ALBUMS
1. Joe Henry - Civilians - 15
2. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha - 14
3. The National - Boxer - 13
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows - 12
5. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter - 11
6. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog - 9
7. Okkervil River - The Stage Names - 8
8. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - 7
9. Nick Lowe - At My Age - 6
10. Glen Mercer - Wheels in Motion - 5

TRACKS
1. Spoon - The Underdog
2. Joe Henry - Our Song
3. The Shins - Phantom Limb
4. Broken West - Down in the Valley
5. Nick Lowe - I Trained Her to Love Me
6. Ian Hunter - I Am What I Hated When I Was Young
7. Graham Parker - The End of Faith
8. Bruce Springsteen - Girls in Their Summer Clothes
9. Richard Thompson - Take Care the Road You Choose
10. Wilco - The Thanks I Get

REISSUES
1. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
2. Pylon - Gyrate
3. Betty Davis - Betty Davis
4. Moby Grape - Moby Grape
5. U2 - The Joshua Tree

ARTISTS
1. Joe Henry
2. Wilco
3. Okkvervil River
4. Radiohead
5. Spoon

COMMENTS
OK, I'll admit it: I like the music of white guys. If they're bookish, or a bit too clever for their own good or back after a long layoff, so much the better. I've tried for diversity, tried to broaden my horizons, but my time is limited these days, so I seek out the aural equivalent of comfort food. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll peruse all of the dozens of other lists out there, look for some commonalities and continue to build my "to-be-heard" list so that when I do someday get some time, I'll know what to see out.

In the meantime, if smart white guys with guitars are your thing, you could do worse than to check out these 25 discs. As always, you get a sort of annotated top 10, a second 10, another handful and some comments about those that missed.

Overall, it felt like a good year for music. I'll be curious to see who tops the this poll because nothing really struck me as a runaway obvious best-album choice for the masses. My pick was easy, but I doubt Joe Henry cracks the top 25 most anywhere else. Sure, critics like to single out things that don't get airplay — when they're not busy ironically touting mainstream pap because it's subversively derivative... or whatever — but not white former alt-country also-rans on the edge of 50 who make more money producing than performing. That's fine: Joe can be my little secret.

For me, 2007 was the year of the welcome return. Henry was back after several years away from his solo career while producing, while Nick Lowe also returned after a long layoff. Seth Tiven, Dumptruck frontman, issued his first solo album this year, the great Solitude, after a few years away as well. Then there's Glenn Mercer, the former Feelies frontman, who came back after nine years away from recording and more than 15 years since the Feelies hung it up. Add to that nice discs by Ian Hunter, John Fogerty, Buffalo Tom and Dinosaur Jr., and it's like the old folks home ran out of room and sent a bunch of 'em to the recording studio to sleep on cots.

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