Juggalos and Juggalettes, we made it! The sixth Joker’s Card of the Second Deck – The Naught – is right around the corner, releasing on the 12th of August. As I did before Yum Yum Bedlam released in 2021, I want to take the time to look back through all the Cards which have come before, and rank them from weakest to best. My order has changed a bit in the last four years, so join me in this article where I decide the new placements. Let’s kick things off with an entry unlikely to surprise anyone.
13) Carnival of Carnage
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. The original Joker’s Card and definitely more of a proof of concept in terms of music than a functioning record, Carnival of Carnage has a couple of decent tracks on it but is a clear weak link when compared to the strength of the rest of the First Deck. I like Wizard of the Hood and Guts on the Ceiling, but that’s pretty much it. Next!
12) The Missing Link: Found
Another obvious choice for a low position, I like that more Missing Link appreciators seem to crop up with every passing year, though the general consensus is that this era is ‘not bad, not good’. Pineapple Pizza and the title track are the only ones I really like off this record, and I always end the album on ‘I Fucked A Cop’ as there’s nothing for me to enjoy once that song is over.
11) Yum Yum Bedlam
Despite my best efforts to like it more and a couple of truly standout tracks, this album feels like it’s ageing poorly. Bloated, light on Shaggy verses, not to mention those fucking producer tags; I don’t dislike this album overall but when comparing it to the ten Joker’s Cards which came before it, it’s just okay at best. Here Comes The Carnival and The Drunk & The Addict are the best this has to offer.
This is also the only Joker’s Card name and design I really can’t stand. The cover art is too busy, and I won’t say the name out loud if I can avoid it as it sounds so awkward. I don’t see ‘The Bedlam album’ ever breaking out of my bottom three.
10) The Wraith: Shangri-La
So many adore this album but its allure passes me by on most listens. It definitely shows the Clowns off at the height of their popularity, hot off the success of their two previous albums. Where Shangri-La grinds its gears for me is compared to how previous Joker’s Cards found ways to combine both the light and dark within their music, Shangri-La and Hell’s Pit focussing on one or the other felt like a bit of a misstep. I’ve always said I got into Insane Clown Posse for the wicked shit, so an album which actively shuns that element is never going to fare well in a ranking of my favourites.
9) Fearless Fred Fury
This is the point in the list where every album I talk about is one I love despite any apparent flaws. Fearless Fred Fury was the biggest surprise to me as I felt the lead single, WTF, was one of the weakest tracks of the Second Deck when I first heard it. I still think that, but can appreciate it more within the theme of the Red Fred record. To stay negative for a moment, Game Over is comfortably one of the few ICP tracks of all time that I can say I truly despise. You need only listen to it once to know why.
With those out of the way, I fucking love the rest of this album. The ferocity and relentless tempo throughout keeps me absolutely hooked, with songs such as Fury, Night of Red Rum and Low as some of my most played ICP tracks of recent years. I agree with the common consensus that ending the album on Freedom would have been a better call, and while I don’t mind I Like It Rough, it’s such a strange and weak choice to end such a tremendous Joker’s Card on.
8) Ringmaster
It saddens me when I often see others rank this album down with Carnival of Carnage, as I feel there’s so much to enjoy here that is overlooked by many. Southwest Song is one of my favourite First Deck tracks, but House of Mirrors has to be the best song on the album as far as I’m concerned. This is the first ICP album that truly nailed the dark, gritty horrorcore vibe whilst also incorporating comedy and best in class production, delivering what I believe to be one of the most under-appreciated records in the entire underground scene.
7) The Mighty Death Pop!
I still love this album, but on recent listens I find myself jumping from the end of Skreeem straight to Forever (skipping five tracks), as those I miss do so little for me. Ghetto Rainbows is my pick for worst track of the Second Deck, an opinion that has got me into trouble more than once on Reddit, and I don’t understand how an album that has packed such a punch until this point can have so many skippers close together.
What this album does well, it does very well. Night of the Chainsaw through to Bazooka Joey are truly exceptional tracks; I just wish the rest of the album retained that level of quality.
6) The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
I went through a rough patch with this album for a couple years, and have only in the last few weeks worked out what my issue with it is. I used to absolutely adore The Amazing Jeckel Brothers when I first got into ICP, but for the last ten years the album has soured to me more and more. The reason is The Shaggy Show. This track interrupts the flow and atmosphere the album works so hard to create until this point; grinding the progress to a screeching halt just to crowbar Snoop Dogg onto the record. Now I skip it on every listen, and my love for this Joker’s Card has resurged as strong as ever.
Everybody Rize, Terrible, Fuck The World, Play With Me, both title tracks; everything about this album is just so fucking impressive without the track 13 interruption. Years from now I fully expect The Amazing Jeckel Brothers to retake its original position in my top five, but for now it sits here as a worthy sixth place.
5) The Missing Link: Lost
Ten years on I am still perplexed as to why so many hate this album. It definitely integrates Young Wicked on backup vocals more than it likely should, but say what you want about him, his lyrical delivery blends well with the rest of the record. There isn’t a single song here that I skip on any listen. I am a fan of ICP because of the wicked shit (like I keep saying (gnomesayin’)), and that’s exactly what we got here. It’s not trying to emulate the First Deck, and comes across to me as a genuine attempt to try something new whilst also paying homage to Psychopathic Records roots.
The Missing Link: Lost is fully submerged in the darkness with standouts like Lost, Apocalypse, Confederate Flag, Falling Apart and You Should Know beating listeners around the head with the fact that Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope are the true kings of underground music.
4) Riddle Box
This is the point in the list where it gets very difficult, as I have to rank them by how often I think they are my favourite Joker’s Card of all time. Riddle Box, similarly albeit less so than Ringmaster, is so horrendously under-appreciated that it bothers me when it doesn’t make every Juggalo’s top five.
Where it stands above Ringmaster is it not only shows that ICP can be great, it shows they can be indisputably great. In both beat production and lyrical performance and structuring, this was the record that made the world stop and notice Insane Clown Posse. Riddle Box is the record that hits listeners in the fucking face with Juggalo perfection in songs such as Chicken Huntin’, Toy Box and 3 Rings. It delivers a better version of The Shaggy Show with The Joker’s Wild; and was the first Joker’s Card to end with a forever memorable final track with I’m Coming Home. Riddle Box is the album, despite it not being in the top spots in this ranking, that I recommend people start listening to ICP with, as it perfectly encapsulates the Juggalo experience within one timeless record that I will love forever.
3) The Wraith: Hell’s Pit
I keep saying I love the wicked shit, and here’s the proof: Hell’s Pit; one of the few records in existence that I will always call absolutely perfect. Not for the faint of heart; the pure wickedness that emanates from this album like a heavy and oppressive dark cloud cannot be understated. Walk Into The Darkness, The Night of the 44 and The Witch are all spectacularly amazing tracks, but the one that stands head and shoulders above the rest; deservedly so, is the ultra-viral In My Room. ICP’s most played song on Spotify with close to 132 million streams at time of writing; this song and its album have brought so many into the masses of the Dark Carnival, it proves beyond doubt why Hell’s Pit is easily one of the best Joker’s Cards.
I also love Real Underground Baby, and hope that a Second Deck version of it will happen at some point.
2) Bang! Pow! Boom!
I spend most days thinking that this is my true number one for favourite Joker’s Cards, but I need only listen to this and the top spot to know this can only ever be second place. This is the album I can turn to, start and love in any mood. The album’s existence, a seventh Joker’s Card, was once thought a ludicrous impossibility, yet here it is. 16 peerless, perfect tracks brought together on one album (or technically four I suppose).
I wrote a list feature a couple of years ago for my top five favourite Second Deck songs, and both the number one and two spots were from Bang! Pow! Boom! This album expertly combines both the light and uplifting sounds ICP can use when needed with the vicious darkness they tend to lean into with their music. The result is what I firmly believe to be one of the best albums of all time, and without equal in the Second Deck.
1) The Great Milenko
My first ever Joker’s Card I first heard back in 2007; this album changed my life, bringing me into the fold of the Dark Carnival forever. It’s no surprise upon listening to it that The Great Milenko is widely considered Insane Clown Posse’s best ever album, as the vocal deliveries excelled by the fantastic production on the record make it an eternally memorable experience to any who hear it.
Piggy Pie, Halls of Illusions, House of Horrors and Under The Moon are as haunting as they are captivating, and I wish the lyrical styles displayed throughout this album had been carried through more prominently in the following Joker’s Cards. Like Bang! Pow! Boom, this is a 10 / 10 masterpiece. The Great Milenko is my favourite album of all time.
That’s my list, updated for 2025! The era of The Naught is upon us with the album dropping next week! Let me know what your top Joker’s Cards are in the comments, and I’ll be back soon with content focussed around the music from The Naught, so I’ll catch you then!
Written and edited by Alexx.