2023 Top 40 Albums: #11-20
Only half of the list remains!
20: Tulip - The Perpetual Dream
(Symphonic Metal)
Symphonic Metal has always been one of the Metal genres I’m most drawn to. Metal is always about intensity and complexity, but where Prog leans into technical complexity, Symphonic is typically more concerned with harmonic complexity, with dense instrumentation, and sometimes full choirs, backing the melody. And in only their second full-length outing, Tulip has not only nailed their sound — but they could be the future of the genre.
Tulip is very nearly still straightforward Symphonic Metal, but there are also touches of Prog here and there, extensive usage of synths and other electronic elements, and poppy hooks guaranteed to anchor songs firmly in your mind and keep you coming back for more. And the album leans heavily on the band’s backstory (see the full initial review for more), carrying throughlines of religious trauma and the hope of new beginnings. There are moments on the album, such as the chorus on “The Hanged Man” (below), which shouldn’t work (lyrically, at least), but do. Purely because of how much attention the band has given to the overall compositions.
That’s why The Perpetual Dream, despite being initially rated Teal, has broken into the Top 20 for 2023 — of all the 39 albums which were initially placed in that Teal bucket, this is the one that came out on top. I highly recommend giving them a go.
19: Blue October - Spinning the Truth Around (Part II)
(Alternative Rock)
Spinning the Truth Around (Part II) is the continuation of a triple-album which Blue October started releasing in 2022. After Part I, I was certain that it was going to flop as spectacularly as the similarly-ambitious ATUM triple-album from The Smashing Pumpkins was. But Part II turned a corner, and was, shockingly, downright excellent, bringing the best Blue October effort since 2018’s I Hope You’re Happy. By all accounts, this is the dark middle chapter of the trilogy; frontman and lyricist Justin Furstenfeld tells, here, how his history of drug abuse, despite it being long behind him, ultimately served as fuel for the fire lit by the Covid pandemic and caused his entire world to turn upside-down.
The album languishes in the dark beauty of slow destruction; fighting to hold something together, ultimately failing, but consoling yourself with the fact that you fought. And then picking up the pieces and holding on to what little you still have — in Furstenfeld’s case: his kids.
If you’ve ever listened to any Blue October, you know what to expect here: pure poetry. And all of the feels. There aren’t many tracks which exude much positivity here; the album is largely a descent. But there’s hope and faith and love intermingled with the pain and anxiety. This is the voice of a man who is dealing with his grief and loss in a healthy way. And, in true Blue October fashion, they still manage to construct tracks you can bop to while singing about the worst kinds of feelings, as in “Down Here Waiting” (below).
This album is a great reminder of why I love Blue October so much. I am nervous, but optimistic, for Part III, which should be releasing sometime in 2024.
18: Lacey Sturm - Kenotic Metanoia
(Hard Rock | Alternative Metal | Christian Rock)
Lacey Sturm is serious about her faith, but also damned serious about her music. Her first solo album, Life Screams, was impressive, and allowed her to express herself in ways that her time with Flyleaf just didn’t. And after years of work, Sturm has given us her sophomore solo effort, Kenotic Metanoia, and it is incredibly good.
How good?
Well, I tend to steer clear of anything that deals too heavily with religion or faith. But I couldn’t stay away from this one, and it made my Top 20.
I’m biased against this album, and it made my Top 20.
Why? Because Sturm is incredibly talented; she is genuine and earnest in how she expresses her faith through her music; she incorporates religious discussion through clever and layered references which would make any 17th Century author proud; and she isn’t afraid to really go at the mic. She attacks when necessary, screaming in rage or anguish more than once. Her cover of “A Man Needs a Maid” ought to be a feminist anthem. There are moments of incredible beauty, as well. There’s a lot to love on this album.
17: NF - Hope
(Hip-Hop | Pop-Hop)1
NF’s Hope falls in the vein of Hip-Hop that has strong and competent melodicism present to strengthen the raps. It reminds me a lot of 2022’s Kendrick Lamar album, in that respect, though NF’s instrumentation is decidedly more Poppy, especially on tracks like “Happy” (below) and his duet with Julia Michaels, “Gone”. But these songs are, by-and-large, fun and enjoyable on multiple levels. The rhymes and delivery are competent enough to stand on their own, but there are these extra layers of music to further lift them and help them stand out.
I’m still new to NF, but he seems to care about the genre, and also seems keen on attempting to build his career his way. As a result, there are only two features on the whole album, whereas Killer Mike’s Michael has something like 20. I’m not deep into the workings of the genre, but I’m aware that having lots of featured artists is more standard than having few or none.
Still, I really enjoyed this album. I’m looking forward to hearing more from NF going forward.
16: Elysion - Bring Out Your Dead
(Gothic Metal)
As much as I loved the efforts from both Sirenia and Blackbriar this year, Elysion provides the best raw Gothic Metal. There isn’t even much else here — it’s just Gothic, and it’s excellent. There are tracks like opener “Blink of an Eye” where the band just goes hard and others where the melody is more in-focus like “Buried Alive”. Everything on this album is solid, though.
Again, picking a single track is hard, but I think I need you to hear the blend of beauty and technicality offered by “Raid the Universe” (below). The proggy, space-rock-infused rhythm guitar line reminds me strongly of The Faunts’ “M4 (Part II)”, and I love it. It also has a gorgeous lyric video.
15: Ninet Tayeb - קמתי לרקוד (I Got Up to Dance)
(Alternative Rock)
Ninet Tayeb is an incredible talent, moving fluidly between various genres and styles as needed, pulling in Arabic influences, releasing albums in both Hebrew and English over the course of her career. She does it all, and she does it better than ever on I Got Up to Dance. The album is an eclectic mix of sounds and styles, but it all sounds phenomenal in Tayeb’s sultry, gravelly alto.
There’s still a lot that I cannot delve into here due to the language barrier, though I did find a review in English which was written by a reviewer who understands Hebrew and has a better grasp on the course of Tayeb’s career. The reviewer’s opinion largely matched my own take on the album, so that was nice.
Even without understanding Hebrew, this album has a lot to offer. It has depth, it’s a fun listen, and I mean, listen to that voice. I would love another album from her in English, but there’s still plenty to enjoy without that.
14: Angra - Cycles of Pain
(Power Metal | Progressive Metal)
The strongest Power Metal album this year, by far, is Angra’s Cycles of Pain. After over 30 years, the Brazillians are masters of the genre. While I think they last year’s effort from Blind Guardian likely still outshines this album, it is by the thinnest of margins, which can only serve to compliment the effort put forth by Angra on this record. It’s heavy, but melodic in composition; both rich and technical in execution. The Power core is amplified and decorated with elements of Prog infused in key sections throughout the album.
And I guarantee that these songs have to absolutely tear the walls down in a live setting.
There’s also a decent throughline, with the focal point of Cycles of Pain being the cyclical struggle of life and living, and the title track specifically focusing on the struggles of doing so while dealing with clinical depression. So if you need to headbang to music which proclaims loudly how much life sucks, this is an album you want to go back and check out.
13: Floor Jansen - Paragon
(Pop | Pop Rock)
Technically, this is a debut album, as this is Floor Jansen’s first solo effort, but I don’t really count it as such because Jansen has been at the mic for over twenty years now, with her first album with After Forever dropping in 2000. And now she’s been the lead vocalist of Nightwish for almost a decade.
Still, to be fair, those are Symphonic Metal bands, and Paragon falls largely in Pop territory, which is entirely new terrain for her career. But her songwriting chops are on full display, as Paragon features some of the best and most inventive pop of the year. Floor’s background in Metal gives her a different approach to composition, so while there is nothing overtly Metal about the songs on Paragon, the metal mentality often breaks through and adds more layers to the songs than they might otherwise have, as with “Come Full Circle”, for example. But it is the title track and opener, “My Paragon”, that I’ve linked below – it’s a crucial song as it sets up what the album is, serving as the anchor point for the throughline. “My Paragon” is a song about self-esteem and -respect and -love, stating pretty plainly that you should always strive to be your best possible self. And every track that follows, for the rest of the album, provides some principle or exemplar to drive the point home.
Don’t look to others – look to yourself. Have faith, allow yourself to hope and dream and care about others.
And in the process of delivering this message, Jansen has crafted some absolute bangers. I adore this album, and you will too.
12: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Weathervanes
(Alternative Country)
Weathervanes was a guaranteed lock on this list on my first listen. Not even an active listen. Just listening to the album casually while working, I had to entirely stop what I was doing and lay down my head and fight with the deep well of raw emotion that “Save the World” conjured up – and then I had to repeat that song three more times and share it with all of my group chats. I try – very hard – to ensure that no single song influences my album reviews too much because a single song does not make an entire album worth listening to. But with “Save the World” present, the rest of Weathervanes really just had to be competent to make the list.
And here it is, in the Top 15, because not only is the rest of the album competent, it’s downright phenomenal. Jason Isbell reminds me a lot of Taylor Swift – he has a passable voice and he’s a good vocalist, but he’s an even better writer. And with The 400 Unit’s incredible instrumentation and composition behind him, Weathervanes is an instantly-iconic Country album. The intricate instrumentation is evident from the start here, on “Death Wish”, and every song has these brilliant little touches that you really have to listen close to catch. And “Save the World” (below) is one of the best songs of the year. Period. If you’re a parent and you haven’t heard it, consider this your trigger warning.
11: Olivia Rodrigo - Guts
(Pop | Pop Rock)
Guts is the best Pop album of the year for a multitude of reasons. It features some absolutely incredible songs with powerful lyricism and catchy melodies. Rodrigo is emotionally raw and honest, singing about being frustrated with herself and her mistakes as much as she covers shortcomings in others. As good as the offerings from Fry and Abrams and Jansen were, Rodrigo blew them away here (and I honestly thought this album would end up in the top ten, but it just missed out).
Following her debut album, Rodrigo learned some very messy lessons and, as she makes clear here, came away from the ordeal a bit jaded. Feeling backstabbed by your idol – Taylor Swift – will do that to you. So it’s a bit ironic that Guts is the closest any artist has gotten to capturing the essence of what makes Taylor so successful. It isn’t purely in the sound or lyricism. Guts leans into Rock and Punk stylings repeatedly, sounds that Taylor doesn’t touch, pretty much ever. And the lyricism is strong, but nobody’s poetic voice matches anybody else’s perfectly.
It’s the tone and the emotional honesty. And that emotional honesty is the reason for the album’s title: Guts.
And the album has serious range, as well. There are highs and lows and everything in-between. This is good pop. “Vampire” (below) is one of the best pop tracks of the year – I love the way it builds.
Come back tomorrow for the Top Ten! The Album of the Year will get its own post, which will go live five minutes after the post for #2-10.
The links below will work once each article has gone live.
AOTY | #2-10 | #11-20 | #21-30 | #31-40 | Honorable Mentions
Yes, I am aware that “Pop-Hop” is a term that nobody else uses, and I don’t care. “Pop Rap” is wrong and awful, and you can’t convince me otherwise.