Of melodies pure and true

Who remembers the movie Rockadoodle? With the Elvis-rooster who won't crow anymore, so his farm gets thrown into a world of darkness and rain, and it starts to flood, and all the other animals have to convince him to come home and save the farm with his song or whatever. That was one of those movies, like All Dogs Go to Heaven, that Jeff and I repeatedly brought home from Video Thunder when we were small. But I hadn't even thought of it until sophomore year of college, when we were moving through The Canterbury Tales in my Chaucer class (best class ever, largely because it was the one class the Sweet Potatoes took together and because of Dr. S. Terri Curran's faces). Some pilgrim (I think it's the nun's priest, and I could look it up to confirm, but I won't) tells a story about a rooster named Chaunticleer and all his hen wives, and I was, like, "Hot damn, that name sounds familiar." And I only vaguely recalled the Elvis-rooster movie, and I thought the Elvis-rooster's name might have been Chaunticleer (in a modern English spelling: Chanticleer), but I had no idea what the movie was called. Thank heavens for the internet, because I put "Chaunticleer" into the imdb and it gave me Rockadoodle, and I was finally able to sleep at night. Anyway, I decided to tell that story today because when I called up the mighty iTunes store to officially purchase "The Heartache Can Wait," I saw that the free single of the week is from some group called Chanticleer, and it made me think of the Elvis-rooster movie and the good times Carlos and I had in Chaucer. Aw. Anyway, "chanticleer" means, whatever, like, "sing clearly" in French, so this group on iTunes has nothing to do with roosters, but I do not care. Also, I totally love that a kids' movie named its rooster after a character in a Chaucer story. Okay, so Chaucer didn't make that story up his own self, but I don't care.

Shall I buy Rivers's solo album? Decisions, decisions. I think Rivers needs Weezer, but that's just what I think. I also think it's cute that his name is Rivers, but I would never name a kid after nature. Plus, they're just home-recorded demos. I'm not sure I care that much.

All those year-end best album lists are coming out these days, and I feel like I only bought, like, five new albums this year. That's probably an underestimate, so let's see what I can remember:
The Story
My December
Icky Thump
Easy Tiger
One Cell in the Sea (that was new in 2007, right?)
Not Too Late
Little Voice

So that's seven. Clearly, The Story trumps them all. Oh! I bought Rufus's new one, Release the Stars, and totally forgot about it. Sorry, Rufus. Okay, I also bought the Joni Mitchell tribute album, which was largely disappointing, except for Sarah McLachlan's "Blue" and k.d. lang's "Help Me." James Taylor's "River" is abominable. You should be ashamed of yourself, James Taylor. And then I bought that charity CD with Brandi's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" on it, which was pretty good, and it was for charity, so I was okay with spending twelve bucks to essentially get one song. And I bought the soundtracks to At World's End, Order of the Phoenix, and Legally Blonde: The Musical.

Okay, here's some more:
Introducting Joss Stone, which is, like, way better than her first two albums
Wincing the Night Away, which I keep forgetting is new
Under the Blacklight, which is kind of terrible, except for "Silver Lining"--which I love with a passion I had heretofore reserved for girls whose last names start with C--and a few other songs
Shine, which I loved because I love Joni Mitchell rather fiercely, but I kind of really love her earliest stuff the best
Favourite Worst Nightmare, which I also keep forgetting was from this year, and it was not as good as Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Right, then. Not counting soundtracks and compilations, I bought thirteen new albums this year. Thus! I will produce for you now Emily's Top Seven Albums of 2007.

7. Not Too Late - Norah Jones
6. One Cell in the Sea - A Fine Frenzy
5. Little Voice - Sara Bareilles
4. Wincing the Night Away - The Shins
3. Icky Thump - The White Stripes
2. My December - Kelly Clarkson
1. The Story - Brandi Carlile

I keep forgetting that The Story is, like, new. I feel like I've been listening to it for my entire life. I also feel like Ryan and Rufus should be on this list, but I haven't given either of their albums a fair chance yet, mostly because I have actually been listening to The Story for my entire life. Or the entirety of the year two-thousand-seven. Or to be most accurate, ever since April 3, 2007. Okay? Sheesh.

Well, that can't have been any more meaningless than anyone else's top albums of 2007, can it? Don't feel compelled to answer that. Instead, tell me what your top seven albums of the year are.