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The Completely Unneccesary, Totally Irreverent Top 70 Albums of 2011 List

By Gary Wien

originally published: 01/02/2012


By Gary Wien

* NOTE: This list is based upon albums received at The Penguin's online radio station during 2011. Some of these titles were originally released in 2010. Since they were not considered for previous lists, they are considered for this one.

1) Jenny & Tyler - "Faint Not"
2) Ryan Adams - "Ashes & Fire"
3) The Waterboys - "Appointment With Mr. Yeats"
4) The Monacchio's - "Wedding Album"
5) Jon Caspi & The First Gun - "The Little Ones"
6) Sheli Aarden - "Kansas"
7) Vic Della Pello - "Broken Heart Tattoo"
8) Michael Brett - "Some Kind Of Solitude"
9) Emily Grove - "Way Across The Sea"
10) Jo Wymer - "Living With Scars"
11) Nicole Atkins - "Mondo Amore"
12) Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
13) Israel Nash Gripka - "Barn Doors & Concrete Floors"
14) My Chemical Romance - "Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys"
15) SPiN - "BELiEVE"
16) The Airbourne Toxic Event - "All At Once"
17) Army Navy - "The Last Place"
18) Fountains Of Wayne - "Sky Full Of Holes"
19) Beannacht - "Gra Na Firinne"
20) Michael Patrick - "Another Song You Never Heard"
21) Singing Bear - "Gold"
22) The Smithereens - "2011"
23) U.S. Rails - "Southern Canon"
24) Scott Bricklin - "Scott Bricklin"
25) The Amboys - "Led Into The Woods"
26) Linda Chorney - "Emotional Jukebox"
27) Tyrone Wells - "Metal & Wood"
28) Brian Molnar & The Naked Hearts - "Of The Fall"
29) The Head & The Heart - "The Head and the Heart"
30) The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - "Belong"
31) Val Emmich - "Aide Memoire"
32) Williamsboy - "Analog"
33) South Cry - "Blue Moon"
34) R.E.M. - "Collapse Into Now"
35) The Decemberists - "The King Is Dead"
36) Aryn Michelle - "Last One Standing"
37) Kelly Carvin - "Kelly Carvin & The Future"
38) Wilco - "The Whole Love"
39) Christine Martucci - "Sin & Redemption"
40) The Strokes - "Angles"
41) Steve Earle - "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive"
42) Anjelia - "Believe"
43) Readymade Breakup
44) Joanna Burns - "The Green Year"
45) Anthony Walker - "This City Won't Sleep"
46) Dawes - "Nothing Is Wrong"
47) Mother Mother - "Eureka"
48) Stevie Nicks - "In Your Dreams"
49) Ben Rector - "Into The Morning"
50) Danny White - "A Beautiful Crazy"
51) Eilen Jewell - "Queen Of The Minor Key"
52) Emma Dean - "Dr Dream And The Imaginary Pop-Cabaret"
53) Armand Margjeka - "Margo Margo"
54) The Civil Wars - "Barton Hollow"
55) Adele - "21"
56) Ha Ha Tonka - "Death Of A Decade"
57) Jonathan Andrew - "The Ropes"
58) Pure Grain - "Sowing Seeds"
59) David Arn - "Postmodern Days"
60) Don Lee - "Fool To Even Care"
61) Sloan - "The Double Cross"
62) The Gay Blades - "Savages"
63) Fiery Blue - "Our Secret"
64) Young The Giant
65) Gillian Welch - "The Harrow & The Harvest"
66) Michael Askin - "Here We Are Now"
67) The Lion And The Wolf
68) Kimon & The Prophets - "Trenton Blues"
69) WhiteCityLight
70) Gerald Edward - "Side B"




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About the author:

Gary Wien has been covering the arts since 2001 and has had work published with Jersey Arts, Upstage Magazine, Elmore Magazine, Princeton Magazine, Backstreets and other publications. He is a three-time winner of the Asbury Music Award for Top Music Journalist and the author of Beyond the Palace (the first book on the history of rock and roll in Asbury Park) and Are You Listening? The Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists. In addition, he runs New Jersey Stage and the online radio station The Penguin Rocks. His personal website is at lightyscorner.com. He can be contacted at [email protected].


EVENT PREVIEWS

(HAMILTON, NJ) -- Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) and Third Way Cultural Alliance announce a special evening celebrating the power of creative freedom through music, art and conversation. "Creative Freedom: A Salon Experience featuring Marshall Allen, Salvador Jiménez-Flores and Jamaaladeen Tacuma," will take place on Saturday, July 18, 2026 from 7:00pm to 10:00pm.

bergenPAC presents Swingtime Big Band on Saturday

(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- New York's high-powered Swingtime Big Band returns to Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) on Saturday, July 18, 2026 to celebrate America250 by showcasing the popular music that kept Americans dancing for decades—from the Lindy and Fox Trot to the Cha Cha to the Twist! Showtime is 8:00pm.
DePue Brothers Band to Bring "Grassical" Music to Sewell

DePue Brothers Band to Bring "Grassical" Music to Sewell

(SEWELL, NJ) -- Music at Bunker Hill welcomes the DePue Brothers Band on Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 3:00pm. In a departure from the series' customary chamber music fare, the DePue Brothers Band has long coined their music with the term "grassical," the combination of bluegrass with jazz, blues, rock, folk, and classical.
Albert Music Hall

Albert Music Hall's "Back to Our Roots" Benefit on Sunday to Support Preservation of Pinelands Music History

(WARETOWN, NJ) -- Albert Music Hall will present Back to Our Roots, a special fundraising concert on Sunday, July 19, 2026, inviting music lovers to enjoy an afternoon of live performances while helping preserve an important piece of New Jersey's musical heritage.

Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Heather Maloney & Hayley Reardon on Sunday

(TUCKERTON, NJ) -- The Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Heather Maloney & Hayley Reardon on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Doors are at 7:00pm, showtime is 7:30pm.
New Jersey Symphony to Make Rowan

New Jersey Symphony to Make Rowan's Marie Rader Series Debut with "Life & Liberty" on July 22nd

(GLASSBORO, NJ) -- The Marie Rader Series will launch its 2026-27 season, entitled "Life & Liberty," with the New Jersey Symphony's Rowan University debut. On Wednesday, July 22, 2026, New Jersey Symphony Chamber Players featuring Rowan University Strings Faculty & Alumni will perform at Pfleeger Concert Hall. Showtime is 7:00pm.
The Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Blues For Greeny and the music of Peter Green

The Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Blues For Greeny and the music of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac

(TUCKERTON, NJ) -- The Lizzie Rose Music Room presents Blues For Greeny - The Music of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. Dude Cervantes & The Panchos will open the night. Doors are at 7:00pm, music starts at 7:30pm.
Shinedown to Play Shows in Newark and Philly in July

Shinedown to Play Shows in Newark and Philly in July

(NEWARK, NJ) -- One of the biggest bands in the world, Shinedown, will be releasing their brand new studio album EI8HT on May 29, 2026 (via Atlantic Records) and released the new song "Outlaw." In addition, they announced their massive Dance Kid Dance Act II World Tour, taking the band to 11 countries across 54 dates, including local stops at Prudential Center in Newark on Tuesday, July 21st and Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 23rd.

Middletown Arts Center presents Reina Williams + The Remedy

(MIDDLETOWN, NJ) -- The Middletown Arts Center presents a concert featuring Reina Williams + The Remedy on Thursday, July 23, 2026. Special guest performers Renee Maskin and Patrick Bamburak will open the show. Enjoy an evening of original music spanning reggae, hip-hop, soul, folk, Americana, and indie rock from some of New Jersey's most talented musicians. Showtime is 7:00pm.
Harmonium Choral Society presents "I Dreamed Last Night" on July 23rd

Harmonium Choral Society presents "I Dreamed Last Night" on July 23rd

(MADISON, NJ) -- On Thursday, July 23, 2026, Harmonium Choral Society presents I Dreamed Last Night. Directed by Lennie Watts with music direction by John Fischer, I Dreamed Last Night is a one woman show with Gloria Bangiola. There are songs and stories about dreams, hopes, wishes, ambitions, fantasies, nightmares, impossibilities and that big ol' American one we are all still working to make real. Showtime is 7:00pm.

 

FEATURED EVENTS


Streetlife Serenade - “The Billy Joel Experience”

Saturday, July 18, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
Tuckerton, NJ


The Wag's Beatles Spectacular

Saturday, July 18, 2026 @ 7:30pm
The Vogel
Red Bank, NJ


Heather Maloney & Hayley Reardon

Sunday, July 19, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
Tuckerton, NJ


Blues For Greeny The Music of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac

Wednesday, July 22, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Lizzie Rose Music Room
Tuckerton, NJ


Reina Williams and The Remedy, Patrick Bamburak, and Renee Masking

Thursday, July 23, 2026 @ 7:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
Middletown, NJ



 

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