Top Albums of 2023!!

I can’t believe we are through with another year. And what a year it was, It saw me complete my goal of reviewing my massive Jeff Scott Soto Series with over 80 posts and 18 months of work. I was crazy to do it, but I loved every minute of it. I also started two more rather large and incredible series with Bon Jovi and Def Leppard which should take me through most of 2024. These might be the last two really Series I do as they are the last of my large band collections I have in my possession. All the other artist I have aren’t in such abundance like these were.

With the Soto, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi Series, I actually didn’t spend much time with new releases and if I’m being honest, this was a pretty piss poor year for rock albums that I grabbed me interest during the year. So, we are going to go through what I call the Top Albums of 2023, but I missed so much this isn’t a definitive list. This is only what I listened to in the year so take it with a grain of salt. Of course there will be some honorable mentions, a worst of album and maybe a best of re-issue/box set. I am not doing a Rock only list this year as I want to highlight anything I listened to this year that I thought was great. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee if it is morning, or a beer if it is any other time of day…and enjoy!!

MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2023:

#10 – The Rolling Stones – ‘Hackney Diamonds’

Is this the best Rolling Stones album, no, not at all. But let’s be honest, how cool is it we got another Stones album. I think it is really cool. Producer, Andrew Watt, was on board to bring the band back to life. He made it modern, but still a Stones album. I liked his work with Ozzy and I like it here. You Still get Mick and Keith and the boys sounding like who they are so don’t fret. There is a bar room blues feel to it, but it also feels relevant for today. They have Lady Gaga on board and even Sir Paul McCartney. I found it it to be a fantastic listen and one of my favorites for the year. Way to go boys. I like “Angry”, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”, “Bite My Head Off” and so many more. Check it out!!

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November 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

Welcome to monthly wrap-up of what 2 Loud 2 Old Music added to the collection and it was another good month. I will be honest, I don’t know if December is shaping up to be as good as this one and that is okay. I need a break. I will be in New York City and hope to hit a couple stores so there is still hope, but as far as what has already been ordered, not much. I know there is Christmas, but that list I gave my family was pretty light as I’d like a new laptop and that will drown out most everything else. For now, sit back and enjoy what we have this month.

The month started out with a sale at 2nd & Charles with a Buy 2 Get 2 Free sale on CDs. Well, you don’t have to tell me twice. My daughter and I hit up a different one then our normal haunt as I have picked that one clean and boy did that pay off. I picked up 20 CDs and 1 DVD as well. So technically, the first photo I bought, then the 2nd one was free.

And the DVD was for Robbie Williams’ TV concert show called “The Robbie Williams Show” and a review if forthcoming…

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May 2023 Purchases – Vinyl, CDs & More

If you had a 2 Loud 2 Old Music Mug, I’d tell you to sit back, fill it up with whatever you like and prepare yourself for what is to come. This was an interesting month and some incredible finds…for cheap!! And I mean cheap!! But before we get to the cheap stuff, let’s discuss what first showed up on our doorstep for May…well, it was actually April but it was the day I posted the April Purchases wrap-up so it missed that post. That is the boxset for the Whitesnake album ‘Good To Be Bad”…titled “Still…Good To Be Bad”. Another impressive boxset…or is it?…review to come.

And there was an album that came out months ago on CD and digital, but the album just showed up in May. It is for the lead singer of one of my favorite bands Needtobreathe. It is Bear Rinehart’s second solo album under the name Wilder Woods. It is different then NTB which it should be since he is the voice of NTB. If it sounded like NTB, it would be a NTB album…

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March 2023 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

We are already at the end of March and can’t believe three months in to the year already as well. Time does fly. But it doesn’t fly fast enough that we can’t do a monthly summary of purchases here at 2 Loud 2 Old Music. And this month was another good one even though the vinyl purchases were down and overall purchases were down as well. I didn’t actually get out to a real record store this month so I will try and make up for that in April.

The month started off with Frontiers Records updating their $5 CD sale and adding a bunch more albums to the list. I, of course, took advantage of that sale. I was able to pick up albums from Inglorious, Night Ranger and Jorn as well as a live Blu-Ray from Dokken. All great stuff.

And then my wife and daughter wanted to go to 2nd & Charles as they had a book sale where you buy 5 books, you get 5 free…Sadly, there was not a CD sale at the time, but it didn’t stop me from picking up some great music while I was there. I did get 5 CDs, but since the next 5 weren’t free, I stuck with only my 5. I picked up some Metallica, Tesla, Halestorm, Aldo Nova (which I had already on vinyl) and the last great Queensryche album in my book, ‘Promised Land’.

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