Ranking Every Song on Clancy

After a long wait (and even a one week delay), the highly anticipated 7th studio album from Twenty One Pilots has been released! The album, titled "Clancy", is the final part of their conceptual series, which started with "Blurryface" back in 2015. In this article, I'll be ranking every song off of Clancy! I'm going to say this right now, Clancy is amazing. I've had it on repeat the last couple of weeks, bought it on CD, and I even got tickets to go see the band at the Clancy World Tour in Denver this Fall! As you will eventually read, there aren't many songs I didn't like on this album. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, the two guys who comprise Twenty One Pilots, are very creative musicians who write very creative lyrics. This album represents that creativity very well. When it comes to criteria for ranking songs, I just based it off which one I like more, nothing simpler than that! However, please keep in mind that these are just my opinion, you are more than welcome to disagree with me! With that said, here's my ranking of each Clancy song:

#1 Overcompensate

To put it bluntly, Overcompensate is awesome. The lead single for Clancy starts the album off with a bang. It's got a good beat that gets you pumped up and moving. The booming "Welcome back to trench" gives you an idea of what's happening in the story, and it's when the song really gets good. I think one of the coolest things about this song is that it changes a lot to keep you fully invested in it, to the point where it's basically 3 songs built in 1. I also love how it builds up. It makes you get excited to hear the song progress. This is a song I can't wait to see live! It's also worth noting that Tyler's lyrics at the beginning of the song are an interpolation of "Bandito" from Trench, which is a song I love!

#2 Backslide

"Backslide" is the 3rd single off of Clancy.  The thing I love about this song is the smooth vibe it gives off. It has this interesting mix of hip-hop and alternative, with a great chorus, and well written lyrics. The song is catchy, easy to sing along with, but also pretty chill. I like the use of synthesizers and keyboard in the song, and the backing vocals used in the chorus add a very special vibe (vibe is a word you are going to hear a lot in this article) to the song. The only negative in Backslide is the fact that the keyboard solo at the end of the song is a little too short. It kinda frustrates you that it ended the way it does. Aside from that, this is a really cool song!

#3 Next Semester

As the 2nd single for Clancy, Next Semester is a great song, hence why I consider it the 3rd best song off the album. The raw & heavy use of bass and drums in the song is really cool, and they almost give the song a punk sound. On top of that, there are parts of the song that you can very easily imagine a crowd screaming at one of their shows. A great example of this is the lyric "Can't change what you've done". I hope they play this live on their World Tour, because I want to be able to chant those lyrics. This song is that good! At the end of the song, things slow down and everything gets calm. It finishes with just Tyler and a ukulele, but I think that ends the song in the best way possible. It's all chaos but at the very end things settle. A very enjoyable song overall!

#4 Vignette

This is probably one of the most beautiful songs on the album. It's got such an amazing sound! What I really like about this song is the use of strings throughout it. Additionally, Tyler's singing in the chorus is really good. He hits some solid high notes, stuff that I wouldn't dare to sing at karaoke (not like I sing anything at karaoke though)! It's not a very long song, but it makes a lasting impact throughout the album. I remember the first time I heard Clancy in full, this was one of the songs I couldn't stop thinking about! The whole album is really good, but this one really stands out! When I get to see the band in August, I really hope they perform this song live!

#5 Lavish

This song has an almost dreamy sound to it. If there was a song for bubble baths, this would be it! Lavish is cool because it's kinda got a fuzzy indie pop sound, it's got some unique singing, and it's really pleasant to listen to. You can easily vibe out with it playing. I really think the strings being plucked in the background are perfect for a song like this as well. This song would be a great option live too. Hopefully it'll be added to their setlist in the future!

#6 Midwest Indigo

Midwest Indigo kinda gives me vibes similar to Next Semester. It almost has that punk sound Next Semester has, but this song is much poppier. Despite the poppier sound, I think Midwest Indigo is just as catchy as Next Semester. I would also say that Midwest Indigo is a lot more mellow. Putting aside the comparisons, this is a very upbeat alternative rock song that has a fresh sound most music lacks these days. I think my favorite part of this song is when it mellows out for a few seconds. It's just synthesizers and Tyler singing. It's no so much the mellowness but the sound of the synthesizers being used in this moment. This part is very easy to sing as well. Overall, a very nice song!

#7 Snap Back

When I was putting this ranking together, I had the most trouble deciding whether Snap Back or At the Risk of Feeling Dumb should be at #7. However, as you can see, Snap Back would be my final decision. The song starts out with some dreamy keyboards, that kinda remind me of swimming through a coral reef in the ocean. I find that this song, like pretty much every other song on Clancy, is very catchy and fun to sing-along with. Lyrically, this song is pretty cool too. You'll find a lot of references to other songs, such as Backslide. I really like the usage of references on this track!

#8 At the Risk of Feeling Dumb

Although it is one of the last songs on the album, At the Risk of Feeling Dumb maintains the same energy the rest of the album has. The circus-sounding keyboards that are heard mostly at the beginning of the song not only fit the singing really well, but additionally adding a playful vibe to it. The song is kinda the same throughout most of it, but the climax is at each chorus, when the drums really come in and make the song get a little bit more energetic. It's really well made, just like all of Clancy!

#9 Navigating

Navigating is by far the most punk-sounding song on the whole album. Don't get me wrong though, none of these songs are punk. It's primarily the use of drums and bass that make some of these songs sound kinda like a mix of pop/alternative and punk, which is pretty awesome. The thing I love about Navigating is that you can really rock out to it. To me it kinda sounds like a song that could've been written and performed by The Killers. The other thing I love about this song is the bass at the beginning, which sounds pretty raw until the drums and synths come in! This is a great track, and it's probably one of the most unique songs of the whole album!

#10 Oldies Station

Oldies Station is a very warm, almost nostalgic sounding song. It's not the most interesting song on the album, but it certainly has the most positive and motivational lyrics by far. Another thing I love about this track is that you can very easily imagine a crowd chanting parts of the song at on of their shows (in particular, the lyrics "relative pain" and "nothing in the tank"), just like Next Semester! This is a really pleasant song to listen to. I love the instruments being used and the overall sound. This is a beautiful track!

#11 Paladin Strait

Paladin Strait is actually the longest Twenty One Pilots song ever, clocking in at 6:28! It's a very interesting track to close an album with, but it's also very soothing. The melodies in the song are easy to remember, and can often get stuck in your head! The biggest negative I have about this song is that it's not a full 6 and 1/2 minute long song, there's a pretty long break where it's just bird noises or something, and the final lyrics are just a deep booming voice saying "So few, so proud, so emotional. Hello Clancy". When you hear they're making a really long song, you want it to actually be long while also really interesting. This song is just interesting. If not for the pause with bird noises, it would be higher in this ranking.

#12 Routines in the Night

Routines in the Night is to me, a little different than the rest of the songs on Clancy because of how poppy and mainstream it sounds. I like how easy it is to sing along with, and the upbeat sound. What I don't like is that doesn't fit the album super well. I think this song would've sounded a lot better if it had performed by a female pop singer, because of the way the verses are sang. For a pop song, it is actually quite good, since most of that music is unbearable to me. I do commend Tyler and Josh on that!

#13 The Craving (Jenna's Version)

I hate to put this song at the very bottom of the list, because Tyler does an amazing job dedicating this song to his wife, Jenna. The problem is, it's not that interesting of a song. It's just Tyler and his ukulele for the entire track, and it's easy to forget you're even listening to it. When it comes to lyrics, it's great, Tyler writes great love songs. Aside from that, it's just kinda lame. Either way, it serves as a good interlude between Vignette and Lavish, which are great songs! 

Bonus Material:

#1 The Craving (Single Version)

Surprise! I bet you had no idea I would be ranking these bonus tracks too! The Craving (Single Version) was released just days prior to the release of Clancy, and was kind of the upbeat version of the track. This song has more instruments being used, which is pretty cool. With the combination of more instruments and an upbeat sound, it makes for a more captivating track, which is why I like this song more than Jenna's Version.  Don't get me wrong, neither one is a particularly bad song, it's just that if I had to choose between the two, this would be the song I would pick!

#2 The Craving (Jenna's Version) (Live from An Evening with Twenty One Pilots)

Although I may have ranked The Craving (Jenna's Version) as the worst song on Clancy, the live track featured in the Digital Remains deluxe edition of the album is actually really cool. Not only is it the live debut of the song, but also just the 2nd time Tyler had performed it at that time! Another thing to note is that unlike the other live tracks on the Digital Remains edition, you can hear Tyler performing a lot better. He honestly sounds really good in this performance as well!

#3 Next Semester (Live from An Evening with Twenty One Pilots)

In this live version of Next Semester, the crowd goes crazy, and I mean it! They're screaming every lyric, chanting, doing everything to have a good time! It's really cool to hear a performance with a crowd so heavily involved in it! On top of all that, the band performed the song really well. I think as loud as this concert probably was, it was a fun show for everyone. That's all that matters when you go to a concert!

#4 Backslide (Live from An Evening with Twenty One Pilots)

This performance is slightly worse than the Next Semester performance when it comes to the crowd singing, because the crowd was less familiar with Backslide at the time. The song was newer, so less people knew the lyrics. Aside from that, the song is well performed, but it is still difficult to hear the track because of the loud crowd. 

#5 Overcompensate (Live from an Evening with Twenty One Pilots)

This is the opening song from the performance, so the crowd is VERY loud in this song. Because of how loud this crowd is, you can hardly hear any of the song being played. From what you hear, it's another well performed song. The only thing I noticed is that Tyler's voice sounds a little bit different when performing than he does in studio recordings. Other than that, the performance is perfectly fine!

I've really enjoyed listening to Twenty One Pilots over the years, they're a fantastic band that has stayed consistent over the years. I cannot wait to see them live, and I also can't wait to see what's in store for us fans of their music in the near future! - Elliott Dudoit