Nita Strauss, Extreme, Overkill, Winger and Ad Infinitum are among the others who appear on Fred Phillips’ Best of 2023 hard rock and metal albums list.

I wanted to offer up some quick thoughts on my favorite records of the first half of 2023 because it has been a strong year.

This year has been lousy for a lot of reasons, but as this Best of 2020 list shows, hard rock and heavy metal were not among them.

If I can’t have a Savatage reunion, here’s hoping that Archon Angel keeps the magic alive.