LogFAQs > #980273798

Well, Robot Stop sounds better on Spotify so I'm un-eliminating it already. The sound is far more all-encompasing and metallic feeling & this is worth at least 58 points. I'm still not thrilled about the extended instrumental section, so I don't know that it'll go up an entire tier... but it's at least advancing to the "58 Nebula". I'll get into that after the next three eliminations.

I'm not sure if Big Fig Wasp would give it any extra points if attached or not. I do like that it removes the sudden end, but the lyrics are kinda repetitive and it's in this general "yeah, I kinda like this part too"... I appreciate that I can basically double the song's length by just letting it play (or extend further by keeping the album going), but I don't know that I like it enough that it would really boost the score any. (Okay, it just continued to Gamma Knife and I'll say a third consecutive song is a bridge too far and I'm starting to turn on the album now. Still, I am generally pleased that I have the option to extend the track to virtual infinity.)

Anyway, eliminations resume with the new #361, which is going to be another controversial cut:

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#361: Kansas | Carry On Wayward Son (5:23)
https://youtu.be/2X_2IdybTV0?si=WA7Yiv2USpkXxKKy
Nominator: @NBIceman [12 songs remain]

Initial Score: 55.00
Final Score: 55.12

(First Reaction: Something odd here. This song *should* be crippling me emotionally as there are a lot of memories tied to it, but it... doesn't? The first time I recall hearing this song was in Guitar Hero 2 which I played with "important person"--i've never given him a name in these topics, but I make frequent references to having lived with someone who was important and I've been working my way through our parting. The winning song at the second topic won because it helped process some of my greiving and I still talk *about* him regularly. So, you would expect this song to hit really hard. "If you can be destroyed by songs that relate to your time with him and this song is permanently tied to him, then this song must hit hard!" but... not really, no.

I suppose the trick is that while I first heard this song with him, I don't really associate the song with him. I enjoyed the song and listened to it quite a bit, both when I was with him & after we parted but tried to stay friends & even for a bit after that didn't work out. It's a song that I loved and listened until I got tired of & the circumstances that I first heard it are rather inconsequential to my feelings. ...And there's the rub; "listened until I got tired of". This is a track that I've already heard so many times that I'm not particularly interested in it any longer; sorry, this would have been a high scoring song once upon a time, but that time was.... well over a decade ago to be honest.)

I feel like I should have this song higher up due to its high quality and personal significance, but honestly, I'm just so over it that I don't think I actually want to listen to this again? There are definitely some nominations that I've heard a lot of times that I still absolutely love, but this.... already had its time as my favorite song. It's fine and I'll always kinda like it, but I fear there's nothing left in it here for me.

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-I think this one will also be controversial-

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#360: The Greatest Showman | From Now On (5:50)
https://youtu.be/iW2FUY3N-n0?si=wkMPwZXmq13xvUiM
Nominator: @redrocket [14 songs remaining]
Character: P.T. Barnum

Initial Score: 55.00
Final Score: 55.90

(First Reaction: I've never watched this, but there's enough talent involved that I've always been mildly curious about it. And this song is... fine. Perhaps the Ur Example this topic of the "kinda like" tier.

I kinda like Hugh Jackman's voice.

I kinda like the lovey-dovey lyrics.

I kinda like how it starts off slow and builds up energy as he regains hope.

I just kinda like everything here. Not wild about it, but I do kinda like it. Currently putting it exactly at 55 points as it seems the perfect candidate to introduce that tier.)

I really do kinda like this. The final part of the song can get a bit repetitive, but I do kinda like it.

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-the elimination may not be controversial, but my distaste for SOAD probably is-

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#359: Nekrogoblikon | Chop Suey! (3:34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwIwT7TxPuI

Nominator: Murphiroth [4 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 55.23
Final Score: 56.15

(First Reactions: It's no Darkness, but it's not bad. It feels very disjointed though, which I'm sure is intentional, but it makes the song rather hard to get a grip on. Some melodic parts, some techno dance parts, and some extremely drum heavy metal blend together like cherry syrup and gazpacho. Which, you could probably do *worse* than dumping a very sweet syrup onto your ice cold tomato soup, but why did you do it in the first place?

...actually, why do I have the feeling that cherry gazpacho is a thing?

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/cherry-gazpacho

Well, at least it doesn't use cherry syrup. ....I mean, ha, I knew cherry gazpacho was a thing all along! Yes, I was making a very coherent metaphor about how this is composed of things that seem like they don't go together, but actually do, even though I personally don't like the combination. Yes, I definitely knew what I was talking about this whole time. *coughs*

...wait, this is a cover of a System Of A Down song? ....Well, the goblins did it better. Significantly better, I really do not like the SOAD version of this song. I'm tempted to add a few more points to the nominated song just because I have some new found appreciation for it... but the drums are still a bit too heavy for me in places and there aren't any lyrics I'm really attached to, so I'm going to keep this at the "kinda like" tier to start with.)

The melodic parts are fine, but I suspect I'd prefer another original song from the band rather than cover songs like this. It's neat that its so much better than the original, but a decent cover of a song that I strongly dislike is unlikely to be one of my favorites.

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And now in order to keep the topic moving, I'm going to take advantage of the "all rankings are placeholders" clause. The next several drops aren't going to be numbered because I'm hitting some terrible decision paralysis. I'm going to start listening to everything with less than 58 points and then either:

A: Give them somewhere between 56.16 to 57.99 points and eliminate them immediately.

B: Give them a placeholder value of 58 points, placing them in the "58 Nebula", a separate mini-tier for everything that I don't want to cut early on in this tier but don't actually want to move all the way to the next tier just yet. (These songs will be revisited after everything below the 58 Nebula have been culled to get actual scores)

C: Stop being stubborn and accept that some of these songs aren't even going to be cut during the 58 Nebula, skipping them up to the next tier.

Don't know how many songs will be culled before we hit 58, but ranking placements will officially be ??? until this phase of culling is complete. It's very "I know these songs are being cut in some order, but I won't know what that order is until it's finished". Such is the peril of doing the ranking completely live like this.