To continue my series ranking different elements of the Second Deck of Joker’s Cards, this week I’m going to look at the closing tracks for each album. I will only allow The Missing Link two entries this time as the Outtakes record technically doubles the amount of outros this Card has to four, so just the main two will be counted for this list. It hardly matters in any case, as both The Dream and Immortal would have placed very low on the overall ranking if included. Speaking of The Missing Link…
7) Time – The Missing Link: Found
I simply don’t like this song. It goes on way too long and outstays its welcome by the midpoint, and in an album which already feels incredibly bloated, that’s saying something. The track before it, I’m Sweet, is very much sticking rigidly to the same tone as this song, meaning I’m usually burned out on the messaging behind Found before its ending track has even begun. I’m Sweet would have been a better ending, with any track from Found Outtakes added to the middle of the track list to take up the slack from cutting Time.
6) I Like It Rough – Fearless Fred Fury
I don’t have much of a problem with I Like It Rough as a song, but as a closing track it’s an absolutely terrible choice. If Fearless Fred Fury had this song around the midpoint and ended with Shimmer that would have worked so much better. It doesn’t help that the entirety of the penultimate track serves as a warning that I Like It Rough is the most disturbing work of ICP’s entire career (a thoroughly incorrect statement). A baffling choice for final track, that wouldn’t be anywhere near as egregious if it was placed somewhere else.
5) While It Lasts – The Naught
I admit this track has grown on me since The Naught dropped, though at the time I did refer to it as “laughably bad” considering that its instrumental is that of Africa by Toto. The tone and message behind the track are a lot better than the seemingly unintentional comedy the beat would have you believe, and as I’ve given it more chances it has definitely grown on me. It fits well with the atmosphere the album creates, which is what I believe all great closers should aspire to do.
The creepy singing afterwards is fine but I still don’t understand why it is included, as the beat fading out would have been a perfectly satisfying conclusion that this interrupts.
4) I See The Devil – The Missing Link: Lost
I usually have plenty of positive things to say about The Missing Link: Lost, but will confess I’ve never really liked this song. I never skip it, but my mind starts to wander as it winds down into the setup for Found by the end.
Young Wicked gives the best of his many performances on this album on this track, but I think an obvious pick for final track on Lost should have been Falling Apart. I See The Devil is okay at best, but fortunately all the entries in this ranking get a lot better in the top three.
3) Bang! Pow! Boom!
I gave this song the best title track of the Second Deck, but when it comes to vying for best closing track it isn’t quite there against its competition. While I haven’t been particularly positive about all the tracks below here, I can say with certainty that I love every track from here on. Bang! Pow! Boom! (the track) ties together all the stories we’ve been told throughout the album’s runtime, bringing them together in a deeply satisfying conclusion packed with explosions and death for those deserving. An all-round exceptional track.
2) Something to See – Yum Yum Bedlam
This song could have claimed the top spot if the mixing was better, as the lyrics stray from hard to hear to totally unintelligible throughout. The remix version on Woh released in 2023 is a marked improvement, especially when you consider how minimalist the instrumental is, as all it does is make the vocals way clearer.
When you know the words this is the perfect scream along to in the car song, especially with nobody around to judge attempts at hitting the high notes. There aren’t many positive things that I have to say about Yum Yum Bedlam, but Something To See is in the handful of tracks I can happily listen to at any time. Even when it’s hard to make out what it’s even about, the positivity seeping from it is pretty contagious, making this a better upbeat song than almost all from Found.
1) Forever – The Mighty Death Pop
It could be nothing else; Forever is the perfect closing song and the obvious best from the Second Deck. Similarly to Bang! Pow! Boom! it feels like the theme of the Joker’s Card is front and centre for the final track, substantially packed with great lyrics, an impeccably catchy instrumental and the variety in one song that ICP have always been great at bringing together. From the soft whistling through the hook to the *BANG* ‘The Death Pop’ ringing out; everything other than the most vicious wicked shit is here to round off one of the best Second Deck albums.
That’s my list! Let me know in the comments what your choice for best Second Deck final track is, and I’ll be back again soon with more Joker’s Card content. Thanks for reading!
Written and edited by Alexx.
There’s No Safety in Silence