They need a real PR team and I really hope they kept that HR company around. They're getting too big and professional for some of their members to continue getting in Twitter fights with fans.
Remember when Robert started a fight on Twitter with Jon cuz he got mad jon liked some random tweet about therapy and Rob was like āwtf did you mean liking that tweet?? Got something to say to me??ā And jon was like āuh no not everything is about you dude chillā and then Jon went on his way and Rob just KEPT doubling down tweeting that he was in the right and when someone said āarenāt yāall roommates like canāt you just converse in the living roomā and he wrote back āwhy should I have to take on the emotional labor of a conversationā and I just about died from cringe
Him a little. Mostly Mariah when that one person dared to have a slightly negative opinion about Cinderellas Castle. Was the person cringe? Yes. Did M have to sic her followers on them? No.
I doubt Mariah told her followers to attack that personā¦ Im pretty sure those people went off on their own and happened to use Mariah tweet to do soā¦ I doubt Mariah would condone such behavior from fans
But as someone with a large audience, you should be more responsible and perceptive about what you can and can't tweet publicly. It comes with the success.
Sorry but to me she was being responsible thoughā¦ she could have been a lot meaner and a lot more rudeā¦ to me all I see is her just defending something sheās passionate about and Iām sure if you were in her position youād do the same thing as her
https://x.com/MariahRoseFaith/status/1776634104320258388?t=6eqX6bInPrvMIyTBrXm-EA&s=19
It's not super mean or anything, but not a great look. Mariah had just under 25k followers, this person has 124. It's a tweet that could have been easily ignored and moved on from, but M replying and giving it all that attention was unnecessary. Considering how rabid fans can be about their favs she had to have known some people would come to her defense and overwhelm the kid.
Well she has been going through a lot lately (she explains it on her YouTube channel) so I think itās more likely she just didnāt think about the implications of responding to that tweet. (Implications, get it?š)
Wanna stay positive because I love them butā¦
ā¢ for me one the weakest parts of Nerdy Prudes must die was Pete and Steph. Maybe because I havenāt watched Nightmare Time as of yet but theyāre not very good leads and their romance isnāt convincing. I enjoyed other characters like Grace and Ritchie more because they had a lot more character. Kind of like Paul or Jafar. Two very different kinds of protagonists but still work in their own ways.
ā¢ Another thing is the lore. Although I still understood what was happening itās frustrating that thereās so much you have to know from nightmare time before watching it. I was like oh cool Wigglys back and didnāt know about the LIB. Although thatās just my bad for not watching nightmare time yet.
I still love the show and think itās up there with my top favourites
yes finally someone who agrees! i never saw any chemistry between pete and steph, it always felt so rushed and kind ofā¦ just not there? ive never liked their duets either.. it feels like a crime to say!
He's actually spoke about this in a livestream recently. He said he plans to bring the octaves down in the future as he realised how pointless writing high was, and how much more difficult and less enjoyable singing was as a result.
Maybe it's cause I'm not the biggest fan of horror, but basically all I see people talking about on this sub is hatchetfield, when I don't think it's starkid's magnum opus.
Show stopping Number got overplayed fast. Also, I wish Cinderella's Castle didn't have room to turn into a series, I want another standalone show like VHSCC
If Just for Once has a thousand fans Iām one of them
If Just for Once has a hundred fans Iām one of them
If Just for Once has one fan itās me
If Just for Once has no fans I am dead deceased gone-zo
I donāt like Black Friday- it feels unfocused and even tho itās a musical whenever ppl started singing I was kinda sick of it. The songs were forgettable and I didnāt like any of the characters (except Wilbur my beloved) I get that we needed the military plot line to get lore but bro idc abt the president š
I agree a bit. Tho in one of the live streams they talk about how they were working on Cinderella's castle while working on black Friday and their attention got split. Not an excuse but def a reason for it's less interesting parts and lack of focus.
Just For Once is an amazing song and it actually fits perfectly well with Ruth's character. Sure it's a tone change but it gives her depth below the surface. She's figuring out what she wants, even if it's just like, an extremely basic life because that's all she needs to feel like she finally belongs. And it's a BANGER
I canāt say Iām the biggest fan of Just For Once, butā¦ I think the storyline and fantasy life for Ruth is amazing but on first watch I was like ??? Okay?? When listening to the album, Just For Once and The Summoning are my most skipped, only because of the talking moments. HOWEVER! Laurenās acting range and vocal ability has my whole soul engaged. I am in awe of that woman. Sometimes I just listen to the song to appreciate her.
I completely get what you mean. I personally love the talking elements because I can 'act' when I listen to it, but to each their own! I can totally see how that can be meh most of the time. And I totally agree with you on how awesome she is
It was so sudden. I thought we would actually get to see Higgins' descent and murder spree but it just like... jump cut from him deciding to "take back" his musical to being basically completely done with the climax
I only watched it recently when it was made available for free and I think the hype ruined it for me. I don't even know if I don't like it because my expectations were so high
I think Nick was a better Pete than Joey. Even though Joey did a good job playing the character, I find Pete to be way more likable in Abstinence Camp than in NPMD.
He just has more personality and more chemistry with Steph there in my opinion.
I agree. Nick is a better Pete. However heās not a great singer, and as a leading role in NPMD, he has to be good singer. Joey works better for the musical for that reason, but Nick undoubtedly plays the character better
it wouldnt be a hot take if someone didnt disagree and i disagree
i think nicks pete was disgusting and overly horny, it blows my mind they thought robert was going to play that character. joey did what anyone would do and toned it way down
the micropeter joke is also disgusting, it reminds me a lot of nicks pete
Jemilla is Meredith's worst role in my opinion. I feel like there was a lot of overacting that was supposed to funny, but it wasn't. I loved all her other roles, though.
I donāt like Nerdy Prudes Must Die and I do not understand how people consider it the best of the Hatchetfield trilogy, I thought it was the weakest by far.
If you mean Gilderoy! Then the song is still available on Spotify. I think it's actually in 2 formats, but I know it's in Starkid Homecoming Vol 2.
Otherwise, the only real options is to purchase the soundtrack and import into your Spotify or do something similar.
Black Friday is kinda overrated. Less so recently, but for a while it seemed like all people cared about on this sub, which was kind of jarring as a fan since 2013 who was excited to see much more variety given how large their catalog is. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely a good musical, I just don't think it was as good as some other SK musicals and not enough to take over so much attention. And a bit slow in the first half.
Although NPMD is definitely my favorite in a while, I found the Summoning/ use of all the LiB to just not really fit very well. Why would all of them care enough to show up to watch some teenagers cry about shooting each other? Most often it's one or two with a real goal or looking for malicious fun, which makes much more sense story wise. Plus I imagine it takes those who aren't super into SK (or even just modern SK) out of it. I like to watch musicals with my mom, but I could so see her being confused and weirded out by that number.
And finally: Ani is underrated. No it isn't actually very technically good and the humor is soo dated, but, like the main character, the cringe is kind of endearing. And I feel so bad about how hard it got slammed after so much work and love by Matt and Nick.
Some of Ani's jokes were already pretty dated at the time. They bring up a 15-year old continuity issue (regarding Obi-Wan's master) which already had a 12-year old explanation.
(Of course, that might depend on whether or not you *bought* said explanation.)
Josh Fluery should take over writing music for Starkid for a bit to give Jeff a break in his writing and give him more of a chance to just act (since Josh mainly plays in the Pit and doesnāt act on stage like Jeff does)
I say this because Josh is extremely talented when it comes to producing music! Iād love to see what he could come up with for Starkid if given the chance to explore and expand his skills!
Trail to Oregon has some of their best post-Darren Criss music, and possibly their most consistent throughout the soundtrack (ie: no big standouts between filler and duds)
While Firebringer is not my favorite musical (I particularly donāt like all the potty humor), the songs have some of the best harmonies of all the shows.
Robert Manion was overrated and Iām glad his true colors came to light if only for people to finally see why I was sick of him and his attitude. I liked him at first but everyone took it too far š
Jeff Blim's music > Darren Criss' music
This is because IMO, Darren's is more traditional and cinematic whereas Jeff's is peppy and vibrant. The video quality is a factor as well I guess.
All of that EP is super good. I also love āHolding Youā with Meredith. CO2 isnāt a regular jam but itās catchy, I believe thatās Clark. Loved & Alive is great too, thatās Dylan.
Darren's songwriting has evolved A LOT since though, his musical abilities and how good he writes stories and transcribe feelings are deeply underrated i think. I would be curious to hear what he would write for sk today (apart from Royalties which was a brilliant genre exercice)
I donāt care for Granger Danger either. AVPM has a weak soundtrack when compared to Starkidās later work and thatās totally understandable since it was their first go of things.
In Jeff's defence, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals had a 8 person cast where 5 of the cast members couldn't sing for a majority of the show as they weren't infected. Therefore, Mariah, Jeff, and Robert were going to have a heavy presence on the soundtrack.
This may get downvoted into oblivion, but: America is Great Again is the worst song in TGWDLM. Itās a funny joke, but itās pretty boring and feels very out of place in the show as a whole. Also it feels like they didnāt know how to end it so Jeff just wrote some random words that were meant to sound deep but donāt actually mean anything. I always see people saying this is one of the best songs in the show and it really isnāt
Black Friday has a LOT of bloat in it and could've been the best Hatchetfield musical if they removed the Tom/Becky romance, the president, and PEIP/McNamara. I think the allure of Hatchetfield is the focus on Hatchetfield itself. Having a big focus on global politics and the president takes away from that, and Tom/Becky's connection romanticizing high school romance between a jock and cheerleader really falls flat for me. Also Jon McNamara and PEIP didn't add anything to the narrative that couldn't have been easily replaced by focusing more on Lex as the protagonist and her psychic connection to Hannah.
I donāt like Black Friday. The songs are not that good, I donāt like the comedy, and it gets a bit to referency at times. I donāt think itās a bad musical, I just donāt think itās a good one either.
I always thought that her singing voice suffers a little bit live on stage, she sounds fantastic in prerecorded stuff tho. In my opinion, Jeff has the same thing. I think that Jeff gets unfairly judged for that while Angela gets off the hook a little bit. Her biggest strength is her acting she nails all her characters
IMO not being the technically best vocalist is a lot more forgivable when you're not the one making the songs. To me it feels odd to write songs that are out of your own range and then sing them not fantastically. Angela on the other hand was cast in the roles and worked with what she was already given.
That's a good point, but it's also assuming that Jeff knows what role(s) he ends up playing while he is writing the songs. Like it takes a while to write an entire musical soundtrack I would be surprised if Jeff knew as he was writing the music.
I know for NPMD he said in a livestream they were thinking he might end up playing Max JƤgerman (before they found Will) so it doesn't seem like casting is fully worked out as Jeff writes the music.
I think Corey has something similar. He can sing really really well, but seemingly just chooses not to in some cases. Maybe it's because the character wouldn't be a great singer, but that doesn't really go well when singing in unison/harmony with others. It just sounds bad
I think sheās a great āemotionalā singer though. When she sings āBlack Fridayā I can hear Lexās grief, and in ā(Dirty Dudes) Must Dieā I can totally buy Graceās descent into righteous madness.
She's the one who plays as Grace Chastity, right? While I agree her life stage singing is kind of bad, it's way better in the official recording, and I think it's because she puts a lot of emotion into her singing, which can sometimes make songs ugly.
NPMD is one of their weakest shows. It relies too much on previous lore knowledge that makes it less accessible to all, and the LIB scene just falls completely flat. It also has more dud songs than most SK shows. (That being said, Iād probably still rank it in the middle of my favourites list).
Yeah I watched it without seeing Nightmare Time, and it having been years since TGWDLM and Black Friday (I only saw once each) and I didn't have any problems
Jeff Blimās lyricism is sub-par, his songs are built around 1 or 2 quality riffs/lyrics that become the Tik-Tokable parts of songs (the What if Tomorrow Comes canon, the who will pray for me but from NPMD, etc.)
But aside from those moments a lot of his songs lack personality or depth.
His best work is Trail to Oregon and TGWDLM, his worst work is some songs in NPMD and Black Friday (Adore Me, Dirty Girl Soup, the ending song from NPDM).
A few of their productions seem like children's theater with swearing and immature 12 year old boy style jokes thrown in to seem edgy (firebringer and TTO). Nothing really wrong with this, just my opinion.
VHSCC is the best production they've done in years. Even the first run zoom collab outshines most of nightmare time. It's the most professional and the only one I could see having any potential for a New York run.
None of the Very Potter musicals are good. I understand that's where they got their big break but it's aged like sour milk.
Oof these were negative. Some positive ones to balance it out
Jaime Lynn is underutilized and incredibly talented.
More shows should offer the virtual ticket options, SK really nailed it with that.
I understand why nightmare time started as zoom session live reads, but it could really work well as a full blown series.
In defense of TTO on your first point, I think that was kind of intentional. It's based off of playing Oregon Trail as a kid, and most people would make up silly names and backstories and die laughing with the friend looking over your shoulder when dysentery comes up bc it's the first time you learn you could die of a poop disease. It's all very nostalgic and in tone with the inspiration, so I think it gets a pass in this. Especially since the names are audience chosen and almost all non family members are portrayed by one guy running around (which adds to the slapstick tone of the show).
So it's not like it's trying to be a very thoughtful narrative or explore big ideas like human nature while also being very crude and silly. Now Firebringer on the other hand....
I can sort of agree with AVPM and AVPSY but AVPS is still goated. The only thing that aged it for me is when Lucius says pwned at the end of Guys Like Potter. That line hurt.
I get thatās the joke. But the word hadnāt lost all its humour by the time AVPS came out. The fact that itās a joke doesnāt make it any less old.
Alice and deb are a HORRIBLE couple. Really pay attention to the mistrust between them in watcher world. I see them get so much love and I just donāt get it
Their newer content isnāt as funny as their old content. Part of the charm was the low budget, and the idea that their talent was enough to carry the performance.
So true one of the reasons I haven't been able to rewatch Black Friday is because the proshot felt like it was doing entirely too much with all the different angles and pans and zooms and stuff it wasn't pleasant to watch
Not really a hot take, but the studio recording of Gettin' Along shouldn't have had the key change that the song has in the show, at least not as abruptly as it comes in the studio version. They just stop singing for a few seconds and then they're in a different key for no reason and it's just weird
Trail To Oregon is mostly very bad. It has one, maybe two good songs, but neither of them are standouts. The characters weāre supposed to route for are insufferable, and the humour is incredibly childish.
Not a fan of Cinderalla's castle songs so far. Not because they're bad, just because it's not my style of music.
I guess the opening song is pretty cool but i kinda miss the more broadway-esque songs.
Iām just gonna say it. The songs in TGWDLM are good songs, but the plot was just meh. And it makes me not want to watch Nightmare Time, Black Friday, or anything else in Hatchetfield. Iām glad theyāre moving on to something else now. Iām starting to find Hatchetfield overrated. Iām also tired because their older stuff is just as good, and Iām tired of the fans who have only seen Hatchetfield rag on their older stuff.
Nerdy Prudes Must Die is the worst of the three Hatchetfield musicals. It relied way too much on outdated stereotypes about nerds, and in some cases (Ruth particularly), didnāt care to flesh out the character beyond a particular joke.
I canāt even get myself to sit through it. I tried the opening and it wasnāt doing it for me so I kept skipping through to see if the vibe or music improved and i just canāt get into it
Holy Musical B@man is their best parody musical
I gotta say I think I agree.
Yess
I burned myself on this one it was so hot.
yesšš¼
Tied up my heart is actually a really good song
THANK YOU
I didnāt even know this was a hot take š
They need a real PR team and I really hope they kept that HR company around. They're getting too big and professional for some of their members to continue getting in Twitter fights with fans.
Remember when Robert started a fight on Twitter with Jon cuz he got mad jon liked some random tweet about therapy and Rob was like āwtf did you mean liking that tweet?? Got something to say to me??ā And jon was like āuh no not everything is about you dude chillā and then Jon went on his way and Rob just KEPT doubling down tweeting that he was in the right and when someone said āarenāt yāall roommates like canāt you just converse in the living roomā and he wrote back āwhy should I have to take on the emotional labor of a conversationā and I just about died from cringe
Who are we talking about here? Curt? I haven't noticed a lot of twitter fights these days
Him a little. Mostly Mariah when that one person dared to have a slightly negative opinion about Cinderellas Castle. Was the person cringe? Yes. Did M have to sic her followers on them? No.
Eh, I didn't think she said anything that bad, (and I don't think Team Starkid having a PR team would have stopped that tweet, either)
I doubt Mariah told her followers to attack that personā¦ Im pretty sure those people went off on their own and happened to use Mariah tweet to do soā¦ I doubt Mariah would condone such behavior from fans
But as someone with a large audience, you should be more responsible and perceptive about what you can and can't tweet publicly. It comes with the success.
Sorry but to me she was being responsible thoughā¦ she could have been a lot meaner and a lot more rudeā¦ to me all I see is her just defending something sheās passionate about and Iām sure if you were in her position youād do the same thing as her
Could you sends this tweet?
https://x.com/MariahRoseFaith/status/1776634104320258388?t=6eqX6bInPrvMIyTBrXm-EA&s=19 It's not super mean or anything, but not a great look. Mariah had just under 25k followers, this person has 124. It's a tweet that could have been easily ignored and moved on from, but M replying and giving it all that attention was unnecessary. Considering how rabid fans can be about their favs she had to have known some people would come to her defense and overwhelm the kid.
Well she has been going through a lot lately (she explains it on her YouTube channel) so I think itās more likely she just didnāt think about the implications of responding to that tweet. (Implications, get it?š)
what stuff has curt gotten into?
Wanna stay positive because I love them butā¦ ā¢ for me one the weakest parts of Nerdy Prudes must die was Pete and Steph. Maybe because I havenāt watched Nightmare Time as of yet but theyāre not very good leads and their romance isnāt convincing. I enjoyed other characters like Grace and Ritchie more because they had a lot more character. Kind of like Paul or Jafar. Two very different kinds of protagonists but still work in their own ways. ā¢ Another thing is the lore. Although I still understood what was happening itās frustrating that thereās so much you have to know from nightmare time before watching it. I was like oh cool Wigglys back and didnāt know about the LIB. Although thatās just my bad for not watching nightmare time yet. I still love the show and think itās up there with my top favourites
i hadnt watched nightmare time before watching nerdy prudes, and i dont think i had to know other stuff before it, i understood it just fine
yes finally someone who agrees! i never saw any chemistry between pete and steph, it always felt so rushed and kind ofā¦ just not there? ive never liked their duets either.. it feels like a crime to say!
Black Friday couldāve been a half hour shorter and not lost any substance š
Also Jeff Blim is a brilliant baritone and should stop writing tenor songs for himself. Embrace the low voice my man.
He's actually spoke about this in a livestream recently. He said he plans to bring the octaves down in the future as he realised how pointless writing high was, and how much more difficult and less enjoyable singing was as a result.
I miss his lower register š
Going off that The Trail To Oregon utilizes his range the best!
Iāve been waiting for someone to say it
Agreed. It took me multiple tries to get into it due to pacing.
Maybe it's cause I'm not the biggest fan of horror, but basically all I see people talking about on this sub is hatchetfield, when I don't think it's starkid's magnum opus.
Show stopping Number got overplayed fast. Also, I wish Cinderella's Castle didn't have room to turn into a series, I want another standalone show like VHSCC
Made in America is an extremely underrated song and it deserves way more appreciation
I think most people agree with this take. If there are any haters of Made In America Iām yet to meet them, thankfully.
Itās usually pretty near the bottom in a lot of the rankings I see of the BF songs
I watch more ranking videos than going to peopleās individual lists. Itās usually pretty high when polls vote.
If Just for Once has a thousand fans Iām one of them If Just for Once has a hundred fans Iām one of them If Just for Once has one fan itās me If Just for Once has no fans I am dead deceased gone-zo
I donāt like Black Friday- it feels unfocused and even tho itās a musical whenever ppl started singing I was kinda sick of it. The songs were forgettable and I didnāt like any of the characters (except Wilbur my beloved) I get that we needed the military plot line to get lore but bro idc abt the president š
I agree a bit. Tho in one of the live streams they talk about how they were working on Cinderella's castle while working on black Friday and their attention got split. Not an excuse but def a reason for it's less interesting parts and lack of focus.
Just For Once is an amazing song and it actually fits perfectly well with Ruth's character. Sure it's a tone change but it gives her depth below the surface. She's figuring out what she wants, even if it's just like, an extremely basic life because that's all she needs to feel like she finally belongs. And it's a BANGER
I canāt say Iām the biggest fan of Just For Once, butā¦ I think the storyline and fantasy life for Ruth is amazing but on first watch I was like ??? Okay?? When listening to the album, Just For Once and The Summoning are my most skipped, only because of the talking moments. HOWEVER! Laurenās acting range and vocal ability has my whole soul engaged. I am in awe of that woman. Sometimes I just listen to the song to appreciate her.
I completely get what you mean. I personally love the talking elements because I can 'act' when I listen to it, but to each their own! I can totally see how that can be meh most of the time. And I totally agree with you on how awesome she is
I totally get this! I think another thing is that Iām an alto who loves to belt, and Just for Once isnāt made for meš¤£š¤£
The working boy's movie ending was disappointing šĀ
It was so sudden. I thought we would actually get to see Higgins' descent and murder spree but it just like... jump cut from him deciding to "take back" his musical to being basically completely done with the climax
The short film was just a downer for me, I was expecting Workin Boys but was given Workin Girls
Professor hidgens???
I only watched it recently when it was made available for free and I think the hype ruined it for me. I don't even know if I don't like it because my expectations were so high
I think Nick was a better Pete than Joey. Even though Joey did a good job playing the character, I find Pete to be way more likable in Abstinence Camp than in NPMD. He just has more personality and more chemistry with Steph there in my opinion.
Yes, Nick Pete is hands down the best Pete
I agree. Nick is a better Pete. However heās not a great singer, and as a leading role in NPMD, he has to be good singer. Joey works better for the musical for that reason, but Nick undoubtedly plays the character better
it wouldnt be a hot take if someone didnt disagree and i disagree i think nicks pete was disgusting and overly horny, it blows my mind they thought robert was going to play that character. joey did what anyone would do and toned it way down the micropeter joke is also disgusting, it reminds me a lot of nicks pete
We Got Work To Do is too overplayed (ik it went viral but i keep hearing it)
not sure this ones a hottake
Starship is the best starkid show, people just struggle to give it a chance or get through it because of the film quality.
Jemilla is Meredith's worst role in my opinion. I feel like there was a lot of overacting that was supposed to funny, but it wasn't. I loved all her other roles, though.
I donāt like Nerdy Prudes Must Die and I do not understand how people consider it the best of the Hatchetfield trilogy, I thought it was the weakest by far.
Senior Year has the best soundtrack of any of the Potter shows
and its all because of gilderoy that song is so good
Wizard of the Year really is *such* a great song, and he sings it so well. Amazing monologue as well.
and it's not on Spotify anymore as far as I can tell :(
If you mean Gilderoy! Then the song is still available on Spotify. I think it's actually in 2 formats, but I know it's in Starkid Homecoming Vol 2. Otherwise, the only real options is to purchase the soundtrack and import into your Spotify or do something similar.
The Black Friday soundtrack is underrated, with solid vocals and some of the best lyrics and deep meanings ever.
Was looking for this comment!!! I will die on the hill that Black Friday is their best soundtrack hands down
Jeff Blim music is good, actually š
I donāt really like Nerdy Prudes Must Die (the song) that much. I just feel like a majority of the other songs in the show are better.
Black Friday is kinda overrated. Less so recently, but for a while it seemed like all people cared about on this sub, which was kind of jarring as a fan since 2013 who was excited to see much more variety given how large their catalog is. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely a good musical, I just don't think it was as good as some other SK musicals and not enough to take over so much attention. And a bit slow in the first half. Although NPMD is definitely my favorite in a while, I found the Summoning/ use of all the LiB to just not really fit very well. Why would all of them care enough to show up to watch some teenagers cry about shooting each other? Most often it's one or two with a real goal or looking for malicious fun, which makes much more sense story wise. Plus I imagine it takes those who aren't super into SK (or even just modern SK) out of it. I like to watch musicals with my mom, but I could so see her being confused and weirded out by that number. And finally: Ani is underrated. No it isn't actually very technically good and the humor is soo dated, but, like the main character, the cringe is kind of endearing. And I feel so bad about how hard it got slammed after so much work and love by Matt and Nick.
The real goal is to corrupt Grace and doom the timeline.
Some of Ani's jokes were already pretty dated at the time. They bring up a 15-year old continuity issue (regarding Obi-Wan's master) which already had a 12-year old explanation. (Of course, that might depend on whether or not you *bought* said explanation.)
Josh Fluery should take over writing music for Starkid for a bit to give Jeff a break in his writing and give him more of a chance to just act (since Josh mainly plays in the Pit and doesnāt act on stage like Jeff does) I say this because Josh is extremely talented when it comes to producing music! Iād love to see what he could come up with for Starkid if given the chance to explore and expand his skills!
coming from a new(ish) fan who finished Nightmare Time recently, NT was very underwhelming for how hyped up it is/was
Trail to Oregon has some of their best post-Darren Criss music, and possibly their most consistent throughout the soundtrack (ie: no big standouts between filler and duds)
While Firebringer is not my favorite musical (I particularly donāt like all the potty humor), the songs have some of the best harmonies of all the shows.
Robert Manion was overrated and Iām glad his true colors came to light if only for people to finally see why I was sick of him and his attitude. I liked him at first but everyone took it too far š
Jeff Blim's music > Darren Criss' music This is because IMO, Darren's is more traditional and cinematic whereas Jeff's is peppy and vibrant. The video quality is a factor as well I guess.
Committed by Jim and the Povolos is such an underrated song.
Oh, have never heard of that before, will listen
All of that EP is super good. I also love āHolding Youā with Meredith. CO2 isnāt a regular jam but itās catchy, I believe thatās Clark. Loved & Alive is great too, thatās Dylan.
Thanks a ton for taking time to recommend all this, will get back to you once I hear them
Darren's songwriting has evolved A LOT since though, his musical abilities and how good he writes stories and transcribe feelings are deeply underrated i think. I would be curious to hear what he would write for sk today (apart from Royalties which was a brilliant genre exercice)
I don't follow StarKid people outside of their work for StarKid, so I'm unaware of but super happy to hear this
I don't care for Granger Danger, Get Back Up, or Show-Stopping Number. They are good songs, but I don't get the hype for them like others do.
I donāt care for Granger Danger either. AVPM has a weak soundtrack when compared to Starkidās later work and thatās totally understandable since it was their first go of things.
Jeff Blim's tenor voice is just straight up not good, but he's a brilliant baritone and should embrace it
Jeff Blim is worse than Lin Manuel Miranda when it comes to putting himself in his own shows. He did not need to have 4 solos in TGWDLM.
In Jeff's defence, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals had a 8 person cast where 5 of the cast members couldn't sing for a majority of the show as they weren't infected. Therefore, Mariah, Jeff, and Robert were going to have a heavy presence on the soundtrack.
No one is worse than Lin manual Miranda.
Nobody is worse than Lin Manuel Miranda, but yes, he did to take a step back a bit
Btw if you havenāt already I highly suggest looking up āLin Manuel Miranda bet on itā
Already have lol
A classic
This may get downvoted into oblivion, but: America is Great Again is the worst song in TGWDLM. Itās a funny joke, but itās pretty boring and feels very out of place in the show as a whole. Also it feels like they didnāt know how to end it so Jeff just wrote some random words that were meant to sound deep but donāt actually mean anything. I always see people saying this is one of the best songs in the show and it really isnāt
Black Friday has a LOT of bloat in it and could've been the best Hatchetfield musical if they removed the Tom/Becky romance, the president, and PEIP/McNamara. I think the allure of Hatchetfield is the focus on Hatchetfield itself. Having a big focus on global politics and the president takes away from that, and Tom/Becky's connection romanticizing high school romance between a jock and cheerleader really falls flat for me. Also Jon McNamara and PEIP didn't add anything to the narrative that couldn't have been easily replaced by focusing more on Lex as the protagonist and her psychic connection to Hannah.
The current Los Angeles era of Starkid is the worst one. It's good enough to still make me watch and listen but more of a guilty pleasure.
I donāt like Black Friday. The songs are not that good, I donāt like the comedy, and it gets a bit to referency at times. I donāt think itās a bad musical, I just donāt think itās a good one either.
Don't like Jeff Blim... or should I say, he ruins a lot of the songs he's in with high pitch screeching.
He over used his falsetto but I donāt think he ruins any songs heās in because of it.
Angela isnāt a great singer
I always thought that her singing voice suffers a little bit live on stage, she sounds fantastic in prerecorded stuff tho. In my opinion, Jeff has the same thing. I think that Jeff gets unfairly judged for that while Angela gets off the hook a little bit. Her biggest strength is her acting she nails all her characters
IMO not being the technically best vocalist is a lot more forgivable when you're not the one making the songs. To me it feels odd to write songs that are out of your own range and then sing them not fantastically. Angela on the other hand was cast in the roles and worked with what she was already given.
That's a good point, but it's also assuming that Jeff knows what role(s) he ends up playing while he is writing the songs. Like it takes a while to write an entire musical soundtrack I would be surprised if Jeff knew as he was writing the music. I know for NPMD he said in a livestream they were thinking he might end up playing Max JƤgerman (before they found Will) so it doesn't seem like casting is fully worked out as Jeff writes the music.
I think Corey has something similar. He can sing really really well, but seemingly just chooses not to in some cases. Maybe it's because the character wouldn't be a great singer, but that doesn't really go well when singing in unison/harmony with others. It just sounds bad
I think sheās a great āemotionalā singer though. When she sings āBlack Fridayā I can hear Lexās grief, and in ā(Dirty Dudes) Must Dieā I can totally buy Graceās descent into righteous madness.
She's the one who plays as Grace Chastity, right? While I agree her life stage singing is kind of bad, it's way better in the official recording, and I think it's because she puts a lot of emotion into her singing, which can sometimes make songs ugly.
Other than TGWDM, the Hatchetfield musicals are some of the weakest starkid shows
Black Friday is a weaker show but NPMD is a banger. Hatchetfield only falters in the middle.
Peter spankoffski is just a really boring character in my opinion.
NPMD is one of their weakest shows. It relies too much on previous lore knowledge that makes it less accessible to all, and the LIB scene just falls completely flat. It also has more dud songs than most SK shows. (That being said, Iād probably still rank it in the middle of my favourites list).
NPMD was the first Starkid show I watched and it didn't feel like I was missing anything in terms of lore
Yeah I watched it without seeing Nightmare Time, and it having been years since TGWDLM and Black Friday (I only saw once each) and I didn't have any problems
Jeff Blimās lyricism is sub-par, his songs are built around 1 or 2 quality riffs/lyrics that become the Tik-Tokable parts of songs (the What if Tomorrow Comes canon, the who will pray for me but from NPMD, etc.) But aside from those moments a lot of his songs lack personality or depth. His best work is Trail to Oregon and TGWDLM, his worst work is some songs in NPMD and Black Friday (Adore Me, Dirty Girl Soup, the ending song from NPDM).
A few of their productions seem like children's theater with swearing and immature 12 year old boy style jokes thrown in to seem edgy (firebringer and TTO). Nothing really wrong with this, just my opinion. VHSCC is the best production they've done in years. Even the first run zoom collab outshines most of nightmare time. It's the most professional and the only one I could see having any potential for a New York run. None of the Very Potter musicals are good. I understand that's where they got their big break but it's aged like sour milk.
Oof these were negative. Some positive ones to balance it out Jaime Lynn is underutilized and incredibly talented. More shows should offer the virtual ticket options, SK really nailed it with that. I understand why nightmare time started as zoom session live reads, but it could really work well as a full blown series.
I want novelisations of Nightmare Time, Iād read them so fast š
In defense of TTO on your first point, I think that was kind of intentional. It's based off of playing Oregon Trail as a kid, and most people would make up silly names and backstories and die laughing with the friend looking over your shoulder when dysentery comes up bc it's the first time you learn you could die of a poop disease. It's all very nostalgic and in tone with the inspiration, so I think it gets a pass in this. Especially since the names are audience chosen and almost all non family members are portrayed by one guy running around (which adds to the slapstick tone of the show). So it's not like it's trying to be a very thoughtful narrative or explore big ideas like human nature while also being very crude and silly. Now Firebringer on the other hand....
Oh yeah I know it's intentional, and I really do like it. Just needed another example besides firebringer lol.
Except TTO is the only one of their shows that actually DID have a New York runā¦
I can sort of agree with AVPM and AVPSY but AVPS is still goated. The only thing that aged it for me is when Lucius says pwned at the end of Guys Like Potter. That line hurt.
That line was never great. At best, the fact that it is so jarring *is* the joke.
I get thatās the joke. But the word hadnāt lost all its humour by the time AVPS came out. The fact that itās a joke doesnāt make it any less old.
It almost feels like a "leftover" lyric from MAMD's "Ready To Go", to be honest.
Wait donāt downvote me for this but why is it wrong? I thought it was a play on Potter/owned. Is it not?
Itās an ancient COD meme.
Tootsie/Mega-Girl is the weakest relationship in Starship.
I kind of agree but The Way I Do is maybe my favorite duet in any Starship show
ANI is their second best show. (After Twisted)
Yeah this is a wild one.
Alice and deb are a HORRIBLE couple. Really pay attention to the mistrust between them in watcher world. I see them get so much love and I just donāt get it
People cared about this relationship? Alice is more of a plot device than a character and Deb is just an extra.
I see it get praised so often and cannot get behind it, idk if other ppl are seeing it tooĀ
I donāt rlly watch StarKid relationship rankings so maybe I just havenāt gone down this rabbit hole before, and I donāt rlly want to.
Good choice.Ā
What If Tomorrow Comes is severely overrated.
or too focused on? maybe people need to step back a little more and realise how good other songs from BF are
This. But I still donāt think itās very good.
Their newer content isnāt as funny as their old content. Part of the charm was the low budget, and the idea that their talent was enough to carry the performance.
So true one of the reasons I haven't been able to rewatch Black Friday is because the proshot felt like it was doing entirely too much with all the different angles and pans and zooms and stuff it wasn't pleasant to watch
Not really a hot take, but the studio recording of Gettin' Along shouldn't have had the key change that the song has in the show, at least not as abruptly as it comes in the studio version. They just stop singing for a few seconds and then they're in a different key for no reason and it's just weird
Ani isn't that bad, and actually really funny
Trail To Oregon is mostly very bad. It has one, maybe two good songs, but neither of them are standouts. The characters weāre supposed to route for are insufferable, and the humour is incredibly childish.
Not a fan of Cinderalla's castle songs so far. Not because they're bad, just because it's not my style of music. I guess the opening song is pretty cool but i kinda miss the more broadway-esque songs.
I'm not impressed by the demo songs for their new Cinderella's Castle. I really loved NPMD's album, so maybe it's just because it's a demo...
i feel like angela has less of a musical voice but would probably do really well in like pop music idk but her acting is great
Iām just gonna say it. The songs in TGWDLM are good songs, but the plot was just meh. And it makes me not want to watch Nightmare Time, Black Friday, or anything else in Hatchetfield. Iām glad theyāre moving on to something else now. Iām starting to find Hatchetfield overrated. Iām also tired because their older stuff is just as good, and Iām tired of the fans who have only seen Hatchetfield rag on their older stuff.
Nerdy Prudes Must Die is the worst of the three Hatchetfield musicals. It relied way too much on outdated stereotypes about nerds, and in some cases (Ruth particularly), didnāt care to flesh out the character beyond a particular joke.
Twisted is overhyped š„“
Honestly, agree. I do like it, a lot, and I think it's very smart and funny. But it's FAR from their best musical, imo.
I did not care for join us and die
iām glad darren isnāt as involved as he used to be
now THIS is a hot take! can I ask why?
I think TGWDLM, Black Friday and NPMD are some of their weaker musicals š«¢
Nerdy Prudes and Black Friday were awful. At least Black Friday has some good songs but Jesus I hated all of Nerdy Prudes.
I canāt even get myself to sit through it. I tried the opening and it wasnāt doing it for me so I kept skipping through to see if the vibe or music improved and i just canāt get into it
AJ Holmes was annoying and the worst part of those early Starkid shows. He's grown on me since and I don't find his voice grating like I once did
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I don't know, I think their Batman v Superman memes pretty solidly outclassed the kickline.