Board 8 > Rank the Tracks Week 77: Rage Against the Machine (+ Elton John's GYBR results)

(+) Yeah! (+)

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, August 28 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.

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine track list:
1. Bombtrack
2. Killing in the Name
3. Take the Power Back
4. Settle for Nothing
5. Bullet in the Head
6. Know Your Enemy
7. Wake Up
8. Fistful of Steel
9. Township Rebellion
10. Freedom

User Cycle:
8/28: Raetsel_Lapin (The Ataris - So Long, Astoria)
9/04: Steiner (Protest the Hero - Palimpsest)
9/11: Snake5555555555
9/18: Jesse_Custer
9/25: ZaziGuado
10/02: firefdr
10/09: Johnbobb
10/16: VeryInsane
10/23: FoolFantastic
10/30: Seanchan
11/06: Giggsalot
11/13: RyoCaliente
11/20: darkx
11/27: neonreaper
12/04: Great_Paul
12/11: jcgamer107
12/18: ChichiriMuyo
12/25: BlueCrystalTear
1/1: MetalmindStats
1/8: Acclaimed Music Bot
1/15: HBJDubs

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
FoolFantastic (18)
Johnbobb (32)
MetalmindStats (40)
neonreaper (40)
Raetsel_Lapin (40)
BlueCrystalTear (42)
HBJDubs (46)
Seanchan (48)

General Album Comments

BlueCrystalTear: Anyway, I actually just finished my first relisten of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It's been a while! And... while it's not as consistently awesome as I'd recalled, it's still a really good album. It has the big hits, a couple of really good deep cuts, and a small handful of other songs that blend together. It feels like Elton and Bernie had a backlog and chose to push out a few extra songs, the fact that they were making a new album every eight months notwithstanding >_>

FoolFantastic: Despite the epic length, I find myself returning to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road fairly regularly. Though it appears rather front-loaded, even the lesser-known tracks help maintain a powerful energy. There is a certain grandiosity to several of these numbers that only Elton could wrangle into such a resonant state. Maybe it could handle some cuts (Jamaica Jerk-Off especially stands among the obvious weak points of otherwise classic albums), but it does such a great job weaving in and out of different energy levels that such a thought would never occur to me while casually listening.

Seanchan: Did a first listen yesterday. I knew 3 songs going in and then immediately realized Id heard the title track before. Theres some good stuff here. Lots of variety and Elton is obviously a good vocalist.

My big issue is just that its a long album. I couldnt listen to the whole thing in one go, which really broke up the flow.

My question, is this considered his best album or is it more of a Beatles situation where theres multiple contenders?

BlueCrystalTear: I personally say multiple contenders, but people usually say this one since it's sold the most. He also has Madman Across the Water, Honky Chateau, and Capt. Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy which also have their fans, and a small handful of people would say one of Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, Tumbleweed Connection, or Too Low for Zero. I pretty much just listed the "definitive" list of his albums that have multiple songs you'd recognize (save for The Lion King but that's a soundtrack). He was releasing an album every 8-12 months in the seventies, so he has no shortage of good stuff.

But yeah, this one was the one to do first, because it has the highest amount of big hits (tracks 2-4 + "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting") and the album cuts are great too.

HBJDubs: Talk about front-loading! The album as a whole kinda suffers a bit from having the first four tracks being the best by a mile, and nothing afterwards really comes close to matching that quality. No bad songs though, I just think the track order could have been arranged a bit better to help the "flow" of the album.

neonreaper: This album starts off like a greatest hits album. Overall this was like ranking two albums - the songs I like and the songs I don't care much about. Ranking the top three songs wasn't easy at all, and then the next set of five was another fun challenge. Elton John is amazing.

BlueCrystalTear: Only issue I have with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is its length. Honestly, if it drops just two songs, it's a LOT less exhaustive to listen to. I could also probably get more than two listens in. But still... the really good stuff is... the really REALLY good stuff. There are eight songs here that I truly enjoyed and the rest were mostly solid too. The track order is also pretty great in that it feels like a concert - the energy swings, as FoolFantastic said, ebb and flow nicely. Overall, a still fantastic album that has some all-time great songs and some... lesser ones that are still fine to listen to.

Seanchan: For an album that's too long, there's still an impressively long list of good to great songs. It's really only the last 2 songs that I'm kind of "eh" on. And yes, I agree that Jamaica Jerk-Off is stupid catchy. With that said, I'm not sure I'll be playing this album in full too much in the future; I could listen to the first 4 songs and feel pretty satisfied.

MetalmindStats: 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.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road track ranking

17. Jamaica Jerk-Off (Track #7)
Score: 10 (Average Rank: 15.13/17)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear (#10)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic, Raetsel_Lapin, HBJDubs (#17)

BlueCrystalTear: Am I the only person in the world who finds this catchy? It got stuck in my head after the first listen. It's not one of Bernie's better sets of lyrics but the instrumentation is enough for me to put it this high.

FoolFantastic: It's not a lack of catchiness that is the problem. To me, it just comes off as someone doing a shallow imitation of a genre they have limited experience with.

MetalmindStats: Really great albums can be a bit like Rube Goldberg machines, with even their lowlights contributing to something special in context. For me, however, that slipstream fails to justify this disposable pastiche.

16. Dirty Little Girl (Track #11)
Score: 18 (Average Rank: 13.88/17)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats (#17)

MetalmindStats: An audibly dated stab at overt satire, it habitually drags and sometimes literally groans. I'm not as certain that simply cutting it would have strengthened Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as an album, but at least 'Jamaica' has a tune to it.

15. Roy Rogers (Track #15)
Score: 21 (Average Rank: 13.63/17)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear (#8)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb, Seanchan (#17)

MetalmindStats: It's suffused with gentle nostalgia, and even if that's all really, it's just enough.

14. Sweet Painted Lady (Track #9)
Score: 28 (Average Rank: 12.5/17)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#7)
Biggest Detractor(s): FoolFantastic (#15)

MetalmindStats: A simply, comfortingly pretty piece that confirms the return of Elton, Bernie, and all the rest on their marks as artists.

13. Social Disease (Track #16)
Score: 29 (Average Rank: 12.38/17)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#8)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, neonreaper, BlueCrystalTear, MetalmindStats (#15)

MetalmindStats: Still good, but songs with vocals that start quietly for no real reason are a pet peeve of mine.

12. This Song Has No Title (Track #5)
Score: 33 (Average Rank: 12.13/17)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper, BlueCrystalTear (#17)

BlueCrystalTear: Album would have benefited from dropping this song. It doesn't do anything that its other songs do better. It's just filler.

MetalmindStats: To me, this short yet effectively epic paean to young adulthood writ large encapsulates its entire album in barely two minutes. Elton's in peak performance mode here alongside his accentuating organ (an instrument I seem to have a weakness for) in a pitch-perfect contrast.

11. Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock'n'Roll) (Track #13)
Score: 35 (Average Rank: 11.63/17)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#15)

MetalmindStats: A fun little high-energy number that stands apart from its immediate follow-up surprisingly nicely.

10. All the Girls Love Alice (Track #12)
Score: 47 (Average Rank: 10.13/17)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#15)

MetalmindStats: The sort of theremin-style keyboard reverberation on the second line of the chorus takes my breath away, and the song really pulls off its seesaws between a contemplative chorus and energetic verses and post-instrumentals.

9. Grey Seal (Track #6)
Score: 51 (Average Rank: 9.63/17)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#6)
Biggest Detractor(s): BlueCrystalTear (#13)

MetalmindStats: There's perhaps not a ton to this track, but it's a great deal of fun, which Elton's flair for showmanship enlivens into an essential piece of the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road puzzle.

8. The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-1934) (Track #10)
Score: 54 (Average Rank: 9.34/17)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan, MetalmindStats (#14)

MetalmindStats: For me, this struggles to stand out or stick in my head amidst overwhelming competition.

7. Harmony (Track #17)
Score: 67 (Average Rank: 7.88/17)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#11)

MetalmindStats: And here Goodbye Yellow Brick Road draws to a close, on spot-on notes of reunion, growth, and measured emotions matched by a bit of typical instrumental flair. I do prefer 'I've' out of context, but Elton, Bernie, and their crew simply never left harmony on this album.

6. I've Seen That Movie Too (Track #8)
Score: 79 (Average Rank: 6.75/17)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper, Seanchan, MetalmindStats (#10)

MetalmindStats: Its dramatic sound, and Elton's equally dramatic delivery, fit this would-be siren song like a glove. Also note how the sonorous instrumentals resemble a literal siren at times.

5. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) (Track #14)
Score: 92 (Average Rank: 4.88/17)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#10)

MetalmindStats: I find it immensely catchy and enjoyable, but not really any better in context than out of it, unlike Goodbye Yellow Brick Road's remaining singles.

4. Candle in the Wind (Track #2)
Score: 108 (Average Rank: 3.63/17)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, BlueCrystalTear (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#7)

MetalmindStats: Bernies intent here was a broader look at the intersection of fame, youth, and death through the metaphor of Marilyn, which Elton illuminated with a clear personal connection drawn partly from his own fear of burning bright and quick. It's a choice of subject and contemplative, reflective approach that's ideal to chase 'Funeral/Love'.

3. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Track #1)
Score: 111 (Average Rank: 3.5/17)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#7)

MetalmindStats: 'Funeral' is unconventionally monolithic yet intimately accessible, while 'Love' is a snug, straightforward Elton & Bernie classic, and the two are tied in twain. As an album intro, it's altogether as emotionally essential as 'Harmony' at the end.

2. Bennie and the Jets (Track #3)
Score: 112 (Average Rank: 3.38/17)
Biggest Fan(s): Seanchan, MetalmindStats (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper (#7)

MetalmindStats: An ageless classic that has always subconsciously spoken to me, I think 'Bennie' will forever be my favorite Elton song. And sure, it's the perfect bridge between 'Candle' and 'Goodbye', and actually successful satire to boot, but the key to me is its beating heart drawn perhaps from Elton's own stage presence and place in the music milieu of the time. Indeed, Elton and Bernie's grandiose aural and lyrical goals never get in the way of their genuine celebration of music as a means of self-expression.

1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Track #4)
Score: 121 (Average Rank: 2.63/17)
Biggest Fan(s): FoolFantastic, Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): BlueCrystalTear (#5)

MetalmindStats: Whereas 'Candle' sees Elton's concerns come to the fore, this track is moreso Bernie's show, and he runs with it in a knowing yet lovingly penned ode to The Wizard of Oz's cinematic magic. As the title track of such a titanic album, of course it's a class act in all the usual ways to boot, juxtaposing Elton's expressive vocals against his comparatively subtle piano chords.

I'm going to copy Steiner's list down here because there is a non-zero chance I overlook it where it is currently located:

1. Know Your Enemy
2. Wake Up
3. Bullet in the Head
4. Bombtrack
5. Killing in the Name
6. Freedom
7. Fistful of Steel
8. Take the Power Back
9. Sette for Nothing
10. Township Rebellion

my bad <_<

1. Wake Up
2. Know Your Enemy
3. Killing in the Name
4. Freedom
5. Bombtrack
6. Take the Power Back
7. Bullet in the Head
8. Fistful of Steel
9. Settle for Nothing
10. Township Rebellion

UGHHH! First listen done. I'm mean... FIRST LISTEN DOOOOOOOONE!

I thought I only knew one song here but it turns out I know two, as Wake Up was the fitting end credits song for The Matrix.

I feel like RATM is an artist I shouldn't like, and yet I never find that to be the case. I've usually enjoyed their radio hits and I generally enjoyed this initial listen. There's just some magical combination of Zach's vocals and the cool bass lines that just works.

I'd predict that at least one regular might really, really hate the screaming and lyrical repetition, but then again, maybe not?

Seanchan posted...

I'd predict that at least one regular might really, really hate the screaming and lyrical repetition, but then again, maybe not?

The screaming refers to me. The repetition refers to Raetsel. We have both been very vocal about our hatred for those respective things.

My prediction based on your statement is that one of us will hate it, one of us will like it. I guess I'll find out which one I am later when I, uh, attempt my first listen.

Seanchan posted...

I'd predict that at least one regular might really, really hate the screaming and lyrical repetition, but then again, maybe not?

I'm kind-of on a metalcore kick at the moment, so I'm okay with screaming. I'd say we need more screaming and angry songs, if anything.

First listen done and this is... fine. It's fine. I honestly thought I'd be really into the band, but this is much tamer than I expected? Maybe this was revolutionary for the early 90's, but I'm left wanting more. More anger, more intensity, more rage. I could forgive the lyrical repetition if I felt they lived up to the name/hype, but this is... fine.

I certainly remember "Killing in the Name Of" from GTA San Andreas. Pretty sure I mentioned that I listened to Radio X in GTA San Andreas's San Fierro arc when we did Faith No More.

Like Raetsel... this is fine. Nothing too offensive, but nothing I really want to spend another 53 minutes of my life listening to - one spin was enough. I too would've expected something different from this metal/hip hop fusion. More rage would have repelled me entirely, though, and after half an hour I don't remember which track is which even. I'll just take my high outlier score and call it a week.

1. Wake Up - Fewest "screamy" parts IIRC.
2. Bullet in the Head
3. Take the Power Back
4. Settle for Nothing
5. Bombtrack
6. Freedom
7. Killing in the Name Of - Killer instrumentation but it's only six words long. The repetition of this one is why I was more "eh" on it and switched back to KDST The Dust.
8. Know Your Enemy
9. Fistful of Steel
10. Township Rebellion

FYI I don't know how active I'm gonna be the first two weeks in September.

up

1: Settle for Nothing
2: Killing In the Name
3: Take the Power Back
4: Wake Up
5: Bombtrack
6: Fistful of Steel
7: Know Your Enemy
8: Freedom
9: Bullet In the Head
10: Township Rebellion

Killing In the Name: It's definitely repetitive, but "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me," is the closest the band comes to embodying rage like I wanted.

up

Bump.

bump

Oh, I should probably mention that Jesse_Custer is skipping this cycle, so expect your next week to be a week earlier than listed

another bump

FoolFantastic posted...

Oh, I should probably mention that Jesse_Custer is skipping this cycle, so expect your next week to be a week earlier than listed

This puts my week as 12/18 to 12/24.

If I don't get bumped up too much further... would I get a lot of angry messages if I nominated three Christmas albums, given the timeliness?

I think it depends on the albums. I'd totally be down for A Charlie Brown Christmas or A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records - the latter could especially be interesting as an album defined by a shared producer with various acts involved.

...I'm not sure of any others I would be particularly excited for.

1. Killing In The Name
2. Take The Power Back
3. Know Your Enemy
4. Bombtrack
5. Wake Up
6. Township Rebellion
7. Bullet In Your Head
8. Freedom
9. Fistful Of Steel
10. Settle For Nothing

The Rock Band factor helps solidify Killing In The Name at #1, still real fun to play when I break out the game.

I support people nominating whatever they want. I'm not... really into Christmas music typically, but I wouldn't begrudge you personally for whatever you wanted to share & I'm not so averse to the idea that I'd skip the week or anything.

I like the Christmas album idea for that week and I'm definitely ranking the Rage album soon

Michael Buble's Christmas is amazing and I don't care who knows it.

Snake5555555555 posted...

Michael Buble's Christmas is amazing and I don't care who knows it.

Honestly, I was most certainly considering him as one of my nominations, alongside Mariah Carey and Lindsey Stirling.

Knowing this board, Lindsey Stirling would win that. (P.S. Her Christmas concert is awesome, and I'm not ashamed to admit I went to it)

One of the harder albums to rank in the sense that I truly love most of these songs. "Killing in the Name" is too ingrained in me to not be first, but #2-#8 could easily switch around upon another listen.

Killing in the Name
Wake Up
Know Your Enemy
Bombtrack
Bullet in the Head
Township Rebellion
Fistful of Steel
Take the Power Back
Freedom
Settle for Nothing

I got a ticket to finally see Rage for the first time in 2020....then Covid happened. The show's been repeatedly postponed and is now scheduled for April 2023....I only hope they're not too old to rage by then.

While some of these songs are better live, and Battle of Los Angeles is my favorite Rage album overall, their self-titled debut is very strong, with several hits and not many misses.

1) Killing in the Name
#1 British Christmas song of 2009. If the show I have a ticket to actually happens, when they get to the main phat riff at 0:41, we're gonna open up the fucking pit.

2) Know Your Enemy
Imo the best version of this is from their Grand Olympic Auditorium concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TJQfMuNacs

Tom plays some wild video game-sounding licks in the solo

3) Freedom
Another one where I really recommend the Grand Olympic version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXGWqPWFoGw

Bring that shit in

4) Wake Up
The end of this track is perhaps the hardest Zack has raged in his life

5) Bullet in the Head
Zack wilds out on this one live

6) Bombtrack

7) Take the Power Back
Almost feels a little too similar to Know Your Enemy, but it's solid. Tom gets funky in the chorus.

8) Fistful of Steel

9) Township Rebellion
3:12 TIE Fighter Zack de la Rocha

10) Settle for Nothing
No doubt Zack is majorly ragin' here. Musically not the best though.

jcgamer107 posted...

I only hope they're not too old to rage by then

jcgamer107 posted...

5) Bullet in the Head
Zack wilds out on this one live

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

oh NO

Getting old can suck sometimes lol

1. Wake Up
2. Killing in the Name
3. Know Your Enemy
4. Bullet in the Head
5. Bombtrack
6. Fistful of Steel
7. Take the Power Back
8. Township Rebellion
9. Freedom
10. Settle for Nothing

There's some pretty good stuff here, though I can't say that overall it's really a favorite of mine. I guess my general thoughts haven't evolved much from my first listen, so I'll just point back to that again.

almost forgot to post my rankings!

1. Take the Power Back
2. Bullet in the Head
3. Know Your Enemy
4. Killing in the Name
5. Freedom
6. Settle for Nothing
7. Fistful of Steel
8. Bombtrack
9. Township Rebellion
10. Wake Up

Ooh I thought I had posted mine already. Will do so in the AM

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!

---

1. Know Your Enemy - DOOM.
2. Killing in the Name
3. Take the Power Back
4. Wake Up
5. Settle for Nothing
6. Bullet in the Head
7. Township Rebellion
8. Bombtrack
9. Freedom
10. Fistful of Steel

1. Bullet In the Head
2. Take the Power Back
3. Know Your Enemy
4. Killing In the Name
5. Settle for Nothing
6. Bombtrack
7. Wake Up
8. Township Rebellion
9. Freedom
10. Fistful of Steel

Bombtrack
Know Your Enemy
Killing in the Name
Freedom
Bullet in the Head
Settle for Nothing
Wake Up
Township Rebellion
Fistful of Steel
Take the Power Back