Lurker > FoolFantastic

Note that the deadline is essentially sometime overnight. Basically, I want to gather all the data tomorrow morning, so as long as it's in by then, we should be good.

Billions
Bunny is a Rider
Sunset
Welcome to My Island
Blood and Butter
Smoke
I Believe
Pretty in Possible
Fly to You
Hopedrunk Everasking
Butterfly Net
Crude Drawing of an Angel

Is everything implied to be written? I thought the whole idea was they invented these characters and prodded them in certain directions, but they were ultimately still the ones acting on those signals.

up

I'm not sure what there is to be curious about, this is about as lopsided as a ten-way poll can be.

bump

I believe we're at five submissions so far (including my own). Anyone else planning to submit? Anyone need more time?

rwlh submitted through a private message - I am posting this as a reminder to myself once I'm gathering the results

Plastic Beach track ranking

16. Orchestral Intro (Track #1)
Score: 18 (Average Rank: 14.2/16)
Biggest Fan(s): ChichiriMuyo (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, Mega_Mana, Johnbobb, Seanchan, Giggsalot, VeryInsane (#16)

15. Sweepstakes (Track #12)
Score: 35 (Average Rank: 12.5/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, jcgamer107, ChichiriMuyo (#16)

jcgamer107: gets OK in the 2nd half but it's kinda cacophonous overall. or as Dennis Hopper would say, castrophonous.

13 (tie). Pirate Jet (Track #16)
Score: 56 (Average Rank: 10.6/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic (#15)

13 (tie). Cloud of Unknowing (Track #15)
Score: 56 (Average Rank: 10.6/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Giggsalot (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): jcgamer107 (#15)

Johnbobb: This album made me discover Bobby Womack for the first time and I'm so glad I did

jcgamer107: meh. kinda overly dramatic, and underly good.

12. White Flag (Track #3)
Score: 56 (Average Rank: 10.5/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#15)

Johnbobb: any time Gorillaz releases an album now and I don't see "ft. the National Orchestra for Arabic Music" I'm disappointed

11. Glitter Freeze (Track #8)
Score: 58 (Average Rank: 10.4/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): VeryInsane (#15)

10. To Binge (Track #14)
Score: 65 (Average Rank: 9.5/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Mega_Mana, Seanchan, jcgamer107 (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): Giggsalot (#14)

jcgamer107: beautiful and bittersweet melody

9. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (Track #2)
Score: 73 (Average Rank: 8.9/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, Raetsel_Lapin (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Mega_Mana, ChichiriMuyo (#15)

Johnbobb: I think my jaw dropped when I initially saw Snoop Dogg on the track listing

jcgamer107: Snoop-a-loop

7 (tie). Plastic Beach (Track #13)
Score: 73 (Average Rank: 8.7/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#15)

Mega_Mana: It really fits the album: there's a few good lines in here, but a lot of the rest of it is annoyingly repetitive noise.

7 (tie). Broken (Track #11)
Score: 73 (Average Rank: 8.7/16)
Biggest Fan(s): ChichiriMuyo (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Giggsalot (#15)

6. Some Kind of Nature (Track #9)
Score: 86 (Average Rank: 7.7/16)
Biggest Fan(s): VeryInsane (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#14)

jcgamer107: I have a love-hate relationship with this guy's voice

5. Superfast Jellyfish (Track #6)
Score: 94 (Average Rank: 7.3/16)
Biggest Fan(s): jcgamer107 (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#16)

jcgamer107: one of their best songs period. endlessly catchy - a phat beat and delightful chorus from Damon. De la Soul always did the best Gorillaz collabs. Don't Waste Time.

4. Empire Ants (Track #7)
Score: 113 (Average Rank: 5.5/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): jcgamer107 (#14)

3. Rhinestone Eyes (Track #4)
Score: 127 (Average Rank: 4.3/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan, VeryInsane (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#11)

jcgamer107: kinda reminds me of Go Team with that looping high-pitched vocal part. I like the synth riff a lot.

2. Stylo (Track #5)
Score: 134 (Average Rank: 3.7/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, ChichiriMuyo (#7)

Johnbobb: There's so much I love about this song. The three drastically different vocal styles play off each other so well. But most importantly, it has one of my all-time favorite music videos.

jcgamer107: one a tha all time coolest songs and videos

1. On Melancholy Hill (Track #10)
Score: 153 (Average Rank: 2.9/16)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, Mega_Mana, Raetsel_Lapin, ChichiriMuyo, Giggsalot (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#9)

Mega_Mana: Far and away, one of the best songs Gorillaz ever put out. I am just absolutely in love with it. When I saw album rankings a while back featuring Plastic Beach near the bottom, I didn't understand because it had this and my next two ranks, but, after having listened to the whole thing... this album ONLY has this and the next two to six ranks going for it.

jcgamer107: Gorillaz really hits the spot while you're depressed in the summer, and this song clearly captures that feeling

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
FoolFantastic (19)
Seanchan (31)
VeryInsane (34)
jcgamer107 (42)
Mega_Mana (43)
Raetsel_Lapin (53)
ChichiriMuyo (54)
Giggsalot (57)
Johnbobb (60)
HBJDubs (61)

General Album Comments

Seanchan: Did a first listen to Plastic Beach. I wasn't a big fan of Demon Days (outside of Feel Good Inc., which is a classic), so I went into this with trepidation. It started a bit slow, but then it hit its stride. I can't point to any particular song at the moment but as a whole the album really impressed me. Looking forward to more listens, though I suspect this might be a bit of a tough one to rank.

HBJDubs: Not much to say about this one, it was ok other than disliking the bottom two songs enough to place the Intro above them.

FoolFantastic: I remember being kind of underwhelmed by this album back when it came out, but it clicked with me this time. Between this and Parklife, it's clear Damon Albarn has a knack for making disparate pieces come together as a cohesive whole.

Johnbobb: Yet another of my all-time favorite albums, and I'm still never sure whether or not I rank it above or below Demon Days. Both are in my top 10, arguably top 5 of all-time. The funny thing is the album didn't actually click with me that much when I first heard it, but now I've listened to it more than almost any other album. Just incredible start to finish, never a weak song or even a song that doesn't attempt something fuckin cool

Seanchan: A somewhat arbitrary ranking, as I could see this being fairly different on another day. I enjoyed this overall, certainly more than I was expecting. There's no real stand out songs here for me though, so I think I like this more as a full album experience.

jcgamer107: A very strong, albeit front-loaded album that's gradually been growing on me. I think it's almost on par with Demon Days and their self-titled debut.

ChichiriMuyo: I'll be honest, this may be my first time listening to the whole album in one sitting. My best friend and I used to listen to their first two albums pretty much every time we went on a road trip, and we went on road trips pretty often when we first moved to Tucson since it was only four hours away to go visit our families. Unfortunately for this album, but the time it came out we weren't making those road trips together anymore because his mother had moved. Because of that I never built a love for this album, and that's too bad because it's good.

Giggsalot: Haven't listened to this in a while, but this was always my fave Gorillaz record. Jumping in with a ranking last minute because I think a fair few of my favourite songs here are very overlooked!

VeryInsane: This one hits a lot better for me than Demon Days, plenty of quality hits and guest stars in this one. Always a good listen

i also like the new one too fwiw

The Smiths - The Queen is Dead > Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights > dEUS - The Ideal Crash

The Queen is Dead continues to be a regular member of my all-time top 10, with Interpol also in my top 100. I'm assuming RyoCaliente is simply sticking with their favorites until they eventually get picked, which is something I for some reason have not been doing.

If I were to go with my favorites, my week would have been:
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
vs.
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
vs.
Black Country, New Roads - Ants from Up There

We already covered my #2 and #3 of all-time (The Velvet Underground & Nico and Sound of Silver). Hounds of Love has an odd format that I don't think fits this game (the first half is front-loaded with singles including three songs regularly in my top 100, the second half an odd collection of songs making a narrative suite - very lopsided if effective as a whole), while Illinois is loaded with short interludes. I tried Ants from Up There twice so wanted to give a group member's other project a chance (Jockstrap - which easily came in dead last against Polachek and SOPHIE...).

poll for RyoCaliente's week:
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
vs.
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
vs.
dEUS - The Ideal Crash

Previous results can be seen here:
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_2
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_3

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

Caroline Polachek - Desire I Want to Turn Into You track list:
1. Welcome to My Island
2. Pretty in Possible
3. Bunny is a Rider
4. Sunset
5. Crude Drawing of an Angel
6. I Believe
7. Fly to You
8. Blood and Butter
9. Hopedrunk Everasking
10. Butterfly Net
11. Smoke
12. Billions

Current cycle:
3/19: Seanchan (In Flames - Colony)
3/26: Johnbobb's bonus (Pearl Jam - Ten)
4/2: Giggsalot
4/9: RyoCaliente
4/16: darkx
4/23: Snake5555555555/Raetsel_Lapin/Seanchan
4/30: neonreaper
5/7: Great_Paul
5/14: jcgamer107
5/21: Giggsalot/MetalmindStats/rwlh
5/28: ChichiriMuyo
6/4: BlueCrystalTear
6/11: rwlh
6/18: NFUN
6/25: HBJDubs/firefdr/NFUN
7/2: StifledSilence

Future cycle:
7/9: MetalmindStats
7/16: HBJDubs
7/23: Raetsel_Lapin
7/30: competitive week
8/6: Steiner
8/13: Snake5555555555
8/20: Jesse_Custer
8/27: competitive week
9/3: ZaziGuado
9/10: firefdr
9/17: Johnbobb
9/24: competitive week
10/1: VeryInsane
10/8: FoolFantastic

Oh, Mega_Mana sent a ranking to me directly for some reason so I'm posting it here so I don't forget:

1. On Melancholy Hill
- Far and away, one of the best songs Gorillaz ever put out. I am just absolutely in love with it. When I saw album rankings a while back featuring Plastic Beach near the bottom, I didn't understand because it had this and my next two ranks, but, after having listened to the whole thing... this album ONLY has this and the next two to six ranks going for it.

2. Empire Ants
3. Stylo
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Broken
6. To Binge
7. Pirate Jet
8. Plastic Beach
- It really fits the album: there's a few good lines in here, but a lot of the rest of it is annoyingly repetitive noise.

9. Cloud of Unknowing
10. Superfast Jellyfish
11. Some Kind of Nature
12. White Flag
13. Sweepstakes
14. Glitter Freeze
15. Welcome to the World of Plastic Beach
16. Orchestral Intro

I remember being kind of underwhelmed by this album back when it came out, but it clicked with me this time. Between this and Parklife, it's clear Damon Albarn has a knack for making disparate pieces come together as a cohesive whole.

Having a gettogether with some friends

On Melancholy Hill
Stylo
Superfast Jellyfish
Rhinestone Eyes
Some Kind of Nature
Empire Ants
Plastic Beach
Broken
White Flag
Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach
To Binge
Sweepstakes
Glitter Freeze
Cloud of Unknowing
Pirate Jet
Orchestral Intro

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
kateee (24)
MetalmindStats (38)
StifledSilence (38)
HBJDubs (40)
Seanchan (40)
ZaziGuado (42)
Great_Paul (50)
FoolFantastic (52)
Raetsel_Lapin (52)
Johnbobb (56)

General Album Comments

Seanchan: As you might expect from someone who tends to like pop-punk, I enjoyed that quite a bit. And it's a true first listen. My Chemical Romance didn't make it big until after I stopped listening to a lot of music, so the only thing I really knew from them was I'm Not Okay (which is great, btw). Maybe I've heard Welcome to the Black Parade before too at some point; that one certainly stood out on first listen.

StifledSilence: Black Parade is one of my favorite albums. Whenever we go on family trips that require a long drive, my wife puts on all of MCRs good albums (Bullets sucks) to listen to. So while I now associate the band with traffic, I still love them.

Ranking these songs was tough. The End/Dead are a great 1-2 punch to start the album. Mama, Disenchanted, and Famous Last Words are some of MCRs best songs. Welcome to the Black Parade might just be the song of a generation of goth/emo kids. Most of the rest are excellent too with one exception. Blood is just a weird extra and it makes me wish the songs from the deluxe version were included with it. But regardless, this album is such a good time.

Seanchan: I really solid album all the way through. As I said alluded to in my earlier post, I think I would have been a big My Chemical Romance fan had they hit big a few years earlier, when I was in high school/college and listening to more music. At any rate, I enjoyed this album and it is one I will certainly come back to in the future (though I will absolutely skip the silly and unnecessary Blood...).

HBJDubs: This is a very good album. Probably helps that it's a concept album which I'm a sucker for...pretty much guarantees that I'll come back to it to really soak in the story (same goes for clipping).

track ranking

14. Blood (Track #14)
Score: 35 (Average Rank: 11.5/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Great_Paul (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): StifledSilence, Seanchan, FoolFantastic, MetalmindStats, HBJDubs (#14)

13. Sleep (Track #10)
Score: 50 (Average Rank: 10/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): kateee (#14)

12. Cancer (Track #8)
Score: 58 (Average Rank: 9.4/14)
Biggest Fan(s): ZaziGuado, FoolFantastic (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): StifledSilence, kateee, MetalmindStats, HBJDubs (#13)

11. House of Wolves (Track #7)
Score: 64 (Average Rank: 8.6/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): ZaziGuado, Great_Paul (#13)

10. Mama (Track #9)
Score: 66 (Average Rank: 8.9/14)
Biggest Fan(s): StifledSilence (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, Great_Paul (#14)

9. Teenagers (Track #11)
Score: 73 (Average Rank: 7.9/14)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): StifledSilence (#12)

8. I Don't Love You (Track #6)
Score: 74 (Average Rank: 7.8/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#14)

7. This is How I Disappear (Track #3)
Score: 80 (Average Rank: 7.3/14)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, FoolFantastic (#11)

6. Disenchanted (Track #12)
Score: 90 (Average Rank: 6.3/14)
Biggest Fan(s): StifledSilence (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#12)

5. The Sharpest Lives (Track #4)
Score: 93 (Average Rank: 6.6/14)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): ZaziGuado (#14)

4. The End. (Track #1)
Score: 93 (Average Rank: 6.4/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, Great_Paul (#12)

3. Dead! (Track #2)
Score: 95 (Average Rank: 5.7/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, Seanchan (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Great_Paul (#10)

2. Famous Last Words (Track #13)
Score: 108 (Average Rank: 5.5/14)
Biggest Fan(s): ZaziGuado, MetalmindStats, Great_Paul (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, Seanchan (#12)

1. Welcome to the Black Parade (Track #5)
Score: 141 (Average Rank: 3.1/14)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb, kateee, Seanchan, FoolFantastic (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#11)

Sorry for the delay

Topics like these make me happy to be gay, where being a fat, hairy nerd can actually be a selling point.

I got Nidavellir, Mojoworld, and Xandar in a match this morning. Which, I'm luckily playing a deck that regularly fills every lane, but still annoying.

bump

Daft Punk - Discovery > Pearl Jam - Ten > Clown Core - Van

poll for competitive week (Johnbobb/ZaziGuado/jcgamer107, sorted by artist):
Clown Core - Van
vs.
Daft Punk - Discovery
vs.
Pearl Jam - Ten

Previous results can be seen here:
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_2
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_3

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

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach:
1. Orchestral Intro
2. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach
3. White Flag
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo
6. Superfast Jellyfish
7. Empire Ants
8. Glitter Freeze
9. Some Kind of Nature
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes
13. Plastic Beach
14. To Binge
15. Cloud of Unknowing
16. Pirate Jet

Current cycle:
3/12: FoolFantastic (Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You)
3/19: Seanchan (In Flames - Colony)
3/26: Johnbobb/ZaziGuado/jcgamer107
4/2: Giggsalot
4/9: RyoCaliente
4/16: darkx
4/23: Snake5555555555/Raetsel_Lapin/Seanchan
4/30: neonreaper
5/7: Great_Paul
5/14: jcgamer107
5/21: Giggsalot/MetalmindStats/rwlh
5/28: ChichiriMuyo
6/4: BlueCrystalTear
6/11: rwlh
6/18: NFUN
6/25: HBJDubs/firefdr/NFUN
7/2: StifledSilence

Future cycle:
7/9: MetalmindStats
7/16: HBJDubs
7/23: Raetsel_Lapin
7/30: competitive week
8/6: Steiner
8/13: Snake5555555555
8/20: Jesse_Custer
8/27: competitive week
9/3: ZaziGuado
9/10: firefdr
9/17: Johnbobb
9/24: competitive week
10/1: VeryInsane

Preparing the next topic, but remember that you can vote for another ~7 hours

Results for the poll (since this one was actually close and flipped with the backup votes)
In Flames - Colony: 3
vs.
Symphony X - Paradise Lost: 2
vs.
Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage: 4

Round 2:
In Flames - Colony: 5
vs.
Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage: 4

Binding of Isaac is my most played game, but I don't know if I've hit 1000

my rank:
Welcome to the Black Parade
Teenagers
Cancer
Famous Last Words
I Don't Love You
Mama
Dead!
House of Wolves
Disenchanted
The Sharpest Lives
This is How I Disappear
The End.
Sleep
Blood

Pokemon Gold

My first Raft was on the left space and I got Giganto so I've always been wary of that location.

I wish Leech was more like a Zero against the opponent, or maybe hit only a few cards like Nakia.

In Flames - Colony > Symphony X - Paradise Lost > Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage

It feels like part of the debate on the action side is this weird assumption that those who like turn-based games are clinging to the past. But, at 30, I'm at the exact age where I was exposed to Kingdom Hearts before I ever touched a Final Fantasy. The preference is simply tactics versus direct inputs. These two genres are always going to coexist because they ultimately have little to do with one another.

My hesitance with Final Fantasy going action is that the classic Final Fantasy games were the top of the line in their genre, but I don't trust the modern team to be top of the line in the action realm. There is obviously room for stylish, turn-based series - Persona and the latest Yakuza are proof that it does not have to be relegated to retro aesthetics. I just feel like Final Fantasy abandoned a style they were experts at and replaced it with something where they will be regularly outdone.

8. Story 5 (Track #13)
Score: 65 (Average Rank: 8.38/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Natalie (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#15)

Natalie: I don't really know what to say here that isn't obvious. These harmonies are gorgeous, full to the point of making you forget there's not any accompanying instrumentation, and the severity of this story - the way it draws you not just into this character but her cause, her charisma, the idea of her as a revolutionary champion of the people cut down in a tragedy - to give us that and then successfully couch all of this in the idea of a future traditional song concerning now-contemporary times is such an interesting juxtaposition. I can't claim to understand the finer points of Splendor & Misery's narrative, but I appreciate and respect Story 5's position in relation to the story of the prisoner, and I'm never not crushed listening to it.

Johnbobb: What a fuckin switchup. We'd gotten some hymn-styled songs meshed with the sci-fi setting, but this is just a direct hymn about a horrifying story, and it's a story that clipping fans were already vaguely familiar with! Almost every clipping album features a "Story __" song and in the very first Story 1, a rap is told from the perspective of Randy, a beat cop just starting out getting called onto the scene of Grace's violent death (later revealing that Grace was his sister). The Story songs are always particularly tragic, telling a slow-burn connected story that both connect to the others, but also the albums they're on (ex. Story 7, which appears in There Existed an Addiction to Blood, is full on supernatural horror, while still keeping with the story arc)

7. Wake Up (Track #5)
Score: 67 (Average Rank: 7.75/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#12)

6. Baby Don't Sleep (Track #14)
Score: 77 (Average Rank: 6.38/15)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, Seanchan, HBJDubs (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, Johnbobb, ChichiriMuyo (#9)

Natalie: That fucking noise beat. The whole disc is full of bursts of noise and sound effect stabs, but Baby Don't Sleep is by far the best execution in a musical context. The long, slightly off balance rumbling low end, slightly reminiscent of thundering hooves, and then that sharp KRZZZZZT acting as the release, over and over and over again. The flow over the top is just a bonus.

Johnbobb: This song is told from the perspective of the AI just like All Black, and is the final push of the AI to encourage Cargo #2331 to survive, and it's aggressive and at times almost hard to listen to as it actively tries to break the album's protagonist out of his lull into sleep

5. Break the Glass (Track #12)
Score: 83 (Average Rank: 6.25/15)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Natalie, Seanchan (#12)

Johnbobb: hey have I mentioned how much I love this album's industrial beats yet

4. Air 'Em Out (Track #10)
Score: 102 (Average Rank: 4.25/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#10)

Natalie: One of the quiet successes of S&M is its establishment of three distinct voices: the precise diction of the ship's computer, the soulful howl of the a capella hymns, and the snarl of the prisoner. This last voice really only comes through on a few tracks, but Air 'Em Out establishes him so well with those in-universe bars. Usually hip hop concept projects have to digress pretty hard to produce a bop - think Backseat Freestyle - so I'm perpetually impressed by clipping.'s ability to ground this comfortably within their setting.

Johnbobb: Interstellar gangster rap. True Believer (and the following instrumental) are a distinct turning point for the album, and in Air 'Em Out we hear the character only known as Cargo #2331 really taking over and taking his rage out on the slavers.

3. True Believer (Track #8)
Score: 106 (Average Rank: 3.88/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#7)

Johnbobb: True Believer captures everything I love about clipping. It combines the hymnlike vocals, the industrial beats, the atmospheric sci-fi effects, story-telling lyricism and Daveed Diggs' rapping ability (who doesn't rap any faster than exactly how he needs to, making his voice just another part of the song's industrial sound).

2. A Better Place (Track #15)
Score: 114 (Average Rank: 3.75/15)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, ChichiriMuyo, TheArkOfTurus (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#13)

Natalie: Concept albums have a bad habit of losing the plot and either ending up somewhere unsatisfying or ending on a total non sequitor. I have a lot of respect for the way A Better Place brings everything full circle, and the way it directly grapples with the story without feeding us a resolution. Every verse having its own flow is a great chance for Diggs to stretch his legs, and I adore the "local baseball stadium" vibe of that lead organ instrument.

Johnbobb: After a full album of tragedy, violence, sadness, anger and desperation, it goes out on a high note, both emotionally and in the context of it's story. As the protagonist pushes out into uncharted distant space, he, the AI and the listener all get that last boost of inspiration to find something better, and the slower, melodic hymns are replaced by upbeat chimes and bells and it just really ties the whole thing together

1. All Black (Track #3)
Score: 116 (Average Rank: 3.13/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#9)

Natalie: All Black could be a standalone story. Having a full arc from escape to desperation to resignation to collaboration, all told through the ship's perspective, with no non-musical digressions, with a multifaceted chorus that serves the story differently each time around, and with an open-ended sense of resolution - it's almost a disservice to the tracks that follow it when you can tune out at this point and feel fulfilled.

Johnbobb: I had liked clipping before this album, but I think this song in particular (combined with Story 2) really showed me what they were capable of in terms of telling entire stories within a single song. There's so much happening here to in the background to boost that story and set the stage for the rest of the album

clipping. - Splendor & Misery results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
ChichiriMuyo (18)
Johnbobb (20)
TheArkOfTurus (20)
FoolFantastic (30)
Seanchan (36)
Natalie (40)
Raetsel_Lapin (46)
HBJDubs (58)

General Album Comments

Johnbobb: what a cool fuckin album. I'm a total sucker for a great concept album and this one just has everything. A twisted narrative of the lone survivor of a futuristic slave ship taking over the ship and forming a relationship with its AI and taking revenge on the slaver colonies and getting lost in space. Incredible sound mixing, different song types and genres altogether, hidden messages. I've loved everything clipping. has put out but S&M is just on a different level altogether.

Seanchan: I was generally enjoying thisbut at the same time I kept thinking that this is a terrible choice for a track ranking since it feels like a contiguous piece.

ChichiriMuyo: I feel bad ranking the tracks here, because it's obviously a concept album meant to be taken as a whole. And what a concept. Unless I'm imagining things here we have an interstellar slaveship, an uprising, the computer siding with (loving?) the surving slave, and said slave just dreaming of returning to the life taken from him. Does he keep his hope or lose his mind? I'm not sure, I'm not sure he's even still alive by the end. Is the last track the AI trying to do right by the fleshy little human it is carrying? Acknowledging that it can float in space forever, but the man inside needs more? And there is no resolution, no solid answers to how it all turns out. No mention of reaching a destination, or of what happened to "the cargo."

What a piece of art.

Seanchan: An interesting album, though I don't think I ever enjoyed it more than I did on my first listen. In many ways it's a silly exercise trying to rank the tracks here, like trying to judge a casserole or cake by its components rather than the end result. This was especially apparent to me doing my out preliminary ranking order listen.

HBJDubs: Real tough to rank individually as others have said, but since we also rank the albums I don't mind getting something like this to listen to. The album sounds really unique which is always cool. I didn't really get into it at times but it did leave enough of an impression that I want to give this another go somewhere down the line

Splendor & Misery track ranking

15. Long Way Away (Instrumental) (Track #9)
Score: 15 (Average Rank: 14.13/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Natalie (#10)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, Johnbobb, ChichiriMuyo, HBJDubs, TheArkOfTurus (#15)

14. Interlude 02 (Numbers) (Track #7)
Score: 32 (Average Rank: 12/15)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): Natalie, Seanchan (#15)

Johnbobb: This is barely a song, but it's also a big part of what makes me love the album. The letters being read out are a cipher that require a keyword (that's later provided in Air 'Em Out, "the keyword is Kemmer") and ultimately spells out "The target is Amy Clark" but it's theorized that it refers to Dr. Clark (a character that appears in Story 2, a song on their prior album that also connects to this album's Story 5) but it's also the name of a real-life escaped slave.

13. Interlude 03 (Freestyle) (Track #11)
Score: 38 (Average Rank: 11.25/15)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): Natalie, Johnbobb (#14)

12. Interlude 01 (Freestyle) (Track #4)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 10.38/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, Natalie, TheArkOfTurus (#13)

Johnbobb: There's an argument to be made that trading out atmosphere in place of the ability to actual hear the lyrics is a bad thing. I won't make the argument, but it could be made.

11. Long Way Away (Intro) (Track #1)
Score: 48 (Average Rank: 10/15)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic (#14)

Natalie: Listening through for this ranking made me realize how much of the heavy lifting on this album is done by interlude tracks, even though it might not be apparent from their placement in lists. Long Way Away (Intro) has always been striking to me for its introduction of that haunting melody which acts as a refrain throughout the record. It does come back on Long Way Away, which is similar but a little less impactful, and Long Way Away (Interlude) with less structure but a very nice use of theremin, but the intro version sticks out to me the most.

Johnbobb: Natalie nailed it in their comments about this song. A big part of what makes this album so incredible is the interludes. They aren't silly unrelated sketches like often appear in rap albums; they're atmospheric and intense and often contain brief chunks of excellent lyricism

10. The Breach (Track #2)
Score: 49 (Average Rank: 9.88/15)
Biggest Fan(s): TheArkOfTurus (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#14)

Natalie: This is basically the intro to All Black and it's difficult to evaluate it on an individual basis, but the force with which you're introduced to Diggs here is remarkable. The first time I heard this absolutely perfect diction at speed it was mind blowing and that effect has never fully worn off.

Johnbobb: I will stand by the opinion that Daveed Diggs is the most talented rapper working today. He doesn't just rap quickly, he does so in such a way that the lyrics are always crisp and precise and comphrensible so that even tiny songs like this are startling

9. Long Way Away (Track #6)
Score: 59 (Average Rank: 8.63/15)
Biggest Fan(s): ChichiriMuyo (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs, TheArkOfTurus (#11)

Johnbobb: Look, I already rambled about how cool the very basis of this album's story is (lone survivor of a space slave colony) but pairing the style of slave hymns in a sci-fi setting interspersed with the rap is just so good

up

The appeal of turn-based mechanics is clearly in the idea that you are acting as a commander. Most action RPGs completely lose the feeling of controlling an entire team, which I think is the central aspect to the best Final Fantasy games. If they could somehow capture that with action mechanics, go ahead, but there's clearly stuff being lost in the transition from turn-based to action that suggests it's nowhere near a vertical upgrade.

In pretty much every action RPG I have played, the other party members might as well be non-existent. In a series where the best games have been character-driven, this is a problem.

bump

I haven't run into too many issues with Aero. Too many play her early, and it usually doesn't matter where Sera or Magik end up. Shuri is my hard counter, but I feel like most decks have that (and it usually means a one-cube retreat).

Part of what mitigates Aero is that I want to play the non-combo cards in the same lane. If I fill one lane up with Black Widow/Magik/Sera/Luke Cage, the main issue with Aero is she might pull the combo away from Onslaught - but 4 hits of Hazmat is usually more than enough.

I actually found a Hazmat deck that seems to be working for me. The problem with her is that she requires a ridiculous combo, but I think I've finally balanced it.

Hazmat/Luke Cage/Wong/Mystique (obviously)
Black Widow (to disrupt the opponent, and a full combo makes it an unexpected Hobgoblin)
Psylocke (to make the chain easier)
Ironheart (as an alternative in case I am missing Luke or Hazmat)
Debrii (more targets on the opponent's side, though I'm probably going to switch her to Green Goblin since he does not disrupt my perfect combo)
Wave (same as Psylocke, but with the added possibility of getting Onslaught out for easier combo)
Magik (turn 7 is essential here, both for the miracle play and extra card draw)
Sera (makes the key combo playable on turn 7)
Onslaught (turn 4 Onslaught makes the Wong combo easier to pull off without necessarily showing my hand too early)

In an ideal match, this ends up being:
Round 1: nothing
Round 2: Black Widow
Round 3: Wave or Psylocke
Round 4-6: Onslaught, Magik, Sera
Round 7: Wong/Mystique/Hazmat on the Onslaught lane, Luke Cage anywhere else

Most people seem to have no idea what I'm setting up for, and being able to play the full combo in one turn mitigates the dangers of Cosmo. And even if I find myself playing Luke Cage on round 2, the other player wasting their Rogue or Enchantress on him means I can safely switch gears to Ironheart.

Reminder that you can still vote for clipping. for fourish more hours in the other topic

Seanchan on this week's choices:
"All 3 nominations are metal albums by artists which I have enjoyed multiple albums from over the years.

In Flames - Colony
I'm not sure this is the "right" album to nominate for In Flames, but it's representative and contains one of my favorite songs of all time (not the one I've linked to below...), so it gets the nod over Clayman. I love the overall sound of the instrumentation, but I'll be the first to admit the vocals might throw some people off. They mesh well with the overall sound of the guitars, drums, etc. but these are not clean so they can be very hard (verging on impossible) to understand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPQhEn2sJpE

Symphony X - Paradise Lost
I'm not sure this is the "right" album to nominate for Symphony X, but it's the first one that came to mind when I thought to put them up, a concept album loosely based upon Milton's classic poem. Their music has a lot of theatrical, operatic elements, with a tremendously talented vocalist. I'll say that this particular album is a bit harder sounding overall than their previous work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8gA1ooxw0I

Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage
Yes, this is the one with everyone's favorite Guitar Hero 3 song, Through the Fire and Flames. I know this band is corny and over the top but I love it. They are, at points, just a wall of fast, frenetic sonic noise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15JCb6P60Vw

poll for Seanchan's week:
In Flames - Colony
vs.
Symphony X - Paradise Lost
vs.
Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage

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

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

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade track list:
1. The End.
2. Dead!
3. This is How I Disappear
4. The Sharpest Lives
5. Welcome to the Black Parade
6. I Don't Love You
7. House of Wolves
8. Cancer
9. Mama
10. Sleep
11. Teenagers
12. Disenchanted
13. Famous Last Words
14. Blood

Current cycle:
3/5: VeryInsane (Gorillaz - Plastic Beach)
3/12: FoolFantastic (Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want to Turn Into You)
3/19: Seanchan
3/26: Johnbobb/ZaziGuado/jcgamer107
4/2: Giggsalot
4/9: RyoCaliente
4/16: darkx
4/23: Snake5555555555/Raetsel_Lapin/Seanchan
4/30: neonreaper
5/7: Great_Paul
5/14: jcgamer107
5/21: Giggsalot/MetalmindStats/rwlh
5/28: ChichiriMuyo
6/4: BlueCrystalTear
6/11: rwlh
6/18: NFUN
6/25: HBJDubs/firefdr/NFUN

Future cycle:
7/2: MetalmindStats
7/9: HBJDubs
7/16: Raetsel_Lapin
7/23: competitive week
7/30: Steiner
8/6: Snake5555555555
8/13: Jesse_Custer
8/20: competitive week
8/27: ZaziGuado
9/3: firefdr
9/10: Johnbobb
9/17: competitive week

It's TheArkOfTurus

It's also been seriously re-evaluated over the last decade on its own.

Up

bump

up

FoolFantastic posted...

I've been playing this game for months and have never seen a strengthened Thanos hit the board. Has anyone?

This finally happened! And then I immediately Shang-Chi'd him, along with Enchantressing their Devil Dinosaur and Armor and then Killmongering the Spectrum/Blue Marvel-boosted stones...

I kind of feel like the non-Thanos Lockjaw On Reveal deck does the concept of Thanos better. I regularly get Thor to +12 strength while the 0-cost Mjolnir is replaced with things like Infinaut.

I've been playing this game for months and have never seen a strengthened Thanos hit the board. Has anyone?

blur - Parklife results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
FoolFantastic (22)
neonreaper (35)
Seanchan (43)
firefdr (45)
HBJDubs (50)
Johnbobb (52)
Raetsel_Lapin (74)
ChichiriMuyo (80)

General Album Comments

FoolFantastic: A member of my top 100 albums, kicking off with a song that has always sat within my all-time top 10. This is the definitive Britpop album to me. All the tracks are catchy, but the album never falls into the usual pitfall of most pop records where only the big singles really work. There are big hits here, but the tracks between take on their own distinct style. Despite blur's occasionally bratty attitude, the variety here reveals genuine musical brilliance.

Seanchan: Other than Girls & Boys, I'm not particularly high on this album. Nothing terrible here, but just overall an album I'm going to have a hard time remembering come Rank the Tracks 5.

HBJDubs: Was expecting a "samey" album where everything sounds similar, but was pleasantly surprised that pretty much every song is distinct. Nothing blows me away, but that's ok, it's a very solid album.

ChichiriMuyo: A decent album that can feel a bit all over the place. Lots of different styles and influences. Hard to put this one in a box

Parklife track ranking

16. The Debt Collector (Track #7)
Score: 14 (Average Rank: 14.25/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#12)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, HBJDubs, ChichiriMuyo (#16)

15. Lot 105 (Track #16)
Score: 37 (Average Rank: 11.38/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, ChichiriMuyo (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic (#16)

13 (tie). Jubilee (Track #14)
Score: 41 (Average Rank: 10.88/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper, Seanchan (#14)

13 (tie). Magic America (Track #13)
Score: 41 (Average Rank: 10.88/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): firefdr (#15)

12. Bank Holiday (Track #5)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 10.63/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper, Raetsel_Lapin (#16)

11. Far Out (Track #8)
Score: 52 (Average Rank: 9.63/16)
Biggest Fan(s): firefdr (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#16)

10. Badhead (Track #6)
Score: 59 (Average Rank: 9.38/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#15)

9. Clover Over Dover (Track #12)
Score: 62 (Average Rank: 8.25/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): firefdr (#14)

8. London Loves (Track #10)
Score: 63 (Average Rank: 8.38/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, ChichiriMuyo (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, Raetsel_Lapin (#15)

7. Trouble in the Message Centre (Track #11)
Score: 67 (Average Rank: 8.38/16)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, ChichiriMuyo (#13)

6. Tracy Jacks (Track #2)
Score: 69 (Average Rank: 7.5/16)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): firefdr (#16)

5. End of a Century (Track #3)
Score: 70 (Average Rank: 7.5/16)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChichiriMuyo (#15)

4. To the End (Track #9)
Score: 89 (Average Rank: 5.38/16)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChichiriMuyo (#9)

3. This is a Low (Track #15)
Score: 95 (Average Rank: 4.75/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan, HBJDubs (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChichiriMuyo (#14)

2. Parklife (Track #4)
Score: 98 (Average Rank: 4.88/16)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb, firefdr (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChichiriMuyo (#10)

1. Girls & Boys (Track #1)
Score: 114 (Average Rank: 4/16)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, neonreaper, Seanchan, ChichiriMuyo (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#14)

I think Johnbobb just unlocked expert difficulty for Rank the Tracks

my ranking:
A Better Place
Air 'Em Out
All Black
Baby Don't Sleep
True Believer
Wake Up
Long Way Away
Interlude 03 (Freestyle)
Break the Glass
The Breach
Story 5
Interlude 02 (Numbers)
Interlude 01 (Freestyle)
Long Way Away (Intro)
Long Way Away (Instrumental)