As an avid Tyler fan, I thought it’d only be fit to rank his albums, favorite to least favorite. Before I begin though, I just want to do a disclaimer- this is just MY opinion- I know that there are probably a lot of big Tyler fans out there that have strong opinions on his albums- but please don’t be mad at me. Overall, I think that most would agree that the majority of Tyler’s albums are really good(excluding his most controversial ones…) so just keep that in mind when reading this article. 

Starting off with my ultimate favorite album of Tyler’s- Igor. Many people try to claim that Igor isn’t Tyler’s best album, but honestly, I just feel like people say that because it has some of his most popular songs on there, and people are trying to be different. To me though, Igor is a perfect album. In terms of the storyline, the album is done perfectly in conveying Tyler’s romance, through both the organization and writing of the album. Igor follows Tyler’s love story with a man who is in a relationship with another girl. It starts with his infatuation and love for this boy, through his song I THINK, then follows with tracks like RUNNING OUT OF TIME, where, as you can probably assume, he expresses how he feels he doesn’t have enough time with this person to make him fall in love with him. Then, Tyler goes off the rail a bit in NEW MAGIC WAND, where he fantasizes about m*rdering the girl that Tyler’s love interest is with. In some of the final tracks of his album, he finally moves past his love interest but reminisces on the time they had together, as seen through GONE GONE/THANK YOU. Tyler still has some hard feelings towards his love interest for not choosing him, as expressed in I DON’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE. However, on the final track, ARE WE STILL FRIENDS? Tyler gets over his anger and wants to be friends with the man, as it is better than completely erasing him from his life. Overall, this album is written perfectly, as it follows the storyline of Tyler falling in love, having to deal with the feelings of jealousy and hatred towards his lover’s partner, moving past his love, and finally wanting to become friends with him again. It perfectly encapsulates the complicated feelings that come along with falling in love and becoming infatuated with a person, specifically when it’s someone of the same gender. Along with the perfect storytelling and writing, the overall sound of the album is also amazing. It’s a little hard to describe without just listening to it, but the album definitely sounds unique, and I wouldn’t say that it could even fit into one genre. For me, Igor is a no-skip album, with every song being unique and enjoyable to listen to. It’s a 10/10 album to me, in both songwriting/storytelling, and sound- and it’s also one of my favorite albums. Ever.

Favorite songs: IGOR’S THEME, I THINK, RUNNING OUT OF TIME, and GONE GONE/THANK YOU

My next ranking might be a little more controversial in placing second but in this place is FlowerBoy. Similar to Igor, I just love Flower boy’s sound and storytelling. In Flowerboy, Tyler uses his car as a metaphor for his experiences and keeps this consistent throughout the album. Tyler also uses garden and flower motifs to allude to his personal growth and sexuality. There is a lot of deeper analysis that could go along with the individual songs on this album and their relation to the overall theme of the album, but I simply don’t have space to go as in-depth as I did with Igor for all of Tyler’s albums. As for the general narrative of Flowerboy though, it follows Tyler’s love story yet again, and illuminates his conflicting feelings about his sexuality, along with the loneliness and vulnerability he can feel. It is very well written and also organized well enough so that it conveys his story throughout the album. Flowerboy has an amazing sound to it as well, which differs a lot from Igor but has its own unique sound as well. One of its defining characteristics is how many features it has, with Who Dat Boy with Asap Rocky, Frank Ocean in Where this Flower Blooms, Estelle in Garden Shed, Kali Uchis in See You Again, Jaden Smith in Pothole, Rex Orange County in both Boredom and Forward, and Lil Wayne in Droppin’ Seeds. 

Favorite songs: Where This Flower Blooms, Pothole, Garden Shed, 911/Mr. Lonely.

Next is my third favorite- Wolf. Wolf is definitely different in both writing and sound than Flowerboy and Igor. With its more vulgar lyricism(as you go further back into Tyler’s discography, you will find a lot more vulgar and sometimes offensive lyrics), and its unique sound, it definitely is unlike many rap albums out there. The Wolf trilogy is also an interesting storyline to follow, but again, would take much more of an in-depth explanation. With that being said, I personally love Wolf just because of its unique sound and the fact that it has some of my favorite Tyler songs on it. In Answer, Tyler addresses his absent father figure by placing a hypothetical phone call to him in the song. Both the sound and lyricism of this song just resonate so deeply with me, and there are a lot of songs off of Wolf I enjoy listening to that are of interesting subject matter.

Favorite songs: Answer, Domo23, Tamale, Colossus, Partyisntover/campfire

Call me If You Get Lost

Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler’s most recent album is fourth for me. I may have a bit of bias because I saw a lot of these songs in concert not long ago, but CMIYGL is also an incredible album. Similar to Igor, it addresses another love triangle that Tyler is involved with- except this time the love interest is a girl. He falls in love with a girl who is already dating another man, and goes through many complex feelings of the guilt he feels going after this girl, while also having the joy he experiences while spending time with her. With the recurring motif of his passport, Tyler alludes to his joy of traveling and how important change can be in one’s life. 

Favorites: SWEET/I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE, RISE!, WILSHIRE

Cherry bomb

Cherry bomb is not the highest on my list just because the overall sound and writing is not my favorite. The overarching theme is not as present as in his other albums, and although some songs I enjoy listening to, I don’t find myself enjoying the sound as much as many of Tyler’s other albums. FIND YOUR WINGS will always be a bop though. 

Favorites: F*CK*NG YOUNG/PERFECT, FIND YOUR WINGS, SMUCKERS

Goblin

Goblin is one of Tyler’s earliest albums- and with this comes a lot of vulgarness in his lyricism. He writes about some controversial topics… and this is one of the reasons I get a bit concerned when people say this album is their favorite. Along with the problematic lyricism, many of the songs are just not my favorite to listen to either. With that being said though, She will always be a classic and one of my favorite Tyler songs thus far. 

Favorites: She, Yonkers

Finally, in last place comes B**st*rd.  This is pretty self-explanatory if you know anything about this album, but it’s filled with offensive and vulgar lyricism and does not sound good either.

That concludes my ranking- again this is JUST my opinion, and I think most people would agree that all of Tyler’s albums are unique and mostly very good.