Lurker > MaxGalactica

1. Walk This Way
2. Peter Piper
3. You Be Illin'
4. Raising Hell
5. Is It Live
6. It's Tricky
7. My Adidas
8. Proud to Be Black
9. Dumb Girl
10. Hit It Run
11. Perfection

Walk This Way was really the only song that stood out to me. The rest felt very antiquated for the genre.

Those Who Continue to Resist Destiny
Higan Canyon
HARVESTELLA Main Theme

Sophie 2 is good, but it's pretty weak for Gust standards. Match 1 was close though.

Brilliant Wings
Words That Never Reached You
No Turning Back

Whoever decided to make this a round 2 match should feel ashamed.

Turn on the Bright Lights > Subject to Change > Off the Deep End

I listened to Subject to Change during rwlh's album ranking topic, and it was quite a bit better than I expected. However, I am more interested in covering the Interpol album.

Automatic for the People > Talking Heads: 77 > 2.0

I'd vote Remain in Light or Speaking in Tongues over Automatic for the People. All three albums are great though.

Nilah, the Joy Unbound
Udyr, the Spirit Walker
KSante, the Pride of Nazumah

The Wastes Where Life Began is pretty good, but its competition is too strong.

Kvaris Ancient Boss
Meteorn's Song
Song of Mourning: The Eternal Wind

FAR GONE is pretty cool tho.

Indra
Life in the Base -morning-
Before I Rise (Acoustic Ver.)

GetsuFumaDen did have a good set too, but I really like HBR music. Life in the Base -morning- is particularly great.

1. Tudo que voc podia ser
2. Dos cruces
3. Cravo e canela
4. Um girassol da cor de seu cabelo
5. Me deixa em paz
6. San Vicente
7. O trem azul
8. Os povos
9. Trem de doido
10. Lilia
11. Nada ser como antes
12. Clube da Esquina n 2
13. Cais
14. Um gosto de Sol
15. Ao que vai nascer
16. Nuvem cigana
17. Pelo amor de Deus
18. Paisagem da janela
19. Sadas e bandeiras n 2

Great album with great instrumentation and vocals. Not a single bad song. Ranking was a bit difficult at times, but my top 5 are very clear. Nice to cover some very different albums than the norm here from time to time.

Fn Fantasy
Absolute Grip on Sanity
Stage Select M

Match 1 is very strong, while the other two aren't as great.

Surprises

Memories of Memories
Redwood Colonnade
Ocean Glaze

Tunic is still my favorite 2022 soundtrack as a whole. Absolutely incredible soundscapes. pop'n has good songs too, but their length makes it hard for them to compete.

Journey to Candle Hill
At the Plaza
Oceans

Matches 2 and 3 are both really close. Great sets.

Frosty Forest
Let Me Out
Un Deux Trois

Match 1 was very close. corru. has some very cool stuff.

Dodo's Lair
Inactivated Frozen
Mission Clear

Inactivated Frozen was definitely the best of the day.

The Face of the Deep
A Placid Island of Ignorance
Once in a Lullaby

None of these are particularly close unfortunately.

Mutants over Broadway
Nine Out of Tension
Mall Meltdown

Anarchy Rainbow and Panic in the Sky! are the only ones I'm not huge on out of these six, funnily enough.

Nocturnal 2097 (Long Version)
Silver Bullet
ANEMONE (Original Mix)

With regards to Final Boss Theme for being super cool. But I love these IIDX songs too much.

1. Just What I Needed
2. Bye Bye Love
3. All Mixed Up
4. Moving in Stereo
5. My Best Friend's Girl
6. Don't Cha Stop
7. Good Times Roll
8. You're All I've Got Tonight
9. I'm in Touch with Your World

Solid classic 80's new wave/pop album. Just What I Needed is as good as it always has been. Bye Bye Love and All Mixed Up were pleasant surprises. The rest were good, but lacked something tangible for me to really latch on to. Still a rather enjoyable album as a whole.

Linking with curious creature
Solitary wanderer
Visiting man

Sophie 2 is definitely a weaker Atelier soundtrack, but there are some songs from it that I do like, none of which were selected for this match. Sephonie is lovely. Love its soundscape.

Stella Nursery
Those Who Resist Destiny
Castle of Illusion

Shovel Knight Dig is probably one of Kaufman's weaker soundtracks, and definitely the weakest Shovel Knight soundtrack. One Person's Trash is decent though. Harvestella is great on the other hand.

Get Your Heart On! > Harakiri > City of Evil

Thunderings of the Merciless
Die Mittsommernacht-Fantasie
Irresistible Force

Match 1 is close. Matches 2 and 3 are both strong overall, but the Genshin tracks are too good, especially the harpsichord and acoustic guitar in Die Mittsommernacht-Fantasie.

Carrying the Weight of Life
Fort O'Virbus/Night
Kaleidoscopic Core

I was gonna give match 1 to Irish Fast Rock, but it didn't really do anything after its cool start. Good day.

Nilah, the Joy Unbound
The Stygian Study
KSante, The Pride of Nazumah

Good day. Although match 2 was considerably weaker than the other two matches.

1. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
2. Ready to Start
3. Empty Room
4. Half Light II (No Celebration)
5. The Suburbs
6. Modern Man
7. We Used to Wait
8. Suburban War
9. Sprawl I (Flatland)
10. The Suburbs (continued)
11. Wasted Hours
12. Deep Blue
13. Half Light I
14. Month of May
15. Rococo
16. City with No Children

I liked this album a lot more than I expected when I previewed the album during the initial vote for this album. Several high quality, catchy songs. The top 6 in my ranking are all songs that I'd definitely go back to in the future (Sprawl II, Ready to Start, Empty Room, Half Light II, The Suburbs, and Modern Man). Great album with great songwriting.

Writeups probably will be a lot more inconsistent from me in this contest. Match 1 is closer than I expected, match 2 is pretty clear, and match 3 has the only song that I'm not a fan of of this 6-pack.

Votes:
Northeast Frost Street
Faded Dream of a Psychomeddler
Keep Up (Temple Remix)

Clube da Esquina > KNOWER FOREVER > One of Us is the Killer

Original Gangster > Raising Hell > He's the DJ I'm the Rapper

Clube da Esquina and KNOWER FOREVER are both really close, but Clube da Esquina is an album I've wanted to listen to for a while and I already know KNOWER FOREVER. OG is an easy pick on the other vote.

1. sad day
2. cellophane
3. daybed
4. home with you
5. fallen alien
6. thousand eyes
7. mary magdalene
8. holy terrain
9. mirrored heart

Very enjoyable album. Lots of subtle production and composition choices that I really enjoyed. The vocals were stellar and emotive, especially in cellophane. The top 3 in my ranking (sad day, cellophane, and daybed) were the big highlights for me, but there weren't any bad songs in the album. The only thing is the Future verse in holy terrain feels way out-of-place. Otherwise, this was a fantastic listen.

Tundra Man Instrumental

One of my favorite discoveries of the contest versus one of my least favorite songs in the contest is a definitely interesting final.

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)

Solid semifinal.

Dr. Wily Stage 1

Possibly the easiest vote in the contest for me.

Spark Mandrill

If the rest of Final Transmission were more like the intro, I'd definitely vote for it.

Tundra Man Stage

1. Like a Tattoo
2. Mermaid
3. Kiss of Life
4. No Ordinary Love
5. Feel No Pain
6. Bullet Proof Soul
7. Pearls
8. I Couldn't Love You More
9. Cherish the Day

Great album. A bit hard to rate as everything is nearly the same level for me, except my top 2 and bottom 1 are pretty clear. Very relaxing, well-produced, smooth album and Sade's vocals are bliss.

Galaxy Fantasy

Neither of these are very good unfortunately.

Dr. Wily Stage 1

IF YOU GO DOWN (I'M GOIN' DOWN TOO) is a bit too country for me. Country is one of the most difficult genres for me to get into, but I did like this album more than I expected to. I imagine if rwlh and I were to post our rankings for the tracks for this album, our rankings would be nearly reversed. I enjoyed the more poppy elements, and less the country elements in the album. My favorites were SUBJECT TO CHANGE, MUSCLE MEMORY, WEATHER, and HEARTFIRST.

On the Run is another one I would put near the bottom of my ranking for its respective album lol. Breathe (In the Air), Time, Money, Us and Them, and Brain Damage are the definitive highlights for me, especially Money's legendary 7/8 bassline. Great album to win this whole thing, even if I like other Pink Floyd albums better.

Finally got through the top tracks from all 57 albums. There were a lot of great discoveries for me throughout. Prior to this ranking, I was familiar with 12 of the albums, and during the ranking I listened to an additional 11 albums, all of which I enjoyed to varying degrees. The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me was my favorite album I listened to, and Limousine was my favorite individual song discovered. I'm grateful for this topic indirectly exposing me to lots of cool music. Thanks for doing this, rwlh, it was fun to follow along. I may do a similar topic to this one at some point.

Spark Mandrill Stage
Final Transmission

Final Transmission >>> Spark Mandrill >> Title (MM3) >> Thunder Tornado

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Opening Stage (MMX3)

Tundra Man >>> Opening Stage >> Infinity Mijinion >> Boomer Kuwanger

Wildflowers (Exhale Efreet) is pretty cool. The vocal effects in the intro are great and the vocals in general are very smooth and pleasant to listen to. The vibraphone is another highlight in the mix for me. Love the drop and increased intensity in the second half as well. Great song, and I think I'd enjoy this album as a whole, but it's not something I plan on listening to any time soon.

I listened to all of Peace Beyond Passion last week and it was really good neo-soul. Me'shell's voice is awesome and the instrumentals are a delight. My personal highlights from the album were The Way and Who Is He and What Is He to You, but I liked pretty much every song in the album, including Make Me Wanna Holler. Glad at least one of the nominated neo-soul albums did well here.

The Cars > Into the Great Wide Open > Axis: Bold as Love

I can attest to Javelin being incredible.

Dropping all my doubles now, and I'll leave the rest to you guys.

DOUBLE
FAR: Changing Tides
Temtem
Wavetale
beatmania IIDX 29 CastHour

FAR is the only new support, the rest are upgrades.

Pleasant Thief Marino
Zero Gravity Area

Pleasant Thief Marino >> Galaxy Fantasy >>> Zero Gravity Area >> X vs. Zero

SINGLE
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Wavetale

NOMINATION
Gran Turismo 7 | 4 Mar 2022

Sample Songs:
Lifes Coming in Slow | - | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM40Bk8WD3o
I Dont Care About Nothing | - | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64fphVAjrGs

Dr. Wily Stage 1
Jakob

Dr. Wily Stage 1 > Jakob > Departure - Mythos Ver. - >>> Metal Man Stage

SINGLE
Temtem
beatmania IIDX 29 CastHour

Final Transmission
Revealing

Everything is close today.

Final Transmission > Revealing > Title (MM3) > Pharaoh Man Stage

Normally I don't like arrange albums that much, because they're either way too close to the original, or they go for the "x song but in x genre" thing, and it's almost always not nearly as good as the original. Sapphire Ridge was not that. Both versions are pretty relaxing, but the original is significantly more upbeat, and the arrangement is very ambient, yet full in the mix. The mixing is so good, probably better than the original song's mix. I still have the main soundtrack in my backlog, but this arrange album might be worth checking out as well.

Leonard Cohen is an artist I've been meaning to get more into at some point. His voice is really good. In this album, his voice is especially gravelly, which is cool. Another interesting thing to note is that this album released about two weeks before he died. You Want It Darker (the song) is really strong, with a strong message, and excellent instrumental with the choral vocals and smooth bassline. Great song. Definitely will add this album along with a few other Cohen albums to my backlog.

Thunder Tornado
Skyway

Thunder Tornado > Skyway >> Spark Mandrill >> Storm Eagle