LogFAQs > #970926205

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#250: Mariko Takahashi - Until the End of the Festival (4:21)
https://youtu.be/72d-pTfaHPs

Nominator: Snake [10/32 Remaining]

Initial Score: 58.48
Revised Score: 70.07
Final Score: 70.07

(First Reaction: A rather nice 80's j-pop ballad. I don't have any real attachment to the song or lyrics, but it's pretty and I enjoy listening to it.)

!The tender romantic lyrics aren't the most original, but they're oddly working for me tonight. I actually kinda really like this at the moment... enough to go ahead and leap this up two tiers.

[Final Thoughts: "Close your eyes and touch me" is so... basic, yet tender that I am rather strongly drawn towards this song.]

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-there's always a sense of whiplash when we transition to one of ETID's songs, but the shift from tender and romantic to our final song of the day feels especially jarring-

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#249: Every Time I Die - AWOL (2:10):
https://open.spotify.com/track/0zE0NaTrsqnsMvD0EMajLL?si=3ee8cd548d634571

Nominator: Bane [11*/38 Remaining]

Initial Score: 50.50
Revised Score: 58,13
Final Score: 58.13 [Upgraded to 60.00] [Upgraded to 65.131] [Upgraded to 68.131] [Upgraded to 70.0075] [Upgraded to "something"] [Set to 70.074]

(First Reaction: Not bad, but it's currently the weakest track on the album and there are no lyrics or moments that I wish to draw attention to. It's fine, but disappointing in the context of the other songs it must be compared to, and ultimately a bit forgettable as a result.)

This song is definitely a lot better when it's more separated from the rest of the album. It doesn't compare too favorably to the best songs on the album, but it does bring a lot to the table that non-ETID songs don't. Buckley's ability to deliver vocals that are, inexplicably, both clear & harsh at the same time is practically second-to-none and it's impressive that a song described as "dissonant and atonal" can be so.... almost pleasant to listen to? Like when I think of atonal metalcore with harsh lyrics, i think of things that are way harder to enjoy than this song! The fact that it evidentally appeals to both me and the more hardcore fans is, admittedly, pretty impressive.

That being said... I still don't find myself really drawn to many of the lyrics. I almost connect with:

I owe myself an apology
I hope that I mean it

There's a decent amount of pain there, hoping that you can ever forgive yourself, It's... I can almost love aspects of the song, but I never quite get the emotional connection with it that I'm looking for. Still, it's definitely one of the best songs on the 50 point tier and a fair amount better than I thought it was at first.

[Final Thoughts:

Don't just stand there and look at me
Come and give me your trash

I'm not saying that I'm picturing Buckley as a raccoon after that lyric. I'm also not explicitly denying that either.]

[Later: Neo Clump'd.]

[Later: Has this really only been moved up once? I swear this feels like a song I've listened to five or six times by now... moving this up again.]

[Later: ...68 points.]

[Later: A harder song than I usually go for, but I like the lyrics enough that I feel like moving this up another tier.]

[Later: Moving this song aside for a day or two by giving it a null value.]

[Final: This song definitely took a while to get there, but its lyrics eventually propelled it up quite a ways from where it started. It's certainly not the most dramatic increase in points, but it's also nowhere near being the lowest scoring song of the album anymore.]

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