Best Albums of 2023

[Charger]

Well it's starting to be that time of the year again to start reflecting on the past year and the albums released.


There are few great albums that have been released this year including

KK's Priest - The Sinner Rides Again
Burning Witches - The Dark Tower
DORO - Conqueress
Archon Angel - II
Alice Cooper - Road
DiGelsomina - Sic Itur Ad Astra

Those came on top of my head....mgiht be I'm missing some...

Then ofcourse there's the 72 Seasons by Metallica...I'm not sure I can call it the most disappointing album of the year as I had zero expectations of it and it fullfilled those as it was about as mediocre plodding uninspired modern Metallica by the numbers as it comes. Kind of like Hardwired meets Reload... I think it speaks volumes that Lux Aeterna which was rather disappointing track remained the best one of the album...

I think the top three is probably going to be Sic Itur Ad Astra, Road and The Sinner Rides Again...but I haven't given Conqueress enough spins yet and I am still missing Delain's Dark Waters...but sadly based on the 3 songs I have heard it hasn't really been up to par either...no fault of the new singer Diana Leah who is absolutely brilliant...but the songs just are bit too...soft for my liking...

[Zzzptm]

My list of 2023 albums I bought looks quite a bit different.

Gabriels - Angels and Queens
Metal Church - Congregation of Annihilation
Black Sabbath - Live Evil (remastered) <- counting this as new because I never heard this stuff before, like getting the real version of a concert after years of having just a crappy bootleg of it
The Damned - Darkadelic
Angela Tini - Have You Met Me Yet?
Mozzy Dee - Orale
Hanford Flyover - Source
Black Sky Giant - Primagenian
Zalomon Grass - Space Opera

My purchases this year were much more in the Oldies/Soul category, and even two of those new releases were from singers that work in a throwback style, Angela Tini and Mozzy Dee. Most of my go-to acts put out albums in the last year or two, so they were not ready to record a new album this year.

The styles are also varied on these releases, so I'd put the Live Evil remaster on top and the rest are pretty good in their own way. I don't have a lot of apples-to-apples comparisons.

[Charger]

Oh I forgot to mention Metal Church...although to be honest I haven't listened to it much over the year...Still not quite sure about Mark Lopes' vocals...at times he sounds eerily like Mike and at times he's just all over the place.

I still haven't gotten Live Evil....haven't seen it anywhere for a reasonable price....cheapest I've seen has been 65$ delivered + customs...can't really justify that price.

[Zzzptm]

I'd recommend listening to it on the YouTube for free - try before you buy!

[Charger]

I'd recommend listening to it on the YouTube for free - try before you buy!

It's not that...I know what I'm getting I just can't fully justify to myself spending 80€ for a single album....

[Zzzptm]

I'd recommend listening to it on the YouTube for free - try before you buy!

It's not that...I know what I'm getting I just can't fully justify to myself spending 80€ for a single album....

Well... it *is* a double album.

[Zzzptm]

Man, I have to add Hackney Diamonds to the list. The Rolling Stones made a great rock and roll record with that one. Sweet Sounds of Heaven is an amazing track, I'm in love with it.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I've not bought that many albums this year, so I'll list them all, and then give an opinion!


Metal Church - Congregation of Annihilation
Yes - Mirror to the Sky
Hawkwind - The Future Never Waits
The Damned - Darkadelic
Rain - Radio Silence
Metallica - 72 Seasons

I thought it was more but I now realise a couple came out last year!

Good
The Damned
Hawkwind
Rain

OK
Metal Church
Metallica

Poor
Yes (although the title track is rather good)

[Zzzptm]

Looking over a list of albums from 2023, I see a new one from Uriah Heep, Chaos & Colour... I'll give it a spin and report back.

[Zzzptm]

Found some more releases from 2023, including Robin Trower, Saxon, Girlschool, Dokken, and L.A. Guns. I'll give them a go.

I'll also spin the newest Shakti album - it's been a LONG time since they last did a thing - one from Greta Van Fleet because what the hell why not, one from a band that is being sued by Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman for using the name The Guess Who, and the latest Jethro Tull album. The Tull one interests me because it's based on Norse mythology, so we'll see what Mr. Anderson does with that.

If an album sucks, I'll skip around and then write it off. But I got a lot of typing to do today, so why not have a little fun to go with it?

[Zzzptm]

Biff Byford is hard to listen to right now. Props to him being 72 and all, but his vocal instrument is not aged well. Yes, I'm listening to Saxon's album of covers, More Inspirations. The opening track is We Gotta Get Out of This Place, and I quit 3/4ths of the way through. I went to Man on the Silver Mountain where Biff does better, but it's still pretty rough. And Paul Quinn's guitar work is perfunctory, not getting the magic of when Blackmore played those notes. Amazing how instrumental music can sound different based on the emotion when it's played. But I'm not impressed here. I'll give it another go with Detroit Rock City... a little more energy in the band this time around and the vocals are... passable?

If they're having fun, they should keep doing it. I'll pass, though. It's hard to listen to at worst and passable at best. I'm getting on in years myself, and I'd rather hear something better. Sorry, Biff, but I'm not into the latest from Saxon. Cheers.

[Zzzptm]

Black Diamonds from L.A. Guns starts off... with a definite metal sound, but it's a muddy mix. Yes, I'm getting ones out of the way that I want to like, but am afraid will be disappointed with. Disappointment sinking in as I get industrial drones instead of a proper metal guitar solo. What's next? Time to skip ahead. Um... I start the next song and it sounds almost identical to the previous one. Not a good sign. It's pretty turgid. They wrote a riff and then sang, this ain't no song.

Track three is... A METAL BALLAD! Oh shit, am I really going to listen to this? I have to let it go a little, to see if it grows on me the way the Stones ballads did yesterday. Thing is, the Stones weren't trying to do 80s power metal ballads, and they worked. This one, dammit, just went into the non-acoustic part that's the same as the acoustic part, but louder. Just like 1988. We're done here.

Babylon - a good title, and a good opening riff. It better deliver the goods. Then the singing starts, and, uh... the guitars went funny there and it's not doing the job. Singer is doing a Mau Maus impersonation but the band's in some kind of minor key faffing around that doesn't drive it forward, holds it back. It's soooo bad, I'm drawn in to it to study its missteps. At the end, I'm glad it's over and I want to listen to The Berlin Brats to cleanse the sound in my room.

Instead, I type on and more trash washes over me from the speakers, I don't even want to look up the name of this song, it's garbage. AHHGGGGHHHH Tapping out now

Black Diamonds sucks. Oof.

[Zzzptm]

Jethro Tull album starts off cool - I'm guessing that's some kinda Nordic the lady's saying at the start as someone breathes like Aqualung. Then the music proper starts.

RökFlöte by Jethro Tull - don't be misled, those are not rock and roll umlauts, those are Nordic stylings. And this first track is coming across to me as the rest of Spinal Tap's Stonehenge album. Seriously, I'm just waiting for Nigel Tufnel to say "Nobody knew who they were... or... what they were doing..." It's well-played and very much like the post-80s Jethro Tull sound, so there be synthesizers here.

Ginnungagap, the second track, has a really cool start to it, and I'm here thinking, "Why didn't Iron Maiden do something like this instead of Senjutsu?" And Anderson's flute work is great here. This one rocks properly in a very Jethro Tull sort of way and I'm getting into it. He also kept exceptional care of his voice, he sounds amazing here. It's still Stonehenge-feeling, but like in a good way. If you don't like the prog, you won't like this. If you like prog and you like Tull, this is a solid offering. Onward!

Allfather is a turn to the pretentious, though. That's the fine line on concept albums, you want to make a point without bashing someone on the head with it. Like Thick As a Brick was about ageing and generation gaps, Passion Play about death, hell, and rebirth, but you kinda had to study things out to get that message. This album's had 3 tracks and 2 of them are HEY THIS IS NORDIC MYTHOS STUFF, Y'ALL! I prefer a lighter touch to my concept albums.

The Feathered Consort - umm... the violins are an odd touch. This one made me count how many tracks are ahead, not a good sign. It's kind of like listening to a Blackmore's Night album. I'm looking for the brilliance of Blackmore, but it's trapped under layers of HEY THIS IS RENAISSANCE MUSIC, Y'ALL! No denying that Anderson is amazing with his flute, but the metallic bombast is getting in the way too often.

Hammer on Hammer has a quiet little start and the lyrics are less straightforward, I like that. But the noise level is going up and oh crap, it's doing the same thing as in the last one - but then takes a welcome turn away from that formula in the bridge. But I'm getting the feel that this is about to go all Senjutsu on me, after all. We're going to need something *different*, and soon.

Wolf Unchained comes up next and does have a fresh start. It's not pretending to be an acoustic number, it's a straight-ahead rocker... and then Anderson goes too beautiful on the vocals. DAMMIT! I thought we had it all together! All he needed to do was to lean into that song a little and we'd have our gramps with amps doing a proper rocker. Instead... I HAVE NORDIC MYTHOS TO SING ABOUT!

Did he do this album after putting in like 1400 hours on Skyrim?

Skipped ahead to see if there's a song that's not the quiet-loud-quiet-loud-flute-loud pattern.

Trickster (And the Mistletoe) - here's a fun one, and Anderson lets his voice growl like it should here. Ahhh, I'm home! This one reminds me of his awesome Christmas album, lots of character and fun in the voice here. Yes, it's a shanty sort of song, but Jethro Tull makes those work. This is what I've been wanting for the whole album to be like, yeah! Just right and the vocals are "Pssst! There's Nordic Mythos in here!" Over too soon at 3:01, or maybe that's just right.

Cornucopia is softer, but back to that classic feel. It's acoustic and moody and quite sweet, then goes into a lighter non-acoustic part a la Heavy Horses before exiting.

The Navigators - electric start, but restrained. There's synths, but I can forgive that. It's working out well, like if Jethro Tull wrote and did Immigrant Song. This and the last two are making me wonder what was going on with the first 7 songs, the second one excepted. 4 good songs, 6 to pass over, 3 to go. Those last 3 need to win out for the album to be overall worth it, but I am now giving songs a full listen and liking them. That's a good sign, I'm not bailing after 3 or 4 like with the Saxon or LA Guns clunkers.

Guardian's Watch does it right with the opening flute solo. Wow, it's such a pretty little intro! OK, now it's more metal as we sing about Heimdall, but the lyrics aren't as in-my-face as the earlier tracks. But... the metal stuff isn't really doing it properly. Oh dear, we're slipping back into old habits with this one... not entirely, but it's not winning me over as it goes all Mannheim Steamroller, even though the flute part is amazing.

Ithavoll - quiet then noisy, we've been down this road *how* many times on this record? Nope.

Last one is The Navigators (Single Edit), so it's not part of the total. 4 good songs on the record, IF you are a Tull fan. If not, sail on past this one.

[Zzzptm]

Plein d'Amour from The Guess Who, until they get shut down by injunctions from Messers Bachman and Cummings.

First track sounds like... Styx? With Queen? Cheap Trick?     I mean, it's not turn-that-crap-off bad, but, hey, American Woman it ain't. It's average rock and roll, which is better than bad. But it's also forgettable. This and the other reviews make me feel good about the albums I *did* buy in 2023.

[Charger]

So all of that AND NOTHING actually had anything to do with Best albums of 2023!