Best New Music 2023 edition

MY FAVOURITE NOVEMBER ALBUMS:

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  • Whitin Temptation - Bleed Out (Metal)
  • The Fusion Syndicate - A Speedway on Saturn's Rings (Jazz Fusion)
  • The Chick Corea Elektric Band - The Future is Now (Jazz Fusion)
  • The Fusion Syndicate - Beautiful Horizon (Jazz Fusion)
  • Amorphis - Queen of Time (Live At Tavastia 2021) (Metal)
  • UFO - Too Hot in Tokyo 1994 (Live) (Hard Rock)
  • Trapeze - Lost Tapes Vol. 1 (Hard Rock)
  • Lalu - The Fish Who Wanted to Be King (Prog Rock)
  • Gong - Unending Ascending (Prog Rock)
  • UFO - Lights Out in Babenhausen Live 1993 (Hard Rock)
  • Coline Rio - Ce qu'il restera de nous (et plus encore) (Songwirter)
  • Dokken - Heaven Comes Down (Hard Rock / AOR)
How are the UFO ones? I noticed they have had a lot of archival live releases this year. Have you heard those ones as well?
 
They have released this live albums through the year.



ufo live albums2023.png
I just listened these ones by now and they're phenomenal:

Too Hot in Tokyo 1994
Lights Out in Babenhausen Live 1993
Live in Vienna 1998
California at the Edge 1995
Werewolves of London (Live 1998)
 
MY FAVOURITE DECEMBER ALBUMS:

FAV DEC.png


  • Vandenberg - Sin (Metal)
  • Sacred Outcry - Towers of Gold (Metal)
  • Bernie Marsden - Working Man (Rock)
  • UFO - Hot 'N' Ready in Texas (Live) (Hard Rock)
  • UFO - One Night: Lights Out '77 (Live) (Hard Rock)
  • Oyereon & Lord Elephant - Doom Sessions Vol. 8 (Metal)
  • Glass Hammer - Arise (Prog Rock/Metal)
  • Peter Gabriel - I/O (Pop Rock)
  • Therion - Leviathan III (Metal)
  • UFO - Hollywood '76 (Hard Rock)
  • Soft Machine - Other Doors (Jazz Fusion)
  • Evergrey - From dark Discoveries to Heartless Portraits (Metal)
 
I have a ton of albums of this year on the cue so I'll still adding favorites and others than deserve more listens.

I'll put my Top albums list here very soon.

Happy New Year everybody!!!
 
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Here are some albums I've enjoyed in 2023, no particular order:

  • Haken - Fauna: It's no secret on this board that I am a Haken fanatic. I had been pretty cool on every album they've made since The Mountain. Affinity had a few songs among their best (1985, The Architect, Endless Knot), but lost me quite a bit on the back half. Vector was awesome, Virus was almost entirely forgettable minus a few tracks. I continued to consider them one of my favorite bands, but I wasn't expecting them to come close to topping The Mountain. Well, exactly one decade later, they have come scary close. The whole album feels refreshed but also like a celebration of the band's entire catalog, showing the maturity of a group that has remained largely in tact for over a decade. They have a new keyboardist (actually a former band member who left before they recorded their debut) and it seems like his playing is a little bit more in line with the rest of the band. There are moments that recall the band's first couple albums like on Elephants Never Forget, and then there are songs like Nightingale and Alphabet of Me that are clearly taking the group in new directions. Blown away by this one.

    Favorite songs: Nightingale, The Alphabet of Me, Lovebite, Elephants Never Forget

  • Paramore - This Is Why: This album completely came out of nowhere. I figured Paramore was lost to the angsty ages of the late 00s, not to mention they had taken a pretty hard turn toward pop anyway. This Is Why is a pure rock album and probably their best work. Hayley Williams is a force on vocals, but I was really impressed with her more restrained approach here. She still has pipes, but now has the maturity to not have to constantly use them (the constant belting on their earlier albums bordered on comical). She's doing a lot more here. Additionally, the songwriting has improved a ton. Great interplay in the instrumentals and tight melody writing. It's rare that you hear a band like this mature over time. Regardless of what you might think of their pop punk roots, this album solidifies Hayley and co as rock royalty IMO.

    Favorite songs: The News, Running Out of Time, Big Man Little Dignity, Thick Skull

  • Avenged Sevenfold - Life is but a Dream: Avenged Sevenfold putting out a great album in 2023 was not on my bingo card, especially after I really couldn't get into the first single. Like Paramore, I have a lot of respect for artists like these continuing to evolve and challenge themselves instead of just going back to the well every time. Avenged has always been a bit more experimental than other bands that are nu metal or nu metal adjacent, but they really went out there for Life Is But a Dream. I was a big A7X fan when I was younger, pretty much peaking around the time of Nightmare. I couldn't stand Hail To the King and while I respected what they did with The Stage, it just wasn't for me. This album was just weird enough to be right up my alley. Very zany, very proggy, but also heavy with great riffs and playing. No two songs are alike and I have mad respect for the band putting out such a bold album. It has been a very divisive album, but I love that.

    Favorite songs: We Love You, GOD trilogy, Mattel

  • Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time: Carly is one of my favorite pop artists. Just a great writer of hooks and a ton of fun to listen to. This is a collection of b-sides to her 2022 album The Loneliest Time (which I also loved). The songs here are a little grittier which is a nice contrast to the glittery material that I'm used to from CRJ. Not much to say here, just a really solid collection of b-sides.

    Favorite songs: Kamikaze, Anything To Be With You, Aeroplanes

  • Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex: Stevie had lost his way quite a bit with me since Hand Cannot Erase. I was feeling really enthusiastic about his solo career, but it was starting to feel like he was leaning too much into pop/trip hop/electronic influences when that just isn't his strength. I think Wilson works best with vibes and psychedelia - as much as he might want to distance himself from the neo prog world that is his bread and butter. So The Harmony Codex was a big return to form for me. I really need to listen to the album a bit more but it feels like Wilson in his element. Again, great atmospheric sounds and some solid rocking moments.

  • Moon Safari - Himlabacken Vol. 2: Moon Safari blew me away with their last album, Himlabacken Vol. 1, ten years ago. This long awaited sequel album did the impossible: it lived up to my expectations. Much heavier than the predecessor and some surprising 80s vibes. I've come to appreciate this band for great harmonies, vocal harmonies, and symphonic rock arrangements, and they deliver on every front here. The album came out in December so it's still marinating with me, but I've been really enjoying it. There's a lot going on on this album too, a lot more abstract material and some pretty complex epics (compared to their previous album which relied more heavily on short songs).

    Favorite songs: Between the Devil and Me, A Lifetime to Learn How to Love, Teen Angel Meets the Apocalypse, Forever, For You
 
I'm sad that I for surrounding reason haven't listened to anything new in 2023 :( I usually try to listen to new music released every year
 
Here are some albums I've enjoyed in 2023, no particular order:

  • Haken - Fauna: It's no secret on this board that I am a Haken fanatic. I had been pretty cool on every album they've made since The Mountain. Affinity had a few songs among their best (1985, The Architect, Endless Knot), but lost me quite a bit on the back half. Vector was awesome, Virus was almost entirely forgettable minus a few tracks. I continued to consider them one of my favorite bands, but I wasn't expecting them to come close to topping The Mountain. Well, exactly one decade later, they have come scary close. The whole album feels refreshed but also like a celebration of the band's entire catalog, showing the maturity of a group that has remained largely in tact for over a decade. They have a new keyboardist (actually a former band member who left before they recorded their debut) and it seems like his playing is a little bit more in line with the rest of the band. There are moments that recall the band's first couple albums like on Elephants Never Forget, and then there are songs like Nightingale and Alphabet of Me that are clearly taking the group in new directions. Blown away by this one.

    Favorite songs: Nightingale, The Alphabet of Me, Lovebite, Elephants Never Forget

  • Paramore - This Is Why: This album completely came out of nowhere. I figured Paramore was lost to the angsty ages of the late 00s, not to mention they had taken a pretty hard turn toward pop anyway. This Is Why is a pure rock album and probably their best work. Hayley Williams is a force on vocals, but I was really impressed with her more restrained approach here. She still has pipes, but now has the maturity to not have to constantly use them (the constant belting on their earlier albums bordered on comical). She's doing a lot more here. Additionally, the songwriting has improved a ton. Great interplay in the instrumentals and tight melody writing. It's rare that you hear a band like this mature over time. Regardless of what you might think of their pop punk roots, this album solidifies Hayley and co as rock royalty IMO.

    Favorite songs: The News, Running Out of Time, Big Man Little Dignity, Thick Skull

  • Avenged Sevenfold - Life is but a Dream: Avenged Sevenfold putting out a great album in 2023 was not on my bingo card, especially after I really couldn't get into the first single. Like Paramore, I have a lot of respect for artists like these continuing to evolve and challenge themselves instead of just going back to the well every time. Avenged has always been a bit more experimental than other bands that are nu metal or nu metal adjacent, but they really went out there for Life Is But a Dream. I was a big A7X fan when I was younger, pretty much peaking around the time of Nightmare. I couldn't stand Hail To the King and while I respected what they did with The Stage, it just wasn't for me. This album was just weird enough to be right up my alley. Very zany, very proggy, but also heavy with great riffs and playing. No two songs are alike and I have mad respect for the band putting out such a bold album. It has been a very divisive album, but I love that.

    Favorite songs: We Love You, GOD trilogy, Mattel

  • Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time: Carly is one of my favorite pop artists. Just a great writer of hooks and a ton of fun to listen to. This is a collection of b-sides to her 2022 album The Loneliest Time (which I also loved). The songs here are a little grittier which is a nice contrast to the glittery material that I'm used to from CRJ. Not much to say here, just a really solid collection of b-sides.

    Favorite songs: Kamikaze, Anything To Be With You, Aeroplanes

  • Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex: Stevie had lost his way quite a bit with me since Hand Cannot Erase. I was feeling really enthusiastic about his solo career, but it was starting to feel like he was leaning too much into pop/trip hop/electronic influences when that just isn't his strength. I think Wilson works best with vibes and psychedelia - as much as he might want to distance himself from the neo prog world that is his bread and butter. So The Harmony Codex was a big return to form for me. I really need to listen to the album a bit more but it feels like Wilson in his element. Again, great atmospheric sounds and some solid rocking moments.

  • Moon Safari - Himlabacken Vol. 2: Moon Safari blew me away with their last album, Himlabacken Vol. 1, ten years ago. This long awaited sequel album did the impossible: it lived up to my expectations. Much heavier than the predecessor and some surprising 80s vibes. I've come to appreciate this band for great harmonies, vocal harmonies, and symphonic rock arrangements, and they deliver on every front here. The album came out in December so it's still marinating with me, but I've been really enjoying it. There's a lot going on on this album too, a lot more abstract material and some pretty complex epics (compared to their previous album which relied more heavily on short songs).

    Favorite songs: Between the Devil and Me, A Lifetime to Learn How to Love, Teen Angel Meets the Apocalypse, Forever, For You
Thank you very much for sharing your top albums with reviews and favorite tracks. Awesome!

I have the Steven Wilson, Moon Safari and Avenged Sevenfold albums on the cue for listen soon. Haken album is on my top albums of the year. too.
 
METAL
  1. Overkill - Scorched
  2. Primal Fear - Code Red
  3. UDO - Touchdown
  4. Spirit Adrift - Ghost at the Gallops
  5. Within Temptation - Bleed Out
  6. Haken - Fauna
  7. Delain - Dark Waters
  8. Primordial - How it Ends
  9. Sacred Outcry - Towers of Gold
  10. Bloodstar - First Sighting
____________
Honorable mentions:
  • Enslaved - Heimdal
  • KK's Priest - The Sinner Rides Again
  • Metallica - 72 Seasons
  • Tanith - Voyage
  • Nightdemon - Outsider
  • Tribulation - Hamartia (EP)
  • Therion - Leviathan III
  • Baroness - Stone
  • Oyereon & Lord Elephant - Doom Sessions Vol. 8
  • Tigers of Pang Tang - Bloodlines

PROG ROCK

  1. Riverside - Identity ID
  2. Glass Hammer - Arise
  3. Agusa - Prima Materia
  4. Jethro Tull - Rokflöte
  5. Eloy - Echoes from the Past
  6. Gong - Unending Ascending
  7. Hawkwind - The Future Never Ends
  8. Yes - Mirror to the Sky
  9. Lalu - The Fish who wanted to be a King
  10. Rick Wakeman - A Gallery of Imagination
____________
Honorable mentions:
  • Paskinel - Maraude Autumnale
  • Ray Alder - II

HARD ROCK / MELODIC ROCK

  1. Uriah Heep - Chaos and Colors
  2. Alice Cooper - Road
  3. Revolution Saints - Eagle Flight
  4. Sweet and Lynch - Heart & Sacrifice
  5. Robin McAuley - Alive
  6. Vandenberg - Sin
  7. Lynch Mob - Babylon
  8. George Lynch - Guitars at the End of the World
  9. Rival Sons - Darkfighter
  10. Rival Sons - Lightbringer
____________
Honorable mentions:
  • The Answer - Sundowners
  • Black Star Riders - Wrong Side of Paradise
  • Trapeze - Lost Tapes Vol. 1
  • Dokken - Heaven Comes Down
  • George Lynch & Jeff Pilson - Heavy Hitters II

POP / ROCK

  1. The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds
  2. Peter Gabriel - I/O
  3. Gaz Coombes - Turn the Car Around
  4. Bernie Marsden - Working Man
  5. Bryan Adams - Cuts Like a Knife (Live) (40th Anniversary)


JAZZ / FUSION

  1. Bend the Future - Sounds so Wrong
  2. Soft Machine - Other Doors
  3. John Zorn - Quatrain
  4. The Chick Corea Electric Band - The Future is Now (Live)
  5. Yussef - Black Magic Music
  6. Stan Getz - The Girl from Ipanema (Compilation)
  7. Walter Smith III - Return to Casual
  8. The Fusion Syndicate - Beautiful Horizon
  9. The Fusion Syndicate - A Speedway on Saturn's Rings
  10. Ralph Towner - At First Light
____________
Honorable mentions:
  • John Zorn - Parrhesiastes
  • Nora Kamm - One
  • Gato Barbieri & The Sound of South America - Berliner Jazztage November 5th 72 (Live)
  • Chris Potter - Got. the Keys to the Kingdom. Live at The Village Vanguard (Live)
  • Brad Mehldau Plays the Beatles - Your Mother Should Know

VOCAL JAZZ

  1. Coline Rio - Ce qu'il restera de nous (et plus encore)
  2. Gabi Hartmann - Gabi Hartmann
  3. Cecile McLorin Salvant - Mélusine
  4. Laufey - Bewitched

LIVE ALBUMS

  1. UFO - Werewolves of London (Hard Rock)
  2. UFO - Live in Vienna 1998 and the other 8 Live Official Bootlegs (Hard Rock)
  3. Fish - Vigil's End UK Tour 2021 (Prog Rock)
  4. Chick Corea Elektric Band - The Future is Now (Jazz Fusion)
  5. Wishbone Ash - Live Dates Live (Hard Rock)
  6. Wishbone Ash - Alive and Rockin' (Hard Rock)
  7. Blaze - Damaged, Strange, different and Live (Metal)
  8. Amorphis - Queen of Time (Live at Tavastia 2021) (Metal)
  9. Visions of Atlantis - Pirates over Wacken (Metal)
  10. Gato Barbieri - Berliner Jazztage November 5th 72 (Jazz)
____________
Honorable mentions:
  • Black Sabbath - Live Evil Super Deluxe (Metal)
  • Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon Live at Wembley 1974 (Prog Rock)
  • Laufey - A Night at the Symphony (Vocal Jazz)
  • Hans Zimmer - Live (Soundtrack)
  • Chris Potter - Got. the Keys to the Kingdom. Live at The Village Vanguard (Live)

REISSUES, REMASTERS, BOX SETS & COMPILATIONS

  1. Marillion - Seasons End (Deluxe Edition)
  2. Black Sabbath - Live Evil (Deluxe Edition)
  3. Motörhead - Bad Magic: Seriously Bad Magic
  4. Ken Hensley - Past & Present (Songs in Time) A Ken Hensley Anthology 1971-2021
  5. Evergrey - From Dark Discoveries to Heartless Portraits


OTHER GREAT ALBUMS
  • Alcatrazz - Take No Prisoners (Metal)
  • Paul Gilbert - The Dio Album (Metal)
  • Axel Rudi Pell - The Ballads VI (Metal)
  • Elegant Weapons - Horns for a Halo (Metal)
  • Envy of None - That Was Then (EP) (Alternative Rock)
  • Nina Strauss - The Call of the Void (Metal)
  • Blazon Rite - Wild Rites and Ancient Songs (Metal)
  • Eydís Evensen - The Light (Classical Crossover)


2023 has been a great year for Music. I still have a ton of albums I didn't listen yet and I'm sure many of them could be included in the list. Anyway I will add it here.

I think 2024 it's going to be even better.

I wish you a happy and healthy 2024 for everyone

Cheers !!!
 
I didn't know where to post that, as there no Best New Music 2023 edition thread yet, so I'm posting this here. ;)

 
Still too early for me to say any favorites from 2023. But nothing really blew the roof off here.

The best one I heard was AVKRVST - The approbation. Great debut album, looking forward to hear more of them!
Sonata arctica - First in line (single): Damn great song, hope the new album will have more of this.

Metallica - 72 seasons: some great and some good. Just nothing special.

Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic revolution: a bit bland. Need to hear something different from him now. It’s been a while since he did superb music now.

Sigur Ròs - Àtta: the comeback sound like you commanding an AI to make Sigur ròs music with no drums and percussion and with strings. Some nice moments, but nothing like their other albums. Get Orri back!

Duff McKagan - Lighthouse: Again a little hit and miss. Give us more of the good stuff, and it will be alot better. Or save it to GNR

Guns’n Roses "new" songs: Perhaps was quite okay, just 22 years too late. The general is overhyped. Never heard it before it came out officially, some fans have called it the new Estranged. But it sounds more like an poor attempt by Axl to make a Korn song. It’s time these fuckers lock themself up a few weeks and write some FRESH tunes

Twilight Force - At the heart of wintervale: just had a brief listen. Not their best

Also heard a little bit of the new Steven Wilson album. Need some spins until I can say anything about it.

The Beatles "new" song was okay, I can understand it wasn’t released in 1995.

Still also have the Immortal album and Children of bodom live album laying around, but I have not been able to hear them yet.
 
Several of these have been mentioned by me and others in this thread already, but my favorite releases in 2023 were, in no particular order:

Baroness - Stone
Kvelertak - Endling
Enforced - War Remains
Blood Star - First Sighting
Shadows - Out For Blood
Haunt - Golden Arm
Blood Ceremony - The Old Ways Remain
Royal Thunder - Rebuilding the Mountain
Olivia Rodrigo - Guts (yep)

I have also enjoyed the handful of singles released by The Last Dinner Party, though their full debut album will not be released until next month (Feb 2024). Best reissue is definitely The Replacements - Tim (Let It Bleed edition), which is fantastic.
 
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2023 THUMBFEST

Two Thumbs Up
  • King Kizzard and the Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse

Thumb Up
  • Nita Strauss - Call of the Void
  • Detklok - Dethalbum IV
  • The National - Laugh Track
  • Riverside - Identity
  • Mammoth WVH - Mammoth II
  • Greta Van Fleet - Starcatcher

Thumb Down
  • The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds
  • Metallica - 72 Seasons
  • Therion - Leviathan III
  • The National - First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Two Thumbs Down
King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard - The Silver Cord
 
I finally finished my detailed reviews of all the 2023 hard rock and metal releases that caught my interest.

The results:


(#5 and #6 weren't actually tied, but they rounded off to the same decimal value.)

So much George Lynch stuff this year! I didn't even pick up Lynch Mob's Babylon because it didn't do much for me when I sampled it, but there are still 4 other Lynch albums on my 2023 list. Crazy.

I didn't buy quite as many albums this year as I did the past couple of years, and the overall quality of the albums I picked up was a bit lower than usual -- but Sacred Outcry's Towers Of Gold really knocked it out of the park for me, steadily climbing with each listen until it reached god-tier all-timer status. Just a stunning piece of work, and a must-listen for fans of epic traditional metal and power metal.

(Master review index >)
 
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I'm going to include a couple of amazing albums I listened this month that were released in 2023. Both Highly recommended

Haunt - Golden Arm 4,5/5
Sorcerer
- Reign of the Reaper 5/5

122-haunt2023.png 125-Sorcerer_Reign-of-the-Reaper2023.jpg
 
  1. Queens Of The Stone Age - In Times New Roman
  2. Quasarborn - Novo Oružje Protiv Bola
  3. Enslaved - Heimdal
  4. Primordial - How It Ends
  5. Scar Symmetry - The Singularity (Phase II - Xenotaph)
  6. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite
Everything else I heard in 2023 doesn't deserve to be on a list like this one.
 
Finally got around to putting together my list of best music from 2023, all of which (except for the obvious one) are completely new bands for me!

1. Night Demon - Outsider [traditional metal]
Such a fun record. I played the hell out of it. Also, it's short and sweet.

2. Nospūn - Opus [progressive metal]
The most complete debut album I've maybe ever heard. Pure classic prog metal with great production, performances, and...it's a concept record!

3. Fires In The Distance - Air Not Meant For Us [melodic death/prog/doom]
What a cool breath of fresh air. It's like doom metal, but not super slow. It's like death metal, but not super fast and blast-beaty. It's like prog, but not super wanky. Just pure, atmospheric, and heavy as hell.

4. Voyager - Fearless In Love [prog/rock]
Same as Night Demon, just pure fun. Amazing melodic prog rock with metal and pop tendencies.

5. Subsignal - Poetry of Rain [prog/rock]
Gorgeous melodies, melancholy but not depressing...pure beauty. A great find.

6. Matchbox Twenty - Where The Light Goes [pop/rock]
Fight me.

7. High Priest - Invocation [doom/trad]
Straight up doom, but with a killer sense of melody and dynamics. Really good songwriting. And apparently from Chicago!

8. TEMIC - Terror Management Theory [prog]
More classic-sounding prog with some electronic elements. Good times to be had by all who love jamming and sweep-picking!

9. Wayfarer - American Gothic [black/Western]
That's right. It's black metal. That sounds like it comes from the Sonoran Desert. It's high fuckin' noon for these dudes creating a genre mashup masterpiece in a desert basement.

10. Diviner - Avaton [trad/power]
Derivative, but awesome classic metal with good production, songwriting, and solid vocals.
 
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