So far, 2023 has been a major year in the music industry. Morgan Wallen’s record-breaking One Thing at a Time is the most popular album of the year, which is the second time that a Morgan Wallen album was the most popular in the 2020s. Utopia by Travis Scott proved the popularity of rap in 2023, as it was the first rap album to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 (a weekly chart that measures the popularity of albums by their sales and streams) for its first four weeks of release since Drake’s Scorpion in 2018. SOS by SZA, released in early December 2022, took over the Billboard 200 at the beginning of 2023, as it was #1 for 2 weeks in 2022 and 8 weeks in 2023. Taylor Swift once again proved her relevance in the present-day music scene, as Midnights and her re-recorded version of her 2010 album Speak Now were atop the 200 for three weeks. And according to CNN, her Eras tour will likely become the highest-grossing tour of all time by the time it ends in 2024.
Amidst the success of these major albums and events of 2023, I decided that it would be a great time to do a 2023 album review.
This review is not meant to be a definitive guide to these albums for everyone, but rather just my opinions on the quality of the albums. Additionally, this review will surround just the singles from the albums, not the entirety of the album. The albums below are ranked by how many weeks it was #1 on the Billboard 200. I also left out the album Zach Bryan because there was a three-way tie for the fourth most popular album by Billboard 200 data, and the other two albums provided greater genre diversity for this review than Zach Bryan. With that being said, let’s dive in.
#5: NOSTALGIA
WEEKS AT #1 ON BILLBOARD 200: 2
Nostalgia, the fifth album by rapper and singer Rod Wave, was released on September 15, 2023. It was preceded by five singles from the album, which are Fight the Feeling (released March 31), Call Your Friends (released August 18), Come See Me (released September 1), Boyz Don’t Cry (released September 13), and Checkmate (released September 14).
Fight the Feeling provides some impressive production by Rod Wave, with a great drum beat carrying the song’s background. Additionally, Rod’s singing in this song is amazing, and the lyrics surrounding hiding your feelings are very well executed and relatable to most of the listeners. For this, Fight the Feeling gets an 8.5/10.
Call Your Friends is another great song on this album with nice instrumentation and drums and great singing by Rod Wave again. The lyrics surround wanting someone to call you or just wanting to talk to someone, which is also relatable to many listeners. Most of the praise I gave for Fight the Feeling is also applicable here. Call Your Friends also gets an 8.5/10.
After the first two singles, I personally feel like the singles on the album afterward seem to fall off a bit. This started with Come See Me. This song started with a great intro, but most of Rod Wave’s singing/rapping sounded like he was just talking. Also, the lyrics on this song seemed more mixed up or jumbled than the past two songs. Besides the rapping the song was nice, but the rapping seemed to detract from the quality of the other music. Come See Me gets a 6.25/10.
Boyz Don’t Cry also seems to follow this pattern. I didn’t have much to say about this song in my notes. The singing almost sounds like a Country and RnB fusion, which I can respect and the intro is good, but the lyrics seem mixed up and it shares a lot of flaws with Come See Me. Boyz Don’t Cry gets a 6.75/10.
The final single by release date on this album is Checkmate, and it also followed the pattern I described earlier. As expected on this album, this song had a good intro, but the lyrics are odd and sound offbeat. It isn’t a memorable song. Checkmate gets a 6.33/10.
FINAL SCORE: 7.27/10
#4: SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR’S VERSION)
WEEKS AT #1 ON BILLBOARD 200: 2
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the thirteenth album by Taylor Swift and her third re-recorded album, was released on September 15, 2023. The album technically does not contain any singles, but for this review, I am reviewing this album’s versions of the original Speak Now singles. These singles are Mine, Back to December, Mean, The Story of Us, Sparks Fly, and Us.
Mine is a song that maintains a very Country sound. I found the singing and melody to be quite basic, and the lyrics about a love story didn’t have much depth for most of the song. Mine gets a 6.75/10.
Back to December also features a quite simple melody, but I didn’t get bored of the melody as easily as I did with Mine. The singing is great and the music nicely compliments the singing. Back to December gets a 7.25/10.
Mean also features a more Country sound. The lyrics that complain about a mean (presumably) ex could have been executed way better in my opinion, as they aren’t very unique and come off as almost childish at times. This song also features a basic melody that I got bored of easily. Mean gets a 6.75/10.
The Story of Us has a more Punk/Rock-inspired intro with the electric guitars and drums but continues to a more familiar Taylor Swift melody while still keeping these influences throughout the song. Also, the way that Taylor Swift delivered the lyrics in this song specifically was great. The lyrics are again about a past relationship, this time surrounding the awkwardness of it. Overall, I found this to be a really solid song. The Story of Us gets an 8.5/10.
Sparks Fly is again more of a Country song, but it also includes some electric guitar, which makes it more unique. I didn’t have much to say about the song, as the songs were again about love and the melody was once again quite simple and boring. Sparks Fly gets a 6.75/10.
Ours is a very simple and peaceful song, but I liked the instrumentation in this song compared to the other songs on the album. It has more of a Pop vibe to it than the other Country oriented songs. Even though there wasn’t much in this song, the overall vibe of this song is far superior to the other songs on the album. Ours gets an 8.5/10
FINAL SCORE: 7.42/10
#3: UTOPIA
WEEKS AT #1 ON BILLBOARD 200: 4
Utopia is the fourth album by rapper Travis Scott. It was preceded by the single K-pop (released July 21). Two other songs, Delresto (Echoes) and Meltdown were designated singles upon the album’s release, and the song I Know ? was designated as a single on September 26.
K-pop isn’t a very impressive song on the album. The singing is loaded with way too much autotune in my opinion, and the lyrics don’t seem to follow much of a coherent story. The one positive thing in this song is the drum beat, which is quite good and stands out from the rest of the song. K-pop gets a 6/10.
Delresto (Echoes) is a song full of highs and lows. Travis’s singing in the beginning sounds almost as if he’s mumbling, the beat seems almost artificial in the context of the song, and Travis’s and Beyonce’s singing pattern almost sounded like the producer mixed them up at random. I have to give a lot of credit to Beyonce in this song because her singing is phenomenal and helps portray that mysterious vibe of the song. Delresto (Echoes) gets a 7/10.
Meltdown is a highlight of the album. Both Drake and Travis have great flow, the mysterious vibe of the album is also evident here, and the beat switch about halfway through the song made it unique and memorable. However, the lyrics aren’t that great in this song, which I have assumed is something to expect from Travis through this album review. Other than that, this song is great. Meltdown gets an 8/10.
I Know ? is another good song on this album. The intro is interesting, the melody and flow are catchy, the echoes and other production details in this song are well used, and it seems way less mixed up than the other songs on the album. The one flaw is, yet again, the lyrics just aren’t good, which means a lot in this song because it is mostly the lyrics. I Know ? gets a 7.75/10.
FINAL SCORE: 7.19/10
#2: SOS
WEEKS AT #1 ON BILLBOARD 200: 10 (8 in 2023)
SOS is the second album by singer SZA. It was preceded by three singles from the album, which are Good Days (released December 25, 2020), I Hate U (released December 3, 2021), and Shirt (released October 28, 2022). Additionally, three songs were designated as singles after the album’s release, which are Nobody Gets Me (designated as a single on January 6), Kill Bill (designated as a single on January 10), and Snooze (designated as a single on April 25).
Good Days gave me a great impression of the album. The beat is great, the production is amazing, and even though the melody stays the same for most of the song, it changes up in the end to introduce some changes. The lyrics talk generally about having bad days. The one major flaw in this song is that SZA’s singing can get unclear and hard to understand at times, but other than that it’s a great song. Good Days gets an 8.25/10.
I Hate U is more of an average RnB/Pop song. The intro is captivating, but the melody gets boring after a while and I personally don’t like the lyrics. I Hate U gets a 6.75/10.
Shirt feels more inspired by Hip-Hop and Rap than the other songs on the album. The 808-filled intro is nice and captured my attention, the lyrics can get heavy at times, and the Rap-inspired singing in the middle is great. This song also can get a bit boring and repetitive but I think the lyrics and overall singing overshadow that. Shirt gets a 7.75/10.
Nobody Gets Me can sound more like a Country song than SZA’s usual style. The acoustic instruments and general singing style honestly remind me of early Taylor Swift. Most of the lyrics are good, but the lyrics in the intro can get a bit vulgar and kind of threw me off. Nobody Gets Me gets a 7.33/10.
Kill Bill is one of the most popular songs of the year, and for good reason. The melody is catchy and relatively simple without getting boring, SZA’s singing is spectacular in this song, and even though most people won’t relate to the lyrics by themself, the way that she tells a captivating story full of jealousy and revenge is probably one of the most important reasons of this song’s success. Kill Bill gets an 8.75/10, making it the highest-rated song in this review.
After hearing Kill Bill, I had high expectations for Snooze, but unfortunately, it did not live up to those expectations. The singing in this song is clear, but the lyrics are pretty bad and the composition just isn’t great. There isn’t much else in this song. Snooze gets a 6/10.
FINAL SCORE: 7.47/10
#1: One Thing at a Time
WEEKS AT #1 ON BILLBOARD 200: 16
One Thing at a Time, the most popular album of 2023, is the third album by singer Morgan Wallen. This is the second time a Morgan Wallen album was the most popular album of the year in the 2020s, as the most popular album of 2021 was Dangerous: the Double Album by Morgan Wallen (technically Adele’s album 30 was the most sold album of 2021, but Dangerous had more weeks atop the Billboard 200). It was preceded by three singles from the album, which are You Proof (released July 18, 2022), Thought You Should Know (released November 7, 2022), and Last Night (released February 26). Additionally, three songs were designated as singles after the album’s release, which are One Thing at a Time (designated as a single on March 13), Everything I Loved (designated as a single on June 26), and Thinkin’ Bout Me (designated as a single on September 7). Unfortunately, I forgot to include Thinkin’ Bout Me in my notes as I reviewed the music, so Thinkin’ Bout Me will not be included in this review.
You Proof was not a great first impression of the album. The singing seems average, the melody is basic, and the lyrics that mostly surround drinking alcohol to avoid pain sound almost happy for such a sad topic. Overall, it’s an average Country song. You Proof gets a 5/10.
Thought You Should Know is much better than You Proof in my opinion. Even though I don’t particularly like Country music, I have to admit that the simple instrumentation perfectly compliments the lyrics about Morgan being homesick. It’s also more Pop-like than You Proof. Thought You Should Know gets a 7.25/10.
Last Night is this album’s most popular song, but in my opinion, it doesn’t live up to the hype. Though the melody is catchy, it gets annoying. The lyrics do tell a good breakup story, but the way Morgan sings them coupled with the rest of the music makes the song sound happy. Last Night gets a 6.75/10.
The title track of the album features some great drums throughout the song and lyrics about Morgan wanting to quit the things that he is addicted to, but he can only quit them one at a time. Though this song can also get repetitive, it overall is pretty solid. One Thing at a Time (the song) gets a 7.25/10.
We have finally reached the last song of this review, which is titled Everything I Loved. It features a nice bass intro and a more Country vibe than most of the other songs on the album. The lyrics talk about a breakup, and, as I stated with the rest of the songs on this album, the melody is basic but repetitive. Everything I Loved gets a 6.7/10.
FINAL SCORE: 6.58/10
2023 has been a major year for the music industry, and I’m glad that I could share my opinions on these albums through the Wildcat Voice. The final rankings of the albums are below:
