Every January I think about making a list of my most anticipated albums of the year. And I usually scrap the idea when I realize that most of the albums will never come out or will inevitably fall below my expectations, or just because I'm all listed out. And then, at the end of the year I wish I had made that list anyway, since it would at least provide an entertaining contrast between my expectations and what really happened. So here's my 25 most anticipated albums currently slated for release sometime in 2008, in order of level of anticipation, which ranges roughly from "will definitely buy, can't wait to hear" to "remaining cautiously optimistic but will jump ship at the first underwhelming single or negative review":

Apollo Sunshine - Great Mysteries Of The Old Soul
Keri Hilson - In A Perfect World
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Evangelista - Hello Voyager
T-Pain - TBA
Grand Buffet - King Vision
Prodigy - H.N.I.C. 2
Jadakiss - Kiss My Ass
Mike Watt & The Black Gang - TBA
Peedi Peedi - Prince Of The Roc
The B-52's - Funplex
The Roots - Rising Down
Nas - Nigger
They Might Be Giants - Here Come The 123's
T.I. - Paper Trail
The Disciplines - TBA
DJ Drama and Fabolous - Gangsta Grillz: There Is No Competition
B.G. - Too Hood To Be Hollywood
Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious
50 Cent - Before I Self Destruct
Raconteurs - TBA
Trick Daddy - Welcome To Thug Country
R.E.M. - Accelerate
My Chemical Romance - TBA
Saigon - The Greatest Story Never Told

That is based less on past accomplishments than what I think the artist is capable of or the direction they seem to be headed in. Of course, I'm leaving out artists that will probably release albums I will be excited to hear this year but haven't given any indication yet that they definitely will (like Sonic Youth, who release a studio album every even-numbered year like clockwork), and Baltimore stuff (like Beyond Hamsterdam, which I'm not anticipating per se anyway, since it's out next week and I already have the promo).

This entry was posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 at 4:04 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.