With 2023 winding down to its conclusion, it’s time to reflect upon the finest albums of the past year. As with our previous end-of-year lists, this year’s final rankings reflect the consensus of our staff’s selections combined with our readers’ choices per the poll we conducted last month, which generated more than 42,000 responses.

So without further ado, we’re thrilled to reveal our picks for the 50 Best Albums of 2023. We encourage you to explore the list via the index below and be sure to click/tap the album covers to learn more and/or listen to the albums.

And if you’d like to add any of these albums to your record collection, find them at your local record stores or buy them via Amazon here. (As an Amazon affiliate partner, Albumism earns commissions from qualifying purchases.)

Enjoy the music and THANK YOU for making 2023 another incredible year for the entire Albumism community!

Albumism’s 50 Best Albums of 2023:

ALBUM-OF-THE-YEAR
#1 | Meshell Ndegeocello | The Omnichord Real Book
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#2 | Everything But The Girl | Fuse
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#3 | Corinne Bailey Rae | Black Rainbows
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#4 | Depeche Mode | Memento Mori
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#5 | Janelle Monáe | The Age of Pleasure
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#6 | Jessie Ware | That! Feels Good!
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#7 | The National | First Two Pages of Frankenstein
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#8 | Alison Goldfrapp | The Love Invention
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#9 | Slowdive | everything is alive
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#10 | Róisín Murphy | Hit Parade
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#11 | PJ Harvey | I Inside The Old Year Dying
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#12 | Kylie Minogue | Tension
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#13 | Foo Fighters | But Here We Are
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#14 | Sophie Ellis-Bextor | HANA
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#15 | Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds | Council Skies
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#16 | Cleo Sol | Heaven
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#17 | boygenius | the record
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#18 | Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit | Weathervanes
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#19 | Cleo Sol | Gold
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#20 | Madison McFerrin | I Hope You Can Forgive Me
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#21 | Nicole Dollanganger | Married in Mount Airy
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#22 | James Blake | Playing Robots Into Heaven
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#23 | Nas | Magic 2
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#24 | Emily King | Special Occasion
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#25 | El Michels Affair & Black Thought | Glorious Game
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