BEST OF 2023 – BenSCORZ! Hamel (Radio Host/Writer) 🇨🇦
You can find the Collective List as well as all our Best of 2023 content including contributors’ individual lists, podcasts and radio DJ shows here: CGCM’s Best of 2023 (Year in Review)
Ben Hamel hosts the MixFix here on CGCM Rock Radio. Going by the handle of BenSCORZ! our DJ recently did a massive series of radio shows encompassing his top 500 songs of the year! You can now listen to those via on-demand streaming through the CGCM Rock Radio MixCloud page.
BenSCORZ! has also contributed some written articles to our website. Check out his other articles and reviews here. BenSCORZ!
Ladies and Gentlemen here are Ben’s Top Ten albums of 2023!
#10 🇬🇧
VEGA – Battlelines
This album was another one that had me say to myself, “ok, that was a good tune. What else is there?” And on and on I went. I really liked listening to this album. I feel that all the elements fall into place production-wise. Three tracks from it earned a spot in my top 200 songs of 2023 and if I had known about the album earlier in the year, some tracks would have ranked higher.
#9 🇬🇧
THE ROLLING STONES – Hackney Diamonds
Trust me, I never saw it coming. The good vibes I got from listening to the new Stones album is still a mystery to me. The first single, “Angry” was meh… but after sampling the album, real good tunes came out. I mean real good. They still got it man and I ain’t ashamed to say that I love this album. Two songs off of Hackney Diamonds made it to my top 200 songs of 2023.
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#8 🇦🇺
THE CASANOVAS – The Casanovas
You kinda know right away what you’re in store for when you put on this album. The cover art quite resembles The Cult and the title is very AC/DCish. The Casanovas plucked things from here and there, mixed them altogether and then came up with an easy-to-appreciate set of rock and roll songs. Four songs from this album were assessed and two earned their spot in my top 200 songs of 2023. This album is a perfect example of putting it on and just pressing play.
#7 🇺🇲
WINGER – Seven
Let’s face it. I’ve seen Winger, live in concert, more in the last three years than I’ve seen my own family. Their long-awaited Seven album really impressed me. I’ve been a fan of theirs right from the start and sorta knew what to expect but I was wrong. So wrong. Take the track called “Stick the Knife In and Twist”. Everything about it is so not Winger, or so I thought. Much of the other tracks were like that this time around. Three tracks from the album ranked in my top 200 songs of 2023. Well played Winger… Well played.
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#6 🇮🇹
KHYMERA – Hold Your Ground
This album was recommended to me and my colleagues like many others. It got a spin and I not once skipped a song. In fact, when it played through, I went back to some to hear them again. I assessed that album the old-fashioned way and it was fun. Eight songs were assessed and two made the cut. I knew nothing about this band and this album was quite the find for me in 2023.
#5 🇩🇪
DORO – Conqueress: Forever Strong and Proud
I can’t confirm this without a shadow of a doubt, but I think Doro used the K.I.S.S. method for her amazing, long-awaited, new album. No, it has nothing to do with the band KISS; I’m referring to the Keep It Simple Stupid approach. Why should she go all complicated? This album is a straight-up heavy metal album… with a small 80’s pop ballad thrown in there, but hey, it’s a duet with the godfather of metal, Rob Halford. I certainly don’t have a problem with that. Two tracks from it cracked my top 200 songs of 2023 with one climbing all the way to #3.
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#4 🇺🇲
ALICE COOPER – Road
Has Alice Cooper ever put out a bad album???? Don’t answer that…. Let’s focus on the new one he released. The Road album has been a pleasant surprise for me and very, very listenable. I think it’s Alice Cooper’s best album since 1989’s Trash LP. Three tracks from Road ranked in my top 200 songs of 2023, but six were assessed. I don’t think it has gotten the best reviews, but I don’t care.
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#3 🇮🇹
MANESKIN – Rush!
This album is without a doubt, my guilty pleasure album of the year. It has a degree of heaviness, but it is mostly groovy, bass-oriented fun stuff. Five songs ranked in my top 200 songs of 2023 and with this album having the #1 song of the year for me.
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#2 🇺🇲
COREY TAYLOR – CMF2
First impressions are so important and the 1st single, “Beyond”, really impressed me. Corey Taylor is fun to listen to, plain and simple. Four tracks off his second solo LP ranked in my top 200 songs of the year, three of which in the top 50. I’m not even close to being tired of this one.
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#1 🇺🇲
METALLICA – 72 Seasons
The lead single “Lux Æterna” was an instant grabber when it came out in late November 2022 and it gave me hope that the new album would have other great tracks. It did as 5 of the tracks ranked in my top 200 songs of 2023. This album had tremendous staying power from April to the August concert weekend in Montreal, QC. I had it in constant rotation and is one I still have on stand-by at least once a week.
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Check out my other articles and reviews here. Ben
