"It's been a long December and there's reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last." ~counting crows

*This post has been edited (twice) because I'm a forgetful idiot.*

I know I recently used that opening quote, but it's only appropriate so often and I feel like I should make use of it while I can.

Okay, it is time for my favorite albums of the year. I'm not saying the best albums of the year because it's completely subjective; these are just the albums that impressed me. Those 'Best Of' lists published by different organizations usually bug me because they're missing some of my favorites, but my list is probably missing someone else's favorites. (I'll probably get called out for not having TV on the Radio on my list, but I just couldn't get into their album. And I've seen them live and that didn't really make me a fan, either.)
I couldn't narrow it down to 5 albums this year, so I listed 10 11 12 (crap...I had 10 but I forgot one two and can't decide which to remove now, so my list has 11 12). They are in a vague order but I don't feel comfortable numbering them. The first three are my three favorites and the rest are somewhere close to the correct descending order (depending on my mood). So without further ado, here you go (click on the album cover to go to it's page on amazon.com):

Claire's 10 11 12 Favorite Albums of 2008
1. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
2. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
3. Counting Crows - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
R.E.M. - Accelerate
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Kings of Leon - Only By the Night
The Killers - Day & Age
She & Him - Volume 1
(You can't really blame me for leaving out She & Him the first time because it was released in March, which was a long time ago.)
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
(This one was released in January, so I think it's even more excusable that I forgot it.)