In 2007 my tastes shifted rather dramatically from pastoral, symphonic progressive rock (such as Genesis and Yes) towards blues and country-influenced rock (e.g. Tom Petty and Eagles). Sure, it’s all still rock — I grew up on AOR in the ’80s, damnit, and I won’t apologise for it!

In any case, here’s 75 minutes of my favourite tracks during 2007, sorted not by preference but by flow:

The 2007 Playlist

1. “Who Can It Be Now?” - Men at Work (from Business As Usual, 1981)
2. “Just What I Needed” - The Cars (from The Cars, 1978)
3. “Trouble” - Lindsey Buckingham (from Law and Order, 1981)
4. “Little Red Corvette” - Prince (from 1999, 1982 (single released 1983))
5. “You Got Lucky” - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (from Long After Dark, 1982)
6. “Golden Years” - David Bowie (from Station to Station, 1975)
7. “Solsbury Hill” - Peter Gabriel (from Peter Gabriel, 1977)
8. “Nine Cats” - Porcupine Tree (from On the Sunday of Life, 1991)
9. “Eyes Wide Open” - King Crimson (from The Power to Believe, 2003)
10. “The Boys of Summer” - Don Henley (from Building the Perfect Beast, 1984)
11. “Running Up That Hill” - Kate Bush (from Hounds of Love, 1985)
12. “Turn It On Again” - Genesis (from Duke, 1980)
13. “Maneater” - Hall & Oates (from H2O, 1982)
14. “Avalon” - Roxy Music (from Avalon, 1982)
15. “Africa” - Toto (from Toto IV, 1982 (single peaked in 1983))
16. “Wrapped Around Your Finger” - The Police (from Synchronicity, 1983)
17. “Comfortably Numb” - Pink Floyd (from The Wall, 1979)

My five favourite albums in 2007…

5. Toto: Toto IV (1982)

Winner of the 1983 Grammy for Album of the Year, Toto IV doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny beyond its two big hits, “Rosanna” and “Africa”. The other eight tracks are pretty forgettable examples of ’80s soft rock, but the album as a whole almost has an archetypal feel that gives it “guilty pleasure” appeal. Worth picking up if you’re a fan of 1980s AM rock.

4. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1979)

There are much better (and more representative) albums by Pink Floyd, but in terms of overblown 1970s rock operas, The Wall is still hard to surpass. More-or-less a Roger Waters solo album with the occasional standout contribution by David Gilmour, tracks like Waters’ “Another Brick in the Wall” and Gilmour’s “Comfortably Numb” make it a bona fide classic despite being weighed-down by angst and ego.

3. The Cars (1978)

A seminal piece of late-’70s New Wave, The Cars’ debut album combines radio-ready hits like “Just What I Needed” and “My Best Friend’s Girl” with a dark-edged song cycle (of sorts) on side two — “All Mixed Up” ends the album in a truly impressive manner. The Rhino re-release with a bonus disc of demos is the edition to seek out for true collectors.

2. Don Henley: Building the Perfect Beast (1984)

Dated by its heavy use of synths, former Eagle Don Henley’s second solo album nonetheless survives its era by including two knockout tracks: “The Boys of Summer” (co-written by “Heartbreaker” Mike Campbell) and “Sunset Grill” (also co-written by a member of the Heartbreakers — Benmont Tench — with Danny Kortchmar). Beyond that, Kortchmar’s “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” gets a gold star for being one of the most politically-subversive dance tracks of the ’80s. Henley’s follow-up, The End of the Innocence, is probably a better album overall, but Building the Perfect Beast is still more fun.

1. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Long After Dark (1982)

The third of Petty’s collaborations with producer Jimmy Iovine, Long After Dark is considered somewhat of a disappointment after Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, but while it’s playing, all you hear is strong, literate rock. The New Wave-tinged “You Got Lucky” and the straight-ahead rocker “Change of Heart” are both superb, but there’s a consistency here that means nothing stands out as being particularly weak. It may not have been Petty & co.’s artistic triumph, but it’s great music nonetheless.