albums you should have listened to

If not simply for Nate Ruess’ incredible range as a vocalist, Aim and Ignite is a fantastic album with a variety of tracks that demonstrate the band’s immense talent. The album has everything from syrupy sweet love ballads like “The Gambler” to “Benson Hedges,” a song that begins with gospel elements that signify Ruess’ love for music more than any religion or deity.

The album never slows down from start to finish, and it’s perfect to dance along to or pick you up if you’re feeling down. Every song can make you laugh. It does everything a peppy pop song should do, just presented in a radically different way, and across an entire album instead of one four-minute track.

The album is a joy to listen to, as the production varies in style but also remains true to the core theme of the album. The content of the record is where it’s worth truly lies. It’s comparable to a reformation of the J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye, focusing on the alienation and the painful phoniness of the adult world. It is an exploration of those raised in the Ronald Reagan Era, tackling their skewed identity and fragmented moral compass.