Ranking Every Illenium Album

I've said it enough times on this blog, but I'll say it again: I am a huge fan of Illenium! I love not only his music but going to his DJ sets too! He's the only EDM artist I've seen live and I've seen im twice! Because I love all of his songs so much, I decided to rank all 5 of his studio albums from worst to best! He has more material outside of these albums, but I'm afraid that would take a little too long to put in one ranking! Just for the record, this list will not contain remix or live albums! Just strictly studio albums! Anyway, here's my list of his albums ranked:

5. "Illenium" (2023) - I know it seems ironic that in my CD Haul #2 article, I admitted how much I enjoy this album even though everyone else seems to hate it, and then proceeded to put it at last in this ranking! Well, don't take that the wrong way! This album is great, but most of the songs are significantly different than anything else Illenium had done in a studio album! They still work, but when compared to the other 4 albums, it's kind of odd having something so much heavier! A lot of the songs have a emo sound, with artists such as Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, Spiritbox, All Time Low, and Motionless In White involved! It's really cool hearing pop punk and metalcore mixing with dubstep, but I think Illenium is a little bit better at making melodic dubstep! If I were to recommend a song from this album, it would have to be "Shivering (feat. Spiritbox)." That song is awesome, and Courtney LaPlante's vocals really make it special!

4. "Awake" (2017) - Awake is much calmer than self-titled. It was just Illenium's second studio album, so melodic dubstep was much more involved! While I really do like a lot of the songs on this album, I always find it a tiny bit less exciting in comparison to some of the other Illenium albums! I still love songs like "Crawl Outta Love (feat. Annika Wells)", "Where'd U Go", and "Fractures (feat. Nevve)" though, and I highly recommend listening to it for a chill experience. I'll also (hopefully) be getting the Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive of this album at the end of November! I recommend "Where'd U Go" from this album the most!

3. Ashes (2016) - Ashes is a beautiful record. Just like Awake, it's very calm, but I feel like the songs on here are even more catchy and relaxing. It's a great album to listen to when enjoying nature too! I listen to this everytime i go for a hike and it's truly a surreal experience! Also, the album art is awesome! I think my favorite song on here is probably "Reverie (feat. Dana Salah)", but definitely listen to "Sleepwalker (feat. Joni Fatora)", "It's All on U (feat. Liam O'Donnell), and "Afterlife (feat. Echos)" too!

2. Fallen Embers (2021) - Fallen Embers was Illenium's first sign of a heavier album, but many of the songs are still really calm too! I feel like there's a solid balance of calm and heavy on this album. For example, you have songs like "In My Mind" which are heavier, and songs like "Blame Myself" that are a little bit calmer! I'd say my very favorite from this album is probably "Nightlight", one of the calmer songs on the album!

1. Ascend (2019) - Ascend is by far Illenium's best album! There are some really cool songs on here, and you will hear some of Illenium's most popular tracks too! The album is mostly chill just like the majority of Illenium's catalog, but this one has some great songs to do whatever to, whether it be working out or homework! My favorite song from this album is probably either "Good Things Fall Apart" or "Gorgeous." Neither of those songs is a bad option!

There it is, my ranking of Illenium's studio albums! Hopefully soon we will get a new release from Illenium in the near future! He is awesome, and makes some very captivating music! I also hope to see him perform again in the near future! - Elliott Dudoit