2023 saw another year of growth for vinyl, and Blink-182, Foo Fighters and Enter Shikari had some of the most popular releases in the format.
Both the Foos and Blink released albums last year that carried an especially personal weight.
Dave Grohl and co.’s ‘But Here We Are’ LP was not only their first since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, but also since the passing of Dave’s mother, Virgina Grohl.
Blink’s incredible ‘One More Time…’ album, meanwhile, marked the first record since 2011 featuring all three of the band’s best-known lineup: Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker.
They might have been poignant projects, but they also proved extremely popular.
In fact, according to data from the Official Charts, both albums were among the best-selling vinyl albums of 2023, with Foo Fighters’ ‘But Here We Are’ ranking 17th, and Blink-182’s coming in at 34.
It might be unsurprising to hear that Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ was the most popular overall, followed by The Rolling Stones’ 14th Number 1 album, ‘Hackney Diamonds’.
In the singles race on vinyl format, meanwhile, Enter Shikari and Wargasm also have cause for celebration, with their ‘The Void That Stares Back’ 7-inch ranking 16th most-popular.
The Beatles’ ‘final’ song ‘Now and Then’ achieved the biggest-selling vinyl single of the year.
In our review of ‘One More Time…’, we described how:
“While fans will always have their own personal favourites that they hold close to their heart, it is fair to say that ‘One More Time…’ is a pretty perfect encapsulation of everything the band has been up to this point.
“In ‘One More Time…’, they can proudly declare that they have produced the most quintessentially blink-182 album they have ever made.”
Whilst in our first listen to Foo Fighters’ latest album we explained how:
“‘But Here We Are’ is a heavy record… grappling with loss almost at almost every line. Across its ten tracks, a consistent thread reoccurs throughout the lyrics: imagining someone’s presence only to be reminded of their absence.”
With 2023 bringing about a 16th consecutive year of UK vinyl sales growth, and some pretty big albums already pencilled in for the next 12 months, we await to see what 2024 has in-store for the format.