The next Joker’s Card, Yum Yum Bedlam, releases tomorrow (Halloween) and to say I’m excited is a massive understatement! The fifth Card of the second deck and eleventh overall, I’ve listened to the first single from it, Wretched, multiple times a day since it dropped last Friday. My instant addiction to the track got me thinking about the previous debut songs from each of the previous Cards of this deck, and today I’m going to rank my favourite first single from the five so far.
Just like with my ranking of all the Joker’s Cards earlier this week, the two Missing Link albums will be ranked separately, so don’t get confused that this list of five albums has six entries!
6) WTF – Fearless Fred Fury
I just don’t get it, this is by far one of the weakest songs on the album, and of the deck so far, but was released first to build anticipation for the record? I’ve never seen anyone speak positively about this track, especially after the release of the full album, where it seemed to fade into obscurity. I listened to Fearless Fred Fury just this week and I can’t tell you I remember WTF actually playing (though it’s definitely still on there).
The second single, Fury, didn’t do much for me either at first though that opinion was completely U-turned when its accompanying music video dropped and suddenly had me fully invested in the album. If Fury had released first instead of WTF, Red Fred’s entry would have jumped a few spots higher on this list.
5) Vomit – The Missing Link: Lost
Just the title of the song put me off if I’m honest, and similarly to the above example with FFF, the first single released was one of the weakest off the album. I love The Missing Link: Lost, and don’t believe Vomit to be a bad track, but with twelve others ICP could have picked I’m lost as to why it had to be this one. Come on, Confederate Flag or Apocalypse would have made much better choices.
4) Juggalo Party – The Missing Link: Found
The only time you will see me putting something from Found above Lost, this single is undoubtedly one of the best songs off the second part of The Missing Link, and had me immediately hooked on the concept of the album. I’m still disappointed no song from Found ever received a music video, and if I could choose it would definitely have been this one!
3) Wretched – Yum Yum Bedlam
The complete absence of Shaggy 2 Dope from this song and video is why it isn’t higher on the list, as Violent J (and Albert Fish making his music video debut, a mere 85 years after his death) killed this song with the sadistic and malicious lyrics you would expect from a pioneer of the wicked shit. Hitting 100k views within five days of release, it is evident that ICP can still bring in big numbers ahead of the release of a major album.
2) In Yo Face – Bang! Pow! Boom!
One of Insane Clown Posse’s best ever music videos off one of their greatest albums, In Yo Face is just as fun, explosive and memorable today as it was in 2009. Technically there were no promotional singles released before Bang! Pow! Boom! released, but this was the first video released from it to showcase the future of the Dark Carnival. It absolutely did not disappoint.
1) Chris Benoit – The Mighty Death Pop!
Nobody was expecting the scale of the Chris Benoit video when it appeared in summer 2012 ahead of the release of The Mighty Death Pop! I still remember watching it for the first time when I woke up one morning to find it had dropped while I slept, and how for an hour I watched it over and over again.
The video itself by the Deka brothers is phenomenal but the star of the show is clearly the song. Instantly catchy with the sinister almost orchestral singing of ‘A catastrophic demise’ throughout, Violent J and Shaggy unquestionably demolished the beat on this with a mix of aggressive and grabbing lyrics which will sink into your brain on the first listen, never to be forgotten for as long as you live.
Let me know in the comments how your ranking of these tracks would go! Are you excited for Yum Yum Bedlam (it’s out tomorrow motherfuckers!!!)?I’ll be back next week when I’ve recovered from it shaking my skull and so I’ll catch you then. Whoop Whoop!
