Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 1!! DreamsInPie v GShipPaint, Laby5 v Heavens/, DSHN v SecretOfForest

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ghost Ship Painting
Heavens Divide
"Don't speak her name!"

Dreams in a Pie is cute and relaxing and might work as a lullaby but why sleep at night when you can simply kill hordes of undead to some groovy beats

Forgotten Capital is fine but I don't have strong thoughts about it, so I'll take the cool power ballad

FE epic music has grown on me in general (with the somewhat ironic exception of Id Purpose), and DSHN is a very dynamic and emotional piece. Secret of the Forest is fine but doesn't do much beyond convey a sense or mystique and remind you that you are playing Chrono Trigger

EDIT: making vote clear in match 3. I am very tired because instead of sleeping last night I was killing hordes of undead to some groovy beats

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - Ghost Ship Painting
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan - Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

Ghost Ship Painting
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Secret of the Forest

Dreams in a pie
HEAVENS DIVIDE
Don't speak her name!

Well, this is my first time participating in VGMC, so this should be fun. Dreams in a pie is a fun song. I wouldn't say it's the best song from Napple Tale, but it's still a solid entry. Maaya Sakamoto has a great voice, and this is a perfect song for it. And Chris Mosdell is a fine lyricist as well, and his lyrics complement the instrumental well. Yoko Kanno is a master at string-writing, and she showcases that a bit here throughout. The whimsical effects throughout add to the mood of this piece as well. Great song.

Ghost Ship Painting is definitely not my thing, particularly since I'm very much not a fan of the 90's production style (particularly the percussion and keyboards commonly used then). So yeah, this is an easy vote for Dreams in a pie for me.

Hello, Persona 5 song (because Persona 5 clearly invented the Rhodes keyboard, the fact that EOIV came out before it is irrelevant). I like the cello and flute in this one. Pretty chill track as a whole. Not bad, but certainly not a favorite of mine.

Heavens Divide isn't Snake Eater or Calling to the Night, but Donna Burke does a nice job on the vocals here. Strings and the acoustic guitar are quite nice as well. Not quite as easy vote on this one, but Heavens Divide gets the edge.

Don't speak her name! is easily my favorite Fire Emblem track in general. I'm a major sucker for piano, and this piece has some amazing piano. Strong melody, great instrumentation, just an all-around fantastic song. The most impressive thing about Don't speak her name! is that apart from four recorded violins, this song is entirely sampled. This is like a gold standard in sampling, it's that impressive. A shame it's up against another one of my favorites though, and the Fire Emblem hate seems to be strong here, presumably due to Id~purpose's history here (at least partially).

Secret of the Forest is certainly my favorite Chrono Trigger track, although the soundtrack is definitely far from my favorite by Mitsuda. The bassline and hand percussion samples really make this track for me. This is also a nice introduction to the Mitsuda lick. Great song, albeit a bit on the short end. Hard to beat Don't speak her name! for me though. Pretty sad that this is a day one matchup.

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Dreams in a Pie - 8 - Light and magical, this sounds like something i'd hear when entering a holy land of pure happiness. It gets stuck in my head pretty easily. I like when the background voices harmonize and repeat along with the main vocals.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - Ghost Ship Painting - 6 - Like a techno jungle. This track has a lot of layered elements that all blend together in an interesting way. The synths and electronic like beats are my favorite, but the song lacks a good hook overall.

Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital - 6.5 - A quiet jazz track that propels me forth through some sinister dungeon. The melodramatic piano notes are probably my favorite part. The trumpet swells are also nice.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Heavens Divide - 7 - MGS songs like this are always emotional. The powerful vocals with the orchestra and high piano notes really dive into the soul. The melodic progression is pretty appealing too.

Fire Emblem Awakening - "Don't speak her name!" - 4.5 - Fire emblem music and grand orchestra typically isnt my liking. This sounds like something playing at an important crossroads or maybe in the midst of a royal battle. There's nothing much wrong with it, but it's not interesting to me. The trumpets and piano that break up the music a third of the way in are my favorite part

Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest - 7 - The piano melody at the start is my favorite. it's fast but it conveys a sense of calmness that caries through the track accentuated by the other instrumentation like the slow drums. Overall it all combines together to whisk me away to a lively but serene magical forest.

Oh hey it started. I managed to go through and fill out favorites brackets for the whole contest, which, given my method of ranking/rating songs, means I have effectively ranked all 256 songs in the contest. I won't be posting the whole ranking because I dislike talking about music I don't like. Instead I'm going to have an OVERALL TOP 50, which I'll reveal gradually over the course of round 1. Exciting! I'm excited???

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
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5. ???
6. Dreams in a Pie
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. ???
11. ???
12. ???
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25. ???
26. ???
27. ???
28. ???
29. ???
30. ???
31. ???
32. ???
33. ???
34. ???
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48. ???
49. ???
50. ???

I absolutely adore this song. It's very ethereal and dreamy (hence the name), and the lyrics are full of delicious wordplay. I was so excited when this finally got in last year, only to get a bad r1 matchup. Surely the same thing won't happen again this year...?!?!?

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Votes:
Dreams in a Pie
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
"Don't speak her name!"

Ghost Ship Painting
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Secret of the Forest

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Dreams in a Pie (9.6 - 3rd place) / Ghost Ship Painting (7.8 - 40th place)
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital ( 8.3 - 21st place) / Heavens Divide (8.6^ - 33rd place)
"Don't speak her name!" (7.9^ - 39th place) / Secret of the Forest (8.4 - 19th plce)

Great music today! My rankings are based on Bracket A only. Also, my rating standards have been adjusted a bit... what used to be a 9.2 is now a 9.0 and what used to be an 8.4 is an 8.0. ^ indicates that I would revise the rating higher.

Dreams in a Pie won the bracket in my favorites bracket (oops). But it's still in my top 100 vgm! What a moving piece of music. I can't get enough of the sets of two within (3+3)/4.

Dreams is good stuff. Might be my favorite Yoko Kanno that was nominated? GSP doesn't really have much going on. It's not bad, but it's not a particularly interesting CV rep.

LV is kinda boring for an EO song. Don't much like the sound design. HD sucks, too. whoops.

For a while I liked DSHN more every year. Don't think that's true anymore, but it's still good. Secret of the Forest isn't one of my favorites from CT. I like the chime-y parts the best.

Dreams in a Pie
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
"Don't speak her name!"

Dreams in a Pie > "Don't speak her name!" > Secret of the Forest > Ghost Ship Painting > Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital > Heavens Divide

Ghost Ship Painting
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Dreams in a Pie
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Heavens Divide
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

Dreams in a Pie
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Secret of the Forest

6.1 - Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Dreams in a Pie
6.0 - Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - Ghost Ship Painting
7.6 - Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan - Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
7.6 - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Heavens Divide
7.8 - Fire Emblem Awakening - "Don't speak her name!"
7.5 - Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

Match 2 was rooough man, lol. Took a lot of deciding, though of course the other two are close as well.

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Ghost Ship Painting
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

I love After Burner

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Match 1 is kinda tough. I've been humming Ghost Ship Painting to myself.

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Dreams in a Pie
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan - Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Secret of the Forest

very much echoing skull's thoughts (but lacking the wherewithal to overcome that and decide on a vote :p)

Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream - Dreams in a Pie
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan - Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

MATCH 1

Dreams in a Pie is a soft, pleasant song. Not my favorite example of this kind of song, but it's nice to listen to. 0:44-0:54 is probably my favorite part. I just feel a slightly stronger attachment to the melody there.

In general, I don't feel too strongly about Ghost Ship Painting. Melodically, it's not very interesting for the most part. 0:53-1:07 is super cool though and makes this match a lot closer than it otherwise would be. That pulsating rhythm really gets me into that part, and I wish the rest of the song gave me this feeling too.

MATCH 2

Similar to Dreams in a Pie, Labyrinth V is a nice song to listen to, even if it doesn't stand out a whole lot to me. Not a whole lot to say here.

I can appreciate the big, dramatic sound of Heavens Divide. I'm not very hooked on the melody though, so I don't find myself too interested in this song. There are a few specific parts at 1:19 and 2:49 where Donna Burke says "when heavens divide" that I like a bit more than the rest of the song, but those are the only real standouts to me. Pretty close match.

MATCH 3

While it isn't my favorite Fire Emblem song, Don't Speak Her Name is a lot closer to what I want out of that "big, dramatic sound" type of song than something like Heavens Divide. I doubt this has changed much from the last time I heard this song in a contest, but my favorite part is 1:57-2:36.

Secret of the Forest is such a cool song! I really like how all the distinct melodic parts of this song come together starting from that first 4-note arpeggio to create this almost otherworldly feeling. Definitely up there in my favorite Chrono Trigger songs that I've listened to.

Secret of the Forest > "Don't speak her name!" > Dreams in a Pie > Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital > Heavens Divide > Ghost Ship Painting

Bottom three songs are pretty close.

Dreams in a Pie
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Secret of the Forest

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - Ghost Ship Painting
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan - Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
Chrono Trigger - Secret of the Forest

second match has better songs than the other two

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
Secret of the Forest

okay. I used to try to do writeups for each track in the first round. these old typing fingers don't have the energy they once did! so I decided to take a page from p0's book (thank you for the idea, p0)-- I'll dig into one track each day, one that I have something (hopefully) interesting to say about. I might make some brief remarks about a few other tracks as well. I (#4) dunno. let's just see how it goes.

re: Heavens Divide
b1 or b2

Even as I was adding this track to the first guessing game I ever made, I was a little bemused-- did I really like this track that much? Yeah. Yeah, I do. Songs in this style can backfire with me, but the key change (do I even need to put a timestamp here? everyone knows what I mean) at 1:49 hits me. It's melodramatic but I really feel its emotional heft. It's a total bust-it-out karaoke moment. The bridge is also a lot of fun-- I WILL DIVE INTO THE FIRE. It doesn't back down! It just keeps pushing the same feeling harder. This is a song that goes all out, and I find that really endearing. It's not Snake Eater, which delivers its Bond homage with a wink and a smirk. It's very earnest about its intentions, and it wins me over.

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
"Don't speak her name!"

"Don't speak her name!" = Heavens Divide Secret of the Forest > Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital >> Dreams in a Pie > Ghost Ship Painting

Dreams in a Pie
Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital
"Don't speak her name!"

---
Time for another VGMC! I'll be ranking songs on my own personal scale this time to start off this contest. We'll see how things go from here on out!

Dreams in a Pie [9]
Ghost Ship Painting [8.5]

God, this first matchup hurts more than I thought. I'm sorry Castlevania, but it's very hard to fight against the hard-hitting duo of Yoko Kanno and Maaya Sakamoto. Almost unfair, even.

Forgotten Capital [8.4]
Heavens Divide [8.2]

Forgotten Capital isn't my favorite dungeon theme from the game, but it is a great choice for the final story dungeon; the layers of melancholy set the perfect stage for what's waiting for you at the end, and the feeling of anticipation this creates is nothing short of deserving.
I generally like ballads, which means I like Heavens Divide just fine, although I'd probably go for other vocal tracks from MGS if they were present.

"Don't speak her name!" [8.7]
Secret of the Forest [8.3]

Mid/upper-mid-tier song from a classic Mitsuda soundtrack vs. a song burned into my memory from one of the more emotional moments of playing Awakening. I didn't think it at first, but I guess the winner is clear here.

Dreams in a Pie
Heavens Divide
"Don't speak her name!"

Oops. Heaven's Divide is not 33rd place. It was 33rd place, but I revised the score after the fact... oops. It is 14th place! I've started using the rank function so that it updates automatically if I change a rating...