Following the strangeness of the covid years, it's been a gratifyingly rock-stuffed 2023. Across rock'n'roll's diverse sonic subtrates, we've celebrated 12 months of albums from new artists, retiring artists, returning artists and reuniting artists.
Between them they've given us some brilliant collections of songs, and Classic Rock's writers ranked The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds – their first album of new material from the band in nearly two decades – to be the album of the year. Two albums from two more big names, Metallica's 72 Seasons and Foo Fighters' But Here We Are, filled the medal positions.
