Lurker > FL81

Here's a Google Doc if anyone wants it. It's uhhh, very rudimentary, since it was just a file I had saved locally for personal use. Maybe if I do another project I could make it more in-depth and update it as I go along (like everyone else is doing nowadays)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YTIYT4iuJSJ05dYuEVi4X48lJnaQyl126DrJyjngFCk/edit?usp=sharing

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#1 Thank You Scientist - Life of Vermin
Rating: 10/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @TheArkOfTurus (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gWYIZ9HNKs

Whoah, Hoenn's prog rock scene is totally poppin'

Really though the very first thing I thought when I heard this song is how much it reminds me of Gen 3 Pokmon music >_>

Anyone else? Is it just me?? <_<

The very trumpet-forward rock song reminds me a lot of that Pokmon R/S/E medley by Dr. Pez more specifically. okay really someone needs to remake this with an R/S/E soundfont like they did the Dvorak piece I can totally see this as a champion battle theme Y'know for how much I complain about trumpets it is pretty ironic that ALL OF MY TOP THREE SONGS all prominently feature the instrument! After listening to this many, many times (the most relistened to song of mine in this whole set of nominations), the more I think about it, the more I ponder "wait, what genre even is this??" On the surface it's prog rock, but at the same time you could literally also call this jazz, like straight up jazz! It's a very cool fusion of two genres just like the rank #3 song, but it's blended so smoothly and seemlessly together that it very much sounds like its own unique thing. I have never heard anything else like this!! I'll say it again, but I love it when two genres of music I love are mixed together, but this song is special in how it feels completely natural. This is the peak of "FL81 weird tastes".

That bossa nova guitar at 4:06 works so well AAAAHHHHHHH with trumpets giving a caf vibe but also ELECTRIC GUITAR and DRUMS reminding us that yes this is in fact a rock song too! The singer is totally into this too, another song with a cool vocal style. COWARD IT'S TiME YOU TASTED.... DEFEAT

When this song first popped up into nominations and I listened to it I was like "Yep, this is already the strongest contender for #1". why surrender battles I have won After listening to it again and again and again, I never got sick of it. Even relistening to it now, this still feels very fresh and exciting, and I feel like there's always something new to discover and unpack with each time I listen to this again. This never gets boring!!

Thank You Scientist, more like Thank You TheArkOfTurus for nominating this kick ass song!!

Thank you all for sticking along for this project of mine. It ended up taking a lot more time than I had initially planned with everything in my personal life going on (will wait for things to stabilize before I undertake something like this again), but I appreciate all of your patience in all of this! I was able to get it all done before VGMC at least!

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#2 The Ninja Warriors - Daddy Mulk
Rating: 10/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @Haste_2 (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tTtfMyrYW0

Whoah Haste you must have really good taste in VGM to nominate this. Thank you @sergiocornaga for the cleaner upload of this song, it's a lot better than the video put up by Tazzy that we've been using for years! >_> Also @azuarc the lyrics are clearly DADDY DA-DA-DA-DADDY

Okay so Daddy Mulk is literally my 2nd favorite VGM ever (and by extension my 2nd favorite VGMC retiree ever oh no I spoiled a potential retiree ranking). This was one of my "pet noms" that I first discovered very shortly after joining the B8 VGM community (in 2009 or 2010? it's been a while), and is a song that I was literally going to nominate for VGMC every year until it retired! I actually can't even remember how it was that I first heard this song, it kinda just materialized into my knowledge one day (maybe it was from the original RtVGM project, but I think I actually discovered it shortly before that maybe I was even the original nominator I cannot remember).

I keep getting the Sega CD version and Arcade versions of this song mixed up. Usually it's because for early '90s stuff like this, it's the Arcade soundtrack that's the most high-def. In either case, early '90s Arcade and CD music are both pretty cool in that they fit that small niche of being "retro VGM" while at the same time not being constrained by the hardware limitations of SNES or Genesis soundchips.

Taito has always had a crazy sound team and I love all the work they have done. Hisayoshi Ogura in particular is a top 10/maybe top 5 composer ever in my view, and always throws in the weirdest sounds that end up having a really solid groove coaster. Here's a song with one of the catchiest melodies ever, bizarre vocal samples, cool instruments, and my favorite part a shamisen solo!!!! Seriously, how many songs even do this??? (This version of Daddy Mulk is my favorite as far as VGMC-legal goes, but my all-time favorite is the live performance by Zuntata themselves)

Daddy Mulk is one of those really impactful songs and got me to check out a bunch of other classic '90s VGM (thank you YouTube algorithm for recommending me other cool stuff too like Last Armageddon - Battle Music and Night Striker - Burning Road which I'm pretty sure I got linked too off of this originally). I could actually very easily throw this in as #1 BUT THE #1 SONG IS BRAND NEW and it's more fun that way, really though they're tied

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It actually may have been my favorite song in 2015!

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#3 Diablo Swing Orchestra - A Tap Dancer's Dilemma
Rating: 10/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @NBIceman (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Ivkda8UUY

YOOOOO DSO! So the funniest thing about this being nominated is that this song is one of my staple go-tos for nominating in others' music ranking topics! I don't know if that was intentional on your part (I think it's actually been a couple years since I nominated this for a ranking), but usually I'll drop this song in or my other favorite DSO song Black Box Messiah.

Okay so this song is absolutely crazy. This is sort of a thing common to all three of the top 3 songs nominated (all "FL81's weird taste" selections rather than the obvious power metal picks). I totally love when songs mix together way different genres that have absolutely no place being anywhere near one another (Kobaryo - The Lightning Sword earlier in the ranking did something like this too). A Tap Dancer's Dilemma is Swing Metal, to this day the absolute craziest fusion of any two genres I have ever heard, and while this should not work, it totally does and I love it!!

There's one thing I feel never gets enough appreciation in this song, and that's the vocalists' work in this. The first dude sounds like some old timey preacher singing about fire and brimstone, then the falsetto vocals in the middle of the song are crazy. The sheer variety of instruments used in this provides a unique experience, that guitar at 2:06 probably being my favorite part but this whole song is perfect.

I am very, very surprised that two songs were nominated that actually placed above this. Normally this would've been a totally safe #1 pick!

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azuarc posted...

I was about to say I don't have any sense of what would be left and was going to ask if a songs left list was posted, but then I looked at post #1 and how this topic started in 2019 and still is barely half full. Wow.

The top 40 was posted uhhhh all the way back here
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78182756/944931027

posting top 3 right now would kinda ruin the SUSPENSE

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3/5 top 5 are VGM!!

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I was the initial nominator last year!

I can probably support it again

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#4 Project Cerberus - L L ~ Infinite Beating ver ~
Rating: 9.9/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @xarlable (1/1)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkmSDjjJg08

HEY it's the song I used to nominate for VGMC every year!! Y'know after all is said and done I have a feeling that this is the song people think of first whenever they talk about "FL81 tastes" >_>. I'm not sure if you were specifically aiming for the number 1 spot, picking a song you know I like, but hey you came close!! I remember first discovering this when I was going through SSH's works (probably listening to his old Touhou stuff idk), and this song just instantly clicked for me. I like electric guitars yeah, but it's the crazy over-the-top delivery that really sells this for me. This has crazy amounts of energy and the billions of things going on all at once just sounds really great lol. I kinda operate under the notion of "Go Big or Go Home" when it comes to music. If it's going to try and sound crazy awesome, it has to go ALL THE WAY and this does! Impossibly fast "computer music" can be kinda ehh sometimes (well not actually impossible, Godspeed did a KICK ASS arrangement of this song check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l18rECQH84s ), but this is still all held together well and sounds really cool!!! There isn't really anything deep to break down in this, it's just hella fast melodic guitar and synth intertwining in dual solos.

I'm actually really happy that the VGMC relative-newcomers mostly enjoy this song, and it is something that whenever I see pop up in VGMC nominations I am sure to toss a support vote!

Okay, so the Top Three are all basically perfect 10s and I could honestly place them in any order, or even have it as a three-way tie. Top placement ties are boring though, so these are all going to be ranked on how I currently feel about them.

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bump

(I wanted to get a writeup in tonight, but I've had a stressful week and wanna save the writeups for the TOP FOUR when I'm in a brighter mood)

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NFUN posted...

if only the extreme was good beyond the intro

Funny you bring that up because The Extreme actually has my favorite VGM intro of all time

Rest of the song is like an 8/10

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PIayer_0 posted...

One of the most iconic intros in VGM

it's Uematsu he does this with every final boss theme >_>

and I still love it

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#5 Lost Odyssey - Howl of the Departed/Roar of the Departed Souls
Rating: 9.7/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @PIayer_0 (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1it2CiuIujM

What is the official title of this track, anyways? Back during my early VGMC years, this is something I would nominate every year! Back in those days it sat comfortably in my top 10 or 20 VGM of all time. It's still not retired yet, is it?

Nobuo Uematsu falls into this category of uber-popular VGM composers, those names recognized even by people who aren't totally obsessed with niche video game music trivia like us. For as much as I see words like "overrated" being thrown at this group, I feel Uematsu is deserving of every little bit of praise he gets for his musical contributions. This, of course, is entirely because this style of music is a perfect fit with my tastes, but it is curious to note that my list of favorite JRPG music composers has one very high profile name and a bunch of less-recognized outside of here people in it too lol (Nobuo Uematsu, Ryuji Sasai, Akihiko Mori, Tsukasa Masuko, Noriyuki Iwadare - off the top of my head). The Lost Odyssey soundtrack just proves that Uematsu still has it, even after the classic FF days.

I am a sucker for "evil opera chanting" openings. It's overdone to hell at this point, but it's just so good at setting the tone. That ominous creaking sound 27 seconds in adds to the feel of this then we are SLAMMED with a juicy electric guitar telling us that this song means business! One cool thing about the choir chanting in the background is that they are singing in Japanese! (usually they go for the cliche Latin or something). All this cool stuff of course going on while the guitar and Uematsu prog rock organ are going ham in the background.

Of course my favorite part in all this is that cool ass mantra chanting 2/3 the way through the song. If you don't remember my last VGM ranking topic, someone nominated for me a song titled EXEC_ViiBaCi_MjiiRa/. (looking back it'd probably place in top 5 if I ran that same topic again, also I'm nominating it for VGMC!) and I mentioned just how much I love the idea of really dark sounding layered chanting, and Roar of the Departed Souls does something pretty similar here in that part. There seriously aren't enough songs that do this! Seriously, this is just a cheap and easy way to instantly jump the score of a song to at least a 9/10 for me! (In Johnbobb's "Favorite song about: God" topic, my choice nomination song also did something similar, see Theocracy - I Am)

Who knows, maybe I'll support this if it gets nominated for VGMC again! This song is just fun!!

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YES THIS IS NUMBER 19, just rank up everything between Atsuku Nare and Tomorrow

#19 Chaotrope - Jagged Journey
Rating: 8.3/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @GameBopAdv (1/5)
Link: https://soundcloud.com/chaotrope/jagged-journey

SORRY GAMEBOP I didn't mean to forget about you!! I blame it being two SoundCloud nominations that ended up right next to each other in the ranking. THIS SONG HAD A REALLY JAGGED JOURNEY GETTING HERE HAHA

That electro-jazzy piano intro is giving me very strong mozell vibes (or more in general, "deo nomination" vibes). This one is very short and sweet, I dunno if that's to its detriment since I kinda like what this is doing, vibing pretty nice to this then it just ends. Cool jazz techno metal (okay I don't know what genre this is), but hey I'm all about mixing together as many genres as you can fit in because that just makes it more interesting! Lots of MUSIC crammed into this short song, gotta fit everything in to make it COMPLETE. Also WOW that EPIC SOUND outro at the end of the first "loop" (it doesn't actually loop). Unique find!

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well guys I FUCKED UP

I skipped #19 in my spreadsheet by accident (Atsuku Nare is actually #18) and it's too late to edit it in

will do a writeup for it when I get to it

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#7 Galneryus - Raise My Sword
Rating: 9.4/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @Janus5k (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prBxPljqt0M

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

You know, you can really tell that a song is going to be great when it just starts out with a long loud scream. I don't know if this was picked out specific to my tastes I've projected all these years, or if Janus and I just have the exact same taste in non-VGM music. I'm leaning towards it probably being the latter, if the "Favorite song about:" topic series is anything to go by.

Galneryus is just a great band! Every time I see them come up in the power metal streams/playlists I always listen to, I know it's going to be a headbanger. Back when I was watching the anime Hunter x Hunter, my jaw slammed to the floor when I heard one of their songs used as an ending theme. I (very slightly) do prefer Hunting For Your Dream to this, but Raise My Sword is still one of my favorite Galneryus songs. Syu is one of the best guitarists in the power metal scene, mixing in a lot of neoclassical metal elements, as is the case with a lot of Japanese power metal, but let's be real here he does it the best. This high energy high speed kind of power metal is my favorite, it's gotta have FAST GUITARS

Japanese Power Metal is a weird rabbit hole I've dived pretty deep into, and there's a whole bunch of really good stuff to be found there. I could go on and on about it (and go even deeper if we start talking about the doujin power metal scene). Japan actually produces some of the best in the genre (along with Finald, Germany, and Brazil). It's actually disappointing that there's not much good stuff like this coming from here in the USA, but there are a few amazing artists to note such as....

#6 Symphony X - Inferno (Unleash the Fire)
Rating: 9.4/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: Janus5k (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzmZtXDI22M

Okay so Symphony X is one of my favorite bands EVER, as in Top 10 for me. Not only that, but The Odyssey is one of their best albums (spoiler the title track would have placed all the way at NUMBER ONE but I'm also glad that I didn't get swarmed by a bunch of 24 minute-long songs thank you guys, but yeah it's the one "super long" song I've listened to in full several dozen times, okay back to this song). I LOVE how this is the album opener (huzzah for this being the one song in the ranking where I've previously listened to its entire album start to finish), and it just starts out with a meaty, juicy guitar riff. Just like the other music these guys have done, this manages to strike the perfect balance between heavy and melodic, and even with the musical repetition, they still manage to squeeze out a good chunk of Russell Allen's vocal range. Even the slow "ballad-y" part at 3:23 manages to sound cool.

Symphony X is one of those bands where it sits on the line where it doesn't really know whether it wants to be progressive metal or power metal (or neoclassical metal or symphonic metal), but they've managed to carve out their own sound and it sounds cool as hell. Russell Allen is seriously one of the most deserving-of-appreciation vocalists in the genre and it's amazing how much a heavier voice (still with a lot of range) can do for the music, where a lot of other singers in music like this will go for a more falsetto sound. Michael Romeo is another top talent power metal guitarist, even if this song specifically doesn't showcase some of his crazier riffs (although the opener still has that cool signature style).

WELCOME TO THE ANARCHY ENIGMATIC ENTITY god I love these edgelord lyrics

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Haste_2 posted...

I'm still alive~!

If I were to do my own VGMC retiree ranking project

there'd uhhh, be a couple significant differences ;>_>

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pyresword posted...

Aw ya go my Welcome Home.

Aw ya go my Kevin Penkin.

Made in Abyss was a pretty cool show. I don't know what my expectations for the franchise going forward but I really liked the original TV series at least.

I haven't even watched the movie yet! Was going to check it out w/ my roommate but he moved out beforehand, then COVID shut all the theaters down

very close second place for "Best Anime of the 2010s" I'd actually give to Vinland Saga

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#10 Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home
Rating: 9/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @PIayer_0 (3/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIhRx_4MuIY


Pyre was the one person to try and guess the winner, and did manage to guess a song in the top 10, so congrats on your song making it this far! (sorry PIayer_O this is pyre's song now)

This song was my JAM back when I played Rock Band 1 (man I miss those games)! This is my uhhh, 3rd favorite song from the original Rock Band! I still LOVE that guitar intro, always hooks me in and gets me to stick with the rest of the song. So yeah, it's a song I've heard probably dozens or hundreds of times, but it still sounds as fresh as the first time I've listened to it. It's hard rock that manages to both pay homage to the classics but at the same time not sound like anything else like it. It's hard to classify just what exact subgenre of rock/metal this is, I mean it's "prog" but it's also it's own thing. Pretty solid guitar solo too, but my favorite thing about this song is the vocalist. He has this very distinct way of enunciating all of the lyrics, but it comes out sounding really neat!

#9 Made in Abyss - Tomorrow
Rating: 9.3/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: PIayer_0 (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV571RZSltY

Hey, it's that song I liked enough that I actually used it in an anime music guessing game over in the Discord! Let me just say, that Made in Abyss is my single favorite anime to come from the 2010s decade, and that is not an easy top choice to make! I cannot recommend this show enough, and encourage everyone here to watch it!! The soundtrack is also amazing and I would put it in my top 5 anime soundtracks of all time.

This song is crazy! It's calming but at the same time manages to invoke a feeling of standing before the great expanse. The first minute has this weird ethereal feeling and I don't even know what half of these instruments are called. Then it switches to emotional anime music mode, and back to "cool space sounds" then theatrical weirdness AND THAT COOL VOCAL PART!!! I can't really compare this to anything else, but this song kicks ass! Kevin Penkin did an absolutely stellar job with this show's score.

watch Made in Abyss

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CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES

#11 RAY-KUDRYAVKA musiX - Last Resort
Rating: 9/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @UF8 (1/5)
Link: https://archive.org/download/RAY_KUDRYAVKA_musiX/23_Last_Resort_vbr.mp3

The main thing I think of when listening to this is "man this is way too good to not be uploaded onto YouTube". The song itself isn't too complicated or anything but it has all the makings of music I love! It's repetitive, but with each verse keeps things fresh and exciting! This has more of that MIDI electric guitar like in Rolling Rose, but overall this one sounds a lot more expertly produced. Was this composed for a game, or is it from some sort of Doujin album? (Or something else entirely altogether?) That keyboard synth 33 seconds in (and repeats a few more times) is my favorite part of the song! Very much the same style of music I always used to nominate for VGMC!

Edit: Forgot to mention, but that chord progression at 6:29 reminds me of some VGMC JRPG boss theme and I can't remember which!! >_<

Huzzah, finally time for the top 10~

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#12 Ronald McDonald - U.N. Owen Was Her?
Rating: 9/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @PIayer_0 (4/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q16KpquGsIc


Nope!

Somehow, this is the song that everyone was watching to see where it would end up placing! It obviously wasn't #1, but I do like this a lot more than I probably should!

2007-2008 was the peak of meme culture. 2010~ish had too much mainstream crap going on like rage comics and nyan cat, and other stuff appealing to the early reddit crowd, and today's memes are just esoteric Wojak edits that don't even make sense anymore (yes I see the irony of talking about that when discussing this video of all things). Stuff like this and old YTPs were good ol' stupid fun. I guess "nostalgia" is why I have this ranked higher than the other "haha funny" songs, but maybe I am just an old grumpy man now!! SiIva rips are sort of a revival of this dumb sort of humor, so that's refreshing to see.

Yes, this video was my first exposure to the Touhou franchise. I wouldn't actually get around to playing any of the games until a year later when one of my high school friends (wow it's been that long) got me to start out with one of the fighting games of all things. Song itself is pretty good, it's based off of the COOL&CREATE arrangement of U.N. Owen rather than the original in-game song.



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I saw "Vampires" in the name and initially thought Romanian ;>_>

very similar sounding languages

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#13 Theatres Des Vampires - Figlio della Luna
Rating: 8.9/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @Snake5555555555 (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2hCFSQnvXI

More vampire metal! I'm pretty sure "vampire metal" isn't even a real genre, but it is my favorite type of music ever aesthetic-wise (Castlevania music rules). The song is being sung in Italian (I think?) which has always been one of my favorite sounding languages for songs. Dark gothic vibes make everything sound cooler! Piano + strings + electric guitar = great combo!! This is on the better end of symphonic metal.

Congrats to Snake on performing a lot better in this ranking!

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Happy New Year folks!

#14 Danmaku Shimai ~La soeur de barrage~ - Rolling Rose
Rating: 8.7/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @UF8 (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPVPThyhL9s

Woah, this sounds like something straight from the Rosenkreuzstilette soundtrack! (although UF8, being our resident royalty-free VGM expert, probably already knows that it doesn't have a "proper" soundtrack and is all royalty-free stuff from a number of different artists) The reason I have this ranked so high is because it totally reminds me of my VGM taste circa 2011 (about 1-2 years after discovering VGMC and B8) back when I was all into that really cheesy sounding MIDI speed metal with some neoclassical riffs, giving it those Dracula vibes. This is exactly the sort of song I would push hard for in VGMC noms only for it to lose 42-8. Melodic metal high-energy typical 2011 FL81 tastes song, guilty pleasure tier.

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#15 Kobaryo - The Lightning Sword
Rating: 8.7/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @DireKrow (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptylOKoOWDo

You know what sounds cool? Speedcore! You know what also sounds cool? Power Metal!! LET'S SLAP THE TWO COMPLETELY UNRELATED GENRES TOGETHER!!! Just by seeing the track title and the album art I knew this was going to be power metal, but I was not expecting this to be by a Japanese speedcore artist. The more I listen to this though, the more I realize it's actually not too crazy of a combination. These are both melodic-centric genres that often exceed tempos of 200 BPM, so why not. Pretty fun song, although my main gripe is that this is very obviously inspired by DragonForce, to the point that I'm pretty sure this is a parody. I feel like this exact solo is taken from one of their songs (not sure which one, a lot of their material sounds the same). Anyways this is a better DF song than the actual DF song that was nominated, so all's well! I always enjoy when music mixes together two very different genres that I like, it's fun to see what they end up coming up with.

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I just got a brand new high-end headset! This will be perfect for streaming 128 kbps YouTube audio!

#16 Charles Mingus - Moanin
Rating: 8.6/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @rwlh (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__OSyznVDOY

AAAAAAHHH, I love jazz!!! For my car, I specifically got a receiver that supported HD Radio just so that I could tune in to the jazz station. I don't even know where to start with this song, it just sounds cool all the way through! Really cool use of the different instruments here in what's basically this crazy super-energized horn ensemble. (For as much as I rag on trumpets, there are some cases where I love them and classic jazz is a perfect example and there are a number of trumpet-centric songs still left in this ranking!!). This is the kind of music I like to put on when going for a nice cruise, and I could listen to this for hours on end, like I could just jump into this piece at any point and it'd be every bit as good. These solos are all pretty sick, got some very skilled musicians here lol

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azuarc posted...

There goes bracket.

How do you feel about Nightwish, post-Tarja?

Not as much of a fan, but admittedly I haven't really listened to their recent stuff much (hell, Amaranth is probably their newest song I was really big into)

Actually sometime around 2010 was when I stopped really diving deep into new power metal releases in general. I'm kinda clueless as to what's going on in the scene nowadays

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#17 Nightwish - Last of the Wilds
Rating: 8.5/10
Have I heard this before?: Probably, I don't remember
Nominator: @azuarc (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWTdFolXEgA

Back during around 2009~ish Nightwish was my favorite band and I listened through their entire discography at the time. This one I don't really remember, but I probably heard it at some point. Nightwish is mostly known for their "epic"-style vocals, but their instrumental tracks are all great too (my favorite being Moondance). Heavy metal guitars and folk strings are always a cool combination, catchy melody here, this has all the makings of another good Nightwish song.

Y'know as much as I like Nightwish, I've never been too crazy about all the copycat bands that have come after trying to emulate their style. They're able to get the same style of female-lead vocals down, but are never able to reach that same level of "energy" that Nightwish has and has made them so great all these years (except Epica, they're great too)

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#18 Thousand Memories - Ten Saints
Rating: 8.3/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes, I even used this in a VGMGG!
Nominator: @NFUN (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQM6PE_-ni0

Alrighty folks, gather 'round and listen to this song. You've listened to it? Good!! Now listen to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2guiRH2FsSk

Now if you have listened carefully you will notice this vague little detail that they are nearly the EXACT SAME SONG @#@#@#$%6

Ever since I discovered the VGM work that is Thousand Memories - Ten Saints, this has bugged me considerably. I don't know if Keisuke Ito knew of Nefertiti and was directly copying Daisuke Achiwa's style here, or if it just happened to end up like this, but I can't unhear one while listening to the other. Also, Nefertiti was something I used to nominate every year for VGMC so NFUN might just be fucking with me here. ;>_> (it feels like a parody of the song, or more esoterically, a parody of my tastes <_<)

The fact that Diet Nefertiti piggybacks off of one of my favorite VGM ever is enough to catapult it up this high in my rankings, but at the same time knock it down a few points due to lack of originality. Judging this song by its own merits, I really love the heavy metal eletric guitar, the synth keyboards, and awesome guitar solos. This actually is a really good song, and plays into my love of melodic power/speed metal! Good pick for the topic.

If Nefertiti itself, more specifically the improved extended version from Atelier Meruru was nominated, it would've gotten rank #4

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#20 Camel - Lost and Found
Rating: 8.2/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @SuperbVEVO (1/5)
Link: https://soundcloud.com/mohamed-ashraf-ahmed/camel-lost-and-found-1

Soundcloud link because the YouTube upload died! I'd like to start off by saying that of all the songs nominated for my topic, this is the one out of all the nominations I've moved up the furthest from my initial impressions spot. Also, second only to the #1 ranking song, this is the nomination I've relistened to the most! When I first heard this, I wasn't too crazy for the vocalist, but the style has grown on me, and the instrumental aspect of this song is excellent! I can't say I've heard of this band before, but apparently they were pretty big for the prog rock genre. Definitely has that cool '70s classic/prog rock sound to it, and I love when rock bands use the rock organ like that (Deep Purple vibes again)

#19 Zombieland Saga - Atsuku Nare
Rating: 8.3/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @PIayer_0 (5/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqTaJmvDpPc

ANOTHER DEAD YOUTUBE LINK AAAAA, I really liked the first link you provided since it highlighted all the singers' parts, but the uploader yoinked their channel off the internet, so we'll have to listen to this without it.

SO FINALLY PIayer_0/haha oh no has their first song eliminated (ALL SONGS IN TOP 20 AAAAAAAA congratulations)! Alright so I've never actually watched Zombieland Saga. I read the title and am reminded of that 2009 movie "Zombieland" and then remember just how overdone the zombie genre was in the '00s. But apparently this is an anime about Zombie Idols?? You can't see it here, but in the original upload one of the singers had the title "The Legendary" next to her name, I don't know if that's canon to the show or not but I found it amusing.

"Idol Anime" music is generally very hit or miss for me. Stuff like Love Live has some real good songs to come from it, but a lot of its music is just kinda generic pop. It was a good show and all, would recommend, but I still don't entirely get idol culture. As for Zombieland Saga, I might just have to give this show a try, who knows.

This song is a lot more "powerful" than what I was expecting from the thumbnail. This has a real bopping melody with strong chorusey vocals GUYS WHEN THEY DO THE WHOAH WHOAH WHOAH AT 1:49 I CAN'T UNHEAR THROUGH THE FIRE AND FLAMES SOMEONE PLEASE HELP and I was never expecting one of the best idol songs I've heard to come from a zombie anime!

Highschool of the Dead + Love Live = SCHOOL LIVE?? it all makes sense now

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Janus5k posted...

I miss Pathfinder. Their vocalist left a while back and while they supposedly got a new one I haven't heard anything from them since.

But yeah their second album "Fifth Element" is a lot of fun.

Aww, that sucks. Hate it when I find a new awesome band, and it turns out they only ever made one or two albums.

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#21 Pathfinder - When the Sunrise Breaks the Darkness
Rating: 8.2/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @Janus5k (3/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5uZl-qTIqc

I just wanna say, Pathfinder is the coolest thing to happen to Power Metal within recent years (I say "recent" but they've actually been around for a while now huh). I actually haven't listened to this song of theirs before, but I am familiar with some of their other stuff (FWIW Beyond The Space, Beyond The Time would've gotten a 10/10 rating, and I think I actually nominated that song for tazzy's ranking many years back lol). Pathfinder is super cheesy, but they go hard af and it's always fun to listen to them! I feel like their music is a big culmination of the genre, matching DragonForce guitar, with the symphonic/fantasy elements of Rhapsody of Fire, and the crazy vocal range you'd find from Lost Horizon.

AGHHH that cheesy little keyboard melody at 3:14 I could've sworn I've heard in another metal song somewhere else but my searching has come up short. But yeah, Pathfinder is super cool!

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#23 Makai Toshi Niigata - Ukiyo-e Yokochou
Rating: 8/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @DireKrow (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJjXxEhLhyI

Woah, sick piano jazz here, done in that "2 minute rhythm game song" format. This definitely does sound like something from a rhythm game, and judging by the related videos, it's apparently in Muse Dash? I've seen Muse Dash on sale on Steam several times and have considered picking it up, but my backlog is already huge. This could also work in a game like Deemo which focuses on the piano lol. Fast-paced + melodic + jazzy + piano are all points that work in favor of me enjoying a song, and this sounds like something that would have a pretty fun chart to play.

#22 Perfect Blue - Uchida's Theme
Rating: 8/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @Place (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtGPTaOO4kE

NOW THIS HERE is a really cool genre. I don't know the specific name, but there's a very specific category of really weird/trippy '90s anime soundtrack music that this song falls into, and I absolutely love this style!! This totally catches an old vibe I am suddenly reminded exists and am thus also dismayed that it isn't really in vogue anymore. Very mechanical "construction site" sound here (hi B.T. Dutch). Obnoxiously loud, in a good way!

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#24 Enigma - Silence Must Be Heard
Rating: 8/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @azuarc (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCUran3CDFg

Enigma is another band I've enjoyed but haven't really dived deep into their discography. My friend was really big into them back in middle school, and I always liked their New Age influence. I was happily surprised to see that one of their songs ended up as the ending theme to one of the seasons of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Groovy song, love the echo effect and the trippy drum beat.

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8/10s we're playing with the big boys now

#26 Crusader: No Regret - The Traveler (Remix)
Rating: 8/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @SuperbVEVO (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1-hXJRa-OY

'90s PC GAME SOUND IS THE BEST, back in the early MP3 days back when they first started experimenting outside of chiptune/MOD/MIDI stuff where it still had that "computery" sound but was super clean too. This, and stuff like classic C&C, AoE2, StarCraft, etc. I even hear a bit of similarity to The Terminator (Sega CD) soundtrack in this one too with that awesome reverby synth providing the backdrop for this. Banger rock song with a kickass aesthetic.

#25 Gloryhammer - Rise of the Chaos Wizards
Rating: 8/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @Janus5k (3/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGV6bCTMM5w

My roommate only fairly recently discovered power metal, but his tastes are very narrow and only plays the same dozen songs on repeat, all by either Gloryhammer or Brothers of Metal. Gloryhammer always seemed to be more of a parody of all the cheesiness in power metal to me, at which point I'd rather just listen to the classics, and as far as going all out on the cheese goes, I feel other bands like Pathfinder (oh hi one of their songs got nominated too) do it better. But with that being said, this is actually my favorite Gloryhammer song, and that chorus at 1:05 is one of my favorite moments in the whole genre! Honestly my only gripe with this is how overplayed it is, but it's still a very me style of music and a good song!

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#27 Cryptovolans - parralelogram
Rating: 7.8/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @Toxtricity (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4dOZ34DvvM

SO, I was meaning to post this one in the same post as the last one for comedic timing, have a double strike and eliminate someone with two songs left in one post, but I got sidetracked (more importantly, there is A LOT to break down in this song, lots of stuff going on here!)

This song, more than being just one contiguous song, feels like a bunch of very distinct sub-sections all being connected together, so let's go through each piece. Okay so starting out, we have another MIDI tracker song here, already reminding me of those FCFF songs from VGMC (thanks for putting these together Mycro!!) First minute has a bit of a slow start with not much to talk about here, before adding in a cool prog rock organ.

What I really want to talk about here though is that little melody at 1:38. The section with the super cheesy electric guitar and drums, sounds like something from The Lion King or some other '90s Disney VHS tape lmao. I feel like I am being musically TROLLED by this (not ragging on it or anything, but it is the most memorable part of the entire song)

Next let's throw in some jazzy riffs on the electric guitar and rock organ, then start playing Dream Theater - The Dark Eternal Night on the MIDI xylophone for good measure, and of course what kind of song would this be if we didn't immediately follow it up with the Old School RuneScape MIDI flute. Rest of this song is more prog rock stuff that is too deep for my musically inept mind, but the sheer number of instruments is appealing (with special preference towards the usage of synth pads and orchestra hits)

very cool

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#28 Yuzo Koshiro - 4operators
Rating: 7.8/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @Toxtricity (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdOFYW0pbp8

Yuzo Koshiro again! My last topic's winning song was composed by him! I've been over this before, but Yuzo Koshiro is my favorite VGM composer of all time, primarily for how diverse his portfolio of works is and how he can basically make music in any style and make it sound great! Definitely a lot of his "signature" style in this too, hearing a lot of Streets of Rage and Etrian Odyssey in this one, but also with a very "'70s prog rock" feel to it too. Man there's just something cool about that FM synth organ


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#30 Caligula's Horse - Marigold
Rating: 7.7/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @TheArkOfTurus (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C5qnG0GLfI

OKAY so this one I've actually had a very hard time finding a place to rank this. I actually had this as rank #34 not too long ago, but decided it was too low (yes even though I said I wouldn't be altering placements anymore), and I'm still not too sure I have this placed high enough. It's a very catchy tune that I keep finding myself coming back to (even moreso than stuff I have placed higher). THIS IS A VERY COMPETITIVE TIER anyways cool prog rock song and I love the intro especially. This is a really new and refreshing style of music I'd love to hear more of! Despite being nearly 7 minutes long, this actually feels really short somehow.

#29 Noragami - Noratan
Rating: 7.8/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @pyresword (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=230NWoF-vS4

I have seen hundreds of anime and am quite familiar with anime soundtracks, but I've never actually watched Noragami (wow with this and Aria maybe I really haven't seen all that many shows ;>_>). This song is absolutely bonkers, gotta love when I'm watching a show and some crazy song out of left field just starts playing (I do not know the context behind this). I have weird tastes, but this is actually cool as hell lol

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#32 Chroma - Dark Sheep
Rating: 7.7/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @Prody_Parrot (1/4)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYCbm469Zq0

The intro to this (first 24 seconds) reminds me of the boss theme from Cave Story, one of those games I started and enjoyed but never got around to finishing. Then the rest of the song reminds me of Dynamix - Nanohemu, yet another one of those one-off VGMC songs I really loved then just seemingly vanished off of the face of the earth . It has that same dark chiptune sound, making due with more "naturally occuring" chiptune sounds and less of that weird "hum" that new indie retraux has a lot of, but still adding in EDM beats lol (if that makes any sense). Definitely a distinct style of using chiptunes, and one that I enjoy.

#31 -
Rating: 7.7/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @handsomeboy2012 (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7B39htJHGA

Let me start this writeup by pointing out the one glaring negative of this, and that's that it doesn't have a really cheesy but still cool in its own way video like the other Hong Kong rock songs nominated by handsomeboy2012. Anyways, this is super '80s giving me nostalgia vibes of a time and place I've never even experienced, but hey it's cool. Legit cruising music here, you gotta love that synth.
STAY AWAY LET ME BE LET ME CRY

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#33 Two Steps From Hell - Blackheart
Rating: 7.6/10
Have I heard this before?: Maybe
Nominator: @Bane_Of_Despair (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbttZVTSJRU

I have this one as a Maybe I've heard this before because it's Two Steps From Hell, and being honest here, a lot of their stuff has the same sound. For being a group that composes stock movie trailer music, I actually like their work quite a lot! They're definitely the best when it comes to this very specific style of music, and it is one of my favorite styles, despite how corny it must seem to others listening to movie trailer music. Kinda wish this one got to the fun parts sooner, but the payoff is worth it. Cool cinematic orchestra music!

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#34 Zyon - Altersist
Rating: 7.6/10
Have I heard htis before?: No
Nominator: @NFUN (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYapRBbZ5iY

I don't know how melodic trance became so much associated with my tastes, I mean I've mentioned liking it a lot in the past, but there's other stuff too ;>_>. Of course, I say that while this managed to place very high, so maybe y'all are onto something here! This strongly reminds me of actually a lot of things! This isn't exactly the most unique or innovative style of music. Every once in a while something like this gets nominated for VGMC, I end up really liking it, then it gets forgotten the next year (justice for Diadra Empty - Nebula). This could probably be half the length and it wouldn't change my opinion of it in any way, but it's a good song and the kind of thing I'd find myself voting for in every VGMC match until it loses!

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bump

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#35 Wolfmother - Where Eagles Have Been
Rating: 7.5/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @azuarc (3/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1UHzrbQFq4

More classic rock! I actually had to look this up because I couldn't tell if this was released in the '70s or '80s it was released in 2005 >_>. Okay, but really this has that authentic old school hard rock glam rock vibe that I love! Sick guitar solo too, can see this in a Guitar Hero game.

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#36 Blue yster Cult - Astronomy
Rating: 7.5/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @NBIceman (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0t_wb0lUW0

Oh hey it's Blue yster Cult, haven't heard this specific song before, but the couple others I have heard I've really liked. (On an another note, what the hell Metallica did a cover of this song?) Anyways, I love this style of classic rock, and it's giving me strong Deep Purple - Child In Time vibes (one of my favorite songs ever). Like, outside of all the power metal you guys know me for (;>_>), this is the kind of stuff I usually listen to. This is something I certainly should've heard before, but somehow didn't.

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#38 Annie Gosfield - The Manufacture of Tangled Ivory (Part Two)
Rating: 7.5/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @rwlh (3/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNwWRoNMcAc

Oh hi rwlh, it has been quite a while since one of your songs has popped up, hasn't it? What's great about this one is how absolutely bonkers crazy it is. It doesn't even sound like "music"! (in a good way) All these out-of-the-norm sounds being used for music are giving me B.T. Dutch flashbacks. And to tell you the truth, I haven't the slightest clue how any of this is being done. Uniqueness can carry a song pretty far in my rankings, and it's always nice to hear something you'd never really expect to hear. Very "industrial"!

#37 Deltron 3030 - Mastermind
Rating: 7.5/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: rwlh (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf9OAFML_Eg

Oh hi rwlh again. This is one of the coolest hip-hop songs I've ever heard. Catchy beat and these sci-fi themed lyrics are cheesy as all hell and I love it for that. Cool sample midway through the song, then it hops right back into the smooth flow.

Very surprised by how much I liked these last two discoveries!

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#39 Kazsin - Hadou (Long Prologue Ver.)
Rating: 7.5/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @paulg235 (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AJATtlkZ34

Judging by the thumbnail and YouTube comments, this is the intro theme for a pro wrestler? I've never really been into wrestling myself, but "Wrestling theme music" is one of those underexplored genres that never really gets talked about. Oddly enough, this kinda sounds like climactic "anime fight" music. Orchestral + electric guitars is a pretty safe combo for my tastes, but what really sells this home is the cheesy sound effects added on top lol.

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#40 2gou. - BV-Hurricane (smyk Remix)
Rating: 7.4/10
Have I heard this before?: No
Nominator: @Prody_Parrot (2/4)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0YTUouu6Qc

Oh hey, another long song. I brought this up in the Discord chat when I first started this ranking topic, but THIS TOTALLY SOUNDS LIKE SONIC MANIA!! I've probably brought this up in the past, but Sonic Mania is my favorite Sonic OST! (This is actually not from Sonic Mania.) This has that combination of classic Sonic FM synth with modern electronic dance beats. Happy, dancey, bouncy beat, very fun song!

https://i.imgur.com/JQrvzyQ.gif

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