fit check!

Question #1

as previous years have shown, the grand majority of fans (69.2% to be exact) became fans during the post-hiatus years, with a sizeable chunk of those people becoming fans just in the last few years! which is always a result that i love to see!

Questions #2 + #3

this year i decided to split the 'favorite era' question into two specific categories: aesthetics and content. with that came the interesting result of many of the same albums appearing, but in different orders. most notably, stardust era isn't present in the top 3 aesthetically, but absolutely dominates content-wise

Question #4

i do not believe there has been a single year of the census yet where folie has not swept the top spot for favorite album. in fact, i don't believe there's been a single year where these three albums have not swept the top spots- literally no better 3 album run exists in music i think

Question #5

interestingly, when considering favorite vs best, fans answers skew slightly- away from from under the cork tree, and to so much (for) stardust. while it was close (216 vs 192) smfs managed to win over it and become a strong contender for best album

Questions #6 + #7

now, as a post-hiatus lover and defender, this will never not hurt my heart </3 but it is regardless interesting to see how strongly the favorites get almost directly inverted for least favorite and for worst! additionally, it is interesting that in past years tttyg was a pretty strong first place contender, but this year fell to third for both questions. additionally, if i may show my bias as the census creator... #justiceformania

Question #8

similarly to the last couple questions, the results to this question are generally pretty consistent year to year, but nevertheless interesting to see! especially because i do feel, over the years, the gap between b-side and lake effect kid has been closing bit by bit

Question #9

now, this year i decided to add in each EP as options for this question to see if results changed at all: they did not, really. infinity on high still swept, as it always sweeps, because she is just that bitch always and forever <3

Question #10

coming back for another year were the ratings questions! i absolutely love seeing the results to these and, of course, we start with tttyg on top getting a solid 7.60 star rating on average!

Question #11

quickly, from under the cork tree comes in and dethrones tttyg for first place, getting over a whole point higher average rating at 8.78

Question #12

with the addition of infinity on high comes a new front-runner for highest rated album, with ioh getting a nearly perfect 10, coming just .9 shy of it!

Question #13

and coming in even higher, somehow, than the already incredibly rated infinity on high is the ever-beloved folie a deux! the fan favorite album got a 9.36 average score, just barely beating out the album just before it

Question #14

here, SRAR does not manage to take the top spot as his been done the last few times, however it does eek in just above tttyg with an average rating of 7.65, a mere .5 above tttyg

Question #15

my abap loving heart is very heavy as i say... with the addition of abap comes a new last place contender, with abap getting a 6.72 average, nearly a whole point below tttyg </3

Question #16

our penultimate album brings us a new last place contender </3 with the beautiful purple album getting a 6.39 average rating, just below abap

Question #17

last but not least, so much (for) stardust rounds out the fan ratings, getting fourth place just below from under the cork tree. it is always interesting to me, though perhaps not surprising, to see how closely the numerical ratings reflect the general order of the 'favorite album' and 'least favorite album' questions- fan opinions remain consistent, no matter the form they are asked in

Question #18

it's always so interesting for me to see the results to this question, even if the top results don't change much year to year. i just love to see what songs/singles are reaching people the most- unsurprisingly, sugar reigns supreme as most people's introduction to the band

Questions #19 + #20

from personal favorite to objective best song, the results get shaken up pretty significantly! though headfirst slide remains on top (with even more people picking it for their best than just their favorite), every other answer is different. most notably to me is sugar, we're goin down and dance, dance both making it into the top despite being highly performing singles (and these singles often receiving harsher criticism than other songs). also, i find it very interestingly visually how many more songs were answered for people's favorite song than the best song, showing more (somewhat) unanimous agreement

Question #21 + #22

our next two questions are some of my favorites to ask, specifically most underrated song, because the answers so often come out so different each year. however, this year the top 2 results are the exact same as they were last year! notably, though, we did have many ties this year as this question is always deeply competitive. on the contrary, most overrated song is never too competitive- centuries always sweeps </3 also very notable is the presence of sugar, we're goin down and dance, dance being 'overrated' while simultaneously being voted as two of the best songs objectively!

Question #23

i keep saying this, but i absolutely adore asking the question, as the results often vary a lot, maybe not so much in the top results but generally speaking, it's always very interesting to see. here, fan-favorite hum hallelujah sweeps the top with a very sizable margin above every other song, while a few other familiar titles fill out the rest of our very competitive top 5

Question #24

with a couple of new additions this year (thanks to start today officially releasing on streaming and it feels like christmas coming out), i was interested to see if much got shaken up for this question. and interestingly, some shuffling did occur! last year, love will tear us apart was on top, but just barely got dethroned this year by the beat it cover. meanwhile, i wanna dance with somebody got bumped to fourth and replaced by we didn't start the fire!

Questions #25 + #26

thanks to tumblrs image limit, some questions that don't fit perfectly together did need to be put together- hence this combination. however, it is interesting to see how results differ when asked about all singles versus lead singles specifically. in the top queston, there isn't a single lead single present, with sugar just barely not making it into the top 5. both shows its (and dance, dance's) dominance as favorite songs both in and out of the context of being singles, and in out of the context of introducing the futct era. (also love smfs songs making it into both- in my opinion, love from the other side couldn't have been a more perfectly picked lead single)

Questions #27 + #28

here, we have the same question regarding each album's opening track, but asking for objective and subjective preference. though it might not seem too interesting, the fact that the top three results are the same but slightly swapped is very interesting to me- especially considering far more people subjectively like disloyal order than believe it's the best opening song. however, despite going from third to second, a very similar amount of people think love from the other side is one of the best opening tracks as well as their favorite

Questions #29 + #30

these questions are asking the same as the previous, but about the closing tracks. and, interestingly, there is much less cohesion in the answers here when compared to the opening tracks! here, the only consistent result is so much (for) stardust being first in both questions. however, the gap between it and second is significantly smaller in the subjective question. Meanwhile, the other two places are completely different songs for objective and subjective

Question #31

for the first time this year, the census asked for your favorite feature(s) on a FOB song, and i was very excited to see the results to this one! i suspected these top three results may be what we got, but was nonetheless shocked to see it was never really that close between all of the features on What a Catch, and any other option. also, just interesting to me to see how many of fobs 'red' albums have features versus the blue ones lmao

Question #32

this question simply wanted to know how many times people have seen FOB live, if at all. every year, it makes me incredibly happy to see a majority of census-takers have, indeed, seen fob live at least once! it is always my hope more and more people get to see them live every year <3

Questions #33 + #34

these questions are a bit bittersweet to ask as, depending on the future of fob performances, this might be the last time i ever get to ask about medley songs and 8 balls! however, it was very interesting to compile each individual song performed for both and see peoples (perhaps) final opinions on these surprise songs- really interestingly, golden was by far one of the most performed medley songs, and yet it being common did not change it being people's favorite (tied with get busy, of course). similarly, ginasfs was one of the more commonly performed 8 ball songs, but that did not change how special it being performed was (and as someone lucky enough to see it at one of my shows, i agree)

Questions #35 + #36

here, we have two questions asking about tour specifics, while the first is much more specifically asking about your favorite stardust era tour. similarly bittersweet to the previous questions, this one is asked to celebrate the end of this wonderful era of tours, with each production and leg getting a great amount of love in the results. similarly, when asked for overall favorite tour (for the first time ever in the census), tourdust absolutely dominated. i was excited to ask this question this year, but a bit worried it could be a bit niche and, seeing as the second most answered option was people not having a favorite tour, it might be! however, still fun seeing the results!

Question #37

for this question, you were asked what music video is your favorite and, perhaps unsurprisingly given how iconic it is, a little less sixteen candles absolutely swept the top spot. most interestingly to me, however, was how the carpal tunnel of love music video snuck into the top 5. i, personally, don't think about that video much but clearly it is very beloved regardless, which is cool to see!

Questions #38, #39, + #40

with our last questions come some of the most fun ones- the song battles! once again thanks to tumblrs image limit, all of the battles had to be combined, but i feel it's fitting, especially considering they don't warrant much commentary- so much (for) stardust, headfirt slide, and you're crashing, but you're no wave each earned very fair wins in their battles. given prior results involving each song, perhaps not very surprising results, but fun regardless!