The Best Albums of 2012

47. Todd Snider, 'Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables'
If the title doesn't win you over, the lead track ("In the Beginning") will: a creation myth that fingers religion as a brilliant dodge "to keep the poor from killing the rich." One of the sharpest, funniest storytellers in rock, Snider keeps the indictments coming – see "New York Banker," where an Arkansas schoolteacher is robbed of his pension – and never skimps on musicality, or humor. As he

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47. Todd Snider, 'Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables'
If the title doesn't win you over, the lead track ("In the Beginning") will: a creation myth that fingers religion as a brilliant dodge "to keep the poor from killing the rich." One of the sharpest, funniest storytellers in rock, Snider keeps the indictments coming – see "New York Banker," where an Arkansas schoolteacher is robbed of his pension – and never skimps on musicality, or humor. As he declares in the timely "Big Finish," a sweetly ragged gospel-blues rocker, "It ain't the despair that gets you, it's the hope."

Related:
• The Best Album Reissues of 2012

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