Board 8 > Raetsel and the Alts finish ranking 784 songs [+ Bonus Songs]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Haste_2 posted...

I'm astonished that two of mine are still alive. There were only three remaining when hadn't even reached the 70+ scoring tier yet. Are you sure this isn't a mistake? =p

Quite sure. After refusing to cut anything, I made sure to do a full tally and see if anything had been accidentally deleted in hopes there was a now-invisible song that I did want to eliminate. Alas, all 32 songs are accounted for and where they're supposed to be.

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TheArkOfTurus posted...

Life of Vermin

[...]

Anyway, I like that the only two of my nominations alive are the two video game I nominated, doubly so because I don't think our taste in VGM is compatible, most of the time.

I'll add Life of Vermin to the post-ranking list, though considering how long it took me to come around on Everyday Ghosts, I wouldn't put much stock in my first reaction (whatever that winds up being).

And yeah, the fact that I'm not compatible with anyone at VGMC is well-documented though I think we may be even less compatible than expected even by that standard. So that is pretty neat!

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Four songs to start the day. Going to try to get three blocks of four songs done today:

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#32: Spring Awakening (original cast) - Totally Fucked (3:18):
https://open.spotify.com/track/4F4jOOUGIt0eyaUnZXYwhQ?si=d20ea44cb9c1463c

Nominator: @Raka_Putra [2/31 Remaining]

Initial Score: 70.00
Revised Score: 70.00
Final Score: 73.69 [Placed Into Void] [Upgraded to 84.18] [Upgraded to 91.029] [Upgraded to 95.15] [Upgraded to 96.00]

(First Reaction: Okay, we've hit peak bluntness now.)

!Oddly, I think there are several songs in this ranking that are somehow even more blunt than this song... still, definitely a song that I really like here.

[Final Thoughts: This is the combination of angry, sad, and catchy that I'm here for.]

[Later: Moving this song to the side for a moment. I don't think I'll be moving it far up the list--a lot of repetitions of the chours and time spent on literal "blah blah blah" keep it from being a favorite--but the lyrics certainly appeal to me and I do enjoy the chorus, even if I feel the track is a bit overly reliant on it. So I don't want to eliminate it today; tomorrow, maybe. The day after, almost certainly. But... not right now.]

[Later: Had this stuck in my head for a few days and I think I do kinda love it. It's not perfect, but it hits the right level of angst and despair & is pretty catchy.]

[Later: Really, the Final Thoughts section summed it up pretty well. "Yeah, you're fucked all right" is pretty on the nose for blunt lyrics, but I love what I love.]

[Later: "Man, you just can't call your soul your own,"... yeah, I'm not going to get into it, but I'm adding on another 4+ points onto this song just for that line.]

[Later: How long ago was the "73.XX" section of the list? This song certainly held on quite a ways past that area for "almost certainly" being eliminated two days after it.

Aaaanywho, that line about souls is something that I find very intriguing these days... not that I've suddenly become spiritual or anything, but it (along with certain Dear Hunter songs like Blood & The March) are pushing a very specific button of mine that I didn't even know I had. False lives, stolen souls, souls that aren't yours... apparently that's a very high-scoring topic this year.]

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#31: B.E.R. - The Night Begins to Shine (3:31):
https://youtu.be/lSLXS0bjSCs

Nominator: Mega_Mana [1/38 Remaining[

Initial Score: 60.00
Revised Score: 72.00
Final Score: 67.337 [Upgraded to 71.90] [Upgraded to 74.297] [Upgraded to 87.56] [Upgraded to 90.79 {Upgraded to 94.01 during the upgrade}] [Upgraded to 96.10]

(First Reaction: A bit too repetitive, which makes sense since it was meant to be a short one-off joke instead of being a full song... but it's actually pretty good and I'm always up for songs about the night & songs from cartoons. This shall join the CLUMP and await further judgment.)

!Definitely longer than it should be, but it's fun & pretty easily something I like.

...eh, why not, let's jump up a tier. Cartoon songs about night are pretty much always free points, but I don't care. I am whatever I am.

[Final Thoughts: Catchy as hell and gets so much bias in its favor for repeatedly saying night, but the lyrics are definitely repetitive and I *may* have over-corrected the score a bit when I jumped this up an entire tier. Moving it back down to a be a high 60's song.]

[Later: And now I'm back to being the part of me that gives lots of points for "night", so I'm moving this almost back up to where it was.]

[Later: I can be very forgiving of repetition when it's repeating lyrics specifically created to appeal to me.]

[Later: {Luce's Note: Yeah, I'm moving this one up too. Deal with it.}]

[Later: [Luce's Note: I can take as many songs to the highest tier as I want, so I'm also bringing this song along for the ride.

*later* Yeah, let's go even further with this one. I really love this at the moment.]]

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-continued-

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#30: The Real Brad McNeely - George Washington (2:24):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv6OOuPI5c0

Nominator: Metalmind [3/25 Remaining]

Initial Score: 53.92
Revised Score: 51.06
Final Score: 53.92 [Upgraded to 60.00] [Upgraded to 70.00000005] [Upgraded to 76.80 [Upgraded to 80.115 moments later)] [Upgraded to 83.79] [Upgraded to 95.20] [Upgraded to 96.20]

(First Reaction: A comedy song that doesn't always land and the best jokes are more "smirk-worthy" than laugh out loud funny, but it's not bad.)

"He'll save the children, but not the British children" is the best line in the song. That part I found funny; the rest is a bit too "lol random" to be funny and this doesn't exactly hold up as an unironically good song, but it's not bad. I mean, it's a comedy song that had a good joke, so what more can you really ask for from it?

[Final Thoughts: Moving this back up to its initial score. It's... I can't honestly say that I want this in the "kinda like" tier, but it's relatively close. I mean... it's always worth a smirk, at least?]

[Later: ...This is stupid, but I think I might actually like this.]

[Later: This is so, so stupid. I hate myself for raising this up a tier, but there's really no way I'm dropping this below the 70 point level.]

[Later: Moving this up a lot because I apparently really enjoy this idiocy.

...actually, I kinda love this.]

[Later: Three and a half -ish more points.]

[Later: Fine, I'll admit it. I love this. Just take all of the points and be done with it.]

[Later:

Six-foot-twenty, fucking killing for fun
[...]
Twelve stories high, made of radiation
The present beware, the future beware
Hes coming, hes coming, hes coming
[...]
He once held an opponents wifes hand. In a jar of acid. At a party.

Just some of the lyrics that I've grown rather fond of over the past year.]

[Later: The undisputed king of the comedy/novelty songs nominated this year,]

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#29: The Dear Hunter - Cascade (5:11):
https://open.spotify.com/track/1eE1sb2OB7GDWlFbCKGnMl?si=db0a93eb02fa47d2

Nominator: NBIceman [1/22 Remaining]

Initial Score: 64.52
Revised Score: 54.52
Final Score: 55.30 [Upgraded to 56.92] [Upgraded to 59.792] [Upgraded to 62.496] [Upgraded to 68.52] [Upgraded to 70.52] [Upgraded to 73.90042] [Upgraded to 82.56] [Upgraded to 93.03] [Upgraded to 96.25]

(First Reaction: Pretty catchy song that continues the aspects of the story and themes that I'm most interested in. It feels like it goes on a bit too long, like we could cut the last repetition of the chorus without hurting the song any, but I like it.)

!This definitely feels like it drags on rather long... this is hardly the first song by the band to continue for over a minute after the song ended, but it feels especially long here. it's a fine song and I still enjoy it, but it could really stand to be tightened up a bit.

[Final Thoughts: I do kinda like this track, but I'm not connecting with it as much as i did on the first listen. It's nice.]

[Later: I don't know... I like this a fair amount, but the last repetition & extended outro that needs to lead directly into the next track to function are definitely dragging it down. I also don't think attaching this song to the following track (The Most Cursed of Hands) actually does either song any favors... I know the outro basically begs that I combine them, but this is one of the albums where basically every track segues into the next & these two aren't linked so intrinsically that either feels actually incomplete. I don't know.]

[Later: A few extra points for the moment.]

[Later: I've had this get stuck in my head a few times lately, so I'm going to move this back up a tier. Not all the way up to 64, but 62 points seems like a decent starting zone.]

[Later: Not sure why this song is so low when it's so memorable, but I'm correcting that now.]

[Later: Going to try moving this song up a tier.]

[Later: Three more points on this one.]

[Later: I've been getting more attached to this song as of late. "Hate the sinner, never hate the sin" is one of those lyrics that keeps getting stuck in my thoughts and there are quite a few fun lines throughout the first two verses; "stuck between alive and after" is the kinda bleak line that resonates these days. I do wish the song ended at an appropriate moment, but you kinda have to roll with these extended outros/intros to the next song if you're going to listen to the Acts.]

[Later: Moving this one up a tier as well.]

[Later: Another three-or-so points, all the way up to the 96 point level.]

[Later: I find it interesting that I specifically cited Blood & The March as songs with standout lyrical content, yet Cascade somehow slides in between both of them in the ranking.]

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Four more, before I have time to change my mind and shuffle things any further. Featuring two more eliminations:

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#28: PSY.par^DRUXX - *infinity symbol*UPD^TE (4:34):
https://youtu.be/i5iG1A2gZ7E

Nominator: UF8 [0/30 Remaining]

Initial Score: 66.94
Revised Score: 86.49
Final Score: 84.69 [Upgraded to 90.03] [Upgraded to 92.80] [Upgraded to 95.16] [Upgraded to 96.40]

(FIrst Reaction: I like this song, though as usual I'm having a hard time putting it into words. It's like a very digital & computerized anime theme song, like something for .Hack or Sword Art Online or whatever the current popular virtual reality anime thing is these days; it feels like the type of song that first plays when the main character gets a minor scar in a fight against IMPOSING ENEMY FIGURE and then UNLOCKS AWESOME POWER THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST and DRAMATICALLY DELETES said enemy with COOL DIGITAL SWORD POWERZ, with the song taking over as the series theme in all future episodes.)

!Yeah, sure, I'm in the mood for an inspirational futuristic anime fight song.

[Final Thoughts: Surprisingly enough, I still kinda love this one! So many songs that were moved directly from 60 points to 80 points wound up getting moved back down, but this is one that actually earns its high placement. It feels very high-tech and futuristic in ways that I find highly enjoyable & even the thumping beat is done in a catchy way. Great anime style pop song.]

[Luce's Notes: I'll be moving this song up a tier as well. It's time a certain bunny acknowledges that we can move a bunch of songs up to the highest tier. Instead of spending hours stressing over which songs miss the cutoff, you can just MOVE THINGS UP. It's easy! I'm doing it right now.]

[Later: Just under three extra points for the futuristic fight song.]

[Later: This track suddenly appeals to me--and multiple aspects of me at that--quite a bit, so let's add a couple more points onto this.]

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Elimination #14: UF8

Lowest Scoring Song

Ratna Petit & Nanahira - Confetti's Yacht [23.80]

Highest Scoring Song

PSY.par^DRUXX - *infinity symbol*UPD^TE [96.40]

Average Score: 66.75

Yes, I still like vtuber songs.

...I think that may actually sum things up well enough? Confetti's Yacht was the only real misfire and I generally liked the other songs, leading to an average score that's on the upper-mid "like" area. I liked this set of nominations and the category of artist the songs came from. Thank you.

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Average Score Chart

kateee: 70.59
handsomeboy: 69.36
UF8: 66.75
TunnelScene: 66.03
CJones: 65.00
hotdogturtle: 64.25
CPU: 63.72
BlackDra90n: 62.49
cakophon; 62.48
Lasa: 59.49
Kopazzynth 58.99
Murphiroth: 55.95
sergiocornaga: 55.80
Shonen_Bat: 55.13

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#27: Death Cab For Cutie - What Sarah Said (6:20):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNm2_Wth1sE

Nominator: ZaziGuado [2/28 Remaining]

Initial Score: 64.15
Revised Score: 64.15
Final Score: 74.15 [Upgraded to 78.50] [Placed Into Void] [Upgraded to 83.70] [Upgraded to 92.746] [Upgraded to 96.20] [Upgraded to 96.44]

(First Reaction: This song doesn't really hit me as hard as it would most other people, since as I mentioned on a previous writeup, I haven't personally experienced this type of death. The song has a lot of emotion in it, with such clear & vivid imagery that it succeeds in making me feel something, but my feelings towards it are more...abstract or hypothetical than they would be for someone who could relate to the song on a more personal level.)

!Pretty and powerful, but still not something I can directly connect with. Not yet, anyway.

[Final Thoughts: I really like this one today.]

[Later: I'm going to add four more points to this song. It isn't quite the type of pain that I'm looking for, but it's close.]

[Later: Just moving everything aside for now.]

[Later: I'm having a lot of trouble deciding what to do with this song. I don't want to eliminate it, but I'm also not positive that I want to move it up a tier either... think I'm going to keep this in the Void a while longer and make a decision after deciding what to do with all the other songs in the Void.]

[Later: Okay, now I'm ready to give this song a large boost up towards the middle of the next tier.]

[Later: And I'll also move this song up a tier..

And I knew that you were truth
I would rather lose
Than to have never lain beside at all

That part works quite well for me, even if our circumstances couldn't be more different. And the "who's gonna watch you die?" refrain for the outro is also... something that I lack the vocabulary for, but is giving the song a few extra points.]

[Later: Much pain. Yes.]

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-continued-

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#26: Distemper - Moscow Reggae (3.10):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTKrhPGx4jw

Nominator: Xtlm [0/13 Remaining]

Initial Score: 80.00
Revised Score: 86.77 [upgraded to 92.30]
Final Score: 96.40 [Upgraded to 96.60]

(First Reaction: His deep, gravelly voice & Russian lyrics helps this become one of those rare happy dancing songs that I really, really enjoy!)

!Pure concentrated joy. Wonderful.

[Slightly Later: I'm going to go ahead and bump this up a tier. Too wonderful to leave in the 80 point tier.]

[Final Thoughts: I've been looking forward to hearing this song again for months! The roughness of his voice combined with the happiness of the song really resonates with me. This song is pure concentrated joy and I completely & absolutely love it! I'm moving this song even further up the list--I don't think it's quite in first place, but it's embarassing this song was ever so low on the list as "80.00" points.]

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Elimination #15: Xtlm

Lowest Scoring Song

Pearl Jam - Porch (Live) [18.83]

Highest Scoring Song

Distemper - Moscow Reggae [96.60]

Average Score: 65.41

For using just a little over half your available nomination time, I think you had a surprisingly varied set. Just comparing your two highest rated songs: One is a dark, grungy, rusted twist on a popular song & the other is pure joy, delivered by a gravelly voiced Russian. I don't think anyone else's top two gave such wildly different experiences, even among those who were trying to give incredibly different songs. You also somehow managed to get a Christian rock song partially about the holocaust into the "really like" tier--it was a great song and I applaud the decision to take a shot on it. Also, pretty nice to get Blue Flowers in so it could get it an official score & to see Deafheaven return to the topic series after a several year absence.

Thank you!

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Average Score Chart

kateee: 70.59
handsomeboy: 69.36
UF8: 66.75
TunnelScene: 66.03
Xtlm: 65.41
CJones: 65.00
hotdogturtle: 64.25
CPU: 63.72
BlackDra90n: 62.49
cakophon; 62.48
Lasa: 59.49
Kopazzynth 58.99
Murphiroth: 55.95
sergiocornaga: 55.80
Shonen_Bat: 55.13

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#25: Grimes - Flesh without Blood (4:24):
https://open.spotify.com/track/62jc4VA6WPoANaL9Duu8db?si=a911079262d64f9e

Nominator: Player_0 [1/33 Remaining]

Initial Score: 57.27
Revised Score: 54.69
Final Score: 55.06 [Upgraded to 56.1006] [Upgraded to 85.00] [Upgraded to 92.12] [Upgraded to 97.14]

(First Reaction: I do still like songs about destroyed friendships. "You had every chance, you destroyed everything that you know" is a pretty great line. Nice pop beat and some nice anger in the lyrics, pretty good song.)

!I love the lyrics here, even more so than I originally did, but I've soured a bit on the song itself... not much, but enough that it's going down to "mid-50's" from the "high-50's".

[Final Thoughts: Some fantastic lyrics in this song, but like so many other songs in this part of the list, I'm never able to fully resonate with them as much as I should. Not entirely sure why, but I only kinda like this, even though it seems like something that should be much further up the charts than it is.]

[Later: I suddenly really like this tonight. Like... jumping up multiple tiers like.

...actually, let's just go for it. I'm jumping this all the way up to the middle of the 80 point level. This song is finally clicking and I want to move it all the way up immediately.]

[Later: [Luce's Note: I'm moving this one up to the highest tier.]]

[Later: [Luce: And I'm definitely taking this one much, much further up the list.]]

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Okay, last four of the day, featuring two more eliminations:

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#24: The Charlatans - And If I Fall (5:18):
https://open.spotify.com/track/5IKLIi1jBTzsYXq2DymIEX?si=1e2uEPINSj-0tNifXX_XUA

Nominator: Jesse Custer [0/29 Remaining]

Initial Score: 78.26
Revised Score: 78.26
Final Score: 73.61 [Upgraded to 74.23] [Upgraded to 84.17] [Upgraded to 96.17] [Upgraded to 96.48] [Upgraded to 97.33]

(First Reaction: This is walking down an empty street in the middle of the night music and, as has been established, music I associate with darkness and the night are easy free points. There's not much variety in the lyrics, but this is one of the cases in which it works, because I love these feelings and don't want them to end. Don't write more lyrics, you're not going to improve on the ambiance, just let me have my fun.)

!A+ ambiance.

[Final Thoughts: The song is nice, but it's really the vibe it gives off that drives this to the "really like" tier.]

[Later: Moments before eliminating this song, I've decided I enjoy the chorus enough that I want to move this up to 74 points.]

[Later: Had this stuck in my head all evening, so I'm revising this score up another tier.]

[Luce's Notes: This is another of my songs, so I'll be taking this one up another 12 points. Honestly, I may move it up again when we get to that part of the list, but the rabbit did have a point about a lack of lyrical variety. I truly love the first verse, but I don't know that I can honestly say it's my favorite song when it's a bit light on content. Still, this definitely belongs in the conversation and I'll give it a score that accurately reflects this.]

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Elimination #16: Jesse_Custer

Lowest Scoring Song

Valravn, Maria Franz - Kelling [40.99]

Highest Scoring Song

The Charlatans - And If I Fall [97.33]

*notices Modern Drift being just slightly below the 70 point tier* ....No, Let's put that to.... 70.008 before we calculate the average.

Average Score: 70.34

Hey, another person joins the 70+ average score club! With six songs in the "love" tier, you were right up there with Metalmind & Raka in terms of getting a lot of songs into the highest tier. Sadly, Kelling was a bit of a misfire and holds the average back; without that track weighing down the list, you'd have a ludicrous average of 71.39! Anyway,, you nominated a fantastic set of songs. Just A+ all around; It's hard to find a lot that I want to say here because none of my words feel accurate... hopefully the fact that you kept nominating hit, after hit, after hit serves as enough of a compliment? Thank you!

-average score list to be posted after the next elimination-

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#23: mozell - halca (4:53):
https://youtu.be/3GVeBhW5MLI

Nominator: NFUN: [0/31 Remaining]

Initial Score: 86.13
Revised Score: 90.00
Final Score: 96.48 [Upgraded to 97.45]

(First Reaction: You ever feel like the Talespin version of Shere Khan? You sit behind your desk, scowling, agitated by all the worthless peons who should be beneath you but for all of your billions of dollars this moronic bear keeps getting in your way? And you idly entertain the idea of just hiring the sky pirates to eliminate him? Of course, you would never do that--petty murder is so... pathetic and low-class that part of you hates yourself for even thinking of it, as much as you hate the worthless imbecile for forcing you to entertain the thought of disposing him in the first place? And then a song comes on your radio, one you haven't heard in years... it takes you back to a simpler, more peaceful time before the great war. This nostalgia is also something that should be beneath you, but this...

"This pleases me," you say to your yes-man. He looks at you, dim-wittedly, as if he wants to ask what he's supposed to do with this knowledge. Should he be purchasing a recording of the song for you? Hiring a band to play it for you? Making a note of this somewhere? Perhaps he should just be agreeing with you about the song--but then you didn't really give him much information to go off of and what if he praised the wrong aspect of the song?? After a moment of panic, he simply nods his head. You're glad he didn't ask anything--your previous yes-man asked too many stupid questions and that led to all sorts of...unpleasantness.

...this song is like that.)

![Fluttershy's Note: ...Are we sure we're not on any drugs at the moment? Because that makes us sound like we're on...uhh...all of them? Just, like, all of the drugs.]

[Final Thoughts: You may be under some misconception that I have any type of logical basis for my rankings. Please see this business card:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/1/8/AAakf6AAEL8u.jpg

I love this song and the odd trains of thought it inspires, though it is woefully unclear as to how my mind broke in this specific of a way. On the plus side, we can now say with certainty that the song that made me feel like Sylvester did not get a low score due to the fantasy involving a male cat. Because I know that's the thing we've all been worried about, yes?]

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Elimination #17: NFUN

Lowest Scoring Song

Yoshimi Kodo - Multitude of Colorful Flowers B [48.70]

Highest Scoring Song

mozell - halca [97.45]

Average Score: 64.17

Coincidentally, that average score places you in the exact center of the current rankings, making your playlist currently the most average average. That's kinda neat. It may also be part of why I'm having such a hard time finding anything to say here... I've had the last four songs of the day ready to be posted for an hour now, while this section has been distressingly blank. I suppose my communication difficulties come from your list being so heavy on instrumentals and I have yet to develop a vocabulary that properly articulates what I like or dislike about instrumental music; there are some hits,, like halca which is of one only two instrumental songs to reach the highest tier, and then there's a scattershot of music spread across a variety of tiers.

[The fact that halca is here largely due to inspiring a completely ludicrous fantasy sequence that has nothing to do with anything doesn't help. It's fun that it got a high score because I had a weird reaction to it, but there's no way to replicate that response and no discernible reason there was one. So "why this specific instrumental and not the others" can really only be answered with shrug emojis.]

Aaaanywho... Retcon Artist gave me a lot of feelings that no other track did, halca was the song that gave me the most vivid fantasy sequence of anything in the entire topic, and the other songs provided a variety of scores. Thank you.

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<i>Average Score Chart</i>

kateee: 70.59
Jesse: 70.34
handsomeboy: 69.36
UF8: 66.75
TunnelScene: 66.03
Xtlm: 65.41
CJones: 65.00
hotdogturtle: 64.25
NFUN: 64.17
CPU: 63.72
BlackDra90n: 62.49
cakophon; 62.48
Lasa: 59.49
Kopazzynth 58.99
Murphiroth: 55.95
sergiocornaga: 55.80
Shonen_Bat: 55.13

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-continued-

And an unfortunately cruel double drop from Metalmind to end the day:

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#22: Tears for Fears - Standing on the Corner of the Third World (5:31):
https://youtu.be/BxpAsZxd3pE

Nominator: Metalmind [2/25 Remaining]

Initial Score: 77.37
Revised Score: 64.44
FInal Score: 82.17 [Upgraded to 89.36] [Upgraded to 90.74] [Upgraded to 95.83] [Upgraded to 96.37] [Upgraded to 97.62]

(First Reaction:

Hold me, I'm crying
Hold me, I'm dying

Were I to give an award for most blunt sadness, I think this song's outro might take it.

So... this song does the things I like. We've got some low tones at the outro, some decent lyrics (besides the aforementioned sadness, I'm partial to "Colour all the madness for the madness is the thorn that's in our side"), and a good emotional build from the sleepy, quiet sadness early in the song to louder and harsher when we get to crying & dying. it all comes together quite splendedly.)

!One wonders why I wanted to draw attention to that lyric... I suppose it's notable because the song definitely ramps up dramatically after that line, but I can't feel any specific attachment to that specific lyric tonight.

I still enjoy the song and have it firmly in the "I like this" tier, but I'm missing whatever connection had me placing the song so high into the "really like" tier for some reason.

[Final Thoughts: That revised score is certainly curious... lyrics about being held have always been of at least some interest & my love for blunt misery--and it's hard to top "I'm dying", though several songs of this list certainly tried and might have succeeded--has been well established the past two years. Not being drawn to the song the second time around is one thing, but apparently being unable to comprehend why we were drawn to it at all is... curious.

Today, I'm back to understanding why I cared about that line & I kinda love the backing choir (as brief as their appearance is) so I'm jumping this song up to the 80 point tier.]

[Luce's Notes: Really, rabbit? You don't get why we might be drawn to lyrics involving madness? *bites her tongue* ...Fine, but we'll talk about this later.

Either way, this is a great song all around, but I think it just misses the cutoff to the next tier.]

[Later: Yeah, I think I'll move this up a notch to reach the next tier.]

[Later: And a very substantial boost, taking this song up another five points.]

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#21: Steely Dan - Deacon Blues [7:36]:
https://youtu.be/iac-vLq6tnY

Nominator: Metalmind [1/25 Remaining]

Initial Score: 97.46
Revised Score: 94.00
FInal Score: 94.00 [Upgraded to 97.00] [Upgraded to 98.00 (and then to 98.30)]

(First Reaction: This is another song that i was really looking forward to listening to. I was obsessed with "Do It Again" for a while and Steely Dan had some other great songs (Reelin' in the Years & Peg, in particular), so a hit song of theirs that I didn't know sounded amazing.

And then Deacon Blues turned out to be from the same album as Peg, so it's from an era of Steely Dan I have an interest in, which made it even better..

And then I learned the story of the song, of a loser's grandiose dreams and fantasies, which made it even better.

And then it had multiple saxophone solos and a good sax solo is worth a bunch of points on its own. Either you pay attention to what I like or got insanely lucky, but this was a fantastic pick. I don't think it's quite at that 100 point level, but it's really close.)

!Great song, but like everything else tonight, I'm just not as into it the second time around... still, it is definitely at the highest level & getting a really great score.

[Final Thoughts: A song that hits all the right notes. I love this song.]

[Later: So many great lines in this song that I've never bothered pointing out.

I crawl like a viper
Through these suburban streets
[...]
I'll rise when the sun goes down
Cover every game in town
A world of my own
I'll make it my home sweet home

Just a great verse all around here. Not enough snake-like metaphors on my playlist, now that I'm thinking of it. Rising with the darkness, yes, there is a lot to love in this verse--all wrapped up with the misery that comes of this being a fantasy from a hopeless loser... yeah, I'm adding three more points back to this score. Not quite where it started, but at least back at 97 points.]

[Later: I've moved this up even further to 98 points and I don't want to cut it, but I think this may be the limit.. I've been going back and forth on what to eliminate for quite a while now, but I... well, I've been complaining about the difficulty of the choices since back in the 70s, so you know how it is. Great lyrics, great sax, outstanding ambiance, but something has to miss the top 20 and I'm afraid I can live with this decision.]

============================

Flesh without Blood saved by the upgrades! I was expecting it to be my top song since around the halfway point, but that's still a great score. It's been in my song rotation for over 5 years now, which is rare for me!

Wow, a 22+ point upgrade for Totally Fucked, that's pretty awesome. Yeah, I don't usually listen to songs with many profanities but it works really well here I feel.

And the Top 2 of my nominations are I Can Do Better Than That and Say My Name, pretty interesting! Say My Name was my #1 most-listened song on Spotify back in, like, 2019? It's so catchy and fun.

I'm noticing that you like songs with darker themes, which both of these songs have, even if their melody is chipper.

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

#112: an Unkindness - Fragments (6:17):

the draw for me is just how heartfelt it comes across. was just really taken with it since the first time i heard.

also Blondie has a cover of this track and as many people who know this have stated, it's kind of surreal that such a classic band has now covered a song by a gay furry

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

#86: Jimin - Lie (3:35):

so the moment this song started going on repeat for me was after the realization with the chorus. i loved the beginning feeling of the song where instrumentally it suits the lyrics more with those beautiful angsty vibes and it sets up an expectation with the leadup to the chorus. but then it has this abrupt jarring shift to a more upbeat ballad-y exclamation and there's a bit of frustration because this expected climax just doesn't end up happening. but then the realization is that's the lie, putting on that appearance/facade where everything is all right while concealing that darker part of yourself and feeling like you're caught in a cycle and can't be helped

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

#76: carolesdaughter - Trailer Trash (2:34):

yeah this is it.

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

And an unfortunately cruel double drop from Metalmind to end the day:

Well, it was about time for me to start losing songs at a clip, haha. Now I await Walking in My Shoes' rank with bated breath!

Speaking of which, uh yup, the trajectory of your thoughts on George Washington is about what I expected - and it parallels my own path very well too!

And (this agrees with Player_0's post too, as you might guess) also, I have no connection to or interest in high school either, and yet Heathers: The Musical in general has stuck deeply with me. This... isn't really the place to get into the main reasons why, though I do think the rest of its songs are about as well-written and well-performed as Beautiful.

Four songs before I change my mind; I... really don't know exactly what's going to end up in the top ten by the time I'm done shuffling things around. But apparently it's not any of these four songs. At this exact moment in time.

-

========================

#20: Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear Strive OST) - Drift (5:42):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-h-h7hoQxg

Nominator: Ark [1/17 Remaining]

Initial Score: 59.59
Revised Score: 63.14
Final Score: 60.158 [Upgraded to 63.147] [Upgraded to 66.73] [Upgraded to 71.29] [Upgraded to 72.31] [Upgraded to 85.9067] [Upgraded to 90.68] [Upgraded to 91.53] [Upgraded to 93.23] [Upgraded to 93.58 (upgraded to 97.01 moments later)] [Upgraded to 98.74]

(First Reaction: I have no idea what I just listened to, but I'm pretty sure I liked it. As befits someone named Chaos, the song flips between genres a few times, ranging from the metal inspired sound one expects from the series to happy, theatrical musical which is certainly something, and then an unexpected shift to operatic near the end? I'm not totally sold on the idea of making it a 60 point song right now, I think it's a bit below the songs in the CLUMP, but I like it and I'm glad it was nominated. It also makes me interested in the character of Happy Chaos, so it's doing a fine job of hyping up the character and the game.)

!The song goes a bit harder than I'd like at times, but it's strange and compelling enough that I feel good about moving it up to the "I like this" tier.

[Final Thoughts: A fun, chaotic song. I'd prefer more of the theatrical parts, but I do like it.]

[Later: I'm surprised this song got moved so far down the list. I'm tempted to move it up quite a ways, but I'll start by moving it back towards the Revised Score.]

[Later: And another three points.]

[Later: Song is perhaps a bit too intense for me in places, but this type of insanity is something I find quite appealing... going to move it up a tier.]

[Later: One more point?]

[Later: Actually, I think I kinda love this song at the moment... moving this to the mid-to-high 80s.]

[Later: And one, most likely final boost, to the early 90s. I do love this song. It's completely over-the-top, ludicrous, and chaotic & it belongs up at the final tier.]

[Later: One more point, actually.]

[Later: Eh, let's go up to 93 points.]

[Later: And a slight upgrade again. There's a lot to love here; besides the lovely theatrical flair to everything, we've got some very non-human metaphors ("I will just be a black sea", "I will be a vast universe") which offer some intriguing things to imagine. "There's a hundred of me" is also quite relevant to me... though he means it more literal with clones, there's a lot I can work with here.

...actually, take a few more points while I'm at it. I like where this is going.]

[Later: And a final, small boost. Love the lyrics, the metaphors, and the chaos in this track.]

========================

-

And at this point, I jump everything left to 100 points. Songs are not considered to be tied, unless specifically stated. Let's just say we're functionally beyond numbers at this point.

-

==================

#19: Jeffrey Tonsend - Gracie Films Logo (0:04):
https://youtu.be/q_slAJmZBeQ

Nominator: Mega_Mana [0/38 Remaining]

Initial Score: 100
Revised Score: 94.83
Final Score: 100

(First Reaction: *legitimately becomes moved to tears from the overwhelming nostalgia related to The Critic*

...There is a very real chance that I let this song win.)

!Ehhhhh... the emotions attached to this are so overwhelming that it would make a good victor, but I'm feeling a bit more drawn to the full-length songs at this level tonight. It's definitely still in the conversation for first place though.

[Final Thoughts: There are a lot of powerful memories associated with this little jingle. Not of The Simpsons, as great as the earlier seasons were I cannot be nostalgic for that which has never left, but for The Critic. While Duckman reruns may have had a tremendous impact on making me what I am, Comedy Central had an entire block of adult animation reruns back in the day. The Critic, Duckman, Undergrads... possibly others, was Clone High part of the block? Well, whatever. The point is The Critic was also something that I watched on repeat during a rather formational part of my past.

While Duckman was far more influential, The Critic has held up much better over time. I remember watching it way back when it premiered on Fox (I wouldn't see its original run from.... whichever network originaly had it until repeats in the future), then on Comedy Central during some important times, reruns later again during the best year of my life, and occasionally to this day. It's one of the best animated comedies that I've ever seen and I always find something to enjoy in it, no matter which stage of my life I'm at. Which causes this tiny, insignificant jingle to have tremendously powerful memories associated with it.

I shouldn't let it win... I'm definitely being emotionally manipulated by the memories around the song rather than the song itself. And yet, I cannot discount the possibility of its victory just yet.]

[Later: While this song was tied for first place after the "Final" scores, I think I'll be rearranging the list so that it's down here... I'm afraid that I'm not quite getting crippled by emotional flashbacks looking at this right now & there's always a point where the nostalgic songs are culled in favor of new songs. In theory, that's what the R# section would prevent as i then wouldn't need to directly compare the new & the old. But inexplicably, it was this nomination that led me to change my mind about having an R# category at all... you see way, way, way back before nominations even finished, as soon as I heard this, I was so overwhelmed that I felt it absolutely had to win the main ranking & flatly refused to have this sent away to some sub-category of ranking.

...and then when we finally got here, I wound up cutting it early in favor of new things anyway, thus demonstrating why we needed the R# category in the first place. Ah well. As this is the highest ranking of all nostalgic songs, you can consider it the winner of that sub-category, even if there was no official division this time around.]

==================

Elimination #18: Mega Mana

Lowest Scoring Song

Run D.M.C. & Guns N' Roses (Mash-Up) - Tricky Child o' Mine [39.77]

Highest Scoring Song

Jeffrey Tonsend - Gracie Films Logo [100]

Average Score: 67.30

I think you may have hit the most tiers? 30, 40, 50, 55, Above 60, 70, 80, 95+, and one may wish to count 100 as a tier of its own. ...Actually, nevermind, I decided to check and Bane has more if you count the Wall & The Clump as tiers onto themselves, so... well, it's still a very wide spread of scores either way.

"Hybrid Theory" was quite a good album, Six songs above 70 points (one of which was at 90) is quite an accomplishment! I think I preferred Meteora, but this was more of a band I like doing the things I like them for, so it was a nice addition to the topic. Your wildcard picks also had a fair number of high-scoring songs; looks like, combined, you wound up with 6 "kinda loves" and 4 "loves", which is a pretty significant number. Thank you.

-continued-

Average Score Chart will be updated at the end of the day. Probably. It's too large to be posted every time anyone is eliminated at the rate people are dropping.

-

========================

#18: Every Time I Die - Planet Shit (3:56):
https://open.spotify.com/track/7GLg6mpa868wvquWv4O3ja?si=3a05c5af8e114525

Nominator: Bane [1/38 Remaining]

Initial Score: 64.76 [upgraded to 100]
Revised Score: 64.76
Final Score: 70.581 [upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: Well, I did say I wanted something angrier and "Fuck you! Die!" is certainly angrier, yes.)

[Later (before the second listens began): The third song in the "I couldn't wait to listen to this again" camp. I was angry about [things that shall not be elaborated on at this moment] and after listening to Shit Towne a few more times, I wanted something angrier. So I moved from Shit Towne to Shit Planet. It's really that simple This is a very angry song, particularly aimed at conservatives, and as someone in a very conservative hellhole this is exactly what I need right now.

...short writeup, but come on. There's not a lot to say here--you either want this type of raw aggression or you don't and there's not exactly a lot to analyze about it... Buckley is as direct to the point with his attacks as you can get.]

!There are times where this song's extreme anger and vulgarity is exactly what I need and, by far, the best song of the topic. But right now, I'm... not really super angry? I mean, I of course appreciate the song and know there are times where I'll love it, but unfortunately we're not there at the moment.

[Fluttershy's Note: "Unfortunately" we're not consumed with anger and shouting expletives at the entire planet??]

...Well, I mean, unfortunately for Bane in particular, I suppose.

[Final Thoughts: Well.... I'm still not exactly in the mood for this type of anger, but I'll move it up to the Really Like tier because I don't want to drop it too early either.]

[Later: I... don't quite love this at the moment, however I feel I need to move it back up to the top of the list. Because when I think of which songs are in contention for winning, I always think of this as one of the candidates. There's [REDACTED SECTION]

So, this has to be brought to the end because I do see a few realities in which this song wins. So I'll just move this score up to 100 points now.]

[Later: I feel good about keeping this in the perfect score territory, but much like "Gracie Films Logo", I think I'll be cutting this one here. It is fantastic and there are days where it'll be my favorite... but that day is not today. Whether or not that's a good thing is a matter of perspective, I suppose.]

========================

-

============================

#17: Masaharu Iwata - Holy Wilds (3:11):
https://youtu.be/qEpO9RuT0k8

Nominator: Haste [1/31 Remaining]

Initial Score: 80.00
Revised Score: 99.00
Final Score: 97.30 [Upgraded to 98.90] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: This feels like a combination of "quiet resolution" and "final farewell". This is the point where the main character dramatically stands at the threshold of no return, as her friends beg her to turn back from her path... but it's too late for that. Expect an ice wall of spikes to physically separate her from her friends as a very heavy-handed metaphor for her frozen heart or an outward expression of the daggers piercing her soul.)

!You know what the top tier doesn't have enough of?? POWERFUL INSTRUMENTALS WITH LOW TONES.

Ohh yes, deep tones and ancient mysteries, this is exactly what I'm into. Not quite first place. Or maybe it is? Difficult to say. I suppose we're a long ways away from me having to make a final decision.

[Final Thoughts: Ohh yeah, this is the good stuff. Not a lot to say here, just "hey, ya know those tones I've been demanding more of? They're here." and yes I love the thing I've been saying I love.]

============================

And... let's go with these two next:

==================

#16: Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street (5:06):
https://youtu.be/W-Khe7DInxo

Nominator: Dragon66116 [0/12 Remaining]

Initial Score: 93.26
Revised Score: 87.95
Final Score: 93.26 [Upgraded to 95.66] [Upgraded to 99.05] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: "This song lasts 5 minutes But hurts forever". Thank you, YouTube commenter "Montse Go", that sums it up enough for a first reaction.)

!i should probably listen to this whole album someday. I really like her voice and general vibe, at least judging by this song and "Killer" (the song immediately after this on the album).

[Final Thoughts: I'm moving this song back up where it started. This is a very specific type of pain, of trying to talk with someone after the relationship is already dead. Awkward, & painful. I love this song and I'm not sure why this song dropped down in the first place.]

[Later: Take a couple extra points for this pain.]

[Later: "Do you feel ashamed when you hear my name?" is particularly hard-hitting. This is a brutal song, But I'm not a fan of the bridge due to its lack of lyrics. I understand it and it's perfect thematically. It represents that moment where you reconnect with someone you were once close to, but after the initial attempt at pleasentries (that inevitably go wrong & hurt terribly), you're just left with this uncomfortable silence. I hate that silence. I know it all too well...

And of course, it ends the only way it can: Pretending you'll keep in touch, when you both know you won't & that it'd be too painful to even try. But you still say it because you're supposed to say it. ...I know *that* part all too well as well. And it does hurt, but it's... I don't know, it's a less interesting pain than the earlier part of the song with verses. Also, I have enough uncomfortable silences in my life as it is, I don't really need.... musical silence, as painful and relatable as it is.]

[Later: I feel like the emotions tied to the song are strong enough that it should be further up the list, but that whole stretch after the second verse doesn't quite work for me. Like I said, I do get it and it's thematically appropriate, but it's... not quite something I enjoy enough that I want to move it any further up the list. Rough call though.[

==================

Elimination #19: Dragon66116

Lowest Scoring Song

J-Live - Braggin Writes [58.935]

Highest Scoring Song

Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street [100]

Average Score: 71.57

And another participant joins the 70+ point average gang! While you didn't have time to nominate a complete set of songs and used less than half the time available, you had a rather carefully curated list. If I'm remembering correctly, you were the participant who went the longest without losing a single song and this consistency paid off with a fantastic average score. Besides your two highest scoring songs, I'm also thankful you nominated some more Lupe Fiasco & Lana Del Rey. Those two are always a treat to hear. I know I asked for a ludicrous amount of songs, so it really means a lot that you managed to nominate as much as you did & that the quality was so high. Thank you!

-

============================

#15: The Dear Hunter - The March (4:12):
https://open.spotify.com/track/5N7BPMQelk4faFRworPQzo?si=8b4b7f3de55c4a91

Nominator: NBIceman [0/22 Remaining]

Initial Score: 79.14
Revised Score: 80.96
Final Score: 74.804 [Upgraded to 79.14] [Upgraded to 81.13] [Upgraded to 92.96] [Upgraded to 95.162] [Upgraded to 98.95] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: ...Really, The Boy kinda had this coming. If someone's blackmailing you & they're incredibly powerful and influential, you should probably have a better plan for dealing with them than "set stuff on fire". Like at least make sure the blackmailer is caught in said fire or things are going to go very badly for you. Stupid.)

!Pimpin' Priest always has great songs, yes.

[Final Thoughts: Theatrical villain song from a master manipulator, though it might be more enjoyable if Hunter weren't so incredibly terrible at everything this chapter. I feel like the Priest doesn't even have to try this chapter as Hunter is so busy self-destructing in the most public & absurd way possible. ...Which is probably the point, but at the rate Hunter is ruining everything, he'd have probably eliminated himself if you left him alone for another ten minutes or so.]

[Later: Apparently this song features a lot of reprisals of past songs from the Acts (9, I think?) though I'm not observant enough to catch most of them. Funny enough, I think the only one that I really got was The Old Haunt section and that track wasn't even part of my abridged Act IV that I was listening to on an endless loop. Perhaps I should have listened to that track more often?

I do love that portion of this song:

You tried to take control but you couldn't with a stolen soul
So we're coming after you tonight, coming after you tonight
No word he could uphold 'cause the only truth he ever told
Was that there's far too many ways to die
Far too many ways to die

If a song is divided into nine sections and you only really love one of them, how many points is that worth? ...Well, I think I'll move this back up to its Initial Score. I might go all way up to the next tier or I might leave it just before the 80 point mark, but I think there's enough here that I love that I want this to be quite a ways up the list.]

[Later: Moving this back up to ia tier. I think I might take it further up the list, but I want to at least listen to some of the songs that started in the low 80s before I make too large a jump with this one.]

[Later: Moving this one up a tier, largely because of that one section of the song--I really, really love it. The other 8 sections of the song are good enough, but not nearly on the level of that specific verse.]

[Later: A few more points, once again purely for that one section.]

============================

Elimination #20: NBIceman

Lowest Scoring Song

Haken - Falling Back to Earth [53.772]

Highest Scoring Song

The Dear Hunter - The March [100]

Average Score: 71.29

Another member of the 70+ point average club! Act V definitely took a while to grow on me. I definitely spent basically the entire first two times I listened to the album laughing at Hunter's actions... the moment I pictured him as Skinner, all the dramatic tension the band was trying to build was completely drained. This is largely a personal failure of mine, but some of Hunter's actions are so ludicrous that I'd say it's like... 23% on the band as well. Perhaps thankfully, enjoyment for the wrong reasons is still enjoyment, and some of the tracks won me over in the end: I don't think I had any jokes about The March or Cascade, while Blood featured enough pain & resignation to death (along with slight dissociation) to be something that I could paradoxically love for the right & wrong reasons simultaneously.

Your wildcard non-album picks were also pretty good. I loved Shovel & kinda loved Pink Lemonade. Thank you.

You're welcome!!

I was not at all expecting Gracie Films to be my highest rated nom. I'd been waiting to comment on it all this time, and I've completely forgotten what I wanted to say.

I do remember my initial idea for the nomination came from another Neil Cicierga mashup-of-madness, "Alanis": https://youtu.be/klQTj76Qo9k

But listening to it more than once, I knewwww it would be at the bottom and was not even a prospect. It did get me doing about an hour of running through those endcards for the perfect one. Touchstone, Bad Robot, Williams Street. Walt Disney Home Video... I ended up with Gracie just because it was the best and most iconic five second jingle, and like the Mentos theme from a few rankings ago, I'm happy it filled your heart up!

I agree that Meteora is better, still happy you liked Hybrid Theory, and I would go back now and change some nominations regardless of their rank. I think I ended on "Tranz" from Gorillaz just because I was vibing at the time and it fit my times, but I desperately want to replace it with "Dsol" or "Humility" or "Momentary Bliss." And I did go for what saxophones I knew with "Baker Street" and "#41" lol!

I'm overall satisfied with how I did. It's not three in the top 10/20 like last time, but it's also a great field of nominations, and there's still one song in this that I'm pulling for to win.

If 14 and 13 are posted while I'm typing this and it's one of those, I will be legitimately upset.

*takes a deep breath, hits post message*

Mega_Mana posted...

I do remember my initial idea for the nomination came from another Neil Cicierga mashup-of-madness, "Alanis": https://youtu.be/klQTj76Qo9k

...I do not feel comfortable making any guesses as to what that would have scored. I feel the initial score is "W~W" and translating that into a number is a task for an alternate universe version of Raetsel to deal with.

Mega_Mana posted...

I desperately want to replace it with "Dsol" or "Humility" or "Momentary Bliss."

Shall I add those three to the post topic list? As I've said before, I'm not really in a hurry for that part to end.

-

Ehh... one more song while I'm here responding.

-

==============================

#14: Cory Wong - Golden (4:02):
https://youtu.be/zqw6y61p328

Nominator: Snake [1/32 Remaining]

Initial Score: 73.93
Revised Score: 73.93
Final Score: 93.308 [Upgraded to 95.308] [Upgraded to 99.30] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: I was honestly hoping someone would keep the joke running and bring me a pool table, but I'm afraid I shouldn't give extra points for it... as amusing as it would be for this topic to be one long brick joke about videos with pool tables. Thankfully, this song is actually pretty good! Good enough that I wouldn't be surprised if the pool table was either irrelevant to the song being nominated or, at least, secondary to the song itself. Good song that serves as a good callback to last year.)

!Fun song. Still reasonably certain that the pool table is coincidental (and honestly it isn't influencing things... at least not on a conscious level), but whether it is a deliberate callback or a cosmic joke, I appreciate it either way.

[Final Thoughts: This song finally breaks away from "I'm Not That Girl", jumping up an entire tier! Yay!

...actually, I don't think I "kinda love" this song, I'm pretty sure I just love it! So let's go ahead and jump this all the way up to the very top of the charts.]

[Later: It's weird how quickly my subconscious has started to evaluate pool tables. You can tell I wasn't really into the bit a year ago because I didn't comment on the bold decision to have a red colored table in this video. The second the thumbnail loaded today, I was all "now that is a bold color statement, but look at the way it contrasts with his golden outfit--the director definitely knew what he was doing with the composition here and I think the color choice paid off".

Like... it's definitely harmless enough, but these thought processes would have been quite alien just a little while ago. I feel like there are some really important lessons here about how easily one's cognition can become altered and the need to watch what you joke about before it stops being a joke.

....Aaaanywho, in less existential crisis-y news, have a few extra points.]

==============================

And... I think I need a break, so one more elimination and I'm out until tomorrow:

============================

#13: The Last Five Years (Film) - I Can Do Better Than That (4:57):
https://open.spotify.com/track/5mXLVIo8Sp8m2UM9IU3L1o?si=fba8da063fea4949

Nominator: @Raka_Putra [1/31 Remaining ]

Initial Score: 63.25
Revised Score: 59.40
Final Score: 62.000006 [Upgraded to 70.047] [Upgraded to 74.879] [Upgraded to 80.879] [Upgraded to 89.80] [Upgraded to 90.80] [Upgraded to 95.09] ]Upgraded to 99.25] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: Is this the best Anna Kendrick song ever? Even though I only know her for the first Trolls film, I'm willing to say yes and pretend I have a valid opinion on the topic.)

!Not as interested in the romantic story of this song, even knowing how it all ends... err, does it count as a spoiler considering that the film & musical open with the ending??, but it's still pretty good.

[Final Thoughts: i like this again.]

[Later: And now I really like this.]

[Later: Somehow, I could have sworn the song was a lot higher up than the early 70s... adding just under 5 points to the score to move this up quite a ways.]

[Later: Somehow, I could had sworn this song was at leasat in the early 80s... let's add exactly 6 points so this song is where I thought it was.]

[Later: Moving this up to the highest part of this tier.]

[Later: And up one more tier.]

[Later: And let's go all the way up to 95 points.]

[Later:

Take a look at that town
Take a look at how far I've gone
I will never go back

If only things were that simple.]

============================

-

Figuring out the order of the top 12 is Future Rabbit's problem, I'm just going to go relax for a bit and worry about it in the morning.

EDIT: The promised score chart update:

-------------------------------

Average Score Chart

Dragon66116: 71.57
NBIceman: 71.29
kateee: 70.59
Jesse: 70.34
handsomeboy: 69.36
Mega Mana: 67.30
UF8: 66.75
TunnelScene: 66.03
Xtlm: 65.41
CJones: 65.00
hotdogturtle: 64.25
NFUN: 64.17
CPU: 63.72
BlackDra90n: 62.49
cakophon; 62.48
Lasa: 59.49
Kopazzynth 58.99
Murphiroth: 55.95
sergiocornaga: 55.80
Shonen_Bat: 55.13

--------------------------------------------------

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

#20: Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear Strive OST) - Drift (5:42):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-h-h7hoQxg

Only my third favorite Strive song (behind Necessary Discrepancy and Mirror of the World (not even sure the latter existed during nominations, though?)) but I was pretty sure it'd be the one you'd enjoy the most. Feels like a good decision, at this point!

Drift is great. Such a fun, bonkers theme.

Haha I definitely was not even thinking of the pool table. It's just one of my favorite songs. The solo is so god damn amazing.

Oh man, a sweet 100. :)
Also wow that's an even higher jump, like ~38 points?

I like all of Cathy's songs in The Last Five Years, so I'm sure past!Raka must've mulled over which song to nominate. On another day I might've gone with another song since they're all great. Glad you like this one though.

Now I'm hoping Say My Name can make Top 10!

Some delayed responses:

kateee posted...

also Blondie has a cover of this track and as many people who know this have stated, it's kind of surreal that such a classic band has now covered a song by a gay furry

I do vaguely recall hearing about Blondie having a version of the song. I'm a bit surprised I never tried listening to it to fill some space, but honestly, I was never the biggest fan of even Blondie's biggest hits... Rapture is an interesting novelty, but... eh.

kateee posted...

so the moment this song started going on repeat for me was after the realization with the chorus. i loved the beginning feeling of the song where instrumentally it suits the lyrics more with those beautiful angsty vibes and it sets up an expectation with the leadup to the chorus. but then it has this abrupt jarring shift to a more upbeat ballad-y exclamation and there's a bit of frustration because this expected climax just doesn't end up happening. but then the realization is that's the lie, putting on that appearance/facade where everything is all right while concealing that darker part of yourself and feeling like you're caught in a cycle and can't be helped

That is an interesting analysis, thank you. I'll try listening to the song with that in mind when I get a chance.

TheArkOfTurus posted...

Necessary Discrepancy and Mirror of the World

I may try to listen to those later. I'm admittedly not usually a big fan of Guilty Gear soundtracks, but they may be worth a shot at some point.

Love me some Planet Shit, one of my favorites on the album thanks to the lyrics. I wouldn't say you necessarily always have to be angry to listen to it, it can just be satisfying in general for me. I'm not sure I can even name a specific favorite part, all of it is so good. Keith's delivery on "Who's fucking side are you on" and "better yet, the guillotine" if I had to pick specific parts.

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

For using just a little over half your available nomination time, I think you had a surprisingly varied set.

I really do kinda just enjoy all types of music lol. Honestly surprised I didn't go deeper, but I did miss half the nominations. Maybe if you ever do this again and I remember to still check gamefaqs lol

Touche Amore - Green I thought would score well and when I read it had 100 at first go, it was..................a wild ride reading that write up lol

I was probably most interested in how the Amy Grant song would be rated of all of my selections, I thought for a bit whether to include the live or the album version. I mostly know her for her one awesome Christmas album, but I really do enjoy that song.

But alas, Russian Ska wins. Randomly played Lovebeat with friends for a while years ago and this was by far the standout song in the game. Ska is great, it's so happy.

Added the songs Mega Mana & Ark mentioned to the list, though it'll probably be a bit of a slow burn of going through the extra songs.

-

Xtlm posted...

Touche Amore - Green I thought would score well and when I read it had 100 at first go, it was..................a wild ride reading that write up lol

Yeah, that one was certainly an experience.

-

One song to start the morning.

-

========================

#12: Dorian Electra - Give Great Thanks (3:06):
https://open.spotify.com/track/1Aq5GVAZz7OveWf2IvhJQ4?si=6fea87407dac49b9

Nominator: Bane [0/38 Remaining]

Initial Score: 66.13
Revised Score: 73.17
Final Score: 75.17 [Upgraded to 99.50] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: An S&M ballad which actually works much better than it has any right to.)

!Eh, I've already admitted BDSM songs are getting oddly high scores this year & this track also brings in some lower tones and almost static-y effects later in the song. It's repetitive and explicit, but I think I actually like this one quite a bit.

[Final Thoughts: Perhaps a bit too explicit in one or two lines, but I still actually really like this one.]

[Later: Sooo... I accidentally deleted this writeup one of the times I was shuffling everything around and somehow my only backup is from back before this song was moved up at all, thus erasing every time it was moved up & any extra comments that were added. For what it's worth, I don't recall ever saying anything of interest. Lots of "ehhh, I don't know what I want to do with this song so I'll move it aside" and taking it out of the void, and back into the void, and trying to decide how much I actually loved it.

Either way, this is the best of the BDSM related songs,, so... make of that whatever you want, I suppose.]

========================

Elimination #21: Bane

Lowest Scoring Song

Bjork - Enjoy [29.90]

Highest Scoring Song

Dorian Electra - Give Great Thanks [100]

Average Score: 65.29

Okay, now I'm pretty sure this is the list that reached the most categories: 20+, 40+, Low 50s, 55 exactly, 55+, Exactly 60, 60+, 70, 80, 90, 100. Really just missing the 10 & 30 point categories for perfect attendance.

You went with nominating three albums and while none of them were the biggest hits of the topic (when taken as a whole), I think it worked out. ETID managed to get three songs into the highest tier here (or two in the ssecond highest & one in the highest, if you wish to count 100 as an area onto itself), Dorian managed two 80s & a hundred. and even Bjork got two 70s which is well beyond expectations. All three albums did have their share of low-scoring songs: Bjork wasn't exactly my favorite artist, Dorian spent a bit too much time trying to be lame, and ETID's harder songs can be a bit tough to take some days; this leads to a rather average average score, though I'll say the hits more than make up for the lower scoring songs. Thank you!

====================

#11: Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill (3:53):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p00v9ZFhWJM

Nominator: ZaziGuado [1/28 Remaining]

Initial Score: 84.07 [Upgraded to 100]
Revised Score: 97.24
Final Score: 97.24 [Upgraded to 98.20] [Upgraded to 98.70] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: I don't think I've heard a song so perfectly capture the feeling of melancholia as this one.

[Sometime Later: I was suddenly overcome with a strong desire to listen to this song again, even though it's not remotely close to time for a second listen. So this song is being immediately moved up to 100 points! Congratulations!])

!I love the atmosphere on this track; there aren't any specific moments that I want to draw attention to and I'm not so overwhelmed with emotion that it's going to win, but this is definitely a worthy addition to the highest tier that I could listen to a lot.

[Final Thoughts: I love this song. The wistful, dreamlike ambiance is perfection and the tranquil nature of his voice makes the song so incredibly soothing. While i cannot find any lyrics or story that I'm drawn to, this is one of those songs that is so perfect that the words don't particularly matter.]

[Later: I spent a lot of time going back-and-forth between this song and Deacon Blues, but ultimately, I decided to bring this song into the Top 20. For *atmosphere*.]

[Later: It feels wrong to cut a song that's so consistently high scoring. 100, 97, 100 is a positively ridiculous set of scores...]

[Later: Okay, this song has held on for quite a while since it was almost in #21st place, but I think I can let this go here. Objectively something with scores this high & this consistent should be higher up the list, but I think I'd rather keep everything else that's in the top 10 where it is than delay this again.]

====================

I should probably let the Top 10 simmer for a bit to build dramatic tension, but I'm feeling pretty good about 9th & 10th place right now.

-

====================

#10: 2Pac - Changes (4:28):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg3J5slvB-k

Nominator: rwlh [0/24 Remaining]

Initial Score: 84.60
Revised Score: 99.99
Final Score: 95.10 [Upgraded to 98.30] [Upgraded to 99.00] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: Ohh, now I see why Mega Mana nominated "The Way It Is" earlier, As great as that song is, it felt like a bit of an odd pick, but I see the value in establishing extra context for this track & directly comparing the two. Neat. I think I prefer "Changes"; it's fresher since I haven't heard before & it goes a bit harder on the subject matter, while still being an easy listen considering the realness of the subject matter. Great song.)

!Fantastic song that I had ranked a bit too low the first time out. Having a hard time deciding if this should be in first or second place at the main ranking*, so I'll place this song into a tie with the other one and make a decision later. More fun if even I don't really know which song is going to win until the very end--or who knows, maybe we have a tie for first. That could be interesting.

[Final Thoughts: This is how it's done. Real and heavy, but extremely pleasing to listen to. I love this song; There are a few songs that I prefer, but not very many at all & this was very much in the conversation for first place for quite a while.

*There were originally two rankings. I edited most writeups to remove references to that for ease of reading, but as this was tied for first at one of the rankings, I'm leaving the reference here. I 'll talk more about the other ranking on the song that was tied with this one, Probably?]

[Later: I've always kinda hoped a 2Pac song would get nominated for one of these rankings eventually. I've never heard any of his work before, that I know of, but he was such a big name that even I knew of him at the very least. I'm glad that his song lived up to the hype and I'm also glad for the song choice here: taking the iconic music from "The Way It Is" and making the lyrics so much harder & real, he truly elevated the song way beyond the popular song he sampled. I absolutely love this song. While I'm not quite willing to put it in first, or even take it over every silly cartoon song, I very much need to spend more time with music like this. Great song, great nomination.]

====================

Elimination #22: rwlh

Lowest Scoring Song

Sonny Wharton - Raindance [47.54]

Highest Scoring Song

2Pac - Changes [100]

Average Score: 66.18

You'll have to forgive these elimination writeups getting shorter and shorter. The problem with waiting to do them until an elimination is 100% finalized is that leaves me having to try to do a lot of retrospectives in a row, which is difficult from both "amount of time spent preparing the day's eliminations" & "how much I can actually type" standpoints. As expected, you had quite a bit of variety in your nomination set: Changes was probably one of the more important songs of the topic, giving some much needed exposure to classic rap & more serious topics in a very easy to listen to way. Objectively that song should be even higher, but... I think this is where I want to drop it, if I'm being fully honest with myself.

Besides that, you were the only one to go with an actual opera song; while it didn't quite work out, I think we discovered that I'm far more partial to operatic singing with deeper, lower registers than the nominated song, so it was fairly important as a test case. And "Playing Pool in Outer Space" was a mindbendingly literal interpretation of things I like which was rather difficult to score. That barely scratches the surface, but I am sadly running quite late, so suffice it to say that I highly enjoyed the highly unexpected trip your playlist provided. Thank you!

[Later: Well, i'm not running late right now, but was when I had this song set to be eliminated last night. It wasn't, but the writeup stands as written, even if that part isn't quite accurate right now.]

-continued-

============================

#9: Beetlejuice (Broadway Cast) - Say My Name (3:55):
https://open.spotify.com/track/3PzAUMMxPcaXEfWEvMx469?si=58595175ed774942

Nominator: @Raka_Putra [0/31 Remaining]

Initial Score: 61.00
Revised Score: 80.00
Final Score: 80.00000003 [Upgraded to 80.97] [Upgraded to 92.01] [Upgraded to 95.99] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: Hey, a musical I'm familiar with! I nominated Barbara 2.0 at your duet topic & it inspired me to listen to the entire album. This is a better song than I gave it credit for on first listen. Lydia's constant playing with Beetlejuice (Betelgeuse, technically, but I never remember how to spell it and practically no one is pedantic enough to use the correct spelling) is funny & Beetlejuice is the textbook definition of an overly theatrical villain, so this is right up my alley.)

!So he can't say his own name, but he can possess other people & make them say the name, but it also doesn't count if they say it while possessed? Weird.

[Final Thoughts: Yes, I like theatrical villain songs and licensed musicals, this is a bit of a "free points" button.]

[Later; Adding a bit less than one full point to this song. It's definitely the type of thing I love, but I think I'll *probably* be keeping this in the early 80s.]

[Later: I like theatrical, villain, comedy, and Beetlejuice. I think I wasn't into it at first because Beetlejuice's actor doesn't have the most pleasing voice--intentional and it works for the character, but not really known for his singing voice. Now that I've had time to properly adjust, there's no way this gets less than 92 points.]

[Later: I think I'll take this one up even further.]

[Later: [Luce's Note: Of course, we would give the highest marks to the musical starring a suicidal girl with daddy issues... ]]

============================

Elimination #23: Raka_Putra

Lowest Scoring Song

Bob Crosby & The Bob Cats - Dear Hearts & Gentle People [49.90]

Highest Scoring Song

Beetlejuice (Broadway Cast) - Say My Name [100]

Average Score: 73.54

Your list provided a nice crash course on musicals. While they didn't always start with the best score, most of them kept getting a lot of extra points over time, leading to you and Metalmind having a stranglehold on "most songs remaining" for most of the topic. Suffice it to say that I''m pretty sure you two were the most consistent at finding songs that I loved--you managed to get 12 songs with at least 80 points, which is pretty absurd.

You also gave me a lot to think about. I know it wasn't intentional on your part, but "It Takes Two" certainly triggered some emotions I've been suppressing for a while... though it certainly took a roundabout way to get there. But I suppose working through my emotions is something I shouldn't be dragging you into (any more than I already have, at least), so let's just say that I'm at least *aware* of issues I need to work on, which is important progress.

Besides the musicals that were the clear standouts of the list, there was also some nice exposure to Indonesian music which we don't normally get to hear, so that was also a lot of fun. While you just barely miss out on the top ten (you have no idea how many times I've gone back and forth on this... I'm, what, five hours late with the eliminations today? Actually I'm going to take a break and come back to this in the morning.)

[Later, in the morning]

Yeah, I think I'm sticking with this in 11th Place. It's a tough call, but one I think I can live with. Either way, thank you very much!

[Marginally later]

Eh, let's flip this last song and On Melancholy Hill, actually.

[Later-ish]

...Fine, I'll take Beetlejuice over Changes, but that's its last move.

And moving along to #8.

============================

#8: Tyler Smyth & Andy Bane - Infinite (4:30):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDu9AY15fQI

Nominator: DoctorJimmy [0/24 Remaining]

Initial Score: 52.61
Revised Score: 62.00
Final Score: 83.76 [Upgraded to 94.97] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: Ugghhh, I hate Sonic Forces. One of the few canon Sonic games I've never been able to finish because I just can't tolerate it long enough to get anywhere. I've had it on my backlog forever, just for the sake of completion, but uggghhhh...

It's difficult to separate my all-consuming hatred for the game and everything associated with it from the song, which is unfortunate, because this looks like it should be my type of song? It's a non-human villain song about PAIN and DARKNESS which should be a big hit, but I don't think the singer can actually pull it off. Yeah, he says he was born in this pain, but he doesn't actually sound like he's in pain. He doesn't even sound like he knows what pain even is. Which is probably appropriate for how much Infinite sucks, but.... UGGGHHHH.

Like, in terms of concepts, this is probably one of the most "me" songs that could ever be nominated so I can see where you're coming from, but... grumble-grumble-razzen-frazzen.)

Can we give these lyrics to a better character and have them performed by a singer that can actually convey pain? Because this feels like a 100 point song wasted on a -60 point villain (yes, my scale can go into negatives) and performed in a way that barely allows it to reach half its potential. And it sucks because this song is trying to be my favorite song of all time, it's just failing at it. "Only scars remain of who I was" is possibly the most perfect encapsulation of the blunt sadness I crave in the entire topic series and there's a blunt arrogance to this villainy that I find so very appealing. It even works on a wrestling level with lines like "If you step in the ring then you're gonna regret it" making it almost hillariously perfect as a heel's wrestling theme.

And yet. AND YET. Not only do I not think Tyler Smith sounds like someone with scars, his voice sounds pretty enough that I'm not convinced he even knows what a scar is. I feel like if you asked him to define the line "only scars remain of who I was", he would look at you in confusion before saying that he believed the song was talking about a character from the Lion King. He completely fails at conveying the feelings I need him to be conveying.

AND YET, he does do a reasonable job with the more blatant aggression and villainy aspects. His voice does suit the sort of "chickenshit heel who thinks he's tough" wrestling gimmick the song would go with and it's probably appropriate enough for Infinite, if I can stop completely hating everything related to his existence for five minutes.

(I cannot do that)

....I don't know where to place this song. I'm *tempted* to just give it a really high score anyway, but.... ugh. I'm going to put this score on hold for now and come back to it in a few days.

[One week later[

Alright, let's try this AGAIN. I'm willing to say I like this song now, but I don't want to take it above the low-60's at the moment; I'm still not sold on the vocal performance here.

[Final Thoughts: Close enough to perfection that I'm moving it up a few tiers, but I'd be shocked if this actually reached the highest possible tier.]

[Later: And I can finally love this song. It has taken quite a while to overcome my natural bias against this due to its source, but after an entire year of trying to judge this song fairly, I think I actually can? This is the fun type of villainy and pain.]

============================

Elimination #24: DoctorJimmy

Lowest Scoring Song

Bjork - Crystalline [51.44]

Highest Scoring Song

Tyler Smyth & Andy Bane - Infinite [100]

Average Score: 65.72

If it makes you feel better about accidentally getting a song into the top 8, Infinite very much did not start anywhere near this level, but received a few substantial boosts once I was able to put aside my extreme bias against the game and character associated with it. Your second highest scoring song, Invitation to Freedom, also started as one of your lowest before getting quite a substantial series of boosts during the actual ranking. Thankfully, both songs got here in the end.

Other than those two, I'd say I'm impressed with the selection of zts songs. Going 3-for-3 in the "Really Like" tier is a really impressive feat. While your list may not have the highest average, you definitely had one of the absolute favorite songs of the topic. Thank you!

I can't say this decision feels good, but I'm going to lock it in:

============================

#7: Gustav Holst - First Suite in E-flat for Military Band, III. March (2:58):
https://youtu.be/eJ0qATYLUco

Nominator: Haste [0/31 Remaining]

Initial Score: 23.00
Revised Score: 99.09
Final Score: 70.36 [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: ...Yep, that's marching music alright.)

Guess what type of music I'm suddenly in the mood for at this exact moment! It's this type. This.. I like this quite a bit. I was never one for parades, but this feels so exciting! It makes me want to run around and be all bouncy, and hyper, and excited! This is placing me in a mindset that is quite foreign to me and I'm obligated to place it at the highest possible tier on principle.

Honestly, I'm a bit nervous about making that sort of leap. Considering how strongly I disliked this song the first time around, moving it all the way to the highest tier feels like a mistake... even if I'm really happy about the idea right now, I'll probably be back to being "me" at that point & probably be back to disliking it. And that would cause the list to break COMPLETELY, like the way I roll out the rankings is literally not designed to allow a song to drop even 1% of that distance between the Revised and Final Scores.

But right now this song is triggering in a good way and I have to both award it something. I want to have it at the top of the list, even though Raetsel probably won't. So, you know, we'll see? I love it, at least...

[Final Thoughts: Yeah, I can't exactly force myself back into that headspace, but I still want this to be fairly high up the list. The fact is there are times where I'll love it and I don't want to drop it too far down.]

[Later: It's hard to decide what to do with this song, to be quite honest. There's an aspect of me that loves this and wants it to win, but that part isn't exactly awake right now. Still, when I think of songs that might win the topic, I do see this song as being in the conversation... it isn't my favorite, but it is her favorite and very much could win if she were around that day.

So... I suppose I'll move this song up to the top of the list.]

[Later: This is the most personally controversial elimination I'm making. I need to be more accepting and tolerant towards other aspects of myself instead of suppressing them all the time. Having a large tie for third--or possibly even second--place could be the correct play here. But at the end of the day, I don't *want* another batch of ties (especially at the end like this) and I'm just not in a headspace where I see this as a winning song. That's not saying there's anything wrong with the times where I do love this and want it in first place. Wanting it to win, wanting it to tie, and not wanting it to win -or- tie are all valid mindsets and *at this exact point in the space-time continuum* I'm picking the third option.]

============================

Elimination #25: Haste_2

Lowest Scoring Song

Percy Grainger - Marching Song of Democracy [28.00]

Highest Scoring Song

Gustav Holst - First Suite in E-flat for Military Band, III. March [100]

Average Score: 59.51

While most of your songs didn't do terribly great--28 fell before the "really like" tier--you definitely turned things around with two perfect scores, including one that is the absolute favorite of one aspect of myself. I'm quite thankful for those two songs specifically; besides that, you did get a fair number of songs into the liked tier; Weltall in particular feels like something I may have undervalued a bit--took a while for me to learn to tolerate the chimes, but it was an intriguing enough musical journey that it <probably should be more than 65 points...

...eh, let's take that one up to "68.02795"; very specific number, but I want to avoid creating a sudden tie.

New Average: 59.59

That doesn't really impact anything, but by coincidence, you're not exactly .10 points ahead of Lasa on the average chart. Either way, thank you!

On the plus side, rejecting the four or five way tie makes the rest of the list much easier to finish:

============================

#6: Pale Waves - Noises (4:06):
https://youtu.be/-nQessUrdk0

Nominator: Snake [0/32 Remaining]

Initial Score: 100
Revised Score: 70.96
Final Score: 72.4910 [Upgraded to 75.00000003] [Upgraded to 77.00 {almost immediately upgraded to 100}]

(First Reaction: I shouldn't complain about getting two hundred point songs in a row, but did you really have to put your two best nominations back-to-back like that? And at the end of the nomination list too... you know, I've been looking forward to listening to The Dear Hunter's Act V for a solid year now, got my schedule all arranged to listen to it after finishing your last few nominations, and now the album is stuck trying to live up to these two songs?? So unfair.

Kidding, kidding. Mostly. Either way, great pop song dealing with the type of depression & dissociation that I live for, so I am quite obligated to move this up to the top of the list. )

!As someone who can never control their emotions, this song does hit fairly hard. Just not nearly as hard as the first time around... I still really like this, but it's a few tiers below the first place contention I had it originally.

[Final Thoughts: A sad bop that hits all the right lyrics. "I know it's not right but you can't fix me this time", "years go by and nothing really seems to change", and "I look at myself, see what I hate" are all rather brutal hits at the moment. And I'll always really like this song, but I'm not quite getting that brutally crushed feeling that propelled this song into contention for first place as I did on the first listen; still great, obviously, but definitely at this "really like" tier. Today, at least.]

[Later: A few extra points. I don't want to eliminate this just yet.]

[Later: Adding another two points to this song.

[Fluttershy's Note: Umm... if everyone else is getting to take a song into the final, can I bring this one??]

...Alright then.]

============================

Elimination #26: Snake

Lowest Scoring Song

Twin Temple - I Am A Witch [50.34]

Highest Scoring Song

Pale Waves - Noises [100]

Average Score: 67.49

Another generally high-scoring set of nominations, featuring two 100 point songs (and Flutter's favorite of the topic), thank you. Five kinda loves, two perfects, and a fair number of liked-to-really-liked tracks thrown in. I still find it funny that one of your tracks just coincidentally featured in that WWE game and snuck its way to a bunch of extra listens as a result, that was fun. Sadly, my wrists are getting a bit uncomfortable (I really should have typed these in advance over the past year), so I'll be cutting this short--still, thank you very much!

EDIT: And now I'll take a short break to get lunch before launching into the Top 5. The main ranking is almost over!

I'm alive??

Top 5?

I'm so glad you liked Changes so much! My goal with ranking topics is never to do well (although it is nice to do well) but instead to expose the ranker to new things. It seems like I achieved that!

My favorite lyric to Changes is:

And still I see no changes
Can't a brother get a little peace
There's war on the streets
And a war in the Middle East
Instead of a war on poverty
They got a war on drugs
So the police can bother me

So good.

Thanks for this topic, as always!

Yeah it's a great song, and I'm glad you loved it! Pale Waves are probably my favorite new band of the past few years (well they've actually been around like 7 or 8 years at this point but that's still pretty fresh in my eyes!)

============================

#5: Depeche Mode - Walking in My Shoes (5:18):
https://youtu.be/GrC_yuzO-Ss

Nominator: Metalmind [0/25 Remaining]

Initial Score: 78.14
Revised Score: 78.14
Final Score: 65.585 [Upgraded to 70.9] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: The song goes too long and I wish it had stopped at the Interlude. Coming back in with another Pre-Chorus & two more repetitions of the Chorus makes it feel like the song is continuing just for the sake of continuing. That being said, everything before the interlude is fantastic--the blunt pain:

I would tell you about the things they put me through
The pain I've been subjected to
But the Lord himself would blush

is exactly the type of thing I'm looking for and the chorus telling the listener that he doesn't want forgiveness for his actions also resonates fairly strongly... but even then I'd say this is a song that I really, really like but not one that I love. Still a great song though.)

!I think I covered everything I wanted to say in the first reaction.

[Final Thoughts: The last reprisal of the chorus is a tad much for the song's length, but turning away from absolution is always fun & I generally like the way the band sounds here.]

[Later: I'm moving this back up to the 70 point tier, but I'm depriving it of its extra zero. It's not "70.90" it is "70.9" and this feels like an important distinction, even though it literally does not impact anything.]

[Later: {Luce's Note: I'm moving this one up to 90 points. Deal with it, rabbit.

...no, you know what? Katie gets to bring the marching song to the 100 point tier because it's important to her and I get to bring this because it's important to me. }]

============================

Elimination #27: MetalmindStats

Lowest Scoring Song

The Police - Synchronicity 1 [52.156]

Highest Scoring Song

Depeche Mode - Walking in My Shoes [100]

Average Score: 76.66

[Write-ups shall continue getting shorter because I really need to a take a break from typing for a few days. Which complicates things as I need to get Rank the Tracks in tomorrow... well, anyway:]

With an average score that's three whole points above our former leader, Raka, I think we can safely say that you have the highest Average Score of the topic. With an unbelievable 10 songs in the 90+ tier, your list is quite definitively the strongeest. While it did not hold the winning song, it had the most tracks that I love, to an astounding degree. You also join Haste & Snake in the oddly specific "nominated a favorite song of one aspect of me" category. Thank you very much!

========================

#4: Mili (Limbus Company OST) - In Hell We Live, Lament (3:45):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfTWgMgknpY

Nominator: Ark [0/17 Remaining]

Initial Score: 60.00
Revised Score: 100
Final Score: 94.38 [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: Oh wow, it's Mili! I love "Children of the City", that song alone has almost convinced me to buy Library of Ruina a few times, even though I'm pretty sure it's not my style of game.

This song is far more intense than CotC, but it has a lot of things I like going for it. Having two versions of the same character fighting gives me that dissocation I live for, the lyrics are suitably bleak and tortorous, and I'm pretty into the story that's being told and the imagry of the song. I'm going to add it to the 60 point clump for a bit.)

!Kinda unfair to other songs, but I fell in love with this song during VGMC & this is an all-time great song. Also, I kinda forgot this track was nominated here? And listened to it not just at VGMC, but also a lot of extra times for fun? And may have tried to force other people to listen to its greatness? Uhh... yeah, I've been trying to avoid listening to songs on the nomination list outside of ranking purposes, but that only works when you remember what you're avoiding...

...well, this song incidentally got a lot more than 3 listens and earned its way to the highest level of songs, even if no other song got quite such an advantage.

[After Infinity Listens: Yeah, this song has way too much of an advantage because I've listened to it way too many times and still love it, so it kinda has to win almost by default?]

[Final Thoughts: Sooo... uhhh... I "may" have listened to this, like, fifty or so times on an endless loop before I realized I wasn't supposed to be listening to it? And now it's... kinda... a bit overplayed and I prefer the songs that I haven't binged so hard on?

...Uhhh... I don't... don't quite know what to do in this situation... it kinda has to win for being the song I spent the most time listening to. But also there are multiple other songs I like more. So it shouldn't. But it should. And this is very awkward now.]

[Later: I don't think I'll have this win, even though it should, but I will let it keep the perfect score either way. I'm not really sure why it doesn't already have it because it's still in the conversation for first place.]

========================

Elimination #28: TheArkOfTurus

Lowest Scoring Song

Opeth - Reverie/Harlequin Forest [55.0000006]

Highest Scoring Song

Mili (Limbus Company OST) - In Hell We Live, Lament [100]

Average Score: 70.80

You had the song that I've listened to the most, a true masterpiece that I wouldn't shut up about and would force upon anyone who would listen. That... probably should have won, but *at this moment*, I think I'm content with fourth place.Anyway, I was glad to see you come back and nominate a new bunch of songs, and your list did not disappoint--with a song that was solidly in contention for first place until the very end, a wonderful burst of chaos, a marvelous inspirational song that spoke to a certain side of me (with enough anger towards assholes to appeal to other sides as well), and a generally interesting list that lands you solidly in the 70 point average club. Thank you!

============================

#3: Franchouchou - Kagayaite (3:58):
https://open.spotify.com/track/4tuTX3YmCWxgbBfVmndoDV?si=db0a0673276b47c1

Nominator: Player_0 [0/33 Remaining]

Initial Score: 62.15
Revised Score: 72.15
FInal Score: 69.45 [Upgraded to 71.32] [Upgraded to 72.063] [Upgraded to 73.249] [Upgraded to 76.15] [Upgraded to 90.00000003] [Upgraded to 92.30] [Upgraded to 95.30] [Upgraded to 98.00] [Upgraded to 99.35]

(First Reaction: I like this one. It kinda covers the same 'move on through the darkness, rarr' optimism that seems to be the running theme of every song on this album, but I definitely prefer the music & lyrics on this one.)

!I don't know why *THIS* is the inspirational song from the album that works, but it is. Moving it up a full tier with an extra 10 points.

[Final Thoughts: I still quite like this song, but I think I may have moved it up a bit too far when correcting its low score.]

[Later: Going to take this one back up a tier as well...]

[Later: And a bit more of an upgrade.]

[Later, that same day: Adding another point to this.]

[Later: This is at least three points better than Franchouchou's Flag song, so i'm moving this one up.]

[Later:

If you're a failure since the creation of life...

See, imaginary zombie girl gets it. I think I'm just going to jump this one all the way to the highest tier.]

[Later: Going to add another two points to this. Best inspirational song of the topic, probably.]

[Later: And three more points. This song just keeps going up and up.]

============================

Elimination #29 [Third Place]: Player_0

Lowest Scoring Song

Saga Arcade Rappers - Saga Arcade Rap [11.86]

Highest Scoring Song

Franchouchou - Kagayaite [100]

Average Score: 63.26

Well, that's definitely the largest gap between Lowest & Highest scoring songs. And they even come from the same album, which is also oddly impressive. It's also curious that the two albums you nominated shared a somewhat similar scoring trajectory, losing quite a few songs early on -but- turning things around with some big hits later on. The Zombie album is notable for having one of the strongest inspirational songs of all time, while Artangels had some.... unique story elements that, eventually, worked well for me. I might try renominating Artangels for "Rank the Tracks" since there were so many complaints about it not being chosen & it only lost by one vote.

Anyway... yeah, the album tracks weren't all hits, but they both had enough songs that I loved that I'd say they're pretty top-tier & gave you the third highest ranking song of the topic. Thank you!

===================

#2: Stupendium - These Hallowed Wings [3:55]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSYEzDx_BFM

Nominator: paulg [0/52 Remaining]

Initial Score: 80.00
Revised Score: 84.60
Final Score: 81.60 [Upgraded to 95.12] [Upgraded to 96.90] [Upgraded to 100]

(First Reaction: An unexpectedly great song that I kinda love. Clever lyrics that are faithful to the character, incredibly catchy beat, this song is legitimately awesome.)

!This song is so far, far beyond the other two Animal Crossing related songs that it's not even funny.

[Final Thoughts: Well, Tom Nook's song has been growing on me lately, so perhaps this is not as far beyond as it once was. They're both well beyond Crazy Redd's song though!

...Unless I moved that one up. I don't want to move that one up though. Do I?

*goes back to listen to Rogue's Gallery*

No, no I do not.

Aaannywho...

*pauses for a minute, wondering if she'd rather go with AaanyHOO for the obvious owl pun*

...

*quietly wonders if that pun would be offensive to that imaginary owl that lives in her head. Probably not?*

*awkward silence*

Right, right. You nominated a song! This is the most upbeat and cheery of the three songs, largely because Blathers is the only nice fellow. It's cute, funny, upbeat with a memorable chorus, and stars an adorable non-human singer. I do kinda love this song.]

[Later: A bit of a boost at the last moment.]

[Later: I know it's not the best song here, but I don't care. It's cute, and fun, and stars a singing owl! And if I'm being honest... the singing owl kinda makes me really happy? I mean, I am making a lot of progress on dealing with more challenging subject matter, but I still love songs and characters like this too. And that's fine.]

[Later: Soo.. umm... my inner child is kinda insisting, very strongly, that the owl not be eliminated. ...So, I'll just be moving this up to the 100 point category and we'll see what that means in the distant future when we reach the end of the list.

...Wait, we're deciding the top 10 tomorrow?! That's... wow, for something that took well over a year, this is kinda sneaking up on me.]

===================

Elimination #30 [Second Place]: paulg

Lowest Scoring Song

On The Franches Mountains - Jura Orchestra (AKA The Yodeler Song from Price Is Right) [24.00]

Highest Scoring Song

Stupendium - These Hallowed Wings [100]

Average Score: 63.01

I'm glad someone actually took a chance at nominating an incredibly large number of songs! Back when this started, I was hoping to find a way to hit over a thousand songs just to hit that milestone... perhaps thankfully we didn't get anywhere near that number, but with 52 nominations, you certainly tried your best to get the song count up there. You also hit quite a bit of variety; you gave me the largest amount of chidlike songs (always a positive), the highest scoring mashup, yodeling, ticking clocks, villainy, VGM... it's a lot. Far too much to try to summarize, to be honest, but it was all incredibly appreciated. Thank you very much! I can hardly imagine how long it took to even *find* that many songs to start with...

-

====================

#1: The Rentals - Elon Musk Is Making Me Sad (7:19):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taupuK6oND4

Nominator: ZaziGuado [0/28 Remaining]

Initial Score: 99.99
Revised Score: 99.99
Final Score: 100

(First Reaction: I expected a low-scoring comedy song, but god damn, this song is legitimately awesome. I love it and it has a very high chance of winning the traditional ranking*, but I don't think I want to put this into [REDACTED]... I mean, I love the song and will give it approximately all of the points, but I don't feel an intense in-depth look at the song would offer anything of note... sometimes a song is simply great in easily understood ways that don't require much introspection.)

!The first time I heard this song, I instantly fell in love with it and knew it had to take first place out of all the songs in the more traditional part of the ranking. Tonight, while the song is still amazing and I like it a lot, I'm not quite feeling as strongly about it as the first time around...

[Final Thoughts: *Okay, so I've edited out almost every reference to the multiple rankings to make it easier to follow, but I think it's relevant to establish this song's placement. When this started there was a Traditional Ranking and a separate list of songs that I wanted to do a deep dive on. Make a more concerted effort to analyze the songs and my reactions to them. After my wrists started acting up, it became obvious that wasn't really a viable option and things were retooled into having everything into one large ranking.

This song was the highest ranking in the Traditional Ranking. I honestly don't remember how many songs I had set aside for the intense scrutniy (let's say 20 to 40, probably), but this song stood alone as the best song that I loved that wasn't going to be hyperanalyzed. From way back when this ranking started, this was the song destined to win--at least the category it was part of, which was still impressive. It was certainly the larger of the two lists by several orders of magnitude.

And now... now I'm not sure what happens. There's very much meant to be two winners at this point. And considering the lyrics with the singer literally begging to be given first place this is getting kinda awkward?? So I don't know. We'll see. Maybe I take the lame option and have a few songs tie for first. Maybe I do let it win--I love the story, the lyrics, the instruments, I just love this song to death.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Love for this song and its heavily fictionalized version of Elon Musk should not be considered an endorsement of actual Elon.]

So... I guess take that last fraction of a point to 100 and we'll see what happens in a month or two.]

====================

Winner: ZaziGuado

Lowest Scoring Song

Color Therapy - Terrarium (feat. The Album Leaf) & Made in Heights - All the Places [55.00]

Highest Scoring Song

The Rentals - Elon Musk Is Making Me Sad [100]

Average Score: 70.49

Honestly, I feel this song is the only appropriate winner. With the highest combined score [299.98 out of a possible 300], this song has been at the absolute top of every version of the list. Other songs would come and go, being added and removed from the conversation for first, but this track has been a constant fixture. No song has its record. And I do believe that "On Melancholy Hill" was the second highest combined score [297.24]--Gracie Films Logo has third at [294.83]--so your two highest songs have always been incredibly dominant performers that stole the show, no matter where I was mentally at the time. For this nearly unprecedented level of consistency, there can be only one true winner, so give it up for Zazi everyone!

Now, I very much need to take a break from typing and I shall start the post-ranking listening in a few days. Thank you all for your time and attention.

You did it.

Master Song List, featuring all Initial/Revised/Final Scores:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19-mPuHHNtIKV8kQZ3BqtuqdTJueADuJE_Jn0LzgMf-w/edit?usp=sharing

All songs with tied scores under Initial & Revised Score pages are considered tied--no attempt has been made to manually organize tied songs. The Final Score page should have the 100 point songs properly ordered, all other same scores remain as tied as they've ever been.

So if you want to get a rough idea of where any song was after the first two listens, you can check the Master Document. I don't think there's any interesting data there, but as promised, it is available if you want it.

The public song list will be updated eventually this evening, though I'm not entirely sure why since the Master List covers everything... *shrugs*

Raetsel_Lapin posted...

even though it should

I'll take this as a moral victory!

Thanks for all the work you put into this, it was very fun to follow.

Excellent topic as usual! As I said you are a legend for doing these and I still stand by that.

Great topic will surely read through a few things again
Really thought I could do better. Oh well
Might post a couple more songs for the list
Fingers crossed we will get another ranking topic some day!

fuck elon musk

I started checking write-ups from 10 and scrolling and skimming and seeing the numbers come down and it was getting closer and closer, and I see #2 and it's still not the song, and I can't believe it! "On Melancholy Hill" scored numbe...

Elon Musk is making me sad? Wh..what? Did I miss s...

#11. Not even top ten.

Shattered.

neat

Oh wow that's super neat you liked Elon Musk Is Making Me Sad so much. I would not have expected it to be #1, let alone sitting at the top for basically the duration of the ranking. I remember it catching me off guard as well when it first released. Didn't expect a 7 minute banger and this was before Elon had his societal heel turn. The lyrics are a lot of fun too, especially his mention of being in the lead in '95 when Weezer was at their all-time high in terms of critical success. It's also cool how in sync our tastes seem to be on a general level. I like the music I like and I'm glad other people do as well.

Thanks for going on this journey. I missed out on it last time and I'm happy to have had the opportunity to go along for the ride this go-around. It takes a dedication I wish I had these days, but I'll always have the one time I pulled off ranking 100 songs. It's how I found many of my favorite songs and bands so I find it a very worthwhile project if you can carve out the time for it. I hope you can say the same after this batch of nominations.

Good topic! We don't agree on music all that much, but I admire your time, effort, and fun presentation! Very well done. Having two tracks get a perfect ten was a definite surprise! Last topic I got maybe one in the 80+ range and that was it, I think.

Holy Wilds is one of my favorites from Opoona. You mentioned low tones. I totally agree with that. The full sound really fills out with the majestic, mystical feeling it evokes. The perfect score you gave for it would have been a powerful motivator for me to get it into the next VGMC. The problem is that, well, it was rolled in BOST6, and it got nearly doubled by Small Two of Pieces. >.< I will nominate some other Opoona track next VGMC...

Interesting to see the March movement of First Suite in Eb nearly get first place, meanwhile the other movements only got between 50 and 60 points! But the march movement is my favorite, too. Marches tend to be shallow in terms of design. The music is just... there. This piece is different... I guess being part of a suite means it has to be more than that by necessity. But yeah, the way the two contrasting themes get combined and build towards the climax is totally epic. And I love the energy the ornaments give at....dang it. Did I give you the North Texas recording rather than Eastman? I love the stronger brass in that version, even though it is less clean, admittedly. But yeah, I just love hearing the first trumpet join the woodwinds with those ornaments at this moment: https://youtu.be/lk7c0m7SfNE?t=113

I haven't listened to most of the music in this topic, but I really do enjoy These Hallowed Wings. That one's a keeper, for sure.

ok i think i've got absolutely everything i wanted to drop in here now that the topic ended (give or take, there were of course also a bunch of other joucho songs (mostly covers) which i mentioned i cut from my songlist during noms but i don't like need to include those). yes it's still almost entirely just vtuber stuff

memex feat. kiila - Interference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03sh3CI0mEY

Koyoi (CLAM AND MIRAGE) - Eternity in our last scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdMbPOX1EcQ

nodoka - Natsu no Kanata (theme of natsuno-kanata)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqpAQNkuKTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3jR_TbCFJc

Yusaku Nakano (feat. Hatsune Miku) - AYATOBI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7mihjnfyAI

Choko - tiny twinkle thoughts (composer: AAAA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVmScXPhTfI

Choko - Bye bye JiangShi (composer: Capchii)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qDFccMr3E8 (this was the song i mentioned btw)
Choko - Fancy Jiang Shi (album preview) (composers: Capchii/Rissyuu)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-osynWYC0Y (adding for reference since bye bye jiangshi was a remix of songs from this)

Natori Sana - Amakamisama (composer: Hidekazu Tanaka)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uvosnOrKoc

Natori Sana - Mondainai Tripper (composer: sasakure.UK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5HQFrSk4OA

Harusaruhi - Oarana (composer: Vincent Diamante)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZgW9ZmB150

Isekai Joucho - Daremo inai e de/With a Picture Without Anyone (composer: rionos)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgR34fFacVw

Isekai Joucho - Kasumi ga Tsuitekuru/Haze Comes (composer: Harumaki Gohan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXicNyq5fG4

KAF - Yomadoiko/World Confuse Child (composer: Kanzaki Iori)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13eFWjlus_g

Isekai Joucho - Dimension (composer: Hiiragi Magnetite)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x1Tyg2uvVM

Isekai Joucho - PANDORA CALL (composer: Ren)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQz2IA56VCo

RIM - Kuruenai/(Not) Lunatic (composer: Mao Sasagawa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB9qe4ahzac

Izu-Tan (Etotama Vtuber) - Bokura ga Kowasu Sekai (composer: Azusa Kikuchi)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTrmaxnYNdc

Somunia- Ameiro no Binetsu (composer: Toiki)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu0Sx4aFT7Q

Himekuma Ribon - Ritoratan No Mori (composer: Okka)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox0I6iWhNww

Hoshino Meguri - Connect (composer: Virtual Cat)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQ-r9_3zRc

Enma Ruri - Mahou no Uta (composer: cyan slime)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHV9guoObok

Queue - Fluctuat (composer: ioL)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DBQc_zvPFA

Ganbaruuko - Kawatareno mamade (composers: Tokyo Terrace Music Production)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo7y8M7gaBk (as demonstrated here, this isn't even close to her normal stream voice)

Ganbaruuko - Muzai (composers: Tokyo Terrace Music Production)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKfRv3so-xw

Re:A projecT - Tsurezure Pieces (composer: Lemm)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZAPekA255A

Hoshikuzu Len - Honjitsu wa Seiten nari (composer: TOKOTOKO)
https://open.spotify.com/track/2UYvna8PuTqalHfqgqL6oQ

Kumogahata Yaya - Platinum Plume (composer: Nanakusa Crim)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDJep8hFeJE

Ueiku - Iku kara minna e/De Ueiku al iuj (composer: Mofuribito)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZsXO19HjuA

Nemukawa Yumena - = I still love you (composer: Poteko)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr9yweX0wJs

Kuriyama Yanmi - Licorice (composer: Rainy Day)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn2NuY5rPMM

Yusaku Nakano - Paper Airplane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqh6Er21le8

Ken Namba - Hanasaku mori ni hibiku uta wa, atarashii monogatari no hajimari wo tsugeru. (self cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUNFfW56CmM

Nanashi (Topia user) - Omoitsumugu (composer: n_o.b_o)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdsegpVy4aA

Kazuya Okada - Early Summ:eR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-oODTKKqF4

AZKi - afterglow (composer: Daijiro Nakagawa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiddR-oZta4

nayuta - Comet Light, at Starry Avenue (composer: Qutabire)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVALhPmSFO4

Plague_Xeno - Fly (composer: Daidai Myao)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTFIxVLoqOw (myao's songs for other vtubers are cool but also have effectively no mixing, word of warning)

Emnyeca - Sandbox (composer: Daidai Myao)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwO_hqcI72A

Mikanagi Ruka Utsuru Hachinomi - FAKELORE (composer: Daidai Myao)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOq8q7rigi8

Metamoe - Shijima Nite(At The Silence) (composer: Daidai Myao)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rk09Mi_p-M

VocaDuo (male ensemble) - Glorious (composer: Dinger)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZAj3El_Clg

Hibiki Ao - Hoshiyo Santa wo Michibiite (composer: Yuya Machida)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqGz9a4JvOU

wotoha - Starry Gift (composer: ch1ro:D)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHhBl28oSds

wotoha feat. Yaca - Mugen Houyou (composers: Capchii/Neko Hacker)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgFeJ6hzw1I

wotoha - Jackpot Chance (composer: Neko Hacker)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTeOZ3fjWRE

Kuriyama Yanmi - SWEET SWEET MARRON (composer: Natsume Ryuichi)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inp78zaMOTc

Amakawa Hano - starletter (composer: Mitsukiyo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU-FaqDkMmU

Kotono - Fukuzatsu Denshikairo (composer: 7mai)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUGSD-vsDRo

honestly just everything from Yuru (vsinger)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZqFy3Bfa GArv2R1x5940EqOCp_sRNuev (remove the space after fa i had to bypass the filter lol)

====
covers

Shanoa - RTRT (original: Mili (momocashew/Yamato Kasai))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDt9RO-cjhI

Kumogahata Yaya - Onshitsu Mahou/Greenhouse Magic (original: sea-no)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u49Dk0daMyE

Hekina Ail - Ai wa Maru de Seidenki/Love is just like the static shock (original:-ute/Hoshibe Sho/Shoichiro Hirata)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUq-5LW8bUY

Yuudutsu Tear - phony (original: Tsumiki)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NjppBuOYb4

Yamamii - Aisaika No Choushoku/Your Breakfast - Jazz Waltz Arrange (original: Sheena Ringo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l92H-P-Qtb0

Tasokare Fu - Yoake to Hotaru (original: n-buna)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvSlWBCBUfE

Marumochi Tsukimi - Gossip (original: OSTER project)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5NiVqY0PPY (another big gap between stream voice and singing voice)

Kiritani Oomugi (alternate persona of Kiritani Komugi) - Akenai Yoru no Lily (original: Kasamura Tota)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXda3lUN1Nw