Following the strangeness of the covid years, it's been a gratifyingly rock-stuffed 2023. Across rock'n'roll's diverse sonic subtrates, we've celebrated 12 months of albums from new artists, retiring artists, returning artists and reuniting artists.
Between them they've given us some brilliant collections of songs, and Classic Rock's writers ranked The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds – their first album of new material from the band in nearly two decades – to be the album of the year. Two albums from two more big names, Metallica's 72 Seasons and Foo Fighters' But Here We Are, filled the medal positions.
The full list of Classic Rock’s 50 Best Albums Of 2023 follows. And you can read about all of them in the bumper brand new issue of Classic Rock, alongside new interviews with many of the musicians who made the albums.
Classic Rock Magazine's 50 Best Rock Albums Of 2023
50. Paul Rodgers - Midnight Ride
49. Green Lung - This Heathen Land
48. The Defiants - Drive
47. Brothers Osborne - Brothers Osbourne
46. Ann Wilson & Tripsitter - Another Door
45. DeWolff - Love, Death & In Between
44. Black Spiders - Can't Die, Won't Die
43. Royal Thunder - Rebuilding The Mountain
42. Yes - Mirror In The Sky
41. Jethro Tull - Rockflote
40. Vega - Battlelines
39. Grace Potter - Mother Road
38. Starbender - Take Back The Night
37. Peter Gabriel - i/o
36. The Inspectotr Cluzo - Horizon
35. The Cold Stares - Voices
34. Maneskin - Rush
33. Black Stone Cherry - Screamin' At The Sky
32. The Hives - The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons
31. Def Leppard - Drastic Symphonies
30. The Answer - Sundowners
29. Alice Cooper - Road
28. Geese - 3D Country
27. Uriah Heep - Chaos & Colour
26. Joe Bonamassa - Blues Deluxe Vol 2
25. Creeper - Sanguivore
24. Extreme - Six
23. Duff McKagan - Lighthouse
22. Sparks - The Girl Is Crying For Her Latte
21. Avenged Sevenfold - Life Is But A Dream
20. Wytch Hazel - IV: Sacrament
19. The Damned - Darkadelic
18. Those Damn Crows - Inhale/Exhale
17. Danko Jones - Electric Sounds
16. Ayron Jones - Chronicles Of The Kid
15. The Cadillac Three - The Years Go Fast
14. Great Van Fleet - Starcatcher
13. Rival Sons - Darkfighter
12. Crowne Lands - Fearless
11. Iggy Pop - Every Loser
10. The Pretenders - Relentless
9. Skindred - Smile
8. Mammoth WVH - Mammoth II
7. Queens Of The Stone Age - In Times New Roman
6. The Struts - Pretty Vicious
5. Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex
4. Ian Hunter - Defiance Part I
3. Foo Fighers - But Here We Are
2. Metallica - 72 Seasons
1. The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds
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