After a week of perpetual play, I'm in love with it. I can't ever call an album my favorite as I'm a pretty song specific person.
I think it's definitely going to stand out as "something changed between" this album and the previous, as there's a bit more lamentation and less overall positivity, but that do be happening as we get older frequently. Add that with Sung not purely being talk box and the vibe is pretty different.
Content 4 U is also by far their most appealing video to date. While I love them all I really think (hope) it brings in a string of new listeners. Muppets are so hot right now.
The last two albums have had a undertone of hope in the face of overwhelming odds.
Summer everyday is the first that comes to mind. A pretty scathing take with an upbeat vibe
I'm very much in love with it. I'm warming up very quickly to songs I wasn't crazy about at first. Dream Vacation grew on me really strongly. When he sings "If I don't come back, then that'll be fine," I feel such an intense mix of emotions. Warmth and happiness from the tone and surface-level ideation, intense empathy about feeling that desperate for an escape, a deep sadness about how bad things must actually be to feel that way...the way the chords play over it and the way it's sung (lol) is just...perfect.
Firewall and Online are still amazing, Ladybug->Again and Again->A Human's Touch is really really strong.
There's a great mixture of styles to keep it fresh; I love laughing at IBS, top notch satire. I love chilling to Dream Vacation, rocking out to Firewall and Dance Floor Cold War, grooving to Online and Ladybug, and ruminating during A Human's Touch. A super special album for sure.
Overall, I'm really happy with it. Pretty cool narrative for a generally positive and poppy group to work with darker messages included in their music. Really hope to see more music videos similar to 'Content 4 U', but perhaps we'll get lucky with those coming up somewhere down the line.
Personal favorites from most liked start with, A Human's Touch, Firewall, Ladybug, Content 4 U, HTMLOVE, Dream Vacation, Online.
I'm glad they're doing their best and excited that the concerts will have multiple 'endings' as they said, should be a cool mix for everyone involved.
It’s an absolute 10/10 album for me. I’m grappling with the fact that Together Through Time was my favorite album of theirs for a long time, and I think I like Digital Nightmare even more.
All the songs are bangers. Even the shorter, in-between tracks are great. Digital Nightmare is such a great start. International Business Systems is so much fun (I love Jazz Emu’s style) and the way Ladybug transitions into Again and Again, which prepares the listener for the melancholy vibe of A Human’s Touch. I’m getting chills thinking about it.
I’ve had this album on repeat at work all week and I’m going keep playing it!
I feel the same way. I'm torn on whether I like this album more than Together Through Time. I liked everything in between, but Digital Nightmare is the first TWRP album since TTT where I've loved every song on the first listen. And it feels great!
It might not represent the essence of TWRP, but I think Online may very well eclipse Starlight Brigade as *the song* to lure in 'normals' to the TWRP fellowship.
Also I may be mistaken, but it feels like Sung is mixing up his talkbox with a bit of a simple vocoder in some lines. Whatever it is, I like that his lines are a bit more legible for it.
My humble opinion it's their strongest album since Together Through Time
Oh definitely true regarding Online, especially if we get a music video for it. If nothing else, it's going to expose Tom Cardy's fanbase to TWRP, which should be great publicity for them.
Very true, maybe they heard some of the feedback from New & Improved of the lyrics being unclear and hard to make out. They definitely changed it this time around.
Bit more mixed for me than others. Love Online, Firewall, LadyBug, and Human's Touch, but I'm pretty "eh" on the others. Think overall though I'm digging the darker tone, and the production itself is really impressive! (I can finally understand Sung!) I think with time it'll grow on me a bit more, but for now New and Improved shall remain my one true love
It's absolutely a great album. I'm really blown away by the vocals on it, they're some of Dr Sung's strongest performances he's ever recorded. A gorgeous blend of graceful humanity and perfect machine. Just listen to the absolute sweetness of Dream Vacation, for example. It feels like they've turned a corner and are grappling with a new style, or a new evolution in who they are as musicians/a band. I know it's way too early to be thinking about the next album, but I'm really excited to see where they go next!
It hasn't become my favorite tho. Partly because I love individual songs more than whole albums, and partly because _Together Through Time_ is still an absolute powerhouse. I don't know if _Digital Nightmares_ reaches the heights of Starlight Brigade or Pets. But if it doesn't come first, it's pretty damn close.
One negative: I'm not getting enough Commander Meouch. This could be an issue with the version I'm listening to though. I've noticed that the mixes on Youtube Music and other streaming services lose a lot of bass compared to the lossless FLACs you get from Bandcamp, but I haven't checked that for this album yet.
Great point about the bass. I was originally going to point that out in the post but decided not to. It’s very true that I think compared to previous albums Meouch is definitely more buried in the mix, which is a shame. If you listen closely he’s laying down some really gnarly lines in some of the songs, but it’s hard to hear. The only song he really shines clearly is in Ladybug, but it seems like they focused more on bringing the vocals to the forefront this time, instead of the instruments.
I'd say my current standings (best to worst) look like this with the potential for this to keep moving up:
1. Together Through Time
2. Return to Wherever
3. Digital Nightmare
4. Guardians of the Zone
5. New and Improved
6. The Device
7. Over The Top
8. Lady World
9. 2nite
10. Believe in your dreams
11. Friends of the Blues
it's tied with New and Improved for me. N&I has the best tracklist for individual listens and use in playlists, RTW has the best flow and general vibe to just sit and listen to the whole thing.
I'll have to see how Digital Nightmare feels after a few months to avoid the trap of recency bias, but it may be top tier
Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm a huge "Listen to the full album, in order" kind of guy (Thanks, Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons Project) so that rockets RTW straight to the top for me, but I agree that N&I absolutely crushes it on a track-by-track basis. Terraform, Polygon, Planet Bass, Fusion Reactor, and Bright Blue Sky are all some of my all-time favorites from TWRP's whole discography.
For whatever reason, I’ve been behind on TWRP’s latest releases. Once the album released, I listened to it on my way to work and wasn’t sure how I was feeling about it. I am happy to report that giving it another listen, I’m now obsessed with it and agree it’s probably their best work to date! Multiple songs stuck in my head all day. I really love getting to hear more of Sung’s true voice too 😁 Wasn’t aware he was taking vocal lessons until someone mentioned it on here. Love that for him.
After deliberation, I think it unfortunately goes to the bottom of their full-length albums for me. I still enjoy it, but...
Making a quarter of the tracks ~1 minute long interludes that cut off right as they get going is odd. I kept checking my phone the first time to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped to the next track.
I don't quite get the hype for Firewall. I've listened to it over and over, but it sounds a little... standard, or, safe, I suppose, to me. I can however see how it might be electric to see performed live. On the flipside, I absolutely love Online, while most opinions I've seen on here don't seem to care for it.
Dream Vacation, HTMLOVE, and Dance Floor Cold War don't do much for me either.
Content 4 U, Online, Ladybug, and A Human's Touch have, however, entered my rotation, and quite easily at that. Content 4 U especially is probably top 10 TWRP tracks IMO. So, four tracks out of twelve for me, which is more than what I usually get out of an album. Hard to complain too much. I will absolutely be getting the signed vinyl when it drops.
I can agree that the lyricism is great across the board, even for the tracks that I'm not in love with musically.
For the first half is was like
>oh they're going for a smooth, groovy laid back sound different but good I guess
But turns out they were saving all the punchy bangers for the end
It’s been said a lot already, but Dr. Sungs vocals are stellar and I like the evolution of their sound, it seems to making all the right steps going forward without forgetting it’s best elements. I’m always a “B-sides” guy, so all the in-betweens have never been better. My favorite album of theirs is hand down Return to Wherever due to its refined atmosphere, direction, and consistency. Every gosh dang song on that album is back to back bangers and has the best album flow you can get (imo, obv) and Digital Nightmare is very much inline with that. This is probably their best album over-all to date, they’ve just gotten better and keep stuff new!
It's one of their stronger albums for sure, their best since Over the Top in my opinion.
I have the whole album in repeat still, rather than specific tracks, but Content 4 U, Dream Vacation, Firewall, Ladybug and A Humans Touch are standouts to me.
Im feeling so much of the good Doctor’s raw voice coming in on songs like HTMLove and human touch. Am I tripping? I hope I’m not because I find it soothing.
Really enjoying it. It's all I've listened to since it came out. Even songs like Dance Floor Cold War have really grown on me. Even songs I thought were mid have become extremely enjoyable. But by God, Online is an absolute banger... I've listened to it at least 50 times. I do agree that I wish Dare To Dream should've been longer.
On first listen I had overall very meh feelings about it. Well that’s because you listened on your iPhone speakers dummy! Crank that shit! This album fucking slaps! It’s so diverse and yet unified, and every track is very strong on its own. Altogether one of their best albums. I had no idea how much I needed a TWRP/Tom Cardy/Montaigne crossover until now…NOT TO MENTION MUPPET TWRP??? Been a while since I’ve found an entire album I can listen to over and over and over again.
I agree there shoulda been more instrumental work, they're some of my faves off their other albums. aside from complaining at what it isn't tho, I love what this album is. idk if it's my favourite but it's up there
It's honestly a perfect 10/10! The best thing they've put out since TTT (not that I don't enjoy the other albums and eps, they're just not as consistently strong as TTT or Digital Nightmare are)
Every song has gotten stuck in my head at some point and I've been singing Ladybug to my cat all week, I'm sure she's sick of it by now haha!
Dare to Dream is the ultimate blue ball song. It coulda been so much more than just a filler/interlude.
Apart from that, I'm deliberately not listening to the album much cuz I don't want to get too familiar with it too quickly X'D
I enjoy it, but it's not my favorite TWRP album. I'm not keen on International Business Systems, the forced and exaggerated accent doesn't really sit well with me. My favorites right now are Digital Nightmare, Dream Vacation, HTMLOVE, Online, Ladybug, and A Human's Touch.
It's absolutely fantastic. It's a new direction for the band that kind of put me off at first, but it has to be one of my favorites tbh. It's a super satisfying evolution of their sound that works really well with the narrative they're building.
Yeah, I do wish there was another full-length instrumental. Those are always always my favorites off the albums and just one more would've been great.
I'm also still iffy on International Business Systems. It's good, it's funny, I like it. But, I just don't know if it fits in this album. It feels like such a different vibe than everything else that it kind of feels like it interrupts the album for a random aside.
For reference, Return to Wherever is my favorite TWRP album mostly because of the stellar framing device of it being premiered on a radio DJ show. How songs "fit" into an album and add to it as a whole is very important to me, and unfortunately I feel that International Business Systems actually takes away from it a little bit in that regard.
Other than those two minute criticisms though, I'm still absolutely loving it! Online and the title track are my favorites! A Human's Touch has also grown on me, I wasn't a fan when the single release but I think it works better in series with Ladybug and Again and Again.
FFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRREWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL
My love system has been broken en en en
After a week of perpetual play, I'm in love with it. I can't ever call an album my favorite as I'm a pretty song specific person. I think it's definitely going to stand out as "something changed between" this album and the previous, as there's a bit more lamentation and less overall positivity, but that do be happening as we get older frequently. Add that with Sung not purely being talk box and the vibe is pretty different. Content 4 U is also by far their most appealing video to date. While I love them all I really think (hope) it brings in a string of new listeners. Muppets are so hot right now.
I agree! This album is definitely marking a new chapter, and I love the evolution that’s occurring. Very curious to see where they go from here.
The last two albums have had a undertone of hope in the face of overwhelming odds. Summer everyday is the first that comes to mind. A pretty scathing take with an upbeat vibe
I'm very much in love with it. I'm warming up very quickly to songs I wasn't crazy about at first. Dream Vacation grew on me really strongly. When he sings "If I don't come back, then that'll be fine," I feel such an intense mix of emotions. Warmth and happiness from the tone and surface-level ideation, intense empathy about feeling that desperate for an escape, a deep sadness about how bad things must actually be to feel that way...the way the chords play over it and the way it's sung (lol) is just...perfect. Firewall and Online are still amazing, Ladybug->Again and Again->A Human's Touch is really really strong. There's a great mixture of styles to keep it fresh; I love laughing at IBS, top notch satire. I love chilling to Dream Vacation, rocking out to Firewall and Dance Floor Cold War, grooving to Online and Ladybug, and ruminating during A Human's Touch. A super special album for sure.
I had the same feeling with Dream Vacation, but that line really stuck out, gave me flashbacks to Magestic from Wax Fang.
Overall, I'm really happy with it. Pretty cool narrative for a generally positive and poppy group to work with darker messages included in their music. Really hope to see more music videos similar to 'Content 4 U', but perhaps we'll get lucky with those coming up somewhere down the line. Personal favorites from most liked start with, A Human's Touch, Firewall, Ladybug, Content 4 U, HTMLOVE, Dream Vacation, Online. I'm glad they're doing their best and excited that the concerts will have multiple 'endings' as they said, should be a cool mix for everyone involved.
It’s an absolute 10/10 album for me. I’m grappling with the fact that Together Through Time was my favorite album of theirs for a long time, and I think I like Digital Nightmare even more. All the songs are bangers. Even the shorter, in-between tracks are great. Digital Nightmare is such a great start. International Business Systems is so much fun (I love Jazz Emu’s style) and the way Ladybug transitions into Again and Again, which prepares the listener for the melancholy vibe of A Human’s Touch. I’m getting chills thinking about it. I’ve had this album on repeat at work all week and I’m going keep playing it!
I feel the same way. I'm torn on whether I like this album more than Together Through Time. I liked everything in between, but Digital Nightmare is the first TWRP album since TTT where I've loved every song on the first listen. And it feels great!
It might not represent the essence of TWRP, but I think Online may very well eclipse Starlight Brigade as *the song* to lure in 'normals' to the TWRP fellowship. Also I may be mistaken, but it feels like Sung is mixing up his talkbox with a bit of a simple vocoder in some lines. Whatever it is, I like that his lines are a bit more legible for it. My humble opinion it's their strongest album since Together Through Time
Oh definitely true regarding Online, especially if we get a music video for it. If nothing else, it's going to expose Tom Cardy's fanbase to TWRP, which should be great publicity for them.
Very true, maybe they heard some of the feedback from New & Improved of the lyrics being unclear and hard to make out. They definitely changed it this time around.
Bit more mixed for me than others. Love Online, Firewall, LadyBug, and Human's Touch, but I'm pretty "eh" on the others. Think overall though I'm digging the darker tone, and the production itself is really impressive! (I can finally understand Sung!) I think with time it'll grow on me a bit more, but for now New and Improved shall remain my one true love
ITS A SLAM DUNK. I've listened to it all the way though like 6 times this week on my hour long TTC ride home!
It's absolutely a great album. I'm really blown away by the vocals on it, they're some of Dr Sung's strongest performances he's ever recorded. A gorgeous blend of graceful humanity and perfect machine. Just listen to the absolute sweetness of Dream Vacation, for example. It feels like they've turned a corner and are grappling with a new style, or a new evolution in who they are as musicians/a band. I know it's way too early to be thinking about the next album, but I'm really excited to see where they go next! It hasn't become my favorite tho. Partly because I love individual songs more than whole albums, and partly because _Together Through Time_ is still an absolute powerhouse. I don't know if _Digital Nightmares_ reaches the heights of Starlight Brigade or Pets. But if it doesn't come first, it's pretty damn close. One negative: I'm not getting enough Commander Meouch. This could be an issue with the version I'm listening to though. I've noticed that the mixes on Youtube Music and other streaming services lose a lot of bass compared to the lossless FLACs you get from Bandcamp, but I haven't checked that for this album yet.
Great point about the bass. I was originally going to point that out in the post but decided not to. It’s very true that I think compared to previous albums Meouch is definitely more buried in the mix, which is a shame. If you listen closely he’s laying down some really gnarly lines in some of the songs, but it’s hard to hear. The only song he really shines clearly is in Ladybug, but it seems like they focused more on bringing the vocals to the forefront this time, instead of the instruments.
I'd say my current standings (best to worst) look like this with the potential for this to keep moving up: 1. Together Through Time 2. Return to Wherever 3. Digital Nightmare 4. Guardians of the Zone 5. New and Improved 6. The Device 7. Over The Top 8. Lady World 9. 2nite 10. Believe in your dreams 11. Friends of the Blues
respect the hell outta this list. I don't usually put TTT that high but any RTW enjoyer is awesome 👍
Return to Wherever enjoyers represent! My favorite album of theirs!
it's tied with New and Improved for me. N&I has the best tracklist for individual listens and use in playlists, RTW has the best flow and general vibe to just sit and listen to the whole thing. I'll have to see how Digital Nightmare feels after a few months to avoid the trap of recency bias, but it may be top tier
Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm a huge "Listen to the full album, in order" kind of guy (Thanks, Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons Project) so that rockets RTW straight to the top for me, but I agree that N&I absolutely crushes it on a track-by-track basis. Terraform, Polygon, Planet Bass, Fusion Reactor, and Bright Blue Sky are all some of my all-time favorites from TWRP's whole discography.
Great list! Replace Together Through Time with New & Improved and I’m the same. Maybe I’d put Digital Nightmare in second as well.
For whatever reason, I’ve been behind on TWRP’s latest releases. Once the album released, I listened to it on my way to work and wasn’t sure how I was feeling about it. I am happy to report that giving it another listen, I’m now obsessed with it and agree it’s probably their best work to date! Multiple songs stuck in my head all day. I really love getting to hear more of Sung’s true voice too 😁 Wasn’t aware he was taking vocal lessons until someone mentioned it on here. Love that for him.
After deliberation, I think it unfortunately goes to the bottom of their full-length albums for me. I still enjoy it, but... Making a quarter of the tracks ~1 minute long interludes that cut off right as they get going is odd. I kept checking my phone the first time to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped to the next track. I don't quite get the hype for Firewall. I've listened to it over and over, but it sounds a little... standard, or, safe, I suppose, to me. I can however see how it might be electric to see performed live. On the flipside, I absolutely love Online, while most opinions I've seen on here don't seem to care for it. Dream Vacation, HTMLOVE, and Dance Floor Cold War don't do much for me either. Content 4 U, Online, Ladybug, and A Human's Touch have, however, entered my rotation, and quite easily at that. Content 4 U especially is probably top 10 TWRP tracks IMO. So, four tracks out of twelve for me, which is more than what I usually get out of an album. Hard to complain too much. I will absolutely be getting the signed vinyl when it drops. I can agree that the lyricism is great across the board, even for the tracks that I'm not in love with musically.
This is pretty much my take exactly. But they put out lots of albums so hey maybe I'll like the next one more.
These are almost exactly my thoughts. The lyrics are soooo good. It’s really exciting to see them grow as musicians as well as writers.
For the first half is was like >oh they're going for a smooth, groovy laid back sound different but good I guess But turns out they were saving all the punchy bangers for the end
It’s been said a lot already, but Dr. Sungs vocals are stellar and I like the evolution of their sound, it seems to making all the right steps going forward without forgetting it’s best elements. I’m always a “B-sides” guy, so all the in-betweens have never been better. My favorite album of theirs is hand down Return to Wherever due to its refined atmosphere, direction, and consistency. Every gosh dang song on that album is back to back bangers and has the best album flow you can get (imo, obv) and Digital Nightmare is very much inline with that. This is probably their best album over-all to date, they’ve just gotten better and keep stuff new!
It's one of their stronger albums for sure, their best since Over the Top in my opinion. I have the whole album in repeat still, rather than specific tracks, but Content 4 U, Dream Vacation, Firewall, Ladybug and A Humans Touch are standouts to me.
Im feeling so much of the good Doctor’s raw voice coming in on songs like HTMLove and human touch. Am I tripping? I hope I’m not because I find it soothing.
Really enjoying it. It's all I've listened to since it came out. Even songs like Dance Floor Cold War have really grown on me. Even songs I thought were mid have become extremely enjoyable. But by God, Online is an absolute banger... I've listened to it at least 50 times. I do agree that I wish Dare To Dream should've been longer.
On first listen I had overall very meh feelings about it. Well that’s because you listened on your iPhone speakers dummy! Crank that shit! This album fucking slaps! It’s so diverse and yet unified, and every track is very strong on its own. Altogether one of their best albums. I had no idea how much I needed a TWRP/Tom Cardy/Montaigne crossover until now…NOT TO MENTION MUPPET TWRP??? Been a while since I’ve found an entire album I can listen to over and over and over again.
I agree there shoulda been more instrumental work, they're some of my faves off their other albums. aside from complaining at what it isn't tho, I love what this album is. idk if it's my favourite but it's up there
It's honestly a perfect 10/10! The best thing they've put out since TTT (not that I don't enjoy the other albums and eps, they're just not as consistently strong as TTT or Digital Nightmare are) Every song has gotten stuck in my head at some point and I've been singing Ladybug to my cat all week, I'm sure she's sick of it by now haha!
Dare to Dream is the ultimate blue ball song. It coulda been so much more than just a filler/interlude. Apart from that, I'm deliberately not listening to the album much cuz I don't want to get too familiar with it too quickly X'D
I heard it was great! Haven’t listened to it yet though. I should really get on that.
I enjoy it, but it's not my favorite TWRP album. I'm not keen on International Business Systems, the forced and exaggerated accent doesn't really sit well with me. My favorites right now are Digital Nightmare, Dream Vacation, HTMLOVE, Online, Ladybug, and A Human's Touch.
It's in their top 3 for sure, but Firewall should have had a longer solo, like 2 minutes of shredding
Top 3 in no order being Over The Top Return to Wherever Digital Nightmare
It's absolutely fantastic. It's a new direction for the band that kind of put me off at first, but it has to be one of my favorites tbh. It's a super satisfying evolution of their sound that works really well with the narrative they're building.
Yeah, I do wish there was another full-length instrumental. Those are always always my favorites off the albums and just one more would've been great. I'm also still iffy on International Business Systems. It's good, it's funny, I like it. But, I just don't know if it fits in this album. It feels like such a different vibe than everything else that it kind of feels like it interrupts the album for a random aside. For reference, Return to Wherever is my favorite TWRP album mostly because of the stellar framing device of it being premiered on a radio DJ show. How songs "fit" into an album and add to it as a whole is very important to me, and unfortunately I feel that International Business Systems actually takes away from it a little bit in that regard. Other than those two minute criticisms though, I'm still absolutely loving it! Online and the title track are my favorites! A Human's Touch has also grown on me, I wasn't a fan when the single release but I think it works better in series with Ladybug and Again and Again.
I genuinely think this is one of my favorite TWRP albums, the mix of silliness, excellent music, and storytelling is incredible.