Top Five Albums of the Year - 2023

In 2023 I had healthy amount of music to enjoy, which was such a great change from the last few years. Maybe it was due to Covid being so much less of a prohibitor, or maybe it was just coincidence that I found so much new material. Either way, I was thankful.  And it made it tougher to pick my Top Five! 

Level 42 - Forever Now - 1994

Oddly enough, the first album in heavy rotation this year was one I knew very well from 30 years ago. During the 80's and 90's, Level 42 was one of my top bands and I spent a lot of energy tracking down their rare cassettes, and later, CDs. While I have the hard media and Mp3s of this 1994 release, Forever Now had never been available on Spotify until recently. As a result, the only time I'd hear it was when I charged up the ol' iPod for a trek down memory lane. Interestingly, there were two versions of the album that were released, each with songs not on the other version. Unfortunately the Spotify version is my less favored of the two, but it was still fun to hear these old songs so readily. Forever Now was Level 42's final album before breaking up and reforming in 2006 to produce the very last Level 42 album Retroglide (which ended up being my all-time favorite). Bassist and lead singer Mark King can "slappa the bass big time" like no one else. Seeing him simultaneously sing and play such complicated, percussive basslines still impresses me. They were touring in Europe this year and I've been hoping it might accompany a new album and an US tour. So far, no such luck. 

Big Wreck - Pages.1 / 7.3 - 2023

Ian Thornley's Big Wreck had been releasing EPs numerically titled in 2022, and kicked off 2023 with 7.3. I thought it was the strongest material since the Ghosts album from 2014. Later in the year I was surprised and psyched to learn Big Wreck was going to play a Portland show. To my knowledge they had never played here before. Just a couple weeks before the show another EP dropped. I had no idea this was coming and starting soaking up the Pages songs in anticipation of the show. The sound snd style of this album immediately made me think of Ghosts. Two of the tracks were played at the Portland show at Hawthorne Theater and they sounded great despite bad venue acoustics. Ends up Rick Raskulinecz and Eric Ratz were back engineering and producing, as they did for the 2014 album. Pages.1 is part of the trickle-released 18-song LP. I'm excited to hear the next 12 tracks! 

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Counsil Skies - 2023

My brother Jeff turned me on to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds several years back and I had been awaiting a new album for some time. Not being an Oasis fan, at the time I didn't realize Noel was one of the brothers who made up the Britpop band that took the UK by storm in the 90's. When their initial popularity skyrocketed, Noel and brother Liam became known for a having a wild and unpredictable rock n' roll demeanor and lifestyle. The brothers themselves fought openly and Noel left the band on their biggest concert tour only to come back, all the while demanding he get his way. Reading through his bio, Liam comes across as a pompous asshole with no filter. Even knowing that, his music supersedes his personality, especially on the 2023 album Counsil Skies. Melodic rock songs are plentiful on this long and polished album, and demonstrate why Liam was (and is) so well regarded as a musician. Orchestral strings and female backing vocals add to the epic sound on songs like Easy Now and others. Ultimately my favorite track was the 'Reflex Revision' remix of Counsil Skies. 

The Dear Hunter - Migrant Returned - 2023

In 2013 The Dear Hunter released their first "non-themed" album called Migrant. In addition to hardcore fans being less receptive, their record label had insisted that some songs be left off the album. Over time album's popularity grew and now, 10 years later, Casey Crescenzo and band have released a remixed and restructured version that includes the missing songs. The original Migrant contained a few of my favorite TDH songs, and they sound even better on Migrant Returned. Whether it's due to audio technology improving, or Casey being a seasoned producer, or both, this album has a quality that sets it apart from the original. The missing songs are very good and show why they should have been included in the first place on this long album of 18 tracks. The Dear Hunter toured in 2023 to support the album, with the bulk of the concert consisting of these songs. I was stoked to hear so many of my favorites at what was the best show I'd seen them perform yet. 

Finally George - Life Is A Killer - 2018

It was a tough decision but ultimately I chose Life Is A Killer by Finally George as my final Top Five album of 2023. Spotify recommended the song Way Home and I was immediately hooked. Finally George is the work of George Hahn. Online I found very little about him, other than that he's a studio 'artist' in Hamburg, Germany. Sounds like Hahn is a composer/producer who gathered other studio artists to perform on the album, as well as Styx drummer Todd Sucherman. I'm not even sure what Hahn performs on the album, although I gather that he's the vocalist. The album is a polished and cohesive collection of prog-rock songs that have requisite soaring guitar solos, layered harmonies, and dramatic string sections. Lucky for me there was also a second Finally George album to sink into, Icy Skies, released in 2021. Will there be a followup in 2024? I hope so. 

 

Honorable mention this year goes to the unabashedly ridiculous and fun Canadian band TWRP. Going strictly by their costumed and disguised band personas, TWRP plays funky, 80's tinged jams and is fronted by Doctor Sung, who uses a talk box for his vocals. Bassist Commander Meouch and guitarist Lord Phobos play virtuoso riffs and drummer Havve Hogan keeps time, with each musician likely being limited in how much they can see through their masks. The band's silliness and positivity shines through on many of their songs, and their live shows look like a blast. I'm excited to take my family and friends to see them when they come to Portland in April. I didn't include them in my Top Five because while I like many of their songs, there's no one album that I really like all the way through. And that's what Spotify playlists are for. My TWRP '12 Pack' was in heavy rotation in 2023.