LogFAQs > #969441355

Time for another double cut, where someone coincidentally loses two songs back-to-back. Also, two very consistent songs that have not any change in their score at all; their final placement has varied from other songs being moved around them, but they've both remained completely frozen in place.

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

#760: Dorian Electra - M'Lady (1:27):
https://open.spotify.com/track/2i9yWmgHVqWW1vmXtxUaN9?si=ad8ac79d44d14866

Nominator: Bane [36/38 Remaining]

Initial Score: 46.24
Revised Score: 46.24
Final Score: 46.24

(First Reaction: The other half of "Gentleman" which I should probably combine with this song (the official music video combines them, so they're very much meant to be act as one song), but I think I want to keep them separate because this song would just drag Gentleman's score down. M'Lady feels like an almost pointless song--it's tedious to get through and has virtually nothing to say about incel culture.

"You ever notice the way incels complain women won't have sex with them, but also think women are whores?? END OF SONG."

That's not really a song, it's just a statement Not even a controversial statement. And while this is meant to be the darker side to Gentleman, if anything, it's actually less dark? Gentleman features emotional manipulation, while the darkest thing here is calling someone (who may very well be an anime character or entirely imaginary) a whore. I'm not saying the song should end in sexual assault, murder, and/or suicide but if you want to show the "darker side" of things, then I need more than 'ooh, a bad word was said' and 'ooh, here's some heavy breathing'

On the plus side, the backing music is suitably dark. If this song were expanded with another verse where things got dark or something actually happened, it could easily be great. As is, I just find it all rather dull and full of wasted potential.)

Also starting almost every line of the song with M'Lady is exactly the type of repetition I'll complain about. The heavier industrial sound to the backing music is still nice, but the lyrics & repetition are such major turn-offs and the song so short that I'm not getting as much from this song as I'd like. It definitely does have its positive qualities though.

[Final Thoughts: Not a bad idea and I like the industrial feel, but if a song wants to be dark then there should be some darkness? And this is so short that it just kinda stops in a really anticlmactic way. Which is all the more reason to combine this with Gentleman, I suppose, but I remain pretty sure that I prefer Gentleman on its own merits instead of as part of a combo.]

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

-he will not divide us-

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

#759: Every Time I Die - Distress Rehearsal (3:13):
https://open.spotify.com/track/2RwKP8s03yrLtEGBmZ7Fb4?si=63d9e215005348d9

Nominator: Bane [35/38 Remaining]

Initial Score: 46.33
Revised Score: 46.33
Final Score: 46.33

(First Reaction: The first song from the album to fall below the 50 point line. It's also the closest thing to a happy or optimistic song on the album thus far, with lyrics about his heart healing and trying to cherish time. The fact that it's the lowest scoring song probably says a lot of negative things about me.

[Later: Turned out this was the only song from the album to score less than 50 points on the first listen, so that's neat.])

I wish I had more to say in regards to this song, but the only two relevant points are quite short. But if I space them out in numbered form, it looks longer and creates the illusion of paragraphs of text, when there's really only two fairly generic sentences, one of which was already stated.

1: I'm just not in the mood for a happy or optimistic song, so those types of songs are starting off on the wrong foot. There are always exceptions and it's not as simple as "I don't like songs with this sort of theme", but they have to do something to overcome the initial bias and this track doesn't.

2: It's one of the more intense and hardcore songs on the album. By itself that isn't entirely a bad thing (though several of the band's more intense offerings haven't historically done very well), but it feels at odds with the lyrics. If you want me to abandon negativity, embrace love, be healed by light, and learn to cherish the gift that is time then you need to illustrate the beauty of love. This song is not aurally beautiful, nor is it even making an attempt at such a thing. The power works for the first half of the song, in which he's obsessed with negativity and trapped in a loop of assuming the worst tragedies are inevitable... but then there's supposed to be this emotional breakthrough which doesn't really come through in the music.

Great lyrics as always and a fantastic concept for a song, more power to anyone this song helps (and I'm quite sure there are people it will help, who will find the hidden beauty within), but it's the albums one misstep for me.

[Final Thoughts: Embracing darkness is always worth extra points. Embracing the light isn't worth *negative* points, but it doesn't help the score either. Also, it's not relevant to the song, but I rather wish I had said "off on the wrong hoof" there on Point 1... I'm tempted to edit it, but I wasn't in a pony mood on that particular day, so I guess I'll leave the choice of wording as it is.

...also, I have no idea why we're openly spoiling that nothing else from this album falls below the 50 point line, but the rankings are almost up to that point anyway so I guess it's not much of a spoiler?]

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