The year is 2009 and a small band from Columbus Ohio broke into the music scene with their debut album Twenty One Pilots. Later, this band has gone through changes as the original members have all left besides Tyler Joseph and the album is known as the self titled album the album marks a beginning of twenty one pilots journey.

I want to talk about the general thoughts I’ve had about the self-titled album, and then my story with it. my story of how I found the album and how I grew to love the album. This album is regarded as one of the least popular albums because of how vastly different it is from what people think of when they hear the name twenty one pilots.

General Thoughts

Self titled is a very interesting album. I personally really like it for how raw it is, and also how simplistic it is. A lot of it is just piano and then someone in the background, something repetitive. Yet, a lot of the songs I really enjoy because while they’re like other songs by twenty one pilots (pretty depressing) there is still a unique bundle of songs. Plus, the rawness of the songs and how they explicitly say their meaning is just something I enjoy. Even then, Addict with a Pen is a favorite to be preformed at concerts by the band.

Even the album cover, it’s just so cool. There’s so many nods to the songs within the album cover and the fact that it uses only colors in one general area is just eerie. Then, there’s the light bulb which has kind of become a set staple in metaphors for the band. If intentional or not, this was the first example of the metaphor. I really love the album cover, because there’s so much complexity and simplicity in it.

Initial Listen

I started listening to twenty one pilots in 2021, and I specifically heard self titled last out of every album they’ve ever made (not including Tyler Joseph’s albums before twenty one pilots). I finished touring a college with my dad, and it was far drive and on that whole drive we listened to all of twenty one pilots current discography. Well on our way back, I found an album I never heard of and I bought it and put it on to let it play in its entirety.

Initially, I did not like the album. It was so different and I felt so weird just having to listen to it and not know what to expect. Especially with those 1 minute opening tunes before he actually sings I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Soon enough though, I started to like listening to self titled. I listened to the songs again as background music and I genuinely started liking it more. Soon enough, The Pantaloon was the song stuck in my head, and I used Isle of Flightless Birds for a project. Even now, it always feels good to be driving and Oh, Ms. Believer plays and just to sing along with it. Sometimes in the morning I listen to Before You Start Your Day, no matter how depressing it is it just feels like a good start. A hopeful way to start your day. Then Taxi Cab at night to kind of wind down the day, the album just has so many good songs.