Lurker > FoolFantastic

Jakyl25 posted...

Ok, so does that mean the only reason we feel more empathy for a dog in pain than a bug is because of how they express it?

Generally, when someone squashes a bug, it is because the bug is being a nuisance and there is no real method of getting it to stop being a nuisance (though some people do put in effort to get the bug back outside). Additionally, many bugs historically tend to spread disease, so letting them just exist in your home can be dangerous. Like, you squash roaches in your home because they spread salmonella, etc.

Beyond that, I do think most of us look down on people who kill bugs just because they want to for fun. It's psychopathic behavior.

It really shouldn't need to be explained that there is a difference between killing an animal for food or to protect your home than there is to harm an animal just because you feel like it.

How did someone manage to outdo "animal research is just a thing everyone assumes everyone does" as the most baffling statement here?

Need to get this added to the wiki

For my own purposes while making the next topic tomorrow morning, I feel like I need to include the full schedule. I think, if anyone new signs up, they will be added to the end of the current cycle (...as long as it's 4+ weeks away)

I drew match-ups for the competitive weeks - since there are only 20 people signed up, two people get to have a one-on-one match at the end

Current Cycle:
10/02: Johnbobb (Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses)
10/09: VeryInsane (Nas - Illmatic)
10/16: FoolFantastic
10/23: Seanchan
10/30: Giggsalot
11/06: RyoCaliente
11/13: darkx
11/20: neonreaper
11/27: Great_Paul
12/04: jcgamer107
12/11: ChichiriMuyo
12/18: BlueCrystalTear

Future cycle (dates subject to change if anyone new signs up before 11/27):
12/25: MetalmindStats
1/1: HBJDubs
1/8: Raetsel_Lapin
1/15: BlueCrystalTear/darkx/neonreaper
1/22: Steiner
1/29: Snake5555555555
2/5: Jesse_Custer
2/12: RyoCaliente/VeryInsane/FoolFantastic
2/19: ZaziGuado
2/26: firefdr
3/4: Johnbobb
3/11: Steiner/ChichiriMuyo/Great_Paul
3/18: VeryInsane
3/25: FoolFantastic
4/1: Seanchan
4/8: Johnbobb/ZaziGuado/jcgamer107
4/15: Giggsalot
4/22: RyoCaliente
4/29: darkx
5/6: Snake5555555555/Raetsel_Lapin/Seanchan
5/13: neonreaper
5/20: Great_Paul
5/27: jcgamer107
6/3: Giggsalot/MetalmindStats/Jesse_Custer
6/10: ChichiriMuyo
6/17: BlueCrystalTear
6/24: HBJDubs/firefdr

For film music, I would want it to either be the score or a completely original soundtrack. I would treat a licensed soundtrack the same as a greatest hits album.

An album with multiple artists would be fine, as long as the tracks are made for that album.

We have already done Hamilton before, so musicals are fine.

I think my main (perhaps not explicit but no one has tried yet?) rule is against greatest hits compilations - basically, the recordings need to be specific to the album.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

I don't like this. How would people discover new music this way? We'll just get a bunch of nominees with big singles that people recognize because those are the ones that win polls. I would expect "classic" albums from artists everybody recognizes would dominate anything newer with more limited appeal. People would probably just pull from the Acclaimed Music Bot list anyway, and the three people whose choices are up would all just vote for their own nomination, thus giving the power to everyone else. This kinda takes away the point. This project isn't really about judging which tracks are best - it's about appreciating music, both from a standpoint of artistic appreciation by more intent listening and a discovery perspective. I mean, I wouldn't have made a Sunspot fan out of Seanchan without this, now would I?

I also like making thematic choices, like me doing extremely indie stuff that people would have never otherwise experienced, or my upcoming Christmas theme. We wouldn't be able to have something timely like that with something completely randomized. At the same time, we also wouldn't get a boy band week from someone who's hardly participated. Is that a trade-off? Possibly.

That's why I suggested alternating between the two formats - ~20ish weeks of our usual format, ~7ish weeks of this competitive format. You are probably correct that this would push people to choose more obvious choices during that 7 week period - but that's the point. I feel we've been leaning a little too hard into more obscure personal picks, and we'll still be spending 75% of our time doing those personal weeks with my suggestion. I would also likely remove the AM Bot if we did this, since that was more of a band-aid while this feels more authentic in representing our own idea of the classics.

Another suggestion, as an alternative to going 20 weeks and then 7 weeks, would be to integrate the two cycles. As in, we could do 3 personal weeks in a row, then a single competitive week, then 3 more personal weeks, and so on. We would have a 27 week cycle instead of a 21 week cycle, but everyone would have 1 guaranteed album among their choices and a chance at a second within each cycle. So that would look something like:
Johnbobb
VeryInsane
FoolFantastic
3 randomly determined users
Seanchan
Giggsalot
RyoCaliente
3 randomly determined users

I think having one guaranteed competitive match each month would help - I like exploring new music, but it starts to be too much if we have several unknown records in a row. I occasionally need a breather week where it's something familiar that I can take a deeper look at.

If I did use this idea, I would want to start it after Raetsel's next week (as MetalmindStats was the first in our user cycle when we transitioned, I think, and it's only fair to finish out the current cycle). The personal cycle would remain the same, but I would randomize the competitive cycle each time so different users face off.

I don't want to be too restrictive on who can nominate - I just think the combo of not really participating and also choosing what will obviously be a controversial theme is an odd mix.

Which, I've been contemplating an alternative method for nominations, which maybe I could alternate between the current method and this other idea. Maybe every other cycle, instead of everyone getting a week, everyone gets a single nomination for a three-way vote. That way, people have to choose albums they think will beat out other's choices. This will stop what sometimes feels like forced weeks. Especially if we start alternating between these two methods, this second format would be quicker while still keeping our own personal weeks as we do now. I just think having a little more competition would be good for this.

I don't usually pay attention to producers, but Max Martin really has some insane credits. He wrote seven of the songs here and, surprise, they're the better half. This guy has had 25 #1 hits and feels like a connective thread of popular music since the late 90s - from Britney Spears, NSYNC, and Backstreet Boys through tons of Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd hits. Backstreet Boys are absolutely a manufactured product, but the people doing that manufacturing know what they are doing.

But mainstream pop like this really only works in short bursts and listening through a full album borders on unbearable. But, hey, not my least favorite of the albums we have covered!

my ranking:
I Want It That Way
Larger Than Life
It's Gotta Be You
Don't Want You Back
The One
Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely
Don't Wanna Lose You Now
The Perfect Fan
I Need You Tonight
No One Else Comes Close
Back to Your Heart
Spanish Eyes

That average rank gap is insane. I wonder what if any albums would beat Master of Puppets in this set-up - it feels like the perfect bridge between metal and non-metal fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8b88US-6ts

2. Faith No More - Angel Dust (1992)
Win-Loss-Tie: 21-3-0 (Score: 21)
Average Rank: 9.33/25
Top Three Tracks: Midlife Crisis, Everything's Ruined, Land of Sunshine

Individual Rankings:
neonreaper: 1
VeryInsane: 1
HBJDubs: 5
FoolFantastic: 7
Raetsel_Lapin: 7
Snake5555555555: 8
BlueCrystalTear: 9
MetalmindStats: 22
Seanchan: 24

BlueCrystalTear: Would have been top 5 if not for a pair of tracks I really, really didn't like. But everything else was awesome.

Snake5555555555: ITS PERFECT, YES, ITS TRUE.

Seanchan: I just did not enjoy this album. Its hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that rubbed me the wrong way, I just know this was a chore to get through. I guess I kind of liked the cover of Easy, but its so tonally different from the rest of the album it hardly even counts, in my mind.

MetalmindStats: An eclectic album with a genuinely transgressive beating heart derived from its routinely subversive songwriting. Its an admirable approach, one which feels like it stands alone among the many metal(-adjacent) albums of this cycle, with all due respect to genre-defining Master of Puppets. Still, theres something melodically missing from a record I respect but am still not sure if I like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ozmU9cJDg

1. Metallica - Master of Puppets (1986)
Win-Loss-Tie: 24-0-0 (Score: 24)
Average Rank: 7.04/25
Top Three Tracks: Master of Puppets, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Disposable Heroes

Individual Rankings:
Seanchan: 1
Snake5555555555: 1
FoolFantastic: 2
HBJDubs: 2
neonreaper: 4
Johnbobb: 5/23
MetalmindStats: 10
VeryInsane: 10
BlueCrystalTear: 11
Raetsel_Lapin: 24

BlueCrystalTear: Instrumentation alone. The kickass riffs. I still remember the majesty of "Orion" alone. A couple parts of screaminess, but I don't remember minding it as much after a few listens. There's a reason Metallica are leaders in their genre.

Snake5555555555: Ive said my piece on it. Its probably my favorite album of all time.

Johnbobb: This is the only album of this contest that I have on a t-shirt so I guess I'm kinda obligated to rank it in at least the top 10 huh

Seanchan: Quite possibly the definitive Metallica album. Certainly the one Ive gone back to the most over the years. But then again, after re-listening to this, I dove back into Ride the Lightning and And Justice for All andyeahthose are pretty damn good too! (Maybe even better???). Overall, just a juggernaut of an album.

MetalmindStats: The first two-thirds at times feels like the dictionary definition of the word awesome, chock full of crunchy riffs and catchy hooks alike in songs that usually succeed at being about something more than themselves. But Leper Messiah buries a bunch of that energy, never to be truly retrieved again, and so I like rather than love Master of Puppets as a whole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTXPUF4Oz4

3. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)
Win-Loss-Tie: 19-2-3 (Score: 20.5)
Average Rank: 9.75/25
Top Three Tracks: In the End, Papercut, Points of Authority

Individual Rankings:
Snake5555555555: 2
HBJDubs: 4
Raetsel_Lapin: 5
neonreaper: 6
Johnbobb: 7
MetalmindStats: 7
VeryInsane: 13
Seanchan: 15
FoolFantastic: 17
BlueCrystalTear: 21

Snake5555555555: Im not sure I can point to a single other album that shaped my musical taste as much as this one. I can probably sing and mime the instruments of this album front to back without even listening to it. Its a part of me. And it still sounds SO good.

Johnbobb: Would've absolutely been a contender for #1 when I was in high school.

Seanchan: One of the albums I loved as a late teen that I was hesitant about going back to, because its such a product of its time period. Theres a lot of angst and emotion here that doesnt really hit the way that it used to (and why would it to a 30+ year old), but at the same time, I cant pretend that theres not some good stuff here. Or maybe its just hitting those nostalgia centers and making me think its better than it is.

MetalmindStats: Rather like Rumours for a new generation, Hybrid Theory makes the best out of its melding-of-the-popular-genres conceit via continually on-point production, catchy hooks juxtaposed against impressive instrumentals, and the intricately balanced interplay of its vocalists. Indeed, even the way Bennington and Shinoda distill the formers interpersonal troubles and turmoil comes off to me as a Hybrid Theory of its own, with often relatable results which all the repetition really works to reinforce. Again akin to Rumours, I find it flows just a bit better when not intently focused on, but these songs always seem to slip under my skin anyways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZfcZEIo6Bw

4. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee (2021)
Win-Loss-Tie: 19-4-1 (Score: 19.5)
Average Rank: 9.67/25
Top Three Tracks: Be Sweet, Paprika, Posing in Bondage

Individual Rankings:
VeryInsane: 2
FoolFantastic: 5
BlueCrystalTear: 6
Johnbobb: 9/23
Raetsel_Lapin: 10
Seanchan: 10
HBJDubs: 11
MetalmindStats: 11
Snake5555555555: 13
neonreaper: 19

BlueCrystalTear: This one was the surprise. Love some quality bubbly pop!

Snake5555555555: Be Sweet will never leave my head for as long as I live. Oh yeah, and the rest of the album is amazing too.

Johnbobb: Maybe this will go down over time but I am still currently so head over heels for the first two tracks

Seanchan: Another pleasant surprise of this cycle. I had no idea what to expect going in, and what I got was an eminently listenable piece of pop. I am to understand that the upbeat tone belies some of the more somber messages of the lyrics but Im practically lyric blind sometimes so I didnt quite catch that.

MetalmindStats: Jubilee has sumptuous soundscapes paired with sonorous singing enriched by strong songwriting, but it doesnt entirely stick with me. I find opener Paprika characteristic in that it would pretty much be the perfect Disney princess song if only it were catchier. Then again, I firmly believe pop should be under no obligation to foster hooks, and yet that feels more than a little like the missing piece here.

Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg

5. Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987)
Win-Loss-Tie: 16-4-4 (Score: 18)
Average Rank: 10.5/25
Top Three Tracks: Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Rocket Queen

Individual Rankings:
BlueCrystalTear: 1
Seanchan: 2
neonreaper: 3
Snake5555555555: 6
FoolFantastic: 12
HBJDubs: 12
Johnbobb: 12/23
Raetsel_Lapin: 13
VeryInsane: 18
MetalmindStats: 25

BlueCrystalTear: One of my favorite albums ever. Period. End of story. Every track is a banger and it's so fun every time.

Snake5555555555: God damn how is this shit so good?

Johnbobb: I'm really not a fan of hair metal in general, with only a few exceptions. Guns N Roses is absolutely one of those exceptions, and I'm really sad I didn't get in a track ranking for this.

Seanchan: Tremendous from start to finish. Theres the 3 big singles but even beyond that, theres not really a bad song here.

MetalmindStats: I guess Im just the outlier, because theres precious little I like here and lots I dont at all. Honestly, Appetite for Destruction repels me, and Ill leave it at that.

I'm really curious what people will think of black midi

Silent Shout, Third, and now Hellfire have me convinced I should just be nominating the harshest non-metal I know every time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqqRx77T4Vo

6. Dream Theater - Images and Words (1992)
Win-Loss-Tie: 15-3-6 (Score: 18)
Average Rank: 10.63/25
Top Three Tracks: Metropolis - Part 1, Learning to Live, Surrounded

Individual Rankings:
HBJDubs: 1
Johnbobb: 4
BlueCrystalTear: 5
neonreaper: 5
Seanchan: 5
FoolFantastic: 14
MetalmindStats: 16
Snake5555555555: 16
Raetsel_Lapin: 20
VeryInsane: 20

Snake5555555555: A solid, occasionally jaw-dropping, debut by one of the best progressive metal bands of all time. Theres no denying this bands musical proficiency and willingness to not be pigeonholed, but this is a band that would only get better from here.

Johnbobb: Ok yes it's great now give me Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory to really steal that top spot

Seanchan: Id listened to some random Dream Theater songs back in college but for whatever reason never really got into them, despite liking a lot of artists of a similar prog metal sound. So this one wasnt a surprise as much as it was a head slap. Dream Theaters got a great singer that really matches the big, epic, almost operatic tone of this album. And I know that this isnt even considered their best!

MetalmindStats: Its sonic bombast, self-serious lyrical sweep, and simply its songs length all render it fittingly larger than life. The effect is very performative, and its a performance its performers clearly believe in wholeheartedly, but that and its technical prowess typically substitute for more than add to my emotional engagement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIRNdveLnJI

7. Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Win-Loss-Tie: 15-3-6 (Score: 18)
Average Rank: 11.16/25
Top Three Tracks: Afterlife, A Little Piece of Heaven, Almost Easy

Individual Rankings:
HBJDubs: 3
Raetsel_Lapin: 3
Seanchan: 3
Snake5555555555: 4
MetalmindStats: 6
Johnbobb: 8
neonreaper: 14
BlueCrystalTear: 20
FoolFantastic: 25
VeryInsane: 25

BlueCrystalTear: I remember one song that was really good (the country-rock "Dear God") and one song that was outright unlistenable ("Critical Acclaim"). I guess the average plays out to put it outside my bottom five.

Snake5555555555: About as well-composed as a modern metal band can be. Avenged Sevenfold produces some of the catchiest songs this side of rock, with a sense of pure aggression, impressively progressive riffs and song structure, and a flair for the creative as seen on their magnum opus, Little Piece of Heaven.

Johnbobb: Might've been a contender for #1 when I was in high school.

Seanchan: Metal is such an odd bird for me with these rankings. Its seemingly either love (Master of Puppets, Powerslave) or hate (Crack the Skye, Palimpsest (spoilers for next ranking...)). This self-titled album was one of the big surprises for me of this cycle. Much like Powerslave, this was another case of why the hell didnt I know about this?!?. Its as catchy as metal can get, with fun riffs, good singing, and some sometimes goofy lyrics. Hell, even the more slow/country songs are good! Metal sometimes has a problem of songs sounding kind of same-y but thats not the case here.

MetalmindStats: I mean yes, the singings distinctive aspect is admittedly Shadows divisive raspiness, the songwritings distinctive aspect is admittedly its failure to be about anything much in practice, and the admittedly effective sonics distinctive aspects are missing. That makes it a sort of hollow experience, yes, but a highly enjoyable one for me, and not even emotionally empty, either. In a flippant sentence, popcorn cinema can be pretty phenomenal too, and this album feels a lot like metals equivalent thereof.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBcdt6DsLQA

8. The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)
Win-Loss-Tie: 15-5-4 (Score: 17)
Average Rank: 10.95/25
Top Three Tracks: In My Life, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Nowhere Man

Individual Rankings:
Raetsel_Lapin: 1
FoolFantastic: 6
Seanchan: 6
VeryInsane: 6
MetalmindStats: 12
neonreaper: 12
BlueCrystalTear: 15
Snake5555555555: 15
HBJDubs: 17
Johnbobb: 18

BlueCrystalTear: The mid-60s problem of all tracks being 3 minutes or less is part of why this is so low. The Beatles really started to push the envelope with track length after this album and Revolver, but the shortness of each track in turn makes them forgettable when compiled. It's still the Beatles, though.

Snake5555555555: Yeah its The Beatles. Yeah, theyre amazing. This isnt a personal favorite Beatles album or anything, but this is still a solid catalog of songs nonetheless. Its not as flashy as later works, or as instantly catchy as prior works, but what is here is just a good batch of folk tunes you can listen to at practically any time.

Johnbobb: Of all the potential Beatles albums, I truly don't understand how this was the 2nd one picked after Abbey Road. Sgt. Pepper was right there.

Seanchan: I mean, its The Beatles, so its hard to go wrong. Its no Abbey Road, but what is? An album of songs that have been seared into my brain. So much so that I had a hard time ranking this, as it was often hard to say really, your ranking this ABOVE the frickin Beatles?!?.

MetalmindStats: Its the Beatles, which breeds built-in expectations. In this case, as masterful musicians, the Fab Four enliven simplistic subjects and structures into ditties fun via familiarity, helping form the foundation of decades of future pop in the process.

LiquidOshawott posted...

Genuinely curious if the person who nominated this is going to rank it

They haven't participated since Guns n Roses nearly three months ago.

Like, when we did Spice, it was at least by group consensus during our initial rules, so it was a funny oddball choice. This, on the other hand, was essentially forced onto us by someone who has barely participated. It really rubs me the wrong way for someone to do this while not bothering to check out anyone else's choices. Obviously, there are other people in the cycle who aren't really participating, but I think others would largely vouch for their choices.

Just looking at RYM, I think the lowest album we tackled before was Avenged Sevenfold with a 2.80/5 average (Spice has a 2.88). Millennium is all the way down at a 2.33. That's a massive drop.

up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=razzBeBLDG4

9. Opeth - Damnation (2003)
Win-Loss-Tie: 14-8-2 (Score: 15)
Average Rank: 11.94/25
Top Three Tracks: In My Time of Need, Windowpane, To Rid the Disease

Individual Rankings:
neonreaper: 2
VeryInsane: 7
MetalmindStats: 8
Seanchan: 8
HBJDubs: 10
Snake5555555555: 14
BlueCrystalTear: 17
Johnbobb: 17
Raetsel_Lapin: 17
FoolFantastic: 18

Snake5555555555: Not Opeths best, but the more accessible prog rock styling that usurped prog death creates a more intimate and depressing experience thats hard not to get sucked in by.

Johnbobb: Entirely good, but not particularly memorable

Seanchan: That statement earlier about metal finds the natural exception here, with this being just a like from me. I always knew Opeth as an unclean vocal death metal band, and so though Id heard a song or two, it wasnt a sound I particularly cared for. Damnation then was a real left turn, with clean vocals and a much more mellow, melodic sound. I could say its maybe a little bit one note, but when its played this well that doesnt matter. Also, its a short album that doesnt overstay its welcome.

MetalmindStats: For mature melancholy, look no further - and like most people, sometimes I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me. Here, that seems steeped in a subtle sort of solemnity, one which its compositions and kerfeldts delivery alike almost always honor. Otherwise, its difficult to describe what draws me to Damnation, though its consistent sound and the emotions it evokes make it a kind of contemplative counterpart to Hybrid Theory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbJeiWYFrio

10. Portishead - Third (2008)
Win-Loss-Tie: 12-6-6 (Score: 15)
Average Rank: 12.18/25
Top Three Tracks: Machine Gun, The Rip, We Carry On

Individual Rankings:
MetalmindStats: 1
FoolFantastic: 3
VeryInsane: 3
HBJDubs: 7
Johnbobb: 10
Snake5555555555: 12
BlueCrystalTear: 14
Raetsel_Lapin: 21
neonreaper: 25
Seanchan: 25

BlueCrystalTear: One of the weirdest things I've ever listened to. I both love and hate it for that, but that's why I remember it.

Snake5555555555: Man I wish I had time to rank this one at the time. Its beats feel anxious, its vocals horror inducing, and dissonant cut-ins are heart-pounding and shocking.

Johnbobb: I forgot what this was upon looking at the name but then I listened to a single track off of it and it all clicked again. Great album. Kind of what I wanted Black Marble to be.

Seanchan: Third is an enormously moody and atmospheric album. Its also slow and depressing, the exact antithesis of the generally upbeat and energetic albums that form the top of my rankings. In short, this album was a huge bummer for me that felt like it was sucking my energy away. Easily my least favorite album of this cycle.

MetalmindStats: Comprised of challenging, complex compositions and often overwhelming soundscapes to occupy the mind juxtaposed against Gibbons phenomenally direct vocals and achingly personal lyrics in variable proportions, with results that to me both are instantly enthralling and reward repeated exploration. Spectacularly successful at coalescing into a congruent whole, one thats never anything less than completely indescribable, completely itself and completely considered in all its absolute anomalousness and anomie alike. Yet all those words feel entirely like folly, because how could they ever encompass any significant amount of Thirds essence?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWJE0x7T4Q

11. Peter Gabriel - So (1986)
Win-Loss-Tie: 12-8-4 (Score: 14)
Average Rank: 11.74/25
Top Three Tracks: Sledgehammer, In Your Eyes, Red Rain

Individual Rankings:
MetalmindStats: 2
Raetsel_Lapin: 2
HBJDubs: 9
BlueCrystalTear: 10
FoolFantastic: 10
VeryInsane: 11
neonreaper: 13
Johnbobb: 16/23
Snake5555555555: 21
Seanchan: 22

BlueCrystalTear: If the last two tracks weren't so bizarre to the point that they got rough on repeated listens, this would also have been several spots higher. The highs are pretty high!

Snake5555555555: Beautifully produced and meticulously arranged, though with no blemishes a full listen can feel sort of plain. Still, give me that Kate Bush feature any day of the week, and Sledgehammer will always be a fun one.

Johnbobb: Didn't get to participate in the ranking itself despite listening through it, but I'm absolutely going to try and contribute here and ensure Peter Gabriel stays below Phil Collins, on principle.

Seanchan: EIGHTIES!!!!! This album is so screamingly 1980s its ridiculous. Its also an album with a pretty strong split between songs I like, songs I think are okay, and songs that I did not like. The singles, such as Sledgehammer and In Your Eyes are great but the bottom tier is so bizarre that it really brings the album down for me.

MetalmindStats: What makes this patchwork of pretty yet disparate pieces sing to me as a coherent record is also its central genius: the way it unifies the 80s mainstream Western, world, and art music movements, distilling them all into a paragon of their individual parts. Meanwhile, Sos soul is found in Gabriels musical and lyrical craftsmanship. It all adds up to an album of phenomenal ambition delivered on in a way indicative of a mature, accomplished artist, simultaneously comfortingly familiar and creatively abstract.

bump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osdoLjUNFnA

12. Taylor Swift - Folklore (2020)
Win-Loss-Tie: 10-9-5 (Score: 12.5)
Average Rank: 12.59/25
Top Three Tracks: Exile, Cardigan, The Last Great American Dynasty

Individual Rankings:
MetalmindStats: 3
Raetsel_Lapin: 6
VeryInsane: 8
FoolFantastic: 9
Snake5555555555: 9
BlueCrystalTear: 13
neonreaper: 15
Seanchan: 16
HBJDubs: 23
Johnbobb: 22/23

BlueCrystalTear: Would be four spots higher had it been 2-3 songs shorter. It's A-okay to have a dark and introspective album but making it too long makes it tiring to listen to. (Best track: "This Is Me Trying" - one of my top 5 tracks from this batch)

Snake5555555555: Some of the most emotionally beautiful tracks Swift has ever written. A huge leap in maturity though Folklore certainly suffers from a lack of catchiness and brattiness I so adore in her first few albums. I think Evermore struck a more comfortable balance but if someone were to call Folklore Swifts best album - I wouldnt necessarily argue. Its clearly the work of a masterful songwriter proving why shes the best and most fearless voice in pop music right now.

Johnbobb: It was way better than Speak Now but Speak Now was probably my least favorite album of the first 75 so take that how you will.

Seanchan: Its too long but this one did grow on me a bit in subsequent listens. Of note, Ive continued to enjoy the song Exile, and have found myself going back to that particular track many times since we ranked this album.

MetalmindStats: I had originally intended to comment on my most recent folklore listen and all my accumulated thoughts about its various aspects, but I failed to fashion said sentiments into coherent sentences every time I tried. Only what I had hoped would simply be my closing statement made it out of that mess, so here it is: Much like a traditional folklorists tales, I might find the specifics of the stories Swift and her team tell here sort of ephemeral, but I think Ill never forget the feelings this latest telling of them evoked in me and that alone makes me want to adore folklore forevermore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BciS5krYL80

13. Eagles - Hotel California (1976)
Win-Loss-Tie: 7-10-7 (Score: 10.5)
Average Rank: 13.57/25
Top Three Tracks: Hotel California, Life in the Fast Lane, Wasted Time

Individual Rankings:
BlueCrystalTear: 4
neonreaper: 8
FoolFantastic: 11
Snake5555555555: 11
Seanchan: 13
HBJDubs: 14
Raetsel_Lapin: 14
MetalmindStats: 18
Johnbobb: 20/23
VeryInsane: 21

Snake5555555555: Yes it has its weak spots in the second half, but to kick off an album with THREE all-timers, well, this album is undeniable. The lyricism is amazing and the guitar and drum work is always tasty.

Johnbobb: This is an album I bet my mom really likes

Seanchan: Its(more than) a bit reductive to say that its the title track and then everything else butits kind of true for me? Hotel California is a tremendous single that casts a monstrous shadow over the rest of the album, and does the bulk of the work on carrying this album up my rankings.

MetalmindStats: It starts and finishes in fine style, to say the least - too bad about the muddled middle. The resulting record is often compelling, but for me, it fails to live up to its towering critical and popular stature or to Henleys sweeping concept-album ambitions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-iepu3EtyE

14. System of a Down - Toxicity (2001)
Win-Loss-Tie: 6-11-7 (Score: 9.5)
Average Rank: 13.85/25
Top Three Tracks: Aerials, Chop Suey!, Toxicity

Individual Rankings:
Snake5555555555: 3
HBJDubs: 6
Johnbobb: 6
neonreaper: 7
VeryInsane: 12
FoolFantastic: 13
MetalmindStats: 21
Seanchan: 21
BlueCrystalTear: 24
Raetsel_Lapin: 25

BlueCrystalTear: Fuck. The. Screaming.

Snake5555555555: I first heard Chop Suey in my dads car in 2002. I still listen to it 20 years later. I still listen to this whole fucking album front to back 20 years on. Its weird, its wonky, its hard-hitting, I still feel like theres very little like it to this day.

Johnbobb: see my write-ups for Avenged Sevenfold and Linkin Park because this is basically the same, yeah

Seanchan: I said this at track ranking time and Ill say it again, this is just a sound that no longer appeals to me. I enjoyed it, and System of a Down in general, when I was in college but its hard for me to revisit.

MetalmindStats: I struggle to take this album seriously, yet that actually strengthens its fun factor much of the time. A structure built on short bursts of sound that bounce between disparate subjects serves it well as such, but with fourteen of those songs, excessive repetition still leads me down the path of diminishing returns.

I will probably give this a spin solely for future Rank the Album purposes but I don't feel like putting in any more effort than that.

I should be more disappointed in Love landing so low but I did not expect it to be a hit here - I'm just happy someone other than me got perhaps the most obscure album in my personal top 20 into this! Now, if only Giggsalot voted in this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01yUzXQctcM

15. Mos Def - Black on Both Sides (1999)
Win-Loss-Tie: 6-11-7 (Score: 9.5)
Average Rank: 13.9/25
Top Three Tracks: Ms. Fat Booty, Mathematics, UMI Says

Individual Rankings:
Johnbobb: 1/23
VeryInsane: 5
FoolFantastic: 8
Seanchan: 12
MetalmindStats: 14
HBJDubs: 18
neonreaper: 18
Raetsel_Lapin: 18
Snake5555555555: 22
BlueCrystalTear: 23

BlueCrystalTear: This is not my thing at all. Is it good? Sure. Is it something I can listen to? Not really. I tried.

Snake5555555555: It feels a little too long and the style gets grating for me personally, still theres some damn good lyricism to be found here and I do love some of the beats.

Johnbobb: A couple years ago, I realized I didn't know much from the 90s rap scene (largely due to growing up white and suburban with a dad that loved jazz & country and a mom that loved 70s music) and made the effort to go through and listen through like 30 of the most iconic albums of the era. My absolute favorite of the bunch was Enter the Wu-Tang (which I nominated what has to be a year ago now), but Mos Def was a very close second, and was probably the best straight lyricist of the bunch.

Seanchan: Im not big on rap, but this was better than I expected. Theres some good lyricism and a lot of catchy beats. The sheer variety on display here also helps mask the length of the album.

MetalmindStats: A quite consistently (but for me, not quite spectacularly) compelling record with segments of standout songwriting embedded within the strong rhythmic + narrative flow it sustains at length.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdAzl3sOwmY

16. Miracle Musical - Hawaii: Part II (2012)
Win-Loss-Tie: 4-10-10 (Score: 9)
Average Rank: 14.12/25
Top Three Tracks: Labyrinth, The Mind Electric, Isle Unto Thyself

Individual Rankings:
Johnbobb: 3/23
MetalmindStats: 4
Snake5555555555: 10
Seanchan: 11
Raetsel_Lapin: 15
VeryInsane: 15
BlueCrystalTear: 18
neonreaper: 21
FoolFantastic: 22
HBJDubs: 22

BlueCrystalTear: Genre is very much "Other." Nothing can really describe this and its mood changes, not to mention the sdrawkcab gniklat track. That's a gimmick that's really only intriguing the first time, before you figure it out.

Snake5555555555: Im so fucking glad albums like this are nominated for this series. Love how it combines retro sounds with modern techniques and the themes of the album are just incredible.

Johnbobb: Being the weirdest album by a mile in this grouping really elevated its status here imo

Seanchan: This has to be the oddest album we covered this cycle. But because of that, it stands out and is memorable, much the same way Rain Dogs was in the last ranking cycle.

MetalmindStats: A spectacularly melodic show of an album, one that whizzes dandily along in a retrofuturistic-feeling potpourri of distinct pieces, and that nonetheless turns totally coherent in context, notably finishing right where it starts. The end result entirely sweeps me along with its contributors effervescent energy and evident enthusiasm, transporting me to a resonant if fleeting place in headspace, one which I wish to revisit over and over again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2QdDbelmY

17. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003)
Win-Loss-Tie: 7-14-3 (Score: 8.5)
Average Rank: 14.39/25
Top Three Tracks: Seven Nation Army, Ball and Biscuit, Girl You Have No Faith in Medicine

Individual Rankings:
FoolFantastic: 4
BlueCrystalTear: 7
VeryInsane: 9
Johnbobb: 11/23
Raetsel_Lapin: 16
MetalmindStats: 17
neonreaper: 17
Seanchan: 17
Snake5555555555: 20
HBJDubs: 25

Snake5555555555: The White Stripes is one of those bands I like putting on one song at a time and enjoying a good tune. As an album, it gets drowned out in itself. Really great singles though.

Johnbobb: There are so many albums in this section that I liked but where I liked other albums by the same band more than the one nominated (see: Phil Collins, Dream Theater, The Beatles... ok maybe it's not that many but 4 in 25 still feels significant)

Seanchan: Im just so ambivalent on this album. Its listenable but not something Id seek out to listen to. Its the same way Ive felt about all those White Stripes singles over the years, so I guess its no surprise Ive the same feeling about a full length album.

MetalmindStats: Plays like an affectionate yet knowing deconstruction of the 90s indie alt-rock wave that wears its 60s rock inspirations - restricted toolkit included - on its sleeve. However, the catchy, punchy, technically accomplished outcome is characteristic of something altogether novel. Elephant isnt quite consistently memorable, and it sometimes seems to slip into a sort of smug, self-congratulatory tone, but at least its simultaneously classy and rollicking big single (which I previously underrated) justifies that type of hype.

up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPbNpIG8x_s

18. Love - Forever Changes (1967)
Win-Loss-Tie: 8-16-0 (Score: 8)
Average Rank: 14.67/25
Top Three Tracks: Alone Again Or, You Set the Scene, A House is Not a Motel

Individual Rankings:
FoolFantastic: 1
VeryInsane: 4
neonreaper: 10
Seanchan: 14
MetalmindStats: 15
Snake5555555555: 19
BlueCrystalTear: 22
Raetsel_Lapin: 23
HBJDubs: 24

BlueCrystalTear: Apparently I listened to this. I don't remember ANYTHING. Not even track names! Looking at the Wiki... I called them "a forgettable mid-tier bar band." I guess that really holds. They were so forgettable, I forgot to rank them after two listens!

Snake5555555555: Its obviously a good album, but it doesnt feel as timeless as other 60s works. Thats okay as its swerving experimentation keeps things interesting throughout. Just loses out to other albums on here since this is a pretty solid collection of records after all.

Seanchan: Its not The Beatles but its still pretty good for 60s rock. Its an easy album to forget about, but when you listen its yeah, theres some decent stuff here.

MetalmindStats: From my too-modern perspective: very pleasant, very accessible - maybe a little too quiet and inclined to fade into the background, but it clearly has more going on under that surface.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts

19. The Cranberries - No Need to Argue (1994)
Win-Loss-Tie: 5-13-6 (Score: 8)
Average Rank: 14.71/25
Top Three Tracks: Zombie, Ode to My Family, Yeat's Grave

Individual Rankings:
MetalmindStats: 5
neonreaper: 9
Raetsel_Lapin: 9
Johnbobb: 13/23
VeryInsane: 14
BlueCrystalTear: 16
Snake5555555555: 18
FoolFantastic: 19
HBJDubs: 20
Seanchan: 23

Snake5555555555: An album absolutely deserving of being in the 90s alt rock definitive canon. ORiordans vocals are beautiful and even occasionally reach gothically haunting heights, while a harder edge from the rest of the band brings things full circle to something gorgeously profound throughout.

Johnbobb: Zombie alone is probably enough to put this high-ish but beyond that it's just a really, really cool album.

Seanchan: Another album I dont have particularly strong feelings about. Its fine enough but it doesnt thrill me, which isnt really a fair criticism because this isnt the type of album thats trying to thrill. But thats just the way it goes sometimes.

MetalmindStats: ORiordans delivery drags out all the emotional energy of an exorcism on a record that gives me the impression all involved, ORiordan especially, needed to make it. Her figurative authorial voice features to its fullest too, with results that feel tightly bound around their central conceit and which render repetition crucial, both musically and lyrically. Some songs feel hollowed-out in the best way possible, while others could come off as being a bit histrionic in lesser hands, all in their consistent way helping make for a haunted yet wistful whole.

bump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkADj0TPrJA

20. Phil Collins - Face Value (1981)
Win-Loss-Tie: 5-16-3 (Score: 6.5)
Average Rank: 14.72/25
Top Three Tracks: In the Air Tonight, I Missed Again, Droned

Individual Rankings:
BlueCrystalTear: 3
Raetsel_Lapin: 8
neonreaper: 11
HBJDubs: 13
Johnbobb: 14/23
FoolFantastic: 15
VeryInsane: 17
Seanchan: 18
Snake5555555555: 23
MetalmindStats: 24

BlueCrystalTear: Also nominated this for a reason.

Snake5555555555: A pretty experimental record all things considered, and Phil Collins puts in solid effort as he does on all recordings. Its appropriately moody but feels occasionally lost in the sauce, a little directionless even if tracks like In The Air Tonight remind you why Phil Collins is a musical force to be reckoned with.

Johnbobb: I mean, it's not No Jacket Required, and it's certainly not Invisible Touch, but it's still Phil Collins and his beautiful voice.

Seanchan: I dont have any particularly strong feelings about this one. As an album, I enjoyed this more than So, even if it doesnt have as good of singles. Its mostly just a pleasant, fine listen, other than the bizarre Beatles cover that ends the album. That ones just a big miss for me.

MetalmindStats: The rest of this record is fine enough but feels conventional to a fault in spite of its solid components. I guess its a kind of talent to be able to conceal so many layers of vulnerability under such a middlebrow surface, but in this case, it doesnt leave me any less apathetic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8IbI626k8Y

21. Jack White - Fear of the Dawn (2022)
Win-Loss-Tie: 3-17-4 (Score: 5)
Average Rank: 16.03/25
Top Three Tracks: Taking Me Back, The White Raven, Shedding My Velvet

Individual Rankings:
Raetsel_Lapin: 4
MetalmindStats: 9
Seanchan: 9
Johnbobb: 15/23
neonreaper: 16
VeryInsane: 16
FoolFantastic: 20
HBJDubs: 21
Snake5555555555: 24
BlueCrystalTear: 25

BlueCrystalTear: Absolutely awful. Hated every second of this that I managed to get through.

Snake5555555555: Cant go wrong with some Jack White, if you want solid guitar work and good old fashioned rock, you can do worse. Still, what makes it stand out? Not much honestly.

Johnbobb: Very pleasant surprise, mostly because I loved The White Stripes and didn't care at all for Lazarus. Good to see Jack White find his solo niche.

Seanchan: I was worried about this one, as I wasnt a big fan of Elephant, the White Stripes album we covered that features Jack White. Imagine my shock when this was a very different, more edgy/hard/electronic sound that really appealed to me.

MetalmindStats: Whites voice as a singer-songwriter effectively unites sticky verses and persistent melodies with weighty guitar and even dashes of experimental electronica. The results, both viscerally satisfying and technically accomplished, turn that scattershot approach into a virtue. Somethings missing for me to truly embrace this album, though, and perhaps its a certain emotional connection, one that its apparently piecemeal philosophy impedes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OU7SktlXfA

22. blink-182 - Enema of the State (1999)
Win-Loss-Tie: 2-16-6 (Score: 5)
Average Rank: 16.48/25
Top Three Tracks: What's My Age Again?, Adam's Song, Don't Leave Me

Individual Rankings:
Seanchan: 4
Snake5555555555: 7
BlueCrystalTear: 12
FoolFantastic: 16
HBJDubs: 16
Raetsel_Lapin: 19
neonreaper: 22
Johnbobb: 21/23
VeryInsane: 23
MetalmindStats: 23

Snake5555555555: A truly amazing piece of pop songwriting here. I mean I have my own personal favorites I think are better of course, but can anyone objectively say pop punk has ever been done better than this right here? There are no skips, and honestly the lyrics can be pretty smart in a slacker suburban kid sort of way - like when a dumb friend says something profound on accident. Super fun.

Johnbobb: Probably the definition of memorable singles and a forgettable track list beyond that.

Seanchan: I was a big fan of blink during my 15-25 year old period, which also coincides with their heyday. Enema is just perfect pop-punk for me. Catchy, fun, sometimes juvenile and silly, but with enough heart that it manages to avoid being kitschy.

MetalmindStats: I originally found the repetitious refrain of I time bomb that ends Enema of the State ludicrous to the point of laughter. Now it feels more like the manifesto of a record thats often remarkably perceptive and personal, plus plain enjoyable in places - albeit permanently a product of its time. Its sophomoric, somewhat misogynistic surface still puts me off, but Ive come to realize that its smarts lie under that skin.

My choices this week are my top 3* albums of 2022 (*my actual #3 is not eligible since the band shares a violinist with my #1). The top 2 both look likely to crack my all-time top 50, so this has been a very good year for me. Unfortunately, all three of these choices have their positive and negative aspects in regards to this game.

BCNRs Ants From Up There: If I had to make a bold prediction, in a few years this will be treated like this generations Funeral, a sweeping epic that seemingly defies genre. Right now, this gets lumped into the post-rock category, but I think that has more to do with the obvious influences of their debut album. Its already looking to crack my top 10 favorite albums, which has not been done since Kendrick Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly back in 2015. The problem being that, with the way it transcends easy genre categorization, its difficult to put into words what makes this so special.

Lets first consider the elephant in the room for those aware of the record BCNRs lead vocalist left the group a week before this album came out citing unbearable anxiety over performing. This is ultimately a breakup album, and one that finds a way to capture indescribable emotions with complex sounds. Yet this is far from a downer outside of one particular track everything here feels larger than life.

Pros: absolutely one of the best albums ever made
Cons: the complexity of its sound meant it took me a dozen listens to really get it

Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqy6WPSfZSA

Big Thiefs Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You: Of these three, this is the most immediately accessible album on a sonic level this is a rather straightforward indie folk rock album. Unlike the two previous folk albums we have covered, the notable element here is that every track feels like it is drawing from a distinct part of the genre few tracks sound anything alike. The only problem here is that this is Big Thief doing their very own take on The White Album 20 tracks over the course of 80 minutes with unpredictable stylistic shifts. But unlike the White Album, every track is legitimately great (hence it cracking my all-time top 50).

Pros: the most accessible sound this week
Cons: 20 tracks and 80 minutes long

Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnatkV_92Bw

black midis Hellfire: The harshest of the three choices RateYourMusic categorizes this as Brutal Avant-Prog. Basically, imagine the most violent Prog Rock album known to man. Back when we did Avenged Sevenfold, I admitted to not caring for mainstream metal because it sells itself on a certain level of aggression that doesnt actually feel that aggressive to me. This fulfills that aggressive desire, an album of pure chaos and destruction. It also takes several detours from that harshness. While my first two cracked my top 50, this is looking to land closer to my 300-400 range still great but a fair step down (but one I suspect certain others here might love even more than I do).

Pros: the sound should appeal to those who prefer harder music, also shorter than the other two
Cons: the sound will almost certainly turn away a few regulars

Sample song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuCUCb2jn9Q

Sucker Punch track ranking

12. Business Dinners (Track #10)
Score: 29 (Average Rank: 10.1/12)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): ZaziGuado, Seanchan, Snake5555555555 (#12)

11. Level Up (Track #6)
Score: 37 (Average Rank: 9.4/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, HBJDubs, BlueCrystalTear, MetalmindStats (#12)

10. Basic (Track #3)
Score: 54 (Average Rank: 8/12)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, Johnbobb (#12)

Johnbobb: okay this one I did dislike

9. Sight of You (Track #7)
Score: 55 (Average Rank: 7.7/12)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): VeryInsane (#12)

8. Never Mine (Track #11)
Score: 59 (Average Rank: 7.5/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats (#10)

7. Dynamite (Track #12)
Score: 74 (Average Rank: 6.1/12)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#10)

6. In Vain (Track #8)
Score: 77 (Average Rank: 6/12)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#11)

5. Mine Right Now (Track #2)
Score: 82 (Average Rank: 5.5/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Snake5555555555 (#10)

4. Don't Feel Like Crying (Track #5)
Score: 89 (Average Rank: 4.8/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, ZaziGuado (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic (#10)

3. Sucker Punch (Track #1)
Score: 92 (Average Rank: 4.7/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555 (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#10)

2. Don't Kill My Vibe (Track #9)
Score: 94 (Average Rank: 4.5/12)
Biggest Fan(s): ZaziGuado, Seanchan (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#10)

1. Strangers (Track #4)
Score: 108 (Average Rank: 3.7/12)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, VeryInsane (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): BlueCrystalTear (#10)

Sigrid - Sucker Punch results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
VeryInsane (14)
ZaziGuado (16)
Seanchan (22)
Snake5555555555 (26)
FoolFantastic (28)
MetalmindStats (32)
Johnbobb (34)
BlueCrystalTear (40)
HBJDubs (42)
Raetsel_Lapin (42)

General Album Comments

Seanchan: OH MY GOD IS THIS ALBUM SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR! Just nice easy, approachable pop. So much more my speed after the last 2 weeks. Im going to make the easy comparison and say it reminded me of Lorde a bit.

HBJDubs: No strong feelings for any song in particular, album is okay. Probably need more time listening to see if something can get me hooked in

Johnbobb: Still not super vibing with this one, for what is probably the 4th week in a row unfortunately (La Dispute was solid but nowhere near like RATM and Elton John before it). Now that it's bad by any means; Sigrid has a lovely voice, but a lot of it just feels a little too generic poppy. Great vocals over okay beats and kinda bland lyrics that put a catchy beat above all else. Again, I'm being a little harsher than I need to. I didn't dislike it, and definitely bobbed my head to it more than once, but it's not one I'd put on my playlist.

Also it reminds me just a little too much of Natalie Portman's vague pop singer character in Vox Lux
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbIEiac-0PY

BlueCrystalTear: I think we definitely needed something like this. Light, catchy bubblegum pop to help balance the redundant instrumentation of the last couple weeks. The songs here are somewhat more variant - only somewhat, since these songs fall into one of three buckets, buckets that have slight overlap. I happened to enjoy the "string section" bucket the best, alongside "In Vain."

ZaziGuado: Sigrid was only 22 when this album dropped and I think the most impressive thing about it is how she is able to sing and perform in such a self-assured and infectious manner from such a young age. Sucker Punch doesn't revolutionize the pop sound and the material is pretty by the book. Sigrid simply shows that she is able to do this as well as any current pop artist.

Seanchan: I'm going to echo a lot of others sentiments here when I say that this is just the definition of poppy pop. And I'm totally fine with that, especially after the last few weeks, because that's a type of music I tend to like. And I enjoyed this, but only to the level of "like". Ultimately though, I feel like this is going to be one of those super ephemeral albums that's completely enjoyable in the moment but leaves no lasting mark.

To put it another way (and I'm casting my eyes towards next week's BSB album), Sigrid is an artist you'd find hanging out on the lower end of TRL's Top 10. Maybe you'd see one of her songs spike up to 4-5 after she appeared on the show, but not someone who would be fighting with BSB/NSync/Britney/Christina for that top spot. It's an album that's derivative of an era, not defining it.

Snake5555555555: Sigrid's Sucker Punch features brash and moody themes that she likes to infuse with a dose of nostalgia. However, a lot of the songs blend together too easily making the overall experience a confusing one. Decent choruses and some pretty vocals are present, but Sucker Punch becomes too forgettable as the songs become repetitive. Sigrid has the flair for merging music and emotion, but the music doesn't make quite a full impact on me, and the album becomes a big letdown because I feel Sigrid has the potential to do so much more.

MetalmindStats (responding to Seanchan): I'm not sure I entirely agree with this, certainly at least in as much as Sucker Punch feels a lot less manufactured to me than I'd expect from those comparisons. Perhaps that's simply because I seem to like it more than most of us do, though.

FoolFantastic: I've been slacking off with my comments, but I do want to say that, of the handful of albums I have had no exposure to before their week, Sucker Punch has been my favorite. It's very much a modern pop album and can't escape a ton of easy comparisons, but it's still solidly good throughout. Other artists have been referenced, but the one I kept thinking of is Olivia Rodrigo - and this gets the benefit of having released first.

ZaziGuado: I think what helps make Sigrid stand out is that while she sings about heartbreak (as all pop artists do), she does it without a ton of angst. It's a manner of "yeah this sucks but onwards and upwards", y'know?

Seanchan (responding to MetalmindStats): I should clarify that I'm not making any judgement on talent versus those late 90s artists. Certainly there is many times only a tangential relationship between talent and popularity/success. I don't know if Sigrid is also the songwriter for her music like Lorde or Swift. It's not something I usually pay attention to, though people usually let you know when the pop singer is also the songwriter.

I guess my feeling is that Sucker Punch isn't anything..."special". I'm not super big on Lorde but I know she's held in high regard for that general time of pop. I think Future Nostalgia is likely to stand the test of time and be regarded as a classic of the era. I could totally be wrong about Sigrid/Sucker Punch though! Who knows!

I hate that this all makes me sound much more negative than my feelings on the album. I've not listened to next week's album yet but I'm skeptical that I will enjoy it more than this one.

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

The rules:
1. Listen to the album in full
2. Rank every track on the album
3. For the results, there will be a curve at the top of each list; two additional points between #1 and #2, and one additional point for the next two ranks. This way, the songs that really stick out to someone get an edge that is not immediately negated by someone else putting it lower. In the case of Demon Days, someone's 15th track will get 1 point, 14th 2 points, 4th 12 points, 3rd 14 points, 2nd 16 points, and 1st 19 points. For albums with greater than 15 tracks, everything ranked below #15 will be given 0 points and the scale for the top 15 will be the same as a 15-track album. For albums with more than 20 tracks, you only have to list your top 15 (with 16-20, I still like having the average rank listed)
4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results
5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic
6. The deadline to vote is Sunday, October 2 at 8:00 AM EST - though if you are for whatever reason listening to the album around that time, just say so in the topic and I can delay a bit
7. You can sign up to be added to the user cycle - the next person on the list will choose 3 albums which the other users will vote on for the next topic.
7a. To ensure people are being given an actual choice, the three nominated albums must be by different artists. You can otherwise stick to a similar sound or era.
7b. The tiebreaker for these polls will be whichever is listed first in the poll options - make sure to deliver the results in order of your own preference (which will hopefully have the added benefit of influencing people toward your first choice if they can't decide).
7c. I have added a tiered vote structure - the least popular album will be removed and its backup votes distributed to the other two entrants.
8. The Acclaimed Music Bot will take the top album from the three highest ranked artists on Acclaimed Music who have not yet appeared. On the week before, people can argue for an alternative album by those three artists.

Backstreet Boys - Millennium track list:
1. Larger Than Life
2. I Want It That Way
3. Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely
4. It's Gotta Be You
5. I Need You Tonight
6. Don't Want You Back
7. Don't Wanna Lose You Now
8. The One
9. Back to Your Heart
10. Spanish Eyes
11. No One Else Comes Close
12. The Perfect Fan

User Cycle:
10/02: Johnbobb (Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses)
10/09: VeryInsane (Nas - Illmatic)
10/16: FoolFantastic
10/23: Seanchan
10/30: Giggsalot
11/06: RyoCaliente
11/13: darkx
11/20: neonreaper
11/27: Great_Paul
12/04: jcgamer107
12/11: ChichiriMuyo
12/18: BlueCrystalTear
12/25: MetalmindStats
1/1: Acclaimed Music Bot
1/8: HBJDubs
1/15: Raetsel_Lapin
1/22: Steiner
1/29: Snake5555555555
2/5: Jesse_Custer
2/12: ZaziGuado
2/19: firefdr

I've been slacking off with my comments, but I do want to say that, of the handful of albums I have had no exposure* to before their week, Sucker Punch has been my favorite. It's very much a modern pop album and can't escape a ton of easy comparisons, but it's still solidly good throughout. Other artists have been referenced, but the one I kept thinking of is Olivia Rodrigo - and this gets the benefit of having released first.

*Er, I just checked and noticed "Don't Kill My Vibe" is in the Acclaimed Music Top 10,000 song list - considering I have gone through that full list, I must have listened to it at some point and forgot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=550Igkb5hmw
23. Black Marble - It's Immaterial (2016)
Win-Loss-Tie: 4-18-2 (Score: 5)
Average Rank: 16.8/25
Top Three Tracks: Self Guided Tours, A Million Billion Stars, It's Conditional

Individual Rankings:
Snake5555555555: 5
Raetsel_Lapin: 12
MetalmindStats: 13
HBJDubs: 15
BlueCrystalTear: 19
Seanchan: 19
VeryInsane: 19
neonreaper: 20
FoolFantastic: 21
Johnbobb: 23/23

BlueCrystalTear: I remember this being one of those "It feels like one track" albums, and yet it being good despite that. However, nothing stands out in either direction. This is in my "mixed bag" tier because of its nature.

Snake5555555555: Moody and packed to the brim with feeling, Black Marbles effort here is undeniable. Its a personal favorite choice - as judged by its lukewarm reactions in the topic I almost feel like its an album made specifically for me and my tastes alone. I know thats not true, but still, awash in its dreamy vocals and subdued synths, its an album I can close my eyes to at any time and get whisked away into a land of pure bliss and nostalgic sadness.

Johnbobb: Ok enough, if not one I'd listen to more. Kinda feels like The Cure, but not quite as iconic.

Seanchan: Theres such a dreamy, almost ethereal quality to this album. Or maybe its that it feels like it was recorded on the other side of a thin wall and were getting only 80% of the soundl. I dont know. I feel like I was so close to really liking this but theres just some thing or element thats missing.

MetalmindStats: For some odd reason, I felt a wave of nostalgia coming from it. Is ita spirit? I sense the presence of spirits.

MetalmindStats posted...

Oh huh, I guess you didn't write comments for at least some of these, Fool?

It's also interesting to see how even the lowest-ranked albums have their strong supporters. Seeing how they're simply outnumbered kind of makes me wonder if Third's days are numbered, for one thing...

Sorry, I've been exhausted from the artist poll I hosted on another forum. I wanted everything in the top 100 there to have a write-up, and I filled in the gaps so I am kind of burned out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKCb4t_gH0o
24. VAST - Visual Audio Sensory Theater (1998)
Win-Loss-Tie: 0-19-5 (Score: 2.5)
Average Rank: 16.61/25
Top Three Tracks: Dirty Hole, I'm Dying, You

Individual Rankings:
Johnbobb: 2/23
BlueCrystalTear: 8
HBJDubs: 8
Snake5555555555: 17
MetalmindStats: 19
Seanchan: 20
Raetsel_Lapin: 22
VeryInsane: 22
FoolFantastic: 24
neonreaper: 24

Snake5555555555: Though the tracks blend in with one another, the album has such a strong sound that I dont even mind.

Johnbobb: I still cannot believe someone that wasn't me nominated this album

Seanchan: I appreciate some of the artistry here but something about this just did not click with me.

MetalmindStats: Its singular soundscapes seem to soar against a sort of basement-dwelling milieu, or at least thats my best attempt at describing this album. The effect intrigues me at first, only to wear out much of its initial interest over time.

In case anyone has this tagged, the results are being posted here:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80176920