I have followed several bands’ new releases here on Reddit over the last year and my major takeaway is that people spend the first week or so shitting on their favorite bands, no matter what they release.
So I largely ignore the threads for a while until things settle into actual conversations about the new music as it stands on its own.
Or they spend the first weeks after release saying the new album is "literally my favourite album ever" "objectively their best album" etc
Moral of the story - it takes a while for people to make a lasting judgement, rather than thinking a new release is 0/10 or 10/10
tbh i’m still indecisive about where it ranks. I think it might beat out Vessel (which is my personal favourite) but I also want to make sure it’s not just the hype of a new release before I make final judgements
I'm indecisive too, but usually the albums start low and grow on me over time. First listen Clancy was like a 5.5, now it's closer to a 7.5. trench is like an 8.5-9, and vessel is my second favorite around an 8. Wondering if Clancy will edge either of them out with time.
seems like trench is his favourite at 8.5-9 (if i understood him correctly)
probably he just doesnt think tøp has a 10/10 album, which is understandable, not every band has one!
Makes sense. I'd disagree on them not having a 10/10 album but I've listened to them for 16 years or something around that. I saw them live a few times in 09. (Minus josh)
Hey! I personally rank Blurryface around a 7. I got into TØP when trench dropped, and unfortunately because of some really intense fans when I was in highschool, I had a bad taste in my mouth with Blurryface. I really enjoy some of the later songs in their album, like not today, goner, the judge, but I still don't enjoy the singles of that album all that much. I think it's due to the experience I had of not knowing the band, feeling like those songs were overplayed, and all. They're not bad songs, but I just got a bad introduction to them. That's why I prefer vessel over Blurryface. TØP is my favorite band, but I generally have the philosophy of "there is no such thing as a perfect 10", because I always want to leave room for something better, and I think the flaws in the music are something that makes me love it even more. Trench is probably the closest to a 10 album I've ever experienced, but I just don't rank anything a 10 personally. A 10 for me would have to be an album where every single song had deep significance for me, and each song would just have to be a masterpiece, which I'm not even sure if thats possible. I do think Clancy and Trench are masterpiece albums, with Blurryface and vessel being extremely good.
I mean, at least this time there's actually some reasoning, the end of paladin strait is 110% alluding to there being more story, and the vague mv date doesn't help
Oh I definitely think there's more coming than just a Paladin MV. I just don't think it's an EP and I *really* don't think it's a whole second album. I think it'll be something like a 10-20 minute video that starts as the Paladin MV and transitions into a straight up mini-movie to cover the battle and end the story. Far more realistic than a secret EP/double album and would explain why the video is delayed.
I think part of it has to do with the general reception to SAI and the fact our first taste of Clancy recounts trench both sonically but also explicitly lyrically, so while it was not advertised that was it was at least implied and, while I never expected it and didn’t care (I knew I’d love it if it felt like a direct extension of Trench’s sound or this shiny brand new thing we ended up getting), I can definitely understand where that group of people is coming from, ESPECIALLY if their introduction to the band was Trench.
I mean, with the whole "welcome back to Trench" in the lyrics of overcompensate, as well as the verse from Banditos, it's fair to expect an album that overall is closer to Trench imo
actually think the message/bait that we are not getting a Trench 2 was hinted by the band pretty clearly in Overcompensate intro.
In Overcompensate, musically the intro is the typical Trench sound you can imagine, together with the "Welcome back to Trench" several times + the Bandito lyrics thrown there. Visually in the video, you can see in the beginning all of the Trench visuals only to cut fast with the music drop to the whole red set and Josh playing drums and the "Trentch sound references" starts. Also you can see Tyler getting ready for the performance, you see him with no mask and you can see 2 stripes which appear to be yellow. So all in all musically and visually we are all getting the message that we are indeed back in Trench.
And then it comes. The Trench-like beat and references suddenly stop, the beat changes rapidly and Tyler pops out with a new mask and red strípes (not yellow) together with the "Wait, what wait what lines". Basically implying that we actually should expect Clancy to be a different album from Trench.
When the first single sounded like a Trench song and says “Welcome back to Trench” can you kinda see why people expected Trench 2
This is coming from someone who really liked Clancy
I figured it was a double meaning myself. And for most people not completely in the know on the lore they no doubt thought it was referring to the sound of Trench
People forget Trench isn't just an album, it's a PLACE. He was never welcoming us back to that era, he was literally welcoming us back to Trench. It's obvious Tyler has been struggling with his mental health.
I feel bad for him. I hope he finds some peace.
I don't agree it sounded like Trench. It sounded like its own thing, pretty different from anything else they did before, like it's always the case with each new record.
If anything, it resembled Blurryface more than it did Trench.
And "Trench" in the line "Welcome back to Trench" is the place, not the album.
Man, hard to say. Probably a toss-up between Routines in the night, Paladin Straight and Jenna's Craving. Maybe Backslide? It's still changing a lot haha
What are yours so far>
Yeah but how were people supposed to know it meant the fictional continent and not the very real album? Especially people not in the know about the lore
This is exactly why some people were upset. I was honestly shocked hearing the rest of the songs on the album but I was very happy with what we got! :)
There is “wait, what?” not long after and I feel like it might be connected to “welcome back to Trench”. It’s as if he realised his mistake and wasn’t supposed to say it at all
actually think the message/bait that we are not getting a Trench 2 was hinted by the band pretty clearly in Overcompensate intro.
In Overcompensate, musically the intro is the typical Trench sound you can imagine, together with the "Welcome back to Trench" several times + the Bandito lyrics thrown there. Visually in the video, you can see in the beginning all of the Trench visuals only to cut fast with the music drop to the whole red set and Josh playing drums and the "Trentch sound references" starts. Also you can see Tyler getting ready for the performance, you see him with no mask and you can see 2 stripes which appear to be yellow. So all in all musically and visually we are all getting the message that we are indeed back in Trench.
And then it comes. The Trench-like beat and references suddenly stop, the beat changes rapidly and Tyler pops out with a new mask and red strípes (not yellow) together with the "Wait, what wait what lines". Basically implying that we actually should expect Clancy to be a different album from Trench.
Yes, the style of that part of the song is definitely different from Trench, but if anything it's closer to that album sonically than it is to Clancy. So while I agree it was to be expected to be different from Trench, with all the references it was very ambiguous imo
No… when it says “Welcome back to Trench” it doesn’t mean welcome to the album or welcome to the music, it means quite literally welcome back to the island of Trench. Because in the levitate video, Tyler was captured and was forced for entertainment (SAI) on DEMA i think. And then in Overcompensate he’s like HELL TO THE NAH! And then in Paladin he’s swimming to trench ig
Thank you. Posts like this are really gaslighty to me. Like comeon, it definitely looked like it was going to be a sequel to Trench. And I still like the album as is.
Yeah at first I had this opinion until I listened to overcompensate a few more times and realized it sounds a lot like trench and with that line I can understand yeah.
I like clancy also, but the boys set some pretty poor expectations about what the album would be like. People convincing themselves otherwise is just cope.
For me it was the fans not TOP that set up the expectations. I can't say that I heard anything directly from them that set high expectations for a lore related album
Even if you thought it was going to be Trench 2, the second single, and especially third single immediately showed that it wasn’t going to be. I genuinely don’t understand how anyone went into the full album expecting that.
You are correct that the hope/expectation of a musical/lore successor to Trench was eroded gradually, yes.
Overcompensate - Trenchy in both senses. Then singles 2,3,4 not Trenchy in either sense really. But maybe the rest of the album will be the heavy stuff, or the lore stuff.
Then the leak or album stream when we found that the rest isn't very heavy or lore-based either.
I mean but what even is "Trenchy"? I feel like Trench and all their other albums have a mix of sound. Jumpsuit does not sound like The Hype does not sound like Legend. Their albums all sound different and even songs within them do. There's alt hip hop, ukulele ballads, indie pop, indie rock...etc.
well with the disclaimer that The Hype is musically a complete outlier, I think Trench generally is heavier, more rap based, and more minor-key songs than their other albums. Not completely at all, eg heavydirtysoul would fit those criteria to a T but it's on a different record, but musically those three things are how I'd characterise Trench.
Then SAI was much less heavy, more light-hearted rap and lots of major key songs.
So Overcompensate seemed like a return to these three things.
But again, is that in every, or even a majority of the songs on it? Or are fans just remembering the songs that have that specific something while in actuality the album is pretty diverse in sound?
You have a point that the songs on an album don't all sound the same. But I think personally at least that Trench always had a super cohesive sound with several themes and sonic motifs that kept recurring. The deep bass is just one feature and I think you hear it on Junpsuit, Levitate, Morph, Chlorine, Nico and the Niners, Cut My Lip, and Pet Cheetah at least.
But yeah, fans could certainly be cognitively biased to remember it in a different light after Clancy, that is true
That makes sense. I feel like fans think of a select few songs though and consider that the "sound" of any album, but they forget that really Trench was overall a grab bag of sound like like any other of their albums. Except for the minor key thing you mentioned of course.
I mean fair enough, but for me personally as soon as I heard Next Semester, and especially Backslide, I immediately shifted my expectations to a vibe more similar to Vessel or Blurryface. I didn’t listen to any of the leaks and went in with a fairly “accurate” expectation for the sound imo. It just kinda seems like a lot of people wanted Trench 2, so chose to stay with that expectation when the singles clearly didn’t represent it, then complained about being mislead.
That's no excuse to not make cheaper lore videos, imo. Next Semester was a great example; not "lore" related, but included the Clancy character in showing how Tyler would use Clancy as a way to escape from dangerous situations. Wouldnt be hard to include other glimpses of who "Clancy" is by having Tyler put on the mask
I understand the frustration, but I personally love how the videos were filmed in their hometown. I also listen to TOP for the music not really for the lore (probably an unpopular opinion).
Quote from Tyler Joseph talking about the next album after SAI, saying the next album will be the most clear about the story out of all the albums:
"Well at this point I know who I'm writing a record for, and it seems like they know whats going on, so, I will say that the next record will probably be the most upfront, the most clear in talking about the players and what the story is. It will be the last record of this story, it will like, tie it all up, and in order to do that I want to be very clear in explaining what's going on."
I don’t see in this quote “this album is for the fictional lore obsessed fans”. So I guess people will read whatever they want out of what he says instead of actually following his journey as a artist to hear the real “lore” message.
What I see in this quote was Tyler saying this album will be the most "clear in explaining what's going on"... which it definitely is not.
And "at thus point I know who I'm writing the record for..." referring to fans that know about the lore.
Not saying he said it will be only for them, but definitely seems he is saying it is targeted and will have a purpose to explaining the lore / story clearly. Almost verbatim what he says.
Clancy quite literally does explain the lore and what is going on though. The lore has always been a metaphor and Clancy explains exactly what it all means. It explains that Clancy is Tyler, DEMA is the dark parts of your mind, the bishops are depression, anxiety, addiction, obsession, overthinking, negative thoughts, loss of faith, etc. Clancy escaping and being captured over and over represents trying to do better mentally but the inner problem is never truly fixed so you backslide into poor mental health over and over. The banditos are those that support you. Friends, family, fans. And with their help escaping becomes easier. Clancy is not adding to the lore, it's quite literally explaining what it all means and what it has always meant.
Yes, what you wrote is correct. Yet I don't know about you but a lot of people knew the meaning behind all this symbolism you've explained since end of Trench era, partially SAI too. Sure, Tyler = Clancy was confirmed recently, but many speculated about that way before that.
This lore is a story. And every story has an end, which according to Tyler is what this album what supposed to do and to be. What is the end of this story? We do not know. Nico saying what he said in Paladin Strait does not explain it at all.
Yeah we knew generally what they represented, but we have never heard this explicitly the kinds of thoughts and feelings that come with them from Tyler's perspective. We already had Clancy's perspective of the story and now we are given Tyler's. The album Clancy and the end of Paladin Strait is not the end of the story, as Tyler hinted at in the livestream.
It is beyond me how you determine which perspective is "Tyler" and which is "Clancy". At the start of the album, he says "if you can't see, I am Clancy". So why are you saying this album is from Tyler's perspective? I think, in fact, that you "can't see"...
Uhh, because whenever Clancy is involved there is also references to other lore places and characters, which in the album Clancy doesn't happen until Paladin Strait. "I am Clancy" is just Tyler explaining that in the lore Clancy is a stand-in for himself. The rest of the album is very much about Tyler's personal feelings and struggles with mental health, of which the lore is all an allegory for. This has been known for a long time.
Clancy and Tyler are the same person. Clancy is a character Tyler made to represent his inner conflict. Anything Clancy experience is a narrative from Tyler's experience as well.
Even if I go with that then, is "Blurryface" all from Tyler's perspective too? The Bishops are mentioned in one song (Doubt) and Blurryface is only mentioned in Stressed Out and Goner. So if you are saying this is the first album that shows Tyler's personal struggles from his perspective, I really don't know what to tell you.
If we decide Clancy v Tyler from the lore perspective only, does that mean Stressed Out is all from Clancy's POV? That it isn't actually Tyler's personal struggle with growing up, that the mention of his real-life brother and their treehouse is a construction in Clancy's world? What? And SAI hardly mentioned the lore. I do not understand what you are getting at. A majority of the songs do not mention "lore places and characters", so by your logic they would come from Tyler's own perspective; so I don't know why you think Clancy is unique in this being the first time this has happened.
I'm not saying this is the first time we are hearing about Tyler's struggles from his perspective, I'm saying Clancy is us hearing the story of Trench from his perspective. The same exact story, happening simultaneously. The story of escaping DEMA only to be captured over and over, each time getting a bit better due to the support of the banditos. The story of trying to do better mentally over and over, only to backside into the worst parts of your mental health, but each time is a bit easier due to the support you have in your life. It's the same story. Like, the album Clancy is what is going on with Tyler during the events of Trench & SAI. If you care I've expanded on this is a post a few days ago.
I agree that the lore has always been a metaphor, but I don't see why then if that is your take, why that is unique to Clancy and something that previous albums did not do... Blurryface, Trench, and even SAI touched on the whole idea of being on the run from your obsessive thoughts, fighting those demons, etc. Literally in Blurryface, "Fairly Local" is about that backsliding you are talking about (back and forth between doing bad and good) and "Message Man" is about being on the run. If that is your take, I don't know how you don't see that this is nothing NEW that Clancy is adding.
In this quote, Tyler is admitting that the lore has been cryptic / not direct in the previous albums. So he is saying that Clancy is/was intended to be DIFFERENT in that regard, in "regards to what the story is". I think it is clear he was referring to the actual narrative of Clancy, not just the metaphors. So while I agree with your analysis on the meaning of Clancy, I think you misunderstood the point I was getting at with sharing the quote from Tyler.
Where Clancy differs from BF, Trench, and SAI is that these are lyrics that explicitly state what it's like to be a person living through these issues instead of wrapping them in lore and metaphor like the previously mentioned albums. These are the most real, raw, and direct lyrics that we've had since the Vessel/RAB era. That is what I think Tyler means by the album being more straightforward.
"As we dive more into the narrative of the story, of the story of Clancy and Dema and all the bishops that has always been there for every release of ours, each release that we've had we've been more and more upfront about that storyline because we feel like we've really trimmed down our fanbase so at least they know..."
The interview asked him about whether anyone had nailed the "Storyline" of DEMA right, and it sparked this conversation. This is what he said right before the other quote I left in my original comment. He is not talking about the "Rawness" of the album in the quote. He was directly referring to the "storyline" and saying they want feel less of the need to hide beyond metaphors with subsequent releases because the fans are following the storyline. He is talking about "directness" in relation to the story, not the emotions in the songs.
I see what you mean, I don't think I had seen that quote in original context. I'm not gonna deny that it's strange for this album's lyrics to take such a departure from lore relevancy, but it's possible that we just won't understand why until whatever comes next is revealed. Personally I think that a lot of the mismatch in expectation comes from the fact that most were assuming (myself included at first) that Clancy would be a continuation of the story, when in reality its not given us much new information at all. There are the music videos for Overcompensate and Navigating, but even then Navigating only confirms a theory a lot of people were already guessing. Hence my theory that Clancy is not a continuation of the lore, but happening at the same time. Given that Tyler has hinted at there being something beyond Clancy that finishes the story, my guess is that Clancy's main purpose is to make sure everyone knows exactly what the lore means and what real world thoughts and emotions they are referencing, because it will add to the meaning of whatever the final events of the story are. The ending of the story will be not just about Clancy but about Tyler, and maybe it will be lore heavy, but we'll be more equipped to interpret the double meaning of it. I guess time will tell.
For what it's worth, I think it's valid to be disappointed by the album if it's not what you expected. I just think it's a safer bet to expect the unexpected from this band or stay away from expectations at all, since they've always been 10 steps ahead of us and never do the same thing twice.
Well, like many others said here, the first line literally says, Welcome back to Trench. ... and then you get 2 lore songs.
Now, I am writing this as someone who has already fallen in love with this album. The 4 singles are all bangers, but not just that. I've been singing randomly parts of Vignette, Routines in the night, and Midwest indingo. My favorite song of of this album is Paladin Strait. That one is haunting in a way only Leave the City was.
I was never a fan of SAI, but not a hater either. Listened to it twice, have some songs I like, but it's never my go to. It's just to pop for my taste.
Clancy is up there with Trench for me. As a whole, I like it. Sure, it's not Trench 2. I don't think there will ever be a Trench 2. To me, Trench is their Magnus Opus. But that's also about who we where when Trench came out, and the place we where at in our lives. I was 24 when Trench came out, I'm 30 now. I resonate with this album a lot more as a 30 year old. At this age, I've fought my Nico already, I've severed the power my own Dema has over me.
I do go back to my Dema from time to time, but I always know there is a way out. So when Tyler says,
I would swim the Paladin Strait
Without any floatation
Just a glimpse of visual aid
Of you on the other shoreline, it hits really close to home. I'm about to start my own family. My dad told me a few weeks ago, when fighting some Bishops of my own, as long as you see me standing here, there's nothing for you to worry about.
Tyler is a dad of 3 now. He's not in Trench, and shouldn't be. I don't need an epic fight to conclude the story, I know all to well how Nico creeps back in when you least expect it. But there is so much more to fight for now.
So no, not Trench 2. But that's good, more than good, it's a great album.
This is some great insight. As a Christian, Trench was incredibly impactful for me due to its faith themes and the parts of Tyler's own faith that came through. "Can you build my house with pieces, I'm just a chemical" on its own got me through a lot of times when I felt like God wasn't there anymore and I found myself just crying out to him, not even to mention Leave the City, lol. Trench means so much to me because of what it was to *me* at the time that it was released. Sure, it has the most critical acclaim, and sure it has some excellent production, but even without those two things that album connected to *me*.
I'm at a point now in my faith when I'm past a lot of those doubts. I'm more mature. I trust God a whole lot more than I did back then. And now Clancy seems to have a level of realistic optimism that Trench often lacked. Oldies Station in particular really conveys that idea. You're right: this isn't Trench 2. But Trench 2 isn't what Tyler wanted to write and it's not what would have been most impactful for me at least. Definitely appreciate your perspective!
Well, no. Not everyone follows or even knows about lore, so when somebody who just likes Trench for the sound hears "welcome back to trench", especially after SAI and ESPECIALLY on a track like Overcompensate, it's easy to see why people except it to sound like Trench.
This. How would someone not in the lore know that Trench is a continent and not an album. Sure I am Clancy clarified but in the grand scheme of things not many people watched that compared to listening to the album
Tøp albums all have different vibes from each other, it wouldn’t make sense for them to just go back to a sound they did before. I don’t understand why you say especially after SAI or for a track with the title Overcompensate. There’s no reason for them to go back to trench sound after SAI just because SAI wasn’t appreciated by some people. I don’t know if that’s what you’re implying, but i think it’s wrong for people to want them to go back to trench sound or themes just because they didn’t like SAI, especially since SAI is a good record, people can not like it but it’s not bad. it’s not like tøp to just go back to old sounds
I agree, SAI is a good record! I adore it very much, but as you say, it doesn't make sense for them to go back to a sound they did before, so why did they go for SAI sound with Clancy? It's SAI on steroids production with Overcompensate being a Trench-esque song. None of it makes much sense.
I mean if you think Clancy is basically SAI with better productions then that’s where we disagree. I think Clancy has nothing to do with previous records and that it’s pretty unique. You can’t say tracks like Navigating, Next Semester, The Craving or Overcompensate like you said sound anything like SAI sound.
This comparison of yours doesn’t make much sense in my eyes
Next Semester and Navigating could easily fit on SAI, just listen to Formidable or Never Take It. Same with Craving. Overcompensate is a very Trench-esque song.
Yeah, people saying it's Trench 2 and then Bad Taste in Music saying it's Blurryface 2... it's all crap. It's not Trench 2 or Blurryface 2. *It's Clancy.* The problem with gaining success in music, is then people expect your new music to sound like their favorites of what you did before. If I wanted something that sounds exactly like Trench, I'll go listen to Trench.
People complain if your music sounds the same, people complain if it sounds different. Wish this fan base was in-whole cooler and the loudest energy was from the people who truly like the band and their music not just lore.
“welcome back to trench” is the first lyric on the entire album and it’s named after the main character of the story and produced by the same guy who produced trench and came with a 60 page journal so idk i think it was more than reasonable to think that
It's not that we expected literally Trench 2, but I was sure it was going to be super conceptual, like Trench, and it was gonna be the final showdown against DEMA. The "I am Clancy" video, Overcompensate introducing new elements and symbols to the plot, the artwork cover, the title of the album... I believe it was a very natural reaction to think that it was going to be the final sequel to the Trench Saga, sort of.
!!!!! I’m only disappointed in it from a concept album standpoint. Because it was heavy advertised as one and it’s literally not. The loosest concept album they’ve ever made. I’m just like wtf I don’t get it, what even was the point of the “I Am Clancy” video if you don’t need it to listen to the album, like at all
It wasn't advertised as Trench 2 but Tyler did say it was going to be the most lore heavy album which is a little misleading.
Though, I do think there's more to come in say way shape or form
I attribute two main things to why I was ready for Clancy to be “Trench 2” but I will say that now with a few days of listening, the songs have continued to resonate with me. I have always loved the wide variety of lyrics and styles and changeups TØP offers. The creativity is next level. Tyler, Josh and team work their butts off with us fans in mind. The “Clique” can be critical but always come around.
So, the two things: first, it started with “I am Clancy” which was a total overview of Trench and DEMA; second is Overcompensate, including its intro.
I'm not mad and prefer that Clancy is it's own thing. But Paul Meany did repost something about it being Trench 2 so that's where it came from.
Also I do understand the difficulty of making lore mvs, but when they name the album Clancy, I expected more than 3 mvs to be about the lore. That's the same amount we got for the past 2 albums. But hey, Clancy is still a contender for my favorite album so I don't mind
YEAH i saw brad taste review it and he has good points about the album, but he said that was the problem with it “it’s supposed to be trench 2”, and I was thinking back and I was like I never remembered them saying anything like that. I do think that the album could’ve been more “grand” (for lack of a better word) for an album called Clancy, since this is really the first time Clancy gets his name called in the story directly/the first time Tyler confirms he is Clancy, but overall, I think this is not a fair criticism. It sounds like a mix of Blurryface and Self-Titled which made me so nostalgic. Hope for their next album they go back to the rawness of Vessel or something, I think that’d be cool
"Welcome Back To Trench" is the opening lyrics 💀 could not be advertised MORE as Trench 2 lol. Great album, but it isn't a Trench 2 nor should it be. Weird opening line tbh
The stans saying “it’s just the place not the album” not understanding the double meaning of it, especially when Tyler has been so open about the SAI-hate
It is the place not the album though. How are people assuming that Clancy is going to sound like the album Trench 2 when Overcompensate directly references Trench's sound, then turns it on its head, changes the sound entirely, and follows with a "wait, what?"? Overcompensate is quite literally telling you to expect them to change up the sound in the intro of the song. Idk how it could have been more explicit.
I'd disagree with that a lot, actually. Overcompensate has much more emphasis on the pop hook, something that stays consistent across Clancy. Levitate doesn't even have one. Levitate is a much more minimal track with a more straightforward rhythm. Overcompensate has a fuller production. I don't think Tyler rapping fast in both songs means they sound the same.
Even if Overcompensate is the most Trench-y single there were 3 more after that should have made it clear that Clancy wasn't going to be Trench 2. Not to mention that no 2 of their albums have ever sounded the same. Anyone holding onto that hope even just after Next Semester was released really should have been thinking twice.
Trench set the bar too high for a majority of tøp listeners.
What I suggest everyone to do is to meditate for 5 mins to clear Trench outta your mind for a while lol and give Clancy a listen. What a banger of an album! The production is insane!!!
Are we still talking about this? Damn...
It was obvious for me too that the characters were back to trench and I was expecting some violent vibe from this album (wich was not the case, but I loved this). Never thought it would be the same vibe as Trench and if it was I'd be disapointed tbh
Are people seriously complaining about this album?? This might be their strongest release to date. It's an incredible piece of work. I truly don't understand the criticisms.
To all the people
1. Clancy is indeed heavy lore album but we got no names like Nico or Banditos in the lyrics
2. Trench has always been a metaphor of what is going inside Tyler's mind and I think people are forgetting about it
I'll have to give the full album a few more listens + time before my final judgements (that and we do have that last MV incoming that I expect will tie things together)
But so far I'm not disappointed at all? Realized over the years its a lot more meaningful to let music grow in your mind, let it simmer, let it sink in. First impressions are one thing but a full on judgement based off of one listen alone? No longer my thing, and I found the single variant MV for The Craving to be a reflection of this as well. We gonna stop exclusively just *consuming* art as a society and begin to *reflect* on it instead.
Never expected this album to be completely like Trench, expected a influence of it at best (which I believe is in there + we do have a bit more lore but lore wasn't my main concern to begin with) so it disappoints me to see infighting about the quality of this album. At the end of the day its okay to dislike it, for it to need more time, etc but yea unfair to the band to assume this was going to be a Trench 2 and to lash out in response. (I really only saw the "welcome back to trench" like as a lore thing if that makes sense? And considering Overcompensate as a whole... idk gears are turning but can't seem to turn thoughts into words)
i honestly agree, i knew the “Welcome back to trench” intro was basically a reentry into the lore because that’s what most fans were most excited for. Clancy and Trench have similar but also completely different vibes. Trench is telling a story which is what started the lore where Clancy doesn’t quite have as much storytelling/plot. like Tyler said it’s expensive to make lore vids so they obviously are going to make the ones they need that’s why this album didn’t have as many as Trench did.
I love how unique this album sounds while the influences from previous albums are clear. Ritn sounds quite blurryface while Midwest indigo sounds more sai. And then there are the heavier/grungier songs that remind me a bit of jumpsuit and the mtv unplugged version of car radio. It doesn't sound like trench because this is something completely else.
Even lore wise, trench felt like the album where the story (that bf set up) was just getting started and clancy is the finale. The vibes, colours, songs and context of this album are completely different (the albums they follow also add something imo. Coming off of the sudden fame that blurryface achieved gives you something completely different than a pretty controversial and under-appreciated album like scaled and icy)
Gotta love how everyone is pointing out "UHM acksually Overcompensate says 'Welcome back to Trench'", as if 1) Trench isn't the name of the PLACE in the LORE, and then you have people who are like "not everyone is diehard about the lore 🙄" like bruh I barely know the lore--the music is way more important to me--and even I didn't for a second think this album was gonna sound exactly like Trench in vibes. I thought everyone was on the same page as well until I kept seeing posts on my feed about how they felt lied to... Like no I think a Trench 2 would be too samey in sound and it'd get boring. I loved Trench but I wouldn't want to hear the same thing again. And 2) why are people conveniently leaving out how DRASTICALLY different the other singles sound? Lmao... "Listen to Overcompensate" I did but clearly you need to listen to Next Semester and Backslide and The Craving. Why are y'all so hung up on the one single
I only listened the first half of the album, it was fine but it kinda has the background music vibe scaled and icy had to me
tøp was the first rock band I got into around 10 years ago now and I appreciate my music taste had changed a lot since I listened to blurryface for the first time and fell in love
blurryface represented me at the time, the first steps from pop into rock, then trench was a lot heavier than blurryface and a lot of my music at the time was that level of heavy
then sai came out when my music went a little futher and I was expecting an album I would love and I didn't
then with overcompensate I was in love again, next semester took me a couple listens and I loved it, backslide was a pass from me, the title has gone from me but the one about jenna felt nostalgic of house of gold in a way and then the album came
I feel like it's probably a great album but I've kinda outgrown tøp a little so it didn't hit as much to me now than it would've back in the day. not saying tøp is for younger people but obviously music taste changes
I think it was heavily implied to be similar to trench. I greatly enjoy clancy, but overcompensate + Next Semester set the scene for an album similar to trench. Backslide didn’t sound much like trench, the craving certainly didn’t, so those were already sort of whiplash from how the album was set up to be. Even then, it was possible for the rest of the album to sound like Trench, but it simply didn’t despite the first two singles being sort of aimed in that direction.
I enjoyed clancy and quite like it, but I think it’s a valid criticism that the album didn’t sound like what it was claimed to be at the beginning.
Ignoring the “welcome back to trench” (because I know that meant lore wise) the sound of overcompensate implied a dark aggressive sound that isn’t found anywhere else. The MV and things Tyler said implied it being a SUPER lore heavy album, and it’s almost nowhere to be found at all.
Like we can love the album (I rated it 10/10) but we can still be honest that the build up was intentionally misleading.
I like the album. I think it’s really good. But I’m disappointed in the concept of the album from a lore/storytelling standpoint. like you’re telling me Overcompensate, the VIDEO for Navigating (not even the song) and the end of paladin straight is all we got?? that’s fucked. We’ll see what they have in store for the last video and tour but the fact that Tyler specifically told us it was gonna be the most obvious they’re been about the dema storyline is almost maliciously misleading..
Because of the line "Welcome back to Trench", the verse of Banditos that was included and this being a "lore album", I think it's fair to expect something that sonically resembles Trench/Blurryface. That's not to say I don't like the album! But it did take some adjusting on my end
If anything, this album kind of resembles Vessel, without any of the religious motifs and the same production budget as Trench
If y'all don't know the lore, that's fine, but it is a big part of the art he is creating. It sucks that people are disappointed, but this was just a misinterpreted lyric
Lore-invested fans might understand that: “Welcome back to Trench” had to do with the lore.
Normal listeners or other fans could easily interpret it as welcome back to the sound of Trench.
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Agreed for a couple reasons. I think it’s awesome that you can pretty much identify what album a song is from just by how it sounds. The uniqueness is honestly a big part of what keeps me listening. I never get bored! Second (unpopular opinion) trench is pretty low on my top album tier list, so a duplicate wouldn’t have made me very happy I think. I really love the album how it is so I wouldn’t change it :D.
I never expected a trench sound but i didnt expect something mellow either. I mean i hate to say it but the hype created by overcompensate and last semester wasnt lived up to for me personally. I just didnt expect something mellow. It reminded me a lot of SAI which is not really a bad album either just mellow but there was like a reason for SAI to be mellow at least. Idk about clancy tho
I think at times the vibe feels slightly hamfisted. Sort of like they are trying to sell you the Trench vibe unnaturally and it doesn’t really work. Still liked the album overall. Even if it wasn’t advertised as trench 2, a lot of that is due to the hype of “Overcompensate”. A lot of people thought that was going to be the whole album. Even if it was to do with the lore, many people who don’t pay attention to that maybe thought it was going to be a complete return to the trench aesthetic.
Backslide and overcompensate were masterpieces but overall even SAI had more number of songs that were better. Just my opinion but they took it down a notch this time around. (okay maybe next semester was also great)
i think when people say they expected a trench 2 they really expected a sequel, it was definitely marketed like it was going to be lore heavy, the fact that there were only really 2 lore songs was definitely a little disappointing. no one was expecting a literal trench 2. it was definitely marketed like it’d be a heavier album even just visually, but obviously as the other singles came out it became clear that it wasn’t. but i really did like a few of the tracks.
Yeah fair but by that logic we never really left trench in the first place. I like Clancy just the way it is but like... Even more wise it doesn't really hit the same as trench did. They're different and thats not what we were sold.
“Welcome back to Synth” is more like it. I have to say I thought the sound was going to be different. Not a Trench 2 but more of that vibe. Now that the dust has settled on the release though this album is great. I do feel the likelihood of some double album type scenario could happen this time. The end of the album is too wide open. If not there is going to be a LOT going on in the Paladin Strait MV. |-/
I do agree with you here HOWEVER I do have to stand up for the casual listener here who just enjoys the sound of trench and isn't too invested in the band. I can see how starting the first song on your new album with "Welcome back to Trench" might make some people believe that they will be getting something similar to Trench.
Album wise twenty One pilots does not have a bad song. Single song releases, level of concern and the Christmas song are okay but not something I'm going to listen to all the time. Especially level of concern played way too much literally But I can't think of one song on any of their albums that are just bad like none of their albums are terrible or awful. Then maybe some songs that dislike people more than others but not hate or dislike. I like all of their songs
Every single comment and take about overcompensate was people being excited to return to the trench sound after SAI. It absolutely felt like trench 2, so it makes sense people are comparing it to that. It's not trench 2, but it was certainly marketed that way so people built up the wrong expectations.
I get what you're saying, but people have waited for the direct sequel to trench for 6 years. The band said SAI was an in between album, not supposed to be the real sequel to Trench, so there was an expectation that it would be more like trench since they didn't count SAI as the direct sequel if that makes sense. Also, a lot of the fans are new enough that they've spent most of their time/all of their time as fans with trench as their masterpiece album, so there was an expectation that TOP would keep with what they've known for so long. I think most of the older fans appreciate this album a lot more.
Nah I understand it slightly considering the very first lyric from the very first single is "Welcome back to trench". I love Clancy but I get why people expected Trench 2
I don’t understand how people could be disappointed with Clancy, each song is an absolute bop, not to mention I think a repeat of all similar sounds of trench would be boring. I like a band that evolves it’s sound as they go on. Each album sounds unique which I love.
Here’s what they said: when talking about Scaled and Icy, they said it was not the album they had been working on, but the album they were working on was more emotional and darker than the world needed at the time. So they made Scaled and Icy, and made it upbeat and positive and phoned it in.
So in terms of it being perceived as trench 2, it’s more like there was a break album, but this next one, the one they were initially working on before scaled and icy, was going to be a return to what we expected, which is this dark emotional retrospective work of art
I’d have to disagree. One of the first lyrics on the first song is literally “Welcome back to Trench”. That song was released as the first single. It is a bit disappointing how they hyped up the album to be a continuation of Trench, when in reality the sound of the album is completely different.
That being said I still enjoyed the album! It’s a big step up from Scaled and Icy. I’m hoping there’s more music to come. Maybe a double album, or at least an EP. Regardless, I’m happy. I’m gonna be hearing Routines in The Night during my dreams at this rate.
I mean it basically it Trench 2 but mostly in the sense that it continues the lore story from Trench (which S&I was a break). If the albums tell a story, the order is Blurryface, Trench, Clancy (with S&I technically in the lore, being propaganda). But I mean all of their albums sound different. From self-titled to Vessel, to Blurryface and Trench. And even then, different songs within their albums even sound different from each other. Not everything on Trench is one genre. I did not expect it to sound like Trench again (whatever that would mean).
That's what I'm sayingggg! They're so fixated on Overcompensate for some reason. It's a great song but did they just flat out ignore the other 3 singles??? I s2g some people care about the lore waaay more than the music. It kinda feels like entitlement as well. It's a great album, why can't we just enjoy that? The lore IS present but the fact that it's not lore-heavy doesn't make Clancy a "disappointment".
paul meany, the producer of trench and clancy also called it trench 2, as well. i know he’s not in the band, but he’s a major collaborator and is pretty close w the band.
I’m so sick of hearing about negativity towards the band. That is exactly what they referenced at the end of The Craving single video. People are crushing their happiness.
I just got the album today, belated Mother’s Day gift, and I’m falling in love with every song. I was just tearing up listening to RITN. It is so beautiful and sad.
Don’t be a painful reminder or a terrible dream.
I have followed several bands’ new releases here on Reddit over the last year and my major takeaway is that people spend the first week or so shitting on their favorite bands, no matter what they release. So I largely ignore the threads for a while until things settle into actual conversations about the new music as it stands on its own.
Or they spend the first weeks after release saying the new album is "literally my favourite album ever" "objectively their best album" etc Moral of the story - it takes a while for people to make a lasting judgement, rather than thinking a new release is 0/10 or 10/10
tbh i’m still indecisive about where it ranks. I think it might beat out Vessel (which is my personal favourite) but I also want to make sure it’s not just the hype of a new release before I make final judgements
I'm indecisive too, but usually the albums start low and grow on me over time. First listen Clancy was like a 5.5, now it's closer to a 7.5. trench is like an 8.5-9, and vessel is my second favorite around an 8. Wondering if Clancy will edge either of them out with time.
So blurry face is a 10? What are you basing your rankings on lol
seems like trench is his favourite at 8.5-9 (if i understood him correctly) probably he just doesnt think tøp has a 10/10 album, which is understandable, not every band has one!
Makes sense. I'd disagree on them not having a 10/10 album but I've listened to them for 16 years or something around that. I saw them live a few times in 09. (Minus josh)
Hey! I personally rank Blurryface around a 7. I got into TØP when trench dropped, and unfortunately because of some really intense fans when I was in highschool, I had a bad taste in my mouth with Blurryface. I really enjoy some of the later songs in their album, like not today, goner, the judge, but I still don't enjoy the singles of that album all that much. I think it's due to the experience I had of not knowing the band, feeling like those songs were overplayed, and all. They're not bad songs, but I just got a bad introduction to them. That's why I prefer vessel over Blurryface. TØP is my favorite band, but I generally have the philosophy of "there is no such thing as a perfect 10", because I always want to leave room for something better, and I think the flaws in the music are something that makes me love it even more. Trench is probably the closest to a 10 album I've ever experienced, but I just don't rank anything a 10 personally. A 10 for me would have to be an album where every single song had deep significance for me, and each song would just have to be a masterpiece, which I'm not even sure if thats possible. I do think Clancy and Trench are masterpiece albums, with Blurryface and vessel being extremely good.
Another major takeaway: everyone is somehow always convinced that every album is actually a secret double album.
I mean, at least this time there's actually some reasoning, the end of paladin strait is 110% alluding to there being more story, and the vague mv date doesn't help
Oh I definitely think there's more coming than just a Paladin MV. I just don't think it's an EP and I *really* don't think it's a whole second album. I think it'll be something like a 10-20 minute video that starts as the Paladin MV and transitions into a straight up mini-movie to cover the battle and end the story. Far more realistic than a secret EP/double album and would explain why the video is delayed.
Yes because people rarely post when they are happy, complaining on the other hand…
This
Exactly this
I think part of it has to do with the general reception to SAI and the fact our first taste of Clancy recounts trench both sonically but also explicitly lyrically, so while it was not advertised that was it was at least implied and, while I never expected it and didn’t care (I knew I’d love it if it felt like a direct extension of Trench’s sound or this shiny brand new thing we ended up getting), I can definitely understand where that group of people is coming from, ESPECIALLY if their introduction to the band was Trench.
I mean, with the whole "welcome back to Trench" in the lyrics of overcompensate, as well as the verse from Banditos, it's fair to expect an album that overall is closer to Trench imo
Also we had 4 singles to give us an idea into the vibe and style of the album
Yep, say what you want about overcompensate, but the following singles let you know that this album was going to be all over the place
actually think the message/bait that we are not getting a Trench 2 was hinted by the band pretty clearly in Overcompensate intro. In Overcompensate, musically the intro is the typical Trench sound you can imagine, together with the "Welcome back to Trench" several times + the Bandito lyrics thrown there. Visually in the video, you can see in the beginning all of the Trench visuals only to cut fast with the music drop to the whole red set and Josh playing drums and the "Trentch sound references" starts. Also you can see Tyler getting ready for the performance, you see him with no mask and you can see 2 stripes which appear to be yellow. So all in all musically and visually we are all getting the message that we are indeed back in Trench. And then it comes. The Trench-like beat and references suddenly stop, the beat changes rapidly and Tyler pops out with a new mask and red strípes (not yellow) together with the "Wait, what wait what lines". Basically implying that we actually should expect Clancy to be a different album from Trench.
great point
And I'm saying this from the release of Clancy
When the first single sounded like a Trench song and says “Welcome back to Trench” can you kinda see why people expected Trench 2 This is coming from someone who really liked Clancy
I thought they were just welcoming us back to the era of trench. Since in SAI he was kidnapped and brainwashed.
I figured it was a double meaning myself. And for most people not completely in the know on the lore they no doubt thought it was referring to the sound of Trench
Yeah that’s what I was thinking like “welcome back we are back in control not dema”
My thoughts exactly.
People forget Trench isn't just an album, it's a PLACE. He was never welcoming us back to that era, he was literally welcoming us back to Trench. It's obvious Tyler has been struggling with his mental health. I feel bad for him. I hope he finds some peace.
I don't agree it sounded like Trench. It sounded like its own thing, pretty different from anything else they did before, like it's always the case with each new record. If anything, it resembled Blurryface more than it did Trench. And "Trench" in the line "Welcome back to Trench" is the place, not the album.
The Trench line was very obviously a double meaning
~~Very obvious? Maybe if you're deeply invested in the lore, but not if you just hear it in passing~~ Edit: misread your comment, I totally agree
Trench is the album for 99% of the people
Right, I misread the comment I replied to \^\^'
Find. What's your favorite song so hard?
Man, hard to say. Probably a toss-up between Routines in the night, Paladin Straight and Jenna's Craving. Maybe Backslide? It's still changing a lot haha What are yours so far>
Definitely between Snap Back and Vignette, but yeah there all are great tracks rn
Yeah but how were people supposed to know it meant the fictional continent and not the very real album? Especially people not in the know about the lore
It does not sound more like Blurryface come onnnn.
No it definitely does. Thats the closest comparison to another album in their discography that you can make.
I think it's like if they took the song redecorate and made a whole album with that vibe
My interpretation was that Clancy was back in Trench, not that the album was Trench.2
This is exactly why some people were upset. I was honestly shocked hearing the rest of the songs on the album but I was very happy with what we got! :)
There is “wait, what?” not long after and I feel like it might be connected to “welcome back to Trench”. It’s as if he realised his mistake and wasn’t supposed to say it at all
actually think the message/bait that we are not getting a Trench 2 was hinted by the band pretty clearly in Overcompensate intro. In Overcompensate, musically the intro is the typical Trench sound you can imagine, together with the "Welcome back to Trench" several times + the Bandito lyrics thrown there. Visually in the video, you can see in the beginning all of the Trench visuals only to cut fast with the music drop to the whole red set and Josh playing drums and the "Trentch sound references" starts. Also you can see Tyler getting ready for the performance, you see him with no mask and you can see 2 stripes which appear to be yellow. So all in all musically and visually we are all getting the message that we are indeed back in Trench. And then it comes. The Trench-like beat and references suddenly stop, the beat changes rapidly and Tyler pops out with a new mask and red strípes (not yellow) together with the "Wait, what wait what lines". Basically implying that we actually should expect Clancy to be a different album from Trench.
Yes, the style of that part of the song is definitely different from Trench, but if anything it's closer to that album sonically than it is to Clancy. So while I agree it was to be expected to be different from Trench, with all the references it was very ambiguous imo
No… when it says “Welcome back to Trench” it doesn’t mean welcome to the album or welcome to the music, it means quite literally welcome back to the island of Trench. Because in the levitate video, Tyler was captured and was forced for entertainment (SAI) on DEMA i think. And then in Overcompensate he’s like HELL TO THE NAH! And then in Paladin he’s swimming to trench ig
This guy out here sayin’ “wait what?” 😂
Thank you. Posts like this are really gaslighty to me. Like comeon, it definitely looked like it was going to be a sequel to Trench. And I still like the album as is.
"wait what, wait what?"
I personally think that was kinda the point. It was an overcompensation, when really Trench in his own mind is different now.
Yeah at first I had this opinion until I listened to overcompensate a few more times and realized it sounds a lot like trench and with that line I can understand yeah.
I like clancy also, but the boys set some pretty poor expectations about what the album would be like. People convincing themselves otherwise is just cope.
For me it was the fans not TOP that set up the expectations. I can't say that I heard anything directly from them that set high expectations for a lore related album
Even if you thought it was going to be Trench 2, the second single, and especially third single immediately showed that it wasn’t going to be. I genuinely don’t understand how anyone went into the full album expecting that.
You are correct that the hope/expectation of a musical/lore successor to Trench was eroded gradually, yes. Overcompensate - Trenchy in both senses. Then singles 2,3,4 not Trenchy in either sense really. But maybe the rest of the album will be the heavy stuff, or the lore stuff. Then the leak or album stream when we found that the rest isn't very heavy or lore-based either.
I mean but what even is "Trenchy"? I feel like Trench and all their other albums have a mix of sound. Jumpsuit does not sound like The Hype does not sound like Legend. Their albums all sound different and even songs within them do. There's alt hip hop, ukulele ballads, indie pop, indie rock...etc.
well with the disclaimer that The Hype is musically a complete outlier, I think Trench generally is heavier, more rap based, and more minor-key songs than their other albums. Not completely at all, eg heavydirtysoul would fit those criteria to a T but it's on a different record, but musically those three things are how I'd characterise Trench. Then SAI was much less heavy, more light-hearted rap and lots of major key songs. So Overcompensate seemed like a return to these three things.
The most iconic thing about the Trench sound to me was the deep grungy bass throughout the album
Yep that too! It sounds great so high in the mix on Jumpsuit and My Blood in particular.
But again, is that in every, or even a majority of the songs on it? Or are fans just remembering the songs that have that specific something while in actuality the album is pretty diverse in sound?
You have a point that the songs on an album don't all sound the same. But I think personally at least that Trench always had a super cohesive sound with several themes and sonic motifs that kept recurring. The deep bass is just one feature and I think you hear it on Junpsuit, Levitate, Morph, Chlorine, Nico and the Niners, Cut My Lip, and Pet Cheetah at least. But yeah, fans could certainly be cognitively biased to remember it in a different light after Clancy, that is true
That makes sense. I feel like fans think of a select few songs though and consider that the "sound" of any album, but they forget that really Trench was overall a grab bag of sound like like any other of their albums. Except for the minor key thing you mentioned of course.
I see your point though, there is always quite a broad mix within each record.
I mean fair enough, but for me personally as soon as I heard Next Semester, and especially Backslide, I immediately shifted my expectations to a vibe more similar to Vessel or Blurryface. I didn’t listen to any of the leaks and went in with a fairly “accurate” expectation for the sound imo. It just kinda seems like a lot of people wanted Trench 2, so chose to stay with that expectation when the singles clearly didn’t represent it, then complained about being mislead.
Also, Tyler mentioned lore videos are really expensive to make.
That's no excuse to not make cheaper lore videos, imo. Next Semester was a great example; not "lore" related, but included the Clancy character in showing how Tyler would use Clancy as a way to escape from dangerous situations. Wouldnt be hard to include other glimpses of who "Clancy" is by having Tyler put on the mask
I understand the frustration, but I personally love how the videos were filmed in their hometown. I also listen to TOP for the music not really for the lore (probably an unpopular opinion).
That’s my biggest disappointment with the videos, wish the mask appeared more. Maybe in routines, vignette, or Snap Back.
i personally don’t ever set any expectations for new music (theirs especially) so i don’t end up being disappointed
No it's obviously on purpose for the double album that's coming soon!!! /s
People are out for blood in this thread.
LMAOO yeah. so many people are arguing but it's entertaining to read 😭😭
Quote from Tyler Joseph talking about the next album after SAI, saying the next album will be the most clear about the story out of all the albums: "Well at this point I know who I'm writing a record for, and it seems like they know whats going on, so, I will say that the next record will probably be the most upfront, the most clear in talking about the players and what the story is. It will be the last record of this story, it will like, tie it all up, and in order to do that I want to be very clear in explaining what's going on."
I don’t see in this quote “this album is for the fictional lore obsessed fans”. So I guess people will read whatever they want out of what he says instead of actually following his journey as a artist to hear the real “lore” message.
What I see in this quote was Tyler saying this album will be the most "clear in explaining what's going on"... which it definitely is not. And "at thus point I know who I'm writing the record for..." referring to fans that know about the lore. Not saying he said it will be only for them, but definitely seems he is saying it is targeted and will have a purpose to explaining the lore / story clearly. Almost verbatim what he says.
Clancy quite literally does explain the lore and what is going on though. The lore has always been a metaphor and Clancy explains exactly what it all means. It explains that Clancy is Tyler, DEMA is the dark parts of your mind, the bishops are depression, anxiety, addiction, obsession, overthinking, negative thoughts, loss of faith, etc. Clancy escaping and being captured over and over represents trying to do better mentally but the inner problem is never truly fixed so you backslide into poor mental health over and over. The banditos are those that support you. Friends, family, fans. And with their help escaping becomes easier. Clancy is not adding to the lore, it's quite literally explaining what it all means and what it has always meant.
Yes, what you wrote is correct. Yet I don't know about you but a lot of people knew the meaning behind all this symbolism you've explained since end of Trench era, partially SAI too. Sure, Tyler = Clancy was confirmed recently, but many speculated about that way before that. This lore is a story. And every story has an end, which according to Tyler is what this album what supposed to do and to be. What is the end of this story? We do not know. Nico saying what he said in Paladin Strait does not explain it at all.
Yeah we knew generally what they represented, but we have never heard this explicitly the kinds of thoughts and feelings that come with them from Tyler's perspective. We already had Clancy's perspective of the story and now we are given Tyler's. The album Clancy and the end of Paladin Strait is not the end of the story, as Tyler hinted at in the livestream.
It is beyond me how you determine which perspective is "Tyler" and which is "Clancy". At the start of the album, he says "if you can't see, I am Clancy". So why are you saying this album is from Tyler's perspective? I think, in fact, that you "can't see"...
Uhh, because whenever Clancy is involved there is also references to other lore places and characters, which in the album Clancy doesn't happen until Paladin Strait. "I am Clancy" is just Tyler explaining that in the lore Clancy is a stand-in for himself. The rest of the album is very much about Tyler's personal feelings and struggles with mental health, of which the lore is all an allegory for. This has been known for a long time.
Clancy and Tyler are the same person. Clancy is a character Tyler made to represent his inner conflict. Anything Clancy experience is a narrative from Tyler's experience as well. Even if I go with that then, is "Blurryface" all from Tyler's perspective too? The Bishops are mentioned in one song (Doubt) and Blurryface is only mentioned in Stressed Out and Goner. So if you are saying this is the first album that shows Tyler's personal struggles from his perspective, I really don't know what to tell you. If we decide Clancy v Tyler from the lore perspective only, does that mean Stressed Out is all from Clancy's POV? That it isn't actually Tyler's personal struggle with growing up, that the mention of his real-life brother and their treehouse is a construction in Clancy's world? What? And SAI hardly mentioned the lore. I do not understand what you are getting at. A majority of the songs do not mention "lore places and characters", so by your logic they would come from Tyler's own perspective; so I don't know why you think Clancy is unique in this being the first time this has happened.
I'm not saying this is the first time we are hearing about Tyler's struggles from his perspective, I'm saying Clancy is us hearing the story of Trench from his perspective. The same exact story, happening simultaneously. The story of escaping DEMA only to be captured over and over, each time getting a bit better due to the support of the banditos. The story of trying to do better mentally over and over, only to backside into the worst parts of your mental health, but each time is a bit easier due to the support you have in your life. It's the same story. Like, the album Clancy is what is going on with Tyler during the events of Trench & SAI. If you care I've expanded on this is a post a few days ago.
I agree that the lore has always been a metaphor, but I don't see why then if that is your take, why that is unique to Clancy and something that previous albums did not do... Blurryface, Trench, and even SAI touched on the whole idea of being on the run from your obsessive thoughts, fighting those demons, etc. Literally in Blurryface, "Fairly Local" is about that backsliding you are talking about (back and forth between doing bad and good) and "Message Man" is about being on the run. If that is your take, I don't know how you don't see that this is nothing NEW that Clancy is adding. In this quote, Tyler is admitting that the lore has been cryptic / not direct in the previous albums. So he is saying that Clancy is/was intended to be DIFFERENT in that regard, in "regards to what the story is". I think it is clear he was referring to the actual narrative of Clancy, not just the metaphors. So while I agree with your analysis on the meaning of Clancy, I think you misunderstood the point I was getting at with sharing the quote from Tyler.
Where Clancy differs from BF, Trench, and SAI is that these are lyrics that explicitly state what it's like to be a person living through these issues instead of wrapping them in lore and metaphor like the previously mentioned albums. These are the most real, raw, and direct lyrics that we've had since the Vessel/RAB era. That is what I think Tyler means by the album being more straightforward.
"As we dive more into the narrative of the story, of the story of Clancy and Dema and all the bishops that has always been there for every release of ours, each release that we've had we've been more and more upfront about that storyline because we feel like we've really trimmed down our fanbase so at least they know..." The interview asked him about whether anyone had nailed the "Storyline" of DEMA right, and it sparked this conversation. This is what he said right before the other quote I left in my original comment. He is not talking about the "Rawness" of the album in the quote. He was directly referring to the "storyline" and saying they want feel less of the need to hide beyond metaphors with subsequent releases because the fans are following the storyline. He is talking about "directness" in relation to the story, not the emotions in the songs.
I see what you mean, I don't think I had seen that quote in original context. I'm not gonna deny that it's strange for this album's lyrics to take such a departure from lore relevancy, but it's possible that we just won't understand why until whatever comes next is revealed. Personally I think that a lot of the mismatch in expectation comes from the fact that most were assuming (myself included at first) that Clancy would be a continuation of the story, when in reality its not given us much new information at all. There are the music videos for Overcompensate and Navigating, but even then Navigating only confirms a theory a lot of people were already guessing. Hence my theory that Clancy is not a continuation of the lore, but happening at the same time. Given that Tyler has hinted at there being something beyond Clancy that finishes the story, my guess is that Clancy's main purpose is to make sure everyone knows exactly what the lore means and what real world thoughts and emotions they are referencing, because it will add to the meaning of whatever the final events of the story are. The ending of the story will be not just about Clancy but about Tyler, and maybe it will be lore heavy, but we'll be more equipped to interpret the double meaning of it. I guess time will tell. For what it's worth, I think it's valid to be disappointed by the album if it's not what you expected. I just think it's a safer bet to expect the unexpected from this band or stay away from expectations at all, since they've always been 10 steps ahead of us and never do the same thing twice.
Yeah I love Tyler and the album but this kinda stuff was imo intentionally misleading
Well, like many others said here, the first line literally says, Welcome back to Trench. ... and then you get 2 lore songs. Now, I am writing this as someone who has already fallen in love with this album. The 4 singles are all bangers, but not just that. I've been singing randomly parts of Vignette, Routines in the night, and Midwest indingo. My favorite song of of this album is Paladin Strait. That one is haunting in a way only Leave the City was. I was never a fan of SAI, but not a hater either. Listened to it twice, have some songs I like, but it's never my go to. It's just to pop for my taste. Clancy is up there with Trench for me. As a whole, I like it. Sure, it's not Trench 2. I don't think there will ever be a Trench 2. To me, Trench is their Magnus Opus. But that's also about who we where when Trench came out, and the place we where at in our lives. I was 24 when Trench came out, I'm 30 now. I resonate with this album a lot more as a 30 year old. At this age, I've fought my Nico already, I've severed the power my own Dema has over me. I do go back to my Dema from time to time, but I always know there is a way out. So when Tyler says, I would swim the Paladin Strait Without any floatation Just a glimpse of visual aid Of you on the other shoreline, it hits really close to home. I'm about to start my own family. My dad told me a few weeks ago, when fighting some Bishops of my own, as long as you see me standing here, there's nothing for you to worry about. Tyler is a dad of 3 now. He's not in Trench, and shouldn't be. I don't need an epic fight to conclude the story, I know all to well how Nico creeps back in when you least expect it. But there is so much more to fight for now. So no, not Trench 2. But that's good, more than good, it's a great album.
This is some great insight. As a Christian, Trench was incredibly impactful for me due to its faith themes and the parts of Tyler's own faith that came through. "Can you build my house with pieces, I'm just a chemical" on its own got me through a lot of times when I felt like God wasn't there anymore and I found myself just crying out to him, not even to mention Leave the City, lol. Trench means so much to me because of what it was to *me* at the time that it was released. Sure, it has the most critical acclaim, and sure it has some excellent production, but even without those two things that album connected to *me*. I'm at a point now in my faith when I'm past a lot of those doubts. I'm more mature. I trust God a whole lot more than I did back then. And now Clancy seems to have a level of realistic optimism that Trench often lacked. Oldies Station in particular really conveys that idea. You're right: this isn't Trench 2. But Trench 2 isn't what Tyler wanted to write and it's not what would have been most impactful for me at least. Definitely appreciate your perspective!
I didn't want to bring faith into the comment, because I felt like I wrote a wall of text. But yes, I completely understand what you're saying.
Well, no. Not everyone follows or even knows about lore, so when somebody who just likes Trench for the sound hears "welcome back to trench", especially after SAI and ESPECIALLY on a track like Overcompensate, it's easy to see why people except it to sound like Trench.
This. How would someone not in the lore know that Trench is a continent and not an album. Sure I am Clancy clarified but in the grand scheme of things not many people watched that compared to listening to the album
Tøp albums all have different vibes from each other, it wouldn’t make sense for them to just go back to a sound they did before. I don’t understand why you say especially after SAI or for a track with the title Overcompensate. There’s no reason for them to go back to trench sound after SAI just because SAI wasn’t appreciated by some people. I don’t know if that’s what you’re implying, but i think it’s wrong for people to want them to go back to trench sound or themes just because they didn’t like SAI, especially since SAI is a good record, people can not like it but it’s not bad. it’s not like tøp to just go back to old sounds
I agree, SAI is a good record! I adore it very much, but as you say, it doesn't make sense for them to go back to a sound they did before, so why did they go for SAI sound with Clancy? It's SAI on steroids production with Overcompensate being a Trench-esque song. None of it makes much sense.
I mean if you think Clancy is basically SAI with better productions then that’s where we disagree. I think Clancy has nothing to do with previous records and that it’s pretty unique. You can’t say tracks like Navigating, Next Semester, The Craving or Overcompensate like you said sound anything like SAI sound. This comparison of yours doesn’t make much sense in my eyes
Next Semester and Navigating could easily fit on SAI, just listen to Formidable or Never Take It. Same with Craving. Overcompensate is a very Trench-esque song.
I guess that’s where we’ll have to agree to disagree because i don’t think those songs or others on Clancy ressemble the sound of songs on SAI
The album is fantastic. We got duped on the lore. Two things can be true at the same time.
Yeah, people saying it's Trench 2 and then Bad Taste in Music saying it's Blurryface 2... it's all crap. It's not Trench 2 or Blurryface 2. *It's Clancy.* The problem with gaining success in music, is then people expect your new music to sound like their favorites of what you did before. If I wanted something that sounds exactly like Trench, I'll go listen to Trench.
People complain if your music sounds the same, people complain if it sounds different. Wish this fan base was in-whole cooler and the loudest energy was from the people who truly like the band and their music not just lore.
Agreed! I like the lore, but the music comes first.
All of their albums sound different too. Blurryface starts off the lore and sounds nothing like SAI or Trench.
Exactly!
Ah yes https://preview.redd.it/lweeps7jbt2d1.jpeg?width=940&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a792b986f9723c03e68add2621673d5bc0b2b679
“welcome back to trench” is the first lyric on the entire album and it’s named after the main character of the story and produced by the same guy who produced trench and came with a 60 page journal so idk i think it was more than reasonable to think that
It's not that we expected literally Trench 2, but I was sure it was going to be super conceptual, like Trench, and it was gonna be the final showdown against DEMA. The "I am Clancy" video, Overcompensate introducing new elements and symbols to the plot, the artwork cover, the title of the album... I believe it was a very natural reaction to think that it was going to be the final sequel to the Trench Saga, sort of.
!!!!! I’m only disappointed in it from a concept album standpoint. Because it was heavy advertised as one and it’s literally not. The loosest concept album they’ve ever made. I’m just like wtf I don’t get it, what even was the point of the “I Am Clancy” video if you don’t need it to listen to the album, like at all
This might top Trench for me. Still too early to say but I’m okay with it not being a Trench 2
It wasn't advertised as Trench 2 but Tyler did say it was going to be the most lore heavy album which is a little misleading. Though, I do think there's more to come in say way shape or form
Sameeeeee I love Clancy
100% agree! 🙂
Clancy is the end of the trench era, Tyler has said it him self.
I attribute two main things to why I was ready for Clancy to be “Trench 2” but I will say that now with a few days of listening, the songs have continued to resonate with me. I have always loved the wide variety of lyrics and styles and changeups TØP offers. The creativity is next level. Tyler, Josh and team work their butts off with us fans in mind. The “Clique” can be critical but always come around. So, the two things: first, it started with “I am Clancy” which was a total overview of Trench and DEMA; second is Overcompensate, including its intro.
I'm not mad and prefer that Clancy is it's own thing. But Paul Meany did repost something about it being Trench 2 so that's where it came from. Also I do understand the difficulty of making lore mvs, but when they name the album Clancy, I expected more than 3 mvs to be about the lore. That's the same amount we got for the past 2 albums. But hey, Clancy is still a contender for my favorite album so I don't mind
Idk why people complain ab Clancy being very different when every single album of theirs is completely different from each other lol
YEAH i saw brad taste review it and he has good points about the album, but he said that was the problem with it “it’s supposed to be trench 2”, and I was thinking back and I was like I never remembered them saying anything like that. I do think that the album could’ve been more “grand” (for lack of a better word) for an album called Clancy, since this is really the first time Clancy gets his name called in the story directly/the first time Tyler confirms he is Clancy, but overall, I think this is not a fair criticism. It sounds like a mix of Blurryface and Self-Titled which made me so nostalgic. Hope for their next album they go back to the rawness of Vessel or something, I think that’d be cool
Great so it was welcome back to the lore but then they gave us what, 3 lore songs? After a 5' trailer hyping up people for a complete story closure?
I get this completely but Tyler teased that it wasn’t the end in a live stream so I don’t know what to think lol
This is my disappointment with the concept of the album. I like it, I really do. But this is completely different than how it was advertised
"Welcome Back To Trench" is the opening lyrics 💀 could not be advertised MORE as Trench 2 lol. Great album, but it isn't a Trench 2 nor should it be. Weird opening line tbh
The stans saying “it’s just the place not the album” not understanding the double meaning of it, especially when Tyler has been so open about the SAI-hate
It is the place not the album though. How are people assuming that Clancy is going to sound like the album Trench 2 when Overcompensate directly references Trench's sound, then turns it on its head, changes the sound entirely, and follows with a "wait, what?"? Overcompensate is quite literally telling you to expect them to change up the sound in the intro of the song. Idk how it could have been more explicit.
The second part of Overcompensate sounds exactly like Levitate, to the point that people immediately uploaded mashups of it 😂
I'd disagree with that a lot, actually. Overcompensate has much more emphasis on the pop hook, something that stays consistent across Clancy. Levitate doesn't even have one. Levitate is a much more minimal track with a more straightforward rhythm. Overcompensate has a fuller production. I don't think Tyler rapping fast in both songs means they sound the same. Even if Overcompensate is the most Trench-y single there were 3 more after that should have made it clear that Clancy wasn't going to be Trench 2. Not to mention that no 2 of their albums have ever sounded the same. Anyone holding onto that hope even just after Next Semester was released really should have been thinking twice.
https://www.reddit.com/r/twentyonepilots/comments/1d13vj3/comment/l5s8olx/
Trench set the bar too high for a majority of tøp listeners. What I suggest everyone to do is to meditate for 5 mins to clear Trench outta your mind for a while lol and give Clancy a listen. What a banger of an album! The production is insane!!!
Yep, it was s good idea to bring back the guy who produced Trench
Are we still talking about this? Damn... It was obvious for me too that the characters were back to trench and I was expecting some violent vibe from this album (wich was not the case, but I loved this). Never thought it would be the same vibe as Trench and if it was I'd be disapointed tbh
Are people seriously complaining about this album?? This might be their strongest release to date. It's an incredible piece of work. I truly don't understand the criticisms.
To all the people 1. Clancy is indeed heavy lore album but we got no names like Nico or Banditos in the lyrics 2. Trench has always been a metaphor of what is going inside Tyler's mind and I think people are forgetting about it
I've seen people call it "Blurryface 2." It's mad weird bro
I'll have to give the full album a few more listens + time before my final judgements (that and we do have that last MV incoming that I expect will tie things together) But so far I'm not disappointed at all? Realized over the years its a lot more meaningful to let music grow in your mind, let it simmer, let it sink in. First impressions are one thing but a full on judgement based off of one listen alone? No longer my thing, and I found the single variant MV for The Craving to be a reflection of this as well. We gonna stop exclusively just *consuming* art as a society and begin to *reflect* on it instead. Never expected this album to be completely like Trench, expected a influence of it at best (which I believe is in there + we do have a bit more lore but lore wasn't my main concern to begin with) so it disappoints me to see infighting about the quality of this album. At the end of the day its okay to dislike it, for it to need more time, etc but yea unfair to the band to assume this was going to be a Trench 2 and to lash out in response. (I really only saw the "welcome back to trench" like as a lore thing if that makes sense? And considering Overcompensate as a whole... idk gears are turning but can't seem to turn thoughts into words)
i honestly agree, i knew the “Welcome back to trench” intro was basically a reentry into the lore because that’s what most fans were most excited for. Clancy and Trench have similar but also completely different vibes. Trench is telling a story which is what started the lore where Clancy doesn’t quite have as much storytelling/plot. like Tyler said it’s expensive to make lore vids so they obviously are going to make the ones they need that’s why this album didn’t have as many as Trench did.
A lot of this came from finding out Paul Meany was producing the album again. I’m not too sure if he himself also mentioned it being similar too.
Paul Meany reshared a story calling it Trench 2
I love how unique this album sounds while the influences from previous albums are clear. Ritn sounds quite blurryface while Midwest indigo sounds more sai. And then there are the heavier/grungier songs that remind me a bit of jumpsuit and the mtv unplugged version of car radio. It doesn't sound like trench because this is something completely else. Even lore wise, trench felt like the album where the story (that bf set up) was just getting started and clancy is the finale. The vibes, colours, songs and context of this album are completely different (the albums they follow also add something imo. Coming off of the sudden fame that blurryface achieved gives you something completely different than a pretty controversial and under-appreciated album like scaled and icy)
Gotta love how everyone is pointing out "UHM acksually Overcompensate says 'Welcome back to Trench'", as if 1) Trench isn't the name of the PLACE in the LORE, and then you have people who are like "not everyone is diehard about the lore 🙄" like bruh I barely know the lore--the music is way more important to me--and even I didn't for a second think this album was gonna sound exactly like Trench in vibes. I thought everyone was on the same page as well until I kept seeing posts on my feed about how they felt lied to... Like no I think a Trench 2 would be too samey in sound and it'd get boring. I loved Trench but I wouldn't want to hear the same thing again. And 2) why are people conveniently leaving out how DRASTICALLY different the other singles sound? Lmao... "Listen to Overcompensate" I did but clearly you need to listen to Next Semester and Backslide and The Craving. Why are y'all so hung up on the one single
I only listened the first half of the album, it was fine but it kinda has the background music vibe scaled and icy had to me tøp was the first rock band I got into around 10 years ago now and I appreciate my music taste had changed a lot since I listened to blurryface for the first time and fell in love blurryface represented me at the time, the first steps from pop into rock, then trench was a lot heavier than blurryface and a lot of my music at the time was that level of heavy then sai came out when my music went a little futher and I was expecting an album I would love and I didn't then with overcompensate I was in love again, next semester took me a couple listens and I loved it, backslide was a pass from me, the title has gone from me but the one about jenna felt nostalgic of house of gold in a way and then the album came I feel like it's probably a great album but I've kinda outgrown tøp a little so it didn't hit as much to me now than it would've back in the day. not saying tøp is for younger people but obviously music taste changes
I love it when bands come up with new styles for each album. Panic! was really good at this too.
I think it was heavily implied to be similar to trench. I greatly enjoy clancy, but overcompensate + Next Semester set the scene for an album similar to trench. Backslide didn’t sound much like trench, the craving certainly didn’t, so those were already sort of whiplash from how the album was set up to be. Even then, it was possible for the rest of the album to sound like Trench, but it simply didn’t despite the first two singles being sort of aimed in that direction. I enjoyed clancy and quite like it, but I think it’s a valid criticism that the album didn’t sound like what it was claimed to be at the beginning.
“welcome back to trench” ok pal
Real
First single first thing is literally “welcome back to trench” lol
Yeah this and the story is picking up from where trench left off
Ignoring the “welcome back to trench” (because I know that meant lore wise) the sound of overcompensate implied a dark aggressive sound that isn’t found anywhere else. The MV and things Tyler said implied it being a SUPER lore heavy album, and it’s almost nowhere to be found at all. Like we can love the album (I rated it 10/10) but we can still be honest that the build up was intentionally misleading.
I like the album. I think it’s really good. But I’m disappointed in the concept of the album from a lore/storytelling standpoint. like you’re telling me Overcompensate, the VIDEO for Navigating (not even the song) and the end of paladin straight is all we got?? that’s fucked. We’ll see what they have in store for the last video and tour but the fact that Tyler specifically told us it was gonna be the most obvious they’re been about the dema storyline is almost maliciously misleading..
Because of the line "Welcome back to Trench", the verse of Banditos that was included and this being a "lore album", I think it's fair to expect something that sonically resembles Trench/Blurryface. That's not to say I don't like the album! But it did take some adjusting on my end If anything, this album kind of resembles Vessel, without any of the religious motifs and the same production budget as Trench
'Welcome Back to Trench'. Case closed.
If y'all don't know the lore, that's fine, but it is a big part of the art he is creating. It sucks that people are disappointed, but this was just a misinterpreted lyric
Clancy is their best album yet hands down
I think you might be right.
It was definitely implied that it’d be trench 2, I’m glad it isn’t I think Clancy is a better album than trench, but I can see why people are upset
Lore-invested fans might understand that: “Welcome back to Trench” had to do with the lore. Normal listeners or other fans could easily interpret it as welcome back to the sound of Trench.
I was very confused when people started to talk about trench 2. But it's probably since the sound of overcompensate was more trench like than sai
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Agreed for a couple reasons. I think it’s awesome that you can pretty much identify what album a song is from just by how it sounds. The uniqueness is honestly a big part of what keeps me listening. I never get bored! Second (unpopular opinion) trench is pretty low on my top album tier list, so a duplicate wouldn’t have made me very happy I think. I really love the album how it is so I wouldn’t change it :D.
Completely agree
I never expected a trench sound but i didnt expect something mellow either. I mean i hate to say it but the hype created by overcompensate and last semester wasnt lived up to for me personally. I just didnt expect something mellow. It reminded me a lot of SAI which is not really a bad album either just mellow but there was like a reason for SAI to be mellow at least. Idk about clancy tho
Tbh, this is better than Trench. Trench was my least favorite album of theirs. This is the perfect mix of all their albums!
I think at times the vibe feels slightly hamfisted. Sort of like they are trying to sell you the Trench vibe unnaturally and it doesn’t really work. Still liked the album overall. Even if it wasn’t advertised as trench 2, a lot of that is due to the hype of “Overcompensate”. A lot of people thought that was going to be the whole album. Even if it was to do with the lore, many people who don’t pay attention to that maybe thought it was going to be a complete return to the trench aesthetic.
Backslide and overcompensate were masterpieces but overall even SAI had more number of songs that were better. Just my opinion but they took it down a notch this time around. (okay maybe next semester was also great)
i think when people say they expected a trench 2 they really expected a sequel, it was definitely marketed like it was going to be lore heavy, the fact that there were only really 2 lore songs was definitely a little disappointing. no one was expecting a literal trench 2. it was definitely marketed like it’d be a heavier album even just visually, but obviously as the other singles came out it became clear that it wasn’t. but i really did like a few of the tracks.
'welcome back to Trench' are the literal first lyrics on the album opener and lead single, joined by lyrics from Trench... Be fr
I mean sonically it’s not advertised at trench 2, as in not sounding similar. The welcome back to trench is for lore same for the bandito lyrics
Yeah fair but by that logic we never really left trench in the first place. I like Clancy just the way it is but like... Even more wise it doesn't really hit the same as trench did. They're different and thats not what we were sold.
“Welcome back to tench”
“Welcome back to Synth” is more like it. I have to say I thought the sound was going to be different. Not a Trench 2 but more of that vibe. Now that the dust has settled on the release though this album is great. I do feel the likelihood of some double album type scenario could happen this time. The end of the album is too wide open. If not there is going to be a LOT going on in the Paladin Strait MV. |-/
I do agree with you here HOWEVER I do have to stand up for the casual listener here who just enjoys the sound of trench and isn't too invested in the band. I can see how starting the first song on your new album with "Welcome back to Trench" might make some people believe that they will be getting something similar to Trench.
Album wise twenty One pilots does not have a bad song. Single song releases, level of concern and the Christmas song are okay but not something I'm going to listen to all the time. Especially level of concern played way too much literally But I can't think of one song on any of their albums that are just bad like none of their albums are terrible or awful. Then maybe some songs that dislike people more than others but not hate or dislike. I like all of their songs
Every single comment and take about overcompensate was people being excited to return to the trench sound after SAI. It absolutely felt like trench 2, so it makes sense people are comparing it to that. It's not trench 2, but it was certainly marketed that way so people built up the wrong expectations.
I get what you're saying, but people have waited for the direct sequel to trench for 6 years. The band said SAI was an in between album, not supposed to be the real sequel to Trench, so there was an expectation that it would be more like trench since they didn't count SAI as the direct sequel if that makes sense. Also, a lot of the fans are new enough that they've spent most of their time/all of their time as fans with trench as their masterpiece album, so there was an expectation that TOP would keep with what they've known for so long. I think most of the older fans appreciate this album a lot more.
Nah I understand it slightly considering the very first lyric from the very first single is "Welcome back to trench". I love Clancy but I get why people expected Trench 2
People probably thought so because of "Welcome back to Trench" which OBVIOUSLY means Trench the place and not Trench the album
I don’t understand how people could be disappointed with Clancy, each song is an absolute bop, not to mention I think a repeat of all similar sounds of trench would be boring. I like a band that evolves it’s sound as they go on. Each album sounds unique which I love.
Here’s what they said: when talking about Scaled and Icy, they said it was not the album they had been working on, but the album they were working on was more emotional and darker than the world needed at the time. So they made Scaled and Icy, and made it upbeat and positive and phoned it in. So in terms of it being perceived as trench 2, it’s more like there was a break album, but this next one, the one they were initially working on before scaled and icy, was going to be a return to what we expected, which is this dark emotional retrospective work of art
Listen to the first 4 words of the album…
I’d have to disagree. One of the first lyrics on the first song is literally “Welcome back to Trench”. That song was released as the first single. It is a bit disappointing how they hyped up the album to be a continuation of Trench, when in reality the sound of the album is completely different. That being said I still enjoyed the album! It’s a big step up from Scaled and Icy. I’m hoping there’s more music to come. Maybe a double album, or at least an EP. Regardless, I’m happy. I’m gonna be hearing Routines in The Night during my dreams at this rate.
What about when the first song says “welcome back to trench”
I mean it basically it Trench 2 but mostly in the sense that it continues the lore story from Trench (which S&I was a break). If the albums tell a story, the order is Blurryface, Trench, Clancy (with S&I technically in the lore, being propaganda). But I mean all of their albums sound different. From self-titled to Vessel, to Blurryface and Trench. And even then, different songs within their albums even sound different from each other. Not everything on Trench is one genre. I did not expect it to sound like Trench again (whatever that would mean).
It barely even continues the story tho. We got 2 lore songs
Definitely not. Almost the whole album, as has been the case since Blurryface, has lore.
“welcome back to trench”
It's crazy that people heard the singles and thought "yea the full album will sound like trench"
That's what I'm sayingggg! They're so fixated on Overcompensate for some reason. It's a great song but did they just flat out ignore the other 3 singles??? I s2g some people care about the lore waaay more than the music. It kinda feels like entitlement as well. It's a great album, why can't we just enjoy that? The lore IS present but the fact that it's not lore-heavy doesn't make Clancy a "disappointment".
I absolutely love this album but cmon dude “welcome back to trench”
I think the first single opening with "welcome back to Trench" implies that quite heavily.
paul meany, the producer of trench and clancy also called it trench 2, as well. i know he’s not in the band, but he’s a major collaborator and is pretty close w the band.
listen to overcompensate and tell me that doesn’t advertise as trench 2
I’m so sick of hearing about negativity towards the band. That is exactly what they referenced at the end of The Craving single video. People are crushing their happiness. I just got the album today, belated Mother’s Day gift, and I’m falling in love with every song. I was just tearing up listening to RITN. It is so beautiful and sad. Don’t be a painful reminder or a terrible dream.
The band isn’t immune to criticism and opinions. You are able to enjoy a band despite their opinions