Board 8 > Luce, Fluttershy, and Raetsel rank 361+ songs [Rankings]

(+) Yeah! (+)

"All of My Friends Are Going to Hell" added to ZA'LIST ; Cell Block Tango added to main list. Place's recently added songs listened to once and given their preliminary scores.

One new song drops every posted song's ranking down by 1, letting us resume with the new #380. Five drops today, as I manage to get back onto schedule for a brief moment:

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#380: ORNETTE COLEMAN | GROWING UP (2:19)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKTl3NNa36o
Nominator: @Snake5555555555 [13 Remaining]

Initial Score: 50.127
Final Score: 47.18 [Downgraded to 45.00]

(First Reaction: Jazz isn't usually my jam and this... doesn't really change that. I don't mind listening to it, but I also don't really notice the music on any conscious level... it's just here in the background for a couple minutes and then ends. I suppose I'd say I like this more than the absolute nothingness that is an exactly 50 point song, but... not by that much? I'm sorry, I just listened to this a second time to see if it could do a better job of grabbing my attention, but it just doesn't.)

And we're apparently in even less of a jazz mood than usual this afternoon, as this song is slipping down a few spaces. Like I said, it's not bad, there's just something wrong with me where I never really notice or remember the song... it's one of the most "this song exists" songs I've come across, which i'm sure is blasphemy, but I just don't get the appeal.

[Later: And my interest in this type of jazz music sinks lower yet again on this third (or fourth) listen. I've tried with this song, but I really don't think I'm ever going to be into this genre to judge anything in this style fairly.]

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#379: Alfred Kwak | Pikkie De Ekster (2:08, though the first 18 seconds is Dutch creator commentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q15SlWEaSMA
Nominator: Kopazzynth [6 Remaining]
Character: Pikkie the Magpie

Initial Score: 43.22
Final Score: 47.00

(First Reaction: A jaunty little tune. Not bad, it's kind-of "bouncing along the sidewalk with a mischievous grin" music which is... not bad.)

It's another track where I want to find more to say about it, but "jaunty" is the only word that actually comes to mind. It kinda hops along quietly for a little bit and then fades away. It's certainly not bad, but it also feels a bit... short and basic for me to really call it good either. It's fine, just not very memorable.

[Later: And in a world in which I keep giving more and more points to songs so that I don't have to cut anything, I come to this song and... feel a bit bad that I don't enjoy it more than I do or have anything to say about it. The only words that ever come to mind are "jaunty" and "fine". Since I don't really feel negative about it, it's very close to being at the 50 point mark, but I think it's just a little half-step below that level.]

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#378: RoughSketch | Announcement (3:33)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP19Y_9IPL8
Nominator: @banshiryuu [11 Remaining]

Initial Score: 25.00
Final Score: 31.00 [Upgraded to 40.36] [Upgraded to 47.30]

(First Reaction: Nope. I don't like very pronounced beats and repetition, this is mostly one vocal sample being repeated while the background music thumps endlessly. I don't hate it, but it's... basically the exact opposite of what I want music to be?

...I'm afraid I really have nothing else to add to that. I guess some of the beeping sounds almost like lasers from generic arcade shooters, so that's something? It... yeah, this just isn't for me in any way, so "not hated" is really the best it could ever hope for.)

This song is a bit better than I remember! It's still not something I want, like, I wasn't exaggerating when I said this song is basically the opposite of what I enjoy... but the sheer harshness of the pounding beats isn't without its charms. When I want something really harsh and chaotic, I could see myself... tolerating it? I dunno. I don't think I'd ever say I "like" this, but I think it's a tier above the 20 point songs.

[Later: I... hmm... I do kinda like the harshness of the song. If we could just remove that pulsing beat, there's probably a solid song underneath it. I still feel like this is below the 50 point mark, but... I'd say this is more solidly in the "not for me" camp than "I dislike this" one.]

[Later Still: And I'll add a few extra points here. It's always going to be a bit rough trying to judge a song that is so antithetical to what i usually enjoy, but this is getting a bit closer to being something I enjoy. I'll say this is just below the 50 point mark?]

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*continued*

And normally I'd space these out more, but my tablet is about to die so I need to finish this and get it plugged in immediately, so the last two:

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#377: The Shaggs | Philosophy of the World (3:03):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thHcvTDGWvg
Nominator: @rwlh [6 remaining]

Initial Score: 48.30
Final Score: 48.30

(First Reaction: Bad, but in an endearing way. It's clear that no one involved in this has any idea what they're doing & their complete lack of musical talent has resulted in something so staggeringly avant-garde that it's almost enjoyable. I feel like trying to analyze the song at all would be missing the point. It's an e-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e. Not a good one, but not entirely a bad one either.)

Charmingly bad is something that's fairly easy to cut. I mean, I am tempted to move it up, but... not really that tempted, if I'm being honest? If there was even one aspect of this that I actually liked: Lyrics, vocals, instruments; just one thing that I could grab onto ; then I might feel bad for cutting this song. Though I suppose the e-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e would be ruined if there was any quality involved at any point in this song's production.

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#376: Kenichi Suehiro | Goblin Slayer (3:19)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7KvlHNwIX0
Character: Goblin Slayer
Nominator: @MacArrowny

Initial Score: 47.15
Final Score: 47.15 [Upgraded to 48.697]

(First Reaction: Eh... it's fine? Latin chanting that I can't make out or find any information on, some over reliance on drums but at a low enough volume that I don't particularly mind, it's just... fine? I didn't have much reaction to this positive or negative, but it's... fine.)

This type of overly epic and dramatic music rarely does well, but this is probably one of the better examples of it? Usually they get near last place and comments about how they put me to sleep, but I don't find this song *boring*. I'm not a fan of it, but it's not boring or bad. Just another for the ever growing pile of songs that are "fine" in ways that don't inspire any significant reactions.

[Later: This is also one of the consistent songs. Sorry, but I don't think any of us are into this type of epic music, so it doesn't really matter what type of mood we're in. It's stylish enough that we never dislike it, but... yeah, I feel pretty comfortable letting this one drop. Though I'll give it a very, very minor boost to raise its placement slightly.]

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Okay, two eliminations tonight for good reasons!

1: Every currently nominated song has at least a preliminary score! Not that those mean anything, but they have some basic thoughts typed up!

2: There are only three songs left with under 50 points! We're almost out of the negative zone and into the vaguely positive category.

3: Not related to the above, but I've had "Announcement" stuck in my head today and I'm raising its score to 52.36 points for now. So it's... semi-un-eliminated. Will it move up again? Who knows? No clue what placement 52.36 points gets you. I'll revisit it again when we get up to that point.

4: One song is being retroactively eliminated between "Growing Up" and the Magpie's song, I've changed my mind about one of tonight's eliminations (there was going to be three cuts, but... I don't want to remove one of them) so let's see if I can get these numbers fixed...

380: Growing Up

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Chicago - Cell Block Tango (6:14)
https://youtu.be/ly3ccyTI-Js?si=OrKIotNOeG8xsDkL

Nominator: Haste_2 [0 Remaining, unless more songs are nominated]

Initial Score: 39.26
Final Score: 46.00

(First Reaction: Honestly, I've never really cared for this song. It's one of those songs where I've never really gotten the appeal. It should be something I enjoy; theatrical, villainous, tells a complete story (or several stories), spoken word narration for the stories, but... I really don't like this. I've railed on repetition enough in my life and vocalizations can be a bit hit or miss (I love some, I hate some) &

Pop! Six! Squish! Uh uh! Cicero, Lipschitz!

Is definitely on the low end. It's repeated so many times that I find it grating; which, if the goal is to point out how a sound effect can drive someone to murder, the song is doing its job a bit too well. And the format is so dismally motonous; chorus-spoken word story-chorus-spoken word story-that I quite quickly grow bored with the entire concept of the song. There are a few good lines in the song:

Then he ran into my knife.
He ran into my knife ten times!

Is a personal favorite, but:

I guess you can say we broke up because of artistic differences (If you'd have seen it)
He saw himself as alive
And I saw him dead

Is also good. And I suppose I do like the concept of the song, but I just find it rather tedious to endure.)

Well, I suppose I would take this over the eliminated jazz song (sorry, Snake), so that would put this around 46 points? ...Sure.

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#378: Pikkie De Ekster

(Announcement is un-eliminated)

#377: Philosophy of the World

#376: Goblin Slayer

The song I originally planned on eliminating at #375 has been spared, which moves this track down a notch and becomes the last song to score less than 50.00 points (barring any further nominations that score very low):

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#375: Hans Zimmer | The Rightful King (11:45)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7rkHnM_XOc

Nominator: @Place [11 Remaining]

Initial Score: 34.66
Final Score: 49.00

(First Reaction: I like the part that's roughly between the nine and ten minute marks. The addition of the choir truly elevates the song; it perfectly captures the sense of a hero's journey in an incredibly short time. Sadness and fear, then the music swells with hope and optimism... and then it gets way too happy in a way that jarringly knocks me out of my emotional state. I don't think I like the transition to Circle of Life, it just comes too quickly for me. And I honestly can't remember the first nine minutes of this song because that point in the song is so great that it obliterates everything before it... shame Circle of Life had to come in and ruin the ending.)

A minute twenty into the song and I'm honestly a bit tired already. It's... ehh...

it then transitions into something that feels vaguely ominous, but... ehh... I don't really feel frightened. It's not working for me either.

Around four minutes in, the music seems to be building up for EPIC FIGHTS. I don't like epic fights.

Around five minutes and we get TRIUMPH and CELEBRATION and... I... also don't like the way it's celebrating? It's very quickly interrupted by more ominous darkness which... I... also dislike in this song. It's certainly going on a musical journey, but I dislike all of its stops.

And finally at around 8:30 into the song, we get to the good stuff! It's tinged with sadness and then the choir comes in, we get an awe-inspiring section which is emotional, powerful, easily worthy of placing in the mid-90s! I absolute love this section and--oh, we're doing Circle of Life now. Alright then.

...Which leaves a question: If a song has one minute that you really, really, really love and ten minutes that you quite actively dislike then how many points do you give it? I'm going to go with 49 points; I can't bring myself to raise this above the 50 point mark, but I would say that I prefer this over the already eliminated songs because there is a brief flash of absolute perfection.

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One and a half quick eliminations to start the day as I struggle to decide on further cuts. I had a full ten songs ready to go, but now I... don't want to get rid of most of them. I'll try to be back with more later this evening after I think about it for a bit.

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#374: Teten Maru | devilla6ue (2:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW-d2FNT1V0
Nominator: @UF8 [14 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 51.05
Final Score: 50.49

(First Reaction: I don't know. The lyrics probably tell a good story, but I can't find anything for them besides the "devil or angel" bit implied by the title and the song itself is just... fine. I'm not hearing anything here that lets it stand on its own without context, but it's vaguely cute and bouncy enough that I'd say I have positive feelings about it? Feels like a really short song though; I know it's over two minutes, but the abrupt stopping point makes it feel so much shorter than it is.)

Vaguely cute and bouncy is still all I can find to say on this one. It's.. not something I've ever considered dropping below 50 points, but I'm also at an absolute loss for anything to say about it and I find this to be a bit of a miss.

[Later: I don't think her vocal style is quite for me. I don't dislike her, don't get me wrong, but I'm just not really into her either. I'm sorry.]

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#373: RoughSketch | Announcement [52.36]

No new thoughts to the song. I wanted it moved to the early 50s and then I moved it to the early 50s and here it is.

Spark_Garou posted...

(First Reaction: Bad, but in an endearing way. It's clear that no one involved in this has any idea what they're doing & their complete lack of musical talent has resulted in something so staggeringly avant-garde that it's almost enjoyable. I feel like trying to analyze the song at all would be missing the point. It's an e-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e. Not a good one, but not entirely a bad one either.)

This description is on point (to me at least).

Damn, didn't expect Cell Block Tango to went out this early.

Raka_Putra posted...

Damn, didn't expect Cell Block Tango to went out this early.

It had it comin'

rwlh posted...

This description is on point (to me at least).

Yay, vague agreement!

Raka_Putra posted...

Damn, didn't expect Cell Block Tango to went out this early.

I get Chicago is popular, but honestly, I don't think I liked the movie soundtrack that much in general. I did kinda like Mister Cellophane and I enjoy the verses on "We Both Reached For The Gun" , but those were the only two tracks that really stood out. Though to be fair, I only saw the film once and that was a long time ago.

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Three more eliminations for the night which, if you count the re-elimination of Announcement as a full elimination, sorta gets us up to a total of five?

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#372: WWE | Too Cool Theme (3:25)
https://youtu.be/7DTuUvIytoY?si=DFIJp7orhyp8ccYc
Character: Too Cool
Nominator: MarkS2222222222 [4 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 53.41
Final Score: 52.90

(First Reaction: I give some props for trying to capitalize on my WWE nostalgia, but this wasn't the song to do it with. I've never had any real emotions, positive or negative, towards Too Cool or any of its members. There was Rikishi (the popular one), Scotty 2 Hotty (known only for doing The Worm), and Brian Christopher who left so little impression that I legitimately cannot recall his ring name.

*eventually looks it up after several minutes of struggling*

"Grand Master Sexay".right, I do recall that now. How did Rikishi manage to avoid getting a terrible gimmick name as part of the group? I'm surprised Vince didn't change his name to something like "Tuphat Shaker" or "2phat4u" or something that, while not as lame as Grand Master Sexay, would have killed his career. He really dodged a bullet there.

Rikishi was, I suppose, a decent wrestler? He was never a favorite, but he seemed talented enough. He could function as a lovable goof and was reasonable as a villain... "I did for The Rock!" may be one of the most infamous promos ever, but I'm willing to blame that on the terrible script rather than Rikishi himself. He's fine; someone that I wouldn't mind appearing in the newer WWE games as another large wrestler (I like playing the big guys; a holdover from when large characters were overpowered by being immune to certain attacks in older games), but wouldn't be inclined to buy a season pass for. Earthquake, now there's a big man that I would pay good money to have added to my game, but I digress.

I suppose I need to discuss the song itself at some point and it's... fine? It's a really simple looping beat. It's inoffensive. It goes nowhere and does nothing, It's like a ten second song stretched out to three and a half minutes, but it's fine; it's instantly recognizable and fit the team well, so it's not a bad song. It's also not anything I'd ever choose to listen to. I'm thinking it's probably towards the middle of the "more positive than negative" tier? Like... I do have some positive feelings towards the era of WWE this song is from and it's memorable enough to stay positive, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself to move it up to the 55 point tier.)

I feel like I should have this higher because it is an instantly recognizable theme which is more than most current WWE wrestlers get, but my feeling is always a rather bland "oh yeah, it's this song". Like I know it and I can't imagine the group with any other theme, but I also don't actually like this much.

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#371: Frank Zappa | Alien Orifice (4:10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UaKP1Vzxuo
Nominator: @Place [10 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 53.99
Final Score: 52.96

(First Reaction: I was looking forward to hearing something else by Zappa, but this didn't leave much of an impression.)

The artist and title always get me hyped up; Zappa's usually doing weird things and that's even when he's not going for something alien! I can't wait to hear this! And then it's... some electric guitar playing. Perfectly fine guitar playing, but not anything that I find myself drawn to. It also feels unnaturally long... I find myself checking to verify that this isn't one of the 10+ minute songs and I'm surprised this was only four minutes.

It's definitely not bad, but it's on the low-end of Zappa songs that I've heard.

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#370: Zovi - How to Listen III: Open Ears hear the Multiplied (Building a Structure, Show Me Your Face, Multiplied) (11:57)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JloSherKsI8

Nominator: NFUN [14 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 38.26
Final Score: 39.16 [Upgraded to 53.00]

(First Reaction: Long song is long. The high-pitched, childlike vocals bother me and actively harm some otherwise decent sections. I enjoy what the music is doing around the 5:45 mark, but that voice bothers me enough that I can't focus on the instruments. At 7:45-ish, the song starts breaking down; it's a fairly neat effect, like being inside of a broken machine that's quickly running out of power. I don't know that I really like that section, but it's neat and novel enough to be interesting.

...Actually "I don't know that I like this, but it's neat and novel" could probably serve as a write up for the entire song. I might like the section around 10:30 when it starts getting more cacophonic, as that is a more pleasing type of strangeness? I don't know. This certainly feels like the longest song nominated, even though I know we have at least one twenty minute long song. I'm thinking that I didn't like this, but it's not bad and it's different enough that it was worth trying.)

This song feels endless, but it's not exactly bad. It's... occasionally strange in ways that I find pleasing, but only occasionally which isn't quite enough when the song goes on so long. When it started, I was feeling like "wow, I don't know why this is so far down! Surely, it's at least in the early 50s for novelties sake??" & then those vocals came in and it just... kept going. It's not a dealbreaker for a song to be long, but I have to be into it strongly enough that I don't want it to end--this would probably fare better if it were half the length.

[Later: Saying that "I like this" would still be a bridge too far, but I feel like i've learned to at least tolerate these vocals. I'd very much prefer a different singer and I still wish this song were half as long as it is, but... I am drawn to the madness tonight in a way where it feels like it'd be criminal to have this below the 50 point mark. I'm thinking around 53 points might make more sense; still a bit below the "Kinda Like" level, but still far above where I usually have it.]

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3 eliminations now. There'll be another three later in the evening, so that we can end the night at 25 total eliminations:

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#369: Kemialliset Ystvt | He tulivat taivaan rist (3:37)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foEAQTF89fk
Nominator: @Tked [4 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 53.17
Final Score: 53.17

(First Reaction: "They came from the ends of the sky", huh? That does feel like an appropriate title for an alien song like this. Well, alien-like. This song reminds me of The Simpsons episode where the alien turned out to be Mr. Burns. It's very "I bring you love!" while glowing bright green. I like the way the song fades out towards the end, it's oddly kinda soothing. Let's all bask in the warm glow of Mr. Burns' warm glowing warming glow.

...I... really don't have a reaction to the rest of the song, so I'm going to go with a bit below the "kinda like" tier for my opening guess? It's an interesting sensation, but then I was never too fond of that particular episode of The Simpsons, so the association isn't really doing the song any favors. And I know "this song gave me flashbacks to the wrong episode of The Simpsons" is a really stupid thing to hold against a song, but that's kinda where I am right now.)

Bizarre and alien, but in ways that I don't exactly love. It does still feel incredibly "Glowing Mr. Burns"-y which is certainly a unique thing for a song to represent, but that's also not really a favorite thing to be imagining either. So... I do thank you for finding something this unusual and I congratulate the song for conjuring up some very specific images, but I don't think I like this all that much once the novelty wears off.

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#368: Alter Bridge | Blackbird (7:58)
https://youtu.be/ISBIht69fkE?si=vlNJxA4s_w3S1bPX
Nominator: @NBIceman [14 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 54.936
Final Score: 53.26

(First Reaction: I feel bad trying to critique a song created in memory of their dead friend, but I'm not really into this track. It's not bad or anything, but I can't quite connect with this particular type of tragedy--not that I haven't lost loved ones before, just... not in a way that lets me relate to this song. And if I can't connect to them emotionally, what I'm left with is an okay rock song that leaves me feeling bad about calling it okay.)

Emotional songs that resonate with me get really high scores; emotional songs that don't tend to struggle because while I want to connect with this and acknowledge it as a beautiful and moving tribute, I just... don't feel very strongly about this at all.

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#367: Rigl Theatre | Grad Erlija -Retrospektiva- (5:25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWUoM4F6fKI
Nominator: @FL81 [4 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 54.36
Final Score: 53.30

(First Impressions: Fairly nice, dance-y instrumental. It somehow makes me think of Russia, even though I'm pretty sure this isn't even a Russian inspired song, so I don't know where these vibes are coming from. Either way, it's.. I dunno, one of those "good songs that doesn't strongly appeal to me" type things? It's fun, it makes you want to get up and dance--well not me, but I'm sure normal people would want to dance to it--it's... well, it's nice enough.)

...I really don't like leaving write ups that brief, but I'm afraid that's what tends to happen around this area of scoring. If I had more of a reaction, positive or negative, I'd have more to say about it... this is just another for the "nice" pile.

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#366: River Boy, Cult of the Lamb - Anchordeep (3:27)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-OWYrQ2pAE
Nominator: @paulg235 [12 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 54.13
Final Score: 53.40

(First Impressions: Cult of the Lamb wasn't a bad game. I generally enjoyed my time up to the original ending, though I felt no need to continue afterwards. I appreciate that they added so much free content after release, but things just felt complete after the final boss & the gameplay loop was already starting to feel a bit stale.

This song is also not bad. It seems to fit the area, being vaguely aquatic & ruins-y. I don't have any strong feelings towards it, but it manages to evoke images of areas that would be fun to play in, so that's neat.)

Vaguely aquatic, vaguely ancient, and sort-of nice to listen to. It's certainly the right genre as I would love an environmental aquatic song right now, but I never feel anything stronger than "kinda nice" and "vaguely adjacent to what I'm looking for" from it.

[Later: Well... I don't quite want to eliminate this, but I'm pretty sure there's no other song that I'd rather cut in its place. I've been sitting here for a while contemplating my options and no matter how I look at the list, this has to be the next cut. Sorry; I want to love this as it's so close to being perfection, but it doesn't lean into the aquatic theme as much as I wish it would.]

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#365: Kiss Kiss | Janet (4:15)
https://youtu.be/-2nFxVqNNkY?si=n2cjoTayKRE-Ra0d
Nominator: @NBIceman [13 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 52.2009
Final Score: 53.01 [Upgraded to 53.70]

(First Reaction: Yeah... denying someone their medication to murder them is a bit too realistic on the villainy scale to be fun, I'm afraid. Song is good and the fact that I'm so uncomfortable means that it's very succcessful at what it's trying to do, but I... don't think I'll be coming back to this one very often. Too dark in too realistic a way for me to have fun with.

I'm a bit disappointed this wasn't nominated for Johnbobb's villain topic though, I'd have liked to have seen his reaction to it. I think it likely would have played better for him than it does for me.)

I'm not a fan of how slow the intro is... taking almost a minute and a half before the song really starts feels a bit excessive. And I do appreciate the fact that the song is so dark that it succeeds in making me feel uncomfortable, but it's not an enjoyable type of uncomfortable and I'd generally rather not deal with evil this realistic. I'll be giving this one a tiny boost to its score, but I think this will probably be cut soon.

[Later: I did this one up a little bit further than I planned on, but... it's just a bit too far for me, I'm afraid. I can acknowledge that it perfectly accomplishes its goals, but I kinda dread listening to it each time it comes up and I'll honestly be a bit relieved when it's eliminated]

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#364: NURSE WITH WOUND | BRAINED BY FALLING MASONRY (12:26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bcXdVubNrk
Nominator: @Snake5555555555 [12 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 54.77
Final Score: 54.19

(First Reaction: Huh. I was kinda bored until just before the six minute mark, when the song decides to get really creepy. Sadly, that stretch of the song only lasts a couple of minutes, but that was a really neat bit of song. The end of the song kinda devolves into unpleasant chaos with literal screaming and what sounds like a telephone the screaming people refuse to answer... and I know that section doesn't *want* to be pleasant and I do love some discordant noise, but that part really didn't work for me.

Still, it is somewhat interesting. Strange and varied enough that it doesn't feel likea twelve and a half minute long song. I'm going to try placing this right before the "kinda like" tier--it did have one section that I quite enjoyed and it's unique enough that I'd say my feelings are mostly positive, but I'm not quite sure it's at that "kinda like" level yet.)

Weird, varied, and occasionally spooky... but I don't know that it's something that I'm likely to listen to again. It's unique enough to stay close to that "kinda like" level and there are parts that I do like: besides the creepy part at six minutes, I do like how it starts around eight minutes in. It's very ominous and ghostly, which is quite a bit of fun. But the last part of the song is a bridge too far for me and I don't think I like the other parts of the songs enough that they can carry the song further than this.

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And so, 25 songs have fallen. We're now halfway to the "50 songs eliminated" deadline.

Spreadsheet will be updated in the morning, it's very late as I moved some more songs up that were supposed to be eliminated and I refuse to cut a song without listening to it right before it's cut, so I had to listen to all of these again (as well as some other songs that were also moved up on relistens and now I'm very tired).

Spark_Garou posted...

#365: Kiss Kiss | Janet (4:15)
https://youtu.be/-2nFxVqNNkY?si=n2cjoTayKRE-Ra0d

Agreed that the intro is too long when taken as a stand alone song, but this is the first track of the album. I like this. Figures, since it's an NBIceman nomination. I get the impression we have similar tastes. After listening to some more of the album, this kinda reminds me of a less metal version of Protest the Hero. A band that I just now realized I haven't checked up on in a long time.

So naturally, it's impossible to find. I'm STILL trying to find a copy of The Deer Hunter Act 3 on CD (I have the other four). I guess it's back to eBay I go :P

I noticed the last two songs I submitted in this topic weren't added to the spreadsheet. Just wanted to let you know in case you were still interested in taking the extra noms.

ZaziGuado posted...

I noticed the last two songs I submitted in this topic weren't added to the spreadsheet. Just wanted to let you know in case you were still interested in taking the extra noms.

? If it's the Cloud Cult & Beach House nominations, I swear they're showing up on every tab on my end. They're a bit hard to see on some tabs due to Google's stupid "Open with sheets" pop up blocking the last two lines in which they appear, but they're easier to find when sorted by Artist or Song Title.

Though yes, bonus nominations remain open for anyone who has them until the 50th song drops.

Not surprised to see Janet drop early - figured that was probably more likely than it going far, but I thought it'd be an interesting nomination. Bit of a departure from songs that are normally on my playlist in how disquieting it is for sure, although I have seen an interpretation that the pills being talked about aren't so much medication as they are a destructive addiction that the protagonist can't stand to watch anymore, and that the "death" etc. being referred to is more metaphorical. Think you have to stretch your mind to see that one a bit, but I don't know - I've seen crazier song interpretations too.

Blackbird being my first out was a little more unexpected, though your explanation makes perfect sense. Alter Bridge isn't a band I love, but they have a few songs that really land with me and Blackbird is the biggest one. Love the vocals and it has maybe my favorite guitar solo of any studio recording ever.

CJones posted...

I like this. Figures, since it's an NBIceman nomination. I get the impression we have similar tastes.

Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, history would definitely indicate our tastes match up fairly well.

Fluttershy_Pony posted...

? If it's the Cloud Cult & Beach House nominations, I swear they're showing up on every tab on my end. They're a bit hard to see on some tabs due to Google's stupid "Open with sheets" pop up blocking the last two lines in which they appear, but they're easier to find when sorted by Artist or Song Title.

Though yes, bonus nominations remain open for anyone who has them until the 50th song drops.

You know what you're right. I was scrolling on my phone and it was scrolling all the way to the bottom of the sheet. Since I'm at the bottom and it was cutting off two lines, it makes sense why I thought this. I just verified it now. My apologies. Carry on.

CJones posted...

this kinda reminds me of a less metal version of Protest the Hero.

Oh hey, I almost forgot about that band! "Blindfolds Aside" was a fairly big hit back at the first ranking (34th place, apparently)... I can't remember if I ever got around to checking out any of their other songs or not, but I know I at least thought about it back then. I should probably throw something of theirs on after the main ranking finishes.

NBIceman posted...

although I have seen an interpretation that the pills being talked about aren't so much medication as they are a destructive addiction that the protagonist can't stand to watch anymore, and that the "death" etc. being referred to is more metaphorical. Think you have to stretch your mind to see that one a bit, but I don't know - I've seen crazier song interpretations too.

I like alternative interpretations, but I find it really hard to make that one work.

And you need to take
Three pills each day
Otherwise the virus will surely gain
Travel through your veins
To your heart
To your brain
Ending all the life that you seem to know

Spinning that as "actually the pills are bad and the death I'm forcing on you is good" is... not impossible, but certainly a challenge.

ZaziGuado posted...

Since I'm at the bottom and it was cutting off two lines, it makes sense why I thought this. I just verified it now.

It's cool, it freaked me out a bit at first when I went to check. I actually had a post typed up wondering how I managed to lose two songs after I couldn't find them either... then I decided to check the Artist & Song tabs and was able to find them there, which was even more confusing. Took a while to piece together than Google's stupid insistence that you use the app is half-hiding the last two lines.

I'd like to fix that, but I'm not sure how... I suppose I could add two fake lines with all Zs for each category to guarantee they'd always be at the bottom of the list? I'll think about it.

-

Three eliminations for now. I'll try to be back with two more later:

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#363: TISM | (He'll never be an) Ol Man River (2:23)
https://youtu.be/1-mLIdLZZeI?si=WleKdmJdVScMVdFX

Nominator: MarkS2222222222 [3 songs remaining]

Initial Score: Unranked [Later set to 49.89]
Final Score: 55.02

(First Reaction: I'm going to take a pass on this for a couple days and then revisit it. The band goes for shock value, and certainly shocked me, so mission accomplished? It's a serious condemnation of the media (and fans) obsession with tragedy and death; and... well, that's a bit of a heavier topic than I usually want to engage with. And the lyrics can get really repetitive:

I'm on the drug, I'm on the drug
I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix
I'm on the drug, I'm on the drug
I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix

I'm on the drug
I'm on the drug
I'm on the drug
I'm on the drug
Drug
I'm on the drug
I'm on the drug
I'm on the drug

And I have the feeling that this song is quite aggressively not for me. Still, I worry I may be being too hard on it; gonna give a couple days for the shock value to wear off and I'll revisit it for a first score then.

[Later]

Yeah, this thump-thump-thump-thump beat and oft repeated lyrics aren't for me. I'm cool with the song now that the shock value has worn off, but it's also not a genre I care for and the lyrics--while socially relevant--lack any lines that I'm especially fond of. With this type of pulsing club adjacent music, I really need some lyrics or story that I can fall in love with to overcome my bias against the style, and this just doesn't have any.)

I think I'm more in the mood for a challenging song like this today, so I actually kinda like it? I really do need a greater lyrical variety than this, but it's relevant & compelling in ways that I'm at least slightly drawn to. And really this needs to be a tier above all the songs didn't hit the 55 point mark, so I'll be moving it up a little ways.

[Later: Yeah, very early in the 55 point tier feels right for this song. I do kinda like it when I'm in the mood for something more... relevant to existence than my standard fare, but an oft-repeated chorus which just copies & pastes the same lyric endlessly is a bit of a rough sell to me even when I want to listen to something like this song.]

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*continued*

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#362: Yumi Tono | Primavera-Hana Furu Hi (3:27)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPE-9r4qkJc
Nominator: @MaxGalactica [14 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 20.00
Final Score: 55.033

(First Reaction: Sorry, but this is the type of instrumental that I'm rarely into. It's very old-fashioned and stuffy, like a piece of classical music that I've never been able to get into--we'll talk more about that in another writeup, since this isn't really classical (at least, I presume, seeing as it was released this year). I find it impossible to find anything to say here because it's just really not for me; I'm sure her playing is skilled and I'm equally sure someone who actually understands music would be able to articulate why this is a great piece of art, but I just can't get into this.)

Actually, this isn't too bad. I'm not exactly raving about it and it's not quite my style, but this... I may actually kinda like it? I can't find anything I want to say about it, but... yeah, I think I'll experiment with moving this one pretty far up the list.

[Later: Still not quite for me, but it's very... refined. I find this a pleasing enough alternative to everything else on the nomination list that I kinda like it, but as we rapidly approach a "I don't want to cut the next 39 songs I have marked for elimination" singularity, this song feels the easiest to eliminate. It's very neat and I appreciate it, but I think I at least slightly prefer everything in the massive deluge of songs that I'm refusing to cut.

(And no, the 39 songs bit isn't a joke. I keep adding more and more songs to a pile of "I'm not eliminating this tonight" which is making things difficult.)]

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-

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#361: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD | ROBOT STOP (5:30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p_Si21ig7c
Nominator: @Snake5555555555 [11 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 55.201
Final Score: 55.09

(First Reaction: "My coffin's all I see, lately" is a tragic enough line that I kinda like the song, but the song itself honestly isn't doing much for me. It feels quite long for how few different lyrics there are and the second something interesting happens (the song breaking down and slowing to nothing) is the moment that it ends. I kinda like it, but I think it's a long way from being something that I can say I like without reservations.)

I'm not a fan of how long the instrumental section goes. It's a minor complaint to be honest as I still kinda like the song, but it's already becoming difficult to decide what songs to cut and having one section I find it a bit boring & an unsatisfying ending (I always get hyped to see where it's going to go as the song starts to break, only for it to just stop) holds this song back enough that I feel relatively okay with cutting it. Not good, obviously there are no easy eliminations at this stage, but okay enough that I can live with the decision.

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

Yeah the song ends sort of abruptly because every song on the album leads into the next, even the last song looping around to the first.

Snake5555555555 posted...

Yeah the song ends sort of abruptly because every song on the album leads into the next, even the last song looping around to the first.

...in retrospect, I should have thought about checking the next song to see if it was that sort of thing. I'll try checking it on Spotify later this evening, see how letting the two flow together changes my opinion. Listening to the whole album would likely be a bit much, but one extra song is worth it.

Well, Robot Stop sounds better on Spotify so I'm un-eliminating it already. The sound is far more all-encompasing and metallic feeling & this is worth at least 58 points. I'm still not thrilled about the extended instrumental section, so I don't know that it'll go up an entire tier... but it's at least advancing to the "58 Nebula". I'll get into that after the next three eliminations.

I'm not sure if Big Fig Wasp would give it any extra points if attached or not. I do like that it removes the sudden end, but the lyrics are kinda repetitive and it's in this general "yeah, I kinda like this part too"... I appreciate that I can basically double the song's length by just letting it play (or extend further by keeping the album going), but I don't know that I like it enough that it would really boost the score any. (Okay, it just continued to Gamma Knife and I'll say a third consecutive song is a bridge too far and I'm starting to turn on the album now. Still, I am generally pleased that I have the option to extend the track to virtual infinity.)

Anyway, eliminations resume with the new #361, which is going to be another controversial cut:

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#361: Kansas | Carry On Wayward Son (5:23)
https://youtu.be/2X_2IdybTV0?si=WA7Yiv2USpkXxKKy
Nominator: @NBIceman [12 songs remain]

Initial Score: 55.00
Final Score: 55.12

(First Reaction: Something odd here. This song *should* be crippling me emotionally as there are a lot of memories tied to it, but it... doesn't? The first time I recall hearing this song was in Guitar Hero 2 which I played with "important person"--i've never given him a name in these topics, but I make frequent references to having lived with someone who was important and I've been working my way through our parting. The winning song at the second topic won because it helped process some of my greiving and I still talk *about* him regularly. So, you would expect this song to hit really hard. "If you can be destroyed by songs that relate to your time with him and this song is permanently tied to him, then this song must hit hard!" but... not really, no.

I suppose the trick is that while I first heard this song with him, I don't really associate the song with him. I enjoyed the song and listened to it quite a bit, both when I was with him & after we parted but tried to stay friends & even for a bit after that didn't work out. It's a song that I loved and listened until I got tired of & the circumstances that I first heard it are rather inconsequential to my feelings. ...And there's the rub; "listened until I got tired of". This is a track that I've already heard so many times that I'm not particularly interested in it any longer; sorry, this would have been a high scoring song once upon a time, but that time was.... well over a decade ago to be honest.)

I feel like I should have this song higher up due to its high quality and personal significance, but honestly, I'm just so over it that I don't think I actually want to listen to this again? There are definitely some nominations that I've heard a lot of times that I still absolutely love, but this.... already had its time as my favorite song. It's fine and I'll always kinda like it, but I fear there's nothing left in it here for me.

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-I think this one will also be controversial-

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#360: The Greatest Showman | From Now On (5:50)
https://youtu.be/iW2FUY3N-n0?si=wkMPwZXmq13xvUiM
Nominator: @redrocket [14 songs remaining]
Character: P.T. Barnum

Initial Score: 55.00
Final Score: 55.90

(First Reaction: I've never watched this, but there's enough talent involved that I've always been mildly curious about it. And this song is... fine. Perhaps the Ur Example this topic of the "kinda like" tier.

I kinda like Hugh Jackman's voice.

I kinda like the lovey-dovey lyrics.

I kinda like how it starts off slow and builds up energy as he regains hope.

I just kinda like everything here. Not wild about it, but I do kinda like it. Currently putting it exactly at 55 points as it seems the perfect candidate to introduce that tier.)

I really do kinda like this. The final part of the song can get a bit repetitive, but I do kinda like it.

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-the elimination may not be controversial, but my distaste for SOAD probably is-

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#359: Nekrogoblikon | Chop Suey! (3:34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwIwT7TxPuI

Nominator: Murphiroth [4 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 55.23
Final Score: 56.15

(First Reactions: It's no Darkness, but it's not bad. It feels very disjointed though, which I'm sure is intentional, but it makes the song rather hard to get a grip on. Some melodic parts, some techno dance parts, and some extremely drum heavy metal blend together like cherry syrup and gazpacho. Which, you could probably do *worse* than dumping a very sweet syrup onto your ice cold tomato soup, but why did you do it in the first place?

...actually, why do I have the feeling that cherry gazpacho is a thing?

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/cherry-gazpacho

Well, at least it doesn't use cherry syrup. ....I mean, ha, I knew cherry gazpacho was a thing all along! Yes, I was making a very coherent metaphor about how this is composed of things that seem like they don't go together, but actually do, even though I personally don't like the combination. Yes, I definitely knew what I was talking about this whole time. *coughs*

...wait, this is a cover of a System Of A Down song? ....Well, the goblins did it better. Significantly better, I really do not like the SOAD version of this song. I'm tempted to add a few more points to the nominated song just because I have some new found appreciation for it... but the drums are still a bit too heavy for me in places and there aren't any lyrics I'm really attached to, so I'm going to keep this at the "kinda like" tier to start with.)

The melodic parts are fine, but I suspect I'd prefer another original song from the band rather than cover songs like this. It's neat that its so much better than the original, but a decent cover of a song that I strongly dislike is unlikely to be one of my favorites.

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

-

And now in order to keep the topic moving, I'm going to take advantage of the "all rankings are placeholders" clause. The next several drops aren't going to be numbered because I'm hitting some terrible decision paralysis. I'm going to start listening to everything with less than 58 points and then either:

A: Give them somewhere between 56.16 to 57.99 points and eliminate them immediately.

B: Give them a placeholder value of 58 points, placing them in the "58 Nebula", a separate mini-tier for everything that I don't want to cut early on in this tier but don't actually want to move all the way to the next tier just yet. (These songs will be revisited after everything below the 58 Nebula have been culled to get actual scores)

C: Stop being stubborn and accept that some of these songs aren't even going to be cut during the 58 Nebula, skipping them up to the next tier.

Don't know how many songs will be culled before we hit 58, but ranking placements will officially be ??? until this phase of culling is complete. It's very "I know these songs are being cut in some order, but I won't know what that order is until it's finished". Such is the peril of doing the ranking completely live like this.

Man The Greatest Showman is...

It's a great entry point for people to get into musicals I guess, because most of the songs have a very modern pop sound. But it feels very Hollywood-formulaic, if you know what I mean.

Raka_Putra posted...

Man The Greatest Showman is...

It's a great entry point for people to get into musicals I guess, because most of the songs have a very modern pop sound. But it feels very Hollywood-formulaic, if you know what I mean.

Having never seen it or heard any other songs besides the one nominated, I'll have to take your word for it. "From Now On" didn't feel particularly poppy, as I'd be surprised to hear something with such a slow & sad buildup on the radio... though I suppose once the song picks up, the "let's just repeat a happy phrase endlessly" part certainly feels like modern pop music with its unwillingness to do anything but a memorable chorus repeated until the end of time.

-

Four eliminations to start off the day. As stated, these aren't going to have ranking numbers until I'm done chopping things, so songs will be in no particular order for the near future:

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???: Royal Trux | Solid Gold Tooth (2:19)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtWCQaaR-NI
Nominator: @Tked [3 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 55.23
Final Score: 56.03 [Upgraded to 57.30]

(First Reaction: It's... I don't know what it is. It has a lot of laser sound effects and some vocals that I can't make out. Are they speaking words or just sounds? Would the answer matter? I don't dislike it, but it's.... some voices mumbling something that may or may not be in a human language while lasers are constantly fired. How many points is that worth? It's novel enough that I kinda like it, so 55 points? I guess? I'd like to make this write up longer, but I think I'm too baffled to actually say anything.)

I still have no idea what to make of this track. It's certainly something. Don't know if it's a good or bad something, but it's... something.

[Later: Yep, I still don't get this track and it's going to be the first unfortunate victim of the culling. While I'm reasonably confident there are songs remaining I enjoy less than this, it's not going to compare favorably against the songs in the Nebula (much less those beyond the Nebula) and it's time to let this one go.]

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???:: Blur - Song 2 (2:03)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXS89RFUlOY
Nominator: @paulg235 [12 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 19.5001
Final Score: 55.00 [Upgraded to 57.82]

(First Reaction: .....Oh God, it's that blasted "woo-hoo! woo-hoo! woo-hoo!" song. Not to spoil the ranking too much, but why do you have two horrible songs sandwiched between two great ones? I'm pretty sure no one else has such a massive scoring discrepancy between two nominations listed side-by-side and you somehow do this twice in a row. Are you trying to give me some type of whiplash by bouncing up and down the rankings so violently?

[Please take that as a joke, I am glad that you found at least two songs that I really enjoy and I'm also thankful for songs I hate. It just feels weird to react with "oh fuck, it's this song" and "oh fuck yeah, it's this song" back-to-back.]

As for the song... like, I get that it's a parody, but this feels terrible. I hate that woo-hoo'ing chorus and the verses aren't that much better.)

Hmm... actually I think I like the instruments here tonight. There's a lot of grungy, filthy shredding that I feel really drawn to. I still despise the shouting of "woo-hoo" and I'm not a fan of how abruptly the song stops, but those instruments... man, I quite like that. So, I'll tell you what we're gonna do here; were gonna temporarily move this up to the "kinda like" tier. Now, I may move it back down, but those instruments *might* be a valid enough reason to move the song even further up. I don't know right now. So, we're gonna drop this at exactly 55 points and reevaluate when the actual rankings start.

[Later: For those of you who don't want to check the order of paulg's nominated songs, this write up tells you that "Donkey Kong Country - I'm Nobody's Hero" & "DBZ- Cha-La Head Cha-La" are getting high scores, while the SiivaGunner song "Puzzle Plank Galaxy" started off as something I hated and is now somewhere above exactly 55 points. Spoiling that made more sense when paul was losing multiple songs in the opening post & I wanted to offer assurance that at least something was going to get points... but then I stopped hating those two songs and now this is all weird, but I'm not editing the message.]

[Later Still: I do honestly like the instruments in this song, but I also still hate the "woo-hoo" so... I think I feel okay with letting this one go next. It's been holding on for quite a while, but the 58.00~59.99 point songs have become their own tier & this does not rank amongst them. Like "Solid Gold Tooth", I'm fairly confident there are songs I like less than this remaining, but it's destined to be cut soon either way.]

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???: Date of Birth | dial m17 (5:10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Li3Pmv-Cs
Nominator: @-hotdogturtle-- [4 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 55.5555
Final Score: 56.28

(First Impressions: It's a chill song. I kinda like it; can't find a lot that I want to say about it, it's just something I kinda space out and vibe with for a few minutes. Kinda cool.)

It's definitely chill. Is it the chillest song of the topic? I don't know. Maybe. It's definitely something that I kinda like and I'm never really disappointed to hear, but it never leave a very strong impression and there's no "thing" that I get particularly into. Chill background music is nice, but I can't see myself ever seeking it out to listen to on its own.

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???: Ramin Djawadi and Brandon Campbell | Surrender (4:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LjNEkLlHEM
Nominator: @GavsEvans123 [8 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 55.84
Final Score: 56.17

(First Reactions: I kinda like this one. There's a richness and heaviness to the stringed instruments which is enjoyable and I like the idea of a more atmospheric nomination, but I never feel a strong connection to the song. It doesn't make me feel anything other than a general "this is nice" type vibe; and I feel I've said that about too many songs this ranking already, but it's really all I can think of to say here. It does everything right: good genre, good instruments, good weight and heaviness to it, and yet... it just doesn't resonate with me strongly enough or make me imagine any interesting scenarios for it to be more than nice.)

I wish I could tell you why this song isn't quite clicking for me. On paper, it seems to do everything right and I wouldn't say that I have complaints about it because I truly don't know what would make the song more appealing to me. With something like "Anchordeep", I can say "I would prefer more aqua in my aquatic ruins music" and at least I know what I meant. This song... "is". It doesn't feel like it's missing anything, it's not one of the songs that doesn't leave an impression, it just... is. Which is unsatisfying to type as it is for you to get as a write up, but it's all I've managed to come up with.

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Spark_Garou posted...

And now in order to keep the topic moving, I'm going to take advantage of the "all rankings are placeholders" clause. The next several drops aren't going to be numbered because I'm hitting some terrible decision paralysis. I'm going to start listening to everything with less than 58 points and then either:

A: Give them somewhere between 56.16 to 57.99 points and eliminate them immediately.

B: Give them a placeholder value of 58 points, placing them in the "58 Nebula", a separate mini-tier for everything that I don't want to cut early on in this tier but don't actually want to move all the way to the next tier just yet. (These songs will be revisited after everything below the 58 Nebula have been culled to get actual scores)

C: Stop being stubborn and accept that some of these songs aren't even going to be cut during the 58 Nebula, skipping them up to the next tier.

Don't know how many songs will be culled before we hit 58, but ranking placements will officially be ??? until this phase of culling is complete. It's very "I know these songs are being cut in some order, but I won't know what that order is until it's finished". Such is the peril of doing the ranking completely live like this.

*awed*

You're unknotting the Flux knot... *impressed*

Spark_Garou posted...

Having never seen it or heard any other songs besides the one nominated, I'll have to take your word for it. "From Now On" didn't feel particularly poppy, as I'd be surprised to hear something with such a slow & sad buildup on the radio... though I suppose once the song picks up, the "let's just repeat a happy phrase endlessly" part certainly feels like modern pop music with its unwillingness to do anything but a memorable chorus repeated until the end of time.

I'm really surprised you manager to escape This Is Me, Never Enough, and Rewrite the Stars all these years. They were ubiquitous when the movie first came out.

whoops meant to post right after topic went up and then waited for M3 albums to come out and nom stuff from there and then just... forgot to post again!! but there's only one song that's actually uploaded now of what i've been able to listen to so I'll just send that and leave it at that!

DJ Myosuke | Shadow Bang (2:34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ_lLJrRm2M

banshiryuu posted...

DJ Myosuke | Shadow Bang (2:34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ_lLJrRm2M

Should be added to the sheet now, thank you!

Four more eliminations, I should be back in a few hours to make two more cuts:

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???: IOSYS | Bow Down, You Ignorant Fools! (5:25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5n9OsHTs3E
Character: Kaguya Houraisan
Nominator: handsomeboy2012 [14 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 56.44
Final Score: 56.44

(First Reaction: I kinda like this. It's a comedic Touhou song which is close-ish to being something that I like; the instrumental parts are enjoyable enough because I tend to kinda like the Touhou music I've heard, though I think I prefer the older and crunchier computerized music of the older games over this more modern sounding tune. And the lyrical parrs are kinda funny?

(KAGUYA!) x16

"Like I said, call me your highness not Kaguya."

(GUYA!) x16

"What the heck is Guya?"

I wouldn't say I'm a fan of the group chanting one word or name sixteen times in a row, but the fact that the main character is as annoyed by them as I am somehow makes it quasi-enjoyable. And I like the idea of the song, she's got a fun level of arrogance and it's villainous without doing anything too evil. Sure, she tells her followers to kill themselves and engage in some behavior I don't think I can mention on this site, but she doesn't seem to be actively forcing her cult to do anything & the vibe is more 'slightly unusual sex cult' than 'villain' & she's a fun enough character that I can work with this. But it never really gets beyond that "kinda like" stage. I kinda like the Touhou music, I kinda like the characterization, and I kinda like yelling at the idiots who can't chant properly.)

The chanting can get a bit annoying. It's funny that she's also annoyed by the chanting, but... well, it's one of those songs where I like almost all of the components, but they never quite gel into something I love.

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???: BotanicSage | RULES OF TEKKEN (4:42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJ7ZVz31GY
Nominator: @GavsEvans123 [7 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 56.37
Final Score: 57.00

(First Reaction: A chaotic mess that comes from throwing too many songs into a blender. I can't process what this song is doing because it's one of the most songs ever, the musical equivalent of a chocolate jalapeno mango smoothie topped with pop rocks and Velveeta cheese sauce. I'd say that I kinda like the song for the sheer audacity it has in even existing in the first place, but I think it's just too far out there to be something I'd likely come back to. Interesting experience though.)

Two main highlights to this song: First is the Live & Learn section. Live & Learn is another is song that I listened to way too many times and can't really get into any longer, so changing things up a bit lets it play on my Sonic Adventure 2 nostalgia without falling into the "I've heard this a million times" trap that actual Live & Learn would fall into. It's... well it's not great, but it's novel enough to hold my attention.

Second, the "it Has To Be This Way" section because that's just a great song and this manages to avoid ruining it.

But then the song does actively ruin the Devil Trigger part and I don't even care about the fourth song enough to even remember what it was. It's not bad, but when your mashup consists of two songs that I'd prefer hearing on their own ; one song that I've heard so many times that you have to drastically change it for me to even notice the song any longer ; and one that I'm completely apathetic to... well, let's just say the mixture isn't something I like enough to move up to the next stage. Still, pretty neat that something like this exists in the first place, even if it's not exactly for me.

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???: Wintersun | Winter Madness (5:08)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpoLe2v6MVo
Nominator: @CJones [6 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 56.0008
Final Score: 57.14

(First Reaction: The song itself is too intense for my blood, but I do find quite a bit to like in the lyrics here:

Winter, the realm of eternal ice
Snowfall and darkness descends upon the vales of time
Distant caress of the sun's fading light
The lands were painted white with the Winter's might

My hands are frozen
My mind is at the edge of madness
Oh how many nights and days
I've been lost in this land of sadness

Darkness, eternal misery, madness, unending sadness, an inability to judge time, the fading of that accursed sun... these lyrics hit a lot of topics that I enjoy rather quickly. And while I'm not as drawn to the guitar solo as you are, I'll admit that it's very skillful playing & a rather lighter sounding guitar that cuts through the intensity of the rest of the song, giving a much needed reprieve with a section that's easy to listen to.

I think, ultimately, I kinda like this track; the opening batters me so hard sonically that I thought I was going to strongly dislike the song, but the lyrics elevated it to "actually, not that bad" territory and the instrumental break moved it up to "kinda like".)

Great lyrics and a fun instrumental break, but songs with very pronounced drumming tend to struggle to hold my attention and the percussion on this song is just too intense for my blood. I'm sure there are still songs to come that I enjoy less than this--these lyrics are pushing so many of my buttons that this track has to be above the 56 point songs & there's little chance we've seen the last of those--but I... honestly don't see a world in which I move this up to the next tier.

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

-

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

???: Cororo - Kumo no Kanata (2:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fbkUYlQi5U
Nominator: NFUN [13 songs remaining]
Character: Pilica

Initial Score: 52.90
Final Score: 56.50 [Upgraded to 57.12]

(First Reaction: This is another one of those songs that just never does anything for me, I'm afraid. It's fine. Fine in a more positive way than I usually use fine for these rankings, but... it's fine.)

Another day, another song that is considerably better than I remember. I'll try to type up some thoughts when this is actually eliminated as now I'm in a "well, now I desperately need to find something to eliminate" type scenario.

[Later: This is another of those songs that is close to doing something, but never quite gets there. It's kinda pretty, but it feels like it ends before it has a chance to really do anything... it's not like a two minute long song is that short, but somehow, I feel like this needs an extra minute tacked on to give it more of a chance to stand out. It's something that I keep liking more with each listen, but I don't really see it reaching the Nebula.

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

Two more to end the night:

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

Shiron | Code: Crimson (Extended Length) (5:33)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF4XXQn97Mo
Nominator: @banshiryuu [11 songs remaining]
Character: Kureha (Sound Voltex)

Initial Score: 56.40
Final Score: 56.33

(FIrst Reaction: Not quite for me--this is perhaps the most heavy thumping beat in your first five nominations--but I don't really mind it? It's kinda nice to lose focus to; if I try to pay attention to what the song is doing at all, then the beat gets overwhelming in an unpleasant way quite quickly... but if I can manage to space out properly, then I kinda like it?

...Pretty sure that's the cruelest, most backhanded compliment I've given in any write up, but I do kinda like it!)

Not a song I'd ever seek out, but surprisingly nice if I can manage to get lost in a trance and lose focus. I really do kinda enjoy this, but as it gets harder and harder to cut songs, ones like this that I'm just less into start to fall by the wayside. There is a really nice break where the song drops its intensity and goes for some pretty piano music, but it's fairly short lived & the fact that the song could be doing something that I really like just makes me more disappointed how rarely it chooses to do so.

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

-

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

Justin Bieber | Love Yourself (4:32)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyEuk8j8imI
Nominator: Raka_Putra [14 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 56.89
Final Score: 57.11

(First Reaction: Ohh, so the title is meant more as "go fuck yourself". This song is far more bitter and angry than I was expecting from the title. Song is... not bad; I do enjoy bitterness and break up songs, so a bitter break up is nice. I also understand that you have to censor things to actually get played on the radio, but... "You should go and love yourself" is just too tame for this to work as an especially angry or bitter song. I kinda like it, but I wish it had been allowed to go harder.)

The bitterness in the song is nice, but I dislike the bridge where he just "mm-mmm-mmm-mmm"s along with the instrumental and I'm never really all that into the song? It's very slow, there aren't that many lyrics, and his vocal performance is merely fine; I'll blame the song for being too subdued, but he never gets a chance to show any emotion or range. It's certainly not a bad song, and I like the idea of it, but I don't think this one'll make the cut.

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

-

That puts us at 40 eliminations. If all goes according to plan,nominations will be closed in about 24 hours from now with the 50th drop. If you plan on using any left over bonus noms and need additional time, please let me know soon because they really do need to close eventually.

Three songs to start the day:

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

Hakushi Hasegawa | Sukuinote (3:47)
https://open.spotify.com/album/14XaMmLLFH2lzWri7DCUrV
Nominator: @tazzyboyishere [14 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.094
Final Score: 57.84

(First Reaction: Weird.

...I'm really tempted to leave it at that. It's not the only experimental song this ranking, I wouldn't even call it the most experimental, but it's... weird. I did actually find myself getting rather into the song by the last verse--I'm not sure if it actually did anything different at that point or not because I haven't been able to parse what it was doing at any moment. I can't recall what I liked or didn't like, all memories of the song evaporating instantly at the end except for a feeling that it was weird. I think I'm going to try 57-ish points to start with? I... liked the last section of the song, but I wasn't that into the earlier parts of it, so "kinda like" seems like a good compromise? Very much look forward to hearing this again and seeing if I can make any sense out of it the second time around.)

The song does seem to get more chaotic and static-y around the final verse, so I can see why that part was more appealing. Anyway, I do kinda like this song... it's not really one of my preferred styles of weird, but it does come together by the final verse. I think this is probably about as far as I take this one though; like I've said, this section of the list is oddly difficult to get arranged.

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

-

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

Kole Hicks | Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress (3:40)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJK0gG-WSUc
Character: Gwen

Nominator: NFUN [12 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.11
Final Score: 57.39

(First Reaction: It's nice. I like how it has a very different vibe to it compared to other nominations and there's a lot of focus on violins, or possibly some other stringed instrument/s. It's.. not exactly a preferred genre, so I feel like it's a bit below the 60 point tier, but it's a quality song that I kinda like and get why other people would love.)

*skims YouTube comments until someone else mentions a violin* Oh thank god, I don't tend to recognize instruments so I was really hoping that there actually was a violin here.

I do like how the song focuses primarily on the string section, as I don't think there are many nominations focusing on those instruments which helps this stand out a bit. But as it doesn't make me imagine anything and I have nothing to add other than "nice strings", I think it's about time to cut this one. Pun not intended, though I did realize what I was saying in time and chose to say it anyway, so maybe half-intended.

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

-

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

Old School Runescape | The Fallen Empire (5:17)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFyARb7fWPY
Nominator: handsomeboy2012 [13 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 54.99
Final Score: 54.222 [Moved Aside] [Score set to 56.19]

(First Reaction: This is one of those songs where I want to like it, but I'm not quite there. I do like some ambient tracks, but this one doesn't inspire feelings of any particular environment so it feels like "good background music" rather than an experience that I'm likely to seek out on its own. Still, it's a good try.)

I'm starting to think I'm just not into the Old School Runescape OST. I certainly like the idea of exploring the remains of an ancient empire and this type of atmospheric exploration theme should be something I love, but I never quite get any specific images or vibes from the song and it falls squarely into the "good background music" camp. I'm sorry, this definitely seemed like a good pick in theory.

[Later: One of many, many songs that were moved aside because I didn't want to cut them, but also hadn't decided on a new score for them. I had kinda wanted to move this into the Nebula because I really want to get into an atmospheric exploration song like this, but while I'm trying very hard, I just... never manage to get enough from this song. It's good, but if I'm being honest, there are already several songs not making it into the Nebula that I'd likely take over this one & "I want to like this more than I do" isn't exactly a good enough reason to keep this around.

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

'Bow Down, You Ignorant Fools!' is a remix of her theme in touhou 8 which had been featured in a VGMC before. I thought you would have heard of that (but it was 10+ contests ago so maybe not).

I'm surprised you like Nekrogoblikon's Chop Suey more than the original, that's a classic!

Yeah, I like Love Yourself but it definitely can kinda blend into the background lol. But sometimes I'm in the mood for that!

I read a funny anecdote somewhere on the internet. It was something like people playing Love Yourself at a wedding or putting it on a playlist for a motivational seminar without REALLY listening to the lyrics.

handsomeboy2012 posted...

'Bow Down, You Ignorant Fools!' is a remix of her theme in touhou 8 which had been featured in a VGMC before. I thought you would have heard of that (but it was 10+ contests ago so maybe not).

I'm not really deep into Touhou music to recognize any particular track. It's probable that I heard the original, but just don't recall since Touhou music tends to just register as "Touhou music" in my mind. I was pretty big into MUGEN for a few years and had several Touhou stages, but I doubt I'd recognize any of their tracks even after hearing them dozens of times.

I think my first VGMC was probably 12, if that matters.

Murphiroth posted...

I'm surprised you like Nekrogoblikon's Chop Suey more than the original, that's a classic!

I did say that was probably going to be a controversial take! But yeah, I quite aggressively disliked the SOAD version... still a chance I could come around on it after a few more listens though.

Raka_Putra posted...

Yeah, I like Love Yourself but it definitely can kinda blend into the background lol. But sometimes I'm in the mood for that!

I read a funny anecdote somewhere on the internet. It was something like people playing Love Yourself at a wedding or putting it on a playlist for a motivational seminar without REALLY listening to the lyrics.

Yeah, I can see that happening. Pretty funny!

Astronoid | Homesick (4:48)
https://youtu.be/7TyCUJZAxqc?si=r5u3qk_fg0_vz6QL
@NBIceman

Final nomination, sorry it took so long. Nothing much in my library really jumping out at me as an interesting nomination these days, especially since I'm trying to avoid repeating artists.

Spark_Garou posted...

???: Wintersun | Winter Madness (5:08)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpoLe2v6MVo
Nominator: @CJones [6 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 56.0008
Final Score: 57.14

Yeah, I'm not at all surprised this was my first elimination. I didn't expect it to even break 50. I don't usually go in for this kind of "EXTREME" metal, and I don't really like most of Wintersun's other songs. But I do really like Winter Madness. And like I said before, it has my all time favorite guitar solo. The solo has a very neo-classical feel to it, something I wish more solos did. Too many solos sound like something the guitarist just made up on the spot. This solo was clearly composed.

Fun Fact, Wintersun started out as just one guy, Jari Menp, from Finland. He wrote everything and performed everything, except the drums. He used a programmable drum machine for drums. Which kinda explains why the drumming is so over the top. He was not restricted by the need for a person to be physically capable of doing it :P

The only reason he ever brought in other people was so they could play live. His music is notoriously difficult to play.

New song should be added to the public spreadsheet and has a preliminary score on my master list. Thank you!

CJones posted...

Fun Fact, Wintersun started out as just one guy, Jari Menp, from Finland. He wrote everything and performed everything, except the drums. He used a programmable drum machine for drums. Which kinda explains why the drumming is so over the top. He was not restricted by the need for a person to be physically capable of doing it :P

That is a fun fact! Honestly, knowing that someone isn't playing it themselves, makes it a bit more endearing. I feel like "I can't actually play the drums, but I got a machine to do this cool thing!" is kind of a cute story, honestly.

-

Two more songs to end the night. I had hoped to do more, but some stuff came up in real life and set me back two hours & I decided to spend way too much time trying to get lyrics for this first elimination.

-

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

???: Hoshino Meguri -MegRi- | Tears of marionette (4:36)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx-nqlENMbc
Nominator: @UF8 [13 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.334
Final Score: 57.334

(First Reaction: I'm not having any luck finding any lyrics for this one, so I can't try to comment on the story being told here. Without any context, I'd say that I kinda like this song? It has a great title and she has a fairly cute voice, but I don't think the song is enough of a banger that it works without the context of the lyrics. I'll see if I can figure something out by the time for the Revised Score. I could try taking pictures of the subtitles and translate those if nothing else, that's just not something I have time for at the moment.)

This is very time consuming and not going to work, but struggling to take pictures of the lyrics with Google Lens gives the following:

"The wind sings tree-lined road girl dreams"

...Well that didn't work. Trying again, I manage to get a better picture of the text:

"A tree-lined road where the wind sings, a girl dreams"

Now that's a sentence. So this does work, sorta. If I manage to get a good enough picture... This is a terrible plan.

"Her skin is white like porcelain and her eyes are a heavy color.
In the depths of the play, the beloved doll is waiting for her master"

And then I botch trying to get pictures and I'm four lines behind & need to start this entire process over. It wouldn't be so bad if YouTube would hide the bloody user interface while a video is paused, but they do, so it's impossible to get the text while the vid is paused. I have to hold the phone camera steady, at an angle where it can pick up the text, while watching the video to see when the subtitles change, while keeping one hand ready to pause the video the moment the picture is taken so that I can read & transcribe the photo without the video playing without me.

I have never made it to the fourth line of text. ...Oh hey, if I put it in theater mode, then the text winds up displayed below the progress bar so I can screenshot it! Yay! (Of course the text varies wildly depending on how good of an angle I get on it. My new translation says her eyes are yellow. And now instead of waiting in the depths of play, she's waiting in a mansion.)

Pursuing that beautiful illusion that fades into haze
I opened the door as if to be invited
Angel sleeping quietly
The wheel of destiny keeps spinning
Be guided, dream monkey

...well, I'm going to say that I botched the picture on that one, though I will say that I would totally listen to an album titled "Be guided, dream monkey". Okay, resuming from the botched line:

In a dream while being guided
Angel that descended
Wear white feathers and dance, dance
Memories that can't be touched by tears
What she chooses...

I wake up in the back of the mansion and the doll had a dream
A girl who calls me far, far away
Who are you?
A fleeting story...
If it's our fate that we can't be tied together, it's okay to be a dream
What makes those eyes wet? Miracle or pain?
A blessing that everyone wants
Thousands of wishes are spinning around
Like stars scattered in the sky
Just one angel
I'll sing that beloved name, I'll sing it
A praying girl spinning in a dance
What she chooses...

One bell that tells the time
One ringing
The girl will wake up

Angel sleeping quietly
The wheel of destiny keeps spinning
Let me be guided by your arms
Angel that descended
The tears that fall light up life
The memories being spun
What she chooses

"We finally met..."
Story of two people

Okay, I know these lyrics are not even remotely correct. Machine translation is spotty at best, my hands won't stop shaking long enough to get good pictures, and I'd rarely get the same line twice ("What she chooses" was once translated as "There's a girl, sir" when my hand was shaking way too much). Still, you can't say that I didn't try to make every attempt at getting some type of lyrics for the song.

Sadly, I think the only line I liked was the incredibly broken one about the dream monkey which is very much not the right lyric. With the lyrics failing to add anything to the song, I find my opinion remarkably unchanged. This still feels like a 57 point song & 57.334 conveniently slots it into the list exactly where I want to to be. Well. That was a bit of a waste of time, but I at least I know I persevered and did something, even if was stupid. That's... something.

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

-continued-

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

#???: The Beatles | Eleanor Rigby (2:11)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuS5NuXRb5Y
Nominator: Bane_Of_Despair [14 songs remaining]
Character: Eleanor Rigby

Initial Score: 55.99
Final Score: [Set Aside] [Score set to 57.82]

(First Reaction: What Family Ties episode was it where the father references this song? What are the odds that I can Google "Family Ties Eleanor Rigby" and find out?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0577321/

Doesn't have the quote itself though. Does give me the episode name though and some additional trivia, like the fact that Eleanor Rigby is not featured in the film he saw making his joke a random nonsequitir. That's kinda funny.

*some further Googling later*

"Elyse, I'm crushed... How did we raise three children who don't care that Eleanor Rigby keeps her face in a jar by the door?"

Thank you! I cannot listen to this song without flashing back to that scene, but I couldn't recall the exact line.

As for something on topic... ehh... it's a song? I wouldn't say it's my favorite of their songs (and I'm not their biggest fan in the first place), but it's... so utterly omnipresent on every radio station I've ever listened to and throughout pop culture that it feels like something that just exists. It's here, but it's everywhere, so that almost goes without saying. I can't honestly say I like it because it's so completely played out that I can't feel much about it. I can't dislike it because it's as omnipresent as air. This is like submitting "oxygen" for a ranking topic. ; well, no, because we need oxygen. What's omnipresent and relatively pointless? "A single bit of dandelion fluff"? A tumbleweed?

The song exists, but I have no energy with which to analyze it. It no longer registers as music or lyrics. It's just an inate aspect of the universe which is here, existing, in a way that I can barely perceive.)

To be honest, my first reaction upon seeing how low a score I gave this was one of surprise. How could any version of me have possibly rated this song so low?? And then it played and I kinda agree with my hot take? "Carry On Wayward Son" died because it was my favorite song and I listened to it until I can no longer feel anything towards it. "Eleanor Rigby" died by being played everywhere for so long that I can no longer feel anything towards it. It gets a marginally better score because I've never played it on an endless loop, so it's not quite as overplayed as the Kansas song... but I don't think I like it enough to move it into the Nebula. I won't eliminate this right away because there's a chance that I may save this to be the first song cut when we reach the Nebula or possibly the last song cut before that point & I want to give this a bit more time before deciding on which side of the line it falls.

[Later: In a move that I'm sure will provoke everyone, I'm going to move this into a tie with "Song 2". The more I think about it, the less satisfied I feel with having Eleanor Rigby rated above or below that track. It's like:

Eleanor Rigby is a better song, so I should be giving it more points.

But I don't really want to listen to Eleanor Rigby, so it should have less points.

But Rigby doesn't have anything I hate as much as that "woo hoo"-ing, so it should have more points

But Song 2's instruments are more appealing than anything in Rigby, so it should have less points

& I'm just getting myself stuck in a loop, so I'm going to call this one a draw and move along.]

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

sympathy for the devil?

Wow, wasn't expecting that one to be my first out! I've always loved the strings as the backing to it. And I love the harmonies of all of their voices singing. It is a very iconic song now imo, so I agree with you there in a sense!

If still accepting those 5.
If not, alrighty.

Copeland | I'm a sucker for a kind word | 3:52
@xtlm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l1dW4xzf2Q

Streetlight Manifesto | A Better Place, a Better Time | 6:28
@xtlm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU3aT82NwgE

The Cardigans | Communication | 4:28
@xtlm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqqUTEmYyuo

TOKYO ROSE | Cursed | 4:27
@xtlm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfeKcWXEk1M

Veela | Drought | 3:26
@xtlm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvbOk_Ef7Rw

Yep, the deadline is until 50 songs have been eliminated and we're still at 45. (I think it'd be 46 if you counted the quickly un-eliminated Robot Stop, but since I haven't decided on a final score for it since switching to the Spotify link, I certainly wouldn't. Also that still wouldn't be 50.)

AAaanywho, those five songs should be added to the spreadsheets now, thank you! You did post the wrong link for Communication, so I just used a Spotify link. If you truly meant to nominate that horse song instead, let me know and I'll swap the information.

NFUN posted...

sympathy for the devil?

Probably a mid-70s scoring song. I feel like the Rolling Stones didn't get all that much airtime on the oldies station I grew up with--or at least this particular track didn't--so I haven't heard their work as often as you might expect. I've also never been that attached to the band, so they're not something I seek out often... so while it's a song that I like quite a bit and have heard a fair number of times, it's been years since I last listened to it and I haven't gotten burned out on it yet.

I'm also not that annoyed by their "woo woo" chorus? It's more background noise that doesn't overshadow the actual song & there's enough theatricality and fun (bonus points for calling himself Lucifer) that I can deal with his backing singers being stupid.

Also, there may be a slight Viva Laughlin bias in the song's favor. Poor show never got a chance, being cancelled after only two episodes. They had Hugh Jackman as a villain and introduced him by having him jump onto a roulette table and lip sync to this song. Which is to say that was the greatest show of all time and I still miss it. ....Eh, fine, let's say mid-80s for Sympathy For The Devil. Not quite a favorite, but I do kinda love it.

My extra noms

Kittie | Vultures | 3:20
@Murphiroth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYxOhZVt-n4

Cradle of Filth | Nymphetamine Fix | 5:01
@Murphiroth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dW6aNAZGTM

F.Hero x Bodyslam x BABYMETAL | Leave it all Behind | 4:16
@Murphiroth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rdc-QV6P6s

ClownC0re | Earth | 2:04
@Murphiroth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR_rPd_ufK4

Rodney Munch | It's Time To Take a Shit on the Companys Dime | 2:13
@Murphiroth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zTei5RMhQ8

#B#

New songs added to the spreadsheet which puts us at exactly 400 songs by my count. I'll try to listen to them in the near future. I'm too emotionally compromised right now to properly focus on new songs & while I'm not privy to what drama is happening on Discord, I know enough to know that this isn't the time for stupid comedy so eliminating any old songs is also out.

Instead, I'm going to talk about the first extra song. This was intended to be the last one posted, near the very end of the topic; hell, maybe after the last song, possibly even with a topic lock so that no one could reply to it. But there are things I need to say and this write up is the only place I can get into any of it, so... if you want a full history of my life, then feel free to read this before I have time to come to my senses and delete it. (And I'm definitely deleting this in the near future because I can't believe I actually typed this up to start with.)

CONTENT WARNING: ...Just assume this has every content warning.

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

EXTRA SONG #1:

DUCKMAN | WE ARE THERE (3:37):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gJqrx8i1sw

Estimated Score: 72.46

(First Reaction: Ah, this song. This is going to be rough; I can't face myself and figure out what I am these days without directly confronting this song. In a very real way, this song kinda created me. I know that's a stupid thing to say, but honestly, Duckman's the closest thing I had to a father figure during my late teens (we'll get into that later) and this song--well, the entire episode really--was the first piece of media that really got through to me. The person I was before this song couldn't really analyze media on anything beyond the most basic, surface level. I'm sure I was educated enough to know--in theory--that media could have messages, but I just... never really understood. It's like the person I was was barely even sentient, completely unable to properly process the world. And then I heard this song and it was like I awoke for the first time.

...Well, again, it was seeing the episode itself that triggered things, but this isn't an episode ranking topic so you'll have to work with me on this.

The episode is incredibly heavy handed with its metaphors. Honestly, calling them "metaphors" or "subtext" is a disservice to the words themselves. The episode, "America the Beautiful", literally opens with a text warning about how blatant it is:

WARNING

THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM CONTAINS SCENES OF HEAVY-HANDED AND OVER-OBVIOUS ALLEGORY AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR SMALL CHILDREN AND CERTAIN CONGRESSMEN FROM THE SOUTH.

Right, allegory, that's the word for this sort of thing. Technically. *Aaanywho*, this is what it took to break through my mental fog. Something that literally shouts in all caps about it being allegorical and being so overly blunt that even I couldn't miss it. It's embarrassing, but honestly, I still recall the exact thought I had as I woke up: Maybe this "America" person represents America the country.

...Yes, I *was* dense enough that the first thought involved a maybe there and yes, the episode really is that blatant. A group of various multinational children enlist Duckman to help find their idol, the beautiful supermodel and role model to everyone, America, who has gone missing. The episode goes through some equally heavy-handed meetings with men that represent America's phases throughout the 50s through the 80s before culminating in this song. It's... not great. The episode or the song. And yet, I shudder to think of who I might be without it. I'd like to believe that I'd have eventually developed the capacity for rational thought even without this episode beating things into me and yet... just look at all the adults who can't process satire or allegories or truly interact with media. Perhaps they're all what I could have been, Victims of a poor educational system who weren't fortunate enough to have something awaken them to actual thought. It's some scary thoughts. That people like who I used to be manage to stay that way into adulthood, that they're capable of voting, and that I may have wound up just like them if it weren't for Comedy Central airing one specific rerun at a time where I was still young enough to be positively influenced.

-

I'm going to detour a bit to my lack of father figures. Not too long, I don't want to cover my entire life's history, but again I think I need to face some of this--my abandonment issues have certainly impacted rankings in the past (see: last year where I went on a multi-post rage filled tirade about Dave abandoning the Chipettes during one of Raka's unrelated nominations because it takes very little to spark said issues). My biological father died when I was a toddler. Workplace accident. I don't really have many memories of him since I was too young at the time. It's wrong to call accidental death "abandonment", yet the feelings are similar. I... did not take his death well; I kinda shut down mentally, became non-verbal, and was almost permanently locked in a mental institution for being too defective to exist. And if you're wondering how well I dealt with "one parent dying and the other one trying to lock me away for all eternity for being worthless when I was still basically a fucking baby", the answer is NOT WELL. I HAVE NOT DEALT WITH THIS WELL, AT ALL. Also, I get a bit twitchy around the fact that children being non-verbal is just a *thing* that's allowed to happen these days--I mean, it's good. It's good that they're allowed to exist. Back in my day, we sentenced them to fates worse than death, but hey! Progress!

My mother did eventually hook up with a new boyfriend. I hesitate to call him a stepfather, as he didn't really raise me at all. Also, he was a complete fucking asshole. Incredibly racist--SO VERY, VERY RACIST. Like "constantly saying the n-word" racist. Like absolutely hating any white person who listens to rap because it meant they wanted to be n-words racist. Just picture Joe Dirt shouting the n-word at you constantly and you have a pretty good grasp on who he was. He eventually dumped my mother, kicked her out of her own house, and she wound up losing basically everything as a result; which... hey, you fuck a racist shithead, you don't get to complain when he fucks you over. I'm not sure if he's alive. I don't really care to know. He's just some colossal douche that I always hated and never had a meaningful relationship with anyway; on the plus side, I'm learning to reject his influence and listen to rap music and other things, so he didn't permanently fuck up my life.

*continued ; this is going to take like four or five messages, I think.*

#B#

[8 DAYS LATER]

Eesh, it's been a minute; after I made the rational choice to let CJones take the last two nomination slots, I stopped working on the Extra Song writeups in order to focus on getting the actual write ups done. Where were we? *goes back* Oh, Jesus Christ, we're actually saying all this shit?! Wow. Okay, moving along. With a mother that never cared to teach me anything (early childhood consisted largely of getting yelled at and hit repeatedly, as she seemed to have this theory that if she just hit hard enough I'd become normal; eventually she just gave up all hope and seemingly decided I was unteachable; it's... questionable which was worse for my development*) & a racist shitbag that couldn't pretend to give a single fuck about my existence, I was kinda raised by TV and the internet. I grew up in a DBZ RPG chatroom, but I think I'll skip that... we don't have the time and that's not where this train of thought is going. In theory, any TV show could have gotten through and taught me, but it was Duckman that proved the most influential. After this episode gave me the ability to think, it kinda took on a parental role--more than anyone in the real world ever did. All of my political views came directly from the show. The show was always really blatant about its politics and I ate it all up. Honestly, I've had to take some time to question if I even have beliefs of my own or if I've just spent my entire life parroting what Duckman taught me, but I think I'm able to evaluate my own views somewhat critically these days. At least, I really hope that I am.

[Perhaps more disturbing than the universe in which I never learned to think is a universe in which South Park, an equally blatantly politial adult cartoon on Comedy Central, shaped me. That is a terrifying thought. Let's not go there.]

*[Later Edit: Nah, it's being considered unteachable that was worse. A teacher that smacks the shit out of you on a constant basis might actually succeed in teaching you something; someone that decides you're too worthless to even bother hitting isn't going to teach you anything which is so much worse. Also, you kinda internalize all sorts of terrible thoughts about yourself, so you're trading "physical pain with some education" for "emotional pain and no education".]

Either way, Duckman was my teacher... and he abandoned me too. When the creators knew the series was being canceled, they decided to go with an incredibly wild cliffhanger while knowing there was basically no way they'd get to resolve it. Everyone was out of character, the plot jumped totally off the rails, and everything just... stopped. That really hurt. And it took me forever to realize why it hurt. Like, Clone High ended on a cliffhanger and even though I watched it at the same time, I wasn't particularly bothered... but... yeah. It's because Duckman was the third father to leave without any real closure.

[The important person I've referenced many times before would be a fourth father figure. I've danced around it because he's only a few years older than me, physically, and I was an adult at the time we got together... I'm not getting into that. Considering that the second topic's winner won because it helped me process my grief over our parting, let's just say it didn't end well... though we did speak again a few times and eventually parted on my own terms.

OH HEY, THAT'S WHY SONGS THAT REMIND ME OF HIM DON'T HURT SO MUCH ANYMORE! I actually got closure and ended the final relationship on my terms! Oh shit, guys, we're *actually having revelations about emotions* & talking about closure.]

So if I ever seem completely psychotic, please take a moment and be impressed that I can communicate at all? Like... for someone with no education who grew up in an internet chatroom and had their parental roles taken over by a cartoon duck, I think I'm doing pretty well these days. </.<

-

[Who knows how long it's been between the previous paragraphs and this one?]

Well, this is the most political song I've ever covered, so this is going to be SUPER FUN now. Thanks, Fandom! I love that *personal revelations important to my personal growth* are technically outlawed now! This is SUPER AWESOME, THANKS.

So, where the hell were we? I don't know and I'm not reading all that earlier garbage I typed, so let's say we're dealing with political censorship because this is suddenly REALLY FUCKING RELEVANT. I was going to get into it eventually for this song anyway, so fuck it, let's just get started. While I encountered this song on Comedy Central reruns, apparently at some point, the network got so offended by this song that they replaced it with complete silence. Which, one, fuck that; the fact that I could have missed hearing something so important to me because some network bigshot was offended by its lyrics really pisses me off. Not quite as much as "I'm not allowed to comment on the song on the board I've lived on for most of my life" pisses me off, but still, fuck whoever censored this. Anyway, let's move on a bit:

1: IS THIS SONG OFFENSIVE?

Yes, of course it is. There's some blatant racism in the lyrics, right from the start. The song literally opens with a line about spear throwers in Africa. But dismissing it as *only* being offensive is foolish; the character singing the line is the embodiment of the 50s. Yes, the song is casually racist--because the 50s were pretty fucking racist. If there wasn't an offensive line there, it would kill the point of the character and the song. To talk about America's history, you have to confront the racism that is so inherent to America. Now if you want to argue that the song, and the episode itself, doesn't go far enough--that having one allegorical jerk use something resembling a slur barely even counts as acknowledging things, then fine. It could have done a better job with what it was going for and I'll acknowledge that. For a three minute long parody of "We Are The World" on a comedy program, they did what they could and the message got through to me.

And while I could rant for a while about how comedy needs the freedom to be offensive and challenging, I think I'll let Duckman speak for itself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knIroVvPZU4

*continued again*

#B#

2: Alright then. What's the point?

-

And finally the question I most dread. After everything... with this song being so vital to my very existence, I feel like defining it is some final test. Like if I get it wrong, then it proves I don't deserve to exist--or worse, never truly existed in the first place. I know that's stupid; I exist, regardless of my ability to understand politcal allegories and people seem split into two camps on the song's meaning & I don't have any negative feelings towards those who came to a different conclusion. But whatever... you can either take the Optimistic View:

America may have problems, but it's still a major world power whose influence can be felt everywhere on Earth. And while it may be a giant trash fire now, we have to believe that America can do better. That as a country we can try to stand up for the values that allegedly defined the country--to be that shining city on the hill and serve as a positive example for the rest of the world.

Or you can be a Pessimist; the song depicts the entire country as a literal dump & America, the allegorical person, as literally bankrupt. Everything is shit and a cheesy, racist song accomplishes nothing.

...Now, to be fair, Duckman can go for some very dark humor at times. But I don't think the negative view fits with the show's ethics. "Everything sucks so don't try" is a South Park type message, not a Duckman one. Duckman had heart and could pull off surprisingly touching, emotional stories when it wanted to. More importantly, I feel like all of the show's heavy-handed messages and anger were borne out of a hope that America could do better. To be better. It acknowledges how bad things are and how bad things have always been, but I feel like the writers' truly believed that things could improve. Sure, the song is stupid; the characters singing it are also stupid. The only thing that's changed by the end is America deciding to try and that's the important part. If they wanted to be bleak, America would either be dead or abandon the world's children or.... well... literally do anything other than try to help?

So... yeah.

3. ...COULD YOU TYPE LITERALLY ANYTHING THAT CAN WORK AS A STANDARD WRITE UP?

Back on to the actual quality of the song, it's not great. None of these voice actors are professional singers, the song is pretty basic, and a parody of "We Are The World" can only go so far... especially when it doesn't bother trying to be funny. It's important enough to me that I'd say that I really like it, but there's no way I could ever call it an objectively good song.

[Even Later Still]

Ooh boy, that Coheed & Cambria song nominated by CJones. "Window of the Waking Mind". Back when I typed that stuff about being mute and almost banished to an institution, I really didn't think a song was going to be nominated that was actually going to trigger those memories. Honestly, why would I be expecting it? We've avoided the topic for years and it's a very specific thing. And yet, here we are. Honestly, I don't want to get into this, but I don't see that I have much of a choice. Well, there's always a choice. I refused to comment on any specifics at the actual song's write up, so I could continue refusing... but... I've already decided that I'm going to. So, fuck it, let's go with a true uncensored version of that song's write up as we revisit it now:

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Coheed & Cambria - Window of the Waking Mind (8:38)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WscFSf_OjHA
Nominator: CJones

Score: I dunno at this point in time. Maybe I'll remember to fill this place in when it's received its final score? [Later: Well this waa supposed to be at the end of the topic when I'd know what it's final score was, but I don't. So... we're... revisiting a song's elimination before it's actually eliminated.

...a rational person would take a moment to reflect on the fact that creating a time paradox in a music ranking means that you've completely lost the plot & revise their actions. But, as I said, I've got things I need to say at the end of this and I don't think it can wait. So... uhh.... time paradox ahoy?]

-

Here's a simple story and I hope I tell it well
Of a boy locked in a place, his mind the very cell
Imprisoned with his wild visions of every time in space
There's no one in this world quite like him

The thing that complicates it is his parents and who they are
The law theyre made to run from beyond the House of the Stars
The birth must be in secret so no prying eyes can see
There's no one of this world quite like him

Our pride and joy, are you there?
Are you in there safe and sound?
Tell us what you need so we can help you
We don't know what to do, we don't know what to do

Patronizing doctors with their diagnostic leads
Carry on your query, it's blood, the boy, he bleeds
But you can't see him like you, so a monster he must be
There's no one in this world quite like him

Vaxis?
Son?
Do you hear us?
Do you feel us?

And let me tell you when you've been through this, the song hits on a different level. Let me revisit the relevant part from the Duckman write up:

I... did not take his death well; I kinda shut down mentally, became non-verbal, and was almost permanently locked in a mental institution for being too defective to exist. And if you're wondering how well I dealt with "one parent dying and the other one trying to lock you away for all eternity for being worthless when you're still basically a fucking baby", the answer is NOT WELL. I HAVE NOT DEALT WITH THIS WELL, AT ALL. Also, I get a bit twitchy around the fact that children being non-verbal is just a *thing* that's allowed to happen these days--I mean, it's good. It's good that they're allowed to exist. Back in my day, we sentenced them to fates worse than death, but hey! Progress!

Believe me when I say that I have not dealt with this subject well. I have a lot of pent up anger about everything. The doctors so willing to condemn me, my mother who was one step from locking me up, the fact that there's been no apology or actual resolution to anything... it's like 'ah well, I guess you are capable of speech after all, let's never acknowledge the fact that I was going to get rid of you for being sub-human garbage & pretend this never happened, tee hee hee' and usually I'm able to play pretend. Not be okay with any of it because I really don't know how you move past this stuff, but able to not think about it. It was several lifetimes ago and all. But this song revealed to me just how much anger I have left... those lines about the doctors calling Vaxis a monster are very rage inducing & you probably shouldn't ask how I feel about his parents supporting him because my parental issues are spiraling and you do not want an answer. Though, in short, "angry". Everything in this song makes me angry.

Which is a good thing, if I'm being totally honest.

*one part remaining*

#B#

Part of this topic series is finding what triggers me and why, & I've made quite a bit of progress over the years. I'm able to listen to rap music now and Pink Floyd (that was the racist twit's favorite band, so it took quite a while before I could listen to them without the association), I don't have meltdowns over blatantly Christian music, I've gotten closure about the death of a certain relationship & can listen to songs that remind me of him without any emotional spikes... it doesn't seem like it, but I am doing better. So finding something that hits this hard is important. I knew I wasn't handling these memories well, but I didn't realize just how intense the emotions could hit if something triggered a flashback. So.. I can truly thank you for this nomination. I'm not in a position to judge this song with any type of objectivity--I'm not even in a place to read the lyrics without several emotional spikes--but learning to process these feelings is important.

[Later: Fun fact, I have absolutely no idea what score this song is going to end with. At least 58 points because I can't dislike something that's triggering this many emotional spikes, but I'm in absolutely no place to judge it. So... score. It will have one! Probably!]

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

[Present Day]

Alright, let's go back to that DBZ RPG for a minute and how far gone I was mentally. I was barely sentient at the time, suicidal (don't worry about it, I don't want to die now), incredibly dysphoric, and completely uneducated. I was a wreck. But somehow I found my way to a DBZ roleplaying chat room which quickly became my home. The place was barely regulated; the owner almost never checked in on the rooms, there were no moderators, and there was no way to actually enforce any rules other than peer pressure. It was also an incredibly wild and lawless place--nothing forced you to actually talk in character, so it was just as much a regular chat room as it was an RPG. And there were no real rules about what your character be, so you could be anyone or anything! Lots of us just stole our characters wholesale from various anime and games. It allowed me to play with age, gender, species, and personality in a way that you don't really see these days. Absolute freedom isn't really a thing on the net these days.

Anyway, the relevant thing is that one of the members killed herself in real life and I was so far gone that I couldn't really have a reaction to it. From my perspective there wasn't any real difference between someone logging off forever and dying. Possibly because I was just that undeveloped mentally and socially, possibly because I planned on killing myself too and couldn't see anything wrong with it, probably both.

I didn't really know her well. I'd seen her around quite a bit since I basically lived in that chatroom, but we had different friend groups and interests, so I can't claim to have known her. I can't even recall her character name, to be honest. I have a lot of regrets about that time. About how dead I was inside, how I was literally unable to see her as a person. I've often wondered if there was anything I could have done to save her, if I'd just... existed in any real way. She had friends, so I doubt I would have made a difference, but... I don't know. Maybe if I'd been able to understand how much she was suffering... but it doesn't matter. I can't bring her back and I have no right to use her tragedy as a source of personal growth when I never knew her in the first place.

But, the one thing that proves that I'm not the same unhinged emotionless psychopath I was, is that I can feel things now. When someone I know and cares about threatens to kill themselves, I can actually feel things now. Fear of making things worse (it's all I can do), fear of my doing nothing also making worse (nothing hasn't worked so far), anger at the stupid way my life is scripted (I get a song about hoping someone doesn't kill themselves mere hours before talk of suicide comes up?), regret that maybe if I tried to be an actual friend than I could be part of some actual support network so things never got this bad...

...and you know the worst part? For one moment, just a moment, I wondered if I was better off being so dead that I couldn't comprehend these emotions. So if you're thinking of killing yourself, just... don't. I can't stop you, I have no right to try to stop you. I was suicidal for basically my entire childhood and early adulthood, so I know how useless platitudes are. But I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never tried to have a real conversation with you. I'm sorry for centering this on me. I'm sorry I don't have the life experience to know what to say or do. All I can do is ask you not to do this and assure you that your partiipation has always been one of the biggest highlights of my year. Even when I could never actually learn anything, the fact that you were willing to try to teach me anything meant a lot... historically people don't even try, so...

I can't do Discord right now. I'm not good at live chatting even when I'm not emotionally compromised. If anyone has any relevant information that they're willing to share, PM the Pony account. And if you don't know what sparked this present day section... well, that's not my story to tell. Hopefully it ends well.

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

...On the plus side, none of the other Extra Songs are... quite like this. Hence why this was to be one grand finale. But here we are. At least until I delete all this and pretend this sequence never happened.

Thank you for sharing

Xtlm posted...

The Cardigans | Communication | 4:28
@xtlm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqqUTEmYyuo

RIP, wrong link
The right link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5c6moKNRrs

Link updated on my notes, thank you. I'm going to hope that no news is good news, so I've resumed working. Murphiroth's five songs have preliminary scores and write ups now. Will hopefully resume working on eliminating songs this afternoon and/or evening.

I'll probably delete those four posts later this evening, just before I take a break from working for the night. Leaving them up for a bit over 24 hours seems sufficient.

Four instrumental songs that didn't inspire any strong thoughts fall as things resume. This puts us at 49/50 songs towards our nomination deadline; I expect that I'll be back in a couple hours with one more drop to officially lock the nominated song list, but I can't make promises.

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

Honkai Star Rail | Death Approaches (1:49)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgfW1E_YtrE
Nominator: @pyresword [3 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.35
Final Score: 57.20

(First Reaction: This feels way too upbeat and trance-like for a song with that title. I wanted ominous pain and fear, but all I got was a rave in some fantasy kingdom, I feel more-than-slightly cheated. Also, whatever that instrument is towards the end is rather unpleasantly high-pitched, like a bird screaming in my ear. Still, "fantasy rave attended by a screaming bird" is definitely a new experience, so I'd say that I kinda like this one.)

I do like instrumentals that convey a novel experience and this is certainly a novel one to be picturing, but the track feels a bit too short and... I really do just kinda like the song itself. I'm sorry, I do feel like I should be giving more points to something unique like this, but magical raves filled with screaming birds are apparently not my scene.

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

-

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

Fusion Legend | Concertino in Blue (5:45):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITH-l72YYT0

Nominator: @Place [9 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.39
Final Score: 57.40

(First Reaction: It's another instrumental that doesn't make me think of anything in particular, but there's some cool electric guitar shredding and a nice sax and I kinda dig its vibe. It does feel a bit long... not really sure why (5:45 is not a long runtime), but I feel I've had my fill of "cool guitar shredding" after around three minutes, so it's slightly worn out its welcome even before it goes a bit too epic towards the end of the track. Still... I do kinda like it. Some nice instruments performed in fun ways.)

One instrumental that's too long & another too short. What a pair this afternoon's drops are. Honestly, I do rather enjoy the sax, but the last part of the song is the type of intense music that I find a bit boring and I find my attention waning well before the song ends. I still kinda like it, but a bit more focus on the sax and a little brevity would probably carry this song up another tier or two.

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

-

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

Kait Dunton | Headspace (3:45)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHgGH09GAqA
Nominator: @FL81 [3 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.39
Final Score: 56.80

(First Impressions: Some nice, easy listening keyboard playing. It doesn't provoke a strong reaction, but it's very pleasant and a relaxing way to kinda groove with for a couple minutes. "Nice and easy" are the only two adjectives that come to mind, but... yeah, it's nice.)

It's definitely a nice and easy track to listen to, but I'm afraid that I'm just not getting any feelings from it at all. I kinda like it, but I feel like it's not leaving enough of a lasting impression & that I prefer some already eliminated tracks that have higher highs/lower lows because they're just more memorable for me. I'm sorry; this is a nice song though.

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

-

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

Hideaki Kobayashi - Aire Iglesia (8:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ2ASC4IAYA
Nominator: NFUN [11 songs remaining]

Initial Score: 57.404
Final Score: 57.90

(First Reaction: It's a nice enough song, but there's only so far instrumentals that don't make me think of anything can go and I'm just not connecting with this one. I do kinda like it, but I don't feel like a whole lot happened for how long the track is and I just don't get anything in particular from it.)

This song is definitely a peg above the other three instrumentals being eliminated in this post. It's very... sci-fi-ish. I'm not really getting anything specific beyond "high technology" and occasionally "hope", but a hopeful high tech song is definitely more than I was getting from some other tracks. But... like all the other tracks dropping now, I'm just not as into them as the songs that getting moved into the Nebula and beyond, so I can't quite convince myself to delay this elimination any further. It is very close though.

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

Apologies for procrastinating but I've decided I would like to still get this song in while I can.

Minotaur Shock | Snapdragon (4:44)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBI-MnEAUNY
Kopazzynth