My lists and stats for 2023. Accompanying essay coming tomorrow. Enjoy!
The 25 Best Studio Albums I Listened to this Year:
I broke some rules about what was considered a studio album, with the number one album a repackaging of the Holy Modal Rounders' first two albums. I also decided to include two albums, L.A.M.F. and Blank Generation, that I listened to in December 2022 and which did not make last year's list. As always, I divided 100 points between the top 10 albums to better highlight my opinion of each. While the top two albums would almost surely make my top ten any year, five through ten normally wouldn’t.
1. The Holy Modal Rounders: 1 & 2 (1999) 20
2. The Vibrators: Pure Mania (1977) 15
3. The Heartbreakers: L.A.M.F. (1977) 11
4. Richad Hell and the Voidoids: Blank Generation (1978) 9
5. The Lovin' Spoonful: Do You Believe in Magic (1965) 9
6. Dave Van Ronk: Folksinger (1962) 8
7. X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents (1978) 8
8. Siouxsie & the Banshees: Tinderbox (1986) 8
9. Paul Revere & the Raiders: Revolution! (1967) 6
10. Public Image Ltd: Public Image: First Issue (1978) 6
11. Michael Hurley/The Unholy Modal Rounders/Jeffrey Frederick & the Clamtones: Have Moicy! (1976)
12. Buzzcocks: Love Bites (1978)
13. Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Scream (1978)
14. The Jam: In the City (1977)
15. The Sonics: Here are the Sonics (1965)
16. Jackson Browne: For Everyman (1973)
17. Siouxsie & the Banshees: Juju (1981)
18. Buzzcocks: Another Music in a Different Kitchen (1978)
19. Moby Grape: Moby Grape (1967)
20. The Jam: All the Mod Cons (1978)
21. Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow (1967)
22. Brian Eno: Before and After Science (1977)
23. The Youngbloods: The Youngbloods (1967)
24. The Shadows of Knight: Back Door Men (1966)
25. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1972)
Honorable Mentions:
Although the studio album list is shorter than usual, there are several solid honorable mentions. These were great discoveries, but were admittedly too uneven to make the above list.
Paul Revere & the Raiders's Just Like Us! (1966) and Midnight Ride (1966)
The Remains's The Remains (1966)
The Kinks's Muswell Hillbillies (1971)
The Fugs's The Fugs First Album (1965)
Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels's Take a Ride (1966) and Breakout...!!! (1966)
The Monks's Black Monk Time (1966)
Canned Heat's Canned Heat (1967)
Johnny Winter's The Progressive Blues Experiment (1969)
Harry Nilsson's Harry (1969)
The Damned's Damned Damned Damned (1977)
Overrated Albums:
Unfortunately, this section isn't as juicy as usual.
Cat Stevens's Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971)
David Axelrod's Song of Innocence (1968)
Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978)
Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)
Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band's Trout Mask Replica (1967)
Frank Zappa's Hot Rats (1969)
The 15 Best Compilations I Listened to this Year:
Although the Buzzcocks’ compilation Singles Going Steady is A, it was ultimately excluded from this list because two Buzzcock albums were included on the studio list. Like the studio list, I also bent some rules here. Dust Bowl Ballads, Blues & Ballads, and The Merle Travis Guitar are all studio albums, but I wanted to include them here where they have company that makes more sense (I also wanted to hit fifteen albums).
1. Woody Guthrie: Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recording, Vol. 2 (1997)
2. Woody Guthrie: Dust Bowl Ballads (1940)
3. Lonnie Johnson: Blues & Ballads (1960)
4. The Ventures: Walk Don't Run: The Best of the Ventures (1990)
5. Lucille Bogan: Shave 'Em Dry: The Best of Lucille Bogan (2004)
6. Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas: Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas (2022)
7. Furry Lewis: Furry Lewis 1927-1929 (1990)
9. Lucille Bogan and Walter Roland: Lucille Bogan & Walter Roland (1927-1935) (1999)
10. The Stanley Brothers: The Complete Columbia Stanley Brothers (1996)
11. Merle Travis: The Merle Travis Guitar (1956)
12. Leroy Carr: How Long How Long Blues (2008)
13. Various Artists: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 (1972)
14. Bessie Smith: The Collection (1998)
15. The Shadows: Shadows Are Go! (1996)
Statistics for 2023:
Total Albums: 245 (my highest number since 2020)
The grades I gave:
A+: 1 (0.41%)A: 7 (2.86%)
A-: 31 (12.65%)
B+: 42 (17.14%)
B: 49 (20.00%)
B-: 45 (18.37%)
C+: 47 (19.18%)
C: 18 (7.35%)
C-: 3 (1.22%)
D+: 2 (0.82%)
The decades the albums came from:
1940s: 1 (0.41%)
1950s: 2 (0.82%)
1960s: 117 (47.76%)
1970s: 62 (25.31%)
1980s: 17 (6.94%)
1990s: 21 (8.57%)
2000s: 11 (4.49%)
2010s: 4 (1.63%)
2020s: 10 (4.08%)
Albums Types:
Compilations: 38 (15.51%)
Live: 4 (1.63%)
Studio: 203 (82.86)
Artists/Albums I'm Most Anticipating in 2024:
Phil Ochs, New Lost City Ramblers, John Fahey, the Hollies, Joe Cocker, Anthology of American Folk Music, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, B.B. King
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