Early Year End Album Lists A sign of what's ahead? Every year, Metacritic creates a comprehensive webpage charting music publications' year-end lists, but since 2007's meta-list isn't up yet, let's take a look at the lists that have leaked early. Here's each publication's #1 album, and their rankings of a couple other albums of note. Stylus: LCD Soundsystem (#1), The National (#5), Radiohead (#10), Arcade Fire (#11), Harp Magazine: Okkervil River (#1), Radiohead (#7), Arcade Fire (#8), The National (#21) Q: The Arcade Fire (#1), Radiohead (#4), LCD Soundsystem (#18), The National (#30), Uncut: LCD Soundsystem (#1), The National (#5), Radiohead (#10), Arcade Fire (#11), Paste: The National (#1), Arcade Fire (#2), Radiohead (#11), LCD Soundsystem (#22), Okkervil River (#76) These aren't the most influential lists in the industry, but already some interesting trends are emerging: It's going to be a great year for LCD Soundsystem, which cracked 4 out of 5 lists above (Harp was the lone dissenter); a strong year for the Arcade Fire and The National (the later of which won't make as many lists but will doubtless sit high on quite a few prominent ones); and a somewhat humbling year for Radiohead, at least by the high standards they set for their album. Despite the rapturous press for In Rainbows and the strong reviews, the buzz has cooled considerably (a shame, since it's their best album since Kid A). There's no doubt In Rainbows will make the top 10 of most lists, but the question is whether it'll get any #1 nods.
