Re-listening to the Best Albums of 2023

This past year, albums made by a variety of artists have been released. Here are our top picks for 2023! To start in the alternative category, Lana Del Rey’s album “Did you know that there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” was released in March and captivated listeners. Our pick for the best song on the album goes to “A&W” a 7-minute track that took us through love and relationships. The 16-track album spoke to audiences and some named it as their favorite album from Lana Del Rey’s discography. The next album in this category is “Sunburn,” a smash summer album, released by Dominic Fike, including singles like “Mama’s Boy” and “Ant Pile.” In late July, Dominic Fike performed these songs at Chastain Amphitheater in Atlanta. Our final pick for the alternative category is Mitski’s “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We.” Our favorite song on the album is “My Love Mine All Mine” which features a clever use of bass.

In the pop genre, “GUTS” by Olivia Rodrigo and “Scarlet” by Doja Cat. “GUTS” was Olivia Rodrigo’s second album and it sampled songs from “SOUR,” her first album, but it added more rock elements. “Scarlet” by Doja Cat was released in September and was very different from the rest of her albums by featuring more rap songs. Despite this difference, fans got hooked on the album after hearing the single, “Paint the Town Red,” from it.

For Latin pop albums, Kali Uchis and Bad Bunny both released major albums. “Red Moon in Venus” by Kali Uchis was well-rated, including singles such as “Moonlight” and “Hasta Cuando.” More futuristic sounds were added to most of the album creating a dreamy aesthetic. Bad Bunny released “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana” which featured artists like Mora and Young Miko. His album aims to tell a story which these stellar guest vocals contributed to. 

In the rap category, the two biggest albums of this year have been Travis Scott’s “Utopia,” released in July, and Drake’s “For All the Dogs,” released in October. When “Utopia” first came out, Scott chose to hide the features on the album from listeners, so they could figure it out themselves. It featured many major artists like Drake, The Weeknd, SZA and more on almost every song. “For All the Dogs” had controversial reviews when it came out because fans did not think it fit with the rest of Drake’s discography, but this album is very influential despite its different aesthetic. 

For country albums, there have been three major albums released this year. In March, Morgan Wallen released his third album, “One Thing at a Time.” This album was a hit and 96% of fans enjoyed it as a continuation of his discography. In June, Luke Combs released his album, “Gettin’ Old” just in time for the end of the summer. He released this as a companion album to “Growin’ Up,” an album he released last year. The last album for this category was Zach Bryan’s self-titled album, “Zach Bryan” in August which was a big hit. He also released an EP in September called “Boys of Faith,” and both of these have quickly become fan favorites.