awareness of global warming featured more than 150 musical acts including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Shakira, Bloc Party, Keith Urban, The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Bon Jovi, John Legend and Joss Stone.

October saw the release of Radiohead’s seventh studio album, “In Rainbows,” which was critically acclaimed not only for the music itself but also for the “pay what you want” digital format in which the album was originally released.


Full article continues at:

2007 Indie Music Year in Review