Board 8 > Rank the Tracks Week 83: Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Satanic Verses (+Backsteet Boys)

(+) 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, October 9 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 the user cycle (a new user will be added to the end of the current cycle as long as there are four weeks remaining) - 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).
7c. I have added a tiered vote structure - the least popular album will be removed and its backup votes distributed to the other two entrants.
8. Starting with the next cycle, every four weeks will be a competitive week where those listed choose a single album to face off against others.

Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses track list:
1. Prelude 3.0
2. The Blister Exists
3. Three Nil
4. Duality
5. Opium of the People
6. Circle
7. Welcome
8. Vermilion
9. Pulse of the Maggots
10. Before I Forget
11. Vermilion Pt. 2
12. The Nameless
13. The Virus of Life
14. Danger - Keep Away

Current Cycle:
10/09: VeryInsane (Nas - Illmatic)
10/16: FoolFantastic (black midi - Hellfire)
10/23: Seanchan
10/30: Giggsalot
11/06: RyoCaliente
11/13: darkx
11/20: neonreaper
11/27: Great_Paul
12/04: jcgamer107
12/11: ChichiriMuyo
12/18: BlueCrystalTear

Future cycle (dates subject to change if anyone new signs up before 11/27):
12/25: MetalmindStats
1/1: HBJDubs
1/8: Raetsel_Lapin
1/15: BlueCrystalTear/darkx/neonreaper
1/22: Steiner
1/29: Snake5555555555
2/5: Jesse_Custer
2/12: RyoCaliente/VeryInsane/FoolFantastic
2/19: ZaziGuado
2/26: firefdr
3/4: Johnbobb
3/11: Steiner/ChichiriMuyo/Great_Paul
3/18: VeryInsane
3/25: FoolFantastic
4/1: Seanchan
4/8: Johnbobb/ZaziGuado/jcgamer107
4/15: Giggsalot
4/22: RyoCaliente
4/29: darkx
5/6: Snake5555555555/Raetsel_Lapin/Seanchan
5/13: neonreaper
5/20: Great_Paul
5/27: jcgamer107
6/3: Giggsalot/MetalmindStats/Jesse_Custer
6/10: ChichiriMuyo
6/17: BlueCrystalTear
6/24: HBJDubs/firefdr

Backstreet Boys - Millennium results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
Seanchan (10)
firefdr (16)
HBJDubs (16)
ZaziGuado (18)
Johnbobb (20)
FoolFantastic (22)
BlueCrystalTear (30)
VeryInsane (32)
ChichiriMuyo (34)
MetalmindStats (36)
neonreaper (36)
Raetsel_Lapin (38)

General Album Comments

Raetsel_Lapin: I like this album a fair amount, though I have nothing particularly interesting to say about it. I at least care enough to be on record liking it, which is something?

Seanchan: This album is closing in on 25 years old!!! As if I needed another indicator of my increasing slide into middle age.

It's amusing to me how we can unironically (at least I think the nom was unironic?) cover an album like Millennium or Spice. Could you ever imagine our late 20s-late 30s selves EVER wanting to cover stuff like that back during it's time period? You would be a pariah among your friend group.

Millennium is probably the absolute apex of that late 90s boy band / TRL era. The hits from this album were inescapable back in the day. Especially if you're someone like me who had sisters who were directly in the Backstreet Boys demographic. So I've heard this album before, though I didn't remember much other than those initial few songs.

My impressions? This is okay. The more upbeat singles are catchy enough but most of the slower, more ballad-like songs weren't doing much for me.

After that first listen I went back to listen to their self titled debut. I realized that THAT was the Backstreet Boys album I was more familiar with (again, SISTERS). It's the album that contains Everybody, that one Backstreet Boys song that you were allowed to say "the Backstreet Boys suck but that one's kind of okay".

What's crazy to me is that Backstreet Boys first album was 1996 and it was 3 years before Millennium came out in 1999. Maybe it took time for them to get momentum going, as I don't remember when they had their breakout single. But that seems like a crazy long time to come up with a follow up, even owing for the slower pace of culture back then.

MetalmindStats: ...transparently commercial effort. Maybe you all would have expected me to enjoy it, especially if I hadn't said anything last week, but as of now, I'm not sure I'll bother with my standard three spins. Incidentally, we were tackling Spice at this exact time last year, which I feel is a far better example of designed-to-succeed pop, at least at the moment.

neonreaper: If you told me there was a mockumentary of the Boy Band / teen pop scene and this was the intentionally comical and terrible soundtrack for it, I'd believe it. I took a minute to see what their first album is like, and it's better because they ripped off better material to make it. It's rare that I will put down music that I don't like (these days) and I know BSB is an easy target, but yikes.

Raetsel_Lapin: For what it's worth, I've liked "I Want It That Way" for years now & have always been mildly curious about the album it came from, so I'm glad this album got chosen. It's not a favorite or anything, but it's something I've wanted an excuse to listen to and generally enjoyed my time with, so I'm content.

MetalmindStats: I went back thinking surely I won't find this as bad the second time around, right? - and indeed, it wasnt nearly, though that's perhaps largely by design.

HBJDubs: Could be the nostalgia speaking, but this album definitely shows why the singles were the singles and the rest were not.

FoolFantastic: I don't usually pay attention to producers, but Max Martin really has some insane credits. He wrote seven of the songs here and, surprise, they're the better half. This guy has had 25 #1 hits and feels like a connective thread of popular music since the late 90s - from Britney Spears, NSYNC, and Backstreet Boys through tons of Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd hits. Backstreet Boys are absolutely a manufactured product, but the people doing that manufacturing know what they are doing.

But mainstream pop like this really only works in short bursts and listening through a full album borders on unbearable. But, hey, not my least favorite of the albums we have covered!

Seanchan: It's stunning to me just how un-fun this album is. It's just so many schmaltzy, slow ballads. I know BSB were considered the more "mature" boy band compared to NSYNC but jeez... I had to flip through their first album again, and it's got more upbeat fun songs, as well as the better slow ballads. Still a bunch of filler there too but it would have been a better choice, IMO.

BlueCrystalTear: ...and yeah, I only needed to do one. There are some legitimately good songs here but it gets redundant, and doesn't really offer that deeper appreciation I mentioned. It's just shallow boy band pop that makes the girls go crazy. Some of these try different things - some work, some don't. But there's a reason why I only remembered the first four songs: Only one other was a sweeping ballad that really worked for me.

I like my ballads and all, but this album was too rife with them, and the fact that they're ALL centered on vocal harmonies kind of takes away from the heartstrings being pulled. A lot of great ballads were written by the performers - and someone who's singing their heart out of their chest like that puts more emotion into it. Yeah, the harmonies are great here, but they make some of the songs devoid of emotion, which can't compare to one guy singing about the woman who completes him. Each dude here is thinking of somebody different, and they didn't write these songs for the most part so it's much less personal. Like the closer could've had a lot more impact had the same harmonies not happened eight times earlier on. Why not have a different guy take lead vocals

Johnbobb: yeah even some of the best boy band albums are still like 40% good 60% not so much, but the good stuff is just a joy to listen to. Still in the NSYNC >>>> BSB camp though

Seanchan: Already talked about this one a bit, so my last remarks are that this one is more boring than it is bad.

ZaziGuado: Boy the quality here fell off a cliff fast. The top 4 are head and shoulders above everything else. The One is decent. Everything else is relatively lacking. But damn those top 4 are bangers. Too many ballads, not enough peppy fun stuff.

ChichiriMuyo: This isn't a good album, but I don't hate it as much as I would have when it was new. There are a couple of kinda worthy tracks but even the good ones tend to outlive their welcome. The bad ones - they might as well not exist. They really could have cut this down to a 10-15 minute EP and it would have been better, and considering the rabid fanbase at the time, they still could have sold it at the price of a full album.

Millennium track ranking

12. Spanish Eyes (Track #10)
Score: 36 (Average Rank: 10/12)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper, MetalmindStats (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): firefdr, FoolFantastic, Seanchan (#12)

11. No One Else Comes Close (Track #11)
Score: 48 (Average Rank: 9/12)
Biggest Fan(s): firefdr (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): BlueCrystalTear (#12)

10. I Need You Tonight (Track #5)
Score: 52 (Average Rank: 8.67/12)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper, MetalmindStats, firefdr (#11)

9. The Perfect Fan (Track #12)
Score: 63 (Average Rank: 8.17/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs, Johnbobb (#12)

8. Don't Want You Back (Track #6)
Score: 64 (Average Rank: 7.75/12)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, ZaziGuado (#12)

7. Don't Wanna Lose You Now (Track #7)
Score: 70 (Average Rank: 7.17/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, neonreaper (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): firefdr, ChichiriMuyo (#10)

6. It's Gotta Be You (Track #4)
Score: 90 (Average Rank: 6.08/12)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear, ChichiriMuyo (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats, VeryInsane (#12)

MetalmindStats: It's gotta be a brand-new contender for my least favorite song listened to as part of Rank the Tracks.

VeryInsane: (Probably my least favorite song we've done and it's not close)

ChichiriMuyo: Just plain, dumb, dance fuel. I respect it for what it is.

5. Back to Your Heart (Track #9)
Score: 93 (Average Rank: 5.83/12)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, VeryInsane (#11)

MetalmindStats: An actually pretty chorus stranded in its parent album's typical polish and samey-ness.

ChichiriMuyo: Oof, the cheese. Yet another song I was ready to be done with 2 minutes in.

4. The One (Track #8)
Score: 95 (Average Rank: 5.67/12)
Biggest Fan(s): ChichiriMuyo (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper (#12)

ChichiriMuyo: I actually like this, for two minutes. If they let it end when it should have I would say it's a good song.

3. Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely (Track #3)
Score: 102 (Average Rank: 4.67/12)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, firefdr (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper (#8)

ChichiriMuyo: everything about this, title included, is too long and boring.

2. I Want It That Way (Track #2)
Score: 150 (Average Rank: 2.75/12)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, BlueCrystalTear, VeryInsane, Seanchan (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChichiriMuyo (#12)

neonreaper: Really just makes me think of all the atrocious crude parodies of the song. It's a bad song plagued with even worse memories of unacceptable external bits. Somehow it's the second best thing on the album.

ChichiriMuyo: I wish I could purge this from my memory

1. Larger Than Life (Track #1)
Score: 157 (Average Rank: 2.25/12)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper, HBJDubs, firefdr, Johnbobb, ZaziGuado (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#6)

neonreaper: This is a 3/10 song and it is by far the best song on the album

HBJDubs: I legitimately like this song, like a lot!

Johnbobb: Look, IWITW and Everybody are always the go-to Backstreet hype songs, but for me it's always been Larger Than Life

ChichiriMuyo: Goofy, cheeseball, kiddie such and such. As with most of the album, I'd respect it more if it was a bit shorter.

Seanchan on the album choices this week:

All 3 of my nominations are upbeat pop with disco/funk influences. I like my easy listening toe tappers, and these all fit that bill.

Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure (2020 / 12 songs / ~54 minutes)

That's right, I'm bringing Jessie back again! She probably deservedly lost to Dua Lipa last time but, dammit, this album deserves a 2nd chance! I have continued to come back to and enjoy this album. There's a good amount of variety here, so I think this would be an excellent choice for ranking. I highlighted Spotlight last nomination, so this time I'll go with the title track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWazsCKdlhg

Jamiroquai - A funk odyssey (2001 / 11 songs / ~48 minutes)

I have a great love for a lot of Jamiroquai's output. I could have picked a number of their albums but I'm going with A funk odyssey as it's the one I've come back to the most. I just really enjoy the whole disco/funk vibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfhYrfzQQOI

Kylie Minogue - Fever (1999 / 12 songs / ~46 minutes)

Not sure why it took me so long to "discover" Kylie, when she's done songs with both Jessie Ware and Dua Lipa in the past few years. But also, she's Kylie freakin' Minogue and has had (and continues to have) plenty of disco tinged hits over the last 25 years! Anyway, Fever is her biggest album, and it fits well with the general milieu that I'm going for with my nominations. I'm deliberately NOT going to highlight the biggest single from this album, and instead go with the one that immediately grabbed me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXlp7f5N2B0

Nearly a year ago, Seanchan and I both almost submitted virtually the same week back to back with Dua Lipa and Jessie Ware as the main features. Even if you have not heard of Jessie Ware, if you like any of the modern pop records we've tackled like Jubilee or Future Nostalgia, I highly recommend voting for it. It's one of those rare pop albums where it truly feels like every song could have been a single.

1: Danger - Keep Away
2: Before I Forget
3: Vermilion
4: Vermilion, Pt. 2
5: Prelude 3.0
6: Circle
7: The Virus of Life
8: Duality
9: The Nameless
10: Pulse of the Maggots
11: Opium of the People
12: Three Nil
13: Welcome
14: The Blister Exists

The good news is that since my opinions are typically opposite of everyone else this is probably the frontrunner for winner of the next "Rank the Albums". Not for me, but I suspect a lot of people will be quite happy this week & that's always nice to see.

I'll say I like the idea of this album. There's some variety to the metal here, with a few acoustic tracks thrown in for variety & the type of darkness displayed here is appealing with some neat lyrics.

well, this is the era of slipknot i like best, but i never get on well with a slipknot full album. all the big singles from this album are pretty great though so i might try and give it a shot

Fluttershy_Pony posted...

The good news is that since my opinions are typically opposite of everyone else this is probably the frontrunner for winner of the next "Rank the Albums". Not for me, but I suspect a lot of people will be quite happy this week & that's always nice to see.

Did you forget about me? That said, I don't know if I'll participate in the next one, considering I untagged this last one and never went back to that bullshit.

All I will say about this album is: Nope. Might not even get a full listen from me. Tracks 2 and 3 were terrible.

FoolFantastic posted...

Nearly a year ago, Seanchan and I both almost submitted virtually the same week back to back with Dua Lipa and Jessie Ware as the main features. Even if you have not heard of Jessie Ware, if you like any of the modern pop records we've tackled like Jubilee or Future Nostalgia, I highly recommend voting for it. It's one of those rare pop albums where it truly feels like every song could have been a single.

You have no idea (well Fool does) how disappointed I am by these initial poll results. Whats Your Pleasure is such a cut above the other two.

I had a feeling Kylie could be the spoiler because of name recognition factor. But I have to give honest nominations, so it is what it is.

Seanchan posted...

You have no idea (well Fool does) how disappointed I am by these initial poll results. Whats Your Pleasure is such a cut above the other two.

I had a feeling Kylie could be the spoiler because of name recognition factor. But I have to give honest nominations, so it is what it is.

Yeah...which, Fever is definitely a worthy album to cover here! But What's Your Pleasure is one of a small handful of pop albums I'd consider a true masterpiece.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Did you forget about me?

Not exactly, but you liked the Metallica album well enough and my thoughts on Subliminal Verses & Master of Puppets are about the same. Judging by first reactions, I seem to be the only one finding them equivalent, so... well, I'll just stop pretending I can guess how anyone will respond to anything.

Typo in the topic title but I suppose it's fitting lol

Hyped to finally get this album in. Definitely the most cohesive project Slipknot has put out, with the variety and slight terror themes that put them at their best

Johnbobb posted...

Typo in the topic title but I suppose it's fitting lol

...fuck

FoolFantastic posted...

...fuck

Yeah that devilish typo is why I struggled to find this one to begin with. I'm also enjoying some of the songs later on the album more than the earlier ones. I think this album would've benefited from cutting out a couple songs.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

I think this album would've benefited from cutting out a couple songs.

Haaard disagree

There were just too many songs on here that I just did not like. I'd say it was 8-6. My opinion aligns with Raetsel quite a bit here. My initial rankings don't look too different, either!

Since I actually got through this once, I am gonna give this a second listen. Might skip a few songs again though. I do think cutting two songs for length would've been a good thing. This is an hour long and that's a bit much for me, as I've stated.

I voted for What's Your Pleasure last time and I've even considered nominating it myself, but you put it up against peak Kylie. I can't help but be excited for the chance to rank Fever.

I'm still trying to figure out my thoughts on The Subliminal Verses. I can tell you, I've listened to more Slipknot in the last 2 days than I have in the past 10 years trying to do that.

I was a pretty big on Slipknot back in the day, so this is not my first time experiencing their music.

Their first album has got a lot of catchy songs for being so heavy...at least in the first half of it. There's an almost thrash quality to some of it and lyrically it sometimes feels like you can hear some hip-hop influences. I don't think I was ever a big fan of Iowa. I certainly listened to it a lot and wanted to like it but that doesn't mean much.

My big issue with these two albums today is that there's some seriously awful lyrics and themes. Stuff like Surfacing, Spit It Out, and People=Shit are frankly embarrassing to listen to as a grown ass man. Then you've got something like Get This, a sophomoric song that's awful because it feels so self serious. I'll say that blink-182 suffers from the same thing too at times, but their pop-punk tone does it with a wink and nod.

I think I was a little put off at first by Volume 3 back in the day. There's a distinct shift musically from their first two albums. For one, it's a clean record, which is a nice change that you might not notice at first. Then you've got the softer, going into acoustic, tone on a bunch of songs, which is a radical shift. I know the singer did some side work on Stone Sour in between the 2nd and 3rd albums and maybe it was bringing in some of those elements.

I did listen to All Hope is Gone too but it's my last one before I got off the Slipknot train and I don't have any strong memories of it.

As I've said in past weeks (Toxicity, Hybrid Theory), I'm not a big fan of this style of music anymore. With that said, I can see why I liked them back then. Slipknot has a heavy, aggressive sound that still manages to be pretty melodic. And the singing really meshes well with that sound.

Two listens in this week and Subliminal Verses has grown on me a bit again. I'm not sure how much of that is just playing into my nostalgia. It benefits though from those slower, acoustic songs and the less "growl-y" bits, which make it more accessible and a less exhausting album to listen through. When I think about "iconic" Slipknot, I of course go to those first 5-6 songs on their self titled debut. But this is likely their best album from a modern context.

don't know that I've ever said as much on the board, but Vol. 3 is an album that I've wanted for a long time to see adapted as a musical similarly to American Idiot. It's by far the closest thing to a concept album Slipknot has put out, with recurring themes of desire and domination and introspection interspersed with violent imagery. When I was working in the kitchen listening through it I would visually imagine how scenes might play out, which characters would sing them in which situations, and to this day I still think it has a ton of potential, and I've always wanted to just kinda find a way to write it myself, though I know nothing about how to do that

Seanchan posted...

People=Shit [is] frankly embarrassing to listen to as a grown ass man.

Now see, I'm still in an angsty nonsense mindset, so that track is kinda perfect for me. Judging by that track and My Plague, it seems the Iowa album is *way* more appealing to me than Subliminal Verses.

*Everything Ends begins playing*

Wow, this album is 3/3 for things I like so far (though this track is a bit too repetitive). So I do like this band! Just... not the album that's nominated. I'll have to finish listening to Iowa later, thanks for the suggestion--even though you tecnically weren't suggesting it, I found something I'm into, so hey.

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

Now see, I'm still in an angsty nonsense mindset, so that track is kinda perfect for me. Judging by that track and My Plague, it seems the Iowa album is *way* more appealing to me than Subliminal Verses.

*Everything Ends begins playing*

Wow, this album is 3/3 for things I like so far (though this track is a bit too repetitive). So I do like this band! Just... not the album that's nominated. I'll have to finish listening to Iowa later, thanks for the suggestion--even though you tecnically weren't suggesting it, I found something I'm into, so hey.

Certainly wasn't my intention, but if you enjoy it, good on you!

We've got like double the votes this week on my noms. This will not translate to higher participation.

I found this musical test thing that might be of interest: https://musicaluniverse.io/

Here's my results:

Personality Traits:
Openness | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Conscientiousness | Very High (92 to 97th Percentile)
Extraversion | Very Low (3 to 8th Percentile)
Agreeableness | Very Low (3 to 8th Percentile)
Emotional Stability | High (76 to 91st Percentile)

Musical Preferences:
Mellow | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Unpretentious | Very Low (3 to 8th Percentile)
Sophisticated | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Intense | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Contemporary | Very High (92 to 97th Percentile)

Feels fairly accurate for myself, other than the Agreeableness. I'd think that would be a little higher but maybe it's true!

Rather not post the personality part, but the Musical Preferences may be intereting.

Musical Preferences:
Mellow | High (76 to 91st Percentile)
Unpretentious | Low (9 to 24th percentile)
Sophisticated | Extremely Low (0.1 to 2nd Percentile)
Intense | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Contemporary | High (76 to 91st Percentile)

Since they limited things to mainstream genres, things are a bit skewed. I strongly disliked their choices of Sophisticated music, but can enjoy operas and some other styles of yon fancy high-brow music. And I have a hard time calling any of those samples "intense"; there was some mild drumming.

Still, it was an enjoyable way to spend some time.

That's a sudden jump in votes since the last time I looked

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/1/7/AALjKRAADvrV.png

I fuckin knew it

In happier news for a previously covered act, Fever Ray, one of the two members of The Knife, appears to be releasing their first single in five years at midnight.

Had to get this done a little early this week...

1. Vermilion
2. Vermilion Pt. 2
3. The Blister Exists
4. Circle
5. The Nameless
6. Before I Forget
7. Danger - Keep Away
8. Opium of the People
9. Duality
10. Welcome
11. Pulse of the Maggots
12. Three Nil
13. Prelude 3.0
14. The Virus of Life

It feels weird to say this about an album I've listened to many times but I feel like I rediscovered this one a bit. Not something I'm going to come back to too often but it's good for what it is. Even listening to it back when, I thought the two parts of Vermilion were the heart of the album and that didn't change.

As I've said previously, I do my last listen in my preliminary ranking order. This one just feels wrong to not listen to in album order. There's a certain flow to it that just gets ruined jumping around.

I loved the first Slipknot album. I still think it's a good one, though I can't really listen to a full album of that sort of music anymore. Iowa was really fun but my time with the album was a bit short-lived - I discovered Blackwater Park that fall, and the new Dream Theater album came out that January. I got into prog, power metal, death metal, etc.

Vol. 3 came out and I was fairly resistant to it. I think I was done with Nu Metal. It's a fine album, I like some of the songs (and don't really dislike the other songs). Duality is a smart single.

Prelude 3.0
Vermilion
Duality - Decent song, and as a single it's rather smart.
The Blister Exists - I hate the title
Circle - This was hard for me to rank. I liked it a lot when this album came out.
The Virus of Life
Pulse of the Maggots
Three Nil
Vermilion Pt. 2
Danger - Keep Away
Welcome - The solo and bridge are good but the rest is stale
Before I Forget
The Nameless
Opium of the People - The chorus starts to veer into buttrock

jcgamer107 posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/1/7/AALjKRAADvrV.png

I fuckin knew it

In your ire, please don't destroy your computer. It would be too much irony for me to handle if you were to show rage against the machine.

Jokes aside, I'm sorry to see you don't get to go. Maybe next time they're in Michigan.

Also: I'll get a ranking up once I listen again.

Took that musical test:

Personality Traits:
Openness | Very High (92 to 97th Percentile)
Conscientiousness | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Extraversion | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Agreeableness | High (76 to 91st Percentile)
Emotional Stability | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)

Musical Preferences:
Mellow | Low (9 to 24th percentile)
Unpretentious | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Sophisticated | Low (9 to 24th percentile)
Intense | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Contemporary | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)

bump

Personality Traits:
Openness | High (76 to 91st Percentile)
Conscientiousness | High (76 to 91st Percentile)
Extraversion | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Agreeableness | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Emotional Stability | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)

Musical Preferences:
Mellow | High (76 to 91st Percentile)
Unpretentious | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Sophisticated | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Intense | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)
Contemporary | Average (25 to 75th Percentile)

Very middle-of-the-road for me. And I think that's because of how freaking complex I am (and my tastes are). Mellow is high right now because I'm in a funk.

But, as this topic series has shown, I can listen to nearly anything and be okay. I look for things I enjoy for each album. Including this one. I'll chug through another listen tomorrow probably, but it'll just be two since this is an hour long.

Bump.

1) Vermillion Part 2
2) Before I Forget
3) Danger - Keep Away
4) Duality
5) Circle
6) Opium of the People
7) The Blister Exists
8) Vermillion
9) The Nameless
10) The Virus of Life
11) Pulse of the Maggots
12) Welcome
13) Prelude 3.0
14) Three Nil

Initially while listening to this album I got the sense that this one just wasn't going to be for me. I was digging Prelude 3.0 a bit, but the next few songs felt like they went too hard. While I appreciate the sheer skill it must take to play like that, I don't really appreciate listening to it too much. There is good stuff in here, but the album as a whole is not something I would want to listen to again.

1 Circle
2 Vermillion Pt. 2
3 Vermillion
4 Opium of the People
5 Prelude 3.0
6 Danger - Keep Away
7 Before I Forget
8 Duality
9 The Virus of Life
10 The Nameless
11 Welcome
12 Pulse of the Maggots
13 Three Nil
14 The Blister Exists

I liked this decently enough, which was more than I expected based on the genre.

Duality
Before I Forget
Vermilion
Danger - Keep Away
The Nameless
Opium of the People
The Blister Exists
Prelude 3.0
Circle
Vermilion Pt. 2
Welcome
Three Nil
Pulse of the Maggots
The Virus of Life

Meh. Not my jam. Next.

1. Vermilion Pt. 2
2. Danger - Keep Away
3. Circle
4. Vermilion
5. Before I Forget
6. Prelude 3.0
7. The Nameless
8. Duality
9. Opium of the People
10. The Virus of Life
11. Welcome
12. Pulse of the Maggots
13. The Blister Exists - Oh hey, a song I muted!
14. Three Nil - Oh hey, a song I skipped!

1. Vermillion
2. Circle
3. Vermillion Pt. 2
4. Pulse of the Maggots
5. Duality
6. Danger - Keep Away
7. Prelude 3.0
8. The Nameless
9. The Virus of Life
10. Before I Forget
11. Opium of the People
12. The Blister Exists
13. Welcome
14. Three Nil

goddamn what a fantastic album

The Virus Of Life - this song has weird noises and creepy distortions and makes me feel really uncomfortable, but that's exactly why I think it's great. The heavier sounding songs on this album kinda blend together for me, which I think masks the fact that this song is actually the most brutal of them all.

Duality
Vermilion Pt. 2
Prelude 3.0
Pulse Of The Maggots
Before I Forget
Vermilion
Danger - Keep Away
Circle
The Nameless
Three Nil
The Blister Exists
Welcome
Opium Of The People

I always liked Slipknot a little bit but never enough to really dig in deep, mostly content with jamming out when a song played over a buddy's ipod or whatever. Kinda regret that cause I'm missing out on some great stuff! I feel like everything from Circle on up could vastly shuffle around with multiple listens over time.

The Blister Exists
The Nameless
Duality
Pulse of the Maggots
Welcome
Vermillion
Circle
Vermillion Pt 2
Three Nil
Opium of the People
Danger - Keep Away
The Virus of Life
Prelude 3.0
Before I Forget

It's weird how much I've started liking them since We Are Not Your Kind came out... though I'm gonna give a pretty hot take this is probably one of their weaker albums.

Hmm...accidentally messaged the next user in the cycle a few days late and haven't received a response. Messaged the next user as a backup this morning and also haven't received a response from them.

FoolFantastic posted...

Hmm...accidentally messaged the next user in the cycle a few days late and haven't received a response. Messaged the next user as a backup this morning and also haven't received a response from them.

Acclaimed Music Bot to the rescue?

This is one of those days where I might have to put the topic up late anyway (niece's birthday in another town). So, I'm going to shoot them both another PM and hope they respond by the evening.

I guess I could also reach out to darkx? Kind of annoying that this is three users who rarely participate back to back - not that I have a problem with that aspect (...I selfishly hope Giggs doesn't drop from the cycle because he largely nominates albums I also love), but I feel like the regular participants would be quicker to prepare choices at a short notice.

darkx thankfully responded, so I will run his week unless one of the other two respond before I finish calculating results. I will maintain the same order in case the other two get back to me within the next week, as the late message was my fault.