Board 8 > Rank the Tracks Week 36: The Avalanches' Since I Left You (+ Speak Now results)

(+) Yeah! (+)

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, November 14 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 a user cycle for after we finish the queue; once we get through the last planned album, 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).

The Avalanches' Since I Left You track list:
1. Since I Left You
2. Stay Another Season
3. Radio
4. Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
5. Avalanche Rock
6. Flight Tonight
7. Close To You
8. Diners Only
9. A Different Feeling
10. Electricity
11. Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life
12. Pablo's Cruise
13. Frontier Psychiatrist
14. ETOH
15. Summer Crane
16. Little Journey
17. Live at Dominoes
18. Extra Kings

Schedule:
11/14: Moby - Play (SpikeSetsFire)
11/21: Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill (Seginustemple)

User Cycle sign-ups:
11/28: MetalmindStats
12/5: TheArkOfTurus
12/12: Snake5555555555
12/19: Jesse_Custer
12/26: ZaziGuado
1/2: SpikeSetsFire
1/9: Johnbobb
1/16: VeryInsane
1/23: CasanovaZelos
1/30: Seanchan
2/6: Giggsalot
2/13: RyoCaliente
2/20: darkx
2/27: neonreaper
3/6: Great_Paul
3/13: jcgamer107
3/20: ChichiriMuyo
3/27: ChainLTTP
4/3: BlueCrystalTear

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Taylor Swift's Speak Now results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
BlueCrystalTear (36)
SpikeSetsFire (38)
Underleveled (42)
Johnbobb (44)
Raetsel_Lapin (44)
Jakyl25 (50)
MetalmindStats (52)
CasanovaZelos (58)
Seanchan (62)
ScepterOfLove (64)
Snake5555555555 (68)

General Album Comments

Snake5555555555: My second favorite album of all time!

Seanchan: Just did a first listen.

I've heard Taylor Swift songs before. I don't live in a cave, and she's an award winning and popular artist that's had many radio hits. But I went into this with low expectations as I've been fairly neutral on her songs and didn't think she's appeal to me on an album basis.

Which is a long preamble to say that this FAR exceeded my expectations!

Obviously the focus here is more on the storytelling and lyrics than anything else. So I was a little worried because I'm definitely not a "lyrics first" kind of listener. But I found myself enjoying this much more than I expected.

In particular, Never Grow Up just hit me right in the feels and genuinely caught me off guard.

Looking forward to extra listens and seeing how my thoughts evolve.

Johnbobb: This might be my least favorite album of the group so far. Taylor Swift might be an infinitely better singer than Ben Folds, but at least he tried something halfway interesting. I wasn't particularly excited to listen to a Taylor Swift album, and was distinctly less compelled upon realizing this was an album back from when Swift was still primarily country over pop. I can't really say there were any songs on this album I particularly liked, but there were definitely a handful I disliked, particularly those that focused on tearing down other women to win the favor of a man. Beyond that, pretty much every song on this album is focused on either a song about being in love with someone or a song about a breakup. This is a long album with frustratingly little to say. While I'm not the biggest fan of Swift's modern music, I can say that I have a lot more appreciation for it now compared to what it used to be.

BlueCrystalTear: This still is my favorite T-Swift album. One, she wrote every song by herself (except for one bonus track that was a co-write). Two, she was 21 y/o then - at a bridge between teenage angst and adulthood, a time where her life experience was evolving alongside her songwriting. Three, it meshes all kinds of influences, so many people can find something they like - all while maintaining enough consistency to feel like a complete whole. And lastly, it's so personable, with the right mixture of cute, fun, dark, light, whatever. This album has it all.

Because of this, I believe it deserves recognition as an enduring masterpiece. Part of that is nostalgia for when I spun this one a thousand times when cramming back in college. I really, really like every song except for the last two, so ranking this is... brutal. I've changed this around too many times to count. I *think* I am happy with this for now but may still change my mind tomorrow.

CasanovaZelos: This hits me as mid-tier Swift, better than Reputation and Lover, but easily outdone by Red, 1989, Folklore, and Evermore. Definitely preferred the first half and could have easily loved it as a whole if a bit shorter - I really feel like there needs to be justification for an album going over an hour.

ScepterOfLove: Hey, cool. I definitely never expected to rank a Taylor Swift album on this board so I'm going to throw my list in here. Taylor is one of me all time favorite artists and this was the first album of hers that really drew me in. To address the valid criticism of it in this topic, I agree some songs on this album are absolutely written young and less mature, but maybe that's why it works for me - Taylor was 19-20 when she wrote it and I first heard it in high school, so it arrived at the perfect time in my life.

Seanchan: Coming in with low expectations, those were duly exceeded. While in the grand scheme of these Rankings this is a middling album for me, it is still very listenable. Going to have to add Taylor Swift onto my list of artists I should investigate more of their catalog...

Underleveled: God damn this was hard. And here I am thinking I could potentially rank her entire catalogue one of these days...

My evaluation of her songs is constantly changing depending on my life phases and even mood, so this could vary drastically next year.

MetalmindStats: I wanted to persist with Speak Now because of Snake's affection for it, but I ultimately don't feel I quite made enough time to fully judge it. However, I can say that I'm not really interested in giving it a third chance to win me over as a whole (notwithstanding certain individual songs). While Speak Now's often single-minded focus on Taylor Swift's singing and songwriting strikes me as a smart choice, the degree of its resulting emphasis on heterosexual romance largely distances me.

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Speak Now track ranking

14. Speak Now (Track #4)
Score: 55 (Average Rank: 10/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555 (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, Raetsel_Lapin (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: A witty criticism of a Bridezilla, as told through a dream where she actually steals him from her. If only, right? A lot of fun.

13. Last Kiss (Track #13)
Score: 58 (Average Rank: 9.82/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Underleveled (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): BlueCrystalTear, SpikeSetsFire (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: It's pretty sleep-inducing because of its length. If it had been two minutes shorter, it'd be seven spots higher.

12. Long Live (Track #14)
Score: 66 (Average Rank: 9.09/14)
Biggest Fan(s): ScepterOfLove (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): BlueCrystalTear, Underleveled (#13)

BlueCrystalTear: Perhaps it's just that it follows Last Kiss, but this one has never done anything for me.

11. Sparks Fly (Track #2)
Score: 71 (Average Rank: 8.64/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Underleveled (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: This song is sunny and cute but it doesn't resonate with me as well as others, and I think the verses are too specific to her. It's still pretty great and the chorus is catchy, at least.

10. Better Than Revenge (Track #10)
Score: 73 (Average Rank: 8.73/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555, SpikeSetsFire (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Jakyl25 (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: You can just picture her taking it out on the microphone as she's singing this. Very clear message: Do NOT want to piss Taylor off. This also has hints of Paramore. Feels wrong to put it this low, but that's a great album for you.

9. Haunted (Track #12)
Score: 83 (Average Rank: 7.45/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb, BlueCrystalTear (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): ScepterOfLove, SpikeSetsFire (#13)

BlueCrystalTear: This is musically epic like an Evanescence song. Unclear if it's about a phenomenal one-night stand that ended prematurely or a relationship that soured - but either way, as the title indicates, he ghosted her. Ambiguity helps here.

8. Enchanted (Track #9)
Score: 91 (Average Rank: 7.09/14)
Biggest Fan(s): ScepterOfLove (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Underleveled (#12)

BlueCrystalTear: As the name would imply, this is a Disney ballad. Disney ballads are awesome, and while this one lacks some of the same punch... it's still pretty cool. Apparently it's about a random NPC she met in NYC one time that thus inspired the song. Along with the word "wonderstruck."

7. Mean (Track #6)
Score: 93 (Average Rank: 7.09/14)
Biggest Fan(s): CasanovaZelos (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: How calling a bitter critic of hers an asshole can be so adorable, I will never know. It's one of her only truly "country" songs - one a lot of Twitter thugs really need to give another listen.

6. Never Grow Up (Track #8)
Score: 94 (Average Rank: 7.36/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, Seanchan (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Snake5555555555 (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: This song did even more for me back when I was younger. I wish I could be young and carefree again. At least, in part because of this song telling me I should (and me agreeing), I do remember my childhood room and what it sounded like when my dad got home. Thanks, Taylor.

5. Dear John (Track #5)
Score: 102 (Average Rank: 6.36/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: John Mayer is a jackass and he deserved this very pointed evisceration - all while Taylor admits her own faults. Great lines include "I lived in your chess game, but you changed the rules every day" and "I took your matches before fire could catch me." She also imitates some of his music from the era... in a song that rakes him over the coals. Beautiful.

4. Back to December (Track #3)
Score: 102 (Average Rank: 6.09/14)
Biggest Fan(s): CasanovaZelos, Jakyl25 (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Underleveled (#11)

BlueCrystalTear: A beautiful apology to one's ex, and a lot of people can rue things that they did wrong. The song doesn't mention that the guy she was singing about was a werewolf, though.

3. Innocent (Track #11)
Score: 104 (Average Rank: 6.64/14)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear, MetalmindStats (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): CasanovaZelos, ScepterOfLove (#14)

BlueCrystalTear: Instead of taking Kanye to the cleaners for his infamous drunken interruption of her award speech, she took pity on him and forgave him. It's brilliant. The best part is that it's not so specifically about him, so anyone can relate. This is one of the best songs she's ever written.

2. Mine (Track #1)
Score: 113 (Average Rank: 5.73/14)
Biggest Fan(s): ScepterOfLove, Jakyl25 (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#12)

BlueCrystalTear: It's great classic T-Swift. The basic teenage love story. An opener in vein with Fearless.

1. The Story of Us (Track #7)
Score: 127 (Average Rank: 4.91/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555, SpikeSetsFire, Underleveled (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): ScepterOfLove (#12)

BlueCrystalTear: It's like Paramore's Misery Business meets Shania Twain, and it's awesome.

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I know this might be asking too much, but I was hoping we'd get a little more background on the nominations and/or why the user decided upon their choices.

As someone without the broad background in music I'm looking at those 3 and, I'm thinking....all 3 are 80s albums?

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Be being lowest for Enchanted is pretty crazy considering... I actually do really like the song! In retrospect I might have underranked it.

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This might just be the hardest album for this topic series to cover, but this is actually a strength of Since I Left You as a whole. This is a sonic simulation of drifting between stations, a blur of different moods and ambience. The definitive tracks here are the title track and "Frontier Psychiatrist," which showcase the two extremes of the album. For those who don't know, this is a 'plunderphonics' record, meaning it consists entirely of samples. "Since I Left You" passes perfectly as a singular piece despite its disparate origins. Meanwhile, The Avalanches intentionally show their hand with "Frontier Psychiatrist," cycling through a hundred stray vocal quips while maintaining an impressive musicality. Few albums have ever felt this singular, made all the more impressive by its variety of sources.

My ranking:
Frontier Psychiatrist (#548 all-time)
Since I Left You (#532)
Radio
Live at Dominoes
Electricity
Flight Tonight
Summer Crane
Close to You
Stay Another Season
Extra Kings
ETOH
Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
Little Journey
Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life
A Different Feeling
Diners Only
Pablo's Cruise
Avalanche Rock

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As for the poll, She's So Unusual easily got my vote - the other two are also great, but She's So Unusual is in the running for my favorite pop album ever (while Tears for Fears and Prince both have better albums, in my opinion). I don't know how I would sell the three, but maybe giving a taste of their (arguably) most iconic song might help people decide.

Tears for Fears - Mad World:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZvPSpLxCg

Prince - Raspberry Beret:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7vRSu_wsNc

Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

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Yes, that's helpful. Based on that, my choice would be simple because I do not like 2 of those 3 songs. But I'm open, so I'm going to hold off on voting a bit to see if MetalmindStats wants to "sell" his choices a bit.

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easily voting for The Hurting (even if Songs from the Big Chair is better)

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The Avalanches - Since I Left You

This was my nomination. I feel like I should talk about it a little...
This album is widely regarded as being an All-Time Top 10 Australian album in many rankings.

The Avalanches consist of some DJs and Producers from Melbourne, Australia.
(That's my hometown, by the way. Woo! Go Melbourne!)
As CasanovaZelos mentioned, this album contains over 3,000 samples from songs, movies and TV shows...
Conceptually, nothing like this had ever happened before.

There is no gap between each track, so every song flows seamlessly together.
Get ready for an hour of pure exhilarating escapism.

If you're further interested and curious just what the fuck is happening here...
Someone has put together an extraordinary video on YouTube that shows where all the samples came from.
It really puts into perspective the sheer magnitude of how insane this album is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFEZiMyfSYI

I know it's going to be very hard to rank, but I hope you guys enjoy it.

My Ranking:
1. Frontier Psychiatrist
2. Live at Dominoes
3. A Different Feeling
4. Electricity
5. Radio
6. Since I Left You
7. Etoh
8. Close to You
9. Stay Another Season
10. Extra Kings
11. Summer Crane
12. Diners Only
13. Little Journey
14, Flight Tonight
15. Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
16. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life
17. Pablo's Cruise
18. Avalanche Rock


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SpikeSetsFire posted...

Conceptually, nothing like this had ever happened before.

I wouldn't go that far - DJ Shadow's Endtroducing... does something similar with even more samples a few years earlier, and I would give it the edge.

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I really hope I can rank this album this week, seems so cool.

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Also The Story of Us #1, people know what's up!

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Seanchan posted...

I know this might be asking too much, but I was hoping we'd get a little more background on the nominations and/or why the user decided upon their choices.

Sure, I can say a few things about why I chose these three albums specifically. First off, I should mention that albums aren't my usual music consumption medium, and they especially weren't before I started participating in Rank the Tracks. I am quite a casual music fan, if that didn't make it obvious.

Seanchan posted...

As someone without the broad background in music I'm looking at those 3 and, I'm thinking....all 3 are 80s albums?

All broadly in the decade's pop-oriented mainstream, at that, and it's by design. The 80s are certainly my favorite decade for music (plus, I feel they're underrepresented in our choices to date), and I'm fond of many of the chart-toppers in particular, in part because I grew up listening to them.

With that background out of the way,

• The Hurting: My first choice was always going to be from Tears for Fears, as they are easily my favorite music artist. I originally planned to have Songs from the Big Chair in this place, only to change my mind for a few reasons: 1) I personally prefer The Hurting, 2) it felt more appropriate to start with Tears for Fears' debut, and most importantly, 3) I expected a lot of familiarity with Songs from the Big Chair's hit singles in particular, and a lot of "pretty good"-type opinions about it, whereas I figured people are not so likely to already know The Hurting and its darker tone.
• Around the World in a Day: Certainly my favorite Prince album, and the more I listen to it, the more conviction I have in my opinion that its style differences render it wildly underappreciated among Prince's discography. Also, I figured either 1999 or Purple Rain would win pretty easily in its place.
• She's So Unusual: I think it's an ideal exemplar of straightforward 80s pop, highs and lows and all - which isn't to say that it all sounds the same by any stretch. And maybe more importantly, I'm not sure any non-Tears for Fears album has resonated with me personally to a greater degree.

Unfortunately, I don't really feel equipped to give background more generalized than my own perspectives due to the nature of my music experience.

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MetalmindStats posted...

Sure, I can say a few things about why I chose these three albums specifically. First off, I should mention that albums aren't my usual music consumption medium, and they especially weren't before I started participating in Rank the Tracks. I am quite a casual music fan, if that didn't make it obvious.

MetalmindStats posted...

Unfortunately, I don't really feel equipped to give background more generalized than my own perspectives due to the nature of my music experience.

What you provided is perfect. I'm not expecting or wanting anyone to be a music historian. Having more insight into the personal connection and why you decided to nominate makes things more interesting, at least to me. Certainly it has changed the direction of how I voted.


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...and tighten your buttocks, pour juice on your chin...

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Did a first listen to Since I Left You.

My reaction was pretty mixed. There were certainly a few "tracks" that stood out but it's definitely more of an album experience. I wasn't loving it but I wasn't hating it.

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MetalmindStats posted...

I'm not sure any non-Tears for Fears album has resonated with me personally to a greater degree.

Non-VGM, I should add, as certain albums of video game music have also impacted me more. I guess I don't internally think of VGM as being in the same category as music not made to accompany another artistic medium.

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My own first listen of Since I Left You has already shown me it's easy to zone out to as a whole - and not so easy to evaluate individually, but I'm far from the first to feel it's by design rather than a downside.

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bump

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Up

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Is Dexter ill today?

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Not sure if Im going to do this one. I like the album, but felt like I was just arbitrarily ranking most of the tracks when I gave it a try.

Also, the video for Frontier Psychiatrist (which would be my #1 if I rank this album) is wonderfully bizarre and always fun to watch.

Hey yo, Frontier Psychiatrist.
I havn't heard that jam in a decade lawl

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bump

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oh shit this is where Frontier Psychiatrist comes from?

man I would've been looking forward to this one way more had I realized that

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up

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bump

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2 rankings and it's already Friday.
My bad! I promise to give you all three good options when its my turn to pick!


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That's happened a few times lately but we've still managed to get 8-12 by the end.

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Hopefully! I really wanna hear other people's thoughts on this album.


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1: Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
2: Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life
3: Extra Kings
4: Frontier Psychiatrist
5: Electricity
6: A Different Feeling
7: Pablo's Cruise
8: Diners Only
9: Summer Crane
10: Stay Another Season
11: Close To You
12: Live At Dominoes
13: Little Journey
14: Since I Left You
15: Radio
16: ETOH
17: Flight Tonight
18: Avalanche Rock
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bump

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up

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Final day

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Up

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1. Live at Dominoes
2. A Different Feeling
3. Electricity
4. Radio
5. Close To You
6. Frontier Psychiatrist
7. Stay Another Season
8. Since I Left You
9. Extra Kings
10. ETOH
11. Flight Tonight
12. Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
13. Little Journey
14. Diners Only
15. Summer Crane
16. Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life
17. Avalanche Rock
18. Pablo's Cruise

I didn't much care for this album. I found large swaths of it to be kind of boring and/or far too repetitive. Doing the ranking actually wasn't as difficult as I expected but after the first 3-4 songs my enjoyment started dropping off quick. I'm not very likely to want to listen to this again.

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oh shit I should do this


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1. Radio
2. Frontier Psychiatrist
3. Flight Tonight
4. Since I Left You
5. A Different Feeling
6. Live at Dominoes
7. Electricity
8. Extra Kings
9. Pablo's Cruise
10. Stay Another Season
11. ETOH
12. Close to You
13. Little Journey
14. Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
15. Summer Crane
16. Avalanche Rock
17. Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life
18. Diners Only

I think the recursiveness of Since I Left You's sampling unveiling itself on repeat listens is ultimately the reason it worked for me as a cohesive album, rather than merely as a one-time novelty. However, that also contributed to my track-comparing approach of ranking songs against each other largely on impulse each listen, then averaging the three sets of results.

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1. Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life
2. Frontier Psychiatrist
3. Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
4. Live at Dominoes
5. Electricity
6. Since I Left You
7. Little Journey
8. Summer Crane
9. A Different Feeling
10. ETOH
11. Extra Kings
12. Close to You
13. Pablo's Cruise
14. Radio
15. Stay Another Season
16. Flight Tonight
17. Avalanche Rock
18. Diners Only

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Thanks for ranking, peoples! <3


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