Every Andrew McMahon album ranked

Andrew McMahon shot to fame as the pop-punk pianist in Something Corporate before venturing out on his own with side projects that turned into his main gig. 

With influences including Tom Petty and Billy Joel, McMahon has found a niche in alternative culture for his timeless songwriting and ability to reinvent his signature sound every few years. Many of McMahons’ fans have grown up with him and maintained their loyalty as he’s switched projects and genres; and he’s equally devoted, playing Instagram Lives regularly during lockdown and connecting with people through his nonprofit, the Dear Jack Foundation. Even when McMahon plays live, he often crowdsurfs on a pool toy, brings his daughter, Cecilia, out onstage and makes the piano look punk rock by jumping on it. 

Read more: 15 of Fall Out Boy’s heaviest songs of all time, ranked

While his songs started as odes to punk-rock princesses and reflections on waking up in your car, over time, he’s covered darker themes, including his cancer diagnosis and the difficulties of marriage. From the pop-punk masterpiece Leaving Through the Window to the poppier Everything in Transit, McMahon’s career has spanned over two decades.

Every Andrew McMahon album ranked

Fantasy

8. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Upside Down Flowers (2017)

Upside Down Flowers is solid but not quite as enduring as prior records. On “Teenage Rockstars,” McMahon reflects on growing up — making all of his fans feel ancient (but nostalgic!) in the process. On “Ohio,” he sings about why his family relocated so much — something that he explains in greater detail in his 2021 memoir. While this isn’t as memorable as earlier albums, the lyrics are more vulnerable than past songs, especially once you know about his relationship with his family after reading Three Pianos. But unlike other records, you’re probably not going to be listening to this one on repeat. 

Sire

7. Jack’s Mannequin – People and Things (2011)

While there are some good tracks on the third and final album from Jack’s Mannequin (“My Racing Thoughts” and “Restless Dream” are both standouts), the rest mix together and sound like something you would hear while running errands and not feel the need to Shazam. Many of the tracks could have ended up on an Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness album. While his songwriting is as sharp as ever, it doesn’t stack up against his most memorable records. “It was the first time I had ever actually recorded a good amount of songs with the intention of putting them out and kind of scrapped it and started over,” McMahon told AltPress in 2011. 

Vanguard

6. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness (2014)

This album introduced yet another side project for McMahon, although it has since become his main gig. “Cecilia and the Satellite,” an ode to his then-unborn — and now 9-year-old — daughter Cecilia became inescapable. McMahon once said it’s “deemed appropriate for grocery store shopping.” The musician’s songs were no longer pop punk- or Warped Tour-approved — this album shows the once-alternative pianist all grown up. These are songs that are fun for the whole family. And while it has some standouts — including “High Dive” and “Maps for the Getaway” — many of the songs blend together and wouldn’t sound out of place on an adult contemporary rock station.  

Vanguard

5. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness – Zombies on Broadway (2017)

McMahon wrote much of this album while living in Williamsburg for the summer, and it fittingly sounds like what you’d listen to on summer vacation. Many of the tracks are high energy and poppy, like “Brooklyn, You’re Killing Me,” “So Close” and the bop-along “Fire Escape.” The New York recording sessions gave the Southern Californian a new location to opine on — although he did spend a chunk of the record thinking about what he’d left behind at home. It’s a good album to put on at the gym, and it’s always fun when he performs it live, often crowdsurfing on an inflatable llama to the bar during a bouncy, danceable song.

Sire

4. Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger (2008)

This album was far darker than anything that came before it. On “Caves,” McMahon explores his cancer treatment and subsequent depression, singing, “I'm caught/Somewhere in between/Alive/And living a dream/No peace/Just clicking machines.” “Caves” also deals with McMahon’s reentry into his old life. “I fought a war to walk a gang plank/Into a life I left behind,” he sings, which is an ongoing theme in his later albums. 

“Swim” sounds like a continued version of “Dark Blue.” It’s a look at isolation, and many of the lyrics hold true today, including, “Swim for the lost politicians/Who don't see their greed as a flaw.” Despite the heavier themes, there are upbeat, more playful songs like “The Resolution,” “American Love” and “What Gets You Off.” It’s an uneven album — there are some great pop songs and some intensely personal reflections, but McMahon can’t seem to decide if he wants to write a dark record about the hell he went through or an uplifting album about the life he’s returned to lead.

Drive-Thru

3. Something Corporate – North (2003)

More emo than pop punk, this album touches on deeper themes, and McMahon experiments with storytelling. On “Me and the Moon,” he imagines an unhappy housewife committing murder. On “Space,” McMahon asks his family to leave him alone. And on the pop-punkier “21 and Invincible,” he struggles to make an adult life for himself. McMahon did, in fact, marry his girlfriend, Kelly, and many of his songs are about her. Unlike Leaving Through the Window, many of these songs were not as high energy — they were darker, deeper and discussed the band’s struggle with coming home again after finding fame on the road. In turn, most of the lyrics were perfect for overly emotional AIM away messages.

Maverick

2. Jack’s Mannequin – Everything in Transit (2005)

Jack’s Mannequin’s first album marked a poppy departure from SoCo. What began as a side project ended up becoming McMahon breaking off from his high school pop-punk band and venturing out on his own. “Holiday From Real” sounds like a sunny day spent in Santa Monica, while “The Mixed Tape” is an ode to his now-wife. But it wasn’t all cheerful, despite the aesthetically pleasing album cover. On “Bruised,” the pianist reflects on pain, something he’d become well-acquainted with during his leukemia treatment that same year. On “Dark Blue,” a song about coping with the effects of loneliness and anxiety, McMahon identified what makes his music so relatable — he offers fans a respite through his lyrics and through his live shows. 

This album is some of his best work (fans on Reddit agree), with each song catchier than the last. It also gives fans a look at what’s to come in his career, as his recent single “Stars” sounds like “Dark Blue” all grown up. 

Drive-Thru

1. Something Corporate – Leaving Through the Window (2002)

This acclaimed pop-punk album introduced McMahon’s particular brand of vulnerable songwriting and piano playing to national audiences outside of Southern California. With the hyperspecific bully fighting tune “If You C Jordan,” the lonely “Cavanaugh Park” (which McMahon still adds to setlists) and Hot Topic favorite “Punk Rock Princess,” this major-label debut speaks perfectly to feeling out of place during suburban teenage years during the early aughts and evokes nostalgia. Even the album cover is memorable, which made it a MySpace and LiveJournal favorite.

But SoCo’s most famous song is not, in fact, on this album. “Konstantine,” which later became a rallying cry emo teens would scream at concerts in an effort to get him to sing the almost 10-minute tune, was on the Songs for Silent Movies, which was only released in Japan. Unlike today, you couldn’t just download the songs on Spotify — tracking down this album was a real feat. For elder millennials, hearing this Drive-Thru Records album (which took three months to record in California and Florida) will make you feel like you’re back in high school. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2023; you’re instantly transported to 2002 when “I Want to Save You” starts playing.