Cage the Elephant in tier list
really like the first album, also like the other four but not as much, or they’re different and tricky for comparing.
RELISTEN1: on a relisten, I like everything a lot more, really solid
RELISTEN2: very very good. I think in my brain I mostly liked it all a lot, albeit with some albums less liked than others. Obviously I don’t like all the albums exactly the same now, but it definitely feels less like I don’t like some as much and more like there are a couple that I like that much more. Seriously, I underrated these guys. The last couple months whenever I listened to them I was like “there’s no way they’re just an A, that can’t be right”, and after a relisten, they for sure are not just an A. Just, so consistently such high quality, meaningful and smart lyrics, banger songs, albums are cohesive and different from each other, they’re not stuck to any one sound. I love it, a lot. S-rank
RELISTEN3: Okay, so. I have had Cage the Elephant listed as my third favorite band for… a while now. The better part of two years, I think. That’s a long time. I started questioning that after listening to Neon Pill in May of 2024. I didn’t hate Neon Pill, but I was pretty disappointed by it. My first impression of it was that it sounded so… I dunno, nothing? It sounded sanded over. I felt it had none of the personality or touch or feeling that I had come to love and appreciate in all the earlier albums. I wouldn’t call it bad, not even then when I was must frustrated by it. It’s just not… what I want to say is “it’s not bad, it’s just not Cage the Elephant”, because that’s kinda what it felt like.
I tried not to be too bummed because I knew their other stuff took a while to grow on me; maybe Neon Pill would, too. It didn’t. I got to know it a little better, and after my most recent full listen of it today I think I’d say it’s a decent album, but that’s about as much as I’d give it. When I first listened to it, I felt like it was going to drag down the whole band for me. That’s what prompted me to put it onto my list of bands to relisten to. The way I saw it, could I really have a band with an album that I think is just mid as one of my most… not just my most liked bands, but my most highly presented bands? I’m very exclusive and particular about my Ss. Does that hold up under the weight of this album I don’t care for?
So, I finally got around to relistening through everything, and I’m super glad I did. The closeness and deep affection I’d had for all of Cage the Elephant has evidently diminished in me since I bumped them up to S almost two years ago—not even bringing into account Neon Pill. That’s not to say I don’t like them, because I very much do. However, of their five non-Neon Pill albums, fully three of them I am not wowed by. That’s Cage the Elephant, Thank You Happy Birthday, and Tell Me I’m Pretty. I still think all three of those are great albums. They all have songs I love, in a style I find myself drawn toward, with lyrics and themes that tend to resonate with me. But they don’t have any awe for me, they don’t, I dunno. Inspire? That seems harsh and on the nose, but maybe it gets the point across, the feeling I’m trying to communicate. They’re 8/10s. High 8s, but still. The last time I listened to them, I had them all at 9s, and I don’t really give out 9s, 9s are the ones that do inspire, that do put some awe in me. They used to, and now they don’t.
Melophobia and Social Cues still do. Those two were always my favorites and they still are. Social Cues moved down from a 9.7 to a flat 9, which is a bummer but still, I love that album, it is strong and has that feeling in my heart. Melophobia stayed at a 9.6. I love Melophobia, that slaps. Best Cage the Elephant album by a mile, no contest. Fight me.
And then there’s Neon Pill. Despite it being the inciting incident for this reevaluation that’s knocking one of my favorite bands down so many pegs, I don’t actually have all that much to say about it. I think it’s fine. Pretty good, even, 7.7/10. I do think it’s better than I initially gave it credit for, but it still kinda bums me out. In a lot of ways, I don’t know that I actually think it’s all that much worse than, say, Cage the Elephant. It’s pretty good, it’s put together, it is enjoyable. Still, I stand by that it is boring, especially coming off the back of Social Cues. I feel like it lacks soul, and that bums me out.
So. All of that to say, I love Cage the Elephant. I don’t think I even really think that they’re not as good as I once thought. Well, maybe a little. I do think Neon Pill was a miss. Barring that, I think it’s more accurate to say that I just don’t like them quite as much as I used to. Again, I still like them a lot, A+ is no mean feat. Just, S indicates a spot of incredibly closeness to me personally, it holds in it almost an adoration, and I do not have that for Cage the Elephant anymore. Sad, but true
tunafruitsandwitch 