Lurker > Fluttershy_Pony

Considering how little I understand my own tastes, there is a non-zero chance you might understand me more than I do. </.<



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#212 [#229]:

Name: Learn to Let Go
Origin: Kesha
Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/1g1TeDflB6atAy7HKwrzXu?si=AXi3muzMTAOU8An68epQsw

Nominator: Bane (14/15)

(4, 4, 5.3 [upgraded to a 5.5 immediately before being posted])

[Its good advice, but not advice Im willing to listen to at the moment.]

It's like a vastly improved version of the Christina Grimmie song from earlier in the topic, but it's still not the type of message or song I'm looking for.

[Final Thoughts: It took me a while to figure out why I so drastically prefer this song over "Hold Your Head Up"--sure this doesn't have a stellar ranking, but it's well beyond that song--when both songs are dealing with similar subject matter and I don't have any real preference between the two singers.

I think it's largely the perspective of the songs. Kesha's is self-reflective and first person about how she needs to let go; Christina's is about how you need to hold your head up. The message is easier to take when the singer is reflecting on their own life instead of throwing cliche messages into the void.

Ultimately, it doesn't help this song tremendously, but it is enough to give it a substantial edge when comparing the songs directly. I think.

Gave this song a slight numerical boost at the literal last possible second here.]

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#211 [#265]:

Name: Piss up a Rope
Origin: Ween
Link:

Nominator: Snake (12/15)

(5.5, 2, 5.3 [also upgraded to 5.5 at the last moment])

[Humorous, but it just starts repeating itself endlessly until the joke is dead. Either come up with a new verse or end the song once youre out of material.]

The joke had worn thin by the second listen, but it was saved by a YouTube comment saying that one of the background singers in the chorus sounds like Towelie. That's now the only thing I can picture and the image is funny enough that I'm back to generally liking the song.

[Final Thoughts: ...Ow. The disonnance between these two songs is rather painful.]

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FL81 posted...

(According to the YT description anyway) this one was composed by Shiori Ueno, not Yuzo Koshiro

Huh. Well, I'll have to try searching for him later then.
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#214 [#73]:

Name: The Final Song ~ Black Song, White Scales
Origin: Keiichi Okabe
Link:

Nominator: CPU (9/10)

(8, 8, 5.3)

[I never could finish this game. I tried for a few hours, even tried using multiple YouTube guides, but I had to give up. Hearing that people spent weeks on the final part makes me feel a bit better about my failure.]

I think I overrated this early on because I love Drakengard 3 and Yoko Taro. His works are so bizarre that I can't think of any creator I'd be more hyped to see a new game from. And since this song represents Yoko Taro at his Yoko-Taro-est, I was really excited by the nomination and the memories it brought back.

But looking back on it now, I'm pretty sure most of the points I was giving were due to the game and the creator, not the song itself. It's a nice song, sure, but it's not really my style--too subdued or something. And after multiple listens for this list, it has lost a lot its luster--still good, but I'm no longer raving about it as I once was.

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#213 [#164]:

Name: Demon Lord's Arms Hand
Origin: Falcom Sound Team jdk (Atsushi Shirakawa, Hayato Sonoda, Wataru Ishibashi, Maiko Hattori) [Zwei!!]
Link:

Nominator: Mycro (15/15)

(7, 6, 5.3)

[An impressive start. I dont think Im a big fan of Falcom tracks in general, but this one worked for me. Really dig the oppressive atmosphere of the opening and enjoyed the main part of the song too.]

I apparently loved this the first time around, but I fear my opinion has lowered each time. It's quality, but I'm not really inspired by any aspect of it. It's kinda oppressive at first, but like every other nomination, not nearly enough and it loses that trait pretty early on.

I'm worried I might be undervaluing this now after the total barrage of Falcom music this topic was hit with. I think this is distinct enough from the Trails of soundtracks that it shouldn't be impacting things, but I'm just not positive.

Game cover makes me very intrested in the game, though it feels like cheating. Magical girl main character (or co-main character, I suppose) and a pet cat? I may have to look into it in the future, if I ever have a computer I'm confident could run it and the money to throw away on something because there was a cat in the images.

[Final Thoughts: I think this marks the point where everyone has lost at least one song.]

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FL81 posted...

Fluttershy_Pony posted...

Like, I don't think this song compares favorably to "Trouble Outsiders - A Battle With Destiny":

Either of these would've scored like, top 5 in my list lol

granted A Battle With Destiny was my pet nom ;>_>

I didn't know that was one of yours. Neat! I just remember that track as one of my personal favorites from my first time participating in VGMC--I actually liked it enough to skim Yuzo Koshiro's other works, and there are very few VGM Composers I've done that for.
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#216 [#185]:

Name: Alice In Wonderland
Origin: Touhou 05 - Mystic Square
Link:

Nominator: Shonen_Bat (8/8)

(4, 5, 5.3)

[Alright, though certainly not my favorite retro computer VGM.]

I want to like it--retro computer songs are quite rare for nominations, so this is fairly unique for this list, but I like so many other songs from the genre so much more. Like, I don't think this song compares favorably to "Trouble Outsiders - A Battle With Destiny":



And that's just if we're limiting things to PC-98 songs. Expand it to all computer games and you have to compete against the likes of Jeroen Tel & the Follin Brothers. Not to say this isn't a fine song and I'm happy someone tried with this style of nomination, but it's just not my favorite.

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#215 [#221]:

Name: Cat With 2 Heads!
Origin: The Aquabats [Album: The Fury of the Aquabats!]
Link:

Nominator: Flamander/Glacier (7/15)

(4, 4, 5.3)

[Another song I should like that I inexplicably dont. Comedic, sci-fi, animal related... it checks a lot of boxes for me, but Im not as hyped for the song as Id like.]

I think the fact that the song is from the point of view of the scientist is what's hurting the score a bit? Like, I don't really want to be a scientist (even a mad one), so there's no real wish fulfilment here even with the inclusion of a mutant cat.

Also, the story never goes anywhere? Neither the scientist or the cat actually do anything; while the cat ate the New Kids on the Block that is mentioned in past tense, as something that happened before the song started.

...come to think of it, pretty much all the song is in past tense. The few things that happened all happened before we joined the story, so it feels...wrong. And that's not logical, lots of songs and stories are told in past tense, but it's bothering me now.

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#218 [#99]

Name: Plasmatron
Origin: Tony Thai [STAFFcirc vol. 3 - Cardinal Virtue]
Link: https://soundcloud.com/sexytoadsandfrogsfriendcircle/tony-thai-plasmatron?in=sexytoadsandfrogsfriendcircle/sets/staffcirc-vol-3-cardinal-virtue

Nominator: cakophon (8/15)

(7, 7, 5.3)

[This is heavily reminding me of a shmup, but I cant quite place the memory... I want to say one of the Gradius games? Yeah, Gradius 3s Crystal Labyrinth! Dunno why, but this feels exactly like the sort of song that should play while flying through a maze of crystals in space.]

Seriously, try watching a video of that stage and using Plasmatron as the audio once the Vic Viper reaches the actual Crystal Labyrinth:



I still say this song fits perfectly for that sequence.

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#217 [#162]:

Name: Burning Me
Origin: DJ Noriken
Link:

Nominator: banshiryuu (3/10)

(4.3, 6, 5.3)

[Starts off promising, then repeats the same words for all eternity.]

Still too much of a thumping beat, but the vocals help take a bit of the edge off.

[Final Thoughts: I actually do kinda like the singing parts, for reasons I can't properly articulate.]

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#220 [#176]:

Name: space station no. 9
Origin: NEXUS-2060 (capsule)


Nominator: Placeee (9/15)

(5.6, 5.6, 5.3)

[I like things about it. Theres a very synthesized voice (though not as prominently or as often as Id like), its different (but could stand to dial the uniqueness and craziness up to 11), its sci-fi (but doesnt tell much of a story that I can tell)... so close to perfection, yet I want so much more from it that Im left mostly with disappointment.]

I want to love this. It feels so close to what I want and yet...

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#219 [#248]:

Name: Piano
Origin: Ariana Grande
Link:

Nominator: Hannyabal (13/15)

(4, 3, 5.3)

[Im not often a fan of dance songs (unsure if I mentioned that before) , so something like this is a risky pick. I dont hate them, so youre not likely to hit last (if you are the type to take pride in coming in last) but I dont like them enough to get a good score either. Youre often stuck languishing in the middle of the list, like this song.]

Well, the good news is that I like her voice a lot more than I did on the other song.

The bad news is that it's more subject matter I'm not interested in, so I just kinda tune it out and it winds up getting almost the same write-up as the other song.

[Final Thoughts: I feel like I should give this a bit of a boost for being meta (a song about wanting to write the song), which certainly sounds funny, but I'm still not quite feeling it.

Also, it vaguely reminds me of Tribute now, what with the whole song about a song thing they both have going.]

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Raka_Putra posted...

It's pretty cool how I got the last place but no other song appeared in the bottom 80 so far. ...unless I missed something.

Nope, didn't miss anything thus far.

IhatethisCPU posted...

...Now you mention it, I do hear a certain... ethereal 'you will be dealt with... if you're an issue.' vibe with Opus. ....And I *very much* get that oppressive feel from the Thumper song, although I'm unfamiliar with it otherwise. mercy in heaven. o--o'

I'm actually kinda glad someone gets where I'm coming from on that song.

Also, semi-fun fact: I don't really know much about Thumper. When VGM nomination topics are up, I usually try to bounce around YouTube and find songs I've never heard before to nominate. That song is one I randomly found for someone else's topic, though the ranking never actually happened--it's a bit unfortunate, but since I managed to find a song I really enjoyed, I can't complain.
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#222 [#252]:

Name: Lady Fantasy
Origin: Camel
Link:

Nominator: NBIceman (15/15)

(5.5, 3, 5.2)

[There are some high points, but theyre not enough to carry an over twelve minute long love song. Also, while its not your fault, this video plays an ad in the middle of the song... Im going to have to try to find a Spotify link or something to hear this song without interruption.]

I didn't hold it against the song, but I did switch to Spotify for all future listens to the song. Not sure it's fair for me to improve the link myself, but I think it'd be more unfair to judge the song with an ad playing during it.

Song isn't bad. I do like how it's broken into multiple distinct phases, but it results in a very long song... I'm into it for the first seven minutes, but have largely lost interest by the second set of lyrics. Too slow, too sappy. Sure, the song picks back up again shortly, but by that point I just want it over. (The last part feels repetitive, but I'll concede that I may be too biased against it to fairly judge.)

I don't dislike the song and have enough respect for what it tries to do that I find it above average, but...

[Final Thoughts:

1.I'm pretty sure this marks the first song where I actively used a different link than the provided one. There are a few others, but this is the only one to be changed due to being interrupted with commercials.

2.I like the intro part, Encounter, quite a bit. The quasi-futuristic beeping in the opening make it sound like a totally different song than it winds up being and the singing is reminding me of some other song or artist. I want to say it's like a deeper voiced version of the Alan Parsons Project or something? I can't fully place it, but the sound is oddly nostalgic for a band I'm pretty sure I've never heard of before this ranking. I'm just not really into the other two sections of the song; I understand what they were going for, I'm just not a fan.

3.With this elimination, I believe that leaves Mycro as the only 15/15 entrant remaining.

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#221 [#81]:

Name: decisive battle
Origin: Angel Beats! (Key Sound Label)


Nominator: Placeee (10/15)

(7.1, 7, 5.2)

[I watched Angel Beats several years ago, but I dont recall any songs like this. Good song, wish it werent so short.]

At 1:40 this is far from the shortest song on the list, but I feel it really needs another minute or so. By the time I start to get into this song, it's already ending.

[Final Notes: It is good, just too short to ever really get engrossed in. And yes, I'm fully aware of how it looks cutting one song for being too long and then immediately cutting one for being too short in the next write-up.]

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And the list of songs I'm refusing to eliminate continues to grow, as we picked up a fifth today.
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#224 (#277):

Name: The Zoo Song
Origin: Putt-Putt Saves The Zoo
Link:

Nominator: paulg235 (11/15)

(1, 1, 5.2)

[Well, you at least tried to give me something with fuzzy animals in it, so I appreciate the attempt.]

If giving a 5 to a song just because it has a bunch of animals in it is wrong then I don't want to be right.

[Final Notes: Obviously there are far bigger incrases in placement to come, but I think this song's jump of over 50 placements gives it an early edge at this stage of the topic?]

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#223 [#242]:

Song: Hej Dunrl fj a szl; Cinege, Cinege (Hungary theme)
Origin: Civilization VI
Link:

Nominator: handsomeboy (11/15)

(2, 3.5, 5.2)

[Not a fan, but the spontaneous shift to thumping dance music at 2:40 is worth a bonus point.]

This is one of those songs that gets a little better each time I listen to it. Not entirely sure how I feel about it basically being multiple songs stapled together; the abruptness of the change in musical styles caught me so off-guard the first time around that it certainly made the song stand out, but now I feel I might be happier with it just being one song or the other? Tonight I wasn't in the mood for the dance rave portion of the song, which likely held it back some; of course there are times where I'm not in the mood for the slower parts of the song and the dance part is the only thing saving it. So who knows?

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#226 [#273]:

Name: I Am the Walrus
Origin: The Beatles
Link:

Nominator: Underleveled/darkx (6/7)

(3 [later reduced to a 1], 1, 5.2)

[1: As a rabid Sonic fan [Is there any other kind?], I only acknowledge the existence of the one true Eggman and he is neither John nor Paul.

2: As someone who only listened to oldies & classic rock stations, Ive probably heard The Beatles greatest hits hundred of times. While it is possible for songs Im very familiar with to do well (see the Mentos jingle making it into the top...4, was it, last topic?), Ive never really cared for this song in particular. I usually like nonsense lyrics, but this is just...bleh. Its all look at me! Imma do all the drugs and mess with anyone who tries to understand my work! Flibba flobba woo! and my reaction is please shut up and go away, thank you.

It feels so fake, like someone pretending to be crazy for the lulz. The more I think about the song, the less I like anything about it. My score started at a 3 and has dropped to a 1...this keeps going, it may hit 0.

3: Unrelated but my favorite Beatles song is probably The Long and Winding Road or In My Life. Theyre both simple and probably dont seem like my thing, but theres a certain...honesty and purity to the songs, that they are the exact opposite of this nomination. Now those are two songs I know really well that would have gone somewhere.]

There was a time I almost dropped this song into last place, but for whatever reason, I find myself enjoying it tonight. How fortunate that only the last impression matters!

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#225 [#245]:

Name: Time Machine
Origin: [Hawaii: Part II]
(Translation: Musical Miracle)
Link:

Nominator: cakophon (8/15)

(3.5, 3, 5.2)

[This feels like Friends Forever from the first ranking topic, in that it seems like something I should enjoy but dont. Its like listening to a robot state things I like in a dull monotone, devoid of emotion or understanding of why I like them. Also, the song needed to stop at the fake ending; the song slowing down as the singer admits theyre alone and it sounds like the machine is breaking, leaving them trapped in nothingness for eternity? Thats your ending. Speeding the song back up...ehh...not a fan.]

Sci-fi? Check.

Synthesized voices? Check.

Tells a complete and fictional story? Check.

Catchy enough that I actually remember how the song sounded? Check.

Sounds distinct from the other nominations? Check.

Enjoy enough to give a high placement to? ...No check.

Good try though! It was a good nomination, on paper.

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#228 [#263]:

Name: break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored
Origin: Ariana Grande
Link:

Nominator: Dragon (10/10)

(2, 2, 5.2)

[Good beat, but Im not fond of her voice or the lyrics.]

The good news is that I'm starting to come around on her voice. The bad news is that I still don't like the lyrics or general concept of the song, so this is as far as I'm willing to take it.

...also I didn't dock any points for it, but that title being in all lowercase annoys me. </.<

[Final Thoughts: I really should get into the habit of being more specific with something like 'I don't like the way her voice sounds on this particular track'. Makes it easier to justify liking them on a different song and more directly shifts the complaints to the song instead of the artist.]

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#227 [#244]:

Name: Truth Hurts
Origin: Lizzo
Link:

Nominator: Hannyabal (14/15)

(2, 3, 5.2)

[[this space intentionally left blank]]

First, everything I hear about her makes me love her as a person. She just comes off as so supporting, and wonderful, and I truly wish the best for her.

But I'm just not into the song itself. Don't need a breakup song if you're never going to be in a relationship (or at least, not the sort of relationship this song is talking about), ya know? And the line about hooking up with someone from the Minnesota Vikings is way, way too specific. I try to relate to the song, but it's just so far removed from every aspect of my existence that I can't.

"Pretend you're someone that has been in a relationship; now pretend you're normal enough to voluntarily refer to yourself as human. Now pretend that the breakup is entirely their fault. Now also pretend you're really into football players and haircare."

Around that point I just get a massive headache and need to go lie down for a bit.

She's great, song's fine, more power to those who find inspiration in it, etc, etc.

[Final Thoughts: ...One of Google's first suggestions for "Truth Hurts" is a Kidz Bop version.

...I was much happier before imagining that.]

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Murphiroth posted...

I didn't even know Senbonzakura was a vocaloid track. I'm just a sucker for traditional instruments mixed with hard rock/metal.

Ah. Well I doubt Miku's version is of interest if you're not already a fan, but here it is anyway:



I can definitely see why people would prefer the Wagakki Band version, but I find Miku's more appealing--besides the obvious advantage of a computerized voice, it's a fun video that helps take a bit of the edge off of the serious nature of the song. Even if I don't want to get into the lyrics, I can enjoy the costumes and little background details like Luka falling over in the middle of a scene, which is cute and I don't care how generic or overused that sort of trope is. It's not super amazing or anything, but certainly more my type of thing. Not that there's anything wrong with the nominated version, mind you.
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#230 [#271 {TIE}]:

Name: Lets Talk about Menkata Cottelee
Origin: Maximum the Hormone

(the actual song starts around 1:20 after the intro)

Nominator: Murphiroth (11/15)

(3, 1, 5.1)

[*initial thoughts have been redacted*]

It's an important song, but too serious for me right now. I just don't have it in me to get into toxic fanbases and how they can demand celebrities literally kill themselves for their amusement. It's an important topic, sure, but not one that I'm willing or qualified to discuss.

And you kinda can't discuss the song without getting into the reasons it needed to be created or how much it sucks that he had to write an entire song in hopes of getting people to understand, which leaves this write-up with nowhere to go.

Initial thoughts were basically the same as this, just...more rambling. Decided it was in better taste to delete the gibberish and reword things.

[Final Thoughts: His voice reminds me of Nekrogoblikon's singer. Like if he suddenly wanted to do serious songs (in Japanese for whatever reason), this is exactly how it would sound.

...make of that what you will.]

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#229 [#267]:

Name: Ants, Ants, Ant-Man!
Origin: Ant-Man
Link:

Nominator: paulg (12/15)

(2, 2, ...I guess a 5.1 based on its current position on the list but it feels really weird to admit that.)

[Its fairly funny, but way too short and there isnt much here musically.]

Well, a quick laugh is still worth at least five points, I suppose.

[Final Thoughts: Yeah. It's funny and novel enough that I really couldn't bring myself to eliminate it too early, but I think this is about as far as I can justify bringing it. Fun nomination though.]

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#232 [#204]:

Name: Highway Jones
Origin: Cry of Love
Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4No7vBUnNaJ76hOCMiWr5l?si=jSUMlXdZQCiu-bcwMm1qRQ

Nominator: Bane (15/15)

(4, 5, 5.1)

[Feels too much like an average classic rock song. If this song appeared on the radio, I wouldnt be surprised... nothing wrong with it, but it never does enough to distinguish itself as more than song I wouldnt object to if the radio played it, but wouldnt actively seek out on my own.

...Which should be worth more than a 4 honestly, but Im standing by that as the initial score.]

Doesn't help that the song runs out of new material around the halfway point and that I'm not big into cars (or motorcycles, or vehicles in general). It's fine, just nothing I really connect with.

[Final Thoughts: At least, I hope this song isn't a metaphor for anything else.

I'm a little surprised this song came out in 93 (or 92, as at least one result claimed). I associate this sort of sound with the 70s, though that could just be me.]

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#231 [#177]:

Name: The Decisive Collision
Source: Sen no Kiseki Super Arrange
Link:

Nominator: NFUN (7/15)

(5.6, 5.6, 5.1)

[Its fine.]

A fair improvement over the original. The prominent violin makes the song more emotional, so that helps a bit.

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(Opus should be 5.1, like everything else here.)

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#234 [#189]:

Name: Let's All Go (To the Fire Dances)
Origin: Killing Joke
Link:

Nominator: Snake (13/15)

(5.5, 5, 5.1)

[I was too distracted by the Joker cosplay to remember the song.]

It's a very eighties song. I see people calling it post punk or industrial or whatever, but it feels like it wouldn't be out of place in any 80's pop station or playlist.

Not bad. I spent a lot of time listening to 80's stations when I was going through an 80's phase and while I don't think I ever heard this particular song, it would have fit in perfectly. I'm not really in that music phase anymore, but it's still a nice song.

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#233 [#156]

Name: Fortune Days
Origin: The Glitch Mob
Link:

Nominator: DireKrow (11/15)

(7, 6, 5.1)

[I like this, though I think its a bit too long. Like I could cut the length in half and not miss anything.]

This feels like it could be from a game like the one SHENZEN I/O felt like; while I saw that as a minigame theme, this could work as the End Credits Theme. It's nice enough but from a band called "The Glitch Mob", I'd like to hear some glitching. This feels too mainstream for someone for such a cool name...

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#236 [#266]:

Name: Opus Number One
Origin: Tim Carleton & Darrick Deel
Link:

Nominator: CPU (10/10)

(3, 2, 5.2)

[It tries to be relaxing, but somehow, it doesnt relax me. I actually get rather tense waiting for it to end so I can move on to another song.]

It took me a while to identify the feeling, but it feels like a threat. It's like the song is saying "you need to relax or else we'll have to...correct your behavior". It's actually rather stressful, at times...

...on the one hand, I was hoping for something like that. On the other, it's not quite overwhelming enough, you know? Too stressful to be relaxing, not quite painful enough to get on a hypothetical oppressive playlist. I think I'm looking for something like Triangle from Thumper?



That song has a powerful, oppressive sound to it. It's lost a bit of its effect for me since I've listened to it so many times now, but I really enjoyed the experience the first several times I heard it. This nomination comes close to that same feeling, but just not close enough.

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#235 [#165]:

Name: Sophisticated Fight
Origin: Sora no Kiseki Super Arrange
Link:

Nominator: NFUN (8/15)

(6, 6, 5.1)

[A bit better than the original.]

This has a distinct sound and I kinda dig the novelty of it musically focusing on a sax and a xylophone (at least I hope thats's the instrument, it's not something I've heard often), but in the end, it's just another cover of a song I've heard hundreds of times.

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Okay; short version is that moving those first two songs up (which incidentally still haven't fallen) opened the floodgates to move other songs up... right now I've got four songs that I find so undervalued that I'm not eliminating any of them yet. After some moving and renumbering, I at least know what's set for elimination for the rest of the day.



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#237 [#261]:

Name: The Different
Origin: Whitefists
Link:

Nominator: DireKrow (12/15)

(6.5, 2, 5.1)

[Too much going on. Part Nier Automata, part classical, part amazingtheres a brief stretch of static at 2:11 that is A+++ material, but only lasts about 12 secondsand it just never comes together for me.]

it's good, but my opinion of it is quite...variable. Sometimes I highly enjoy it because it does some things I love, sometimes I resent it for not doing those things often enough. Today, I'm more on the "like" side.

[Final Thoughts: Still on the like side of the equation, though not as strongly so as the first impression. I was expecting a more dramatic bounce from its beta placement to now (going from 2 to 5 should have been worth some placements), but it really didn't move all that far, surprisingly enough.]

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Honestly, I was kinda waiting for someone to make that observation (though it had no impact on the song's placement). I'll get into it more when the song drops, naturally.



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#238 [#120]:

Name: Song for No One
Origin: Miike Snow


Nominator: mcflubbin (8/10)

(7, 6.5, 5.1)

[Kupo.]

I feel comfortable leaving my comments on this song at "kupo".

[Final Thoughts: That jackalope ice cube is rather distracting, isn't it? Everytime I look at it, I almost want to try imagining myself as one--err...jackalope that is, not an ice cube (though I've never tried picturing myself as an object-kin either)--I don't think that's a form I'd ever be happy with though. It seems rather painful, doesn't it? Antlers, I mean. I'm happier not having bone* sticking out of my head, thank you. Especially antlers that are so...large and pointy. I just picture banging them against doorways and things all the time. Blech.

...Aaanywho, there's nothing wrong with the song, though I have no idea why I had it so high up the list at first. Not like "kupo" offers enough insight to guess what I was thinking that day. It's just another in the long list of songs that are perfectly fine things that I have no strong reactions to.

*Before you try bringing up teeth or something weird, you know full well what I meant. You don't have to be careful not to bang your teeth against the sides of doors or other people because they're so large, awkardly shaped, and sticking out to the sides. I hope. I mean, I don't know what state your teeth are in.]

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Need to look over the next part of the list, it's a bit of a trainwreck at the moment...
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#240 [#116]:

Name: Contact
Origin: Holon (Front Line Assembly's Equinox)


Nominator: Placeee (11/15)

(7.4, 6.5, 5.1)

[The opening felt very familiar, like I knew everything the song was going to do before it happened. I almost wrote it off as too predictable, until the laughter kicked in and broke my expectations. Its not my favorite (I dont like sirens and theres too many siren/siren-like sections), but its unique enough that it cant score less than a 7.]

Apparently it can and did score less than a 7, so there.

I'm probably being too hard on the song. It takes too long to get going (everything's a bit of a slog until the laughter), but once it does, it...puts me to sleep, honestly. Not in a bad way! It's very calming in spite of the sirens and screaming, but there are songs on the list that I find both more calming and more chaotic (often simultaneously as chaos is calming), and they don't take a long time to get good.

So I'll probably regret dropping this so far down, I'm going to stand by it for now; good song, just not as good as it could have been.

[Final Thoughts: The more familiar I am with the song, the less chaotic it feels as a result. That has an unfortunate effect on its placement.]

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#239 [#84]:

Name: exuviae
Origin: Darius [exuviae]
Link: https://lapfoxtrax.com/track/exuviae-2

Nominator: cakophon (10/15)

(7, 7, 5.1)

[Nice. Im not really into the slower, more laid-back outro, but the song is always nice.]

It does have a fairly unique sound, but it's a song that I have trouble remembering. it never really lodges itself into my mind, it just sorta plays in the background for a few minutes and then fades away. Not sure why; good song, seems like my sort of genre of music, but I feel like I way overvalued it purely because it was different the first few times I heard it.

[Final Notes: Much like the previous song, it makes a strong first impression but doesn't go nearly hard enough on the uniqueness to hold up on repeat listens.]

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FL81 posted...

Avoided the bottom 50, and my first song to drop is simultaneously terrible, great, and mediocre!

It is impressive, in a very confusing way.

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#242 [#142]:

Name: Senbonzakura
Origin: Wagakki Band


Nominator: Murphiroth (12/15)

(6, 6, 5)

[The blend of classical Japanese music and hard rock works well and the lyrics are interesting.]

It's a bold pick; considering my love for the artificial, I wouldn't expect someone to submit a more classical & human take on a Vocaloid song. I'm also not entirely sure how I feel--I prefer the Miku version because of course I do, but there are a seemingly infinite number of Hatsune Miku songs and relatively few in this "classsic Japanese & rock mashup" genre. (I presume, I haven't actually looked for others)

Also, while the lyrics are interesting, they're pretty far over my head (that is also a recurring theme this topic as I don't know how many times I've said as much, nor do I know how many more times I will before we reach the end). I know enough to get that it's a commentary on post World War 2 Japan and the Westernization of the country, but...I'm really not able to get into that. It's a popular enough song that you can find plenty of other people discussing it, if you'd care to.

Going back to the song itself, I'm forced to admit that as unique as this version is, I'd much rather listen to the original and drop this further down the list as a consequence.

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#241 [#157]:

Name: Space Theme
Origin: Sheep Raider/Sheep, Dog, n' Wolf
Link:

Nominator: Flamander/Glacier (8/15)

(6.5, 6, 5)

[So space, much song.]

I feel like this song works better for Sonic Adventure 2's "Crazy Gadget" level than the actual level theme did. Seriously, try it out:

https://tubedubber.com/?q=yXMRkPfHV9k:wwidcxa3fmY:0:100:0:0:1

This song is perfect for Sonic trying to navigate a gravity maze in space. I'm less convinced it works for capturing Martian soldier...bird...things. Also not sure this level ever made sense. A game about capturing sheep and you suddenly have to go to Mars for the finale? Well, it's hardly the only Looney Tunes product to end in space for little-to-no apparent reason.

Song is fine. I've heard better VGM, but I've also heard a lot worse, so it winds up around here.

[Final Thoughts: Sorry for the lack of words about the song itself. It just feels so perfectly suited for "space vgm" that there's not much to think about.]

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MycroProcessor posted...

I described bunbleman NOT as "EDM" but as "IDM" which stands for "intelligent dance music"

Ah. Sorry about that, it's been a while. That would explain why they were so different though...
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#244 [#55]

Name: Flutter the Dovecotes!
Origin: Adventures in Inferno (Touhou-style fan album)
Link:
(extended link warning)

Nominator: FL81 (8/8)

(2.5, 8, 5)

[Starting to think I just dont like Touhou/Touhou-inspired music. Outside of those lyrical versions by whoever did that "Adequate" song from last topic anyway.]

Do you get the feeling the numbers would make more sense if they were completely random? Like if I just rolled 3d10 and had to come up with a write-up to justify the scores?

...Actually that seems like a fun experiment. Try to get into the headspace of someone who loves or hates each song to give an appropriate writeup regardless of your actual thoughts on the song. Of course, this gimmick would fall apart as soon as I hit a song like this--in which I can't tell you why I hated it or why I suddenly loved it. With no specific notes left behind to explain why the first two scores were so extreme, and me having no reaction at all this third time, I'm just going to give this an average score and move along.

[FINAL NOTES: Wow, this song fell almost 200 places. I still have no explanation for this.]

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#243 [#140]:

Name: VANDALIZED AI
Origin: Kobaryo
Link:

Nominator: banshiryuu (4/10)

(4, 6, 5)

[I rather liked the piano intro before the song actually started.]

I don't think I'll ever get speedcore as a genre, to be quite honest.

[Final Thoughts: I don't really get the song, but it's different enough that I don't mind it usually? I just prefer the intro so, so much that it makes the rest of the song a bit awkard to listen to--that opening always gets my excited for a 10/10 song, then it goes in a completely different direction and has a psychotic breakdown. Which isn't exactly bad, but isn't the direction I wanted it to go.

This song was moved up a few placements. Not many, around three or four-ish? I probably should have made a note somewhere before rearranging things.]

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#246 [#166]:

Name: Black Cat
Origin: Coyote Kisses
Link:

Nominator: DireKrow (13/15)

(6, 6, 6 [later reduced to a 5])

[Not bad.]

It's better than bad, it's good! *considers bursting into the Log song, but decides against it*

Video is also good. Neither the song nor video brings to mind much of anything.

[LATER EDIT: Yeah, I think I only wanted to give this a 6 so I'd have an excuse to make Log references.]

[Final Thoughts: Video is good--yay cats!--but it's obviously not the best video (I'm not even sure it's in the top 10, as that's an irrelevant subject I've never devoted any time considering before now) and it's not so great that it disproportionally impacts my enjoyment of the song. Neat, kinda impressive, and has a cat but not great enough to get any extra points or persuade me to click the link just to watch it again.

The song is fine. I'm not too great at recognizing (or even knowing) musical genres, so I don't even really parse this song as belonging to any given genre. Considering you referred to it as EDM, I'm obviously not going to argue about it... though I do believe Mycro referred to Bunbleman's work as EDM and I can't find any common ground between this song & focus tous other than "has notes in it".]

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#245 [#114]

Name: Magnetic Jellyfish Dance Party
Origin: BLUESHIFT [PROTODOME]
Link: https://protodome.bandcamp.com/track/magnetic-jellyfish-dance-party

Nominator: Flamander/Glacier (9/15)

(5.5, 6.5, 5)

[An A+ name attached to a decent song. Its good, but Im not raving about it.]

Somehow, the song reminds me of the bonus levels from the first Sonic the Hedgehog game. I know the music tracks aren't similar in the least, but this track just feels like you're falling though a brightly colored world that's spinning all around you.

...Honestly that should be worth more points, but these images are making me dizzy and I'm finding the song rather difficult to listen to tonight as a result.

[Final Thoughts: I'm not sure 5 is really enough points for "the feeling of falling and tumbling through a void of shifting colors, in musical form", but then I don't really feel like moving it up either?]

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Shuffling things around a bit as I hit another song that's definitely ranked too low and I'm not entirely sure how far up I'm moving it... definitely past these two songs and we'll see after that.

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#248 [#198]:

Name: Prototyping
Origin: SHENZHEN I/O (Matthew S. Burns)
Link:

Nominator: cakophon (12/15)

(5.5, 5, 5)

[I want to like it, but it never goes beyond relaxing background noise.]

It's nice, but doesn't bring anything specific to mind. It kinda feels like a background track for a puzzle minigame from some cyberpunk-ish game, but I think my interpretation may be skewed by the video image. It's very...computer-y.

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#247 [#117]:

Name: Everlasting Love (atom remix)
Origin: Katamari Forever (Akitaka Toyama arr. atom)
Link:

Nominator: cakophon [11/15]

(7, 6.5, 5)

[Does a lot of things I like, but its one of those songs that feels more like a checklist of things I enjoy than an actual song. I know it makes no sense to criticize a song for being too much of what I like, but thats how I feel.]

It's got some beeping, some very light audio skipping on the vocals in parts, something that sounds kinda like static once in a blue moon, but it never has enough of those things. And without those, what you're left with is a fairly generic love song. It's fine, and usually I'm better able to appreciate the song for occasionally doing things I like, but today I'm just kinda disappointed by it.

[Final Thoughts: Another song with a significant drop. Unfortunately, I can't bring myself to move it back up the list--it feels like it should be my sort of song, but I just haven't been clicking with it lately.]

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#250 [#230]:

Name: Bomberman Hero - Milky [FM7/SPSG Remix]
Origin: MasterJace {Original: Jun Chikuma}
Link:

Nominator: Flamander/Glacier (10/15)

(5.5, 4, 4.5)

[Slightly above average? Bit too long though.]

Actually slightly below average. Still too long though.

Again, I prefer the original version of the song:



There's something charming about "space elevator music" that this remix misses out on. I'm not saying I love the original (I'm not even saying it'd definitely get a better placement), but it's still an improvement.

Not that the remix is bad, but...yeah.

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#249 [#213]:

Name: Girl on Data
Origin: Seiryuu x E.G.G.
Link:

Nominator: banshiryuu (5/10)

(4.3, 4, 4.6)

[I thought it was decent, but can't recall a single note right now.]

The repeated thumping isn't as bad on this track. Something about the other instruments makes it easier to ignore--usually. Once I notice it, it becomes the only thing I can hear and quickly becomes painful. But as long as I can space out enough to not notice it, the song is fine.

Unfortunately, it doesn't make me think of or imagine anything.

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



And with that, we've officially entered the 5s! A special congratulations to those who still have a full 15 nominations to this point, managing to avoid getting a single below average ranking: IIRC, that's Bane, Mycro, and NBIceman.

Smaller congratulations to those who nominated less than the full 15, but still haven't lost a song: Dragon, FL81, CPU, and Shonen. Again, IIRC.
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Sassy for Satan: Ehh... most things that could be said about this song would also be said about "Satan's a Woman", so let's wait until that song's write-up to say anything here.

Waist Deep in Blood: Dunno, let's say I'm leaning towards a 7-ish ranking at the moment. It's the type of song that I'd put off doing a write-up of for as long as possible.



Perennial: Not bad, though even a few days later my reaction is still "I'd rather go back and listen to Pisces"--which means I'd have to rethink that I was only offering that song an 8, since anything still on my mind days later might deserve a bit more than that--and that reaction is probably having a negative impact on this song's score. First-ish Impression: ...Somewhere between 6 and 6.5, probably?
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Quick thoughts on recently posted songs, in reverse posted order because I started at the last post and worked backwards.



Deriheru Yondara Kimi ga Kita (alternate cover): I think I preferred this version. It seems counterintuitive, but I actually like that he seems to be doing a duet with a live person--it makes it stand out compared to your other nominations. I'm still not crazy about the lyrics (seeing as they're, ya know, the same lyrics I already said I wasn't much a fan of), but I like the performance and video more... first impression: somewhere between 6 and 7, probably?



Shake It: I have no idea. I love vocal modifications like the way this song opens, but I also don't like lyrics that are too explicit and the end result is the song making me very confused. First Reaction: A non-numerical score, probably "Mrrow?".



Cycle of the Wolf: Obvious pandering is obvious. </.<

More seriously, ranking depends on which mood you catch me in. There are days (like right now) where all the talk about burning erections kills any hope of the song getting more than a 5; there are days where the fact that this song goes all in on the wolf transformation--I actually can't name another song that references walking on all fours--lets the song fill a very specific niche that I'd probably give it a 9 or higher by default.

First Impression: Not the type of song that will ever have a consistent ranking. Leaning towards either "5 for now, with the clarification that it could be a lot higher on other days" or "Roll 1d4 and add 4 to the result to determine the song's score that day" to better illustrate the somewhat arbitrary fluctuations the song would go through.

*continued*
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Feels a bit too early to post the last two songs of the night, but it's been a while since the last posting and I don't see any real advantage to delaying things any longer...

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#252 [#134]

Song: V3 Scrum
Origin: Danganronpa V3
Link:

Nominator: handsomeboy (12/15)

(6.5, 6.5, 4)

[I like the series, but I dont usually like the music from what I can recall. This is tense and dramatic enough that I do like it, but its not something Id choose to listen to often... above-average pick, but not likely to be top tier.]

It's not quite tense enough to hold up to repeat listens, though it's still decent.

I played the three main games (1, 2, V3) though never bothered with the spin-offs or anime. Can't say I have much to say about the games though; didn't really care about the first, the second was saved primarily by having the best character in the series, and V3 did a lot of things I loved though I'll avoid going into any details for the benefit of those who haven't played it.

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#251 [#179]:

Amazing Slow Piano String Beat (DJ Kamran Remix)


Nominator: Se7en (1/1)

(7, 5.5, 4)

[It's nice, but feels like an intro. Like, I'm left waiting for the big follow-up to come, but it's a standalone song with nothing else coming.]

It is interesting how the original seems to have vanished from the net, while several remixes are still available. The others I can find are more subdued, with this being like a dance remix? It's different, but I think I'd prefer...less...dance.

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Player One DEFEATED

In Memorium

Highest Ranked Song: Amazing Slow Piano String Beat Remix (251st Place)
Lowest Ranked Song: Amazing Slow Piano String Beat Remix (251st Place)

Well it probably shouldn't be a surprise that the only entrant with one song is the first elimination, but the inevitability of it doesn't make it any easier. Sorry.

[Final Thoughts: In retrospect, I kind of wish I'd went for a Chrono Trigger reference on the elimination instead of a Smash Bros. one. Keep the theme of the "near elimination" message going, ya know? Ah well, don't really feel like trying to force a Lavos or Magus reference in at the last second.

This is unfortunate timing for the elimination... not a lot I can do about it though...]

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#254 [#257]:

Name: This Is a Call
Origin: Foo Fighters
Link:

Nominator: Snake (14/15)

(3.5, 2.5, 4)

[I usually like nonsense, but I can't connect to these verses in any way.]

This is a tehnically impressive song. For him to be doing the singing, all of the instruments, editing everything together, and to be able to do it all in an incredibly short amount of time? It's amazing. Especially given the hell he was likely going through after Cobain's suicide.

...But "fingernails are pretty, fingernails are good" is...not my favorite lyric in this contest, shall we say? And the rest of the verses aren't much better. I wouldn't mind hearing more from the band (or even from this specific album), but as impressed as I am, I can't bring myself to rate it any higher.

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#253 [#278]:

Name: Go Berzerk
Origin: Lord of Hardcore
Link:

Nominator: banshiryuu (6/10)

(1, 1, 5.1 [later reduced to a 4])

[I hate repeated vocals and monotone thumping, so if your goal was to aim for last place, you found a very good song for that. It also manages to feel incredibly long, as it goes nowhere and does nothing for four and a half minutes.]

I should hate this, but after having it stuck in my head for several days, I've built up a sort of tolerance for it. It will never be one of my favorites, but it has grown on me to a point that I'd say my views of the song are now generally positive. Perhaps if there's a third ranking topic, this will wind up being listed as one of the songs I regret having placed so low--but for now, it should be thankful it escaped the last place it seemed destined for.

[Final Thoughts: Of course, it's arguably better to come in dead last than in 251st...]

[Later: ...Well, 253rd now.

This song's score bounced between 4 & 5 for quite a while.]

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Snake5555555555 posted...

I can recommend you some that don't deal with rape.

Thanks, I'll check them out later tonight. Reminds me I need to go back to Perennial later too.
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Yeah, they do have a good sound. I thought about trying something else by Cancerslug, but the first result when Googling the band claims their songs often deal with rape... I figure the band's probably too edgy for me. Can't say I'd be opposed to trying one or two more songs, but I'm a bit wary of picking songs at random after that warning.



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#256 [#105]:

Name: Cave
Origin: Remix by ChillSwitch (StarTropics)
Link:

Nominator: paulg (13/15)

(7, 7, 4)

[Soothing synthesizers score seven.]

It is somewhat relaxing and probably an improvement over the original? I actually can't decide between the versions tonight; StarTropics never had the best soundtrack, but there is something charmingly retro about the NES soundfonts that is missing here.

I feel like the artist may have been better off trying to cover a more complicated song. This feels kinda basic and never seems to go anywhere, which I guess helps with the tropical beach theme, but it could be more...dramatic, varied, intense, or something?

...Well I really liked it the first two times, so the problem is probably just on my end tonight.

[Final Thoughts: -149?! That's...uhh...I'm sorry?]

[Later: ...Well, -151 after those two mystery songs got moved up... I think this probably has the record for largest drop, unfortunately.]

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#255 [#108]:

Pineapple Paladin + Peril + Plasma - Copy Kitty -

Nominator: GameBopAdv (6/9)

(6.6, 6.6, 4)

[Not one of my favorites, I probably would have supported the soundtrack if it was, but its still good. Incidentally, I like this track considerably more than the Watermelon one you put in the first slot at BOST.]

It does things I enjoy. The opening few notes feel ominous, like staring at a castle in the moonlight (though that ambiance only lasts about ten seconds)

I'm not as fond of the next part. It's not bad and probably works better in game? It feels like speedrunnning a Mega Man X/Mega Man Zero game. Like I can picture Zero running through and chopping robots in half to it, but I'm still not really into the song even with the imagery it conjures.

Starting around 2:10, things become interesting again. Something about that sound feels like a boss appearing, particularly something massive emerging from a pool of lava or something. The more intense section of the music that follows also says "boss fight".

The outro is great. I'm not sure it fits the song (it feels meta; like the main character slashed the source of the music, causing it to explode and rain down around him) but it's a neat effect.

But somehow, I'm not into it tonight. The main part of the song feels rather dull, in spite of the Zero association and the two parts I like the most (intro & outro) are both only about ten seconds each -and- don't feel related to the song, nor to each other. Usually I give it higher marks because there are parts I really like, but today, I just don't consider them enough to let the song escape this portion of the list.

[Final Thoughts: Well, this one isn't far behind Cave in terms of severe drops. -147?]

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#258 [#249]:

Name: Hooligan Spirit
Origin: Hybrid
Link:

Nominator: DireKrow (14/15)

(4, 3, 4)

[This song makes me feel very tired. Like I'm falling asleep as I wait for a dial-up modem that keeps failing to connect to the internet. Or possibly like falling asleep at a loading screen for some multiplayer game that I never wanted to play in the first place. It has some value as a sleep-inducing track, but that's about it.]

Yeah, this is like the loading screen to some second-rate Doom knockoff that I somehow got roped into playing in spite of really not wanting to. Lots of SKULLS and FIRE and a progress bar that never seems to move.

...That may be the most boring fantasy I've ever had.

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#257 [#250]:

Name: I Hate Your Kids
Origin: Cancerslug
Link:

Nominator: Snake (15/15)

(6, 3, 4)

[Funny, but I dont usually hate kids. Im more neutral.]

It's amusing and I actually enjoy the sound & general vibe of the song, but... I'm kinda not in the mood to rage at children?

[Final Thoughts: That's about it. Good beat, good sense of anger, bad target for the anger. I could justify moving this up a bit more for being fairly catchy and the general lack of "angry" songs this topic leaving me with few other options... but I'm still not really feeling it, with all due apologies.]

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Glad to hear you're not bothered by it, I was a little worried.

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#260 [#181]:

Name: The Decisive Collision
Source: Sen no Kiseki
Link:

Nominator: NFUN (9/15)

(5.5, 5.5, 4)

[I should like this more than I dotheres nothing wrong with it and it fits perfectly with the battle it plays in, but... ehhh...

[Later Edit: I think its because the song leaves nowhere for my mind to wonder. I played the game, so its not new. It fits perfectly, so I cant play a hypothetical what other scenario might this song be better suited for? game. Its recent enough that I dont have nostalgia for itsince nothings going to be resolved until part 4 (and you have to play multiple other entire series too), I cant possibly be nostalgic for something thats STILL ONGOING. Its a fine song, but theres nothing new or captivating about it and Im left wanting something else.]]

The pulsating beat bothers me more tonight than it usually does, but I don't think that had much to do with the song's placement dropping. Just really bored of this specific song.

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#259 [#240]:

Name: Deriheru Yondara Kimi ga Kita (cover)
Origin: Asamiya Yuri
Link:

Nominator: UF8 (15/15)

(5, 3.5, 4)

[Ehhh... this isn't my favorite singer and I'm not a fan of the humor, but it's certainly not bad. Song has decent odds of landing in the exact middle of the list.]

Or it could be off by over a hundred spaces...</.<

Song itself is fine and I wouldn't mind hearing other songs from her, but in the end, it's a joke that didn't make me laugh.

[Final Thoughts: I can't decide if I have this ranked too highly or not. On the one hand, while I don't care for this nomination, I wouldn't be surprised to find another video on this channel that I liked a lot--the voice and character design aren't bad (though they're not my favorite virtual YouTuber by any means) & the video seems to have fairly high production values, with a fully rendered singer and all the manga panels.

...On the other, I really don't care for the lyrics or the content in much of the video, and the singing does get a bit high-pitched & shout-y towards the end. If I had to do this again, I'd probably move it down a bit--think I let my general interest and curiosity in the character give this song a bit more of a bump than I should have.]

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End of Day:

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#262 [#260]:

Name: Tornado
Origin: Camellia
Link:

Nominator: banshiryuu (7/10)

(1.5, 2, 4)

[That was a thing.]

Not sure why, but I find myself being drawn into this song tonight. The calm sections are rather nice and even the most intense sections are usually decent. There's a section starting at 1:50 that I find too high-pitched and annoying, and I dislike how the song just stops abruptly instead of having an actual end. Without those flaws, this might go up to a 7 or something?

[Final Thoughts: Kinda funny that this song ultimately wound up in the same spot that it started. I briefly moved it up the list, then back down the list, then up some more, and after all that bouncing around it...went nowhere. So much time spent on this song (I probably listened to it close to ten times to decide on a placement) and I actually had it right after the second listen... oh well.

Also, this marks the last song to have not been moved from its space on the beta list.]

[LATER THOUGHTS: Well it was the last song to have the same ranking...

*Note: I thought only two songs had the same ranking on both lists, but I'd forgotten about MSMSMSM.]

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#261 [#211] :

Name: Fateful Confrontation
Origin: Sora no Kiseki SC
Link:

Nominator: NFUN (10/15)

(6.5, 4.5, 4)

[I must admit, the comments kinda make me want to play SC now.]

I have nothing else to add here.

[Later Edit: I'm awfully tempted to start an SC playthrough after this topic ends... all this talk about that boss fight certainly has my attention.]

[Final Thoughts: ...Yeah, I'm kinda
slowly cheesing my way through an easy mode playthrough entirely to see the final boss' story. I'd feel bad about taking the easy way out, but since I'm doing this out of interest in seeing one specific character and not really the game itself, I honestly don't care.

...I also should care that I never said anything about the song itself in any of these write-ups, but it's late.]

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Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - Kill Command : 3.5

Skullmonkeys - Elevated Structure of Terror: 4

Mahoutsukai no Yoru | Five: 4

Xenoblade X - New LA Day: 2

After Burner III - After Burner: 7

Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass - An Open Window: 8
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#263 [#261]:

Name: MSMSMSM
Origin: SOPHIE [PRODUCT]
Link:

Nominator: cakophon (13/15)

(6, 2, 4)

[Its fine, but I kept waiting for an increase in intensity or chaos that never came.]

Kupo... it feels like the song is too afraid to go all out. Like it could transition into some high level of chaos that normal people would never comprehend, but it restraints itself and never realizes its potential as a result.

[Final Thoughts: Look, it's the second song to have the same ranking. That's kinda weird, considering how varied the points awarded to the song are.]

Well, it was the second song to have ended in the same place...

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#265 [#148]:

Name: Hyperdrive
Origin: Massive New Krew
Link:

Nominator: banshiryuu (8/10)

(5.3, 6, 4)

[Its nice, but doesnt go anywhere. Itd make a good start or loading screen song, but it feels like its trying to hype me up for something that never comes.]

There are a few points where it sounds like the song is going to ramp up and kick things into Hyperdrive (pun intended), but it just...doesn't. It also seems to have trouble sticking in my memory; when I went back to listen to it for the third time, my first thought was that I had never heard the song at all--if it weren't for the preliminary scores and the fact that it was on my lists, I'd be honestly afraid that this was some other song that I had missed earlier.

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#264 [#258]:

Name: Legs
Origin: In Visible Silence (The Art of Noise)


Nominator: Placeee (12/15)

(4.2, 2, 4)

[For a band with "noise" in the name, I was really hoping for some static or pure chaos. May improve on a second listen now that I'm not hoping for something it isn't.]

It's kind of interesting, but I just want more...everything from it.

Wait, wait, I remember this band name now! They did that one song with Max Headroom in it!



And there's an extended version of Paranomia?!



Ahh...well, it's good to know a band with such a great name does have at least one song I like a lot.

[FINAL NOTES: Your name doesn't stand out enough... I need to keep Ctrl+F'ing User Names to see how many of their songs have been eliminated and I use the word "Place" too often in write-ups to do that with you. I'm just going to call you Placeee with three e's for the rest of this topic. [Alternative Names that were considered: "Place-kun" and "Jimmy the Street"]

[Final-er Thoughts:

1: That was slightly joking and I hope you don't take the name thing personally, I just needed a quick way to find what your last eliminated song was and went with the first non-Japanese, non-obscure reference that came to mind.

2: ...I swear this wasn't meant to be a reference to kateee--I just repeated the last letter in your name without thinking and by the point I noticed the similarity, I'd already started this topic... and didn't want to go back through all my files to edit the name with something else... which was a more valid excuse before editing the files to raise those two songs placements...

...well hopefully everyone involved has a good sense of humor about this? -.-']

[Still Later: Right, right, I almost forgot--for Paranomia, I definitely prefer the first version of it. The extended one is occasionally nice for something different, but I definitely prefer the the first one.]

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One more song real quick, which is somewhat notable as being the last song to get less than a 4 on its final* scoring.

*Well...final-ish, as we've established that I'll totally give extra points at the last second on rare occasions...

...I don't know why I'm pointing that out as I didn't when we moved on to the 2s and 3s...

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#266 [#269]:

Name: Tuff
Origin: The Venture Bros. (J.G. Thirwell)


Nominator: Place (13/15)

(3.5, 2, 3.1)

[I don't know why I don't have any particular reaction to this. I don't dislike it and I want to give it a write-up, but...*shrug*]

Venture Bros. is one of those shows that I should have liked, but never did. I haven't seen many episodes, but of the ones I did, I was never able to connect with the characters or the style of humor in general. I didn't dislike it, I just never had any opinion or reaction to it at all.

[I suppose I somewhat like Brock thanks to his appearance in Poker Night at the Inventory 2. He had some great interactions with Ash there.]

Which is how I feel about the song itself. I don't really feel anything. A song I feel nothing about from a show I feel nothing about; I can't say I like or dislike it. And it's so obviously Venture Bros Music that I can't really fantasize or imagine anything else either.

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IhatethisCPU posted...

Which considering what Yuppie Psycho actually is isn't entirely wrong.

That reminds me, I don't really know what that game is.

*Google*

Oh, hey, I do recognize the screenshots. Never read much about the game, but I do remember seeing Polygon's review of it. Seemed somewhat interesting, but I usually avoid horror related things and largely put it out of my mind. Kinda neat to be reminded of the game again, but not enough to make me regret the placement or anything.
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#267 [#286]:

Name: Union
Origin: Yuppie Psycho (Michael Kelly [Garoad])
Link:

Nominator: cakophon (14/15)

(1, 1, 3)

[Another track that faded into the background to a point that, even though it just ended, I have a hard time recalling a single note.]

This feels like background music for a cutscene in a fighting game before the fighting actually begins. I can picture the main characters (Batsu, Kyosuke, and Hinata from Rival Schools in my mind) discovering some SECRET DOCUMENTS in an office and discussing important plot details before getting back to the actual fighting portion of the game.

I also imagine the actual fighting portion having more exciting music than this.

[Final Notes: I still can't figure out why this song reminds me of Rival Schools, as none of the songs on the soundtrack sound anything like this. Even by my standards, it's an odd connection to make.]

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Okay, after moving the two mystery songs in question up and renumbering the list as a result, we can resume.

...and yes, obviously, I'll point out those two songs whenever we get to them.

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#268 [TIE] [#283]:

Name: In A Glass House
Origin: Gentle Giant
Link:

Nominator:Flamander/Glacier (11/15)

(1, 1, ehh...I want to put it here but I don't want to officially give it a a 3)

[I thought I liked Prog Rock, but I found this too subdued to be enjoyable.]

The lyrics are somewhat interesting--I do like the general concept and that the symbolism is very open to personal interpretation--but everything about the song itself is so...quiet and restrained that I can't get into it fully? If it were any softer, it could be a rather meditative song... but it's too much of a classic rock song to work for that. It's stuck between being CLASSIC ROCK and INSIGHTFUL INTROSPECTION and doesn't really excel at being either, getting stuck in a sort of limbo.

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#268 [TIE] [#282]:

Name: Hold Your Head Up
Origin: Christina Grimmie
Link:

Nominator: Underleveled / darkx (7/7)

(1, 1, see the comments on the song this one is tied with)

[...No.]

I'd rather not comment on this one, but since I don't have much choice...

1: I don't feel comfortable judging this type of song. Something released posthumously to raise money for charity? You basically have to be a monster to criticize it. And not the fun, furry, Undertale sort of monster either.

2: I'm really not looking for songs with this kinda message right now. Not that all the nominations need to be bleak and depressing, but...less like this at any rate.

It leaves me disinterested in rating the song, discussing the circumstances of its release, or listening to it at all. Which isn't fair; she was talented and the song is probably good if you want to hear it, but... it's just not for me.

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One song this morning, because I may cheat and shuffle the upcoming songs a bit... listening to #269 & #268, I quite actively don't want to eliminate either of them right this second. But then I need to listen ahead a bit and make absolutely sure I want to make such a last second edit and figure out exactly how far up I want to move them. Then renumbering the list to correct things and it'll be a couple hours before I can get around to all that.

...Unfortunately for the current elimination, it's not one I'm thinking of rearranging things for and it can definitely be dropped right now.



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#270 [#287]:

Name: Crab Rave [Monstercat Release]
Origin: Monstercat
Link:

Nominator: handsomeboy2012 (13/15)

(3, 1, 3)

[Nice, but crabs creep me out a little and I need a song to be more than "nice" to get past that.]

It is a nice song and a nice video, but I wish it was more intense. It feels too laid-back for a rave and it also doesn't feel very...crabby? Without the video, I'd just think island dance music and not specifically about crabs.

Ohh, I see someone already used rave.dj to mash this up with Crabulon's Theme. They actually work pretty well together:





Also there's no good reason for it, but this song always reminds me of the rhythm minigame from Muppets Party Cruise:



[Final Thoughts: Well in that minigame you do get steel drum sounds when you hit with the correct timing; and I think that background music also plays during the Crab Catcher game. So it's not that big of a leap, I suppose.]

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Drowning Valley
Another Medium
Town - Source of the Morning Glow's Smiling Face



I like some things about that Thousand Memories song. Pretty early on (and it repeats in the song later on), there's a wailing sort of sound that stands out & I'd definitely take it over either of the songs in the first match for that little bit alone... unfortunately it's not in that match. Still a nice surprise that was worth drawing attention to, even if I can't quite bring myself to vote for it in the match it's in.
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And we end with two more to get us to 30.

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#272 [#202]:

Name: Primadonna
Origin: MARINA
Link:

Nominator: Hannyabal (15/15)

(2, 5, 2)

[[this space intentionally left blank]]

In this song she just comes across as a second-rate Madonna. Apparently I liked this the second time I heard it, but I honestly don't know why. As soon as we get to that overly thumping chorus, I just tune out and the song never recovers.

...except for that second time apparently, where this was roughly 70 spaces ahead of where it wound up.

[Final Thoughts: Considering how many songs got shuffled around, the fact that this song actually stayed 70 spaces from the original ranking is impressive. I used the qualifier "roughly" because I assumed that as the list shuffled, it'd either wind up plus or minus a few spaces.]

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#271 [#279]:

Name: Sound Patterns
Origin: Walking Still (Orig. Pauline Oliveros; Arr. Vocal Constructivists)


Nominator: Place (14/15)

(2, 1, 2.5)

[Well, if there was a reward for most unique nomination, I'm pretty sure it would go to this. I just can't imagine any time I'd listen to it again.]

I like things that are strange and different, but apparently there is such a thing as too different even for me. It's like I want to give infinity bonus points for not being like anything else I've heard, but I also...don't want to do that because I enjoy so many other songs so much more?

[Final Thoughts: I still kinda want to bump this up a little for being so out there, I just don't know that I could honestly say I enjoyed it more than any of the remaining songs.]

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A bit too quick this time, but let's throw out two songs that had decent placements and wound up falling drastically at the last minute.

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#274 [#175]:

Bitbop - Blade Ballet -

Nominator: GameBopAdv (7/9)

(5.7, 5.7, 2)

[I have a generally positive impression of the song, but it doesn't conjure any specific images or emotions. If I had to guess at what genre this game song came from, I'd go with "2D platformer, early level--possibly a tutorial theme"... but a Google search says I'm way off base.]

I don't know why, but this song isn't working for me at all at this moment. I recall liking it, but not why--even my first impression confesses that it doesn't bring to mind any specific image or feeling (beyond "generic platformer"), which should have gotten a lower score than that. I even took a break for an hour or so before doing this write-up, so I could listen to it one last time while rested in case I was just undervaluing the song because I wanted a break or something... but I just have nothing for this song right now.

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#273 [#158]:

Name: Technopolis
Origin: Solid State Survivor (Yellow Magic Orchestra)


Nominator: Place (15/15)

(7, 6, 2)

[Yay for robot voices!]

I do still love the computerized voice, but the rest of the song feels kinda normal and I'm not in the mood to squeal and throw out high point values just because I heard a robot tonight.

[Final Thoughts: Oof. -115 ranking places? That's the current record, but there are even more drastic falls to come; also some equally drastic increases in score, but obviously it'll be a while before we get to them.]

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#275 [#240]:

Name: Sophisticated Fight
Origin: Sora no Kiseki
Link:

Nominator: NFUN (11/15)

(5, 1, 2)

[I played through the first Trails in the Sky, but don't recall too much about it. This battle theme isn't bad, but I never had any real opinion on it either way. It was just something that played in the background, nothing more.]

...Huh, this song's score perfectly mirrors Mystic Jack. Almost feel obligated to make them tie, but I prefer this song slightly. At the moment anyway.

Don't have anything else to add to this write-up. If I didn't care about it the first hundred times I heard it in game, I'm not going to suddenly like it now. It's fine, but that's all I'll ever consider it.

[Final Thoughts: Long game, with so many battles. So much time spent listening to this song, over and over... it might not have any notable flaws, but I'd be quite happy to never hear it again just from the standpoint of having heard it way too many times already.]

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#276 [#285]:

Name: Mystic Jack
Origin: KinkyOats {Original: Ujico*/Snail's House}
Link:

Nominator: Flamander/Glacier (12/15)

(5, 1, 2)

[Kinda catchy & kinda funny, but not catchy or funny enough to escape mid-tier]

This had a fairly strong first impression due to how unexpected it was. Elmo! Jack Black! Vocal edits! But once I was familiar with the song, the initial novelty wore off quickly. Not bad, but not something I can listen to multiple times a week without getting bored of it.

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#277 [#196]:

Name: Q
Origin: Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
Link:

Nominator: DireKrow (15/15)

(6.5, 5, 2)

[It's atmospheric and I like it, but having played through VLR twice, I am unable to associate it with anything else. Good game, though I have no desire to reminisce about it.]

Sorry, not really in the mood for a quiet atmospheric song at the time this was written. It's fine for what it is, and I usually like it, just...not right now. Also, not that anyone asked for a series ranking:

VLR > ZTD > 999.

999 spoilers: I may be biased because of the rotten luck I had going for it. On my first playthrough, I came really close to the Safe Ending without knowing it existed or that I needed to find it. Just turned wrong on the last door choice for whatever reason. On subsequent playthroughs, I was determined to go down different paths...so I kept getting further and further away from the Safe Ending.

And of course the bad endings are repeated. Go through the game, everyone dies. Go through the game, everyone dies in the exact same way. Again. And again. And again.

Maybe the remakes and their flowchart made things better. Maybe I would have loved the game if I'd gotten the Safe Ending on the first shot, like I was so close to doing. All I know is I got that Sub Ending so many times I was incredibly frustrated with it by the end.

Don't have any stories about VLR itself though. Fun game, played through it twice, don't have anything to say about it.

[Final Thoughts: I'm still not in the right mood for this right now, but I think I may have dropped this one a little too low.]

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#278 [#223]:

Name: Verzweiflung (Original Mix)
Origin: Hommarju
Link:

Nominator: banshiryuu (9/10)

(1, 4, 1.5)

[ *insert overused Krusty reaction video here*

]

The first 43 seconds are very unpleasant to sit through. That thumping is just too much... then there's a brief reprieve before we get back to THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

...not really sure why this song got such a massive bump on the second listen. Apparently there's some part of me that kinda likes the song? Just not the one doing the write-ups today.

[Final Thoughts: The softer parts without that throbbing beat are alright. Not great, but take the bit starting at around :46. There's this faint, low, sorta buzzing sound in the background? I don't mind that bit.]

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One wonders if there's any write-ups in this block that don't come overly mean.
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