If 2006 was the year of do-it-yourself fandom - when music lovers embraced the opportunity to discover, share, and occasionally buy songs they liked rather than albums the suits tried to sell - 2007 was the year consumers unequivocally, undeniably, irrevocably took the reins.
We're talking true-blue empowerment, rubber-stamped, to boot, by the most credible band on the planet. Nowhere was the power shift more thrillingly pronounced than when Radiohead asked fans to set their own price for a downloadable version of the group's new album, "In Rainbows." Of course, a brilliant experiment doesn't necessarily a great album make, and "In Rainbows" didn't appear on a single one of our critics' lists of 2007's best albums.
With a dearth of blockbusters and a stunning array of choices, 2007 marked an ever-deepening fragmentation in pop music. That trend is reflected in the Globe's Top 10 lists, which spotlight a vast array of great music - from still-vital veterans Bruce Springsteen, Bettye LaVette, Mavis Staples, and Keith Jarrett to talented upstarts like Phosphorescent, Bon Iver, Mika, and the National - but share little common ground.
Several artists landed on two lists: hip-hop icon Kanye West, rock 'n' roll chameleon PJ Harvey, garage-blues duo the White Stripes, Garifuna singer Andy Palacio, indie rockers Spoon, and the unlikely pairing of Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass songbird Alison Krauss. Only one artist was anointed by three critics: Amy Winehouse, whose musical gifts and personal travails combined to generate 2007's unforgettable music story. - JOAN ANDERMAN
