Board 8 > Rank the Albums 6 - THE RESULTS!

(+) Yeah! (+)

The results for Rank the Albums 6 are now upon us!

As ever, huge thanks to FoolFantastic for running the weekly track ranking for these albums, without which this would not be possible. If you'd like to participate in the ongoing Rank the Tracks, the latest is here, https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80715150v, or search the board for the newest topic.

The 25 albums, in the order we covered them in Rank the Tracks:
Desired - Lovestory
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante
Madonna - Like a Prayer
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Rusted Root - When I Woke
The Cure - Disintegration
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
Sade - Love Deluxe
FKA twigs - Magdalene
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
The Cars - The Cars
Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges - Clube da Esquina
Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell
Simple Plan - Get Your Heart On!
Crash Kings - Crash Kings
Weird Al Yankovic - Off the Deep End
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Adele - 21
Meshell Ndegeocello - Peace Beyond Passion
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Nekomata Master - Follow Slowly

We had 7 of Board 8's most illustrious users submit ranking lists, with 5 also giving me their Songs of the Cycle (i.e., their favorite 25 songs from those albums):
Seanchan (that's me!)
Fluttershy_Pony
Johnbobb
FoolFantastic
Sheep007
HBJDubs
MaxGalactica

A big thank you to every one of you!

Tag.

Here's the average results:
6.14
6.29
6.57
6.57
9.14
10.86
11.00
11.57
12.29
12.43
13.00
13.43
13.57
14.29
14.57
14.57
14.71
14.86
15.00
15.43
16.57
17.00
17.71
18.71
20.14

Pretty close between the top 4! My guess when this started was that Muse or Adele would come out the winner but we shall see. I've not spoiled the results for myself yet, so I genuinely don't know.

With the Songs of the Cycle, every single album except 1 got votes, which was Sade - Love Deluxe. On the other side, only 1 album got votes from all 5 who submitted song lists, but I'll save that reveal for later. Also, every album except Love Deluxe had at least 2 different songs selected, with 2 different albums maxing out at 7 songs.

In total, from the 125 song votes, there were 88 different songs selected. Or to put it another way, 28.5% of the 309 total songs garnered votes.

#25 - Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante
Average - 20.14
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 22
Rank without outliers - 25

6 - Johnbobb
19 - FoolFantastic
21 - HBJDubs
22 - Fluttershy_Pony
23 - MaxGalactica
25 - Sheep007
25 - Seanchan

Fluttershy_Pony - Oof. I had this album in third place on my preliminary rankings, but I'm just... aggressively not in the mood for this right now. There are times when I love what this album is doing (see: the week we actually covered it and I was almost ecstatic about it), but right now I'm just.... not. I'm sorry. Try asking me again in a few months and this album might reclaim some of its former glory, but right now it's near the bottom.

Seanchan - Very happy to see this come in last. Easily my least favorite album of this cycle. And actually my least favorite of all the albums we've covered in the 150+ weeks of Rank the Tracks. An aggressively annoying album that I found hard to listen to. I honestly have no idea who this is supposed to appeal to.

I'm guessing Adele and R.E.M. will be near the top for this one, they feel the most universally palatable. I assume one of those would be the album getting votes from everyone, too, although I think The Cure with Lovesong and possibly a few others (which I won't name in case anyone wants to be surprised by my votes) could do the same. I couldn't begin to guess what the others in the top four would be, though, and I also don't think Sade will be at the bottom, despite not getting any song votes.

Thanks for hosting this, Sean, and to FoolFantastic for running this every week! It seems like a ton of work and y'all have been doing it for quite some time now.

Disco Volante has cool concepts but unfortunately isn't fun to listen to. I think aggressively annoying sums it up very well, there's some neat experimental stuff in there but that doesn't make a good album. You can hear how it influenced some things on California (their later 1999 album which is actually pretty cool and way more palatable), but I'm glad it got dead last and by quite some distance.

I still feel bad for dropping Disco Volante so far down my list... I did love it the week we covered it, but it's the type of thing I have to be in the right mood to appreciate and I just wasn't at the time. It's also in this weird place where it's rarely as crazy & noise like as I might like, while still being far more experimental than traditional music... so I have to be in the mood for "weird, but not like 'Masonna' levels of weird":

https://prurient.bandcamp.com/track/prurient-sidewalk

And... well, existing halfway between standard music & noise is a rough spot to be, as I usually prefer something more to one side or the other. Still, I did love it once upon a time...

With the song list, I initially had almost 40 selected. It was some tough calls to cut it down to 25. Felt bad about quite a few of them. In a different world I would have selected both renditions of Lovesong (The Cure and Adele).

Also, I forgot to put the Songs of the Cycle for Disco Volante!

3. Carry Stress in the Jaw - Johnbobb
6. After School Special - Johnbobb

No surprise that its top ranker would pick some of the songs.

I initially had 90 songs selected for my songs of the cycle, so cutting it down to just 25 was pretty painful. Like a Tattoo and Mermaid from Love Deluxe both got close to my top 25.

#24 - Weird Al Yankovic - Off the Deep End
Average - 18.71
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 20.80
Rank without outliers - 24

2 - Fluttershy_Pony
10 - Johnbobb
23 - FoolFantastic
23 - Sheep007
23 - Seanchan
25 - HBJDubs
25 - MaxGalactica

Songs of the Cycle - 4 votes for 4 songs from 2 rankers:
1. Smells Like Nirvana - Johnbobb
9. Airline Amy - Fluttershy_Pony
10. The Plumbing Song - Fluttershy_Pony
11. You Don't Love Me Anymore - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - This album rose quite a few places from where I had it originally, down towards the middle of the pack. I think my problem with the album is that all the songs I don't like are placed at the front, causing it to start off on the wrong foot; I really dislike the first three tracks and may even kinda hate the Nirvana track that opens it... but if I just skip down a few tracks, it's one of the most delightful albums we covered this cycle. Is it cheating to give high marks to an album where I refuse to listen to half of it? Probably. Do I care? No. These rankings are based only on where I *want* to place each album and I definitely got enough enjoyment out of this to place it rather high up. [LATER: I had this in fourth place, but I'm really feeling like putting it into second. "You Don't Love Me Anymore" is my favorite song of the cycle & everything after the polka is great. Were it not for the first four songs on this album (I do like the Polka, just not nearly as much as everything that follows), this might actually take the top slot... but, as is, I'll settle with it in second. Which is not even remotely an objective score, but again, I don't care.]

Seanchan - Another album I'm personally glad ranked low...but I'm slightly surprised as a group it was this low? I guess I expected a bit more love for Al? For me, I'm just not a big fan of his whole parody shtick, especially a whole album worth. It's not terrible but it's also not something I was looking forward to relistening to.

I'm surprised to see Get Your Heart On not in last place based on how much hate it got that week.

I was also kinda hoping to see it there because it would've been amusing to see a nomination of mine get 1st in the last ranking, and then last place in the next ranking.

I'm shocked that got a 2 ranking. Not a fan, I was constantly thinking I'd rather have listened to any of the songs being parodied and wanting to listen to something else is not the best mindset for an album. It's also not very funny. Probably should have ranked it 24th, on reflection.

I expect Get Your Heart On to go soon. It'll probably get some midranks though, and I think a few people who submitted rankings found it pretty fun. It's definitely more palatable than Disco Volante and I'm not surprised it finished ahead of the gimmick album.

#23 - Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell
Average - 17.71
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 18.60
Rank without outliers - 23 (no change)

7 - Johnbobb
14 - HBJDubs
17 - Fluttershy_Pony
17 - FoolFantastic
21 - Seanchan
24 - Sheep007
24 - MaxGalactica

Songs of the Cycle - 2 votes for 2 songs from 2 rankers:
1. Peter Piper - Johnbobb
9. You Be Illin' - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - I want to hear some more classic hip hop (and modern hip hop for that matter), but there wasn't much that I could get into on this album. "You Be Illin'" is catchy enough that it's been stuck in my head all week and funny enough that I don't mind it getting stuck... but I really need at least two songs that I'm into to say I really liked an album and sadly, this just has the one. Still, getting a song onto my "top songs" list is more than most albums managed and I'm glad we covered something *like* this album, even if I'm not that into it in practice.

Seanchan - Another album I wasn't a particular fan of. There are some classic of the rap genre on here, like It's Tricky and Walk This Way, but I found myself getting tired of the album as a whole.

I'm also glad to have listened to Raising Hell, it was nice to see a progenitor of modern hip-hop, a genre I enjoy but have never gotten really invested in. This one just didn't personally do anything for me, I found even the classics grating and the worst songs almost instant skips. The genre has come a long way.

Thankfully, we got through all of the albums I disliked in the first three! They're all fine or better from here.

Wow, my 23-25 being the first three to drop is certainly a nice surprise.

Sheep007 posted...

The genre has come a long way.

Eh, you really shouldn't take a single work as representative of its entire era. Several of the still best hip hop albums came out in the two years that followed and sound much closer to modern hip hop. Raising Hell was very specifically pushing a blend of rap rock that reads more as a gimmick these days. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Paid in Full, and Straight Outta Compton all hold up, as does "The Message" from four years earlier.

Off to a terrible start, what are you people doing

FoolFantastic posted...

Eh, you really shouldn't take a single work as representative of its entire era. Several of the still best hip hop albums came out in the two years that followed and sound much closer to modern hip hop. Raising Hell was very specifically pushing a blend of rap rock that reads more as a gimmick these days. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Paid in Full, and Straight Outta Compton all hold up, as does "The Message" from four years earlier.

That's fair, I can't say I'm the most knowledgeable about the genre. I think most of the hip hop I do enjoy has been post-2000, I've struggled to get into even the earlier albums I've been recommended (some of which you mentioned).

Yeah, I definitely would like to see more hip hop get covered here. Theres a lot of good stuff both pre and post-2000, Raising Hell is just one that didnt age very well.

Well if you're interested in more rap that HAS aged well, may I recommend voting for Viktor Vaugh in the first round of nominations?

(Just a little light self-promo)

#22 - Simple Plan - Get Your Heart On!
Average - 17.00
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 17.80
Rank without outliers - 22 (no change)

5 - Fluttershy_Pony
11 - Seanchan
13 - HBJDubs
21 - MaxGalactica
22 - Johnbobb
22 - Sheep007
25 - FoolFantastic

Songs of the Cycle - 3 votes for 3 songs from 2 rankers:
1. You Suck at Love - Fluttershy_Pony
3. Jet Lag - Seanchan
10. Last One Standing - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - Fun bops. I never remember this album after it ends, but I always enjoy myself while it's playing. I originally only had one song from this on my "favorite song" list, but I'm probably going to try to cut some stuff to make more room... I refuse to leave "You Suck at Love" off my list at the very least. Just a consistently fun album.

Seanchan - "I never remember this album after it ends, but I always enjoy myself while it's playing" is a damn good way to sum up this one. I've a soft spot for the easy listen-ability of pop punk, so no surprise that I'd enjoy this more than many of the more artistically reaching albums. Given the feedback from its Rank the Tracks week, this is probably about as high as this album could realistically hope to get.

In hindsight...maybe I shouldn't have picked any SotC from this album? But also, I seriously considered "Anywhere Else But Here" because despite how vacuous it is, it's a pretty fun bop.

Glad someone else picked Jet Lag for SotC, because that was one of my last cuts to get to 25.

I think that's about where this album deserves. It was talked about a lil harshly in-topic, but it really has the depth of a puddle. I at least remember the good bits of every other album thirty seconds after listening! It's cheesy and fun enough but I wish there was more substance.

Sheep007 posted...

That's fair, I can't say I'm the most knowledgeable about the genre. I think most of the hip hop I do enjoy has been post-2000, I've struggled to get into even the earlier albums I've been recommended (some of which you mentioned).

Raising Hell came out before the SP-1200 and the Akai MPC, which is what pretty much everything that came after was made with. It was a perfect storm - Run DMC kicked open the doors for other artists, who also gained access to equipment that is still relevant today. It was also the first hip hop album to chart the way it did and it's multi-platinum. It feels like it's being regarded as if I nominated some obscure gimmicky album, but that was never my intent. alas.

#22 - Sade - Love Deluxe
Average - 16.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 15.80
Rank without outliers - 21 (no change)

13 - Sheep007
14 - MaxGalactica
14 - FoolFantastic
16 - Fluttershy_Pony
17 - HBJDubs
18 - Seanchan
24 - Johnbobb

Songs of the Cycle - 0 votes for 0 songs from 0 rankers:
:(

Fluttershy_Pony - Smooth soul that I dig the sound of, but there aren't any individual tracks that I'm really into. It's all just "good music". Which is obviously good, but I tend to be far more biased towards albums that have at least one song that I fall in love with and there's nothing here that I'm likely to seek out... still, from an objective standpoint, this should be a few spaces higher than I have it as I did enjoy everything here. Just... not as strongly as I might have liked.

Seanchan - I agree with Fluttershy's take. A good album when you're listening to it but lacking anything that truly stuck with me. Based on everyone's ranking and the lack of song selections, that seemed to generally be where everyone landed.

FYI, I'm going to be out of town for the next week or so, so the drops may not come as fast as I'd like. I'll try to do at least 1 a day though.

I probably would've had Love Deluxe as top three, depending on how the other albums shook out. But I can't complain - I didn't submit a list!

Love Deluxe grew on me a lot and coulda been a little higher. I think lacking a standout hit really brought it down for some (myself kinda included), but the album as a whole is beautiful.

FYI, Sade should have marked as #21 above.

#20 - Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges - Clube da Esquina
Average - 15.43
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 15.60
Rank without outliers - 18 (2 higher)

7 - MaxGalactica
10 - FoolFantastic
13 - Johnbobb
15 - Seanchan
20 - Sheep007
20 - Fluttershy_Pony
23 - HBJDubs

Songs of the Cycle - 3 votes for 2 songs from 2 rankers:
1. Tudo Que Voc Podia Ser - Seanchan, MaxGalactica
12. Paisagem Da Janela - Seanchan

Seanchan - I originally had this album ranked a few spots higher but moved it down lower on my last relisten. I think there's quite a bit to enjoy here but I think it just ended up carrying on a bit too long. That said, I did pick a few songs from the album, as I felt like I needed to recognize some of its best parts.

Fluttershy_Pony - Not my type of music, but I'm glad we covered something as different as this. Now if only Spotify would stop suggesting I listen to every single song from this album ever day for the rest of my life...

This one's the first unfortunate drop of the ranking. Really, really enjoyed it all the way through. Lots of great tracks with great instrumentation, rhythms, and vocals.

#19 - Madonna - Like a Prayer
Average - 15.00
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 15.60
Rank without outliers - 18 (1 higher)

2 - HBJDubs
11 - FoolFantastic
13 - Fluttershy_Pony
15 - Sheep007
17 - Seanchan
22 - MaxGalactica
25 - Johnbobb

Songs of the Cycle - 3 votes for 2 songs from 2 rankers:
1. Like a Prayer - Fluttershy_Pony, Sheep007
11. Act of Contrition - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - I know some people don't like doing multiple albums by the same artist, but I hope we get a chance to cover another Madonna album at some point This was a good choice, but I just couldn't really get into it... I have a bias towards the older, more refined style from "Bedtime Stories" (which has my two favorite Madonna songs), but even some of her earlier work feels catchier--like "Open Your Heart" would probably be my personal pick for peak 80s Madonna. This album is... good, but... I'm not sure I'd put anything from it in my top ten Madonna songs, which makes it feel a bit disappointing. Though I'm being too harsh; the title song is still great and I like how oddly experimental "Art of Contrition" feels.

Seanchan - Just an okay album for me, despite usually liking most of the female pop albums we've covered. It's got some bit hits like Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, and Cherish, but the rest of the album doesn't reach that level.

I actually thought about nominating Bedtime Stories this time around, but I figured it was too soon after Like A Prayer for anyone to go for it.

Take a Bow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui3QlLbKSkA

Human Nature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOZzaZ78Rb4

My top two Madonna songs. Take a Bow is actually one of the first songs I recall hearing on the radio and wanting to track down to listen to--possibly even *the* first--so a lot of nostalgia there as being one of the first songs to really stick out as something I loved. And while "Take a Bow" is one of the perfect songs from my past, Human Nature is the type of song that appeals to me now; the lyrics about not repressing yourself and being completely unapologetic are the type of things that play really well with me right now. [The album also has Secret, which is another really good Madonna single. ...I honestly can't recall any other songs from the album, which is not a good sign as I listened to it not that long ago, but still! Three songs is good!]

"Like a Prayer" doesn't have anything that hits quite the same highs, but thinking on it some more, I would put Act of Contrition in my top ten Madonna songs. It's unique enough that I always make a curious head tilt while listening to it & I think that pushes it ahead of quite a few of her songs in my rankings.

#18 - Adele - 21
Average - 14.86
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 15.20
Rank without outliers - 16 (2 higher)

7 - Sheep007
8 - Seanchan
11 - MaxGalactica
16 - FoolFantastic
20 - HBJDubs
21 - Fluttershy_Pony
21 - Johnbobb

Songs of the Cycle - 5 votes for 3 songs from 3 rankers:
1. Rolling in the Deep - Seanchan, Sheep007
3. Turning Tables - MaxGalactica
11. Someone Like You - Seanchan, MaxGalactica

Seanchan - I am utterly shocked this album is ranked this low! Great singles, great singer, good instrumentation, a cohesive theme...I really thought I'd be one of the low rankers. Instead, I'm one of the highest! Personal feelings aside, I'm gobsmacked that this is lower in a group ranking than Desired, Nekomata Master, Franz Ferdinand, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. And inserting personal feelings, Meshell Ndegeocello, FKA twigs, and maybe The Cars too.

Fluttershy_Pony - Sorry, I'm just not in an Adele mood today. I had this album up around fifth place when we started, but I just... don't want to listen to this right now. I'm not going to go insane (well... anymore insane...) and drop it all the way down the list because this album is stacked with hits and I did enjoy it, it's just not what I want to hear right now. [Later: Oof. I'm moving this one further down after all, I'm afraid. I wasn't trying to be funny by having this in 21st place, that's just where it wound up in the end.]

Yo I don't even like Adele all that much but what the fuck? This finished below the Christmas album?

I don't know why you would expect 21 to finish over Franz Ferdinand. The latter is one of the most acclaimed rock albums of this century and this forum very clearly likes rock.

A Christmas album full of timeless jazz standards

I'm surprised anyone else had 21 as low as I did, but it occupies the same space as Disco Volante for me: Something that I enjoyed at the time we covered it, but I really did not want to listen to when trying to organize the album list. I'm not entirely sure why; I have theories for why Disco didn't click the second time around, but my intense dislike of 21 remains unaccounted for.

Charlie Brown Christmas is iconic and unlike anything else from the cycle, so I was expecting it to be towards the middle at least.

FoolFantastic posted...

I don't know why you would expect 21 to finish over Franz Ferdinand. The latter is one of the most acclaimed rock albums of this century and this forum very clearly likes rock.

I didnt get the impression from the track ranking week that it was particularly loved.

#17 - Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Average - 14.71
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 14.60
Rank without outliers - 15 (2 higher)

6 - MaxGalactica
10 - Seanchan
12 - FoolFantastic
15 - Fluttershy_Pony
17 - Johnbobb
19 - Sheep007
24 - HBJDubs

Songs of the Cycle - 2 votes for 2 songs from 1 rankers:
1. O Tannenbaum - MaxGalactica
4. Linus and Lucy - MaxGalactica

Seanchan - A better, more interesting album than I ever expected it to be. Not something I'm going to listen to outside the winter holidays but I'll definitely be coming back to this one in the future. Nice to see O Tannenbaum get a song vote, as it really sets the table well for the rest of the album.

Fluttershy_Pony - I hate Christmas and jazz doesn't usually score well with me, but in the words of Mr. Burns "I know what I hate, and I don't hate this". It's not something I'm likely to ever go back to, but it's an easy listen and an oddly enjoyable look at some music styles that I don't encounter often. I'm glad we covered this one, even if I'm giving it a rather mid placement.

Felt weird to rank this one. I didnt listen to it at Christmas and I honestly cant stand the holiday (nor a lot of Christmas songs). Listening in February was very strange. I also never watched much Peanuts. I didn't know what the hell to do with it, because its nice but completely removed from the context it feels off. Theres only so high a Christmas album can go, really.

That's a mentality I just can't quite wrap my mind around. A song is either something I want to listen to or it isn't and the time of year has no impact on anything; if I want to hear a song, why would I care what time it is? Likewise, if I don't want to hear a song (see: most Christmas songs), how would a certain season make it any more tolerable? It feels like saying "I want to listen to "Rhythm of the Night", but I can see the sun shining through my window right now so I have to wait another eight hours so I'll have the proper context".

I'm sure it's just my mind being broken in a weird way, as it usually is, but I just can't get it. I understand wanting to hear songs during certain emotional moods or states of mind, where the music compliments the way I'm feeling, but outside factors like time feel... outside.

A tie for 15th!

#15 - Meshell Ndegeocello - Peace Beyond Passion
Average - 14.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 15.40
Rank without outliers - 17 (2 lower)

1 - Fluttershy_Pony
10 - Sheep007
11 - Johnbobb
16 - MaxGalactica
18 - FoolFantastic
22 - HBJDubs
24 - Seanchan

Songs of the Cycle - 4 votes for 3 songs from 2 rankers:
2. The Way - Fluttershy_Pony
5. Leviticus: ****** - Fluttershy_Pony, Johnbobb
11. A Tear and a Smile - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - Honestly, the only album that I could possibly give first place to this topic. The raw power and emotion on display rather destroys everything it was up against this cycle; it does lose a bit of a steam towards the end as it feels a bit more "typical love song"-y at times, but even its most forgettable tracks are still good. I actually had five songs from this album in my Top Songs list before adding my self-imposed three song limit.

Seanchan - I just didn't care for this album.

#15 - Crash Kings - Crash Kings
Average - 14.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 15.60
Rank without outliers - 18 (3 higher)

2 - Seanchan
6 - Fluttershy_Pony
12 - Johnbobb
19 - HBJDubs
20 - MaxGalactica
21 - Sheep007
22 - FoolFantastic

Songs of the Cycle - 8 votes for 5 songs from 4 rankers:
2. 1985 - Seanchan, Fluttershy_Pony, MaxGalactica
3. It's Only Wednesday - Seanchan
6. 14 Arms - Johnbobb
7. Raincoat - Fluttershy_Pony, MaxGalactica
10. My Love - Seanchan

Seanchan - Easily my favorite new (to me) album of this ranking cycle. I immediately took a shine to this and it has not gone away since, despite listening to this at least a dozen times since we initially covered it. It's just catchy piano pop with fun instrumentation and great singing. There's tons of earworms here, so I'm at least glad it got some love on the song level from the rest of the group.

Fluttershy_Pony - I... don't remember this, but I have vague memories of kinda bopping to it? Something about a raincoooaaaatttt, a yellow raincoooaaa~ttttt? *goes back to click a few songs* Ah, yes. Pretty fun album, even if it never leaves a lasting impact. There's still something to be said about something that's fun and fleeting. [Later: I've had 1985 and Raincoat stuck in my head for days now, so I'm redoing my submission to add them to the Songs of the Cycle list & move this album up a few rankings.]

Didn't sound critical, don't worry! I think this is exclusive to Christmas songs for me, and I don't think either of us are processing this in a weird way. I'm not sure I particularly like them in the first place, so I think my desire to hear them is reduced further when they're not relevant, but they just sound wrong to listen to in, say, early spring. Maybe it's because I grew up in a church school and only sung the associated hymns right around Christmas, so they're exclusively associated with the season in my head.

Peace Beyond Passion was a very solid album, though I expected it to score fairly low. Like Sade, it's gorgeous but there's not really any standout hits. Her emotion really comes through in every song, and I wish it clicked for me more, but it was a great addition to the cycle.

No real comment on Crash Kings. I think it's the least memorable of all these albums, almost nothing stood out. It sounds alright, but didn't draw me in at all.

Seanchan posted...

I had this album in third place on my preliminary rankings, but I'm just... aggressively not in the mood for this right now. There are times when I love what this album is doing (see: the week we actually covered it and I was almost ecstatic about it), but right now I'm just.... not. I'm sorry.

don't be sorry this is like, exactly how i feel about it lol. I'm so glad that I know about and have heard it but will probably only listen to it like 2 or 3 more times in my life

california though - that's a mr bungle album i can just straight up recommend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVExFp4eaPw

I posted this in another topic, but here's the cover from the Crash Kings album I had been working on

@Seanchan Just so you know, I ranked Crash Kings at 10, not 20. So it should rank higher overall.

MaxGalactica posted...

@Seanchan Just so you know, I ranked Crash Kings at 10, not 20. So it should rank higher overall.

Well shit Ill check to see what I messed up tomorrow.

I thought I'd be disappointed to lose my favorite album, but honestly, I'm a bit surprised it lasted as long as it did. Its raw, brutal storytelling is... not the type of thing that I'd expect to play well here, as much as I love it.

Sheep007 posted...

I'm not sure I particularly like them in the first place, so I think my desire to hear them is reduced further when they're not relevant, but they just sound wrong to listen to in, say, early spring. Maybe it's because I grew up in a church school and only sung the associated hymns right around Christmas, so they're exclusively associated with the season in my head.

Fair enough! Thanks for explaining your thoughts to me.

Steiner posted...

california though - that's a mr bungle album i can just straight up recommend

I'll make a note to check that out next time I'm in the mood for a new album.

jcgamer107 posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVExFp4eaPw

I posted this in another topic, but here's the cover from the Crash Kings album I had been working on

That's impressive! Honestly, I may kinda prefer your version? I think it benefits from only having a piano as an instrument; it makes it feel... "more distinctive" probably isn't the right word, but I don't quite know what word I want. Memorable, maybe? That feels right. The solo piano makes it pop and stand out more in my mind.

Seanchan posted...

Well shit Ill check to see what I messed up tomorrow.

Okay, minor data problem fixed. That did have an appreciable affect on Crash Kings ranking though.

Just to be accurate, I've deleted the old post. Here's the correct #16, rather than a tie for 15.

#16 - Meshell Ndegeocello - Peace Beyond Passion
Average - 14.57
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 15.40
Rank without outliers - 18 (2 lower)

1 - Fluttershy_Pony
10 - Sheep007
11 - Johnbobb
16 - MaxGalactica
18 - FoolFantastic
22 - HBJDubs
24 - Seanchan

Songs of the Cycle - 4 votes for 3 songs from 2 rankers:
2. The Way - Fluttershy_Pony
5. Leviticus: ****** - Fluttershy_Ponym Johnbobb
11. A Tear and a Smile - Fluttershy_Pony

Fluttershy_Pony - Honestly, the only album that I could possibly give first place to this topic. The raw power and emotion on display rather destroys everything it was up against this cycle; it does lose a bit of a steam towards the end as it feels a bit more "typical love song"-y at times, but even its most forgettable tracks are still good. I actually had five songs from this album in my Top Songs list before adding my self-imposed three song limit.

Seanchan - I just didn't care for this album.

#15 - Desired - Lovestory
Average - 14.29
Average without outliers (removing best and worst score) - 14.20
Rank without outliers - 14 (1 higher)

6 - Seanchan
7 - Fluttershy_Pony
8 - Sheep007
16 - HBJDubs
20 - MaxGalactica
20 - FoolFantastic
23 - Johnbobb

Songs of the Cycle - 6 votes for 4 songs from 3 rankers:
1. Sunshine Aerobics - Seanchan, Sheep007
4. In Love - Fluttershy_Pony
5. Excuses - Fluttershy_Pony
6. Broken Heart - Fluttershy_Pony, Sheep007

Seanchan - I had a hard time trying to find the right spot for this album. It's such an easy listen, with a sound that appeals to me. At the same time, that's almost a negative too, as there's not much substance here. At the end of the day, I enjoyed this album and I've come back to it, so it's deserving of a high ranking for me.

Fluttershy_Pony - I'm still surprised this album managed to get picked... in theory, we were supposed to cover "What Up, Dog?" with its two top ten hits & wide variety of styles and topics, but I greatly overestimated how popular my "popular compromise" pick would be & this little album inexplicably won. Either way, I do still kinda love this album, but it's a victim of my tendency to play music I love on repeat until I'm sick of it... there was a time when I was listening to this album, in its entirety, multiple times per day. Now, I'm a little over it... I still enjoy it and I'm giving it a good placement--higher than it deserves if I'm being honest--but its days of being "10/10, my current favorite album EVARRRRR" are way behind it.

I'm not surprised Lovestory was a Top 10 or Bottom 5 album for most of us.

Perhaps the best part of the album is that it turned me on to the Future Funk style of music. I know I shared this at the time of the track ranking, but this (space after "playlist"), https://open.spotify.com/playlist/ 37i9dQZF1DXbjGYBfEmjR5?si=7b017af482384e17, Future Funk playlist popped up in my Spotify and has been something I've gone back to many, many times when I want some easy listening.

More specifically, I found Young Bae (space after "artist") (https://open.spotify.com/artist/ 30FDJPN3RtwJZ20g5YGCRX?si=uWPRON3BQe6-HMpy9NTkFw) to put out some really great music in that Future Funk style. So if you liked Lovestory, I heartily recommend giving him a listen. His first 5 albums (Bae 1 - 5) are all good (and short), with 4 and 5 being the best of the group. His more recent albums, Groove Continental A and B, are good as well but have more hip-hop and modern styling that doesn't quite hit the same.

I checked out that playlist you linked and it (and Lovestory) is great background music. Definitely not surprised to see this drop in the middle. It fills that niche that The xx did in the last cycle, where I can just stick it on and relax. There's not a ton of substance, as you say, and if you aren't super into it there's not much reason for it to be around the middle, so I'm also not surprised to see the polarisation.