My 50 Favorite Albums of 2023

My dad is right once again! Dammit, don’cha just hate that when you realize that your parent is correct about something. I remember when he turned 60, he said life was like a toilet paper roll. A new roll of toilet paper seems to unravel slowly. However, as you get closer to the cardboard tube in the middle, the toilet paper unravels faster and faster. That’s what he said about life. As you get closer to the end of your life, the years seem to go by so quickly. Well, I turned 60 this year, and this year flew by.

I have always said that my true musical wheelhouse took place between 1974 through 1984. That means 2024 represents the golden anniversary of the starting line to my musical baptism. 50 years! That’s crazy! You are telling me that KC & the Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight” turns 50? Awwwwwww!!!

The question becomes how do I hold the music of 2023 in comparison to other years? Well, simply put, I’d say it was a relatively underwhelming year for music. The biggest story of 2023 remains Taylor Swift. Her tour made over a BILLION dollars! Over a BILLION dollars!?!? Of course, now, journalists and current rock critics are anointing her the GOAT, Greatest of All Time.

As one who grew up right after Elvis Presley and The Beatles peaked, I can attest to the fact that the tonnage of film available of both artists performing live during which you cannot hear them over the shrieks and cries of the crowds, particularly young girls. Then, I watched in amazement as Michael Jackson transformed from the frontperson of a teenybopper soul group, through some awkward teenage years during which he honed his entertainment craft only to burst through in 1983 as the biggest act in the world which lasted until his untimely death in 2009. Unfortunately, the number of influential voices in the music realm have no practical history with anything that occurred before blink-182 ran naked through their 1999 video “What’s My Age Again?” Yes, Taylor is HUGE right now, and rightfully so. But she has a couple of decades to go before she rises up the levels of Elvis/Beatles/Michael.

Besides Taylor Swift, 2023 gave us excellent albums by boygenius, Miley Cyrus, Paramore, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA. It was also the year in which Peter Gabriel made one of the quietest triumphant comebacks ever. It was pretty crazy as Dolly Parton released one of the most hyped albums since the heyday of Kanye West and his Yeezus album. And, with most of the band pushing age 80, The Rolling Stones released their first album of new material in 18 years when they released A Bigger Bang. Oh, and Taylor released TWO albums of re-recorded music in a brilliant effort to stop her old record company from getting big bucks from her catalog.

Basically, as far as I am concerned, 2023 was the year of the young lady. Actually, 38 of my 50 favorite albums had women involved as the artist. Plus, I haven’t mentioned that the biggest soundtrack of the year was Barbie The Album, the soundtrack to one of the year’s biggest films, Barbie, the most iconic doll.

With that introduction out of the way, here’s my Top 50 Albums of 2023.

50. U2 – Songs of Surrender

49. Metallica – 72 Seasons

48. Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

47. Måneskin – Rush!

46. Bettye LaVette – LaVette!

45. Chris Stapleton – Higher

44. The Lemon Twigs – Everything Harmony

43. The Go! Team – Get Up Sequences, Pt. 2

42. Cindy Wilson – Realms

41. The Summertimes – The Summertimes

40. Depeche Mode – Memento Mori

39. The Particles – 1980’s Bubblegum

38. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn into You

37. 100 gecs – 10,000 gecs

36. Blondshell – Blondshell

35. Anohni & the Johnsons – My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross

34. Jorja Smith – Falling or Flying

33. Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan

32. Everything but the Girl – Fuse

31. Kesha – Gag Order

30. Reneé Rapp – Snow Angel

29. Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

28. Neil Young – Chrome Dreams

27. Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We

26. Jesse Ware – That! Feels! Good!

25. Pretenders – Relentless. Chrissie Hynde brought her Pretenders band back after two solo albums, and they rediscovered their angry, punk roots.

24. Dolly Parton – Rockstar. Nice try Dolly! It seemed as though you were having the time of your life spinning Dolly all over these rock songs. But, it’s always been your true country self that’s the most rock & roll thing about you.

23. Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here. Lil Yachty is typical of a 21st century rap star, busy trying to find a unique sound for his music. Thus, his infatuation with the Yacht Rock of my youth.

22. Paul Simon – Seven Psalms. Many are saying that this represents the last album that Simon plans to release. If the rumor is true, he never lost his muse. The world changed around him.

21. Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. LDR has been on such a stunning artistic turn around since her turd of a performance on SNL back in 2012. Unfortunately, I think she peaked four years ago her Norman Fucking Rockwell masterpiece.

20. The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds. Did we really need a new Stones album, especially when most of their studio concoctions have been crap since 1981? No, but it’s kinda fun to hear a rock master have their sound updated a bit. It’s NOT Sticky Fingers. Or even Emotional Rescue. Still, it’s not Bridges to Babylon either. This album is not bad for a bunch of geriatrics.

19. P¡nk – Trustfall. Is it just me or has P¡nk has quietly forged a superstar following? She just releases one solid album after another. I will never have a problem when she’s inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

18. Jenny Lewis – Joy’all. Jenny Lewis is something of a female Tom Petty. She has Tom’s storytelling ability in addition to his ability to find a melody that’s pure American rock and roll. Jenny Lewis is traveling down that same path, which is not a bad way to go. Thank God someone is trying to do that.

17. Jon Batiste – World Music Radio. As The Late Show with Stephen Colbert‘s band leader, Batiste showed the world how joy is the driving force behind his music. Then, the world changed for Batiste in 2021 as his big hit album We Are won the Grammy for Album of the Year. At the point, Batiste realized that his goal of world domination was within his reach so he reluctantly left his day job. And this wonderfully fun album was his first step toward his goal.

16. Duran Duran – Danse Macabre. They finally did it! Duran Duran went back to 1979/1980 and went the Goth route. Actually, this listener thinks it works. I like a darker Duran Duran as a changeup from the Day-Glo version from days gone by.

15. Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version). I get why Taylor is doing this, in addition to throwing a bone or two from the vaults. But 1989 was all ready a great album.

14. Durand Jones – Wait Til I Get Over. With the Indications, Jones has released some of the best neo-soul music of the past decade. On his first solo album, Durand takes a huge artistic jump. I am so happy that Leon Bridges has a foil to push each other to greater heights.

13. Tamar Berk – Tiny Injuries. Tamar Berk is an independent artist who sells her albums by herself. Tiny Injuries is her third album that shows the growth of a major talent just waiting to be signed. Berk makes some great indie pop/rock music.

12. Various Artists – Barbie The Album OST. At one point this year, I was considering naming this album the year’s best. The film laid claim to this being the creative year of the woman. Then, the musical people behind the film grabbed some of the biggest female names of the day to provide the songs. This film and soundtrack has Girl Power written all over it (Hey! Where’s the Spice Girls?!?!). Yet, the emotional high point of the album is a male-dominated tune called “I’m Just Ken.”

11. Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure. In my mind, Janelle Monáe has been the Janet Jackson of the 2000s, with her brilliant acting turns and her fourth straight brilliant album. But Ms. Monáe had a direct line to Prince, whereas Ms. Jackson had a side line to descendants Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. She is a Renaissance woman.

10. Juliana Hatfield – Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO. Hatfield burst onto the alternative rock scene back in the early 90s with her work with The Lemonheads and her own Juliana Hatfield Trio. Now, she’s something of an elder statesmen of the alternative scene. This album is the third is a series of Hatfield Sings album. On the other two, she tackled Olivia Newton-John and The Police. Now, she takes on ELO, and not just the hits but some deep cuts as well. This is a very satisfying covers album.

9. Kylie Minogue – Tension. Back in 2020, Minogue released a fantastic of disco-tinged songs called Disco. This album saw Minogue’s music getting a new generation on the dancefloor. Striking while the iron was still hot, Minogue now is tackling some world dance music in new and unique ways. The world is always a little better when the people are dancing with Kylie.

8. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – Weathervanes. Former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell has become the leading voice of the Americana/alt.country scene since he left the band over a decade ago. He just might be the most consistent musical artist going today.

7. Foo Fighters – But We Are Here. Foo Fighters were riding high during the spring of 2022. Then the untimely death of much beloved and respected drummer Taylor Hawkins shook leader Dave Grohl and the rest of the rock solid band. Much like the ghosts Grohl faced nearly thirty years earlier with the loss of Kurt Cobain and the demise of Nirvana, Grohl and the surviving Foos first turned outwards as the rock world embraced them, then inwards as he and the band created a terrific epithet to Mr. Hawkins. No one rocker handles the bad and the good better than Dave Grohl and his Foos.

6. Peter Gabriel – i/o. Peter Gabriel had not released an album of new material since the first decade of the current century. For the whole year of 2023, Gabriel has been releasing a song per month with two different mixes, bright and dark. In the process he both reclaimed the darkness of his earlier albums (I, II, III, IV/Security) AND the brightness of his hit albums (So, Us, Up). Two mixes of the same 12 songs and two brilliant albums. I miss the daring behavior of the rockers of yore.

5. boygenius – the record. boygenius is the American indie supergroup consisting of singer/songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. What began as a coterie of mutual respect has become a group of friends creating terrific indie folk/pop/rock. Bridgers might be the most recognized of the trio after the breakthrough of her previous album Destroyer, but the other two young ladies are no slouches either. If you saw the band perform on SNL earlier this season, then you got a taste of how good this album truly is.

4. Paramore – This Is Why. Many millennials and Gen Z-ers may have had Paramore as one of their favorite pop punk bands of the early part of this century. On their latest album, the trio remembered to emphasize their punk roots while maintaining the songs’ great melodies. This may be the adult sound of the pop punk genre finally growing up.

3. Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS. In 2021, I named Olivia Rodrigo’s debut, SOUR, album of the year. Fortunately, Rodrigo has avoided the sophomore slump as she writes another mature set of breakup songs. Rodrigo has picked up the angry scorned woman mantle last held by Alanis Morissette and run with it. Guys, don’t treat women bad when you break up with them since you might end up an antagonist in a hit song. Didn’t guys learn anything from the careers of Morissette and Taylor Swift?

2. Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation. Once Miley jettisoned the Disney-themed songs of her Hannah Montana days on Bangerz a decade ago, we have witnessed her talent and audaciousness grow in the time from “Wrecking Ball
 to her last LP Plastic Hearts. She has covered the psych-pop sound of Flaming Lips, the 70s country rock Laurel Canyon sound and 80s dance/rock new wave of Plastic Hearts. So, no artist deserved to revel in her successful ventures than Miley. If Endless Summer Vacation sounds like a mature victory lap by a cutting edge female artist, well, you are not too far off. Though, if the truth be told, I prefer her as a Bowie-esque “WTF” 80s icon. well….um…I am 60.

1. SZA – S.O.S. Technically, SZA DID release this album last December, but that was not enough time for me to fully digest the work. Although I gave a passing mention in last year’s countdown, I decided to follow Rolling Stone‘s decision to include S.O.S. in 2023. And I am glad that I did. This album is a flat-out classic. I love her gritty mix of soul, hip hop and pop into something akin to Aretha Franklin’s 60s classics.

Raise a glass to 2023! We will see how these rankings hold up over time. Cheers! Now, let’s see what 2024 has in store for us in the music world.