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The Best Albums of 2023 (So Far)

Posted by Jason Tate
Best of 2023

We have reached the halfway mark of 2023. Time keeps on moving, doesn’t it? How about spending some time on this Fourth of July holiday recapping the year in music? Below, you will find both our combined staff top 30, as well as individual lists from our contributors and moderators. Hopefully, you will find something new to love.

Note: You can share your own list in our music forum.

The Top Albums of 2023 (So Far)

  1. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
  2. Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance (Revisited)
  3. Fall Out Boy – So Much (For) Stardust
  4. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein
  5. Paramore – This Is Why
  6. Origami Angel – The Brightest Days
  7. 100 Gecs – 10,000 Gecs
  8. Boygenius – The Record
  9. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes
  10. Andrew McMahon – Tilt at the Wind No More
  11. Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children
  12. Ruston Kelly – The Weakness
  13. Story of the Year – Tear Me To Pieces
  14. Kelsea Ballerini – Rolling up the Welcome Mat
  15. Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision
  16. City & Colour – The Love Still Held Me Near
  17. Hot Mulligan – Why Would I Watch
  18. Metallica – 72 Seasons
  19. Sigur Ros – ATTA
  20. Dave Hause – Drive it Like It’s Stolen
  21. FRND CRCL – Suburban Dictionary
  22. Arrows In Action – Built To Last
  23. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
  24. The Used – Toxic Positivity
  25. Nothing, Nowhere – Void Eternal
  26. Pierce the Veil – The Jaws of Life
  27. Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman
  28. White Reaper – Asking For A Ride
  29. The Aces – I’ve Loved You For So Long
  30. The Bouncing Souls – Ten Stories High

The Playlist

Looking for an easy way to check out all of the albums in our top thirty? We’ve got a playlist for that. You’ll find one on Apple Music and one on Spotify with one great song from each great album.

The Nerd Stat Stuff

Our final compiled list was put together using our ranking algorithm. There were 6 contributors and 95 unique albums across all of the lists. In total, 34 albums out of the 95 were on more than one list with the number one album appearing on 6 of the 6 lists.

Contributor Lists

Jason Tate

  1. Fall Out Boy – So Much (for) Stardust
  2. Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance (Revisited)
  3. City and Colour – The Love Still Held Me Near
  4. Dave Hause – Drive it Like It’s Stolen
  5. Origami Angel – The Brightest Days
  6. The Japanese House – In the End it Always Does
  7. Hot Mulligan – Why Would I Watch
  8. Ruston Kelly – The Weakness
  9. Andrew McMahon – Tilt at the Wind No More
  10. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
  11. Heavenward – Pyrophonics
  12. Arrows in Action – Built to Last
  13. FRND CRCL – Suburban Dictionary
  14. Blink-182 – Live from Coachella (April 14th, 2023)
  15. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes
  16. Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children
  17. Paramore – This is Why
  18. Cub Sport – Jesus at a Gay Bar
  19. White Reaper – Asking for a Ride
  20. Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision
  21. Death Cab for Cutie – Asphalt Meadows (Acoustic)
  22. Raye – My 21st Century Blues
  23. Metallica – 72 Seasons
  24. Ava Max – Diamonds & Dancefloors
  25. Boygenius – The Record
  26. Lies – Lies
  27. Story of the Year – Tear Me to Pieces
  28. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein
  29. Babymetal – The Other One
  30. Meet Me @ the Altar – Past // Present // Future

I had a little fun with my mid-year list this year because there were some albums that have dominated my listening over the first half of the year that don’t fit into the tradional new release mold. There’s a re-recording of a classic, a bootleg, and an acoustic album of one of my favorite relases of last year. But, this is a snapshot of the music I’ve spent the most time with this year and have enjoyed the most.

The Stats: For the first half of the year, I’ve listened to 1,402 albums, 692 artists, and 10,064 songs (16,329 scrobbles). My most played album of the year so far is Fall Out Boy’s So Much (For) Startdust. My most played artist so far this year is MxPx. If you’d like to follow my weekly listening habits, please subscribe to my newsletter.

Aaron Mook

  1. Youth Lagoon – Heaven is.a Junkyard
  2. 100 gecs – 10,000 gecs
  3. waveform* – Antarctica
  4. Daighter – Stereo Mind Game
  5. Sigur Ros – ATTA
  6. Mac DeMarco – Five Easy Hot Dogs
  7. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
  8. M83 – Fantasy
  9. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
  10. PACKS – Crispy Crunchy Nothing
  11. King Krule – Space Heavy
  12. boygenius – the record
  13. The Dirty Nil – Free Rein to Passions
  14. Superviolet – Infinite Spring
  15. Fall Out Boy – So Much (for) Stardust
  16. Beach Fossils – Bunny
  17. Paramore – This is Why
  18. Black Country, New Roads – Live at Bush Hall
  19. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown – Scaring The Hoes
  20. Caroline Rose – The Art of Forgetting
  21. Conway the Machine – WON’T HE DO IT
  22. Larry June & The Alchemist – The Great Escape
  23. Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here.
  24. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein

Craig Manning

  1. Kelsea Ballerini – Rolling up the Welcome Mat
  2. Matchbox Twenty – Where the Light Goes
  3. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes
  4. FRND CRCL – Suburban Dictionary
  5. Ruston Kelly – The Weakness
  6. Gracie Abrams – Good Riddance
  7. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Tilt at the Wind No More
  8. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
  9. Maisie Peters – The Good Witch
  10. Meghan Moroney – Lucky
  11. Caitlyn Smith – High & Low
  12. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein
  13. Brandy Clark – Brandy Clark
  14. Origami Angel – The Brightest Days
  15. The Aces – I’ve Loved You for So Long
  16. Joan – Superglue
  17. The Jonas Brothers – The Album
  18. Dean Johnson – Nothing for Me, Please
  19. Margo Price – Strays
  20. Paramore – This Is Why

Garrett Lemons

  1. Kelsea Ballerini – Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (EP)
  2. Kelly Clarkson – Chemistry
  3. Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision (EP)
  4. 100 Gecs – 10,000 Gecs
  5. Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance (Revisited)
  6. Skrillex – Don’t Get Too Close
  7. The War and Treaty – Lover’s Game
  8. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein
  9. Militarie Gun – Life Under The Gun
  10. Sigur Ros – ATTA
  11. nothing,nowhere. – VOID ETERNAL
  12. Fall Out Boy – So Much (For) Stardust
  13. Skrillex – Quest for Fire
  14. NF – Hope
  15. Ellie Goulding – Higher Than Heaven
  16. Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
  17. City & Colour – The Love Still Held Me Near
  18. Ruston Kelly – The Weakness
  19. Origami Angel – The Brightest Days
  20. Hot Mulligan – Why Would I Watch
  21. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes
  22. Former Ruins – No Creature Is Hidden
  23. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Tilt at the Wind No More
  24. August Burns Red – Death Below
  25. The Used – Toxic Positivity
  26. Story of the Year – Tear Me To Pieces
  27. Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children
  28. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
  29. Janelle Monae – The Age of Pleasure
  30. Matchbox 20 – Where The Light Goes

Adam Grundy

  1. Fall Out Boy – So Much (For) Stardust
  2. Gorillaz – Cracker Island
  3. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
  4. Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance (Revisited)
  5. Sarah and the Safe Word – The Book Of Broken Glass
  6. Boygenius – The Record
  7. Chase Tremaine – Accidental Days
  8. Story of the Year – Tear Me To Pieces
  9. Arrows In Action – Built To Last
  10. PONY – Velveteen
  11. Anti-Flag – The Lies They Tell Our Children
  12. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Tilt at the Wind No More
  13. Paramore – This Is Why
  14. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein
  15. Pierce the Veil – The Jaws of Life
  16. New Found Glory – Make the Most of It
  17. White Reaper – Asking For A Ride
  18. Metallica – 72 Seasons
  19. Adam Lambert – High Drama
  20. Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman
  21. The Aces – I’ve Loved You For So Long
  22. Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation
  23. The Bouncing Souls – Ten Stories High
  24. Tyler Posey – UNRAVEL
  25. The Used – Toxic Positivity
  26. Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But A Dream
  27. Little Hurt – Lovely Hours
  28. Harsh Lights – Watch the World Divide
  29. Christine and the Queens – Paranoia, Angels, True Love
  30. Another One Down – A Bitter Descent

Brett Bonner

  1. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
  2. Boygenius – The Record
  3. Origami Angel – The Brightest Days
  4. Fall Out Boy – So Much (for) Stardust
  5. Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children
  6. Thrice – The Artist and the Ambulance (Revisited)
  7. 100 Gecs – 10,000 gecs
  8. Screaming Females – Desire Pathway
  9. Wednesday – Rat Saw God
  10. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Weathervanes
  11. Dave Hause – Drive Like You Stole It
  12. Paramore – This is Why
  13. The Bouncing Souls – Ten Stories High
  14. Metallica – 72 Seasons
  15. Queens of the Stone Age – In Times New Roman…
  16. Killer Mike – Michael
  17. Manchester Orchestra – The Valley of Vision
  18. Hot Mulligan – Why Would I Watch
  19. Avenged Sevenfold – Life is But A Dream
  20. Nothing, Nowhere – Void Eternal
  21. Palette Knife – New Game+
  22. City & Colour – The Love Still Held Me Near
  23. The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein
  24. Story of the Year – Tear Me to Pieces
  25. Sleep Token – Take Me Back to Eden
  26. August Burns Red – Death Below
  27. Invent Animate – Heavener
  28. Meet Me @ the Altar – Past // Present // Future
  29. The Used – Toxic Positivity
  30. Pierce the Veil – The Jaws of Life
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