While the Weekly is printing our musical faves of 2007, I thought it'd be nice to look forward as we look back.

Here's a list of some albums slated for release in early 2008 that I'm excited about:

The Magnetic Fields, Distortion (Jan. 15): Stephin Merritt really never fails to express his songwriting genius, and the Magnetic Fields is by far my favorite Stephin Merritt musical project.

Baby Dee, Safe Inside the Day (Jan. 22): This album is definitely a humdinger. A transgendered harpist who sings songs called "Big Titty Bee Girl (From Dino Town)" and "A Christmas Jig for a Three-Legged Cat" just can't be bad.

Beck, Odelay Deluxe Edition (Jan. 29): This 2-CD reissue of 1996's amazing Odelay will include never-released tracks, remixes, B-sides, and a Spanish version of "Jackass" called "Burro" that was recorded with a mariachi band.

Mars Volta, The Bedlam in Goliath (Jan. 29): You can already play the companion video game to Bedlam in Goliath online: Goliath the Soothsayer is a companion to this new album, which is based on real events involving the Soothsayer, a kind of Ouija board the band found in Jerusalem.

The Heavenly States, Delayer (Feb.): This Oakland, Calif., band mixes violin and crunching guitars in a rock energy explosion, and from what I’ve heard so far of Delayer, it’ll be even wilder than 2005's Black Comet.

Snoop Dog, Ego Trippin' (March): Hard to believe this will be Snoop's 9th album--are we really all that old?

R.E.M., Accelerate (April 1): A year with a new R.E.M. album is always a good year. Michael Stipe told gigwise.com that "we have a great fucking record in the bag."

The Breeders, Mountain Battles (April 7): The music world is all abuzz about this one--supposedly it hearkens Last Splash and Pod, the Deal sisters' first two legendary albums.

Weezer, Album 6 (tentative title) (April 22): I always hope that new Weezer albums will be good, and lately, I've been disappointed, but here's hoping that this one will be different.

Death Cab for Cutie (May): Don't know much about this one yet, but the band has a brief video with some sneak peeks on their Web site.

Spiritualized (No idea): This was posted today on Spiritualized.com: "We've been sittin' on a finished (and mastered) record here for months now while Universal try to sort out their shit so with luck it should be resolved early this year and you can have it."

Coldplay (No idea): Can’t find much about this one online except a few cryptic ponderings from journalists and general excitement from the band via those wonderful handwritten notes they post on their Web site. This one supposedly contains the best song they've ever written.

Other artists with albums scheduled for 2008 release: DeVotchKa, Stephen Malkmus, Blur, Dr. Dre, Michael Jackson, Madonna, AC/DC, Franz Ferdinand, The Cure, Gnarls Barkley and Morrissey. Check out MetaCritic and CMJ for even more upcoming releases.