Still on my solo Beatle streak so got these two:-

John Lennon - Rock n' Roll

Pretty good rendition of some of Winston's favourite boy band stuff. Was expecting some major reworkings but heck, only few songs are given the once over, the rest are pretty faithful to the original. But come on, can you really work "Peggy Sue" into a reggae tune? Or "Be Bop-A-Lula" into funk? The best workouts could easily pass for those early Beatles covers, albeit with meticulously arranged horns. My fave tracks here - "Bony Moronie", "Rip It Up/Ready Teddy" and "Ain't that a Shame". The bonus tracks are superfluous as well. C'mon Yoko they were left off the original album for good reason.

Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full

Haven't finished listening to this yet but upon first listen, it lacks the careful songcraft of "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard", his previous one. Not gonna make it to my top ten of 2007 list but breezy and poppy enough. A return to the Wings sound is not that good if Denny Laine is missing. Tries too hard to appeal to the masses, methinks, and should have the selfish "making an album for me, rest of you can fuck off" mentality of "Chaos". Nice CD liner as well. Imaginative design.

Paul McCartney - Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

Nice return to his Beatle roots. Songs are carefully crafted and full of hooks. The layering production by Nigel Goodrich also recalls solo Thom Yorke. Full of whimsy and melancholia, with songs like "English Tea". Has a superfluous instrument clatter hidden track which I could do without. Otherwise solid.

John Lennon - Walls and Bridges

Despite a slow start, this one really picks up on and after "Scared". Probably due to the fact that it's recorded during his "lost weekend" with May Pang (a long-time supporter of his reunion with Macca), this one is the most Beatles-esque album of the three I have, "Imagine" and "Plastic Ono Band".

All songs bar the Elton John duet and short playful coda with son Julian on drums(Ya Ya), could have fit on "White Album". Nice! The remix cleans it up somewhat. Bonus trax are a bit superfluous, the live version of "Whatever Gets you Thru the Night" (that Elton duet) and an alternate "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)". Pretty good for me also as I only heard "#9 Dream" from the "Shaved Fish" comp (I'm a virgin to most songs here).

Jimi Hendrix - Live at Fillmore East

Other songs from the New Year's Eve and Day 1970 concerts apart from the "Band of Gypsys" tracks. Can be a bit superfluous as Hendrix already picked the best tracks for that release. Some tracks suffer from mic problems and Billy Cox missing a note here and there.

Remarkable only for the blistering "Auld Lang Syne" and the work in progress songs "Stepping Stone" (called "Tryin' To Be" by Hendrix here) and "Earth Blues", both of which are miles better than the studio versions (found on "First Rays of the Rising Sun"). The unintentional instrumental version (due to mic failure) of "Who Knows" is also pretty good. Two versions of "Machine Gun" are a bit too much and both lack the "bombing" finale on the BOG version.

Mainly got this on people on Music Babble's (the chat forum message board I go to) recommendations:-

Paul & Linda McCartney - Ram

Quite a nice idyllic collection of songs that are quite diverse in nature. Probably this is the most Beatles-esque sounding of the three and some of the songs here could easily fit on Abbey Road. Not hard to see why it's such a favourite amongst the Babble people, the songcraft is sterling, the musicianship consistently solid and lacks the schmaltz that plagues most Macca solo albums (although I do love his schmaltz).

John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band

Stark, rivetting, almost repetitive exorcism of John's ghosts. What I find most appealing about this album is that it is resonant and actually evokes some feelings from the listener, even if one is as world-weary of music as me. Then again, the bonus tracks, "Power to the People" and its b-side, are totally unnecessary and rips apart the feelings generated by the last track "My Mummy's Dead". Poor packaging aside, the new mix and remastering sound vibrant, as I do have the original mixes of some songs on mp3.

Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run

Heard this when I was a teenager and totally hated it, cos I was so into Pipes of Peace then. After countless listens to Beatles albums, though, this one stands up to his best work with Lennon. As I have said before, "Jet" is a complete comedown after the gorgeous title track. I wished he had sequenced either "Bluebird" or "Mamunia" next. I have the US version and this contains "Helen Wheels", a B-Side, which is absolutely fantastic. Unlike Yoko's repackaging of Lennon solo, Macca re-releases have more thought put into the addition of bonus tracks, evident on "Ram" as well.

Sleepaway Camp 3

Throwaway slasher classic from the 80s. I'm supposed to have all three but the pirate factory only printed 1 and 3. As such, this is not too bad as they are hardly connected. No attempts to actually scare or shock you, just murders done blatantly to show how inventive the lead villain is.

Angela Baker may not be Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees, but can they rap like Debbie Harry? The hair metal music soundtrack is hilariously cheesy. Some pretty crap topless scenes as well, too much silicone. The Asian girl is also rather ugly. Glad to see her go so soon.

But otherwise, highly recommended for anybody into 80s slasher flicks.

Here are my top ten albums of 2007:-

1. The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder

Power-pop genius from the stable of Robert Schneider, formerly of the Elephant Six clan. If there were any other worthier releases, this might not be at the top, but sadly there are none. Chock-full of catchy tunes, in particular the brilliant "Electricity". The linking short tunes are cool and bodes for an early Christmas, even if this was released in February 2007.

2. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?

As again, not their strongest release, as most might argue Satanic Panic in the Attic and The Sunlandic Twins are way superior. In dearth of anything else better, this one ranks highly. Contains the ultra-catchy "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" which is mainly about head honcho Kevin Barnes' stay in Greenland. Another ex-Elephant Six collective band.

3. Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim

Double-CD release with one disc of new electric recordings ("Hvarf") of old previously written unreleased songs, which are good, although they lack the ebullient guitar crescendos of "Hoppipola" off "Takk", their last album. The second disc ("Heim") is a live performance of their famous songs, and has a cool lounge jive. Both are nice without being too overwhelming.

4. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Strong sophomore release from the Canadians. Lacks the quirkiness of the first album and sounds more mainstream, even harking back to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska. But wait, you need to listen to it a few times, before the tunes jump out of the water and take one of your legs just like a Great White Shark would.

5. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

Probably the most danceable NIN so far. Contains all sorts of tirades against the US Government, with Bush taking most of the flack. More polished and less industrial than previous efforts but easily the most listener-friendly NIN so far. Has an interactive game contained as well although you need the Net to play.

6. Duran Duran - Red Carpet Massacre

Working with Sir Justin (Timberlake) and Timbaland, one would expect a cop-out from the ageing Brummies. But no, this is one minimalist robotic dish that harks back to the glory days of Kraftwerk and Gary Numan. To quote a line from the movie "Southland Tales" - "The scientists predict that the future is going to be a whole lot more .... futuristic".

7. Miles Davis - The Complete On the Corner Sessions

The unreleased tracks are studio versions of songs already played live on "Agharta" and "Dark Magus" but if you are a completist and want to own all the groovy repetitive mantra-esque Miles from 1972-75, there's no other place to get them. Or if you're like me, dig the "On the Corner" album so much and want more, get this. 6 CDs in total with over 6 hours of music.

8. Bjork - Volta

Not as good as her "Debut" or "Post" but still a fine return to form for the diva who has puffins for lunch. Disparate and dissonant, this one will give headaches to the "feng tau" crowd and myriads of Ah Bengs will say a big "WTF?".

9. The Stooges - The Weirdness

A much belated third album from the godfathers of punk. A drop in the ocean if compared to their first two seminal albums, but in an isolated perspective, one of the best garage rock albums this year. Has Mike Watt on bass, from the criminally unnoticed (here anyway) bands, Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Best track here - "Mexican Guy" - Bo Diddley beats, humour, slashing guitars, what more could you ask for?

10. Meza Virs - Vida Sacrificium Meum Est

Bit of a balancing act here. Released in Singapore in December 2006, only available here in January 2007. Fine symphonic black metal band from across the causeway. I didn't give it a high rating upon first listen but this really grows on ya.