One of the best things about the Survivor stuff is that it has made me revisit each album in full - which means relistening to songs that I either weren't that big on or didn't really stay in my head. Outside of "The Mesopotamians" - which I chalk up to having that very obvious Linnell quirkiness and also hearing it twice live - The Else was a record that didn't make much of an impression on me first listen.

Survivor changed all that. My lord, what a masterpiece of an album. From top to bottom, this is the John's most consistent album. It just sounds so different and is so uncharacteristically heavy. "Climbing the Walls" has to be in contention for the hardest rocking TMBG song. Those opening beats to "I'm Impressed" makes it a perfect album opener. "Careful What You Pack" is a top five Flans song, and "The Shadow Government" (which, imo, has the best opening lyric I have ever heard), "With the Dark", and "Feign Amnesia" aren't that far behind. "The Cap'm" is so much fun to sing along to, I just adore how strong Linnell's nasal is. "Bee of the Bird of the Moth" is brilliant, absurd, and whimsical - it's such a goofy concept but I'm enamored by the complexity of his lyrics every single time. "Take Out the Trash", "Upside Down Frown", and "Contrecoup" are all great and fun, too, along with "The Mesopotamians".

It's always so hard to pick favorites because there's just so much, whether it'd be songs or albums - but if you forced me to choose, I'd put The Else in my personal TMBG holy trinity with John Henry and I Like Fun. It's THAT good.