Me, I avoid VH1 like the plague!

From today's Live column in Weekend -- my choices for the best live concerts of 2007. Forgot I'd filed this column! Click on the links to read my original overnight reviews. And now, no more lists for at least a couple of months -- I promise.

My colleague, Joel Carlson, responds to yesterday's post disagreeing with his Christmas Day column about who's really to blame for the Hannah ticketing fiasco. His email follows below.

On Christmas Day, when many readers may have missed it, the Sun-Times' Commentary section published a guest perspective column by Joel Carlson, the head of our copy desk, entitled "Why those Hannah Montana tickets cost so much." Friendly and reliable colleague or not -- and I have to say that he's never left my participles dangling -- I'm afraid I have to tell you that Joel is a complete and utter bonehead, at least on this issue.

On Friday, " Soundcheck," the daily music talk show on WNYC-FM, New York City Public Radio, invited me on to end their "critic's week" by listing my choices for the worst albums of 2007.

"I don't like the sound of all those lists he's making -- it's like taking too many notes at school; you feel you've achieved something when you haven't." -- Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle, 1948

"The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of 'Ten Best.'" -- H. Allen Smith

"My desert island, all-time, top-five most memorable breakups, in chronological order... Can you see your name on that list, Laura? Maybe you'd sneak into the top ten. But there's just no room for you in the top five, sorry." -- Rob Gordon (John Cusack), "High Fidelity"

Continuing down the list... Click the link to read my original reviews

I was going to publish my list of the 50 Best Albums of the Year in reverse order spread out over the course of this week, starting with 50 to 40, and building to the Top 10, since the latter won't appear in print until Sunday. Then I realized that I already talked about seven of these 10 albums on "Sound Opinions" last weekend, so why should I make you wait?

Look for 11 to 20 tomorrow, 21 to 30 on Wednesday, and so on. Hit the links to read my reviews as they appeared in the paper throughout the year -- and feel free to share your own lists, too.

Yes, the Sun-Times has given me an official blog. But if you're here, you probably already know that.