By the time 2007 rolled around, hard rock music was thriving. It was a year that was extremely difficult to narrow down to just 10 solid rock albums, with a wealth of notable selections just missing the cut.

Artists went a little deeper in terms of subject matter with three of the discs making our top 10 having a clear conceptual theme to them. We saw veteran bands evolving their sound to ensure their future as artists. We saw one artist from a successful band stepping out solo for the first time, giving him access to expand his musical palette. Not only was it a big year for hard rock, but you could say that it was a creatively rewarding one for most of the acts on our list.

So join us as we take a look back at the state of rock in 2007, scrolling through the 10 Best Albums of 2007 in the gallery above.

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