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| Topic | ~ BCT's Epic 169 Movie Watch-Through (mostly '00s): Topic 1 [THE LIST] ~ |
| MetalmindStats 12/28/22 11:33:41 PM #111 | Sorry I haven't commented in a while... I'm glad you enjoyed all the acclaimed 2000s Pixar movies so much, though! BlueCrystalTear posted... (Metalmind, please let me know how you want me to handle the Toy Story movies, as Toy Story 3 is the next Pixar)I think, since none of the Toy Story movies came out in the 2000s, they're all exempt from what I was going for with my nominations. With that in mind, since I have two nominations, I'll just nominate both Toy Story and Toy Story 3 to cover my bases for whichever option you'd rather go with. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 10/08/22 4:31:40 AM #78 | I finally finished our compatibility scores: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rwCnoOWgY4Kb-D6h83qxvuSktyN4aav0yKup37QUbq8/edit?usp=sharing Sorry this took me so long; I guess I get why others typically wait until rankings end before calculating these now, but I still should have done better. At any rate, thank you to all of you who participated in Rank the Albums Volume 3, and especially to Fool for putting forth so much effort to compile, calculate, and post our cumulative rankings. I enjoyed participating and following along, and I hope as many of you as possible also did. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 10/01/22 3:57:20 AM #74 | Snake5555555555 posted... Wow I really like that Rumours comparison!Thank you! I truly surprised myself by taking that tack, and I was worried I would take some flak for it. Perhaps Hybrid Theory will even undergo a Rumours-like critical reevaluation to match its popular stature someday, though I think that would depend on the tastemakers ever warming to its genre mix and general songwriting approach. In other news, I outright expected Master of Puppets to win from the start, and I doubt I was the only one. It's just too bad Raetsel loses out yet again as a result. Such a convincing victory is certainly impressive, but I'm even more impressed Rumours had a superior average ranking from two more rankers amidst a more contentious slate. --- Final Outlier Scores (ranked according to average scores per ranking) BlueCrystalTear: 196 (from 25 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 194 (from 25 rankings) MetalmindStats: 182 (from 25 rankings) Johnbobb: 157.7 (from 23 rankings) Seanchan: 162 (from 25 rankings) VeryInsane: 147 (from 25 rankings) FoolFantastic: 138 (from 25 rankings) Snake5555555555: 134 (from 25 rankings) HBJDubs: 131 (from 25 rankings) neonreaper: 120 (from 25 rankings) I recalculated Johnbobb's total using exact numbers to reset any possible accumulation of rounding error. ...Turns out it was way more than enough to put the rest of my math in question. Thus, I've recalculated everyone else's totals, too, and I even made a few more errors for good measure, ugh. I'll try to update our compatibility scores later tonight and/or tomorrow, but for now, have some random top/bottom 5-related factoids:
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/29/22 8:36:39 PM #56 | Aw, I was hoping the ranks today would stop at sixth so we could have a day to predict the top five, and admittedly also because updating our compatibility scores has proven pretty time-consuming. Speaking of which, I'll predict that the remaining albums rank as follows: Master of Puppets > Angel Dust > Jubilee > Hybrid Theory. Also, this latest discussion is telling me that I'd either really like or really not like Bat Out of Hell, with zero in-between. Though I've realized I ought to walk back the tone of my Appetite for Destruction write-up, because I definitely didn't hate that album - I even kind of enjoyed Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child O' Mine - so sorry for my harshness there. --- Outlier Scores as of Rank 5 (ranked according to average scores per ranking) Johnbobb: 151.56 (from 20 rankings) BlueCrystalTear: 159 (from 21 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 158 (from 21 rankings) MetalmindStats: 142 (from 21 rankings) VeryInsane: 126 (from 21 rankings) Seanchan: 121 (from 21 rankings) HBJDubs: 119 (from 21 rankings) Snake5555555555: 118 (from 21 rankings) FoolFantastic: 117 (from 21 rankings) neonreaper: 98 (from 21 rankings) Clearly, some of us enjoyed the populist metal grouping (...well, Hybrid Theory is still in this) more than others. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/29/22 2:58:51 AM #45 | It's still the Beatles, though. Yeah its The Beatles. I mean, its The Beatles Its the Beatlesnice Also, I guess that confirms Jubilee as the winner of the non-metal potluck this time around! --- Outlier Scores as of Rank 8 (ranked according to average scores per ranking) Johnbobb: 140.17 (from 17 rankings) BlueCrystalTear: 141 (from 18 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 132 (from 18 rankings) Seanchan: 113 (from 18 rankings) MetalmindStats: 111 (from 18 rankings) Snake5555555555: 104 (from 18 rankings) HBJDubs: 103 (from 18 rankings) neonreaper: 88 (from 18 rankings) FoolFantastic: 84 (from 18 rankings) VeryInsane: 79 (from 18 rankings) -- In compatibility score news, Raetsel and I have diverged quite a bit due to today's drops, whereas Fool and VI remain closely tied together. The rest are all here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rwCnoOWgY4Kb-D6h83qxvuSktyN4aav0yKup37QUbq8/edit?usp=sharing --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 82: Backstreet Boys - Millennium (+ Sigrid results) |
| MetalmindStats 09/29/22 12:34:12 AM #19 | IMO, we have a bit of a recurring problem with getting non-regulars to show up beyond their weeks (or at all if they don't have weeks of their own), though maybe I'm merely still sad Goodbye Yellow Brick Road lacked any crossover appeal. On that note, while what we have and what we've seen this week don't feel great to me, I really don't think the selection's disingenuous or anything like that - and I think multiple of us will wind up liking Millennium besides its nominator, at least. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about isolating RYM scores as indicative of an issue when Avenged Sevenfold has at least reached our top eight in Rank the Albums Volume 3. If it is indeed a problem in need of a solution, however, perhaps we could impose a new rule kicking out users from the queue if they don't show up to rank their album? This would be on the basis that a user who nominated an album should theoretically know it well enough to throw together a five-minute track ranking even if that's all they have the time for, though I worry about the lack of leniency that would allow for schedules and memory and the like. Also, I personally haven't known two of my three albums well enough to rank their tracks on impulse, for what that's worth. ...In fact, since it more-or-less relates to the above proposal, I should say now that I'll probably be unable to make the first Acclaimed Music Bot week (which of course, I was a major supporter of) due to a planned trip. ~~~ I went back thinking surely I won't find this as bad the second time around, right? - and indeed, it wasnt nearly, though that's perhaps largely by design.
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | September Game of the Month Club Replay featuring Portal |
| MetalmindStats 09/28/22 7:15:02 PM #29 | WickIebee posted... Oh man, if this would be on Steam, the two of us can struggle together, ahaha~It would indeed be on Steam! --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/28/22 3:21:28 PM #43 | Snake5555555555 posted... Thanks for doing this, it's cool to see!I just like data too much (and have too much free time), idk. Speaking of which, Outlier Scores as of Rank 9 (ranked according to average scores per ranking) BlueCrystalTear: 134 (from 17 rankings) Johnbobb: 120.6 (from 16 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 125 (from 17 rankings) Seanchan: 111 (from 17 rankings) MetalmindStats: 107 (from 17 rankings) Snake5555555555: 97 (from 17 rankings) HBJDubs: 94 (from 17 rankings) FoolFantastic: 82 (from 17 rankings) neonreaper: 84 (from 17 rankings) VeryInsane: 77 (from 17 rankings) I also forgot to mention last night that Hotel California -> folklore marked a very sudden shift between albums with losing track records and albums with winning track records. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/28/22 6:31:24 AM #36 | Very pleasantly surprised to see So finish that high - and well, I guess we've answered the question of it versus Face Value! On the other hand, I was hopeful folklore could reach the top ten, though it's understandable; I was probably the most predisposed towards it in the first place. Now watch as Third completes the conga line of my favorites first thing tomorrow, and then perhaps Avenged Sevenfold will drop right after >_> ...Anyways, it should be interesting to see whether neonreaper or HBJDubs keeps their entire top five in the running longer. --- Outlier Scores as of Rank 11 (ranked according to average scores per ranking) BlueCrystalTear: 122 (from 15 rankings) Johnbobb: 110.25 (from 14 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 106 (from 15 rankings) MetalmindStats: 97 (from 15 rankings) Seanchan: 95 (from 15 rankings) HBJDubs: 90 (from 15 rankings) Snake5555555555: 90 (from 15 rankings) VeryInsane: 68 (from 15 rankings) FoolFantastic: 66 (from 15 rankings) neonreaper: 62 (from 15 rankings) I thought Hotel California would be the last album to drop tonight and so waited, whoops. Also, you can find our compatibility scores here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rwCnoOWgY4Kb-D6h83qxvuSktyN4aav0yKup37QUbq8/edit?usp=sharing It's simply a much more conducive format to presenting them, I feel. Click on your own tab if you're after your own compatibility scores or click all the way through if you want to see it all. Also, please tell me if you'd prefer a different short version of your username. I'll keep updating and posting this with the outliers and citing some notable data points, though. Speaking of which, the current most compatible pair is FoolFantastic and VeryInsane - no surprise there - with a mere 3.6-rank average difference, while the current least compatible pair is Johnbobb and Raetsel_Lapin, with an 11.66-rank average difference. Meanwhile, neonreaper's average deviation is the lowest at the moment, whereas BlueCrystalTear's average deviation is presently the highest. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/27/22 4:54:23 PM #31 | Outlier Scores as of Rank 15 (ranked according to average scores per ranking) BlueCrystalTear: 101 (from 11 rankings) Johnbobb: 75.73 (from 10 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 79 (from 11 rankings) Seanchan: 74 (from 11 rankings) HBJDubs: 68 (from 11 rankings) MetalmindStats: 67 (from 11 rankings) Snake5555555555: 64 (from 11 rankings) FoolFantastic: 59 (from 11 rankings) VeryInsane: 54 (from 11 rankings) neonreaper: 45 (from 11 rankings) All that, and BCT's lead still looks unimpeachable! --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/27/22 7:44:15 AM #26 | Johnbobb posted... aw man was hoping to see that make the top 10Same, though I always figured it was highly unlikely. Look at all those ties, though! --- Outlier Scores as of Rank 16 (ranked according to average scores per ranking) BlueCrystalTear: 93 (from 10 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 76 (from 10 rankings) Seanchan: 71 (from 10 rankings) Johnbobb: 61.82 (from 9 rankings) MetalmindStats: 66 (from 10 rankings) HBJDubs: 65 (from 10 rankings) Snake5555555555: 57 (from 10 rankings) FoolFantastic: 52 (from 10 rankings) VeryInsane: 44 (from 10 rankings) neonreaper: 42 (from 10 rankings) It clearly would be unwise to make any more compatibility score-related promises, so I'll just present them once they're done. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 82: Backstreet Boys - Millennium (+ Sigrid results) |
| MetalmindStats 09/27/22 6:48:15 AM #10 | Re the Sucker Punch conversation, I would like to clarify that 'manufactured' was the descriptor I used to contrast for lack of a better way to put it. I think a more ideal way to put my point would be that it feels like Sigrid and her team made that album to realize her vision first and foremost, rather than to reach the big time above all. I do agree that it's pretty much another solid contemporary pop album, as opposed to something spectacular a la Future Nostalgia and Melodrama (not that the latter's particularly alike). Anyways, that discussion actually segues decently into this week's ...transparently commercial effort. Maybe you all would have expected me to enjoy it, especially if I hadn't said anything last week, but as of now, I'm not sure I'll bother with my standard three spins. Incidentally, we were tackling Spice at this exact time last year, which I feel is a far better example of designed-to-succeed pop, at least at the moment. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | ~ BCT's Epic 169 Movie Watch-Through (mostly '00s): Topic 1 [THE LIST] ~ |
| MetalmindStats 09/27/22 3:27:10 AM #43 | I keep forgetting to comment, oops. Anyways... I've actually seen most of these movies so far, which will not become a recurring theme for me! My own nomination is of course my favorite of those (all except Reservoir Dogs), though I have some highly subjective, difficult-to-describe quibbles that stop me from liking Monsters, Inc. as much as you do - and I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! I mainly went for it because I felt it would be fitting for you to watch the acclaimed 2000s Pixar movies in order to get a sense of how CG animation advanced during the decade, both technically speaking and in terms of plots/themes/etc. With that in mind, I'd now like to nominate Finding Nemo. Also, I know this discussion is old by now, but I absolutely agree that Shaun of the Dead stands on its own. As Snake said, you hardly have to watched anything with zombies in it to have a more than fair shot at enjoying it - in fact, I don't think I personally had ever seen a zombie-focused movie, TV show, or the like going in. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | September Game of the Month Club Replay featuring Portal |
| MetalmindStats 09/27/22 2:51:15 AM #24 | Oh wow, my original playthrough of Portal 2 made it my very first game beaten for the main GotM. I'm interested in potentially going through the coop mode with one of you next month, though my partner would have to not mind my lack of puzzle-solving skills. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/27/22 12:14:57 AM #23 | I was definitely expecting Elephant to drop any time now, yup. Forever Changes isn't surprising, either, even if I'm probably permanently giving it short shrift here - for example, it's also one of the few albums in this ranking I've listened to less than four times, alongside Appetite for Destruction and Face Value. It's also the first top spot to drop, ouch; most of the rest should be in good stead pretty much up to our top ten at least, except Black on Both Sides and Third, which are both already on watch in my estimation. On another note, there's eight metal-adjacent albums here by my count (factoring in Opeth's history), none of which have dropped yet. That's about one third, and we've already lost a full majority of the other two thirds a similar third of the way through the ranking. That's in addition to the participation boosts six of those eight produced in their respective Rank the Tracks weeks - mostly from non-regulars, but it's interesting and maybe even instructive to see us regulars reaffirming those sentiments right here. With all that in mind, I don't even see an obvious contender for top spot among all the other genres, and conversely, I also don't see any obvious metal-adjacent choice to drop right about now. I'd certainly expect to find one or two of the latter outside our top ten - maybe Avenged Sevenfold and Toxicity? - but probably no more than that at this point. --- Outlier Scores as of Rank 17 (ranked according to average scores per ranking) BlueCrystalTear: 91 (from 9 rankings) Raetsel_Lapin: 75 (from 9 rankings) Seanchan: 66 (from 9 rankings) HBJDubs: 59 (from 9 rankings) Johnbobb: 49.08 (from 8 rankings) MetalmindStats: 54 (from 9 rankings) Snake5555555555: 51 (from 9 rankings) FoolFantastic: 46 (from 9 rankings) VeryInsane: 43 (from 9 rankings) neonreaper: 37 (from 9 rankings) I should finally be able to compile our compatibility scores later tonight. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | [BAME] Final: Spirited Away vs. The Lion King |
| MetalmindStats 09/26/22 11:57:20 PM #39 | Spirited --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/26/22 7:25:01 PM #20 | Darn, this isn't really surprising, but I was still hoping No Need to Argue could last at least a bit longer. At least we generally seemed to like it, though that's probably true of all the albums past this point too. --- Outlier Scores as of Rank 19 BlueCrystalTear: 77 Raetsel_Lapin: 69 Seanchan: 62 MetalmindStats: 51 Snake5555555555: 47 HBJDubs: 45 Johnbobb: 44.34 neonreaper: 29 VeryInsane: 21 FoolFantastic: 16 --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/25/22 10:37:33 PM #18 | Seanchan posted... BOOO at blink so low! You guys hate fun ;)What can I say, this was a real tough cohort to merely be decent in. I surprised even myself by enjoying and getting enough out of my time that I could put forth such a positive write-up, not to mention being much closer to outright liking it than outright disliking it. And hmm, I wonder if the next album will have a major points advantage over Face Value. --- Outlier Scores as of Rank 20 BlueCrystalTear: 74 Raetsel_Lapin: 59 Seanchan: 58 Snake5555555555: 46 HBJDubs: 44 Johnbobb: 39.47 MetalmindStats: 37 neonreaper: 19 VeryInsane: 16 FoolFantastic: 16 My calculations got interrupted halfway through, so hopefully the above is correct. Also, I'm unfortunately still too busy to provide our compatibility scores at the moment. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 81: Sigrid - Sucker Punch (+ La Dispute results) |
| MetalmindStats 09/25/22 7:21:02 AM #28 |
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.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. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/25/22 6:52:32 AM #11 | FoolFantastic posted... 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.Ah ok, I imagine that must have been an awful lot of work. No need to apologize, and I in turn am sorry for potentially making you feel obligated or bad for missing them or any such thing. And thank you for hosting Rank the Albums too! --- Anyways, something I didn't think to do last time but want to now: calculate everyone's outlier scores. I divided Johnbobb's rankings by 23, then multiplied them by the full 25 (and rounded to two decimal places) in order to render them equivalent to everyone else's. Outlier Scores BlueCrystalTear: 39 Johnbobb: 27.17 HBJDubs: 23 Seanchan: 22 Raetsel_Lapin: 16 MetalmindStats: 10 Snake5555555555: 7 VeryInsane: 3 FoolFantastic: 2 neonreaper: 2 I'd also like to calculate our compatibility scores, but that's obviously way more work, and I've lacked the time tonight. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Volume 3: Results |
| MetalmindStats 09/24/22 10:52:56 PM #9 | 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... --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 09/24/22 10:50:42 PM #68 | BlueCrystalTear posted... (Y'know what, that's fair enough. I promise I too am disappointed I unexpectedly didn't like Face Value, and uh, maybe I shouldn't have commented on Appetite for Destruction, but I figured I should give some sort of explanation. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 09/24/22 7:05:16 AM #63 | 11) Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee: 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. 12) The Beatles - Rubber Soul: 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. 13) Black Marble - Its Immaterial: For some odd reason, I felt a wave of nostalgia coming from it. Is ita spirit? I sense the presence of spirits. 14) Yasiin Bey - Black on Both Sides: 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. 15) Love - Forever Changes: 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. 16) Dream Theater - Images and Words: 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. 17) The White Stripes - Elephant: 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. 18) Eagles - Hotel California: 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. 19) VAST - Visual Audio Sensory Theater: 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. 20) Sunspot - Singularity: Sure, Singularity is highly inconsistent - only partly by design - and it never really reaches any great heights. But I find most of it endearing, even sort of enduring in its easy-breezy enjoyability anyways. 21) System of a Down - Toxicity: 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. 22) Faith No More - Angel Dust: 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. 23) blink-182 - Enema of the State: 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. 24) Phil Collins - Face Value: 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. 25) Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction: 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. Of course, the above comments are terribly insubstantial, as with anything I post almost by definition. Additionally, theyre strictly my opinions, and as with last time, Im likely to have said some utterly stupid things as part of that. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 09/24/22 7:05:11 AM #62 | Sorry this took me so long to finish up yet again. 1) Portishead - Third: 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? 2) Peter Gabriel - So: 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. 3) Taylor Swift - folklore: 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. 4) Miracle Musical - Hawaii: Part II: 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. 5) The Cranberries - No Need to Argue: 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. 6) Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold: 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. 7) Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory: 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. 8) Opeth - Damnation: 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. 9) Jack White - Fear of the Dawn: 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. 10) Metallica - Master of Puppets: 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. This divide is arbitrary and doesn't have a ton to do with my opinions about these albums, but ah well. An overwhelming majority of them fall into the greater 'like yet not quite love' range for me, which makes this slate rather worse than the last one towards the top but a big improvement on the bottom and to a lesser extent the middle. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | September Game of the Month Club Replay featuring Portal |
| MetalmindStats 09/22/22 8:26:52 AM #14 | I just recently finished my Portal replay. I got into it to a much greater extent this time, also allowing me to more fully appreciate aspects like its much-discussed characterization and game design. For that, I'm sure GLaD (ahem) this topic encouraged me to return to the well, even if it's not quite a newfound favorite of mine. I'll nominate Super Mario 64 and hold off on my second for now. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 80: La Dispute's Rooms of the House (+Palimpsest results) |
| MetalmindStats 09/18/22 6:03:08 AM #22 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 09/16/22 6:13:43 AM #47 | I have five write-ups left to finish before I post my ranking, most of which I feel warrant quite a bit of improvement. As such, I could post with comments by the end of the day tomorrow, but this delay should help me too. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | ~ BCT's Epic 169 Movie Watch-Through (mostly '00s): Topic 1 [THE LIST] ~ |
| MetalmindStats 09/16/22 2:06:51 AM #6 | I guess my nominations will be: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Monsters, Inc. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Shaun of the Dead Spirited Away I wish you luck with this project, and hopefully you'll enjoy it! --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 79: Protest the Hero's Palimpsest (+ Ataris results) |
| MetalmindStats 09/11/22 3:37:43 AM #35 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 09/10/22 3:39:59 AM #38 | MetalmindStats posted... but at any rate, I guess Johnbobb and VeryInsane will be the swing votes.Wow, I completely forgot HBJDubs, I'm sorry. Hopefully Jesse_Custer and/or Snake5555555555 will participate too. Anyways, I see Third's Rate Your Music rating distribution appears to be normal too, so point taken. I thought Third was obviously divisive - even if just on account of a small yet vocal minority - given factors such as our reactions and its deliberately unusual sound in general, but I guess not. I had misremembered Silent Shout being much more controversial for us than it actually was, which doesn't help matters, since I tend to mentally associate the two albums with each other. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 09/09/22 10:59:04 PM #36 | FoolFantastic posted... Yeah, I was including your inevitable last place vote in my statement.Were you also including my inevitable *first* place vote in your statement? >_> ...To be fair, I really don't know how obvious I've actually made that, but at any rate, I guess Johnbobb and VeryInsane will be the swing votes. I'm not even that big on VGM, either! I take it the music forum vote you referenced is comprised of something like top-ten lists, though? If so, that format naturally favors an album as divisive as Third relative to ours, even if a majority of its listeners overall are likely on the favorable side of that divide. Also, your three favorite albums of 2022 all sound compelling to me, and I'm already looking forward to that slate! --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | ATTN: Movie buffs: What are the 10 most definitive films of the 2000s decade? |
| MetalmindStats 09/09/22 12:34:53 AM #29 | When I hear your question, what comes to mind first is impact during the decade itself (admittedly an inherently biased metric), with a side of lasting pop-cultural position and perception. As such, my choices based on those criteria are, in alphabetical order: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Finding Nemo Gladiator Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Shrek Spider-Man Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith The Dark Knight The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring I would quite like to shout out my (reasonably well-known) favorites instead, but ah well. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 09/07/22 12:05:00 AM #26 | 80% bump. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 78: The Ataris' So Long, Astoria (+RATM results) |
| MetalmindStats 09/04/22 5:06:56 AM #55 |
Also, before I forget again, perhaps the next two OPs could have links to the Rank the Albums topic (with reminders that there's no need to listen to the whole list), or maybe separate posts would work better? --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | ask me anything and I'll ask you anything |
| MetalmindStats 09/01/22 3:53:28 AM #55 | Sorry this reply is so late! It's a bad habit of mine that I really ought to work on. FarmFox posted... Cool! What animals do you take care of?Mostly the many chickens and other similar birds my family has rescued over the years. It can be exhausting, but it's certainly rewarding too! FarmFox posted... I usually listen to rock/metal and their subgenres. I like a lot of different genres, but rock/metal is my #1.That's cool! Rock and metal aren't my personal favorite genres (ironically enough), but I do often enjoy them. Now that's an interesting question - while the 80s are my favorite decade for music in general, most of my favorite artists went by solo billing and/or didn't get started in the 80s. My answer isn't very interesting, though; Tears for Fears is my favorite band in general, with a hefty nostalgia assist in that they've shaped my tastes in music. To me, their entire 80s output (and even some beyond) is golden. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 78: The Ataris' So Long, Astoria (+RATM results) |
| MetalmindStats 09/01/22 2:58:06 AM #34 | FoolFantastic posted... Miles Davis is actually a good reason not to use the pure album ranking - the artists who perform notably better there than in the song list usually have a clear reason. Davis, for example, tends to only have a handful of songs on each album. His big one, Kind of Blue, has only 5 tracks, each near 10 minutes long.Oh huh, that's something I probably should have known before making that statement but didn't, my bad. Personally, I'm all for that sort of ranking challenge (and Davis will eventually come up anyways even if we elect to tackle a different album), but based on, e.g., Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, you're probably right that it's not a good idea. Thank you for laying that out for me. FoolFantastic posted... I would probably cycle through the artists. Maybe I could go three artists at a time, and when we eventually reach a certain number (#100, probably), I would cycle back to the beginning. That way, we don't have certain artists clogging up the feed, but everyone still gets a second chance eventually. And, either way, this bot will only be coming up, what, 2.5 times a year?Anyways yes, I very much approve of this, which pretty much solves the repetition problems I mentioned in my previous post. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 78: The Ataris' So Long, Astoria (+RATM results) |
| MetalmindStats 08/30/22 12:44:13 AM #16 | BlueCrystalTear posted... Could you arrange it so it never has the same album twice in a row? That's really the only issue I see with this. We'll keep getting the same albums again and again until they're covered, and I'd think adding some variable to allow for a little more variety would be huge.I agree with this, and personally I'd go a lot further by giving each artist only one shot at Acclaimed Music coverage. However, I'm happy with any solution that doesn't produce persistent repetition of artists who've already won an Acclaimed Music poll or albums that've already had their shot at the same. Also, since this series is about the albums we cover first and foremost (to paraphrase Fool's words from before), I think the Acclaimed Music poll should tackle artists in album rank order, as opposed to overall rank order. This wouldn't impact the first poll, but for example, Miles Davis (as opposed to Bruce Springsteen) would crop up immediately afterwards if we cycled out winning artists. Johnbobb posted... I like this idea. There have definitely been times I've wanted to nominate stuff like Green Day's American Idiot or Pearl Jam's Ten but haven't because I know they'd annihilate any other lesser known favorites I'd put against them in the pollNeither of those artists will actually come up via the Acclaimed Music poll for a very long time as things stand, even if we entirely swap out each artist-slate as with my radical proposal above. IMO, the answer is to include those two alongside another similarly popular album you also really enjoy in one of your polls. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 08/29/22 11:37:45 PM #21 | Halfway bump. I've found these relistens very helpful for collecting my thoughts thus far, though the latest album might be a challenge. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 77: Rage Against the Machine (+ Elton John's GYBR results) |
| MetalmindStats 08/28/22 4:43:26 AM #34 | Fluttershy_Pony posted... I support people nominating whatever they want.This, plus such a slate would possibly play very well against my own subsequent slate, for a third time. Also, now that I'm looking back on my writeups, I should have given 'Saturday' some context, among other areas I can think of to expand. Oh well, on to this week! ---
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | ITT I Rate The Best Playable Appearance Of Every Smash Character |
| MetalmindStats 08/28/22 1:00:40 AM #190 | Yoshi, please and ty. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | ask me anything and I'll ask you anything |
| MetalmindStats 08/25/22 7:13:31 PM #26 | Oh hey, I was the new user around not so long ago by Board 8 standards. Welcome, and I hope you like it here! Speaking of which, it's really cool that you take care of rescue animals! I do, too, just not the same types - I can definitely relate to the bond you feel with them, though. My question, which I realize you've already touched on: What type(s) of music do you typically listen to? --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 08/21/22 5:56:07 PM #14 | 20% bump. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 76: Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (+ Singularity) |
| MetalmindStats 08/21/22 9:21:54 AM #32 | I've been a bit tardy with my own listens, so I decided it was inadvisable to get dramatic with my post's presentation in the way of Elton John himself. Anyways, I do finally feel ready to answer this: Seanchan posted... My question, is this considered his best album or is it more of a Beatles situation where theres multiple contenders?To quote Elton's official site, The determination of any musician's "best" album could be debated forever, but it can certainly be said that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is Elton John's most identifiable work, most popular studio recording and the anchor of his four-decade deep catalogue. To me, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is probably Elton's most impressive album. Im not exactly breaking any new ground in saying that the way it ebbs and flows, both narratively and instrumentally, its filmic production process, and that certain ineffable yet palpable spark of greatness all involved felt along the way all together contribute a phenomenally cinematic quality. It's a testament to the caliber of creativity and commitment heard here that this record feels like a concept album, however unintentional that is. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road also has the most songs I love among Elton John's discography. Its first six songs in particular make for maybe the most on-point half hour of an album ever, and then the way it steers off-track for a while in a series of sometimes meandering musical stories before summing it all up at the end is sure fitting. There are a couple interruptions in its consistency, I'll grant, but there's more of the singles that helped make me an Elton fan in the first place.
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 76: Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (+ Singularity) |
| MetalmindStats 08/20/22 8:35:04 PM #28 | The Bump of Danny Bailey (1909-1934) --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 76: Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (+ Singularity) |
| MetalmindStats 08/20/22 2:36:17 PM #27 | All the Girls Love Bumping --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Have you changed your username recently? |
| MetalmindStats 08/20/22 3:40:19 AM #45 | If I'd properly joined instead of deciding to merely lurk almost a decade ago, it probably would have been under this username. I'm still content with it after all these years, even though I've changed as a person. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 76: Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (+ Singularity) |
| MetalmindStats 08/20/22 1:15:37 AM #26 | Jamaica Bump-Off --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 76: Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (+ Singularity) |
| MetalmindStats 08/18/22 9:45:33 PM #19 | Bump in the Wind --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Albums Vol. 3: Ranking Thread (Deadline: September 16) |
| MetalmindStats 08/16/22 6:32:27 PM #7 | I'm working on my relistens and write-ups - might not be able to make the deadline as it stands, with only one album down so far, but still. --- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
| Topic | Rank the Tracks Week 75: Sunspot's Singularity (+ Cranberries results) |
| MetalmindStats 08/14/22 7:28:17 AM #39 |
--- "I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do." pronouns: she/her or they/them | never knows what to say |
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