Board 8 > Rank the Tracks 233: Katamari Damacy Soundtrack Katamari Fortissimo Damacy

(+) Yeah! (+)

spreadsheets with previous results can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12PpZ3uQ093tRPVu-KLewIxmrzfLJf1oo?usp=drive_link

The rules:
1. Listen to the album in full
2. Rank every track on the album
3. For the results, there will be a curve at the top of each list; two additional points between #1 and #2, and one additional point for the next two ranks. This way, the songs that really stick out to someone get an edge that is not immediately negated by someone else putting it lower. In the case of Demon Days, someone's 15th track will get 1 point, 14th 2 points, 4th 12 points, 3rd 14 points, 2nd 16 points, and 1st 19 points. For albums with greater than 15 tracks, everything ranked below #15 will be given 0 points and the scale for the top 15 will be the same as a 15-track album. For albums with more than 20 tracks, you only have to list your top 15 (with 16-20, I still like having the average rank listed)
4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results
5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic
6. The deadline to vote is Thursday, September 18th at 8:00 AM Central Time; If you do get in a vote after the deadline but before I post the results, I will probably include it.
7. Every few weeks, a nomination period will open; there may or may not be a theme. Each user can nominate one album. The following week, everyone will be able to rank their top ~5 among the choices - this will use a bottom-up scoring approach, i.e. voting for one album will give your #1 a single point, voting for five will give your #1 five points, so it is always better to vote for the maximum number of albums. The top ~5 will then be covered (if there is a tie leading to six entries, both get in - if more than that, I will do a tiebreaker)
8. Skits and tracks under 40 seconds will be excluded from the rankings unless argued otherwise

Katamari Damacy Soundtrack "Katamari Fortissimo Damacy" track list:
1. The Na-Na Song
2. Katamari on the Rocks
3. Overture
4. Moon & Prince
5. Fugue#7777
6. Lonely Rolling Star
7. Walking on a Star!
8. Katamari Mambo - Katamari Syndrome Re-mix
9. You Are Smart
10. Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
11. Wanda Wanda
12. Que Sera Sera
13. Taste of an Angel
14. Roll Me In
15. Katamari Stars
16. Cherry Blossoms
17. Lovely Angel
(18. Stardust Fanfare)
19. Last Samba
20. Ball of Love
21. Katamari March Damacy

Future weeks:
9/18: Mort Garson - Mother Earth's Plantasia (+ album noms)
9/25: The National - Alligator (+ album voting)
10/2: The Killers - Sam's Town

Beyonce - RENAISSANCE results

The participants sorted by standard deviation:
FoolFantastic (30)
PunishedJeezy (30)
Mega_Mana (38)
HBJDubs (40)
MaxGalactica (44)
Bitto (50)
Sheep007 (54)
RyoCaliente (60)
Seanchan (62)
Johnbobb (84)

General Album Comments

PunishedJeezy: Pretty great album! I only listened to some of the singles when it came out, but this is fairly consistently good.

MaxGalactica: By far my favorite Beyonc album. The sheer variety in subgenres of dance/house music in this album is really cool by itself. There's just so much creativity in the compositions here that really wasn't extremely present in her previous records. Great production and obviously Beyonc's voice is stellar. Really nice to finally see Beyonc covered here regardless.

FoolFantastic: Kind of a perfect full album experience, which is uncommon for mainstream pop albums, especially those that run an hour plus. But everything just flows so well together here, really capturing the idea of an hour on the dancefloor.

Seanchan: Tough one to rank; feels like I could have a very different order if I did more listens as there wasn't really any songs that stood head and shoulders above the rest. Ultimately, I think I liked this more as a full album experience rather than breaking it down. The way the songs flow from one to the next really cements that.

Sheep007: Fun album, the production is clearly really, really good. It's always a good sign when a pop album has no boring songs! This sort of dance-pop isn't typically my genre but I enjoyed how varied this was. It's also a hornier album than I was expecting, but I think it fits the vibe perfectly. Shout-outs to the dude on RYM who heralded this album as a forebearer of the return to Sodom and Gomorrah and a concerning influence on the minds of children.

Bitto: Pretty great album!

16. Move (Track #10)
Score: 37 (Average Rank: 12.3/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#7)
Biggest Detractor(s): PunishedJeezy, Bitto (#16)

15. Thique (Track #12)
Score: 38 (Average Rank: 12.2/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): RyoCaliente, Mega_Mana (#16)

14. Energy (Track #5)
Score: 43 (Average Rank: 11.7/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Mega_Mana, HBJDubs (#15)

13. I'm That Girl (Track #1)
Score: 52 (Average Rank: 10.8/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#16)

12. Cozy (Track #2)
Score: 58 (Average Rank: 10.3/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#15)

11. Plastic Off the Sofa (Track #8)
Score: 61 (Average Rank: 9.9/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Mega_Mana (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#16)

10. All Up in Your Mind (Track #13)
Score: 66 (Average Rank: 9.4/16)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente, Bitto (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, Sheep007 (#16)

9. Heated (Track #11)
Score: 67 (Average Rank: 9.3/16)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): Mega_Mana (#14)

8. Church Girl (Track #7)
Score: 75 (Average Rank: 8.8/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): MaxGalactica, Johnbobb (#16)

7. Pure/Honey (Track #15)
Score: 75 (Average Rank: 8.6/16)
Biggest Fan(s): MaxGalactica (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, Bitto (#15)

6. Summer Renaissance (Track #16)
Score: 79 (Average Rank: 8.3/16)
Biggest Fan(s): PunishedJeezy (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): RyoCaliente, Sheep007 (#15)

5. America Has a Problem (Track #14)
Score: 80 (Average Rank: 8.2/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#14)

4. Alien Superstar (Track #3)
Score: 102 (Average Rank: 6.4/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Sheep007 (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Bitto (#13)

3. Cuff It (Track #4)
Score: 138 (Average Rank: 3.8/16)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, Seanchan (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#12)

2. Virgo's Groove (Track #9)
Score: 140 (Average Rank: 3.7/16)
Biggest Fan(s): PunishedJeezy, MaxGalactica, HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#12)

MaxGalactica: Incredible disco piece. And Beyonc's vocals at the end are out of this world.

1. Break My Soul (Track #6)
Score: 159 (Average Rank: 2.3/16)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente, Mega_Mana, Johnbobb, Bitto (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): PunishedJeezy (#5)

I could probably rank this album without listening if I wanted to (of course I don't want to do that, but this should be a quick one for me this week).

The greatest video game soundtrack of all time

1. Katamari on the Rocks
2. Lonely Rolling Star
3. Roll Me In
4. Moon & Prince
5. Walking on a Star!
6. Que Sera Sera
7. Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
8. Katamari Mambo (Katamari Syndrome Re-Mix)
9. Taste of An Angel
10. The Na-Na Song
11. Fugue#7777
12. Overture
13. Katamari March Damacy
14. Katamari Stars
15. Wanda Wanda
16. Cherry Blossoms
17. Ball of Love
18. You Are Smart
19. Lovely Angel
20. Last Samba
21. Stardust Fanfare

Surprisingly easy rank. Unshackled for the week!

1. Lonely Rolling Star
2. Katamari on the Rocks
3. Roll Me In
4. Cherry Blossoms
5. Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
6. Ball of Live
7. Moon & Prince
8. Que Sera Sera
9. Walking on a Star!
10. Katamari Mambo
11. KatamariStars
12. The Na-Na Song
13. Katamari March Damacy
14. You Are Smart
15. Lovely Angel
16. Fugue#7777
17. Overture
18. Taste of an Angel
19. Last Samba
20. Stardust Fanfare
21. WANDA WANDA

Did my first listen to this while finalizing some writeups for RtA this evening. I think a little dude is running around in my brain and has rolled up all the grey matter, because it would explain my current fugue. Maybe I will get round to ranking the tracks. Maybe I won't. In the end, We Love Katamari.

tag

hyped as hell for this one

Bump

Did my list a while ago but I've been putting off a few writeups that I want to finish before posting.

Kinda hard to rank

Lonely Rolling Star
Katamari on the Rocks
Que Sera Sera
Moon & Prince
Roll Me In
Katamari Mambo - Katamari Syndrome Re-mix
Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
Ball of Love
Walking on a Star!
Taste of an Angel
Cherry Blossoms
Katamari Stars
The Na-Na Song
Lovely Angel
Fugue#7777
Wanda Wanda
You Are Smart
Last Samba
Katamari March Damacy
Overture

No ranking for me for this one. Overall I enjoyed it (it's a wee bit long though...) but I'm still not a big fan of listening "out of context", which in this case is playing a very unique, fun, quirky game.

I know it's from the 2nd game, but this is always the first song I think about with Katamari:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwmDUVxBxA0

Best gaming soundtrack that exists, fight me. One of the easiest rankings we've done because as someone who doesn't listen to much VGM outside of games, I've listened to this soundtrack more than most albums.

1. Katamari on the Rocks
2. Moon & Prince
3. You Are Smart
4. Lonely Rolling Star
5. Wanda Wanda
6. Cherry Blossoms
7. Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
8. Que Sera Sera
9. Ball of Love
10. Last Samba
11. Taste of an Angel
12. Roll Me In
13. Walking on a Star!
14. The Na-Na Song
15. Katamari Mambo - Katamari Syndrome Re-mix
16. Katamari Stars
17. Katamari March Damacy
18. Lovely Angel
19. Fugue#7777
20. Overture
21. Stardust Fanfare

Cherry Blossoms
This isn't my favorite version of this song (I like the Fanfare mix from Forever) but it's still really good. It's so nostalgic that it almost makes me tear up a bit, especially with the kids singing in this version.

Lonely Rolling Star
The beat is catchy, that lead up to the chorus is so good, the bridge is excellent, and it also works well as a background track when actually playing the game. Just a really great song all around.

Katamari on the Rocks
I don't think I need to go into much detail on this one.

Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
I don't love the vocals on this one, but they don't take away from the crunchy beat and that sick breakdown.

Que Sera Sera
Love the old-timey feel to this song. It really captures the unique nature and variety of the soundtrack. I catch myself singing this one quite often.

Walking on a Star!
I think this one is better with context, but still a very good song. I used to just walk around the planet listening to it instead of playing the game. Nice and relaxing.

Roll Me In
This one has a bit of island feeling to me. Would be nice to listen to in the pool or on the beach. Great track

Ball of Love
Functions very well as an ending theme and quite distinct from the rest of the soundtrack.

Moon & Prince
It's catchy and memorable, but gets repetitive at times. Also not a huge fan of the vocals. I like it overall though.

Katamari Stars
Not really sure what to say here other than I like it.

Katamari March Damacy
Very catchy.

Fugue#7777
This one also needs context to reach its potential, but it's a nice groove.

The Na-Na Song
Very nostalgic, one of the first songs I associate with the series, but not a ton here. Usually you don't hear the later parts anyway because of where it plays in the game.

Overture
Pleasant but quite short and not super memorable.

Last Samba
Pretty short but goes hard while it lasts. Sometimes feels like a little too much going on though.

Lovely Angel
I guess this is where I'm putting all the short stuff. It works in game but doesn't do much on its own.

Stardust Fanfare
I mean this isn't much of a song, but I like it in game so it goes above the stuff I don't like.

You Are Smart
Don't really remember this one. Doesn't do much for me.

Taste of an Angel
I don't remember hearing this song in game at all. Starts off basic and then turns into like what they make music sound like in the future in movies and stuff. Not a fan.

Wanda Wanda
Apparently I just forgot about all the songs from that game that I don't like. Also I guess I don't like the more... robotic? sounding ones. It kind of annoys me tbh so I'm surprised I don't remember it. I've played KD quite a few times.

Katamari Mambo - Katamari Syndrome Re-mix
The song itself isn't too bad and would probably be around the middle but that whiny guy talking ruins the whole thing for me. It grates me way too much.

Controversially, I think that this is one of the weaker Katamari soundtracks overall. I did a mini ranking last year of my top 15 songs across the series, and this was the only game that didn't have any songs represented. But this isn't a series ranking, it's an album ranking. So Katamari Damacy is actually an outstanding soundtrack which is both high quality and historically significant. The complete lack of consistency between song styles works in its favor as a way to generate interest but also as a "something for everybody" factor. That combined with the fact that a lot of the songs were done by outside artists creates a unique blend of music which doesn't sound like video game music at all (which is also why this is a good fit for Rank the Tracks even though we rarely cover video games). You could show this album to someone who doesn't play games and if you didn't tell them what it was from then they probably wouldn't notice. This definitely influenced later games who tried to capture the same vibe as KD (and in most cases failed). It's a really well put together package that hits all the right notes to be enjoyable both in and out of the game.

Lonely Rolling Star
Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
Katamari Mambo - Katamari Syndrome Re-mix
Roll Me In
Wanda Wanda
Taste of an Angel
Moon & Prince
Walking on a Star!
Ball of Love
Lovely Angel
Que Sera Sera
The Na-Na Song
Overture
Fugue#7777
Cherry Blossoms
Katamari on the Rocks
Last Samba
Katamari Stars
Katamari March Damacy
You Are Smart

Cherry Blossoms - I always hated the children's vocals in this song. I feel guilty about it, because the instrumental is quite nice and would probably rank around where I put Roll Me In (top 5) if it had different vocals. But to this day my opinion on the singing has not changed at all since I first heard the song 20 years ago.

Last Samba - This song should be considered the intro piece to Ball of Love, like The Hellion/Electric Eye or Foreplay/Long Time.

You Are Smart - Okay, when I listen to music I try not to let outside factors affect my ranking of individual songs, unless there are really significant exceptions. But this song right here is used as the backing track in Everlasting Love + You, released 5 years later. Yes, it's not fair to judge a song based on something that didn't exist when it was released. But it's something that has absolutely, tangibly, objectively impacted my perception of this song in the present, and I simply cannot listen to the original standalone version of the song anymore.

RANKING (countdown from LEAST favorite to FAVORITE)
I rank in reverse order because I like saving the best for last.

21) Taste of an Angel (Angel Gifts)
Oh yeah, I think this is one of the ones Ive heard before. Didnt care for it back then and still dont care for it now. The noises are a little annoying. Actually, its even more annoying than I remember; those high-pitched noises are just relentless. At least the lower pitched percussion is nice I guess. 4/10

20) Lovely Angel
Yeah, this sure exists. Way too repetitive for me to enjoy it. 5/10

19) Wanda Wanda
This did nothing for me. It was also way too repetitive in my opinion. Its fine but gets slightly annoying after a while. 5.5/10

18) Last Samba
Starting off with a high-pitched whistle sure is a choice. I appreciate how the main theme is incorporated into this, but my ears still hurt from the whistle. 5.5/10

17) Cherry Blossoms
That singing is ear-grating to me. Child/child-like singing is more often a miss than a hit for me, so I guess thats not surprising. The strings in the back are pretty though. All right, Ill admit I do like the vocal harmony. I just dont like the vocals themselves, if that makes sense. 5.75/10

16) You Are Smart
I hate to rate a song whose name compliments the listener kind of low, but it is what it is. Its too repetitive for my tastes and doesnt have a strong melody to keep me interested. Its nice but really needed to shake things up a bit more in my opinion. 6/10

15) Katamari Stars
Cute. Kinda basic though imo. 6/10

14) Stardust Fanfare
Works as a fanfare but is too short for me to enjoy as a song. 6/10

13) The Na-Na Song
Its somewhat charming, but it otherwise just kind of exists. 6/10

12) Katamari Mambo - Katamari Syndrome Re-mix
The grunting is funny. Its an amusing song, but its not really my thing. 6.75/10

11) Ball of Love
It certainly sounds like a love song as the name implies. Its pleasant. 7/10

10) Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
The drum beat is straight up an exact copy of the one from the oldies song, Sing, Sing, Sing. Seeing as this song is obviously trying to replicate a song of that era, that has to be intentional. Not entirely fond of the vocals, but its a good time otherwise. 7.1/10

9) Que Sera Sera
Like Ive been saying with quite a few songs on this list, its rather repetitive. However, the vocal harmony is cool. Good song overall. 7.2/10

8) Moon & Prince
I think I vaguely remember this from BOST 6? I dont think I liked this song back then. Now, I find it quite charming. The enthusiastic rapping accompanied by some banger instrumentation is kind of endearing. 7.4/10

7) Walking on a Star!
I like the horns. Fun song. 7.5/10

6) Fugue#7777
lol, the singers sound like Miis. Its cute. 7.5/10

5) Katamari March Damacy
Again with the Miis singing. Its simple yet catchy. 7.5/10

4) Roll Me In
Isnt this the one with the weird scream at the end? Ah yes, it is in fact the one with the weird scream at the end. Its such a chill, groovy song with great singing, percussion, and sax. I really like most of it a lot.but man, why did they have to add the scream? It doesnt completely ruin the song, but I wouldve possibly loved it without that, and it wouldve been my undisputed favorite of this entire album. What a shame that one second of uncomfortable noise could make me go from loving a song to merely liking it a lot. 7.6/10

3) Lonely Rolling Star
Ah, yes, the undeniable fan favorite of the bunch. Its very cute. 7.6/10

2) Katamari on the Rocks
Nice percussion and horns. Not entirely fond of the vocals, but they dont bother me much either. Overall, fun song with a nice melody. Its iconic for a reason. 7.6/10

1) Overture
I really enjoy solo piano, and this one is no exception. I just wish it was longer. 7.8/10

Overall, I can see why a lot of people really like this OST. Its unique, filled with so many charming quirks that easily make it a memorable album. Some of those quirks were quite nice, and others were a turn-off, however (speaking for myself).

I think its at the very least a decent album, but I personally have heard many other video game OSTs let alone albums in general that Ive enjoyed far more consistently than this one. Still, I had a decently fun time with most of these songs.

Taste of an Angel
Roll Me In
Katamari on the Rocks
Moon & Prince
Wanda Wanda
Lovely Angel
Katamari Stars
Cherry Blossoms
The Na-Na Song
Katamari Mambo - Katamari Syndrome Re-mix
Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
Walking on a Star!
Lonely Rolling Star
Ball of Love
Que Sera Sera
Katamari March Damacy
You Are Smart
Fugue#7777
Overture
(Stardust Fanfare)
Last Samba

Great soundtrack.

Angel Gifts (aka Angel Flavor's Present (aka Taste of an Angel, apparently)) is in my top 20 VGM. Like, period. It is transcendent. Roll Me In and Katamari on the Rocks are also near my all-time top.

-hotdogturtle-- posted...

This definitely influenced later games who tried to capture the same vibe as KD (and in most cases failed).

Edit for clarity: I meant to say that other series (not Katamari) attempted to emulate the feeling of Katamari music (after the booming success of KD's soundtrack) and could not live up to it.

Couldn't stop listening to Cocteau Twins and Mort so I had to skip this one

MarkS2222222222 posted...

Couldn't stop listening to Cocteau Twins and Mort so I had to skip this one

But you skipped the best of the 3

1. Lonely Rolling Star - Katamari Damacy is a good soundtrack but Lonely Rolling Star is legitimately a good song.
2. Katamari on the Rocks - Still my favorite of the Katamari main themes. Im a bit surprised how restrained it is other than the main chorus despite its overall bombastic tone.
3. Roll Me In - I absolutely love the vibe of this song between the instruments and the vocalist. I havent played this in a long time and I instantly remembered that chorus.
4. Taste of an Angel
5. Moon & Prince
6. The Na-na Song - My favorite of the main leitmotif, sometimes even more than On The Rocks. Strikes a great balance between chill and interesting.
7. Walking on a Star!
8. Que Sera Sera
9. Katamari Mambo
10. Ball of Love
11. Red Rose with Gin & Tonic
12. Overture - Good piano rendition but it doesnt really fit as well as most other songs on the soundtrack.
13. You Are Smart - This just makes me wish it was Everlasting Love + You.
14. Katamari March Damacy
15. Last Samba
16. Lovely Angel
17. Fugue#7777
18. Cherry Blossoms
19. WANDA WANDA - This would go up like 6 ranks if it was much shorter.
20. Katamari Stars

We dont typically do soundtracks, so this was a fun one to do. Its short and varied but its hard to tell overlook the several songs whose main purpose is the leitmotif. I love leitmotifs and Katamari is a particularly great one. But it does make it hard to rate for a project like this.

Gonna be honest: I didnt want to put overture at 1st because its a fairly generic piano piece that doesnt have the quirkiness that Katamari is known for.

But I guess I personally found a lot of the unique sound design decisions in this album to be a turn off, so to stay true to my own tastes, I felt obligated to put the least problematic (I dont know what other word to use. I know that is too harsh) one for me personally on top.

Overture is not my favorite Katamari song overall, and my actual favorite (currently Starry Night Fever) is something Im proud to say feels like a proper Katamari song, quirkiness and all.