On Dec. 29, 2009, Twenty One Pilots released the most emotionally-charged album of its time with its self-titled debut. Drummer Chris Salih, bassist Nick Thomas and frontman Tyler Joseph’s Twenty One Pilots, a 14-track glimpse into the poetic yet tragic nature of Joseph’s mind, flipped the script on how admirable music is made. Ten years later, though, everyone doesn’t know the band for what they should.
The Columbus-based band became a one-man show after Salih and Thomas left the band one month apart from each other for personal reasons in 2011. Josh Dun, however, took Salih’s place, and the new duo released Regional at Best, a poignant album that dropped in the same year and is no longer available for purchase, as many of its tracks were re-mastered for the band’s third LP, Vessel. 2013’s Vessel is where the band gradually started to attain attention, and 2015’s Blurryface, the band’s worst work to date but one that is still fine in its own right, is when Twenty One Pilots became a household name.
After exploding into stardom, Joseph and Dun took a year-long hiatus to adjust to their unanticipated fame and create the band’s latest album, 2018’s Trench. It’s a step in the right direction after the mainstream, radioplay-esque features of Blurryface, but nothing since Twenty One Pilots has been so heartbreakingly picturesque. Nothing again will ever come close, either.
Twenty One Pilots showcases a raw look into how a damaged mind operates. Joseph has made it clear through his lesser-known solo album, No Phun Intended, and subsequent music that he’s endured mental health issues for years. Channeling his pain into music is his own form of therapy, and it’s never been done so well. The album’s opener, “Implicit Demand for Proof,” contains gloomy keys and Joseph’s doubt with his religion, as he pleads for God to show Himself. Joseph takes the time in “Friend, Please” to convince his friend to stay alive amid suicidal thoughts. The album is jam-packed with imperfect vocals and instrumentation that epitomize Joseph’s turbulent headspace, and that’s what makes it so perfect to this day.
Here are the best five songs off Twenty One Pilots:
5. “Fall Away”
“Fall Away” blends the album’s two overarching themes: addressing Joseph’s deteriorated mental health and his fears of slipping away from his religious roots. The rap in verse two is interpolated from “Drown” off No Phun Intended, and it goes to show his mental health isn’t letting up: “My name is lame / I can’t walk, and I ain’t the same / And my name became a new destiny to the grave.” A simple yet enthralling piano riff, Joseph’s emotion-laden vocals, hypnotic harmonies and fiery drumming from Salih only accent the already pulsating lyrics.
4. “A Car, A Torch, A Death”
Though the entire album is as melancholic as they come, some of the tracks are upbeat—this isn’t one of those. Commanded by synths that resemble a heartbeat, “A Car, A Torch, A Death” tells of the moment Joseph grasped why God died for humanity’s sins. He realized this as he witnessed a girl he loved overcome by her demons and on the verge of taking her own life. Joseph decides he’d rather withdraw her pain and manage it himself: “And then I said, ‘I’ll take the grave / Please just send them all my way’ / I began to understand why God died.”
3. “March To The Sea”
“March to the Sea” confronts the frightening reality that right after birth, people are already gradually making their way to the end of the line, aka death. Guided by a bewitching bass line from Thomas, Joseph vocalizes how everyone chooses to play their cards safely, mindlessly following the actions of each other and making themselves vulnerable: “No one looks up anymore / ’Cause you might get a raindrop in your eye / And heaven forbid they see you cry as we fall in line.” Joseph hears the voice of God, veering off the path of everyone else and onto one that’ll give him eternal contentment.
2. “Taxi Cab”
“Taxi Cab,” a track covering the story of a faithless man dying, contains one of the greatest verses ever written in verse three. In the metaphorical taxi cab, the three other passengers change the car’s course and head to heaven, giving Joseph a chance for eternal life. An absorbing piano riff helps emphasize the passengers’ claims that Joseph has been saved: “Then one turned around to say, ‘We’re driving toward the morning sun / Where all your blood is washed away, and all you did will be undone.”
1. “Before You Start Your Day”
On the most underappreciated track in all of Twenty One Pilots’ discography, “Before You Start Your Day” urges listeners to embrace their insecurities, get out of bed and just do their best in life. Dismal keys steer Joseph’s comforting words as he promises his fans they’re always within him when he’s creating music. Finally, he reassures those who are struggling that pain is never permanent, and it’ll eventually be taken away forever: “Know you were made holy / Open up your eyes and see / The clouds above will hold you / The clouds above will sing.” The track is heartwarming, and it’s the best off Twenty One Pilots.
