Wheel of Prog - Best Prog Albums of 2023
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2024
- The Prog Report team recap the best prog albums of 2023 using the Wheel of Prog!
Prog Report Awards coming soon…
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Woah! Very honored to be part of a world famous wheel of prog episode!! Thank you so much for all the kind words and we're happy you enjoyed your time with our album. This year has been HUGE for Prog and there have been so many surprises like A7x, even with more extreme acts, and we're so here for it 🤘. Let us know when you announce the first edition of Prog Report Fest and we'll pack up our 🎷 so fast.
Absolutely!
I would have put you at No1 but music is all about opinions... great album you've done. Look forward to more...
Thanks for including us, honored to be on this list! Excellent video, lots of good material to dig into here!
Your album is one of my top 3 of the year! Really great stuff and can’t wait to hear more!
I'm really glad this album was mentioned after checking it out on bandcamp. I'm also from Utah and a die-hard program rock/metal fan. Fantastic listen and glad you were able to bring in Jordan Rudess on a track because I'm obsessed with anything to do with Dream Theater. Too bad I didn't know about you guys earlier. I've listened to a good number of albums this year and this is one I didn't recognize. It easily beats all the other albums I have listened to this year by a mile. Best of luck !
@@AngryCalvin thanks! Always excited to meet another Utahn! We just booked an “Album Release” (yeah I know it’s 6 months late but we’re still calling it that) show in Midvale on 4/19. Would love to see you there! I’ll be posting more details shortly!
Can’t believe Tesseract didn’t make the list war of being in my top 5 of the year
Great album! I briefly talked about it during the honorable mentions.
@@daniellevy22 sorry you did, I admit I missed the honourable mentions 😓 as got intrigued by some of the picks on the list so exited the vid abit early. Great list 👌🏻
Honorable mention is almost offensive. It boggles the mind that haken is so unanimous while war of being gets "honorable mention". Maybe too modern for conventional prog fans, who tend to value more of the same
I really loved the Earthside album
Aviations - Luminaria is definitely missing here! this record is a astonishing you should check them out :)
We did an interview with their drummer James recently. Really good band for sure.
didnt know, will watch that for sure!@@progreport
Wow hadn’t heard of them. They sound amazing
36:00 refreshing hearing kind words about Life Is But a Dream, absolutely love this album, close second behind Olivia Rodrigo this year lol
Opus by Nospun is probably my pick for album of the year. The whole album is a real journey with a lot of variation, while still keeping a common thread throughout a story that's pretty easy to follow. It sounds fantastic and the musicianship is absolutely stellar. The fact that it's a debut album just blows me away.
It's awesome to find bands or artists that come from seemingly nowhere and deliver music as great as this, where you have no prior expectations. Jonas Lindberg and the Other Side did the same for me last year.
Very well said!
Pretty surprised there's no Earthside on the list. I know it's hard to fit everything in, but their new album is definitely in my top 5 of the year. I love the variety they get having so many talented guest vocalists (including a former Tower of Power singer!)
Was thinking the same thing
Not just prog but here's out favorite albums of 2023 ....
1. The National - Frankenstein’s Laugh
The National released two studio albums this year (First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track) and I’m combining them calling this Frankenstein’s Laugh as the band has said that they intended them as a double album released in two separate batches. It’s The National returning a bit to their Boxer/Alligator roots without losing their brand of sophisticated songwriting that they’ve perfected in recent years. Very underrated by critics as the band's back catalogue has set such an outrageously strong standard.
2. Peter Gabriel - i/o
The great Peter Gabriel released a song each month this year and finally released them all as a studio album to close the year. This may end up being his final studio album given how slowly he writes and records new material and this is one to savor for years to come. A few uptempo songs, but most of the album are slow to mid-tempo powerful ballads about mortality.
3. The Veils - And Out of The Void Came Love
How wonderful is it when a great songwriter fulfills his potential and creates a triumph of an album. Finn Andrews did just that on this English/New Zealand band’s 6th studio album which is a cinematic tour-de-force inspired by the birth of his daughter. The music is influenced by Neil Finn, Nick Cave, and Automatic-era REM. My only beef is that two songs (The Day I Meet My Murderer and Between The Ocean and The Storm) don’t quite fit on the album to my ears. After I removed those songs from my playlist of the album, the album opened up and became a masterclass in melodic indie rock songwriting and performance; a sort of rock opera about finding love within one’s own heart through creating a family.
4. Nick Cave - Australian Carnage
I usually don’t include live albums on my year-end lists, but there were several game-changing live albums in 2023 and Australian Carnage was one of them. It’s essentially Nick Cave’s last two albums (the amazing Ghosteen and Carnage albums) and a few of Nick’s classic songs recorded live with full band arrangements. The complete album is available on streaming services while the vinyl release only includes a few of the songs. Hoping we get the full album as a vinyl box-set. It’s such a powerful performance.
5. Manchester Orchestra - Valley of Vision
How is Manchester Orchestra still a relatively unknown indie rock band? Valley of Vision is such an intense and wonderful album of beautiful and mysterious songs of life and death.
6. The Polyphonic Spree - Salvage Enterprise
If you like Sufjan Stevens, you’ll probably enjoy the music of the Dallas art-rock band Polyphonic Spree. The band collective led by Tim DeLaughter combining psychedelic rock, symphonic rock, with indie-rock. Sort of Beach Boys meets Pink Floyd. The crowd-funded album Salvage Enterprise is their 8th studio album.
7. Harp - Albion
It’s been about 10 years since Tim Smith left Texas folk-rock band Midlake, but he returned in 2023 with his wife Kathi Zung to release one of the best albums of the year. It’s a gorgeous piece of work that sounds like Robin Pecknold singing with Faith-era Cure.
8. RVG - Brain Worms
If The Smiths and Echo & The Bunnymen combined forces, this may be what it would sound like. Just one great catchy song after another from this Australian band.
9. Lana Del Rey - Ocean Blvd
Take out a few of the songs towards the end of the album (that simply don’t fit with this album in my opinion) and you’d have one of the best Lana albums. Sometimes less is more.
10. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin
Sufjan seems to rotate between intimate folk albums and electronic pop albums. Javelin finds him returning to the former. If you liked Carrie & Lowell or Illinois, you’re in for a treat here.
11. Gord Downie - Lustre Parfait
Gord Downie (RIP from The Tragically Hip) wrote and recorded this album with producer Bob Rock before he was diagnosed and ultimately succumbed to cancer. He made Bob Rock promise to finish the album and release it after his death and this year we finally got this legendary “lost album” and it was worth the wait. The song The North Shore is alone worth the price of admission. Rivals the best work of The Hip and becomes one of the best posthumous albums of all-time.
12. Jerry David DeCicca - New Shadows
Former Black Swans lead singer Jerry David DeCicca’s released his 5th solo album this year called New Shadows. It is a huge step forward for this very talented singer-songwriter combining elements of art rock and Americana. Lindsey Buckingham meets Nick Cave.
13. Death Cab For Cutie - Asphalt Meadows Acoustic
What happens when a legacy band re-records their 2022 album with acoustic instruments and makes it even better?
14. The Reds, Pinks and Purples - The Town That Cursed Your Name
This is the 3rd album on my list that harkens back to the sound of bands like The Smiths and Echo & The Bunnyman. This is another great album in this artist’s catalogue.
15. Pretenders - Relentless
Relentless is the best Pretenders album since Last of The Independents and maybe since Learning To Crawl. It’s that good. A classic Pretenders album.
16. Noah Kahan - Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever)
The third solo album by Vermont’s Noah Kahan was a surprise hit this year appealing to fans of The Lumineers and great songwriting.
17. Glen Hansard - All That Was East Is West of Me Now
Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard (from The Frames) quietly made a cameo in the movie Cyrano last year and here he seems to take that character (a soldier who knows he’s on his final mission) and creates an entire album of powerfully moving songs around him.
18. Cyan - Pictures From The Other Side
Cyan is the brainchild of Robert Reed. This year he took an old album from about 30 years ago and completely re-wrote, re-arranged, and re-recorded the album with singer Peter Jones. If you enjoy Genesis and Yes and bands like that, you’ll probably love this album like I do.
19. Hamish Hawk - Angel Numbers
I had never heard of Hamish Hawk before this year, but I’m so glad I found this album which, like the RVG album below, is a throwback to the sound of The Smiths.
20. Spanish Love Songs - No Joy
California band Spanish Love Songs followed up their great album Brave Faces Everyone with this wonderful album that combines elements of The Clash, The National, and The Cure with more high-level production values. The lyrics are unique and specific, yet still ring with universal truths.
21. Big Big Train - Ingenius Devices
Big Big Train is the long-standing English progressive rock band that recently suffered a terrible tragedy by their ultra-talented lead singer David Longdon died in a tragic accident in 2021. This year, the surviving members released new versions of some of their most beloved songs (using David’s vocals) and connected them together to form one incredibly moving musical suite. The band is moving ahead with a new lead singer, but this album is a great entry point for newbies who haven’t discovered their incredible catalogue.
22. Mark Erelli - Lay Your Darkness Down
For those who don’t know him, Mark Erelli is one of the best songwriters working today. This album is a collection of songs about his recent health struggles. Very moving album.
23. The Menzingers - Some of It Was True
This album is very similar to the Spanish Love Songs album above in that it finds a great indie-rock band upping its production values and finding a new creative high water mark. Great driving music.
24. James Blunt - Who We Used To Be
For some reason, James Blunt has never gotten much critical respect. However, if you listen to this new album with an open mind, you’ll find tons of great songwriting and performances. I get the feeling this album would be a critical darling if it were released by an unknown artist.
25. The Died Pretty - Live
The Died Pretty were a wonderful Australian band that never quite got their due. Their sound was similar in some ways to REM. This year, their label released this live album that is a recording of the band performing their masterpiece album Doughboy Hollow along with several other songs.
26. Guided By Voices - Nowhere To Go But Up
This is the 39th studio album by Ohio band Guided By Voices and this is one of their best in years. Much higher production values than most of their albums and the songwriting, as always, is very strong.
27. Wednesday - Rat Saw God
This band from North Carolina released their breakthrough album in 2023. Although I didn’t find it to be a masterpiece as many critics did, it’s a strong album that mixes 1990’s grunge power with a singer-songwriter heart.
28. Mountain Goats - Jenny From Thebes
You gotta love a great concept album. Mountain Goats took a character from one of their old songs and made an entire story and album about that character. This is a very musical theater album, but I love it.
29. Lori McKenna - 1988
Massachusetts native Lori McKenna, like Mark Erelli mentioned above, is one of the best songwriters working today and this album finds her expanding her sound with more full band arrangements.
30. Josh Ritter - Spectral Lines
Another great songwriter, Josh Ritter, expanded his musical palette this year releasing a sort of concept album of songs that flow together into one musical piece. More experimental and mystical than any of his prior works, this album has a powerful depth to it.
31. Moon Safari - Himlabacken Vol. 2
I have mixed feelings about this Swedish progressive rock band’s 5th studio album. The music is extraordinary and reminiscent of early Yes or Genesis. That being said, you have to be a fan of the massive multi-part vocals to love this album. If you are, it’s one of the best albums of the 2023.
What a great year for music, especially new bands. Great list. My top 5 omissions from the list would be:
1. Earthside - Let the Truth Speak
2. Big Big Train - Ingenious Devices (maybe not technically new)
3. OK Goodnight - The Fox and the Bear
4. Aviations - Iluminaria
5. TesseracT - War of Being
Fauna is probably my pick for #1 album of the year. I have to echo Geoff's thoughts that Harmony Codex in Atmos is an amazing experience. It might be the best mixed album from a prog/prog adjacent artist in recent years. Sonically stunning.
Again, this was a joy to watch. Thank you very much guys!❤
Happy holidays gentlemen! Love your content, keep it up! ❤
Very cool to see Advent Horizon so praised, I feel the same way. Bizarre to miss Southern Empire for more than an honorable mention, though. They’re like Kite Parade to the tenth degree!
Seven Chambers- Unitopia top album
Spooky Action at a Distance- Pattern Seeking Animals- close second
Other Great Albums
Making Shore- Damanek
Fauna- Haken
Joseph “The Dreamer pt 1”- Neal Morse
Terror Management Theory- Temic
Another World- Southern Empire
RokFlote-Jethro Tull
Well, that was fun!
Here's my top 4 prog albums for 2023:
4. Southern Empire - Another World
3. Chronicles of Father Robin - The Songs & Tales of Airoea
2. Subsignal - A Poetry of Rain
1. Moon Safari - Himlabacken vol. 2
Thanks Guys!!
Please add VOLA to your list of prog Rock bands, easily one of my favorites of the last few years and they just keep getting better. New album for 24!!
Great band. We’ll definitely cover their next album.
One of my favorite bands! Mentioned Paper Wolf during the honorable mentions.
My personal 2023 faves;
1. Mystery "Redemption"
2. Downes Braide Association "Celestial Songs"
3. Moon Safari "Himlebacken, Vol. 2"
4. Yes "Mirror To the Sky"
5. Fish On Friday "8mm"
I feel like people write Avenged Sevenfold off as a radio rock band because of stuff like Hail to the King, but their last two album have been phenomenal prog albums. Crazy that their newest was one of the most experimental albums I've heard in a while. It's my prog album of 2023 (Fauna being a close 2nd). Cosmic is my song of the year too!
Same here! Completely agree!
It's very different. You need a certain taste to enjoy it. I personally think this was the worst album they have ever written and I usually really enjoy their music.
Was hooked from the day I heard a couple of singles. And I was not a fan of the band. Knew of them but thought of them as a knock-off modern Metallica. Boy, I was wrong!
Great video, perfect way to know more prog bands!! I wish you've picked my #1 album of the year: Arjen Lucassen's Supersonic Revolution - Golden Age of Music
Outstanding work!!!
Do you notice your appearance? 🤣
Spin that wheel brother!!
While I understand A7x and their latest album isn't for everyone, I'm very happy Kyle helped it land on the wheel. It's definitely in my top 5, and was probably the biggest surprise of the year for me
People with great musical taste unite!! ;)
Happy holidays Prog Report! Another year of great content from your channel. Can’t wait to see the channel grow even more next year. My favorite prog album from this past year may be Moon Safari’s latest release. What an album!
Thanks! Much appreciated. Yes, Moon Safari's new album is amazing!
Advent Horizon, our Album of the Year. Glad to see it getting some love!
Agreed. Best album I have heard in quite a while.
Great #3 pick Jon. Crown Lands - Fearless is my # 1 of 2023. As a new subscriber I have a few new ones to check out that i have not heard of on any other prog podcast shows like Subsignal and Kite Parade.
Great video! I wish you've picked Arjen Lucassen's Supersonic Revolution - Golden Age of Music, my favorite album of 2023
Lovely channel, I am watching all your videos from start to finish! Did you check out the Medieval Death LP + DVD ? Very progressive attitude and amazing drumming. What is your opinion on this 2023 release?
Fauna and The Harmony Codex are my favorites of this year. Thanks you guys for making good music and happy holidays!
Fauna is an absolutely stunning album, definitely top 5 of 2023!
Both are massive disappointments
how Crown Lands didn't get a better review is beyond me. It's definitely in my top 5 for 2023!
Great episode and this will be a great video for reference material for me to check out. Not really prog, but maybe on the fringes would be the new double album by The Church. (Hynogogue) I think it's their finest album since Priest = Aura. Thanks guys.
No Lalu "The Fish who wanted to be King? One of my favorites of the year
Check out the new "GIANTSKY II" album. If you like the band Soup you're gonna love it
Nice episode, I agree Trevor Rabin made really fantastic album, exceeding my already extremely high expectations. However, I am not sure if it's n.1 or n.2 because of his closest contender (which seems to be omitted here): GONG - Unending Ascending.
Check these out:
Arch Echo - Final Pitch
Behold... The Arctopus - Interstellar Overtrove
District 97 - Stay For The Ending
Haken - Fauna
HeKz - Terra Nova
Isobar - Isobar iii
Ron Jarzombek - Apps, Writing Systems and Remakes
Lind - A 3rd Ear Conversation. The Justification Of Reality Part II
Moon Safari - Himlabacken • Vol 2
Ni - Fol Naïs
PoiL Ueda - Yoshitsune
The Samurai of Prog - The Man In The Iron Mask
Seven Impale - Summit
Southern Empire - Another World
Tritop - Rise Of Kassandra
Zweiton - Gestalt
Has to be Nospun Opus at number 1 for me
"The Quest was kind of Yes's coming out of Rehab album" -Geoff 😄
Yes Indeed!
You forgot to include Enslaved’s "Heimdal". Great progressive album!
Great shout out for Southern Empire, Molybaron in the honorable mentions. 2 main albums that I personally missed: Earthside and The Ocean.
Life is But a Dream is certainly filled with Sgt. Pepper vibes. A7X definitely leaned into their prog side with it and I loved it. When I was seeing a lot of complaints about it from some of my non-prog peers, I was intrigued to give it a sincere listen, great record!
This is another way of presenting the best prog albums of 2023.
Here is my top 5
1. Mostly autumn, Studio 2
2. Unitopia, Seven Chambers
3. Karnataka, Requiem of a Dream
4. Crown Lands, Fearless
5. K'Mono, Mind out of Mind
Honorable mentions
Pattern Seeking Animals, Spooky Action at a Distance
Forod Lad, Chapter Prologue - And then there Was Silence
Ekyrian, Cuentos Junto a la Hoguera
Katatonia for me all day. Also loved Night Verses and Ok Goodnight
I love Hakens Fauna so much
Keep up the good work guys, love these videos.
Because no one asked, here's my top five of 2023:
1. Peter Gabriel- i/o
2. Unitopia - Seven Chambers
3. Moon Safari - Himlabacken vol. 2
4. Monika Roscher Bigband - Witchy Activities and the Maple Death
5. Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex
While my favorite is probably a tie between The Harmony Codex and A Sky Void of Stars, Exul by Ne Obliviscaris is a huge miss from this list.
Guys you should check Lumsk - Fremmede Toner
No surprise. Moon Safaris album is EPIC! Teen Angel could be one of the best songs ever written.
Soen!!! Lalu!!! Earthside!!!
Trevor Rabin Rio is the Best album of 2023 for me!
king crimson wheel of prog when? 👀
as soon as I can persuade the rest 😂😂😂 That said it is tricky because 13 albums is tough to split into tiers
Wow. How you missed Temic's debut album Terror Management Theory as being as top 3 Prog album of the year is a glaring oversight. I truly don't understand how you could have overlooked what was clearly a top 5 album of 2023.
No Hypno5e ? No Klone ? No Tesseract? No Einar Solberg?
We mentioned the latter two during the honorable mentions!
It really amazes me the amount of time needed to invest for listening so many albums, I mean, how many hours do you need to spend listening to music to pick up a list of 24 favorite albums of a year, how long was the initial list? And how judgmental you must be in order to actually list them. I have like 30 years listening to rock and I still have a hard time making my Top 20 of all times
It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it. 😂
Periphery: P1, P2, and Juggernaut are definitely much better progressive metal albums in my opinion. It seems like the records since Juggernaut have been much different and more accessible, and still great records, but those first few records are definitely ranked higher as more progressive albums to me.
Did the Winery Dogs make the list?
No. We love them but not really Prog.
@@progreport thanks for answering. New to prog rock. Pink Floyd fanatic from way back . Saw them on your channel. So I thought maybe. They are so ridiculously good though. Great list after watching it all. Lots of things with which I should become familiar
Periphery's the best of the year and it's not even close for me
Where is Seven Impale with amazing Summit album? There is a AV7 album, but none a word of great band that made true prog rock. What a shame
Well.. music is subjective, and all about taste and personal opinions. I am surprised by your number one....
Hmm... really devoid of all the brilliant Nordic band albums that came out this year... SOT was on the ball... what gives?
Periphery V is great, but nowhere near to their best work.
which is P IV
The debut album is definitely the best.
No mention of The Enigma Division. Disappointing!
Sorry! We do our best, but even with 24, we are bound to miss some!
@@KyleFagala Understandable! Would highly recommend - they have Sherinian on a track 👀
Nospun? Prog?
100%
@@progreport way too metal for me
Prog Metal, but definitely Prog.