It’s time for the latest of my annual “year in music” posts, detailing my favorite albums of the year. Due to an unusual amount of new music (over 100 new albums this year), I’ve chosen to go past simply a top ten, and include a second ten as well. The top ten will be forthcoming in the next day or two, but for now, the second half of the list.

A few notes:

• It’s not limited to albums released in the past year, but albums “new to me” (although most are from the last two years)
• I chose only one album per artist (the most recent) for the list, since I acquired multiple albums by some of the artists on the list
• Regarding links to the albums, all links below are to eMusic where available, with the rest pointing to Amazon.

So, with that said, here’s this year’s list, part one:

20. Five Score And Seven Years Ago - Relient K   (2007)

Relient K has always been a good pop-punk band, but they’ve also gotten better over time. I think this is probably their best to date. Their songwriting has improved over the years, particularly with this collection, and the 11-minute closer “Deathbed” is one of their best tracks to date.

19. Remedy - David Crowder Band   (2007)

The problem with recording an album like 2005’s A Collision is that you have to follow it up. And no, Remedy is not A Collision II, and, of course, it shouldn’t be. It’s also not as good (an unreasonable expectation), but is probably more accessible. If you don’t expect more than you should (which, granted, is difficult), it’s a very good album.

18. Freedom’s Road - John Mellencamp   (2007)

Scarecrow will always be my favorite Mellencamp album, but this is likely my second favorite, with some similarities to Scarecrow. I really have enjoyed it a lot this year. By now, you’re probably sick of hearing “Our Country” all over the place, but there’s other good stuff here as well, which sounds more like what he was doing in the mid-80’s.

17. Rival Factions - Project 86   (2007)

Project 86 first appeared on my radar in 2001 via the now-defunct Webrock.net. Since then I’ve become a huge fan of their brand of hard music and vocalist Andrew Schwaub. This new disc, while not their best (in my opinion), is probably their most accessible album yet. It’s varied in number of ways from their earlier stuff, but is still Project 86 and is outstanding in it’s own right.

16. Cassadaga - Bright Eyes   (2007)

I first heard Bright Eyes on one of my digital music channels earlier this year. Singer and songwriter Conor Oberst has one of those trembling voices that I tend to enjoy. I’ve seen it called alt country, indie rock, folk rock, and others. Seems to be a little of them all, but I just call it very good.

15. The Ringing Bell - Derek Webb   (2007)

Like Crowder, Webb’s recent work has caused expectations of future work to be high and perhaps unrealistic as well. Webb did not, for me at least, exceed his work on Mockingbird, but did create another very good album, continuing to speak to things other “Christian” artists don’t (or won’t). It also has, like his previous works, a slightly different musical feel from anything else he’s done.

14. Rock Garden - Ty Tabor   (2006)

I’m a long time King’s X fan, and so anything that any of these guys puts out immediately gets my attention. Ty Tabor has recorded several very good solo albums now, and while his previous solo work has been rightly labeled “Beatle-esque”, this one seems to be a mixture of his previous solo work and as well as his King’s X work. The result is his best album to date.

13. Some Mad Hope - Matt Nathanson   (2007)

I’d never heard of Nathanson until this year when I downloaded an acoustic live album from eMusic. This newest release was good the first time I listened to it, but seemed to get better with each listen. He’s been “under the radar” for quite a while, or so I read. Hopefully, he won’t remain there.

12. Vena Sera - Chevelle   (2007)

I found Chevelle at the time (and place) as Project 86, and this, their fourth album, is more of the same. Nothing new here, but I like what they do and so I’m fine with that. Often compared to Tool and Helmet, the heavy guitars, occasional screams and melodic choruses make for quite a good disc.

11. The Trumpet Child - Over The Rhine   (2007)

The newest disc by married duo Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist consists largely of love songs, although the excellent title track speaks to the end of time when Christ returns and makes all things new. I’ve heard of OTR for years, but only this year began listening to their stuff (thanks to eMusic.) It’s really great and I absolutely love Bergquist’s voice and the way she sings these songs.

That’s it for now. Up next, the top ten…

Since I had so much new music this year, here are a few albums that didn’t quite make the cut. Consider this my “honorable mention” list (in no particular order):