Red Mosquito

2 Years Later Rank
1. Setting Sun
2. Wreckage
3. Got to Give
4. Scared of Fear
5. Waiting for Stevie
6. Dark Matter
7. Upper Hand
8. Running
9. Won't Tell
10. React, Respond
11. Something Special

I was really into the Offspring from Smash thru Americana. The first two real songs on Americana were Have You Ever? and Staring at the Sun. They often played them live back-to-back. I felt like they had to. As standalone songs, both were solid, but the one-two punch elevated both. I feel the exact same way about Scared of Fear and React, Respond.

mikejasond wrote: Thu May 07, 2026 7:27 pm I still think Got to Give is like....one of their best songs ever. I still can't believe how good it is. It feels like they've tried to make similar songs, and it's their best one ever.

It might be my favorite on the album.

I think I’ve decided that until I can listen to this again, I need to subject my ears to three decades of steady exposure to hearing-damaging sound levels equivalent to that of a regularly touring stadium musician so that I can hear the mix how the band hears it. Maybe moderate to severe tinnitus would fix it.

Ok, Im procrastinating work, so here's my ranking of the DM songs:

1- Setting Sun
2- Got to Give
3- Scared of Fear
4- React, respond
5- Dark Matter
6- Won't tell
7- Waiting for Stevie
8- Upper Hand
9- Wreckage
10- Running
11- Something special

1 - Scared of Fear
2 - Upper Hand
3 - Waiting for Stevie
4 - React, respond
5 - Running
6 - Dark Matter
7 - Setting Sun



8 - Got to Give
9 - Won't tell
10 - Wreckage
11 - Something special

1.DM
2.React Respond
3.Upper Hand
4.Setting Sun
5.Stevie
6.Wont Tell
7.SoF
8.Wreckage
9.Got to give
10.Running
11. Something Special

We're doing this again? Ok, here is my ranking:

Setting Sun
Got to Give
React Respond
Wreckage
Won't Tell
Scared of Fear
Dark Matter
Upper Hand
Waiting for Stevie
Running
Something Special

I listened to this today. I think I liked some of the songs more than I remembered but I really hate the production. Even on vinyl with decent speakers, I can feel the sound scraping and pinching my ear.

But to re-rank it? Um...

Dark Matter
Setting Sun
Got to Give
Upper Hand
React, Respond
Wreckage
Won't Tell
Scared of Fear
Waiting For Stevie
Running
Something Special

Leatherhead wrote: Fri May 08, 2026 1:37 am

mikejasond wrote: Thu May 07, 2026 7:27 pm I still think Got to Give is like....one of their best songs ever. I still can't believe how good it is. It feels like they've tried to make similar songs, and it's their best one ever.

It might be my favorite on the album.

It's not my favorite on the album, but I can totally feel what mikejasond was saying. This is them at their most The Who-influenced, and it always seemed like they only partially got that right previously (parts of Never Destination, parts of Black Red Yellow, parts of Present Tense, etc etc). Hail Hail gets it right at least in the rhythm section, but this time they really put it all together.

I don't remember my original ranking of the songs, but here's where I'm at currently:

Won't Tell>Upper Hand>Stevie (that three song run is a magnum opus as far as I'm concerned)
Setting Sun
React, Respond
Got to Give
Scared of Fear
Dark Matter
Wreckage
Something Special
Running

And yes, the mix is terrible, but on Spotify lossless with good speakers it's alright, and vinyl with phones is pretty nice. The songs themselves are just magical (aside from the mix I actually love Watt's production choices). A tough listen in the car though without good internet, and I will be bummed about that until there's a remaster.

lvc wrote: Mon May 11, 2026 8:00 pm I think I’ve decided that until I can listen to this again, I need to subject my ears to three decades of steady exposure to hearing-damaging sound levels equivalent to that of a regularly touring stadium musician so that I can hear the mix how the band hears it. Maybe moderate to severe tinnitus would fix it.

Nope. I have pretty significant Tinnitus and concert-induced hearing damage and it still screeches needlessly.

RockPusher wrote: Fri June 05, 2026 1:01 am

lvc wrote: Mon May 11, 2026 8:00 pm I think I’ve decided that until I can listen to this again, I need to subject my ears to three decades of steady exposure to hearing-damaging sound levels equivalent to that of a regularly touring stadium musician so that I can hear the mix how the band hears it. Maybe moderate to severe tinnitus would fix it.

Nope. I have pretty significant Tinnitus and concert-induced hearing damage and it still screeches needlessly.

Rats

I honestly can't individually rank these tracks, so I have broken into tiers and on any given day, a song within its tier could be first, last, or in between. Overall, 10 of the band's best 50 tracks reside on this record. Just incredible.

Tier 1
SoF
Wreckage
Setting Sun
DM

Tier 2
Stevie
Won't Tell
R/R

Tier 3
Upper Hand
Got to Give
Running

Sweet Sentiment, and we had our daughter 2 months before DM was released, so will always have meaning to me but the song (musically) is just eh
Special