The Top 10 Hard Rock Albums of 2023

Hard Rock is defined here as being, more aggressive than rock n roll,, but not dark or mean enough to be considered by Metal, by anyone who knows anything about metal.  These are not the coolest albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say,   After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of the year. 2023. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list; and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 Hard Rock albums of 2023.

10- Land of the Lost - "Weapons of Mass Seduction" 

 For a band to take the time to learn another artist's song and then take even more time to record it must mean that the song holds value to them. Or they would be focusing on their own songs. This makes their choices more telling. They put a lot of heart into covers of Billy Idol, Judas Priest, and Bronski Beat, along with beefed-up takes on pop songs. Harms' great voice makes it worth the ride. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/lord-of-lost-weapons-of-mass-seduction.html

9-Spirit Adrift- " Ghost at the Gallows" 

Spirit Adrift continues to be pretty consistent in terms of songwriting. Their newest album finds its final form becoming more soulful and melodic, while the energy fires up for the 70s-tinged swagger. There are plenty of chugs to appease metal fans despite a more Thin Lizzy-like mood beginning to creep in. This can also be heard in bands like Mastodon and Baroness, whose Spirit Adrift sounds to be taking a place next to the upper tiers of modern hard rock.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/08/spirit-adrift-ghost-at-gallows.html

 8-Nita Strauss  - "Call of the Void" 

As expected the new solo album from Alice Cooper guitarist opens with an instrumental that is high on the shred factor. She does this with melody and it sounds like it could conceivably still be a song rather than take you on a mind-bender of high-speed picking. I think this album does an ample job of showing who she is as a guitarist

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/07/nita-strauss-call-of-void.html

 7-Till Lindemann--"Zunge" 

The singer from Rammstein is debuting his solo album.  He had help from Sky Van Hoff of Machinemade God who has also produced albums for Rammstein, as well as other German metal bands like Kreator and Caliban. Carach Angren keyboardist Clemens Wijers also lent a hand to things. This album has some strong moments and more often than not delivers what you want from him even without Rammstein. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/till-lindemann-zunge.html

6-Djunah-"Femina Furens"

Here is the problem with the diversity push that spread into music, when a woman comes along making music worth listening to and thoughtful perspectives on her feminine experience are brought to the table, if it does not fit neatly into a marketing box then it falls under the radar. I can not believe there is no more buzz about this album, yet a bunch of garbage gets pushed down our throats regularly. In many ways, this could have come from the 90s. There is a grungy grit to the guitars. Sometimes their music has the blistering blitz of PJ Harvey's early days if coupled with beefier metallic bombast. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/djunah-femina-furens.html

 

5-Polkadot Cadaver - "Echoes Across the Hellscape" 

Where Dog Fashion Disco is more heavily influenced by Mr Bungle, these guys are straightforward melodic hard rock with a progressive slant. The songs are well written, playing it safe at times with  with strong melodies and interesting lyrics.nd really shines when it comes to songwriting on this one. Not metal for people who like the kind of metal we dive into here, as they will consider this harder-edged rock. Either way, it's very effective. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/12/polkadot-cadaver-echoes-across-hellscape.html

4-In This Moment - "Godmode" 

In This Moment has shifted through a few stylistic personas throughout their career. My favorite was the hyper-sexualized industrial grooves they dug into for their latex-clad "Blood" album. At 45 Maria Brink seems to be aware that dishing out the kind of aggressively erotic purring of the past, might have a more limited shelf life.  That is not to say she is ready to settle down onto the stages of  Vegas. She leans into the nu-metal resurgence. Not hitting as hard as Coal Chamber, but blending pop hooks with hard rocking riffage. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/10/gothtober-in-this-moment-godmode.html

3-Mutoid Man -"Muntants" 

Cave-In vocalist/guitarist Stephen Brodsky, is releasing the 3rd full-length from his sludge-tinged rock band. Joining him again is Converge drummer Ben Koller, who has been on board since the project's inception. This time around High On Fire bassist Jeff Matz is in the band. There is a rock feel thanks to Brodsky's smooth vocal delivery, but ample bout of math rock in collision with punk energy. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/07/mutoid-man-mutants.html

2- Spotlights - "Alchemy For the Dead" 

 This trio's sound has continued to evolve, as it does not place them somewhere between the shoe-gazing side of post-hardcore and sludge.  The latter is felt in the ominous punches that muscle through the more surreal tension being built. This album benefits from more fine-tuned production that allows for experimentation to pay off with the electronic sound dialed into the drums. The mix helps place each instrument where needed to make the most of its sound. This album gets better with each listen, and the shadows of its mood seep into your head.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/03/spotlights-alchemy-for-dead.html

 1-Code  Orange - "Above" 

 I have been pretty invested in this band's career since being blown away by their 2017 album "Forever".  They broke away from the conventions of hardcore, which they continued to perfect with "Underneath". This set pretty high expectations for this album. Once I accepted the fact that they were no longer playing metal, I was able to really enjoy this album. It was tough to let go of this idea as they are still rather punchy in places, but they owe more to late 90s rock than hardcore or even nu-metal here.It is wonderfully written and shows there is no limit to what they are capable of. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2023/09/code-orange-above.html

Alice Cooper : "Road"

The 29th album from this legend finds the Coop keeping it real and recording this one live in the studio with his touring band. Done with  minimal overdubs , Alice sounds great and the opening track  "I'm Alice" makes it clear at 75, his voice remains where he needs it to be. The songs wink heavily at his classic sound from the 70s , sometimes almost recycling the riffs.  By the time things strut over to "All     Over the World" finds it lyrically self indulgent as we are three songs deep with lyrics all bragging about how great his band is live.  If this was done by anyone else it would not work as well. 

The first song that touches on metal is "Dead Don't Dance". Though the overall direction of the album musically I prefer over the more garage rock feel off his past couple albums. "Go Away" has more of a roadhouse rock n roll feel. His voice feels pretty youthful on this one. It doesn't vibe as with me as the first few songs, though Nita Strauss lets a pretty mean solo rip on it. There is a more grunge tinged groove to "White Line Frankenstein".  Though I guess the persona of Alice gives more credence to singing about being a helluva one night stand at 75. 'Big Boots" is on the sillier side of things, but it doesn't suck . It might be better than 'Rules of the Road".  There is a heavier drive to "the Big Goodbye". Which lyrically could be off of "Trash". 

The high point of the album is the recording of "Road Rats" from "Lace and Whiskey" which takes a great song and makes it better. I think he needs to go back and re-record more songs like this , a whole album of songs that perhaps did not get a fair shake, particularly from albums like "Lace and Whiskey" that slipped unfairly into obscurity.. On the flipside , Alice has some great ballads already, I am not sure "Baby Please Don't Go" was really needed, it is the first song that feels like his voice is struggling.  He redeems himself on "100 More Miles" which sounded liked it could have been on "Dada" as it carries his dark-side in the creepy undertones.  He also offers a pretty fantastic cover of the Who's "Magic Bus" and I will die on the hill of Alice is a better singer than Roger Daltrey. I will give this one a 9, as lyrics are normally his  strong suit and  feel dialed into a concept  that does not hold up as well against his other albums. At the end of the day Alice is a legend who still holds up better than most  from his era. 

Nita Strauss : "the Call of the Void"

 As expected the new solo album from Alice Cooper guitarist opens with an instrumental that is high on the shred factor. She does this with melody and it sounds like it could conceivably still be a song rather than take you on a mind-bender of high-speed picking. It works for what it is, but I am not sure I could listen to an entire album of this sort of thing, which is why she brought along a small army of guest vocalists. Alisa Gluz lends her voice to "the Wolf  You Feed" , the chorus follows into color by number modern metal that makes it feel it could be the opening theme of an anime show. So perhaps not dark enough for my personal tastes, but effective for what it is. 

Chris Motionless follows the next logical progression in the tour of whos who is the metal vocalist of the Millennium. The chorus is anthemic in a way that feels brighter than what Motionless in White does. He goes into his normal melodramatic crooning. It's hooky enough and checks off all the boxes you might think it should. Of course in keeping with my statement regarding metal vocalists of the millennium the next entry would be Lizzy Hale. She makes a better showing than the previous vocalists and brings more of who she is to the song. She sells it better, making this the best song so far.  Then another instrumental "Consume the Fire" emerges. The sense of melody in Strauss' playing remains her strength. 

Dave Drainman is the first singer whose roots go back to the 90s. His song was the lead single from the album. He sings on anything and it is going sound like Disturbed . Strauss' tone is not as beefy as Disturbed's. I am going to of course weigh this song against Disturbed, as how can you not. Solo on this song is tasteful and she has learned a great deal playing with Alice regarding serving the song.  Dorothy Martin sings on "Victorious" , which plays more to the arena rock side of things. I think what this album show cases best is how Nita adapts what she does to different styles while retaining who she is as a player.

The most melodic instrumental of the three to appear so far is "Scorched" carries it self with the kind of melody that makes you to forget that you are waiting for where the vocals were supposed to come in. "Momentum" is the heaviest of the instrumentals so far with more weight in it's chug. Anders Friden takes the mic on "the Golden Trail" which sounds not unlike In Flames, so I guess if you like In Flames this song will be up your alley, I am pretty neutral on them so that is how I feel about the song. Alice Cooper does fine with "Winner Takes All" which makes me hope Nita will play a more active role in writing for his next album to get it out of the more roots garage rock direction he has been in and head him into more anthemic hard rock like this. 

Lilith Czar does pop metal, in the vein of most female-fronted acts these days. "Kintsugi" is a more soulful instrumental, that sheds a better light on Nita's playing. The last song "Surfacing" is another instrumental that is on the slower more reflective side but this time she is accompanied by Marty Friedman" , it does build into more of a Megadeth-like feel. Overall I think this album does an ample job of showing who she is as a guitarist, I will give it a 9. 

Live Review : Alice Cooper @ Ruth Eckerd Hall

 

The first time I saw Alice Cooper was in 1986 on the "Constrictor" tour. He was 38 years old, so around his vocal peak. Cooper has never been numbered among the best vocal talents, he works well with the range he has, over the years his voice has gained more grit from aging. Now at 74 his sobriety and time spent active on the golf course are paying off. He stayed in good voice and pretty spry for the entire set of almost 20 songs. Granted some of these were done in a medley form where the band just kind of jammed out a riff or two from said songs, "Black Widow" being one of the most noted examples. When you have over forty years of music to pull from you obviously can play everything.   

His band was not much different than the line-up I saw with him when he opened up for Maiden in 2012, which was the last time I saw him. The biggest change was the addition of Nita Strauss on guitar. She injected a great deal of enthusiasm and energy into the band. Everyone seemed to be having fun onstage. What surprised me the most was the interesting choice of a set list that leaned just as heavy on his late 80s early 90s albums as it did his 70s work. He played songs from "Constrictor", "Raise Your Fist and Yell", "Trash" and "Hey Stoopid". Seven songs total from this era vs nine from what would be considered his classics or greatest hits era. The staples "I'm Eighteen", " Under My Wheels", "School's Out" , "No More Mr Nice Guy" and "Billion Dollar Babies" were all accounted for.  He only played two of his most recent songs.

Even after seeing him 5 times previous, I had never heard him play "Roses on White Lace" before from "Raise Your Fist and Yell" so that was a highlight for me.  It made up for no "Welcome to My Nightmare" though that album had the most songs to make an appearance, granted as I mentioned earlier sometimes it was just a riff that they jammed off of its theme. I feel like this performance measure up well against his others, I went in with the faint worry at the back of my mind things might have declined in the past 10 years, but those fears were unfounded. If you get a chance to catch him this year, be sure to do so.