Ordering the Dance Gavin Dance Albums
All of their albums bring something to enjoy and everyone has the ones they prefer over the others so I thought it would be fun to order them and maybe even get a discussion going. |
| 6 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Instant Gratification
Though this album is my least favorite I still Like it A LOT and dont agree with the amount of hate it seems to be getting. Songs like "We own the night" and "Stroke God Millionaire" feel incredibly powerful, dynamic, and incredibly tight from a song writing perspective. The middle tracks however do suffer from the same problem I found on Acceptance Speech an DBM2 where they feel incredibly short and like "typical DGD affair" missing out on that feeling of true inspiration. However the absolute best song on the album "Death of a Strawberry" is one of my favorite Dgd songs in years even if the lyrics can be a little ridiculous at times. The jangling guitar and rich and delicious vocal lines make this song brimming with passion and power. |
| 5 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Downtown Battle Mountain II
This albums first half is so incredibly strong, memorable, and fucking amazingly weird that if the second half could live up to it, I would rate it much much higher on this list. From the nonstop power of Opener "Spooks" to the lovably crazy vocals and flow of "Need Money" to the absolute captivation and emotion of "The Robot with Human Hair part 2 1/2" the First half is incredible from the start all the way to the ending breakdown of "Heat Seeking Ghost of Sex". Unfortunately from the decent enough jam of "blue dream" to the end of the album it feels more like filler. The guitar lines feel more phoned in and "Dgd ripoff" then anything with true inspiration put behind it. |
| 4 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Acceptance Speech
While Tillian is my least favorite singer from the trio and this album does seem to get a lot of hate, I still think that his voice meshes incredibly well with Mess' current style and that he brings a soaring lead that feels as haunting as it does angelic. This album is also completley dominated by my favorite style of Mess' screams. It feels so emotionally and sonically dominating. While some of the songs on this album do feel like B sides and some of the experimentation doesnt exactly go perfectly(im looking at you Death of the robot) it still shows a band that can craft some of the most sonically intersting and powerful post hardcore songs to date( The robot with Human hair part 4, Jesus H Macy, and the Jiggler). |
| 3 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Dance Gavin Dance
I once read a review or comment on this site that commented that Kurt Travis was the first one to truly grace DGD with a vocal hook. And whether thats true or not I think i can safely say that Kurts vocals not only carry monstrous melodies even amongst a backdrop of Fall of troy esque guitar work but also carry a touching emotional honesty to them that Johnnys voice never could. Kurt is my favorite singer of the three and on this album he doesnt hold back. "The Robot With Human Hair Pt. 3" is not only my favorite part of the series but a contender for one of my favorite songs of all time. The abstract lyrics and the flucuation of kurts voice over intense and smooth guitar leads leads into a climax that pays off so much. |
| 2 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Downtown Battle Mountain
The rawness of both the clean and harsh vocals make this record feel more intimate, unpolished, and surprisingly vulnerable more so than any of the other albums. This existed before dgd got zac Garren and Will swan started to show their love for erratic technical fall of troy guitar lines and it ends up standing out amongt the rest of their discography because of that. The riffs flow well with the structured harsh and clean mix and the songwriting shines through on almost every song on the record. Stand outs for me will always be "Open your eyes and look north", "Lemon Meringue Tie", and "Backwards Pumpkin Song". |
| 1 |  | Dance Gavin Dance
Happiness
Opening with the one two punch of "Tree village" and "Nasa" makes for an incredible start to an album that perfectly blends tight intricate post hardcore with a variety of other influences that make tracks like "carl barker" as rocking as they are emotionally relatable. And of course Kurt just happens to be my favorite dgd singer. |
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