Briefly Reviewing Every 2023 Album I Listened To

 

Briefly Reviewing Every 2023 Album I Listened To

In the following article, I briefly revisit all the albums released this year that I listened to and give a few thoughts on them

This is an experiment I’m doing, if it succeeds, well, there’ll be fewer album reviews in favor of these. This is basically what the title implies, I’m gonna briefly cover every album released in 2023 that I listened to, some albums I’ll have more to say than others. So to be covered here...the albums had to be released in 2023 and I had to have listened to them. I did discog dives of Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, Ava Max, and Halsey this year, but none of them (except Ava Max) released an album this year, so they won’t be covered here, and no, none of the 12345678987654323456789876545678765456787654345678765456787654567876544567876543456765456765 editions of Taylor Swift’s Midnights will be covered here, Midnights is still a 2022 album to me. With that, let’s start in alphabetical order with...

1. AJR - The Maybe Man - 7/10

Genres: Alt-Pop, Indie Pop, Baroque Pop

I’ve outgrown my “hating AJR on principle” phase, hell, even during that phase, I did genuinely like some of their songs, and I listened to all their albums to see if I was missing something. And...this is easily AJR’s best album. It’s not great, because of a few weak tracks, but yeah, this is actually pretty good. Some of the songs here hit really hard knowing that their dad actually passed away earlier this year, I don’t wish such a misfortune on anyone. Arguably the most heartbreaking song in this context is “God Is Really Real”, I mean, lines like “My dad can't get out of bed/There's something in his lungs/I think that's what the doctor said”, “I gotta leave for Paris now/My band goes on at ten/And my dad can't get out of bed” and “I'll distract the doctors

We could sneak out with your meds/You could come along/And be a roadie for the band/Come on, dad, get out of bed” are just heartbreaking, you can practically feel Jack Met’s sadness here. To be real, that song reminded me of how I felt about my grandma in her final moments earlier this year, probably AJR’s best song to date. It’s one instance where AJR’s tendencies for childish lyrics actually works effectively and feels really sincere instead of phony, even if some of the lyrics can tend to be a bit too preachy admittedly (“God is really real when you really really need him/karma just appears when you suddenly believe it”). I hope you’re doing better now AJR and you’ve been able to heal from this loss. And I wish it didn’t take such a tragic event for you to make your best song to date...

Best track: God Is Really Real

HM: Inertia

DM: Steve’s Going To London

Worst track: I Won’t

2. Ava Max - Diamonds & Dancefloors - 8/10

Genres: Dance-Pop, Electropop, Synthpop, Synthwave, Nu-Disco, Euro House, Synthpop

Ava Max has grown to be one of my favorite artists in the mainstream right now (save for a few awful songs like “Not Your Barbie Girl” or “So Am I”), and I think this was the album that helped me realize that. Ava is an artist I’ve always thought had a very underrated range and this album showcases her theatricality on her vocals, especially on songs like “Weapons”. Other than that, this album really effectively showcases Ava’s sound - worship of early 2010s electropop (an era of pop music I adore), so yeah, give this a chance, it’s a great album.

Best track: Dancing’s Done

HM: Weapons

DM: Cold As Ice (ig?)

“Worst” track: Last Night On Earth (this is still great ftr)

3. Bad Bunny - Nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana - 6/10

Genres: Trap latino, Pop Rap

I listened to Un Verano Sin Ti and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. And with this album...It shows me that Bad Bunny is far more versatile than I thought in 2018 when I heard “Te Bote” - still one of the worst songs of all time - but this album still has some weak points that keep me from enjoying it as much as I want to. This is a decent album though, I mean, one of the tracks here made my best list this year after all! If you’re a fan, you’ll very likely enjoy this.

Best track: WHERE SHE GOES

HM: Cyberstruck

DM: No me quiero casar

Worst track: Un Preview

4. Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loveliest Time - 6/10

Genres: Dance-Pop, Nu-Disco, Alt-Pop, Contemporary R&B, Funk, Boogie

Okay, let me admit something: back in 2020 I was kinda a huge fan of Carly Rae Jepsen. She has shrunk on me a bit as of late, but she has some legitimately fantastic songs, like “Good Time” (yes, I’m serious) and “Run Away With Me”, so I came into this album with a bit of nixed expectations...and I don’t know why, but I was simultaneously underwhelmed and pleasantly surprised. This album doesn’t hit the same highs as Emotion or even Kiss. But there are some very strong moments here nonetheless.

Best track: Psychedelic Switch

HM: After Last Night

DM: Put It To Rest

Worst track: Weekend Love

5. Doja Cat - Scarlet - 6/10

Genres: West Coast Hip Hop, Pop Rap, Contemporary R&B, Trap, Neo-Soul, Jazz Rap, Hardcore Hip Hop

Confession: I have still not listened to Planet Her, blame me being lazy for that, but this was my first time listening to a Doja Cat album, and given how much I like “Paint The Town Red”, I had some expectations for this...and gotta say, I’m pretty underwhelmed. The album’s strongest moments were mainly the singles, and its weakest moments, they kinda reminded me of “Need To Know”, a song I never really liked and yet everyone seems to swoon over. But uh...final thoughts? It’s decent, maybe you’ll enjoy this, maybe you won’t. It’s certainly an album not for everyone.

Best track: Agora Hills

HM: Paint The Town Red

DM: Attention

Worst track: 97

6. Drake - For All The Dogs - 6/10

Genres: Trap, Pop Rap, Trap Soul, Contemporary R&B, Chipmunk Soul

I had kinda low expectations for this because, well, it’s modern-day Drake, and while I only found Her Loss mid as opposed to the amount of hate that album got comparatively, this album still had me skeptical, because the lead-off single, “Slime You Out”, already underwhelmed me (I saw someone in a Discord server I’m in say it reminded them of Take Care era Drake, and if you squint, maybe you can see it? The song is still good, but I don’t quite think it’s great). So, what did Drake give the dogs? Well, this is an album that feels like it uses its best moves early on and then it progressively gets more underwhelming. It’s still a decent album, and far from his worst one, given Certified Lover Boy is unfortunately a thing, but I don’t know, maybe if you’re a diehard, you’ll like this more than I did?

Best track: Virginia Beach

HM: Daylight

DM: IDGAF

Worst track: Gently

7. Ellie Goulding - Higher Than Heaven - 8/10

Genres: Dance-Pop, Electropop, Synthpop, Synthwave, Nu-Disco

Following off of Carly, another artist I was a way bigger fan of at one point in time! Now, a bit of backstory: I dubbed myself an Ellie Goulding stan when I was 12 or 13, and I considered myself one for many years, I still consider “Burn” one of my top 5 favorite songs ever! I don’t like her quite as much now, less because of a dropoff in quality and more just me growing out of that phase. I still tend to really like her music, though, she has a natural ability to have her understated vocals fit seamlessly into powerful production without it overpowering her, it’s an incredible contrast I still love. So in the end…Higher Than Heaven is Ellie pivoting into a nu-disco direction, and it doesn’t really make use of Goulding’s biggest strength for me, but she still works so well here. So...it’s not her best work, but it’s still great, give it a shot.

Best track: Midnight Dreams

HM: Love Goes On

DM: Waiting For It (not really tbh)

Worst track: Better Man (not really, tbh)[2]

8. Gunna - A Gift & A Curse - 7/10

Genres: Trap, Southern Hip Hop, Pop Rap

If there was an album that was the biggest pleasant surprise for me this year, it was this. I wasn’t too familiar with Gunna outside of scattered hit songs like “Hot” and “Pushin P” or “fukumean”, none of which I like all that much, but A Gift & A Curse is an album I think showcases Gunna’s talents as a rapper and I found myself enjoying it way more than I expected. So, give it a shot, you might like what you hear.

Best track: Back To The Moon

HM: back at it

DM: I Was Just Thinking

Worst track: P Angels

9. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - Weathervanes - 7/10

Genres: Alt-Country, Americana, Southern Rock, Heartland Rock, Singer-Songwriter

I honestly didn’t know how to feel about this album, I really listened to it because I saw YouTube critic Spectrum Pulse gave it a 10/10, which really piqued my interest. The first time I listened to an album Mark gave a 10/10 was Brave Faces Everyone by Spanish Love Songs, which was a great album, so I kinda had expectations for this and...I don’t know what I expected but this album is definitely one very far from my taste. That’s not to say this album is bad, it’s not, it’s pretty good actually. The songwriting is definitely the focus here, as with a lot of the Americana I’ve heard, but Zach Bryan also seems to recognize that the sound needs to be similarly great to make the songs work. I don’t know, the compositions here just tend to blend together for the most part here for me, great lyrics can only take you so far. Thus it’s not all that surprising to me that my favorite song on the album isn’t really due to the songwriting but just because it’s in D Major, my favorite music key haha. So, overall, this is an album that definitely isn’t for me, but I still did like it nonetheless. If you’re a fan of this genre, I highly recommend it, but if you’re not...you may find less to like here, all I’m saying.

Best track: Strawberry Woman

HM: Death Wish

DM: King Of Oklahoma (ig)

Worst track: When We Were Close (not really)

10. Karol G - Mañana será bonito - 7/10

Genres: Reggaetón, Latin Pop, Contemporary R&B, Dancehall

This was an album I found myself being shocked by liking, I honestly thought it’d be something I found decent at best because of the language barrier (I try not to let it happen when I evaluate a song as much, but sometimes I’m scared it still happens).  This album just screams “summer vibes” to me and Karol G’s understated delivery matches a lot of the dancehall production very well. Check this one out if you haven’t already, it’s a pretty good album.

Best track: Cairo

HM: Gatubela

DM: N/A

Worst track: everything here is good and if you thought I was gonna give a worst if I didn’t give a DM, then reevaluate your thinking.

11. Kesha - Gag Order - 8/10

Genres: Alt-Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Electronic, Art Pop, Indietronica, Art Pop, Ambient Pop, Electropop, Indie Folk

Oh god, time to admit something pretty monumentally embarrassing: I didn’t know what a gag order was, I thought it was a sexual term and assumed this was gonna be the usual brand of trashy Kesha we got in the early 2010s, and this turned out to be a very different album and I ended up being very disappointed by this album at first, and then I found out what a gag order was and then I reevaluated this album, and yeah, it’s absolutely heartbreaking. It’s a bit of a difficult listen and if you know the whole story behind what Kesha’s been dealing with for years now, it only gets an even heavier emotional weight. “Happy” ending the album just feels devastating, the song is about Kesha remembering a happier time before having to deal with all this, lines like “I remember when I was little/Before I knew that anyone could be evil/These egos, some people/Playin' with my innocence like at a casino” or “Gotta just laugh so I don't cry” just are so heartbreaking. Great album, highly recommended, and if you’re a Kesha fan, I imagine you knew what was coming in this album.

Best track: Happy

HM: Only Love Can Save Us Now

DM: Only Love Reprise

Worst track: Ram Dass Interlude

12. Lil Durk - Almost Healed - 5/10

Genres: Trap, Pop Rap, Gangsta Rap, Chicago Drill

If A Gift & A Curse was the biggest pleasant surprise of an album I listened to this year, this was easily the most disappointing. When Lil Durk first broke through into the mainstream in 2021, I saw him as a very promising talent with a lot of intensity in his delivery and a very good ability to carry otherwise weak songs, most notably “Back In Blood” with Pooh Shiesty, a good song saved from being bad almost entirely by Durk. But Almost Healed is an album where Lil Durk’s intensity winds up running together with all the other bars he drops, when a Morgan Wallen collab is one of the BEST songs on this album, it’s a really bad sign. So yeah, I don’t like this album one bit, I'm severely disappointed here.

Best track: All My Life

HM: Stand By Me

DM: Sad Songs

Worst track: Grandson

13. Lil Uzi Vert - Pink Tape - 5/10

Genres: Trap, Pop Rap, Rage, Alternative Metal, Cloud Rap, Trap Metal, Experimental Hip Hop, Rap Rock

I’ve tended to like Lil Uzi Vert’s music a lot, since their breakthrough in 2017, “Bad & Boujee” with Migos is excellent and “XO Tour Llif3” was great and barely missed my best list that year. And then “Just Wanna Rock” from this year is great too. Now Pink Tape...I wasn’t nearly as disappointed with this as I was for Lil Durk’s album, but I still found myself wishing I liked it way more than I do. For one, I’m not sure I like Rage music all that much - it doesn’t do much for me at all. I don’t like Yeat, arguably the biggest name in that genre, and I don’t think it works here. It’s not a bad album at all, even despite a few awful lyrics like that “Republican doctor” one in “Endless Fashion”, but it’s just kinda mid.

Best track: Just Wanna Rock

HM: Flooded The Face

DM: That Fiya

Worst track: Endless Fashion

14. Luke Combs - Gettin’ Old - 8/10

Genres: Contemporary Country, Country Rock

Luke Combs has made tons of good and even great songs in the past, and his “Fast Car” cover even topped my best list this year! But holy shit, even coming into this album, expecting it to be great, this album just completely blew past all my expectations. It’s very neotraditional in its production, which more often than not is a good thing, and Luke Combs’s baritone(?) just sounds incredible. But moreover, this album made me realize how underrated of a songwriter Luke Combs is, like on songs such as “Joe”, which has the sentiment of overcoming difficult circumstances. Yeah, great album, highly recommended!

Best track: Fast Car

HM (tie): Joe, Where The Wild Things Are, 5 Leaf Clover, The Beer, the Band, and the Barstool

DM: Still

Worst track: Fox In The Henhouse

15. Metro Boomin - Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - 7/10

Genres: Film Soundtrack, Pop Rap, Trap, Afrobeats, Contemporary R&B, Cloud Rap, Alternative R&B

“Across The Spiderverse” is a great movie, not as good as the original, but that bar is up in the Oort Cloud, with a good soundtrack, that might not hit the same highs as the original soundtrack did, but is still a nice listen.

Best track: Self Love

HM: Am I Dreaming

DM: Las Morales

Worst track: Hummingbird

16. Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation - 8/10

Genres: Pop, Dance-Pop, Pop Rock, Alt-Pop, Contemporary R&B

So uh, Endless Summer Vacation was arguably one of the biggest albums this year, and honestly? I think it’s pretty deserved! I’ll be blunt though, before listening to this album, with how old “Flowers” got, I was a bit worried this album would feel like an...endless summer vacation in a bad way, and instead, it turns out to be one in a great way! It captures the very essence of the fun you have during the summer and makes that fun feel never-ending! I wouldn’t say this album has Miley’s best songs, quite frankly I’m still not over “Midnight Sky” getting fumbled so hard by the radio in 2020 because that is her best song by far, and while I like “Flowers”, it’s definitely the weakest song on the album and shouldn’t have been the biggest song from it, even if I do get why it was so huge - it’s the most generic, radio-friendly track from the album, but this is already a radio friendly and accessible album, so I see no reason why half the other tracks here couldn’t have been smashes too.

Best track: River

HM: Violet Chemistry (but honestly almost every song here could’ve gone here)

DM: Flowers

Worst track: Flowers (demo)

17. Morgan Wallen - One Thing At A Time - 5/10

Genres: Contemporary Country, Country Pop, Bro-Country, Trap

Given how this guy had 2 songs in my top 5 worst hit songs of 2023, I feel some may expect me to hate this album way more than I actually do. But the crazy thing is, I can see how you could actually make this a good album. This is an album that has both Wallen’s best ever and worst ever songs, if you cut half the tracklist (and the half that’s mid or worse) and leave the rest of the album, this could’ve been good! As is, the 36-song length makes this a really tedious album to sit through, even with genuine moments of promise. Like, the best song on the album, “Last Drive Down Main” has grown to be my favorite Morgan Wallen song, even if lyrically it has some toxic lyrical  sentiments that plagued songs like “You Proof” and “Thinkin’ Bout Me”, “Last Drive Down Main” ramps up the percussion incredibly into that explosive chorus, making the song a great song for me to blast when I’m going down an empty freeway. Which is why it frustrates me that when you have that song, Morgan Wallen’s fans somehow decided to latch onto “Ain’t That Some” which nearly topped my worst list this year and I stand by my point that it’s the worst song Wallen ever made. So, I don’t think this album is bad, it’s pretty mid but with a few easy fixes, this could’ve been good.

Best track: Last Drive Down Main

HM: One Thing At A Time

DM: 180 (Lifestyle)

Worst track: Ain’t That Some

18. Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 2 - 6/10

Genres: Pop Rap, East Coast Hip Hop, Contemporary R&B, Trap

So, arguably the most hated trend in mainstream music the past two years is the heavy/lazy sampling in music, and I’ll be blunt...I don’t hate the trend nearly as much as I should, hell, “I’m Good (Blue)” by David Guetta and Bebe Rexha actually made my best list this year! But, I can recognize the trend’s weak points, sticking with David Guetta here, “Baby Don’t Hurt Me” completely blows! But enough on David Guetta, y’all are probably waiting to hear my thoughts on this album...and look, the reason I brought up David Guetta here was that this is an album that feels very reliant on samples, for better or worse. Even if something like “Super Freaky Girl” has REALLY worn on me overtime, I’ll still give points to the sample elevating it from being outright bad! And the “when the party's over”  by Billie Eilish sample on “Are You Gone Already”, I genuinely think it works really well! And I’ve never liked “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” for the bit where it sounds like she’s trying to imitate an Indian accent. So...this album is pretty decent, but I do feel like for as much as I don’t hate the sampling trend in mainstream music as of late, I should’ve liked this album more.

Best track: Just The Memories

HM: Are You Gone Already

DM: Red Ruby Da Sleeze

Worst track: FTCU

19. Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS - 8/10

Genres: Pop Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Alternative Rock, Power Pop, Indie Rock

This is probably a hot take but I like SOUR more than this. SOUR felt more authentic to me than this. That’s not to say GUTS is a bad album, because it’s far from that, it has more rock bangers than SOUR. One thing I’ll say this album has over SOUR is that SOUR felt very high school and a bit less mature, where GUTS has more content depicting messier relationships that can feel a lot more captivating. But yeah, great album, I’m intrigued to see where Olivia will take this era next.

Best track: Bad Idea Right?

HM: Love Is Embarrassing

DM: Making The Bed (not really)

Worst track: Logical (again, not really)

20. Peso Pluma - GENESIS - 6/10

Genres: Corrido tumbado, Banda sinaloense

I think this was the album that helped me realize that the Regional Mexican music boom on the Hot 100 wasn’t all bad. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some songs from that aubgenre that I don’t really like at all, mainly because Peso Pluma is an artist whose vocals either work well on songs or don’t, with no in between. Thankfully, on this album, it’s mostly the former we get. I’m not sure I like this album that much, probably because of some cultural significance I’m missing here, but for what it is, this is pretty decent.

Best track: Lady Gaga

HM: Rubicon

DM: nueva vida

Worst track: Bye

21. Post Malone - Austin - 6/10

Genres: Pop Rock, Alt-Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Folk Pop, Synthpop

After steadily imiproving with each album cycle, I can’t lie, coming up off of Hollywood’s Bleeding, this felt like a bit of a step back, even with Twelve Carat Toothache (and not gonna lie, I actually think that album is better than this one, even if its singles are among the weaker songs on it). Only a tiny step back, mind you, because this album is still decent, but I can’t lie, considering how much I love “Chemical”, I was expecting this album to be way better than it actually was. Yes, there are pretty cringey lines, like on “Socialite” “I'm callin' her Shrek 'cause she got a donkey”, but as a whole, this album is Posty seemingly ditching his trap sound in favor of something more in rock, and he overall proves to be a surprisingly good fit for it! “Chemical”, for example, is excellent. So, overall, I wouldn’t call this album Posty’s best, but it’s decent with some real gems. Check it out if you haven’t already.

Best track: Chemical

HM: Too Cool To Die

DM: Hold My Breath

Worst track: Texas Tea

22. Rod Wave - Nostalgia - 8/10

Genres: Pop Rap, Trap Soul, Trap, Southern Hip Hop, Contemporary R&B, Conscious Hip Hop, Neo-Soul

I can’t be the only one who feels that Rod Wave is one of those artists who has a silent majority following, right? It feels like he manages to randomly score an album bomb on the Hot 100 while making little to no noise, at least in my circles. But I listened to Nostalgia because, as with a lot of the albums here, I wanted to listen to every album that had an album bomb on the Hot 100, and...Yeah, this is a really good, even great album. My favorite song here is “2018”, which samples Sadie Jean’s “WYD Now?”, which I’d not heard prior to hearing “2018” (quick comment on “WYD Now?”, it sounds like a song I probably would’ve lapped up hard in 2020, when I was really into acoustic pop like that song). But yeah, this album showcases Rod Wave’s talents as a performer: making effective solemn trap-R&B cuts. Yeah, this is pretty underrated, recommended if you haven’t heard it.

Best track: 2018

HM: Long Journey

DM: Come See Me

Worst track: Back Lit

23. Sabrina Carpenter - emails i can't send - 7/10

Genres: Alt-Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Dance-Pop, Contemporary R&B, Pop Rock

Okay yeah, this album, like A Gift & A Curse, was a huge pleasant surprise for me, it’s not like I disliked Sabrina Carpenter prior to hearing this, but she just never really impressed me all that much (I know one certain viewer of this blog will be pretty unhappy with this statement lol), I did like scattered songs of hers here and there, but “Skin” from 2021 is still an atrocity even removed from the stupid drama involved with that song, but I liked “Nonsense” and “Fast Times”, but other than that, she just came off as any other basic pop girl circa 2018, like she was Ariana Cabello or something. But damn, I found myself liking emails i can’t send, for one I found Sabrina Carpenter way more expressive here than usual, and there are genuinely excellent songs here, such as probably my favorite song from her overall, “Read Your Mind”, courtesy of the horns and Carpenter herself adding a sense of sensuality here and the baseline on the drop just slaps. Well, alright Sabrina Carpenter, you got my attention, you now have some expectations, let’s see if you exceed them next album, good luck. In the meantime, this is a good album, check it out if you haven’t already!

Best track: Read Your Mind

HM (tie): Already Over, skinny dipping

DM: N/A

Worst track: Bad For Business

24. Tate McRae - THINK LATER - 7/10

Genres: Alt-Pop, Contemporary R&B, Dance-Pop

I think I like Tate McRae more than I realize, I still really like “you broke me first” and I unironically consider “You” as one of my favorite songs ever and “she’s all i wanna be” is still great. So maybe I should’ve had even higher expectations going into this album. So, what did Tate give us? Well, THINK LATER is certainly a good album, but I can’t lie, I did have a few expectations given I really liked both the singles thus far, “Greedy” and “Exes”. Again, I do like this album, quite a bit, in fact the only song here I actually dislike is the title track, which is a sort of darker pop song that sounds like it wouldn’t be out of place on Taylor Swift’s Reputation (not a complement, given I think that album is Swift’s only bad album) and yet if it was on Reputation it’d handedly be the2nd  worst song on it, because McRae is even less credible than Swift in conveying any sense of sass or darkness that the song needs. She just sounds like the production is burying her alive. Other than that, I genuinely like every other song on this album. So yeah, give it a shot, you might be surprised.

Best track: Exes

HM: Greedy

DM: N/A

Worst track: Think Later

25. Taylor Swift - 1989 (Taylor’s Version) - 8/10

Genres: Synthpop, Dance-Pop, Alt-Pop, Electropop

It’s kinda funny, even despite me hating Taylor Swift back in 5th grade, that was the year 1989 was literally everywhere, so I have a weird sense of nostalgia for that album. So 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was likely always gonna give me some nostalgia. And? Well, my favorite song on the original 1989 was “Style”, which I consider one of the best songs in Taylor’s catalogue as a whole, but while I don’t think the rerecording is nearly as bad as so many people have made it out to be, because you’d have to try very hard to ruin a perfect pop song, but I have to admit, this just doesn’t hit the same way. That production in the chorus isn’t nearly as melodic as the original, which is a pretty big drawback for me. It’s just not as vibrant for me. Some tracks did improve, like “Welcome To New York” or “Out Of The Woods”, a song I also consider one of the best songs on the original 1989 and now, it’s just the best, period, the mix sounds even brighter and Taylor’s more mature vocals work extremely well here. But some of the tracks actually got worse, like “Bad Blood” and “Shake It Off” (“Shake It Off” has grown on me over time and “Bad Blood” I never considered nearly as bad as some have said, but these rerecordings...yeesh). And the vault tracks…”Is It Over Now?” is my favorite, and all the vault tracks are great. So overall, this was a great album and a nice nostalgia trip, but I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed, that’s all.

Best track: Out Of The Woods (Taylor’s Version)

HM: Style (Taylor’s Version) (yes, seriously)

DM: Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version)

Worst track: Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)

26. Taylor Swift - Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) - 8/10

Genres: Pop Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Country Pop, Power Pop, Alternative Rock, Folk Pop

Well, look here, an album I gave a full review earlier this year! And honestly, most of my comments from that review still hold true, so I’ll try to keep this relatively brief. All the tracks only improve in the rerecording and the very retrospective feel of Speak Now as a whole means Taylor’s more mature vocals are a better fit for the album, even tracks I only found decent at best on the original Sprak Now, like “Mine” and “Mean”, I found myself liking quite a bit! And even songs I already liked, like “Enchanted” just sound incredible now. Great album, andan improvement over what was already one of the best albums in Taylor’s catalogue

Best track: Enchanted (Taylor’s Version)

HM (tie): Sparks Fly (Taylor’s Version), Never Grow Up (Taylor’s Version)

DM: N/A

“Worst” track: Castles Crumbling (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)

27. Travis Scott - UTOPIA - 8/10

Genres: Southern Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop, Trap, Cloud Rap, Pop Rap, Alternative R&B, Neo-Psychedelia

You know, in one of my first lists, the best hit songs of 2016, I said that Travis Scott can use autotune to his advantage. And in hindsight, I’m not sure that holds up. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the autotune helps give “Antidote” an intense atmosphere and still makes it an excellent song. That said, none of that really has anything to do with UTOPIA, Travis Scott’s first album post-Astrofest, so was it a utopia or a dystopian reality? Yeah, this album is absolutely great. It’s an album chalk-full of jock jams and from that point of view, it succeeds in its purpose, especially on “Looove”, with that incredibly energetic beat as Travis just spits nonstop fire on the track. And this album gave us Drake’s best contribyution to pop music in 2023 in “Meltdown”! That said, the only weakness is “Fe!n”,which has Playboi Carti’s worst contribution on any song, I think. So yeah, this is a great album, you could say the utopian vision was maintained, very rarely slipping into dystopia

Best track: Looove

HM: Meltdown

DM: Parasail

Worst track: Fe!n

28. Various Artists - Barbie the Album [Best Weekend Ever Edition]  - 8/10

Genres: Pop, Film Soundtrack, Dance-Pop, Alt-Pop, Contemporary R&B, Synthpop, Electropop

It took me months after the movie’s peak but this fall, I saw the Barbie movie and it was great, every song in the movie fit so well and it was super entertaining on top of all that. A few songs I didn’t like when I first heard the soundtrack, like “Barbie World” and “Push” grew on me when watching the movie. Also, spoilers but the way “Barbie World” boomed out of my speakers when seeing the end credits just felt amazing. So yeah this barbie is thinking this album is great! And see Barbie if you somehow still haven’t.

Best track: Speed Drive

HM: Pink

DM: Push (this is decent but outside the context of the movie I don’t like it at all)

Worst track: Butterflies

29. Young Thug - Business Is Business - 4/10

Genres: Trap, Southern Hip Hop, Pop Rap

Oh god, I’ll be blunt, I was never a fan of Young Thug. I think the only song I actually liked from him was his feature on Camila Cabello’s “Havana”. Other than that, I’m sorry, I don’t get why he’s so acclaimed in the rap scene, he perpetually sounds constipated in every song I’ve heard from him, in fact, the only song I liked on this album, “Cats Bring Me Out”, was more due to Future having surprisingly solid flows than anything else. Yeah, this was a really tedious album to get through, honestly the worst one I heard this year, this sucks, next!

Best track: Cars Bring Me Out

HM: Oh U Went (ig?)

DM: Uncle M

Worst track: Went Through It

30. Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan - 7/10

Genres: Singer-Songwriter, Americana, Country, Country Rock, Indie Folk, Red Dirt (yes this is actually a genre if you have an issue with that take it up with RYM not me), Heartland Rock

Zach Bryan having such a huge two years on the Hot 100 is damn near unprecedented, and mostly, he’s churned out some good quality, I mean he got my favorite artist of all time, Kacey Musgraves a Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit!! The fact that “I Remember Everything” is a mid to lower tier Kacey song speaks less on Zach Bryan’s weaknesses and more on Kacey’s strengths. This album, like Weathervanes, is also very Americana and songwriting-focused, however the sound is also a lot more accessible here. So yeah, good album, I recommend it.

Best track: El Dorado

HM: I Remember Everything

DM: Tourniquet

Worst track: Tradesman

And that’s about it! I have no clue when my next article will be, but I have quite a few ideas for what I want to do in 2024. Other than that, let me know if you like this style of album reviews (and please give me a better title to use lol)! Until then, Merry Christmas, Happy holidays, and happy new year to you all!! See you in 2024!!