Board 8 > Rank the Tracks Week 44: Supertramp's Breakfast in America (+ Lorde 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, January 9 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).

Supertramp's Breakfast in America track list:
1. Gone Hollywood
2. The Logical Song
3. Goodbye Stranger
4. Breakfast in America
5. Oh Darling
6. Take the Long Way Home
7. Lord Is It Mine
8. Just Another Nervous Wreck
9. Casual Conversations
10. Child of Vision

User Cycle:
1/9: Johnbobb (Soundgarden - Superunknown)
1/16: VeryInsane (The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico)
1/23: CasanovaZelos
1/30: Seanchan
2/6: Giggsalot
2/13: RyoCaliente
2/20: darkx
2/27: neonreaper
3/6: Great_Paul
3/13: jcgamer107
3/20: ChichiriMuyo
3/27: ChainLTTP
4/3: BlueCrystalTear
4/10: MetalmindStats
4/17: HBJDubs
4/24: TheArkOfTurus
5/1: Snake5555555555
5/8: Jesse_Custer
5/15: ZaziGuado
5/22: firefdr
5/29: SpikeSetsFire

Lorde's Melodrama results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
Seanchan (14)
CasanovaZelos (16)
firefdr (16)
Johnbobb (16)
Raetsel_Lapin (18)
VeryInsane (22)
MetalmindStats (26)
SpikeSetsFire (28)
HBJDubs (28)
ZaziGuado (30)
changmas (38)

General Album Comments

CasanovaZelos: The album which proved Lorde was here to stay while also kicking off a string of instant classic pop albums produced by Jack Antonoff. I started paying more attention to pop music during the 2010s, but I truly believe this has less to do with a change in personal taste as much as this new batch of pop stars being genuinely talented. Lorde herself has a lot to do with this perception - Pure Heroine helped solidify a brand of mellow pop (a path very much established by Lana Del Rey, but Lorde helped make it mainstream). Even as Melodrama goes a bit wider, it avoids my common issue of pop songs so catchy they become annoying. Lorde shows just the right amount of restraint here, a set of moody, catchy pieces that never overstay their welcome. This is one of the all-time great pop albums, end to end classics.

changmas: one of my favorite albums ever

firefdr: amazing album, probably my favorite pop album

Seanchan: Did a first listen today. Went in with low expectations, as I'm not really a fan of Royals (which I think is the only song of Lorde I've heard?) and was pleasantly surprised!

ZaziGuado: While I appear to have many critiques of this album, I still love it very much. Lorde, to me, is a very imperfect artist and I wouldn't have it any other way.

MetalmindStats: There's so much I want to say about Melodrama, most of it glowing. It's largely a bunch of disorganized thoughts, though, and I don't want to act like I'm burgeoning with unique insights about music I'm out of the loop for missing up until now. What I will say is that combining Hard Feelings and Loveless (plus placing the song in the exact middle of Melodrama) feels purposeful in a way characteristic of this uncommonly clever and perceptive - and no less fun for it - album as a whole.

Seanchan: This is a solidly good album. It just didn't resonate with me like it clearly did with some of the other rankers. I'm still glad to have listened to it though, as I now have a better understanding of Lorde's style and place in pop music.

Johnbobb: There's a significant gap for me between my top 6 and bottom five. The better half of this album is excellent; it's a pleasant mix of chill and upbeat, with an artsy electronic feel. I was way more into it than I thought I would be. The lesser half though... it goes a lot sappier, with lyrics sounding less darkly dramatic and more aligned with a teenager's diary. These songs also seem to go a lot heavier on repetition, and they're significantly less quality compared to the better songs on the album.

HBJDubs: This didn't really resonate with me at all...nothing is bad, but nothing really stuck out other than the opener and the closer

VeryInsane: The funny thing is I remember the first few tracks very well, but the back half took a while to get acclimated to, even though Ive definitely heard the songs before in the past

Melodrama track ranking

11. Liability (Reprise) (Track #10)
Score: 23 (Average Rank: 9.91/11)
Biggest Fan(s): changmas (#7)
Biggest Detractor(s): CasanovaZelos, firefdr, ZaziGuado, MetalmindStats, Seanchan (#11)

ZaziGuado: I can appreciate what they were going for here, it just falls a little short for me.

10. Writer in the Dark (Track #8)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 8/11)
Biggest Fan(s): VeryInsane (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, Johnbobb (#11)

ZaziGuado: I really don't like the lyric "bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark" because the in the dark portion seems so superfluous, but everything else about this song is on point, especially that damn chrous. That upper register she hits is simultaneously beautiful and grating in its shrillness which is fully intended as a compliment. I also like how the strings conclude rather than fade out to end the song. I've never been a fan of fading out to end a song.

9. Sober II (Melodrama) (Track #7)
Score: 49 (Average Rank: 7.55/11)
Biggest Fan(s): ZaziGuado, MetalmindStats (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): VeryInsane (#11)

ZaziGuado: This song is sneaky super good. I wish it was just plainly the title track rather than being linked to one of the weaker tracks on the album, though. It feels like Lorde at her most bitter here. The verses are super biting here.

8. Liability (Track #5)
Score: 58 (Average Rank: 7.09/11)
Biggest Fan(s): changmas, Raetsel_Lapin (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#11)

ZaziGuado: I have very few gripes with this song. The verses and chorus are both great. I think Lorde does pop better than somber piano ballad, but she's definitely not bad at it and this is an upper tier song on the album.

7. Hard Feelings/Loveless (Track #6)
Score: 66 (Average Rank: 6.27/11)
Biggest Fan(s): SpikeSetsFire (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): CasanovaZelos (#9)

ZaziGuado: This song should've been split up. The two parts are so distinct and being connected ends up dragging both down. There's even a pause between the two sections! Hard Feelings is the weakest part. It's not bad, but the issue is I enjoy Loveless more so the entire time during Hard Feelings I'm just waiting to reach Loveless and don't really want to talk about Hard Feelings which is just pretty okay. The sing-songy bratty playground style of Loveless is a fun ride.

6. Sober (Track #2)
Score: 67 (Average Rank: 6/11)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): ZaziGuado (#10)

ZaziGuado: Sober is another song that never truly gets off the ground for me. It's amazing how much I enjoy this album and how often I'm willing to listen to it despite it taking a couple of songs to really get going. The horns here are fun, though. I don't dislike the song at all, it's just not a good handshake for the beginning of the album.

5. Perfect Places (Track #11)
Score: 81 (Average Rank: 5.45/11)
Biggest Fan(s): ZaziGuado (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): SpikeSetsFire (#11)

ZaziGuado: Without a doubt the best song on the album. I've wanted to say other songs had the best chorus or pre-chorus or was most catchiest or anything, but I couldn't with Perfect Places lingering. The chorus is so damn explosive and cathartic. How this song didn't take over the airwaves is beyond me. It feels like an anthem for a generation. Minor gripe is I wish the second verse had as much meat as the first one did. It just seems to limp into the chorus again.

4. Homemade Dynamite (Track #3)
Score: 81 (Average Rank: 5.27/11)
Biggest Fan(s): firefdr (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): changmas (#11)

ZaziGuado: Ah here is where we start going places. Great chorus and great flow on the verses. I've always been a fan of verses that weave in and out of rapid fire lyrics. And as an aside, I also don't hate the remix of this song that you can find out there with Khalid and other popular mainstream acts.

3. Green Light (Track #1)
Score: 109 (Average Rank: 3.73/11)
Biggest Fan(s): CasanovaZelos, SpikeSetsFire, HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): changmas, ZaziGuado (#9)

ZaziGuado: Something about this song has just never clicked with me and I think it has to do with the lyrics and their delivery. I'm not really able to break it down. It's still an enjoyable listen, though.

2. Supercut (Track #9)
Score: 111 (Average Rank: 3.27/11)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats, Seanchan, Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): firefdr (#6)

ZaziGuado: The pre-chorus parts are the star here, as well as the bridge. Probably the best bridge on the album. I think it can be considered a bridge. Song construction often eludes me. If I was a decision-maker, I'd have pushed for this to be the lead single from the album. The premise of the song is a neat one as well. Takes too long to end, though.

1. The Louvre (Track #4)
Score: 113 (Average Rank: 3.45/11)
Biggest Fan(s): changmas, Raetsel_Lapin, VeryInsane (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): MetalmindStats, HBJDubs (#9)

ZaziGuado: Fuck this song is great. I could do without the boom boom boom parts, but everything else is fantastic. These are probably Lorde's best verses on the album, especially that second one. I could also do without the fade out, but it's good enough. I just want more of the meat of the song.

I mentioned being caught between an Indie Folk week and a Modern Pop week a couple weeks ago, only for Seanchan to reach out and realize our top two albums for the modern pop week were going to be the same, two weeks in a row. While I could have stuck with the modern pop week and hoped our top two album choices both got through that way, I decided to give everyone more variety.

These three albums are special to me as I first got into (non-video game) music in the late 2000s. The first two came out in 2008 and 2009, while Bon Iver's debut was released in 2007 but really took off the following year. This is basically my high school years consolidated in music form. I'm not sure how to sell each album individually - they're all fantastic folk albums from the same era, with the first two putting a large emphasis on harmonies. Though For Emma, Forever Ago is only #3 on my list, it is probably the biggest at this point, as Bon Iver has went on to work with both Kanye West and Taylor Swift.

So, I figure I'll link the lead singles from each album as a sampler for anyone unfamiliar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE

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

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

bump

Definitely not the winner I expected but I'm happy with it!

I will definitely have time this week. Last week I hardly had more than an hour at a time.

1. The Logical Song
2. Breakfast In America
3. Child Of Vision
4. Take The Long Way Home
5. Goodbye Stranger
6. Just Another Nervous Wreck
7. Gone Hollywood
8. Oh Darling
9. Lord Is It Mine
10. Casual Conversations

Wow, shame I missed the topic but those Lorde results are wild. It's pretty close to a flawless album, but writer in the dark so near the bottom is shameful - that's clearly a top three track. Pretty sure my ranking would have bounced the louvre from top spot too, so make of that what you will too!

Don't care much about supertramp or 2000s indie folk, see you in a few weeks!

Giggsalot posted...

Wow, shame I missed the topic but those Lorde results are wild. It's pretty close to a flawless album, but writer in the dark so near the bottom is shameful - that's clearly a top three track. Pretty sure my ranking would have bounced the louvre from top spot too, so make of that what you will too!

Don't care much about supertramp or 2000s indie folk, see you in a few weeks!

Do note that the poll is a few weeks out, so our next albums are Superunknown and The Velvet Underground & Nico.

bump

Just did a first listen. There's a couple of really cool songs here! Goodbye Stranger just rips!

Oh, hey, it's an album I care about. I'll listen to it all the way through, though.

The Logical Song
Gone Hollywood
Breakfast in America
Take the Long Way Home
Oh Darling
Child of Vision
Lord Is It Mine
Goodbye Stranger
Just Another Nervous Wreck
Casual Conversations

Bump

1: Just Another Nervous Wreck
2: The Logical Song
3: Gone Hollywood
4: Breakfast in America
5: Goodbye Stranger
6: Casual Conversations
7: Take The Long Way Home
8: Lord Is It Mine
9: Oh Darling
10: Child of Vision

Can't copy/paste from my notepad when using GameFAQs' HTML posting thing, apparently.

Up

Breakfast in America
Child of Vision
The Logical Song
Goodbye Stranger
Take the Long Way Home
Just Another Nervous Wreck
Gone Hollywood
Lord Is It Mine
Casual Conversations
Oh Darling

Oh Darling and Gone Hollywood are probably the hardest to decide where they go.

1. The Logical Song
2. Breakfast In America
3. Child Of Vision
4. Gone Hollywood
5. Lord Is It Mine
6. Take The Long Way Home
7. Goodbye Stranger
8. Just Another Nervous Wreck
9. Oh Darling
10. Casual Conversations

up

You're all sleeping on Goodbye Stranger and I have no idea why!

My rank:
The Logical Song
Goodbye Stranger
Breakfast in America
Take the Long Way Home
Child of Vision
Gone Hollywood
Lord Is It Mine
Oh Darling
Just Another Nervous Wreck
Casual Conversations

One more day

Goodbye Stranger
The Logical Song
Breakfast in America
Just Another Nervous Wreck
Child of Vision
Take the Long Way Home
Oh Darling
Gone Hollywood
Casual Conversations
Lord is It Mine

Sounds about right, was surprised how much I instantly recognized despite having never listened to this album beforehand

1. Gone Hollywood
2. The Logical Song
3. Child of Vision
4. Breakfast in America
5. Goodbye Stranger
6. Lord Is It Mine
7. Just Another Nervous Wreck
8. Take the Long Way Home
9. Casual Conversations
10. Oh Darling

I've heard the big-name songs from this masterpiece many a time (I have the Supertramp compilation, which splits this with Crime of the Century), and some of those - especially "Goodbye Stranger" - never get old. They have fun hooks and it's pretty blatant why three of those were singles; the only non-single I enjoyed just as much was "Gone Hollywood" because of the insane harmonies. And there isn't a track I outright dislike on here - it's all good stuff. Rick and Roger were on fire for this one.

1. Goodbye Stranger
2. Gone Hollywood
3. The Logical Song
4. Breakfast in America
5. Child of Vision
6. Take the Long Way Home
7. Just Another Nervous Wreck
8. Oh Darling
9. Lord Is It Mine
10. Casual Conversations

1. Goodbye Stranger
2. Child of Vision
3. The Logical Song
4. Breakfast in America
5. Take the Long Way Home
6. Gone Hollywood
7. Lord Is It Mine
8. Just Another Nervous Wreck
9. Oh Darling
10. Casual Conversations

This really is a pretty tremendous album. For me, it's the instrumentation that does it; the guitar solos, the sax, the harmonica, the piano. Just some really cool stuff!

1. Take the Long Way Home - This is one of my favorite songs ever. I love listening to it while walking or driving on summer nights and just letting it make me feel nostalgic.

2. Goodbye Stranger
3. The Logical Song
4. Breakfast in America
5. Just Another Nervous Wreck
6. Lord Is It Mine
7. Oh Darling
8. Gone Hollywood
9. Child of Vision
10. Casual Conversations

I actually really love this album and, as I said when it was on the poll, had it on my shortlist of albums I was considering putting it on my own poll.