| Board List | |
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| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 75: Sunspot's Singularity (+ Cranberries results) |
| MetalmindStats 08/09/22 2:58:02 AM #20 | FoolFantastic posted... Are people wanting to do another Rank the Albums for albums 51-75?I would very much like to (...and actually relisten to the albums and rank them on time this time) - I've been withholding most of my thoughts in anticipation of another Rank the Albums, for one thing. Anyways, I gave Singularity my first spin tonight, from which I think I can already say that The Police clearly inspired Sunspot here. I was also relieved to find (most of) the song lyrics on Bandcamp. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 74: The Cranberries' No Need to Argue (+Jack White results) |
| MetalmindStats 08/07/22 6:40:39 AM #40 |
--- BlueCrystalTear posted... Also do you guys think I should do an intro for my album next week seeing as... it's far and away the most obscure album we've done, and I don't want anyone to make a mistake like I did here.Since you're asking for thoughts, I think you should post an intro if you desire, and not if you don't. And yes, I'm sure that's not very helpful. Re our polls, I'm open to making them ranked choice - probably favorable, but I could see them producing turnout issues given the possibility that voters in a given week have only been exposed to one of that week's albums. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | You gain a time travel ability to use once, but must make a choice... (see post) |
| MetalmindStats 08/05/22 3:36:58 PM #52 | AriaOfBolo posted... I...don't think I want any of those options, as described. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rate the VG Story Day 405: Super Mario Odyssey |
| MetalmindStats 08/05/22 3:33:09 PM #14 | 5; great ending in general, but platformers can in fact have non-perfunctory narratives that still fit with their flow the whole way through. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 73: Jack White's Fear of the Dawn |
| MetalmindStats 07/31/22 4:09:46 AM #31 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rate the VG Story Day 398: Night in the Woods |
| MetalmindStats 07/29/22 1:55:47 AM #16 | Finally! 9.5 - I do somewhat agree with the common critiques of its questionable pacing, even if I'm often more inclined to say such a structure serves a valuable purpose. However, I just don't care on a subjective level, for many, many reasons. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Best Animated Movie Ever 2022 - Nominations |
| MetalmindStats 07/28/22 9:33:27 PM #16 | Wow, last contest's finals were really great! 1) Chicken Run 2) Coraline 3) Despicable Me 4) Mary and Max 5) Monsters, Inc. 6) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 7) Spirited Away 8) The Incredibles 9) The LEGO Movie 10) The Little Prince 11) The Mitchells vs. the Machines 12) Up 13) WALL-E 14) Wreck-It Ralph 15) Zootopia I really ought to watch all the Ghibli movies I haven't seen since childhood sometime... --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 73: Jack White's Fear of the Dawn |
| MetalmindStats 07/27/22 7:48:09 AM #15 | BlueCrystalTear posted... That's why I voted for Purple Rain. The 75 minutes and 18 tracks (if you separate "Love Lies Bleeding") is a bit intimidating. Fantastic album, but if you wanted 70s Elton, Madman Across the Water, Honky Cat, and Capt. Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy are all great picks that have fewer tracks and less intimidating runtime.I was definitely spoiled for choice as far as Elton John goes, that much is true. However, as I alluded to before (and as I should have summarized my slate), my idea was to go with the closest thing to each artist's definitive album. I'd certainly think that would have to be GYBR in Elton's case. BlueCrystalTear posted... Amazing how this poll has 21 votes; mine last week had only 8 because of its very nature. I must wonder how many people who voted in this poll will actually attempt to participate that week.I can't remember any previous poll exceeding 20 votes this quickly, but we've had others ultimately reach the mark before without participation anywhere near that in the winning album's week. I think it's probably more relevant to measure the winner's votal as a gauge of potential participation, which for example would have nailed Appetite for Destruction as a high-participation week compared to the others around it. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 73: Jack White's Fear of the Dawn |
| MetalmindStats 07/24/22 5:01:19 PM #5 | ...Well, now I feel foolish for never thinking about the possibility of mainstream 80s LFF, even though it doesn't seem to be mattering right now. I figured GYBR's 75-minute length would be a bigger barrier for us. Makes me wonder what Too Low for Zero would be doing in its place, even though that would have kind of defeated the point of my slate. Edit: I'll just leave this post up to serve as another reminder of how rash my comments can be. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/24/22 5:00:19 AM #38 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/22/22 2:29:51 PM #27 | rise --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/21/22 6:03:47 PM #26 | MetalmindStats posted... up --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/20/22 4:33:24 AM #22 | up --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/18/22 11:13:31 PM #13 | MetalmindStats posted... bump --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 71: Faith No More's Angel Dust (+ Guns n Roses results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/18/22 11:13:07 PM #54 | I'd like to swap my rankings for two songs, since this week's still open:
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/18/22 2:51:44 AM #8 | bump --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/17/22 2:35:57 PM #2 | Here's what BlueCrystalTear has to say about his choices: Im confident most of you will either not like this or be a little bewildered. But part of this project is to diversify your musical taste. So here ya go. The first two are local bands from my area (Madison, WI) that Ive seen numerous times apiece and the other is someone my parents introduced to me when they were living in northern New Mexico. Im confident that if youve ever heard of any of them, you did from me. Sunspot Singularity (2009) Biggest song: No Place Like Home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S35HiZyEkw0 I know, I know. Sunspot are a trio who happen to be friends of mine. Theyre awesome people who make awesome music think 80s rock fused with 90s/early 00s alternative plus paranormal themes and geeky references. Singularity was an interesting concept they released one single a month for a year and compiled them on an album (hence the name), plus a bonus track for a total of 13. The end result was one of their more accessible and diverse albums (alongside the much longer Weirdest Hits, an amalgamation of EPs). Theres funny stuff like More Than My Degree told from the perspective of a frat boy horny for his Trig TA and apocalyptic allegories like Tunguska. Gin, Chocolate, & Bottle Rockets Lean (2018) Biggest song: Shine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUb-MU5K3J0 GCBR are also a trio who specialize in folk-pop with strong female harmonies and organic melodies. They have a lot of positive and uplifting tunes (the one in the above link is about embracing your depression, which is awesome) and they put ten of them on this Kickstarter-backed album. Theres also a semi-rocker in Flash Flood and a Eurythmics cover that, even though its a very different take, Im sure Annie Lennox would approve of. I would describe this album as feel good pop thats always sure to add some sunshine to your day. Or maybe kick you in the ass if you need that spark. Jimmy Stadler What Makes Me Me (2007) One of two biggest songs: Its Past My Beer Time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRIWzBGiLIw My parents lived in northern New Mexico for a couple years and I went to visit them a couple times. This guy was an entertainer at a bar they took me to (just for him!) who so happened to be an on-call musician for big-name bands whenever they were performing in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. Hes very good with both piano and guitar and captures both humor (Its Past My Beer Time) and emotion (When I Bring Flowers). Either way, its good stuff. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 72: Avenged Sevenfold (+ will have Angel Dust results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/17/22 2:35:11 PM #1 | What album should we cover for BlueCrystalTear's week?
Vote
Previous results can be seen here: https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks The rules: 1. Listen to the album in full 2. Rank every track on the album 3. For the results, there will be a curve at the top of each list; two additional points between #1 and #2, and one additional point for the next two ranks. This way, the songs that really stick out to someone get an edge that is not immediately negated by someone else putting it lower. In the case of Demon Days, someone's 15th track will get 1 point, 14th 2 points, 4th 12 points, 3rd 14 points, 2nd 16 points, and 1st 19 points. For albums with greater than 15 tracks, everything ranked below #15 will be given 0 points and the scale for the top 15 will be the same as a 15-track album. For albums with more than 20 tracks, you only have to list your top 15 (with 16-20, I still like having the average rank listed) 4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results 5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic 6. The deadline to vote is Sunday, July 24 at 8:00 AM EST - though if you are for whatever reason listening to the album around that time, just say so in the topic and I can delay a bit 7. You can sign up to be added to the user cycle - the next person on the list will choose 3 albums which the other users will vote on for the next topic. 7a. To ensure people are being given an actual choice, the three nominated albums must be by different artists. You can otherwise stick to a similar sound or era. 7b. The tiebreaker for these polls will be whichever is listed first in the poll options - make sure to deliver the results in order of your own preference (which will hopefully have the added benefit of influencing people toward your first choice if they can't decide). Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled track list: 1. Critical Acclaim 2. Almost Easy 3. Scream 4. Afterlife 5. Gunslinger 6. Unbound (The Wild Ride) 7. Brompton Cocktail 8. Lost 9. A Little Piece of Heaven 10. Dear God User Cycle: 7/24: jcgamer107 (Jack White - Fear of the Dawn) 7/31: ChichiriMuyo (The Cranberries - No Need to Argue) 8/7: BlueCrystalTear 8/14: MetalmindStats 8/21: HBJDubs 8/28: Raetsel_Lapin 9/4: TheArkOfTurus 9/11: Steiner 9/18: Snake5555555555 9/25: Jesse_Custer 10/2: ZaziGuado 10/9: firefdr 10/16: Johnbobb 10/23: VeryInsane 10/30: FoolFantastic 11/6: Seanchan 11/13: Giggsalot 11/20: RyoCaliente 11/27: darkx 12/4: neonreaper 12/11: Great_Paul (Don't mind me, just guest-starting the topic in FoolFantastic's temporary absence so it can run the full week. They're set to return to post results this Monday evening, until which point the last topic will also remain open.) --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 71: Faith No More's Angel Dust (+ Guns n Roses results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/17/22 5:47:42 AM #52 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Post Each Time You Beat a Game: 2022 Edition |
| MetalmindStats 07/17/22 5:30:29 AM #387 | Sayonara Wild Hearts (PC) @psaltery, thank you again! ...And yes, it did take me this long to get around to this two-hour game. I did quite enjoy it, though, and I'm looking forward to perhaps playing levels over and over again. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 71: Faith No More's Angel Dust (+ Guns n Roses results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/12/22 9:30:07 PM #24 | I'm fond of the idea of adding AM weeks to our cycle as delineated on a decade-by-decade basis - my personal preference is that we cycle through the full set of decades every year, so about one AM week per seven/eight user select weeks. I agree that doing so would help cover the gaps resulting from our current nomination process. However, there are a few points I'd like to raise in relation to that: First off, I think the 60s poll should be expanded to the 60s and before. This would begin including the (to me) surprising amount of acclaimed 50s albums in the rounds eventually while still accounting for the embryonic start of the album as a means of popular music consumption. Conversely, expanding the 10s poll in a similar way seems somewhat less essential to me even independent of AM currently lacking the stats with which to do so. The dust arguably has yet to settle on 20s albums, especially critically speaking. I'm also skeptical about cycling a bunch of the same albums over and over again until they finally take. Would it just be tiresome for us to see two-thirds of the same poll as before most AM weeks? I think I would personally rather ditch all three albums regardless of the winner and cycle back to the other two eventually, though without any discussion, it's hard to say how alone I am in that. Perhaps we could use a formula based on how many best-of lists each album appears on to determine when losing albums should return to the AM polls, halving each album's effective total on loss? Of course, there's some major downsides to that idea, the biggest one being the questionable correlation between the simple amount of lists each album from even a specific decade appears on and the way AM actually compiles rankings. In that sense, such an approach arguably sacrifices the point of AM polls in favor of practicality. The other key problem with this proposal is that it would force even Pet Sounds to wait multiple years for its next AM poll after a loss in its original poll. As such, it perhaps overcorrects for the problem of seeing two of the same albums as before (by decade) in most AM polls. A milder version of this plan could consist of cycling out losing albums on an artist-by-artist basis, so that (for example) we need not wait to tackle the 51-minute Highway 61 Revisited until we've ranked the 73-minute Blonde on Blonde. These two are of course practically right next to each other on the AM rankings, and we'd accommodate artists with albums from the same decade far apart in the all-time rankings by making way for albums with higher rankings from different artists. For example, if Pet Sounds were to win the above 60s slate, our next three choices would be Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Highway 61 Revisited, and Astral Weeks. The obvious flaw here is the risk that, say, we'd never get a chance to rank Revolver via the AM weeks in this scenario. Lastly, if Rubber Soul and Hotel California (versus Appetite for Destruction, among others) are anything to go by, 'classic' albums are unlikely to affect our participation much unless they're at least metal adjacent. I don't think this is exactly a constructive point against having AM polls, though - more of a lament that they'll be mainly for the sake of us regulars rather than also helping attract new or otherwise infrequent participants. On a somewhat related note, I'm planning for all three of my albums next week to fall under the classic label we've been discussing. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Am I the only one surprised Tom Cruise beat Marvel? |
| MetalmindStats 07/12/22 6:18:44 PM #119 | One thing I'd like to add to the MCU box office discussion is that its sterling audience track record during Phases 2 and 3 has, relatively speaking, collapsed of late. Throughout those phases, only Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man and the Wasp had CinemaScores (the gold standard in American in-theater audience polling) as low as an A-. In Phase 4, in contrast, only Shang-Chi and No Way Home have exceeded an A- so far, while three movies are in the B/B+ range the last two phases never approached - worse than Phase 1, when the MCU was still finding its footing. Rotten Tomatoes verified audience scores (i.e. from verified ticket buyers only, so starting with Far From Home) and PostTrak in-theater audience polling (where available) also tell similar stories. The correlation between audience polling and domestic multiple (i.e. total gross divided by opening weekend) historically hasn't been quite as clear-cut due to the size of an opening (and of the core fanbase fueling that opening) generally being inversely proportional to a movie's multiple. It certainly has been in Phase 4, however, as Shang-Chi and No Way Home both had multiples right around 3x, while the other three movies with full theatrical runs so far have all been comfortably under 2.5x - even though two of those latter three had among the lowest openings of the post-Phase 1 MCU. Perhaps Love and Thunder will break this chain, to be fair - it's still in the early days of its run, though preliminary indications aren't positive. As scarlet astutely pointed out, Wakanda Forever represents one of the MCU's biggest challenges yet, seeking to sell a sequel to the widely beloved Black Panther without the titular Black Panther in tow. The oversaturation and related chronology confusion others have mentioned could also be a point against the MCU of late, as with the current apparent absence of Thanos arc-style buildup to keep audiences eager. These are factors I don't think would matter if the MCU had simply continued along its Phase 3 course, and indeed "solo" MCU movies still seem to be at their 2018-19 box office peak, adjusted for COVID/country-specific circumstances. Now that this formerly Teflon franchise is finally starting to show a few cracks in its armor, however, paying audiences' box office and word-of-mouth reception to Wakanda Forever should be telling. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 70: Guns N Roses' Appetite for Destruction (+White Stripes) |
| MetalmindStats 07/04/22 5:14:01 PM #19 | BlueCrystalTear posted... Like Metalmind did for two songs above.Old topic, but to be fair, I didn't actually explain my two biggest outliers, even knowing beforehand that Ball and Biscuit would top that list. I personally find it noticeably harder and a lot less fun to write about songs that I dislike relative to others than songs that I like disproportionately. That's partly because it's really difficult for me to outright dislike a song I've heard three times on different days, but I also worry that an exception (none of which were on Elephant, to be clear) would make for a thin line between song critique and implied opinion criticism. All this is to say that I'll personally (with no bearing on anyone else) try to proffer a few song write-ups a week from next week on - not this week because as I mentioned last topic, I'll be busy for most of it. I am not currently busy, though, so here's the answer to a question I found in our archives while preparing my posts last week and got curious about myself (deleted and reposted because I missed My Head is an Animal before due to the switcheroo): ~-~ Rank the Tracks Albums by Original Nominator, So Far ~-~ Note: Albums before the bars (|) are those nominated and sufficiently supported in the first six weeks, while albums after the bars are those chosen via user-select polls.Seanchan (5 | 2): Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix; The Beatles - Abbey Road; Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell; The Killers - Hot Fuss; Billy Joel - The Stranger | Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia; blink-182 - Enema of the State CasanovaZelos (4 | 2): Nirvana - Nevermind; LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver; Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters; The Knife - Silent Shout | Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes; Portishead - Third Jesse_Custer (4* | 2): Gorillaz - Demon Days*; U2 - Achtung Baby; Radiohead - OK Computer; Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal | Coeur de pirate - Roses; Eagles - Hotel California ZaziGuado (3 | 2): Weezer - Weezer (The Blue Album); Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy; Air - Moon Safari | Lorde - Melodrama; Taylor Swift - Folklore Johnbobb (3 | 2): Pink Floyd - The Wall; Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers); The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced | Soundgarden - Superunknown; Mos Def - Black on Both Sides VeryInsane (3 | 2): Mastodon - Crack the Skye; Fleetwood Mac - Rumours; Pixies - Doolittle | The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico; Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee SpikeSetsFire (3 | 1): Spice Girls - Spice; The Avalanches - Since I Left You; Moby - Play | Supertramp - Breakfast in America TheArkOfTurus (2 | 2): Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid; Iron Maiden - Powerslave | Rush - Moving Pictures; Metallica - Master of Puppets Snake5555555555 (2 | 2): Rancid - And Out Come the Wolves; Taylor Swift - Speak Now | Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me; Black Marble - It's Immaterial Giggsalot (2 | 2): Massive Attack - Mezzanine; OutKast - Aquemini | Tom Waits - Rain Dogs; Love - Forever Changes jcgamer107 (1 | 1): Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five | Miracle Musical - Hawaii: Part II MetalmindStats (0 | 2): none | Tears for Fears - The Hurting; Peter Gabriel - So RyoCaliente (0 | 2): none | Bloc Party - Silent Alarm; The White Stripes - Elephant darkx (0 | 2): none | The Beatles - Rubber Soul; Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction neonreaper (0 | 2): none | Opeth - Damnation; Faith No More - Angel Dust Great_Paul (0 | 2): none | System of a Down - Toxicity; Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold ZeroSignal620 (1 | 0): Alice in Chains - Dirt | none StartTheMachine (1 | 0): Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city | none TomNook (1 | 0): Hamilton | none MoogleKupo141 (1 | 0): The Strokes - Is This It | none Steiner (1 | 0): Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine | none Seginustemple (1 | 0): Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill | none ChichiriMuyo (0 | 1): none | VAST - Visual Audio Sensory Theater BlueCrystalTear (0 | 1): none | Phil Collins - Face Value HBJDubs (0 | 1): none | Dream Theater - Images and Words firefdr (0 | 1): none | Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory Endnotes: *Jesse_Custer was the first user to nominate Gorillaz in the original iteration of this series; as this wasn't a proper nomination, I disfavored them for tiebreaking purposes. I broke all other ties via the week we covered each user's last album, favoring older weeks. Also, all artist/album names are as listed on our B8 wiki page, except for correcting the Bloc Party error.--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 70: Guns N Roses' Appetite for Destruction (+White Stripes) |
| MetalmindStats 07/03/22 9:32:35 PM #16 | BlueCrystalTear posted... Like Metalmind did for two songs above.Old topic, but to be fair, I didn't actually explain my two biggest outliers, even knowing beforehand that Ball and Biscuit would top that list. I personally find it noticeably harder and a lot less fun to write about songs that I dislike relative to others than songs that I like disproportionately. That's partly because it's really difficult for me to outright dislike a song I've heard three times on different days, but I also worry that an exception (none of which were on Elephant, to be clear) would make for a thin line between song critique and implied opinion criticism. All this is to say that I'll personally (with no bearing on anyone else) try to proffer a few song write-ups a week from next week on - not this week because as I mentioned last topic, I'll be busy for most of it. I am not currently busy, though, so here's the answer to a question I found in our archives while preparing my posts last week and got curious about myself: ~-~ Rank the Tracks Albums by Original Nominator, So Far ~-~ Note: Albums before the bars (|) are those nominated and sufficiently supported in the first six weeks, while albums after the bars are those chosen via user-select polls.Seanchan (5 | 2): Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix; The Beatles - Abbey Road; Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell; The Killers - Hot Fuss; Billy Joel - The Stranger | Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia; blink-182 - Enema of the State CasanovaZelos (4 | 2): Nirvana - Nevermind; LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver; Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters; The Knife - Silent Shout | Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes; Portishead - Third ZaziGuado (3 | 2): Weezer - Weezer (The Blue Album); Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy; Air - Moon Safari | Lorde - Melodrama; Taylor Swift - Folklore Johnbobb (3 | 2): Pink Floyd - The Wall; Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers); The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced | Soundgarden - Superunknown; Mos Def - Black on Both Sides VeryInsane (3 | 2): Mastodon - Crack the Skye; Fleetwood Mac - Rumours; Pixies - Doolittle | The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico; Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee Jesse_Custer (3* | 2): Gorillaz - Demon Days*; U2 - Achtung Baby; Radiohead - OK Computer | Coeur de pirate - Roses; Eagles - Hotel California SpikeSetsFire (3 | 1): Spice Girls - Spice; The Avalanches - Since I Left You; Moby - Play | Supertramp - Breakfast in America TheArkOfTurus (2 | 2): Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid; Iron Maiden - Powerslave | Rush - Moving Pictures; Metallica - Master of Puppets Snake5555555555 (2 | 2): Rancid - And Out Come the Wolves; Taylor Swift - Speak Now | Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me; Black Marble - It's Immaterial Giggsalot (2 | 2): Massive Attack - Mezzanine; OutKast - Aquemini | Tom Waits - Rain Dogs; Love - Forever Changes jcgamer107 (1 | 1): Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five | Miracle Musical - Hawaii: Part II MetalmindStats (0 | 2): none | Tears for Fears - The Hurting; Peter Gabriel - So RyoCaliente (0 | 2): none | Bloc Party - Silent Alarm; The White Stripes - Elephant darkx (0 | 2): none | The Beatles - Rubber Soul; Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction neonreaper (0 | 2): none | Opeth - Damnation; Faith No More - Angel Dust Great_Paul (0 | 2): none | System of a Down - Toxicity; Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold ZeroSignal620 (1 | 0): Alice in Chains - Dirt | none StartTheMachine (1 | 0): Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city | none TomNook (1 | 0): Hamilton | none MoogleKupo141 (1 | 0): The Strokes - Is This It | none Steiner (1 | 0): Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine | none Seginustemple (1 | 0): Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill | none ChichiriMuyo (0 | 1): none | VAST - Visual Audio Sensory Theater BlueCrystalTear (0 | 1): none | Phil Collins - Face Value HBJDubs (0 | 1): none | Dream Theater - Images and Words firefdr (0 | 1): none | Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory Endnotes: *Jesse_Custer was the first user to nominate Gorillaz in the original iteration of this series; as this wasn't a proper nomination, I disfavored them for tiebreaking purposes. I broke all other ties via the week we covered each user's last album, favoring older weeks. Also, all artist/album names are as listed on our B8 wiki page, except for correcting the Bloc Party error.--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 69: The White Stripe's Elephant (+ Forever Changes results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/03/22 5:24:01 AM #44 |
Also, I'll volunteer to make the topic two weeks from today, though I'm willing to let anyone who'd prefer to take it up do so. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 69: The White Stripe's Elephant (+ Forever Changes results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/03/22 2:46:42 AM #43 | BlueCrystalTear posted... I originally didn't have the (x - 1) - it was just x * (x/2) and that made it so it legit never happened, so I figured it was too extreme. I felt that I could lower it slightly more, so I found a way to do that which made sense to me.Fair enough - the (x - 1) bit is also part of the formula for standard deviation from a sample size, so I see how that makes sense. And speaking of which, another related ramble that you all probably shouldn't read: ~-~ (On My Own Outlier Opinions) ~-~ I know it isn't necessary, but this whole conversation has made me want to explain a few of my most markedly divergent takes from the past. ...This will also be the first time I say anything of even slight substance about two of these three albums. That's because I started saving most of my thoughts for Rank the Albums a while ago due mainly to the difficulty I anticipated (and did indeed have) in proffering write-ups for albums which I'd already commented on. (Of course, I could still comment on individual tracks, so I guess I really ought to start doing so when my opinions markedly diverge from the apparent consensus.) Anyways! OK Computer - Fitter Happier (album outlier score: +1.24 standard deviations; track ranking: -3.26 standard deviations) In retrospect, the sheer positivity of my OK Computer write-up surprises me, even knowing it was likely my offbeat attempt at justifying my most eyebrow-raising ranking maybe ever. For a long while, I'd thought of the album as one that undoubtedly had many positive characteristics but (one song aside) nonetheless missed me as a whole. After finally relistening to it yesterday, however, I find myself somewhere in between those two extremes. That one song was actually Paranoid Android, not Fitter Happier, though I think I would still rank the latter in my top three just as I have after all my previous listens. It certainly still stands out for me, which I tend to value in the context of OK Computer. Also, I really like the way unease subtly creeps into the song's soundscape, as juxtaposed against the narration's even-keeled specificity. Plus, I still agree with the comments from OK Computer's topic holding Fitter Happier up as an essential component of its album. Images and Words - Take the Time + Wait for Sleep (album outlier score: +2.44 standard deviations; Take the Time ranking: -1.27 standard deviations; Wait for Sleep ranking: -1.82 standard deviations) I honestly forgot about these until BCT brought them up, only for Wait for Sleep to almost immediately pop into my mind once I read that post. It's an aspect of how I evaluate and engage with music I find about as important as how I feel about a given song/album while I'm actually listening to it. My subsequent Images and Words relisten entirely affirmed my feelings and track ranking from a couple months back, as unusual as the latter seems to be. As an album, it's one of many from this cycle I've liked but definitely not loved, and I'd prefer to reserve further commentary for Rank the Albums Volume 3. I think it's reasonable to posit that my Images and Words track ranking is exceptional mostly due to my simultaneous high rankings of both our bottom two songs. Having Take the Time in third is nothing special on its own, so I hope saying that I've simply found its chorus continually catchy will be enough. Wait for Sleep, on the other hand, sort of has Fitter Happier syndrome in that it's a disproportionately short component of a much-discussed album entirely focused on its conceit, and of course in that I ranked it at the top anyways. I find it a song with palpably emotionally evocative composition, driven by its very pretty and remarkably sticky piano chorus. Its lyrics and delivery likewise foster an intimately relatable melancholia, something which tends to endear a song to me. It doesn't threaten to overstay its welcome, either, which helps it stand out in an album of long, heavily instrumental songs that I feel does nothing especially unusual with all its time. Third - Nylon Smile + The Rip (album outlier score: +2.04 standard deviations; Nylon Smile ranking: -2.38 standard deviations; The Rip ranking: +2.36 standard deviations) Unlike the past two albums, I'm posting entirely from memory here because my last listen was in the past week, and also due to the vivid collective imprint Third has already left on my mind. That being said, I don't actually want to post much about the nature of said vivid collective imprint, if only because I'd like to gush as coherently as possible come Volume 3 of Rank the Albums! I hope it suffices for me to say that I think of my last-place track (currently Silence) almost as positively as a majority of the tracks I've ranked in first over the last twenty weeks. Which, yes, means that it was rash of me to rank The Rip all the way down there, a consequence of my failure to give myself a listen-free day to reflect on Third and see which songs (and which parts of them, and for what reason[s]) popped into my head. Regardless, even my current ninth would have been a markedly low ranking. Besides the aforementioned tough competition, I think that's partly because The Rip's lyrics are a bit too metaphorical for me to relate to, and partly because I waver between the thought that its rather subdued first half only enhances the impact of its second half and the idea that said payoff fails to fully justify the buildup. As for Nylon Smile, I'll fully admit that the critiques of its simplistic soundscapes are fair - they just aren't a mark against it for me personally. I'd say the song's focus is on lyrics driving the music, rather than the other way around as is arguably the case for much of its album. To digress a bit again into my own peculiarities, I tend to recall songs mainly by memorizing their written lyrics alongside the delivery thereof. Furthermore, perhaps the quickest path to my heart is open to already emotionally evocative songs that intimately tap into my personal insecurities, self-doubt, and/or life history to date. Of course, Gibbons' honed yet heartrending vocals (which I've found I enjoy singing along to <_<) also markedly contribute to the ways Nylon Smile shines for me. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 69: The White Stripe's Elephant (+ Forever Changes results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/02/22 5:59:56 AM #34 | I, too, would like to apologize for jumping to conclusions that anyone here was trying to get Raetsel's ranking this week discounted or anything like that. Clearly there's a bit of a gulf between my beliefs on giving posts the benefit of the doubt due to the difficulty of conveying tone/intention in text and my willingness to actually give said benefit of the doubt. Instead, I let some strongly held feelings I have about the nature of art and engagement with it take over in an attempt to stave off what I feared was happening, and again, I'm sorry for that rather rude misinterpretation. Uh anyways, now that I know we're all on the same page, here's some (inter)related rambles that you all probably shouldn't read: ~-~ (On Statistics [a reply to #19]) ~-~ BlueCrystalTear posted... I was thinking just extreme outliers being discounted for statistical calculations. Like consider the formula where x = the number of album tracks:I probably should know the answer to this, but I am curious - what is your reasoning behind using that specific formula to determine whether or not an outlier is extreme? I can see that said formula offers a smooth progression from an average outlier of 3 ranks per track at 7 tracks up to 7 ranks per track at 15 tracks in .5 intervals, but I'm sure there's something more foundational I'm missing. And yes, I'm also sure I'm not living up to my username by this line of questioning >_> BlueCrystalTear posted... As someone with "Stats" in your username, I'm sure you know about outliers which skew the average in ways that don't accurately represent consensus.I do indeed, partly from personal experience - though our track rankings don't directly draw on the average of each participant's individual ranks, which likely dampens the effect somewhat. To say much more directly about what I quoted would be a completely unnecessary rehash of earlier posts. However, I would like to raise the related point that individual song rankings can likewise skew that track's average in unrepresentative ways. A case in point that I alluded to before is my #1 rank for Fitter Happier when we tackled OK Computer - a drastic outlier with only one other rank above #9, even though my album outlier score was unexceptional. It was only my third time participating in Rank the Tracks, ranking two minutes of quasi-spoken word atop an album that I knew had an exceptional mystique among music fans of all sorts, and I didn't even attempt to specifically justify that ranking. For all CZ would have known back then, it was an act of trolling on my part. Yet they allowed my ranking through anyways, for which I am forever thankful even though I ungratefully whined about something semi-related at the time. Anyways, this statistical talk inspired me to check the stats (specifically, standard deviation) for how great an outlier a few of my most unusual rankings truly were. The results notably confirm my Fitter Happier ranking as a (seemingly my most, in fact) drastic departure from the norm; I'll post them tomorrow as part of a post I haven't quite finished tonight. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 69: The White Stripe's Elephant (+ Forever Changes results) |
| MetalmindStats 07/01/22 3:42:28 AM #17 | I have to admit I'm confused about why we're suddenly questioning whether someone's ranking should count just because it's really unconventional, especially when that someone has participated (and brought their self-admittedly unusual music opinions) to every single proper week we've done, I believe. I personally don't see why Raetsel's ranking's veracity should be in any serious doubt given that context, and as such, why it shouldn't be counted. Perhaps I'm just biased because I've had a fair few eyebrow-raising rankings of my own, though. Also, I think I'll be too busy to rank anything next week, though I should be able to make this week. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Raetsel's fourth annual music ranking topic. [Nominations] |
| MetalmindStats 06/26/22 2:41:04 PM #248 | BlackDra90n posted... Take as much time off as you need.Yes, this. Don't worry about it, especially in the context of such a monumental project. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 68: Love's Forever Changes (+ blink-182 results) |
| MetalmindStats 06/25/22 10:51:28 PM #27 | CasanovaZelos posted... Unrelated to the current week, I wish my nomination week had been just slightly delayed because the most famous track off my favorite album ever suddenly became popular again due to Stranger Things. I've been putting Hounds of Love off because it has two distinct halves that don't necessarily work well with the format, but it would have been nice to tackle it with an unexpected cultural spotlight.I think it's probably too late to do anything like this now, but I did consider inquiring about the possibility of allowing new user queue additions to slot in a month or so after their sign-ups some time ago. As it happens, Raetsel and Steiner getting their first weeks in May/June instead of August/September would have just barely allowed you to capitalize on Stranger Things for your own poll. ...Though I was apparently being self-serving of my future self by not proposing anything like this >_> For something actually related to the current week, I'll once again be missing it, ugh. I've only managed to get one listen in so far, which is not reflective of my opinions about this album. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 67: blink-182's Enema of the State (+ Portishead results) |
| MetalmindStats 06/19/22 4:59:55 AM #24 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Do you like this character? Day 1396: Black Widow/Natasha Romanova (Marvel) |
| MetalmindStats 06/12/22 4:12:37 AM #26 | Leonhart4 posted... Yes, but just slightly above indifference --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 66: Portishead's Third (+ Japanese Breakfast results) |
| MetalmindStats 06/12/22 1:28:49 AM #23 | Seanchan posted... Probably 80+% of these albums are new to me.Try 90-95%+ in my case - even Rubber Soul was a discovery for me! That comment aside, I pretty much agree with what you said (...even though my own track record of commitment to this series and its participants isn't quite where I'd like it to be). For example, I didn't know what to think about Melodrama the first time around, only to fall hard for it after my next two spins. Conversely, while my opinions about this week's album haven't changed much from listen to listen, the nature of my engagement with it sure has. Anyways, my Third ranking:
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 65: Japanese Breakfast's Jubilee (+ Mos Def results) |
| MetalmindStats 06/05/22 4:53:32 AM #30 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Do you like this character? Day 1392: Coraline Jones (Coraline) |
| MetalmindStats 05/31/22 7:45:27 PM #10 | I believe she's the only character to have been in all my user select polls, so obviously, yes. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Do you like this character? Day 1391: Grogu (The Mandalorian) |
| MetalmindStats 05/30/22 11:35:23 PM #44 | Yes, though I really ought to watch the second season sometime. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 64: Mos Def's Black on Both Sides (+ Hybrid Theory results) |
| MetalmindStats 05/29/22 8:18:35 PM #23 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | My 99 y/o grandma just had a stroke and isn't expected to survive the night :( |
| MetalmindStats 05/27/22 3:11:35 AM #10 | I really hope your grandma recovers. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 63: Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory (+Folklore results) |
| MetalmindStats 05/22/22 5:17:39 AM #41 | I won't be participating this week because I only managed two listens (one yesterday and one today), and in this case, I felt any ranking I could have made would have been arbitrary as a result. Sorry. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 62: Taylor Swift's Folklore (+ Hotel California results) |
| MetalmindStats 05/15/22 4:15:48 AM #41 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Best Generation 1-3 Video Game - Nominations (NES, SMS, 2600, & More!) |
| MetalmindStats 05/11/22 6:00:10 PM #36 | Balloon Fight Donkey Kong Jr. Dr. Mario Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (Dragon Warrior IV) Frogger Gauntlet Mario Bros. Ms. Pac-Man Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 2 (US) Super Mario Bros. 3 I think that's everything I've played and enjoyed that fits into this contest's purview, anyways. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 61: Eagles' Hotel California (+ Black Marble results) |
| MetalmindStats 05/08/22 4:34:13 AM #25 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Board 8 Ranks 2010s Horror Movies - *SIGN UPS, MOVIE LIST, DUE DATE + MORE* |
| MetalmindStats 05/01/22 10:38:40 PM #213 | Snake5555555555 posted... I'm sorry to hear that. Just out of curiosity how much longer would you need, just as an estimate?I think I could participate with two more weeks as long as I committed myself, something which I admittedly haven't really done so far. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Board 8 Ranks 2010s Horror Movies - *SIGN UPS, MOVIE LIST, DUE DATE + MORE* |
| MetalmindStats 05/01/22 7:41:34 PM #211 | Snake5555555555 posted... One week to go. Nobody has mentioned extensions yet which I think is a good sign that we're on track for that still!Sorry to jinx it, but unfortunately, there's no way I'll be able to make the existing deadline. That being said, I'm so far behind and have been making so little progress that I'd rather you not extend the deadline just for my sake. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 60: Black Marble's It's Immaterial (+Master of Puppets res) |
| MetalmindStats 05/01/22 3:56:25 AM #40 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 59: Metallica's Master of Puppets (+ Dream Theater results) |
| MetalmindStats 04/24/22 4:26:54 AM #44 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rate the VG Story Day 320: Dragon Quest VI |
| MetalmindStats 04/23/22 9:02:07 PM #16 | 5.5; utterly generic in its broad strokes, but at least DQ always has a flair for the little moments. Also, I think you missed Axem's DQIV rating here: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79985612/964317652 --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 58: Dream Theater's Images and Words (+ So results) |
| MetalmindStats 04/17/22 12:24:34 AM #27 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 2 - RESULTS |
| MetalmindStats 04/16/22 1:23:55 AM #67 | MetalmindStats posted... Anyways, I'm struggling to see how The Stranger doesn't take the top spot at this point, what with top spot's clear advantage by any means plus second place losing to Powerslave straight-up plus Can't Buy a Thrill being second by average rank.Uh whoops, this was a very bad call on my part, not that it's anything new. Speaking of which, now that I'm looking back at my VUN write-up, I should have emphasized the strictly personal nature of my take on its sound. I guess it was my best attempt at commenting on an album I'm still not confident I have the context to comment on. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 2 - RESULTS |
| MetalmindStats 04/15/22 2:47:11 PM #58 | CasanovaZelos posted... I'm starting to feel like grunge is one of the few ways I feel a slight generational difference on board 8 (...I think I'm a few years younger than the average user here, at least)I highly suspect I'm even younger than you, for what it's worth. (And in retrospect, 'catchy' and 'enjoyable' being the key descriptors I chose to use for Superunknown feels indicative, at least to me.) Anyways, I'm struggling to see how The Stranger doesn't take the top spot at this point, what with top spot's clear advantage by any means plus second place losing to Powerslave straight-up plus Can't Buy a Thrill being second by average rank. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
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