Why is Blurryface a good album? Well, it makes yours truly bob up and down on this couch while I’m typing this like a complete dork (no one’s watching). If the visual you just got (if you know me, Ryan) isn’t enough of a reason to like this album I don’t know what is.

Still not convinced? Eh. Well.

Can you imagine being in Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph’s shoes during the making of this album? Two average joes making the music they want for the heck of it, and then watching it catch on and making the decision to run with it as hard as they could. Longtime fans have been privy to a slow acclimation to the many faces of twenty one pilots. Many songs on Vessel were long time favorites live and even on independent releases. How all over the place this band is (“schizoid pop” was a term of choice used to describe them early on in their career) has earned them praise, yet ironically as I read reviews that speak of the band going off track or losing sight of their vision, I’m not sure what they (the reviews) mean.

Obviously, there’s some overarching thing heard in Vessel, Regional at Best, and their self titled record that people don’t think is present all the way through Blurryface. I think the best thing to do in circumstances like this is try to have empathy for the party you’re annoyed with. You might be in love with this record and wondering why I’m ranting (I’m glad you like it) so bear with me:

I have a theory that Blurryface is the end result of Tyler’s triumphs and failures as a professional musician in the industry being placed under a microscope. The record never really gets too somber on the surface. “Stressed Out” and “Goner” are the two most obviously pensive tracks on the album but neither sound as dark in passing as you might expect. Even “Goner” builds into an unexpectedly energetic track. A contrast to “Truce,” a plea to “stay alive for me.” Now, Tyler is asking us to help us overcome his alter ego, whom he emphasizes is a false identity. A spiritual metaphor if you will. He knows where his true identity lies, but falsehoods masquerading as himself still threaten to overcome him.

This is something all of us can relate to on some level, though the answer to this identity problem is indeed definite. Even in the happiest of times we have inklings of self doubt. “Ride,” destined to be one of this summer’s anthems, has a bridge of Tyler singing “I’ve been thinking too much.” A fun song when we need it to be, with some stark truths hidden within.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRviuL6vMY[/youtube]

Blurryface captures a battle everyone faces and channels it through Tyler’s own story, which is then further manipulated into some tunes that quite simply are gnarly. I hope the band keeps evolving because frankly they were never really defined to begin with. I think some of the disappointment can be attributed to the fact that it’s near impossible to recapture on album two that initial sense of wonder a first album gets across to the masses. And the fact of the matter, for the majority of the band’s fanbase, their first exposure was Vessel.

Blurryface is for me one of the most memorable releases of 2015, for the fact that it is simultaneously a fun listen and one where Tyler leaves his thoughts out in the open. I have a feeling we’ll be peeling back the layers on this one for a very long time. This 600 word-ish review feels kinda inadequate in that regard, so oh well! I’m gonna go back to listening to the album now.

Score: 4.6/5

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