Discography Ranking: Five Finger Death Punch · 12:12am Sep 17th, 2021
Hey, everyone, long time no see!
Ever since I stopped writing here, my big thing has been music, what with Regretting The Past and the few discography rankings I’ve done, so I’be decided to do another ranking for old times’ sake. The topic of today’s ranking: 5FDP.
I talked a little about them a little less than a year ago when I covered And Justice For None on RTP. But since then, I’ve listened to everything they have to offer, and while I don’t love them, I do have a soft spot for Ivan Moody and the gang.
Theses are just my personal opinions, and I’ll even point out the songs that I like on albums I rank low. With that, let’s get going
#8
And Justice For None
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that I consider this album the weakest of 5FDP’s discography. My opinion of it from last year hasn’t really changed. This is one of the most phoned in albums I have ever seen. Ivan is giving less than 50% with his vocals, which is a shame because he has some power. The music behind him isn’t much better, most of the songs sounding the same with two note repeated riffs. Not to mention, ”Sham Pain”, the worst song 5FDP has ever done, is on this album.
I do like the song “I Refuse,” and their cover of “Gone Away” is decent enough, but two out of thirteen songs does nothing to salvage this.
#7
The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side Of Hell Vol. 2
This is arguably the turning point of 5FDP’s career. While it’s not exactly phoned in as AJFN, there’s nothing special on this album. It’s always ambitious to do a two-sided album like this, but it feels like little to no effort went into this. For example, I listened to this album twice, but both times, I came out with nothing to say about it. This isn’t a bad album by any means, but it feels like 50 straight minutes of filler
#6
F8
This is the perfect example of an album that I want to love, but I just can’t bring myself to. Which is sad because this is Ivan when he’s completely sobered up. The biggest improvement to this over AJFN is that it isn’t nearly as phoned in. The guitar work has a bit more life, and the new drummer is different than the standard “hit them as hard and as fast as you can.” Ivan even sounds emotional and like he’s finally at 100%.
But the lyrics are just the same thing we got in AJFN, either “I’m all alone” or “you abandoned me.”
I love the songs “Inside Out,” “A Little Bit Off,” “Living The Dream,” and “Darkness Settles In,” and the only song I find legitimately bad is “This Is War,” but it just feels like Ivan is out of ideas. Not exactly the big comeback everyone was expecting from them
#5
Got Your Six
While a lot of people say this album is where they really went downhill, I don’t agree with that at all. The lyrics here aren’t anything special, and I especially disagree with Ivan’s statement saying this was their best album at the time, but I think this album is fun. There’s nothing that sticks out as being bad, and there’s a lot of songs that make for great live anthems. It does feel like a bit less time was spent on this album compared to previous albums, but that hardly hinders my listening experience
#4
Way Of The Fist
Ivan and the boys really made an impression with their debut. The problem is, they clearly weren’t sure how to balance Ivan’s actual singing voice with his deep screaming voice, as the two are all over the place on this album. It also begs to be remixed at certain points, as the vocals are layered too much over the music sometimes, if the music itself doesn’t just dip down entirely.
But there is so much emotion on this album with songs like “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Never Enough,” and their first big hit, “The Bleeding.” I feel like if they had struck a better balance with the vocal difference here and let the music stand out a bit more, this album could’ve easily been #2.
#3
War Is The Answer
It’s safe to say 5FDP avoided the sophomore slump. The mixing is way better on this album than WOTF, and Ivan sounds a bit more like he knows what he’s doing. They also were able to establish that they were more than just emotional screamers, as this is where they got their reputation for supporting the armed forces. While the only song I continue to listen to is their cover of “Bad Company,” it’s always fun to give this album a listen from time to time
#2
The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side Of Hell Vol. 1
By far 5FDP’s most emotional album. The title track to this album remains a staple in their discography, and for good reason. Remember when I said Vol. 2 felt like 50 straight minutes of filler? Well, all the effort that should’ve gone into that album went into this one. There isn’t really anything to say other than Ivan sounds amazing, and the music really stands out as well
#1
American Capitalist
But if you’re looking for Ivan Moody and the boys at their absolute best, American Capitalist is the album for you. This is what 5FDP is, all out anthems with powerful vocals. While the drums are a bit hard to take in at points, everything feels solid. “Under And Over It” was the first 5FDP song I ever heard, and it remains my absolute favorite, “Back For More” being a close second. This album doesn’t rely on phoning anything in, slow tempo songs, or cover songs. It maintains a quick tempo and beat throughout, and every song feels unique enough that I can tell the difference.
If you have a different favorite 5FDP album, more power to you, leave it in the comments, but American Capitalist will always be quintessential Ivan Moody for me
I'm not the biggest listener to music outside of some songs I like here and there, so I don't have much of an opinion on those choices. Bit it is good to see you active on FIMfiction a little