The biggest disappointments in music releases for 2023, part 1

I've been releasing a massive summary of the year's music each year for a long time now. These lists include my favorite 100 or so releases, best reissues, best EPs, and other categories. It's kind of unwieldy and sometimes I've been still adding finds late into the spring of the next year, long after the barrage of other top and favorite lists that come out in December and January. I've actually thought that's not a bad strategy - to keep my list away from the crowd.

But also, my list is too big to read. So this year I'm breaking it up and will be unveiling it over the next several weeks. For now, let's start with the negative - the records that I thought were the biggest disappointments. Obviously, these are all artists I have a lot of love for who I don't think live up to their potential. I had a lot more in this category than usual this year, so here is the first half of the disappointments:

• 
  Ryan Adams puts out so much content that a release like this, covering The Boss's Nebraska, is more than anyone needs and also doesn't give anyone a reason to listen to it over the original. 
• John Cale is one of the most reliable artists around, but the Velvet Underground member sounds like a retread of Interpol on MERCY. 
• Quasi was a really cool band in the 90s, and there are some catchy tunes here, but mostly, Breaking the Balls of History is too overbearing with Sam Coomes' crunching keyboards. 
• Deja vu: I'm not really sure what the point of Ryan Adams' Blood on the Tracks is, but it's among his worst albums. 
• A couple of my 80s faves turn in some underwhelming performances with The Church's The Hypnogogue and The Long Ryders' September November. 
• Mudhoney's Plastic Eternity is not bad but unfortunately doesn't do anything for me and doesn't have a single offering that would fit into their 50 greatest songs, so look elsewhere. 
• Lloyd Cole is an institution with few missteps, but On Pain is a mediocre and minor synth-driven inclusion to his library. 
• 
  A grunge supergroup featuring members of Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam, 3rd Secret's 2nd 3rd Secret should be a little better than a Stone Temple Pilots album, so while it's ok, it's not great. 
• ANOHNI & Antony and the Johnsons produce a messy letdown with My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross.

Stay tuned for the second half of this list.