Board 8 > Rank the Tracks 101: Modest Mouse - GNFPWLBN (+ David Bowie results)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Competitive week, sorted by artist (Steiner/ChichiriMuyo/Great_Paul):
Joshua Bell - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
vs.
Between the Buried and Me - Colors
vs.
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

Previous results can be seen here:
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_2

The rules:
1. Listen to the album in full
2. Rank every track on the album
3. For the results, there will be a curve at the top of each list; two additional points between #1 and #2, and one additional point for the next two ranks. This way, the songs that really stick out to someone get an edge that is not immediately negated by someone else putting it lower. In the case of Demon Days, someone's 15th track will get 1 point, 14th 2 points, 4th 12 points, 3rd 14 points, 2nd 16 points, and 1st 19 points. For albums with greater than 15 tracks, everything ranked below #15 will be given 0 points and the scale for the top 15 will be the same as a 15-track album. For albums with more than 20 tracks, you only have to list your top 15 (with 16-20, I still like having the average rank listed)
4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results
5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic
6. The deadline to vote is Sunday, February 12th at 4:00 PM Central Time
7. You can sign up to be added to the user cycle (a new user will be added to the end of the current cycle as long as there are four weeks remaining) - the next person on the list will choose 3 albums which the other users will vote on for the next topic.
7a. To ensure people are being given an actual choice, the three nominated albums must be by different artists. You can otherwise stick to a similar sound or era.
7b. The tiebreaker for these polls will be whichever is listed first in the poll options - make sure to deliver the results in order of your own preference (which will hopefully have the added benefit of influencing people toward your first choice if they can't decide).
7c. I have added a tiered vote structure - the least popular album will be removed and its backup votes distributed to the other two entrants.
8. Starting with the next cycle, every four weeks will be a competitive week where those listed choose a single album to face off against others.
9. Skits and tracks under 40 seconds will be excluded from the rankings unless argued otherwise

Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News track list:
(1. Horn Intro)*
2. The World At Large
3. Float On
4. Ocean Breathes Salty
(5. Dig Your Grave)*
6. Bury Me With It
7. Dance Hall
8. Bukowski
9. This Devil's Workday
10. The View
11. Satin in a Coffin
12. Interlude (Milo)
13. Blame It on the Tetons
14. Black Cadillacs
15. One Chance
16. The Good Times Are Killing Me
*tracks #1 and #5 are both about ten seconds and will not be included in the rankings

Current cycle:
2/12: firefdr (blur - Parklife)
2/19: Johnbobb (clipping. - Splendor & Misery)
2/26: Steiner/ChichiriMuyo/Great_Paul
3/5: VeryInsane
3/12: FoolFantastic
3/19: Seanchan
3/26: Johnbobb/ZaziGuado/jcgamer107
4/2: Giggsalot
4/9: RyoCaliente
4/16: darkx
4/23: Snake5555555555/Raetsel_Lapin/Seanchan
4/30: neonreaper
5/7: Great_Paul
5/14: jcgamer107
5/21: Giggsalot/MetalmindStats/rwlh
5/28: ChichiriMuyo
6/4: BlueCrystalTear
6/11: rwlh
6/18: NFUN
6/25: HBJDubs/firefdr/NFUN

Future cycle:
6/25: MetalmindStats
7/2: HBJDubs
7/9: Raetsel_Lapin
7/16: competitive week
7/23: Steiner
7/30: Snake5555555555
8/6: Jesse_Custer
8/13: competitive week
8/20: ZaziGuado

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade > Between the Buried and Me - Colors >Joshua Bell - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

The other topic remains open until sometime this evening

Black Parade > Colors > Four Seasons

The interlude track is probably worth dropping from the ranking as well imo. It might be hard to form an opinion on it.

Black Parade > Four Seasons > Colors

Four Seasons > Colors > Black Parade

The Black Parade > Four Seasons > Colors

I've also considered nominating Black Parade a few times

Black Parade > Colors > Four Seasons

Colors > Four Seasons > Black Parade

1: Bury Me With It
2: The View
3: One Chance
4: Black Cadillacs
5: Blame It on the Tetons
6: Interlude (Milo)
7: Satin in a Coffin
8: The World At Large
9: Ocean Breathes Salty
10: Bukowski
11: Float On
12: The Good Times Are Killing Me
13: This Devil's Workday
14: Dance Hall

Black Parade > Colors > Four Seasons

Sorry for the delay in Bowie results, I ended up being out of town later than expected Sunday night.

Four Seasons > Black Parade > Colors

Not gonna lie, I'm not going to be unhappy if MCR wins. I knew Vivaldi would be an outside chance, but it is far and away my favorite work of classical music.

but... that's not Vivaldi

Well, I mean, we can't bring him back from the dead to have him do some new recordings, but it is most certainly his work.

David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
neonreaper (10)
FoolFantastic (12)
Johnbobb (22)
VeryInsane (22)
firefdr (24)
MetalmindStats (24)
HBJDubs (32)
Seanchan (34)
Raetsel_Lapin (46)

General Album Comments

FoolFantastic: Ziggy Stardust manages the unusual feat of being the best album by one of my all-time favorite artists despite not having a single track that would crack his overall top 10 - his career was just that good. Where this album must obviously excel is its consistency; there is only one track here I would not consider great, and it happens to be a cover (and I still think it's a good song simply lost among greats). He never repeats himself here, instead showcasing the infinite potential of art rock.

Seanchan: Did a first listen to Ziggy Stardust.

A shorter album than I expected at 40 minutes. Need to focus a little more on a second listen but I was enjoying what I was hearing. It has a distinctive sound of an older era of music. ...I suppose there's no need to say it, but I've never heard this album before, aside from Starman and maybe the title track.

Johnbobb: easily one of the greatest albums ever written and composed, front to back

Raetsel_Lapin: This is a rather special album to me because it's the first album that I actively sought out and chose on my own. I know that sounds ridiculous and your reaction is probably a sarcastic "you managed to discover one of the most popular albums by one of the most popular musicians? Good for you," but it was a big deal to me! I've mentioned before that we didn't exactly have many albums or listen to much music growing up, so seeking out an actual album by a real musician was a pretty big step for me. Until then my interest amounted to novelty albums & greatest hits collections, but I had a passing familiarity with David Bowie due to how omnipresent his music was & got really intrigued by everything I heard about this album.

It didn't exactly click the first time I listened to it. I was immediately drawn to "Lady Stardust" as I'd always had an interest in... let's say playing with gender concepts, but I didn't really "get" the other songs. Still, I kept at it; I listened to it a few more times, tried looking up reviews and discussions about it. It wasn't just the first real album I chose for myself, but my first attempt at trying to actively engage with music on... well, any type of level at all, to be blunt. I know it's ridiculous, but Ziggy Stardust feels like it was a tremendously important milestone in my personal growth. And I eventually grew to love it! It was my favorite album for a few years--not that it had much competition as "Wrestlemania the Album" was likely my favorite up to that point, but still, it was definitely my favorite for a while.

I did eventually lose interest in Ziggy for a while. I'm the type to listen to music that I love on an endless loop until I tire of it and after years of regular play, it did get a bit stale. I also looked down on it for a while because, for a concept album, I wasn't convinced it managed to tell a coherent story--the songs on the first half feel barely related at best & like they came from a completely different story at worst. Likely because it wasn't actually written as a concept album from the start, but I digress. I never disliked the album, but I did kinda sour on it for a few years. Now enough time has passed that I can say I still really like it. There's a lot of nostalgia associated with it, appreciation for the role it played in my life, and every song here is pretty great so I honestly don't care if it's not the most coherent narrative. Ziggy Stardust is not my absolute favorite anymore, but it's something I always enjoy and go back to occasionally.

Seanchan: I like this album; there's not really a bad song here. At the same time, I didn't quite love it. I've a feeling 3 listens isn't really enough, just based on how much my ranking moved around from prelim to "final". At any rate, I'm glad to have finally gotten to listen to a Bowie album!

HBJDubs: Not super into Bowie but he's pretty consistent with his albums: one or two really good songs and the rest are decent. Can't complain.

Ziggy Stardust track ranking

11. Hang On to Yourself (Track #8)
Score: 27 (Average Rank: 9/11)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, firefdr, Raetsel_Lapin (#7)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper, Johnbobb, MetalmindStats (#11)

10. Star (Track #7)
Score: 29 (Average Rank: 8.78/11)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats, HBJDubs (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#11)

9. Soul Love (Track #2)
Score: 48 (Average Rank: 6.89/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#11)

8. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (Track #11)
Score: 52 (Average Rank: 6.22/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb, VeryInsane (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#10)

7. It Ain't Easy (Track #5)
Score: 53 (Average Rank: 6.67/11)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, VeryInsane (#11)

6. Lady Stardust (Track #6)
Score: 54 (Average Rank: 6.56/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): firefdr (#11)

5. Suffragette City (Track #10)
Score: 58 (Average Rank: 5.78/11)
Biggest Fan(s): firefdr, HBJDubs (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#9)

4. Five Years (Track #1)
Score: 79 (Average Rank: 4.33/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb, MetalmindStats (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, HBJDubs (#9)

3. Starman (Track #4)
Score: 81 (Average Rank: 4.33/11)
Biggest Fan(s): firefdr, Seanchan (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#10)

2. Moonage Daydream (Track #3)
Score: 82 (Average Rank: 4/11)
Biggest Fan(s): VeryInsane (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#11)

1. Ziggy Stardust (Track #9)
Score: 94 (Average Rank: 3.44/11)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, neonreaper (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats, Seanchan (#9)

Float On
Ocean Breathes Salty
The World At Large
Blame It on the Tetons
Bukowski
The Good Times Are Killing Me
The View
Black Cadillacs
Bury Me With It
Satin in a Coffin
One Chance
This Devil's Workday
Interlude (Milo)
Dance Hall

My general feeling remains that, despite being their big breakthrough thanks to Float On, this feels like a step down from their earlier albums. The poppier sound doesn't work for me as much.

Modest Mouse were actually the headliners at my first show/festival back in 2010. Having only just gotten into popular music the previous year, I was highly disappointed they did not play Float On - but it's very much the odd one out. Robyn was also there that day, but I had no idea who she was so ended up wandering elsewhere - a major regret in the years since.

Are you going to do a rank the albums for the last 25?

long time no see chaps!

I actually like this album a lot. it's clearly not as ambitious as their previous work, and the quality is pretty up and down, but I think the 4 or 5 best songs here are as good as anything they ever did. they were never able to nail it down consistently, but when it works I actually really like the pop sound on these guys - stuff like float on and black cadillacs are a joy. plus, the world at large is up there with bankrupt on selling as "modest mouse song most likely to make me cry", so yeah. really fun album despite its flaws, maybe the MM I throw on most often even if it's not their best.

The World At Large
Float On
Bukowski
Black Cadillacs
Ocean Breathes Salty
The View
Blame It on the Tetons
One Chance
Bury Me With It
Satin in a Coffin
The Good Times Are Killing Me
This Devil's Workday
Dance Hall
Interlude (Milo)

Seanchan posted...

Are you going to do a rank the albums for the last 25?

I think, but I'll probably put it up this weekend.

Bump

The World At Large
Float On
Blame It on the Tetons
The Good Times Are Killing Me
Satin in a Coffin
Ocean Breathes Salty
One Chance
Black Cadillacs
Bukowski
The View
Bury Me With It
Interlude (Milo)
This Devil's Workday
Dance Hall

Some super-skippable stuff but the top 10 songs on this album are solid. I liked this more than I thought I would.

The Black Parade > Colors > The Four Seasons

Float On
The World At Large
The View
Bury Me With It
Blame It On The Tetons
The Good Times Are Killing Me
Bukowski
One Chance
Ocean Breathes Salty
Black Cadillacs
Satin In A Coffin
Interlude (Milo)
This Devil's Workday
Dance Hall

Most of the album is good overall, but every song has like one specific bit that I don't like about it, except the top two which are great start to finish.

Colors > Four Seasons > Black Parade

The View
Float On
The World At Large
Bukowski
Bury Me With It
Blame It on the Tetons
Ocean Breathes Salty
One Chance
Interlude (Milo)
The Good Times Are Killing Me
Satin in a Coffin
Black Cadillacs
This Devil's Workday
Dance Hall

Black Parade > Four Seasons > Colors

Gonna do my final listen tomorrow morning. I find myself less engaged by music when I do listens at night.

The World At Large - beautifully bittersweet track which serves as a very interesting tone setter for the album. also really appreciate the way it leads into Float On.

Float On - iconic riff. I remember being so excited when I saw this reach the top of a weekly ranking show on a music channel.

Ocean Breathes Salty - some fun lyrics in this one like "you missed when time and life shook hands and said goodbye" and the abrubt ending with "for your sake I hope heaven and hell are really there but I wouldn't hold my breath."

Bury Me With It - always been a little off-putting, but I've learned to appreciate the exasperated pleas. plus they say the name of the album!

Dance Hall - catchy and chaotic, though I kinda wish it was a little shorter to just concentrate it more.

Bukowski - such great banjo action here. I enjoy every time they slow the beat down and then pick it back up.

This Devil's Workday - gosh I've always read this as The Devil's Workday and didn't realize it was this until today. doesn't make much of a difference but still an interesting revelation almost 20 years later. anyways this doesn't do it for me, but it doesn't overstay its welcome so it's okay.

The View - this song is top tier on the album to me, but I always waver on whether it's near the top or bottom of that tier. I love that warble in the chorus and some of the background vocal eccentrics.

Satin In A Coffin - this feels like the most modest mouse song on the album. I don't know what I mean by that, but it feels right. I definitely tend to favor their more pop-friendly stuff, but I can flirt with this weirdness.

Interlude (Milo) - I mean, it's pleasant enough but it feels more like an intro to Blame It On the Tetons than its own track, which isn't a bad thing to be.

Blame It On the Tetons - this song is so damn chill. I love that fiddle and piano. the continuation after the false ending is interesting but not unwelcome. I've never actually taken the time to digest the lyrics, but I think I'd enjoy this song even more if I did.

Black Cadillacs - "it's true we named our children after towns that we've never been to" is a lyric that I always remember vividly because I have a slightly irrational disgust for bullshit names. I also greatly enjoy that sitcom opening-sounding piano chime that randomly pops in.

One Chance - this song is so weird after being inundated with cynicism, hopelessness, and just a general malaise up to this point. to be met with a song about coping with the loss of everything is an odd, but not unwelcome, turn this late into the album. I appreciate it.

The Good Times Are Killing Me - I find this a fun, goofy ending to fun, goofy album. really enjoy the very smooth, prominent bassline.

The World At Large
Blame It On the Tetons
The View
Float On
Bukowski
Ocean Breathes Salty
One Chance
Black Cadillacs
Bury Me With It
Interlude (Milo)
Satin In A Coffin
Dance Hall
This Devil's Workday

This album was my first introduction to music that had that "indie" sound, whatever that means these days. It helped shape my tastes in music during pretty formative years when I started willfully choosing what I listened to. It's been nice to revist it. I know albums like Lonesome Crowded West and Moon and Antarctica are more beloved among the general fanbase, but this is my favorite in a way that I have trouble putting into words. Not for any deep reason, it's just difficult for me to express without sounding dumb. Like it's simultaneously up its own ass but also tongue in cheek. Anyways, great stuff.

ZaziGuado posted...

The Good Times Are Killing Me

Did you forget to rank The Good Times Are Killing Me or am I just going crazy?

Seanchan posted...

Did you forget to rank The Good Times Are Killing Me or am I just going crazy?

I absolutely forgot to rank it.

The World At Large
Blame It On the Tetons
The View
Float On
Bukowski
Ocean Breathes Salty
One Chance
The Good Times Are Killing Me
Black Cadillacs
Bury Me With It
Interlude (Milo)
Satin In A Coffin
Dance Hall
This Devil's Workday

I only knew this band from Float On before, and man does that song seem like a lie. This is an album where if you hear the hit single and then buy it you are at a high risk of disappointment. I actually wonder if this is one of those things where the band hates "that one song" because it's what the "fans" always want to hear. I do like a few songs here, but if I'm going to spend my precious time in life listening to Modest Mouse again it'll be when Float On pops up on a mix.

1. Float On
2. Blame it on the Tetons
3. The View
4. The Good times are Killing Me
5. Satin In a Coffin
6. Black Cadillacs
7. Bukowski
8. One Chance
9. Bury Me With It
10. The Ocean Breathes Salt
11. The Devil's Workday
12. Dance Hall
13. Interlude
14. The World At Large

1. Float On
2. This Devil's Workday
3. Dance Hall
4. Ocean Breathes Salty
5. The World At Large
6. Bury Me With It
7. The Good Times Are Killing Me
8. One Chance
9. The View
10. Bukowski
11. Satin in a Coffin
12. Black Cadillacs
13. Blame It on the Tetons
14. Interlude (Milo)

Psycho_Kensou posted...

I only knew this band from Float On before, and man does that song seem like a lie. This is an album where if you hear the hit single and then buy it you are at a high risk of disappointment. I actually wonder if this is one of those things where the band hates "that one song" because it's what the "fans" always want to hear. I do like a few songs here, but if I'm going to spend my precious time in life listening to Modest Mouse again it'll be when Float On pops up on a mix.

I totally understand where you're coming from. And yet I had the exact opposite reaction to the full album, as I really enjoyed this a lot.

I didn't post my first listen impressions earlier, but I was very much caught by pleasant surprise. This wasn't what I expected, but maybe in a way I should have seen it coming. Float On was always a bit of an oddball song that managed to find success, so why should the album be any different.

I think what I enjoy about it IS that variety. This isn't a boring album. There are songs that are fast and hard (relatively speaking) but then you've got slower, more introspective songs. And it all just come together for me, even if the first half is stronger than the second.

I will have to find some time to listen to more Modest Mouse. If anyone has a good suggestion for a second album?

I will have to find some time to listen to more Modest Mouse. If anyone has a good suggestion for a second album?

I think The Moon and Antarctica is probably a good next step. It's the album before Good News and probably the most critically well-received. I also personally really enjoy the high points of We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, but I haven't listed to the album in full in awhile.

Ocean Breathes Salty
World at Large
Bukowski
Float On
Blame it On the Tetons
The View
One Chance
Satin In A Coffin
Bury Me With It
Dance Hall
The Good Times Are Killing Me
Devil's Workday
Black Cadillacs
Interlude

one week I will get it in earlyish

Sorry for the delay in this. I finally managed to rediscover my writing spark after a year or two of writer's block, but this means I have been using up every spare hour recently to write.

FoolFantastic posted...

Sorry for the delay in this. I finally managed to rediscover my writing spark after a year or two of writer's block, but this means I have been using up every spare hour recently to write.

its fine, I think we all appreciate your consistency and hard work on this project