Here’s the final entry in the part of our annual LISTMANIA orgy where we share lists of metal from “big platform” web sites and print zines — the kind of places that get a lot more eyeballs on them than filthy little metal-only hovels like ours — as a way of getting a view about what “normal” people are being told is the year’s best metal.
Rolling Stone magazine should need no introduction, so I’m not going to provide one. Three years ago we didn’t include a Rolling Stone metal list in our year-end LISTMANIA series — because they didn’t publish one. Although we surmised that they had jettisoned the idea permanently, their Top 10 metal list made a return in 2021, and in 2022 they expanded the list to 15 names. This year it’s 11 (so of course they made a Spinal Tap joke).
Rolling Stone discloses nothing about the process they used to compile this list. They do give initials for the writers who prepared the record summaries accompanying each selection, with full names at the end (Brenna Ehrlich, Dan Epstein, Kory Grow, Kim Kelly), but it’s not clear whether those folks made the choices, or who determined the ranking. Whatever the process, it resulted in an odd kind of scattering.
The list isn’t as bad as the one we shared from Revolver, and it does have a smattering of lesser-known underground bands (thinking about Agriculture, Ragana, and the increasingly well-known Wayfarer), along with the “big names”, though the consensus around here is that it’s tough to swallow these as the best 11 metal albums that 2023 brought us.
And the AOTY pick, as one of my compatriots succinctly put it, is just embarrassing.
Well, let us know what you think of the list. You can find it in its original form, with the magazine’s commentary, HERE. Also, just to be extra-clear, even after all these years: This is NOT our list. This is Rolling Stone‘s list.
11. Khanate, ‘To Be Cruel’
10. Dethklok, ‘Dethalbum IV’
9. Code Orange, ‘The Above’
8. Wayfarer, ‘American Gothic’
7. Avenged Sevenfold, ‘Life Is but a Dream…’
6. Agriculture, ‘Agriculture’
5. Cannibal Corpse, ‘Chaos Horrific’
4. Jesus Piece, ‘…So Unknown’
3. Ragana, ‘Desolation’s Flower’
2. Godflesh, ‘Purge’
1, Metallica, ’72 Seasons’
8 Responses to “LISTMANIA 2023: ROLLING STONE’S 11 BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2023”
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To add a bit of helpful context, I think it’s always worth remembering that print magazines HAVE to cater to their readership, to a large extent, whenever they put together these lists.
There is ZERO point them dropping a list that features a bunch of bands they probably didn’t cover and going “surprise!” as all that’s going to do is piss people off.
And, sure, it’s predictable that the biggest bands tend to get the biggest fanfare in the biggest publications – that’s always been the case and always will be – but it’s good to see some less well-known names getting featured as well (I enjoyed both Agriculture and Ragana myself, even if I think neither of them is even a top 100 when all is said and done) because they’ll likely benefit from the exposure, even if only a little.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Counterpoint…Why bother covering metal at all? This “dip one toe in the genre” kind of coverage doesn’t really benefit any of their readers. Anyone who’s actually interested in metal isn’t having their needs met, so it’s not catering to that audience, and no one else is going to miss it if it’s gone. So it really serves no purpose.
The hipster doofuses running Rolling Stone should either nut up, and commit to actually covering metal, or just completely write it off as a waste of their already limited resources.
Meh, I see the value. As someone who had to come to metal in a weird way having these types of articles gave me a place to start looking for new things. Especially in the days before internet when I lived somewhere with no zines.
If I had seen this list and happened upon Wayfarer I would have been quite pleased.
….you’re talking pre-internet though. My question is really, what’s the value of a list cultivated towards a none metal listening audience in this day and age? When anyone with the slightest interest in metal can find far more substantial lists with little to no difficulty, what does Rolling Stone, with their tourist level perspective, really contribute?
This is actually a better list than I expected.
It was better than I expected too, but my expectations weren’t very high.
7, 6, and 1 are my three least favorite albums of the year, so that’s something. Agriculture made me wish I was deaf.
Good for Wayfarer (I guess)