The Woove Editorial Board surveyed the public on the Most Anticipated Album for 2011. Here are the top ten choices.

1. The Strokes, Angles

In 2006, The Strokes released their third album First Impressions of the Earth. After a couple years of lying low, the band began work on their self-produced album Angles (2011) in January 2009. They started recording in summer 2009, due for release later that year. Disagreements between the band about Angles led to a varying release date: Sometime in 2010, then January 2011, then March 11, 2011. This January, Nikolai Fraiture, the Stroke’s bassist, stated the album would be out March 22, 2011 from Rough Trade Records. Angles will have ten tracks and has been referred to as the best album since their first release, Is This It (2001). On February 9, The Strokes released the first single, “Under Cover of Darkness.” The track moves fast, and though it will never rival dark, moody hits like “The End Has No End” (from Room on Fire in 2003) and “Heart in a Cage” (from First Impressions of the Earth), it gives promise for what’s to come. After a four year hiatus, The Strokes have had the time to revive their renowned skill and style.

The Strokes have been scheduled to headline the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, both in April. They will also be playing at Bonnaroo this June, and upon the release of Angles, the Strokes will go on a world tour. –Rosalie Wind

2. TV on the Radio, Nine Types of Light

After receiving numerous awards for Return to Cookie Mountain (2006) and critical praise for Dear Science (2008), TV on the Radio has set a high standard for themselves. The band's upcoming release in next few months will determine whether or not they're able to live up to that acclaim. The official TV on the Radio website is tauntingly secretive about the album, yielding nothing but a minimalist splash screen that says "Nine Types of Light, Spring 2011."

While the core band mates (Kyp Malone, Tunde Adebimpe, and David Sitek) have been very busy lately with their own side projects, it's exciting to know that the three have not left TV on the Radio behind. The band is known for consistently breaking new ground with their innovative sound, and Nine Types of Light definitely will not disappoint. –Alex Gomes

3. Wilco, Album Title Unknown

Wilco has certainly had one of the more interesting career arcs over the last decade. After revamping their alt-country sound with the experimental Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and riding that wave again for A Ghost Is Born (2004), the band’s lineup was revamped, most notably with the addition of jazz/avant-garde guitarist Nels Cline. Oddly enough, the infusion of instrumental superpowers resulted in the band stripping their weirder tendencies to make Sky Blue Sky (2007) and Wilco (the Album) (2009), two albums focused on strong songwriting and meticulous arrangements. As a live band this new lineup has pushed the group to new heights, able to tackle country tinged rockers, atmospheric soundscapes, and jazz-influenced guitar freak-outs with equal aplomb. What makes this release so exciting then, is that it’s impossible to say which Wilco is going to show up on the next album. –Stu Ruiz

4. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blue

The Fleet Foxes are in an interesting position: after only one EP and one full-length release, they’ve reached the stratus of indie stardom. I mean, they played “Saturday Night Live.” It’s conceivable, then, that they might feel a certain amount of pressure to produce a follow-up album worthy of such success. And yet, in an interview with Pitchfork in December of 2009, when asked if the band feels any such pressure front man Robin Pecknold responded:

“[But] I didn't feel beholden to anybody when I was writing the songs on the first record, and that's how it's going to have to be again….We did those songs; they still exist. People can listen to those songs if they like them. That's totally fine. I'm just interested in doing right by myself as a songwriter. The other thing is that I'm just trying to write—this sounds so stupid-- but just trying to write good songs, and not worrying about what style they are.”

Stupid, Robin? Not at all. I personally loved the Fleet Foxes’ self-titled album, and would gladly welcome more of the same—gorgeously layered harmonies and woodsy earnestness—but even if the band pushes itself into new sounds and styles, as long as they keep making “good songs” then I’ll keep listening. –Adrienne Rush

5. Lady Gaga, Born This Way

Lady Gaga, or “Mother Monster” as her fans so adoringly call her, has taken the music industry by a bizarrely clad storm in recent years. Her third studio album Born This Way (2011), due in late May, has been highly anticipated since announced at the 2010 Video Music Awards, but has the hype dissipated after the February release of the album’s title track? Critics have argued that “Born This Way” is too reminiscent of Madonna’s 1989 hit “Express Yourself”, and this comparison has some Gaga fans on edge for the rest of the album.

However, is having a song similar to one produced twenty years ago really such a bad thing? Many artists pay homage to timeless performers that they admire, and perhaps Lady Gaga is no different. In either case, Lady Gaga hasn’t fallen out of grace yet- and I, like many other “little monsters”, have already pre-ordered the album. –Leah Norod

6. Primus, Album Title Unknown

“The Primus record is nearly done. Every song is pretty much a variation of ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’ by Blue Öyster Cult. Everyone should buy two copies.” Les Claypool has always been quite the off-beat jokester, and it’s certain that he shouldn’t be taken seriously in his latest update concerning the imminent album. Though twelve long years have passed since their last studio record, Antipop (1999), this new project is sure to exemplify the familiar progressive trash-funk sound Claypool has come to make us crave.

The official website states in its most recent “Letter from Less” that the upcoming record will has the same feel as “Last Salmon Man,” a track which only even been played live once. Essentially, this means wackier guitar lines meshed with dark funk bass riffs topped off with the kooky, hillbilly vocals of Claypool. Although this single is currently only accessible in poor quality via YouTube video, it’s certainly worth a six-minute gander. A fresh approach to percussion will surely be present in this album, with the reintroduction of the groove-oriented Jay Lane, Primus’s original drummer, who parted ways before the recording of the band’s initial album Frizzle Fry (1990).

Claypool has implied during several interviews that he hopes Lane’s use of strong, intense rhythms will take the prog-funk trio in a new, yet still familiarly eclectic, musical direction. A title for the album has not been released as of now, so Primus fans worldwide will have to settle for the vague spring release date and the streaming samples of “Last Salmon Man” until this warped nouveau funk ensemble releases its next masterpiece. –Emma Briscoe

7. Queens of the Stone Age, Album Title Unknown

The honeymoon is over for Them Crooked Vultures. It’s been one hell of a fling but it's about time for Dave Grohl to head home and rekindle his marriage with The Foo Fighters. But what is Josh Homme to do? Return to his roots of course, with the re-release of a deluxe edition of a highly sought after second album, Rated R (2011), as well as the announcement of a new Queens of the Stone Age album.

Though very little is known about the album, keyboardist Dean Fertita claims that recording for the yet-to-be-named release began in January of 2011. If Era Vulgaris is any indication of the band's musical direction, expect more of QotSA's hauntingly-heavy signature rock style as the group continues to define their unique sound. Veteran QotSA fans can also expect a nod to the good old days with the re-release of their first album (self-titled), which was released in 1998 and has gone extinct from record stores since then. A new infusion of rock is far overdue for this increasingly sparse genre, and Queens of the Stone Age may have just the fix we need in early 2011. —Ryan Powles

8. Kanye West and Jay-Z, Watch the Throne

Kanye West and Jay-Z have already released their first single “H.A.M.” off their highly anticipated collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011), set for release in early March. “H.A.M.” stands for “Hard as a Motherfucker” and there’s nothing consumers love more than a gangsta anthem to drive around to.

Jay-Z’s critically acclaimed album The Blueprint (2001) heavily featured West’s sound, making him highly sought after as a producer in the hip-hop industry, even before his fame as a rapper or solo artist. These guys have known each other since 2000, they know what their fans crave, and they can hear the money dropping into their bank accounts every time “H.A.M.” gets a hit. The tune features female-opera vocals weaved into the beat, which recalls Blind Mag’s solo in the movie Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008). Though a new crowd may be attracted to the vocal twists, faithful West and Jay-Z fans might be pushed away by the aberration.

Even if Watch the Throne turns out to be a complete flop, West will get his chance to revive his career with the release of another LP this summer. Who knows what will follow last year’s My Twisted Dark Fantasy (2010)? Word on the street is that it involves a bassoon. –Eva Luton

9. Rush, Clockwork Angels

It’s been 37 years, and Rush is still going strong. Despite the band being close to four decades old, the three man rock powerhouse is still drumming up eager anticipation from fans for a new album set to release sometime in 2011. The new record, reportedly named Clockwork Angels, will be the 19th full-length studio album in Rush’s illustrious career. It is also the first new album since Snakes and Arrows (2007). Snakes and Arrows proved that Rush still has the drive to confront modern social issues, the power and talent to deliver their signature sound with authority, and the creativity to occasionally try new things.

With Geddy Lee’s undeniable versatility and talent on bass and vocals, and Neil Peart’s pounding drum beats driving the songs along, Rush still has what it takes to make the rock world sit up and take notice. Two singles from the new album: “Caravan” and “BU2B”, have already been released. If they are any indication these three 50-something, Canadian rock stars aren’t pulling any punches with their sound or their lyrics and seem poised to deliver another moving performance in an already legendary career. –John Gillespie

10. The Mars Volta, Album Title Unknown

The Mars Volta defines the modern progressive rock scene by pushing the envelope with an impressive mixture of sounds ranging from Latin themes to experimental noise and metal. Changes in the band’s line-up as well as different inspirations for their concept-based albums have allowed their sound to change from one album to the next. Since De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003), the band’s first album, The Mars Volta has released four albums, with their most recent being Octahedron (2009).

Band leader and guitarist Omar Rodrigues-Lopez said shortly after 2008’s Bedlam and Goliath that the next two albums–one of them Octahedron–were already written and ready to be finalized. The sixth album was put on hold, and in an April 2010 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Rodrigues-Lopez said that he is letting vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala work at his own pace for the first time.

The Mars Volta already creates some of the most innovative music in today’s industry, and we can’t wait to find out what this new approach will add. Fans should be eager for coming news and hopefully an official release date, and we can only dream of who or what will appear on the new album. –Miles Ellenberg

Rumored Release

Rumor has it that the Grammy-winning band Tool is back in the studio, recording their (currently untitled) fifth album. News of the potential release created quite a buzz with progressive metal fans, especially those of us that salivated over the pulse-pounding intensity and brain melting mathematics of one of the band’s previous releases, Lateralus (2001).

With their release of 10,000 Days (2006), some fans accused the band of becoming more “mainstream,” while others applauded their daring use of more mature, intellectual lyrical concepts and a slightly more ambient sound.

Regardless of the rumored album’s direction, fans can rest assured that anything Tool gives to music will be carefully crafted. When asked about the timeframe for a new studio album, bassist Justin Chancellor said, “The wait will be worth it. We’ve all talked about it and we realized if we are going to pull off something that’s going to be worth [it] and remarkable it’s going to take a little bit longer this time.” –Caroline Moseley