Every Enter Shikari Song Ranked
In what has surprisingly become my most personal and listened to band over the years, starting my political awakening and starting the path into new genres. Only fitting to do a definitive discography list. I'm excluding remixes, even though some of the Juggernaut and Sssnakepit remixes are arguably better than the original and yes, I forgot Red Shift and Quelle Surprise. Refer to comment #1 for those two. |
| 80 |  | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Pack of Thieves - Delete this song. |
| 79 |  | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Fanfare for the Conscious Man - What a disappointing end to a fantastic album. Leaves me confused emotionally and musically. |
| 78 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
No Sleep Tonight - I’ve always thought the way the chorus starts is jarring and doesn’t quite feel right. Even though it’s more popular, I feel it’s a worse version of Wall. |
| 77 |  | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Elegy For Extinction - A pretty track that doesn’t really serve much purpose on the album. It breaks the great album flow and doesn't really fit in the overall mood of the album either IMO. By no means a bad song, but I do tend to skip this and judging it on its own merits independently, it's still just an ok song. |
| 76 |  | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
Bank of England - Absolute snoozefest |
| 75 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
Never Let Go of the Microscope |
| 74 |  | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Revolt Of The Atoms - This really should have been cut from the album and combined with Stop the Clocks for an EP. It ruins a really good streak of emotive, heartfelt tracks that should transition Undercover Agents into Jigsaw but instead we get this gimmicky track that breaks the rhythm. |
| 73 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
There's a Price On Your Head |
| 72 |  | Enter Shikari
The Zone
The Feast - It's just a little too rough around the edges to be enjoyable. |
| 71 |  | Enter Shikari
Tribalism
All Eyes on the Saint |
| 70 |  | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Return To Energiser |
| 69 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
The King |
| 68 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Today Won't Go Down in History |
| 67 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
Anaesthetist |
| 66 |  | Enter Shikari
Hoodwinker
Hoodwinker |
| 65 | | Enter Shikari
The Zone
Acid Nation |
| 64 | | Enter Shikari
The Zone
Keep It On Ice |
| 63 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Waltzing Off the Face of the Earth (I. Crescendo) |
| 62 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
The Dreamer's Hotel |
| 61 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannicide |
| 60 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
The Pressure's On |
| 59 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Stop The Clocks - Single only release. A genuinely fun, upbeat song if you don't focus too hard. |
| 58 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Search Party |
| 57 | | Enter Shikari
Tribalism
We Can Breathe in Space |
| 56 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Rabble Rouser |
| 55 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Arguing With Thermometers |
| 54 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Havoc A |
| 53 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
The Jester |
| 52 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here |
| 51 |  | Enter Shikari
Rat Race
The Paddington Frisk |
| 50 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Take My Country Back - Whilst still a decent song, there's a bit too much oversinging. Frustratingly, the acoustic renditions of this are significantly better and bring out better qualities in this song. |
| 49 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour |
| 48 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Sssnakepit |
| 47 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Adieu |
| 46 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
The Great Unknown |
| 45 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Constellations |
| 44 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Juggernauts |
| 43 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Jonny Sniper |
| 42 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Stalemate |
| 41 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
The Appeal and Mindsweep II |
| 40 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Modern Living / Apocaholics Anonymous |
| 39 | | Enter Shikari
Tribalism
Tribalism |
| 38 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
Dear Future Historians - Would be higher but I’m not so keen on the final third where everything gets loud and ‘epic’. Song would have been better if it just went with the minimalist, heartfelt ballad that it started with.
Lyric highlight: 'For when I dive into your iris, my brain erupts into biochemical mayhem' |
| 37 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Ok Time for Plan B |
| 36 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Marionettes I / II - Can’t help but feel this song was slightly let down by some very typical Shikari lyrics, rehashing messages we’ve heard before but not as good. |
| 35 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Sorry You're Not a Winner |
| 34 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
The Appeal and Mindsweep I |
| 33 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
No Sssweat |
| 32 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Wall |
| 31 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Crossing the Rubicon |
| 30 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Havoc B |
| 29 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
One True Colour |
| 28 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Zzzonked |
| 27 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Common Dreads / Solidarity |
| 26 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Reprise / Labyrinth |
| 25 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Shinrin-Yoku |
| 24 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Destabilise |
| 23 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
Myopia |
| 22 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Satellites - One thing I truly cannot wait to do is grab a sweaty stranger and shout out ‘YEAH I THINK IT COULD BE LOVE’ with them, and just for a while, the world will make sense. It’s a shame lyrically this song is fairly poor by Rou’s standards. Its unimaginative and repetitive verse/prechorus is what brings is down slightly. |
| 21 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
The Last Garrison |
| 20 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
Waltzing Off the Face of the Earth (II. Piangevole) - A very cathartic ending to the album and hopefully a favourite to play live in the future |
| 19 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Antwerpen - Those DnB rhythms are DELICIOUS |
| 18 | | Enter Shikari
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
T.I.N.A. |
| 17 |  | Enter Shikari
Slipshod
Slipshod
Best lyric: 'Your carpet is ugly and your veg ain't in season' |
| 16 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
An Ode To Lost Jigsaw Pieces (in two movements) / The Embers |
| 15 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Mothership |
| 14 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Airfield - Sometimes you need to see a song live to truly appreciate a song. Singing the hook with thousands of strangers in a single room brought me to tears and showed the true beauty of this song.
Best lyric: 'Now the wind's against you, don't give up the fight' |
| 13 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Live Outside - For me, a song to encapsulate 2020. The constant noise of bad news, anxiety and wishing for doom clouding your thoughts, whilst also experiencing a nasty bout of insomnia. I too wish to live outside from the brain fog.
Best lyric: 'I can’t sleep with the noise in the house, why won’t they pipe it down?’ |
| 12 | | Enter Shikari
The Mindsweep
Torn Apart |
| 11 | | Enter Shikari
Take to the Skies
Stand Your Ground This is Ancient Land / Enter Shikari |
| 10 | | Enter Shikari
Rat Race
Rat Race.
Best lyric: 'When you finally reach the front of the pack, there’s nothing left but an endless barren track’ |
| 9 | | Enter Shikari
Tribalism
Thumper |
| 8 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
Gandhi Mate, Gandhi |
| 7 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Halcyon / Hectic - 'Well thank god for the good days...' Particularly enjoy that this is potentially one of two or three songs where Chris, Rou and Rory each sing individual parts in.
Best lyric: 'All those halcyon days and halcyon nights...' |
| 6 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
Undercover Agents - I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks, nothing can replicate face to face communication with someone. No amount of zoom calls can replace it. So why not give into our primal social urges and embrace one another like we should and this song exemplifies this beautifully. A carefree energy of ‘fuck it, let’s go’ and it’s incredible. I feel the warmth of many friends with this song.
Best lyric: 'I don’t want the gloss, I want to see the truth; I want to see your body’ |
| 5 | | Enter Shikari
Rat Race
Radiate - THE song that got me into Enter Shikari, just by sheer chance after stumbling onto it on radio 1. These couldn’t be the same hoodie wearing weirdos I used to see in kerrang, surely? They sound so… mature? And these electronic bits… they’re actually quite good. Simply put, a song that started an important path in discovering electronic music and harsh vocals. |
| 4 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Step Up - The twin to Gap In The Fence, bemoaning the injustice and inequalities of a world that can do much better. A call to action in a sweeping, aggressive song which culminates in a call to take action, but not in an accusatory tone but one of brother’s in arms. Interestingly, the acoustic version of this brings out a more empathetic tone to this song’s message and I can’t decide which one I prefer, but either way, it’s top tier song.
Best lyric: 'We shelter ourselves from the outcries. We blinker ourselves from the eyesores’ |
| 3 | | Enter Shikari
Common Dreads
Gap In The Fence - Despite being nothing particularly special, the build up of this song to its ‘whoa’ climax really gets me, with anything after 2:30 minute mark being sheer bliss. Just something to close your eyes, feel in awe of the mixture of chords, sparkling synths that are almost hypnotic. Features one of my favourite Shikari moments too, which is Rob’s drum lick at the 3 minute mark, which I don’t know why, just feels so cathartic.
Best lyric: 'And yes granted we prosper, but the fact that we prosper is even taken for granted’ |
| 2 | | Enter Shikari
The Spark
The Spark / The Sights - The Spark came out just as I moved country on my own and coming to terms with its difficulties and loneliness. It may not have been the album most fans wanted, but it was probably the one that spoke to me greatly at the time. There was something inspiring about The Sights, with its upbeat, poppy synths, acknowledging fear but relishing a new beginning. Even in musical terms, the bridge reprises the same bright chords from ‘The Spark’ intro, resembling the actual spark to kickstart anew, whilst overlayed with fear of the unknown. But it was when I was most anxious, most scared to put myself out there in a new country, that I’d repeat the same lyric from this song to give me some courage.
Best lyric: Now I'll boldly go into the great unknown' |
| 1 | | Enter Shikari
A Flash Flood of Colour
System... / ... Meltdown - In my opinion, this is political shikari at its peak, with its anger through its music, commentary through lyricism and all round a very interesting and chaotic blend of genres and styles. A literal dry drum & bass, almost jungle, beat that carries the track proving some real blood pumping energy that combines sweeping synths and an unusually ferocious Rou. Of all Shikari songs, this puts me in the best zone and mood regardless of the environment I hear it in.
Best lyric: ‘Countries are just lines drawn in the sand with a stick’ |
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