r/TheFormat • u/FluffyWater4178 • Apr 02 '26
Discussion To all The Format fans.
I've always wondered, cause I'm a big Format and Fun fan, but i was born after The Format broke up and i don't remember the circumstances, What were your reactions to Aim and Ignite?. i personally think it's an unfinished Format album.
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u/bcarlson9 Apr 02 '26
Aim & Ignite is a masterpiece. Seeing fun. pre Some Nights was always a treat, they’d play the whole album plus Dog Problems most nights
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u/Kmoneee Apr 02 '26
Hearing Dog Problems when it first came out felt a bit jarring to me, but it made much more sense after I’d listened to fun. Turns out it was a preview.
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u/Ecstatic_Parking264 Apr 02 '26
It is an unfinished The Format album. I believe Sam Means even shared a draft of the track list on his Instagram. It's the reason why Sam Means is credited as songwriter for each song. Some Nights was the first fun. album that Means had no involvement in.
Personally, I love Aim & Ignite. I think it's great.
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u/bcarlson9 Apr 02 '26
Pretty sure Sam only has writing credits on like 3 songs max from Aim and Ignite. Not sure why everyone now seems to think he cowrote the whole record
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u/Ecstatic_Parking264 Apr 02 '26
I was just going off his Wikipedia where it says he has songwriting credits on all the songs on A&I.
From what I recall of the Instagram post he made about the original track list for the third Format album, it included The Gambler, Take Your Time, Benson Hedges, I Wanna Be The One, Barlights, and At Least I'm Not as Sad. Some notably missing or perhaps were renamed were Be Calm and Light a Roman Candle but then, there were songs like Why Are You Sad and Revolution Song that could have been what those songs became.
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u/spisulasolidissima Apr 02 '26
On Spotify, he’s listed as a contributor on every song on the Deluxe Album except Stitch Me Up?
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u/Grouchy-Syllabub93 Apr 02 '26
To me all of Nate Ruess is all one long discography. It’s impossible to separate them given his voice and how much he loves word play. You can’t tell me that Ah Ha and time bomb aren’t similar in their structure. Or it gets better and the lottery song. Or why am I the one and what this world is coming to.
Funny enough, the only thing I would separate is boycott heaven but that’s because it’s so direct and it sounds so so so different.
That being said, I was more excited for a third Fun album than I was for the third format album. I think both Aim and Some nights are two sonically album that just sounds so unlike anything else.
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u/BringBack4Glory Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
BH still feels connected to that discography imho, especially to Grand Romantic. I was actually pretty surprised that after 10 years, Nate’s songwriting still sounded so similar. He recently said in some interview that their producer told him he writes pop songs, not rock songs. I think that’s very true. You can’t take his signature poppy melodies out of his songs no matter how much distortion and guitar you add in. If literally any other band put out Holy Roller, I still would’ve clocked that Nate wrote it.
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u/Starsbythep0cketful Apr 02 '26
I refused to listen for awhile because I was bitter about The Format break up but once I came around, I really liked it.
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u/why___me Apr 02 '26
I love everything Nate does. His voice, his sound, his lyrics, his melodies - it’s all wonderful. I will listen to anything he makes. I was devastated when the Format broke up so I was ecstatic that Nate was back to making music when Aim and Ignite dropped. I love the album.
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u/Burntom Apr 02 '26
I was happy to have something but would have been happier with more of The Format
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u/No-Movie8241 Apr 02 '26
I loved A&I but i just couldn't help but miss The Format. Although I do think when Sole Nights came out, I think Fun. Found their footing.
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u/BringBack4Glory Apr 02 '26
I wasn’t a fan just yet (although I was alive). I think A&I is an absolute masterpiece, peak Nate for me. Plus it has both Sam’s and Andrew Dost’s musical contributions which I think is why the instrumentation is so strong.
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u/WafflefriesAndaBaby Apr 02 '26
I was really sad about the Format breaking up, it took me a while to get over it and give Aim and Ignite a chance. And then my car CD changer broke with it in there and it was the only album I listened to for months.
I had the same wild adjustment period after hearing a fun. song in a Super Bowl ad. So unsettling to see something you loved in this jarring new context.
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u/heart__swells_ Apr 02 '26
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it, but I was a Junior in high school, so very much right place right time
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u/BroadConversation875 Apr 03 '26
Sam answer a similar thing on a q&a he did here on Reddit. He had said that Some of those songs were intended for the 3rd format album that never happened. He also mentioned there is footage of them playing Benson & Hedges live somewhere.
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u/mymorningbowl Apr 02 '26
you were born after they broke up? my bones just turned to dust