Rock and roll ebbs and flows, but one thing is sure about 2007: This year witnessed a high-water mark for the genre. Hell, except for Kanye, 50 and T.I., it felt as if hip-hop were barely even there. Instead, indie heroes like Spoon planted their flag in the mainstream, dinosaurs such as Van Halen and Led Zeppelin reunited for shows, old-school R&B belters resurfaced and were reborn, and the singer-songwriter tradition of country was renewed by albums from Miranda Lambert and Gretchen Wilson. And with left-field breakout artists like Gym Class Heroes and Justice, as well as the now usual list of Internet geniuses, there was no shortage of wizardry and wonder for the sonic adventurer.

Here's the official ballot. Make your picks, then click submit. (You can tick off boxes, or if you think you're so damn smart, write in your own favorite artist.)

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Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon
Click to listen to "The Underdog"
Zeitgeist, Smashing Pumpkins
Click to listen to "Tarantula"
Infinity on High, Fall Out Boy
Click to listen to "Thnks fr th Mmrs"
Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
Click to listen to "Keep the Car Running"
Icky Thump, The White Stripes
Click to listen to "Icky Thump"
Write-In Vote:
Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem
Click to listen to "Someone Great"
Cross, Justice
Click to listen to "D.A.N.C.E."
Idealism, Digitalism
Click to listen to "Idealistic"
From Here We Go Sublime, The Field
Click to listen to "Over the Ice"
We Are the Night, The Chemical Brothers
Click to listen to "The Salmon Dance"
Write-In Vote:
La Radiolina, Manu Chao
Click to listen to "Me Llaman Calle"
Kala, M.I.A.
Click to listen to "Boyz"
Afriki, Habib Koité
Click to listen to "Africa"
Book of Life, I Wayne
Click to listen to "Smart Attack"
Super Taranta!, Gogol Bordello
Click to listen to "Wonderlust King"
Write-In Vote:
 
Graduation, Kanye West
Click to listen to "Good Life"
T.I. VS T.I.P., T.I.
Click to listen to "You Know What It Is"
Curtis, 50 Cent
Click to listen to "Ayo Technology"
Finding Forever, Common
Click to listen to "Drivin' Me Wild"
Hustlenomics, Yung Joc
Click to listen to "Bottle Poppin'"
Write-In Vote:
Living Hard, Gary Allan
Click to listen to "Watching Airplanes"
Let It Go, Tim McGraw
Click to listen to "If You're Reading This"
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, Kenny Chesney
Click to listen to "Don't Blink"
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Miranda Lambert
Click to listen to "Famous in a Small Town"
Wagonmaster, Porter Wagoner
Click to listen to "A Place to Hang My Hat"
Write-In Vote:
A Tale of God's Will, Terence Blanchard
Click to listen to "Wading Through"
Cornell 1964, Charles Mingus Sextet
Click to listen to "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"
From the River to the Ocean, Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake
Click to listen to "SaktiShiva"
Follow the Red Line, Chris Potter Underground
Click to listen to "Morning Bell"
This Meets That, John Scofield
Click to listen to "Down D"
Write-In Vote:
 
Zidane
Click to listen to "Black Spider"
Once
Click to listen to "Fallen From the Sky"
Kurt Cobain: About a Son
Click to listen to "Up Around the Bend"
The Hottest State
Click to listen to "Somewhere Down the Road"
Into the Wild
Click to listen to "Hard Sun"
Write-In Vote:
"Rehab," Amy Winehouse
"Cupid's Chokehold," Gym Class Heroes
"Umbrella," Rihanna
"Stronger," Kanye West
"Girlfriend," Avril Lavigne
Write-In Vote:
Daft Punk
 
Beastie Boys
 
The Police
 
Van Halen
 
Rage Against the Machine
 
Write-In Vote:
 
Justice
Click to listen to "Genesis"
Gym Class Heroes
Click to listen to "Clothes Off!"
Amy Winehouse
Click to listen to "You Know I'm No Good"
Plain White T's
Click to listen to "Hey There Delilah"
Peter Bjorn and John
Click to listen to "Young Folks"
Write-In Vote:
The Song Remains the Same, Led Zeppelin
Click to listen to "Stairway to Heaven"
Sly and the Family Stone catalog
Click to listen to "Hot Fun in the Summertime"
Joy Division catalog
Click to listen to "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
The Doors catalog
Click to listen to "Light My Fire"
Colossal Youth, Young Marble Giants
Click to listen to "Final Day"
Write-In Vote:
The Lower Ninth Ward's most famous resident took New Orleans R&B and made it mainstream. Over the past half century Domino has contributed countless hits, including "Blue Monday" and "Ain't That a Shame." Those and many more were compiled this year on Greatest Hits: Walking to New Orleans. His rollicking piano and rousing voice sound as good today as they did way back when. Could Domino be the true father of rock? It would be impossible to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love without San Francisco's most thrilling band. From the Grace Slick showpieces "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" to the psychedelic guitar excursions and political sloganeering, this band was the shit.
The most successful postpunk band -- slowing down the frenetic ticking guitars of the era with a kind dose of riddim -- finally buried the hatchet this year, to the delight of millions of fans still missing that magic mixture in Sting's solo career. These sonic experimentalists virtually created the New York avant-garde scene. Starting with shrieking walls of detuned guitar and evolving into propulsive pop and vocal hooks wrung out of sheets of noise, the downtown quartet opened the doors of perception for Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, Pixies and countless others.
Write-In Vote:
Though the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever is the excuse to listen to the band's commercial peak -- "Stayin' Alive" and "How Deep Is Your Love" -- recent reissues also remind us of the Gibb brothers' 1960s output. Songs like "Massachusetts" made them the Australian Beatles.

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