Board 8 > Raetsel ranks 300 songs [Rankings]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Oh well. That's a fair point about the song not having much variety, but I think what it does have is strong enough to make up for it.

I haven't even played Psi-Ops though, I just heard the song in passing one day and looked it up.

...I completely missed my first song going out, apparently. I love love love the retro computer style Alice in Wonderland has, but I haven't gotten around to listening to many of those songs outside of the Touhou ones. I've been meaning to though, I'll probably check out Trouble Outsiders since you brought it up.
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Shonen_Bat posted...

Oh well. That's a fair point about the song not having much variety, but I think what it does have is strong enough to make up for it.

I haven't even played Psi-Ops though, I just heard the song in passing one day and looked it up.

...I completely missed my first song going out, apparently. I love love love the retro computer style Alice in Wonderland has, but I haven't gotten around to listening to many of those songs outside of the Touhou ones. I've been meaning to though, I'll probably check out Trouble Outsiders since you brought it up.

I recommend following my recommendation on the prior page too and maybe checking the discord where i seem to just ramble about stuff including pc98 games when nobody else is on in vgmusic.... Blind listening to pc98 soundtracks is really rewarding a lot of the time, I've found.

Underleveled posted...

An interesting note - in the stage version of West Side Story, Office Krupke is in Act II, which means Riff (who leads the song in the film) is already dead, so a supporting character, Action, sings it instead.

Yeah, I read a little bit about that. Honestly, I'm not sure why the song was in the second act to begin with, as the emotional whiplash from switching from death to a comedic song seems like it'd be a bit much; though I say that as someone who has only vague, second-hand knowledge of it.

Shonen_Bat posted...

Oh well. That's a fair point about the song not having much variety, but I think what it does have is strong enough to make up for it.

I haven't even played Psi-Ops though, I just heard the song in passing one day and looked it up.

...I completely missed my first song going out, apparently. I love love love the retro computer style Alice in Wonderland has, but I haven't gotten around to listening to many of those songs outside of the Touhou ones. I've been meaning to though, I'll probably check out Trouble Outsiders since you brought it up.

Oh, With My Mind is definitely a good song.

I wish I could suggest Psi-Ops as a game, but there's no way I can recall enough to make that sort of judgment.

I'd also like to have more suggestions for PC-98 style music, but I haven't heard much myself--if there wasn't an effort to get into a recent VGMC, I probably haven't heard it.
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#182 [#135]:

Name: It Doesn't Really Matter
Origin: Metropolis Street Racer (Richard Jacques ft. TJ Davis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHRCUNYNOcE" data-time="

Nominator: Placeee (8/15)

(7, 6.5, 6.6)

[Before Listening: TJ Davis? Like Sonic R TJ Davis? This song has a lot to live up to. After: Yeah, this could fit into Sonic R without seeming out too out of place. Not as into it as the Sonic R soundtrack, but to be fair, I have a crazy amount of nostalgia for that and Ive only heard this once.]

It's still good, but once the novelty of finding another TJ Davis racing love song after two decades wears off, it's not the best. That outro repeating the chorus endlessly is a bit too reptitive and she comes off a bit too desperate. Like, it does matter what he did to you, girl; if he broke your heart, you don't have to jump all over him the second he comes back. You can do better!

...Probably! I mean, I don't know you, or him, or what all he did, but I presume you could probably do better. Still happy to find something else by her after all this time though!

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#181 [#100]:

Name: kingdom
Origin: CapsAdmin
Link: https://soundcloud.com/capsadmin/kingdom

Nominator: Flamander/Glacier (7/15)

(7, 7, 5.2 [upgraded to 6.6])

[Close to being something I love, but I wish it had some static.]

I want to love it, really. The persistent buzzing like sound in the background, the odd vocal samples (most of which I can't make out), the Hotel Mario inspiration... but once again, I fail to truly connect with it.

[Final Thoughts: Aww, I'm a bit sad to cut this one. This was the last of the batch of five songs being moved up, but I couldn't bring myself to keep cutting things to protect it any longer.

I really dig the general vibe of this song--it's just so out there that I can't stop listening to it... but as much as I like it, I don't really love it and find it hard to honestly support it over the songs that are dropping tomorrow. Sorry!

...and again I don't have a note handy for how far this moved up. As it was the last of the five songs to be added, it didn't raise nearly as much as the other four did.]

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Don't you tell ME - It's definitely repetitive but it's an earworm for me and gets stuck in my head for weeks at a time

Crimson Cloud - Devil Trigger is better but Crimson Cloud is still great. Subhuman is the worst DMC5 battle theme and even that one works really well in context with the dynamic music changing with your style ranks.

Kill the Power - Skindred is super unique, I can't think of anyone else who really sounds like them
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responding to raetsel's post about pumped up kicks, i honestly shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that you disliked it because of the "people like it for the wrong reasons" reason, as you did explain in the writeup that you don't like how it's an earworm. the "it's way too overplayed" argument i also totally get - i would probably like taylor swift's shake it off a lot more if i hadn't heard it five million times (though i would never love it), for example. thanks for clarifying!

i'm sorry you thought this was a horrible conversation, btw. i get that the subject matter of this song isn't the most pleasant thing to discuss but i really was curious about your feelings on the song so... yeah.
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Mr Lasastryke posted...

thanks for clarifying!

You're welcome. Glad we got a few things cleared up.

Moving along...



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#180 [#254]:

Name: Outlaw's Lullaby
Origin: Yakuza Kiwami 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W61-AJIZFCk" data-time="

Nominator: Murphiroth (7/15)

(5.3, 3, 6.6)

[I like the saxophone and the Cowboy Bebop-esque atmosphere, but its not one of my favorites.]

Still not a big fan of the Yakuza series or its soundtrack in general, but I like this. ...Primarily because it feels like a Cowboy Bebop track and I picture Spike instead of Kiryu, but whatever.

[Final Thoughts: Thankfully, a lot of people in the comments agree that this is similar to Cowboy Bebop, so I can be sure that it's not entirely in my head for once.

I know this is a boss fight song (at least, it's too...dramatic for a normal fight song, I should think), but I think it feels a bit too aggressive? Which...doesn't make much sense as a complaint, to be quite honest, nor do I truly know how I'd prefer the song to go. I planned on saying that I'd prefer more of a "smooth jazz" sound, but the (incredibly brief) research I've done into that tends to be a bit too relaxing... like there should be a middleground between smooth jazz's 'quiet background music that you won't really notice' and this song's 'manly death battle'-ness?

...Also all this talk about jazz has caused me to put Carol King's Jazzman on an endless loop while typing this. (I imagine most people here, like me, first heard the song on The Simpsons. Lisa's version isn't bad, though I prefer Carol's voice to Lisa's. Though I fear, even by my standards, this has gone wildly off track).]

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#178 [TIE] [#255]:

Name: Purple Streets (From "Sam and Max Season One")
Origin: Mazedude, Jared Emerson-Johnson [Sam and Max Season One] (Remix)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZi-y_V0VKQ" data-time="

Nominator: Mycro (13/15)

(3.5, 2.5, I dunno. This seems to be where the 6 point songs are clumped, so it's probably a 6. [later upgraded to 6.6])

[I want to have a reaction to this, but I dont. Im sorry.]

I dunno. At first I thought I wanted to move this down, but after going and relistening to some recently eliminated songs, this one definitely beats them in head-to-head competition. So, I like it. I just can't find anything to say about it or bring myself to give it a definitive score.

[Final Thoughts: I still have no read on this song. It's not really weird or anything, but it's not exactly normal either... I just kinda tilt my head and stare at the phone in confusion until it ends and find I have no words to describe any part of it. It's high up on the list that we can be reasonably certain that I like it?]

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#178 [TIE] [#236]:

Name: Albert The Fifth Musketeer Opening Theme
Origin: Albert The Fifth Musketeer
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHLJDs9jAvk" data-time="

Nominator: paulg (8/15)

(2, 3.5, see comments on tied song as I feel the same way here)

[I love completely off the wall picks, I love cartoons, I love learning about new cartoons, but I somehow dont love this. Points for giving me something that on paper seems like something I should love.]

Another unexpected tie, but I couldn't bring myself to put this or Purple Streets over the other. Albert's gotten itself stuck in my head more times than I could count and it's more obviously my sort of thing, but Purple is always just different enough that I never quite know what to make of it. Ultimately, I find I don't think I actually prefer either of them to the other.

[Final Thoughts: I've caught myself muttering the chorus of this song to myself on multiple occasions, so it's definitely catchier than I had assumed at first. It still feels a little odd to assign any point value to the nomination, but given it's respectable placement and that I never minded it getting stuck in my head, I think I can officially call it "notably above average". Still not my favorite cartoon theme, not by a longshot, but much much better than I first thought.]

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#177 [#203]:

Name: Lucky
Origin: Lucie,Too
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHsUaS9r5R8" data-time="

Nominator: Snake (10/15)

(5.5, 5, 6.6)

[Cute.]

Though not cute enough. The line about "Even if a long-haired ghost who came out of the TV was in love with you..." brings to mind Erma, the most adorable character in history. It's a webcomic that basically asks the question "what if the girl from The Ring married a human and they had the most adorable daughter??" and it is, basically, the greatest comic of all time.

...at least the parts of it I've read. I haven't had much time to read lately, so I'm way behind on it*... but I highly recommend the ones I had a chance to read. It starts off with random one-shot comics, but starts doing story arcs after a while... well, probably not the type of thing anyone here would be interested in, but I loved it.

Of course this particular song is about stopping the girl from The Ring from finding love, so the singer is technically stopping Erma from being born, and therefore I hate her. </.<

Kidding. I think.

[Final Note: *Actually the comic had been going on for years before I heard about it on Reddit and I never got through the backlog, so saying I'm "way behind" sounds a bit misleading. I haven't fallen behind, so much as I never had the time to catch up in the first place.]

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#176 [#178]:

Name: Hard to Say Goodbye
Origin: Dreamgirls
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVSQ3jZKL0I" data-time="

Nominator: Raka (12/15)

(6, 5.5, 6.6)

[Good, but uninspiring.]

First, that title always makes me think of Bret Hart's "Never Been a Right Time to Say Goodbye":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXjYoGOEnqA" data-time="

Obviously these songs aren't related in the least. There's no way I can connect "pro wrestler gives a spoken word song about a dying relationship" to "Beyonce does her best Diana Ross impersonation", outside of the 'these songs both have "Goodbye" in the title' angle. But that's still where my mind goes, every single time I've seen this song, from the point you nominated it until this write-up.

The song I'm supposed to be ranking is good, though I think I'd prefer to just listen to Diana Ross or Motown music in general rather than this soundtrack that's just heavily inspired by them. I just don't think even Beyonce compares to Diana Ross, at least in this specific genre of music.

[Final Thoughts: Actually, thinking about it a bit more, I'm not sure there are any Diana Ross songs (solo or with The Supremes) that I truly love. Perhaps I should have chosen Dionne Warwick as my example? Not as direct a comparison to Beyonce's character as Diana Ross, but similar and I can at least point to "Walk On By" as a personal favorite.]

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Hey I love Erma! Always read it around Halloween time. The Ring reference is sooo awesome! Not usually my style of song but it manages to be so catchy despite it being in a different languange.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

Hey I love Erma!

Neat! I honestly didn't expect anyone here to have heard of her before.



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#175 [#218]:

Name: The Legend of the Black Shawarma
Origin: Infected Mushroom
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uLK4hDJC84" data-time="

Nominator: DireKrow (9/15)

(2, 4, 6.6)

[I have a low tolerance for repeated lyrics. This is just too repetitive to ever listen to voluntarily.]

Well, there's enough of a dark edge to the song that I'm occasionally in the mood for it. Not often, but it's a lot better than my first impression made it out to be.

[Final Thoughts: Another very mixed reaction song. It's got a really long intro (three minutes before the first vocalizations, longer before he actually says words) and seems to want to be a dance song in places (there's often a thumping backbeat, though it's obviously not in the top 10 most thumping or it would not be anywhere near this high on the list), but there's just enough of a dark twist to everything that I sorta like it?

...And yes, I know, "sorta like it" seems like something that should have been cut earlier. I like how conflicted about everything the song makes me, as little sense as that is likely to make--in that way, it's vaguely similar to "Purple Streets"; I never really know what to make of any one aspect of the songs, which I find appealing enough to give a "notably average score" to.

...I think.]

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#174 [#231]:

Name: Demonstration of Law
Origin: Grapple Force Rena
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj5CLg0GS5U" data-time="

Nominator: DireKrow (8/15)

(5, 3.5, 6.6)

[I think Im a bit tired of DM DOKURO right now. After my last topic introduced me to his work on Calamity Mod, I listened to a bunch of his songs for fun. Then the multiple Calamity Songs at VGMC, then having to decide if I wanted to support it at BOST... Id like a break now, thank you. Im sure the song is fine, but Im in no mood to hear it.]

It is a good song, but I'm still a bit burnt out on this entire style.

[Final Thoughts: Tonight this song is also reminding me of Crystal Labyrinth; this raises the question of what VGM doesn't remind me of Gradius, as that's apparently becoming a running theme in my mind.

...Then you realize the Yakuza song was VGM and didn't remind me of Gradius, but it did also remind me of something set in space, and everything is just weird.]

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#173 [#207]:

Name: Allegro Con Fuoco
Origin: Symphony No. 9 (Antonin Dvok)
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56Tm6qnVEgQ" data-time="

Nominator: paulg (7/15)

(3, 4.5, 6.6)

[This song came in last place at the first ranking topic, which makes this song a bit of a running gag. The nostalgia for the first topic, the general familiarity, the comedy of this song returning by coincidence, it all combines to make this far more tolerable than I originally found it.

...Unfortunately, I still dont usually like classical or symphonic music, and asking me to sit through 11 minutes of a style I dont care for is a bit much. As much as my opinion on it has improved, its going to struggle to escape the bottom 10% on repeat listens. Here, on the first impression, I can genuinely thank you for the memories and a chance to reconsider my views. After the novelty has worn off? Well see.]

Well I didn't expect the song to get as high up the list as it did, but here we are. Not really my thing, but it's a nice palate cleanser between songs. Take ten minutes or so to relax with a mild song that doesn't inspire anything beyond fond memories of the last topic.

[Final Notes: Sometimes, it's nice to just relax with something quiet and remember the good times. Even if that's not remotely what the song is about or something you'd normally like.

I suppose giving a high score based primarily on memories isn't being objective, but at no point in either of my topics did I imply I was going to be objective. Good memories=good score.]

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#172 [#243]:

Name: I Love To Fight
Origin: Jim Johnston
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frA9sukaDpY" data-time="

Nominator: IhatethisCPU (7/10)

(4, 3, 6.6)

[I like the seagulls and the crashing waves, but I dont think it works for Finlay.]

Another pick that seems like a great pick (beach atmosphere, seagulls, wrestling related) that doesn't hit me as hard as I'd like it to.

I don't know a lot about Finlay, as he debuted and went through almost all of his career during a time I wasn't watching. I think I started in the 90s and stopped following at all around the point Cena debuted, then didn't come back until Bret Hart returned. I knew he obviously couldn't wrestle or do much, but for Bret to appear on WWE TV again was a really big deal, that it got me to come back for a few years.

Finlay...I think he was still an on-screen talent after I came back, but he never got to do much? Or maybe I'm thinking of old PPVs I saw on the Network... I know I saw him a couple times, but not often, and apparently didn't care enough to remember the details.

EITHER WAY, this song is way too soothing to be the entrance theme for someone whose entire personality is "likes fighting". To a point that I have no idea how this theme ever came about in the first place.

"We're debuting a new guy. His thing is that he likes fighting!"

"Got it! A song that gives the atmosphere of a relaxing night at the beach! That is the exact thing I picture when I think of people who like to fight."

And don't get me started on how "fighting" is not a personality trait for a wrestler. Everyone in the company fights for a living. They all love to fight.

...No, seriously, who created this character concept? Have they worked in any other media? Just imagine all the exciting possibilities of "guy whose entire personality is his job!".

"I'm a bartender and I love to serve drinks!"

"I'm a doctor and I love doctoring!"

Etc, etc.

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#171 [#256]:

Name: Ghost Terror
Origin: Ghost Blade
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arI3WSUrMLk" data-time="

Nominator: DireKrow (7/15)

(4, 2.5, 6.6)

[Too tense. Or not tense enough. I cant relax enough to fantasize, but its also not giving an oppressive sense of dread. Its just sorta in the middle.]

I'm not too thrilled with the repeated siren like noises, but the rest of the song is pretty nice.

[Final Thoughts: ...I like it more than it sounds like I do, though I'm at a loss to explain it. I'm sorry?]

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#170 [#187]:

Name: Wired For Madness, Pt. 1.2 (Out Of Body)
Origin: Jordan Rudess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYO9gnjBSIQ" data-time="

Nominator: Mycro (12/15)

(5.5, 5, 6.6)

[The opening reminded me of the Mr. Saturn village, or more specifically some RPG that wants to be Earthbound and tries too hard to be goofy. Thankfully that phase was short-lived, but I felt it was more a demonstration of everything the artist could do than a real song. Heres me being goofy! Now heres some epic guitar! Now heres a creepy outro for a spooky song!. The variety could be the main draw for other people, but it kept my mind from wandering or identifying with any specific phase.]

I have nothing further to add to that write-up.

[Final Thoughts: Good, but perhaps it works better in context with the rest of the Wired for Madness songs?]

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#169 [#234]:

Name: Brake Lights
Origin: The Bombpops
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3btOPBC1_TU" data-time="

Nominator: Snake (9/15)

(2, 3.5, 6.6)

[Loud and confusing, I dont think I understood this one at all. It also ended too abruptly.]

I don't think I've seen lyrics as badly butchered as the only attempt I found of anyone transcribing this song:

https://genius.com/The-bombpops-brake-lights-lyrics

That is so completely wrong that I can scarcely believe they weren't trying to be wrong. How can you possibly take "My boss is up on my ass" and think you heard it as "By time this goes off my hatch"?

I think part of my problem is that I tried to read along with a lyric site the first time I heard this and it's so glaringly wrong that I couldn't make any sense of anything. Listening to the song itself, it seems to be a fairly standard "my job & boss suck" song, but at least I can follow it.

Short song, but it's nice to find one that actually does end once they run out of new material.

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#168 [#184]:

Name: Flat Zone Infinity
Origin: ZeroCakes
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjX1_tfYZT8" data-time="

Nominator: cakophon (5/15)

(7, 5, 6.6)

[Nice.]

Not much to say about the song itself; I like it, the Game & Watch beeping/sound effects are kinda nifty, it's unique, blah blah blah yackity smackity.

Unrelated to anything, but YouTube's autoplay sent me to a pretty good song after this one ended: "Rolling Down The Street, In My Katamari"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzGmbwS_Drs" data-time="

I've already taken a break from writing this to listen to it twice. Dunno why, but somehow it's reminding me of OutRun? Like it's the perfect song for cruising down some very pixelated roads. Great beat, unique experience (don't think I've ever imagined myself in a 16-bit form before), definitely plan on checking out a few more songs by this artist later. Skimming the comments, it seems I'm not the only one who just recently found it by coincidence; while the song has been up for years, it only seems to be popping up into people's suggested videos now. Yay for the new algorithm!

Also, sorry about that not being related to your song, but it's a bit of a tradition at my ranking topics. At the Mega Man Topic, some song got derailed because an MMX series song I wanted to hear started playing; last topic, I believe it was Guile's Theme that was disrupted by me discovering VAPORWAVE, this time it's this song.

...assuming something like this doesn't happen again for the rest of the ranking anyway.

[Final Thoughts: I still can't find much to say about this song. It's good, better than any Game & Watch theme I can recall hearing (the Flat Zones in Ultimate are so vastly inferior to this song that they'd probably only get a 2), but it is so obviously a Mr. Game & Watch theme that it's yet another track I can't fantasize about or relate to. Good, down right fantastic for what it is, but not really what I'm looking for in an instrumental track.

On an unrelated note, I'm not connecting with "Rolling Down the Street, in My Katamari" like I was when I'd first heard it, pretty sure Flat Zone Infinity would have finished with a higher ranking than it. It's still nifty (I rather enjoy watching the notes scroll by), but not amazing or anything.

Also that obviously wasn't the only time a ranking got distracted by Autoplay; besides Ostinato, it happens in at least one other write-up.]

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...I'm going to run out of minor increases to point values before we get to where I started giving out 7s at this rate; let's jump things up another slight notch and go up to 6.7.

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#167 [#219]:

Name: Gator Country
Origin: Molly Hatchet
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTR13MV4fqc" data-time="

Nominator: Snake (8/15)

(6.5, 4, 6.7)

[I was prepared to give a low score early on, but that may just be the best southern rock guitar Ive ever heard. Expect this to rise a bit higher on repeat listens.]

Ehh...it's good, but the lyrics are a bit rough. Outside of the chorus, all the lines are rather tame shots at songs that are far more popular and well-known than this one.

...Well mostly; pretty sure I've never even heard of the Elvin Bishop song that was referenced. I like the fact that Elvin's Wikipedia page mentions Gator Country--get into multiple music hall of fames [later edit: "halls of fame" is probably a better way of pluralizing that], perform for decades, and the internet still lists "was briefly referenced in one song by some other group" as one of your big accomplishments.

That's gotta sting, doesn't it? We're, what, 40 years after Gator Country was released and that line is still permanently attached to Elvin Bishop. That's just rough.

...Aaanywho, most of the song is just a list of other songs & artists that I could be listening to. I'm listening to "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" by Elvin right now (I kinda felt obligated to listen to it after that tangent), and I'll go listen to Ramblin' Man after this.

I do kinda like that Gator Country manages to not be mean or anything. Like, it's very tame--too tame to really be a diss track--more...light teasing than anything else. It's kinda cute, actually (though I doubt 'cute' is what they were going for). Chorus is fun, though I'm not really into alligators, so you don't get any "non human bonus points" for it.

[Final Thoughts: Ehh...I guess "best southern rock guitar solo" is worth an extra .1 point.]

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The solo kicks so much ass! Molly Hatchet in general is so damn good.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

The solo kicks so much ass! Molly Hatchet in general is so damn good.

Oh definitely; I also wouldn't doubt the quality of the band. I can't say I've gone out of my way to listen to more, but autoplay did take me to some other song by them and I had no complaints about the band or vocalist, on this track or whichever one I was randomly redirected to.



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#166 [#115]

Name: Sinful Syncopation
Origin: Mekazoo
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYrzNFgzHrM" data-time="

Nominator: DireKrow (6/15)

(6.5, 6.5, 6.7)

[Its fun and lively, but not bringing anything to mind.]

This feels like a song created for a Direct to TV sequel to Trolls in which they didn't have enough budget to get the rights to any popular songs, resulting in Poppy or whatever her name was dancing through the forest to random background music.

...not one of the more interesting dream sequences, no.

[Final Thoughts: I really want to give a better write-up to this, as again, I like this more than it sounds like I do... but I can't get the image of dancing Trolls out of my head and it makes it hard to find any words to go along with it.]

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#164 [TIE] [#144]:

Name: Haien Idea
Origin: Shoujo Byou
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfmRvKdlMro" data-time="

Nominator: FL81 (7/8)

(5, 6, 6.7)

[Dunno. Like the spoken word opening and laughter, not sure on the actual song part.]

I wish I could find more information on this song and the band in general, as this seems exactly like the type of group I'd love. I'm into concept albums and songs performed by fictional characters, so an entire universe of interconnected songs and witches seems wonderful... but the story is complicated enough that any autotranslations kinda turn everything into gibberish. -.-'

Not that a song has to have a translation to get a good score (last year's winner didn't; I was so emotionally drawn into the song that it didn't matter what the words were), but when the story is one of the main selling points it's frustrating to not be able to understand anything. And judging based just on the quality of the song itself, I find that this isn't my favorite Japanese metal group--when I compare it to the raw power of lynch.'s vocals on Sorrow or the unexpected beauty Dir en Gray managed to put into Ranunculus, this...doesn't quite hold up favorably.

Seriously, I know it's in bad taste to directly compare this to a nomination from last year, but just try listening to SORROW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJPvhwyFgcY" data-time="

It doesn't matter what the words are. Just listen to that voice; such beauty, such power, and that image of him standing on a bridge in the darkness... this video never fails to make me give a contented sigh and put me a in a relaxed, happy, tail wagging mood. I probably ranked that song too low last time...

Shoujou Byou, at least in this nominated track, aren't on that level. I can hear hints of something brilliant--spoken word sections are also one of my things and it helps illustrate that this isn't just a regular band, but I just don't connect with the music in any way other than "this sounds like a slightly above average j-metal band". With the added context of the story it might push them into greatness--or it might not, it's not like there aren't concept albums I dislike (for a popular reference, Pinball Wizard is better off without context), but I can't decipher enough to even make an educated guess either way.

[Final Thoughts: It probably doesn't help matters that I like the voice over that does the laughter in the intro more than I like the actual singer. Every time I turned this track on, during that intro, I feel I've made a grave mistake putting this so low--just listen to that voice and that laughter, with that instrumentation, this is great!!--then the actual singer comes in and I get a little disappointed that the part I love is over.]

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

#164 [TIE] [#110]:

Name: Echoes Into the Coffin
Origin: Ariabl'eyeS
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQpPy7bH0yw" data-time="

Nominator: FL81 (6/8)

(6.3, 6.5, 6.7)

[I like the lyrics and the story, not as sold on the song itself.]

This is a lot like the Shoujou Byou song; I think I slightly prefer Shoujou Byou's singer (even if she isn't my favorite singer), this had a translation available so I knew what was being said, and neither song has a definitive advantage over the other.

"The castle is engulfed in flames as the maddening voice echoes endlessly" is a fun line; I'm sure the translator took some liberties as direct translations are rarely so evocative, but either way, it's neat.

Unfortunately, I'm not as into the story now that I've had time to think about it. It may be because I'm joining at the last song of an album, but I have no idea who any of these characters are or why I should care what happens to them. The story is complete enough on its own, I guess, but I think it might have fared a bit better with the other songs to accompany it.

[Final Thoughts: I'm undecided on if I should have tried to find the rest of the album (and/or its sequel album) before ranking this or not.

On the one hand, that would be far more time and energy than I gave to any other song, and listening to other songs with the explicit goal of trying to give a higher score to a nomination seems cheating.

On the other, I can't deny that there are some nominations I loved so much that I've checked out related songs. But that was always a case of "I want more songs like this", not "I want more context to help this nomination"? At least, it feels like there's a difference between those two things. And if I did the latter, I'd have to go listen to all the Wired for Madness songs and other songs from other concept albums & what not.]

====================
---

I managed to get a tie! With myself!

And as for info, I know that Shoujo Byou did some music for some anime series (Katanagatari and Seikon no Qwaser S2), and their vocalist is involved in Touhou doujin music circles (Meramipop). Nothing on Ariabl'eyeS though, I kinda just found out about them one day scrolling through YouTube. Romanesque Romacia is another good song by them, but I haven't really delved too deep into their other works.
---

FL81 posted...

Romanesque Romacia is another good song

That one does seem pretty neat too; I'm not sure if I'd say I liked it more than Echoes, but I did like it. Hard to say exactly how much after one quick listen, obviously, but liked none the less.
---

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

#163 [#40]:

Name: Sophisticated Fight
Origin: Sora no Kiseki Zanmai
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmandi2nKi4" data-time="

Nominator: NFUN (1/15)

(8, 9, 6.7)

[This is a massive improvement over the original. Your plan of showing off the inferior versions before springing this beauty on me may actually pay off! Not with a first place finish, the few songs Ive awarded perfect 10s to are on another level, but this is pretty great.]

Significantly better than every other Trails song, but I am so completely bored by remixes of this song by this point that I can't appreciate it any longer. Try asking my thoughts on it in two months or so after I've recovered.

[Final Thoughts: Harsh, but repeatedly listening to versions of this song I found inferior did not help this song's ranking in the least. And I do feel a bit bad about that, but then, I'm not the one who nominated all the different versions of the same song to get it into this predicament in the first place. </.<

Also, I think this is the first time where the Initiatial Thoughts actually spoil part of the list. Since the songs were all listened to and commented on in the order they were posted, if you still had a list of the order songs were posted in, you could look over those nominated before NFUN's songs and know that a few of them had 10s for their Initial Ranking.

You could go even further, cross-reference the list against the songs that have already been eliminated, and narrow your search down to help figure out which songs were likely recipients of the 10s. Of course, why would you? As volatile as the rankings are, it's not like starting with a 10 meant a lot. It'd be a lot of work for absolutely no pay off.

...still, you hypothetically could, if you were...weird or something.

[LATER: "Initiatial"...don't care, I'm leaving that typo in.]]

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

NFUN could not grasp the true form of Raetsel's Rankings!

In Memorium

Lowest Ranked Song: Sophisticated Fight (292nd Place)
Highest Ranked Song: Sophisticated Fight (163rd Place)

Meow.

[Final Thoughts: I'm fine leaving this eulogy at "Meow".]
---

the duality of man
---

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is slightly exagerated and is playful anger, not...like...literal anger.]

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

#162 [#259]:

Name: Kiss the Girl
Origin: The Little Mermaid
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrRbB-qUJfY" data-time="

Nominator: darkx (4/7)

(1, 2, *glare*)

[Of all the Disney films you could have chosen...]

Who is ready for a write-up that's probably going to be longer than all previous write-ups combined?! WHOO! LET'S GET CRAZY!!!!!

1: Soo.,,you saw the list of all my assorted furry animal forms. And you decided to go with a Disney song...and out of everything you could have gone with, singing dogs & cats & lions & everything else, you chose the movie starring the half-fish.

2: HALF-FISH.

3: HALF-FISH. That is...that is, like, one of the worst half-human combinations possible. Actual fish may be low on my list of choices, but hey, it's something completely non-human so it can be fun for a new experience. Half-fish is like "we want a non-human character, but we're afraid the human audience won't be able to relate, so let's make the main character basically human anyway". It is the character design choice of a coward.

4: ...like, seriously, you know we could be listening to something fun like the Cantonese version of "Why Should I Worry?" right about now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPlyhTl4Mu4" data-time="

Balance the human Cantopop we've got with some furry Cantopop. We could have fun comparing this version to Billy Joel's! And, I cannot stress this enough, NO HALF-FISH.

5: And then you choose the song where she's human. Because of course you did.

6: *glare*

7: *angry tail swishing*

8: Seriously, why not "Part of Your World"? I may not relate to the longing to be human part, but wishing to be something you never will? It's the best song in the movie for a reason.

Also, we could have shared a lot of laughs! I don't remember who made it (might have been Raka? Or Princess Anri?) or when, but I recall someone on Board 8 did a MadLibs topic where the results went into the lyrics of Part of Your World. Someone gave "Cardboard Cutouts of Swamp Thing" as their response to [Plural Noun] and we had the song lyric "I've got cardboard cutouts of Swamp Thing aplenty".

That was great.

9: Before you bring it up, no, I don't award you any points for a singing crab. Crabs rank even lower than half-fish. It didn't help Crab Rave and it doesn't help you either.

10: ...Just so we're clear this song is about a crustacean trying to convince some dude he doesn't know to make out with a physically disabled half-fish in disguise, right? We're just...we're just okay with that being the premise?

11: And the humans can actually understand Sebastian? So...like, every fish and animal on the entire planet can speak English and be understood? Since he tells Eric what Ariel's name is, clearly, this has to be the case? I feel like that should be a bigger deal in universe than it is.

*continued*
---

12: ...No, seriously, what the heck is going on during this scene from Eric's perspective? Like...he can actually hear all of this? Usually I assume we're operating with a standard "humans can't understand non-humans" rule, but apparently he hears what's going on just fine. So... he sees and hears this big musical number and has no particular reaction to it? Is this a thing that happens to him on a regular basis? Do...do fish routinely burst into song whenever he gets onto a boat?

13: If you don't like Cantonese dogs, then how about the Zulu dub of the Lion King?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQJcvMRYQo" data-time="

Always interesting to hear characters from an American cartoon speaking a language from the countries those characters are supposed to be from instead of English. Also young Nala has one of the cutest voices ever and that is perfect casting and I love it. Also, I don't think any of the songs nominated at either of my topics use native African languages, so a bit more diversity wouldn't have hurt...

(I don't like Zulu Zazu's voice which would have hurt the score a bit, but that's going off-topic.)

14: *resumes glaring and swishing her tail* HALF-FISH.

15: Besides everything else I'm not fond of oceans or deep water in general*. Mild phobia, really. Not enough that it impacts my ability to watch and enjoy aquatic stories, but I can't really envision myself as any type of fish or aquatic creature. Deep water and I have an understanding; I don't get near it and it doesn't kill me. This is a fine arrangement and I'm happy with it, but really, the location this scene takes place in doesn't help your score any.

*I'm sure someone will point out that I gave Maclir first place last year in part because of it reminding me of a beach. Beaches are merely water adjacent. I have no problem being adjacent to large bodies of water. Also, I lived near a beach for a while, so I have some positive memories of said beach. I used to walk out to it in the middle of the night when I needed to be alone; it was so quiet and peaceful in the moonlight...I miss that beach.

Also, someone was playing fetch with their dog out at the water one day. That was neat. Beaches are relaxing places that sometimes have dogs and do not drown you. In conclusion, beaches=good.

16: The lyrics are too specific. I can't associate it with anything other than that specific scene in the movie.

17: Even if I wanted something romantic, "talking crab tries to convince random dude to force himself on some girl" is practically the exact opposite of romantic.

[LATER EDIT: Fine line between love and hate. I can't give a terrible rank to anything that inspires that much of a reaction, so it got a rather large boost in the end.]

[Final Thoughts: This isn't going to stand as the largest jump in placement, but I'm pretty sure that's the largest we've had to this point in the rankings?]

====================
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And we follow that with the most severe tonal whiplash possible.

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

#161 [#233]:

Name: Tender Comrade
Origin: Billy Bragg
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xfYD6mTc_Y" data-time="

Nominator: Snake (7/15)

(2, 3.5, 6.7)

[He seems like a decent fellow, its a very unique nomination, and not something Id run into elsewhere... but Im not really looking for something so somber at the moment.]

...Well I'm not not looking for something somber. I just don't have the energy or motivation to talk about...well anything in this song, quite frankly.

[Final Thoughts: ...This song's dropping immediately after "Kiss The Girl"? Really? That's...that's what we're doing tonight, is it?

alright then.]

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

I plan on being busy tomorrow and Tuesday, so I may push the next ten songs later tonight--get the rest of the bottom half out of the way, then have a two day intermission before resuming.

...or such would be the plan, but I'm not entirely sure what actually drops next...having listened to all ten upcoming songs, I don't really want to cut any of them? Which...complicates matters...so I need to go listen to at least the ten songs after that and decide how some of this shakes out...

...well, expect more songs to drop as soon as I know what those are. *coughs*
---

I get that, it's a pretty heavy song.

---

Okay, moving along with NIGHT SONGS; burning through another ten tonight before a brief, two-day intermission.

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

#160 [#227]:

Name: You & Me
Origin: Nemukawa Yumena
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yCIuq1GOM0" data-time="

Nominator: UF8 (14/15)

(4, 4, 6.7)

[Something about her voice and the background music irks me.]

Looking over it again, her voice and design are just cute enough to let this get a higher placement than it probably should.

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



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

#159 [#172]:

Name: Happy Working Song
Origin: Enchanted
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n15UKexKf4k" data-time="

Nominator: Raka (11/15)

(5.6, 6, 6.7)

[This should be my thing. Its funny, it has animals, I enjoy the movie... but Im not really into it tonight.]

My reaction hasn't changed much. I do like it and I love the idea (also this is the only princess song sung by a princess in this ranking, since that song that shall remain nameless was sung by a crab.

...actually I forgot about Anastasia, she counts as a princess, doesn't she? I'd say this is the only "Disney Princess" song, but Giselle doesn't count as a Disney Princess--I recall hearing rumors that they were going to promote her, but they'd have to pay Amy Adams to use her likeness and it's more profitable to pretend this film never happened? ...Or did I just imagine that as the reason they didn't make merchandise?

...Uh-oh, I think we've reached a point where the parenthetical statement is not only longer than the sentence it was attached to, but assuredly larger than the entire rest of the write-up, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that but I've come too far to go back and edit this to be less...stupid.)

love the idea, but the song never fully clicks for me. I'd blame it on the fact that I've seen the movie too many times, but there are songs I've heard more often than this one that got better placements, so that can't be it. I'd blame it on the rain, but I already burst into a totally unrelated song on a write-up to another one of your nominations (which was written before this one but hasn't come up yet as it was moved up the rankings and I probably shouldn't have told you that, but then you don't know which song I'm talking about and god, I'm doing it again with the parenthetical statements, I swear I'm not doing this intentionally), and I really don't want bursting into song during your nominations to become a running gag.

[Later Edit: I completely forgot about Moana earlier. Don't think I'd count her as a Disney Princess, but she's close. Close enough that the movie joked about it at any rate.

...actually she was in Wreck It Ralph 2's princess scene, wasn't she? Or maybe she wasn't, I don't actually recall specifics about it now.]

====================
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And two more because it's late:

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

#158 [#200]:

Name: PA PA YA!!
Origin: BABYMETAL feat. F.HERO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO7Y8NsnkRg" data-time="

Nominator: Murphiroth (6/15)

(5.5, 5, 6.7)

[Dunno. I did want to try more jmetal songs, and Ive heard of the band, and the song is fairly catchy... but the lyric translations I find are so boring and the song feels like its missing something, so I dunno.]

Good song with dull lyrics sums it up.

[Final Thoughts: The stage is impressive (like the fire and the red lights), they have a good energy on stage, the surprise guest with rap interlude was nice, but the lyrics are rather bland.

"It's the festival! It's the festival! CRAZY SUMMER DANCE DANCE!"

We've covered my thoughts on average dance songs, yes? There are exceptions and let's not forget that this song did get a good placement all things considered, but I think I like the remaining songs more at the moment.]

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



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

#157 [#205]:

Name: See You Later
Origin: Nadia Gifford
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aggViB_PP6g" data-time="

Nominator: CPU (6/10)

(4, 5, 6.7)

[Oh god, this game. I got so close to the end and just couldnt bring myself to finish it.

The main character has amnesia. After a lot of waiting for an answer, you find someone who knows the main character (a dying old woman, if I recall) and he remembers everything... you then get a list of options to basically create your own past for him. Which would be neat, if your choices had any impact on anything. Choosing the most ridiculous options, my hero declared:

I was the son of an evil villain... gluttonous... and a real playa!

Completely straight-faced, she replied that she should have known from the way he acted. I laughed, but any sense of immersion was gone. Nothing mattered and if it didnt, then I saw no reason to bother finishing the game.

Songs not bad, decent lounge type song, but its not entirely my thing and doesnt excite me enough to get past my apathy for the characters.]

Of course, some days I'm better able to laugh at the game and the memories are charming in their own way... I like this song today, but don't be surprised if I'm back to disliking it tomorrow.

[Final Thoughts: No, I still find it charming tonight.]

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

#156 [#214]:

Name: Illusion of Sky
Origin: t=NODE
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=addvBQyiBtQ" data-time="

Nominator: Shonen_Bat (6/8)

(7, 4, 6.7)

[Much better than expected from a Touhou remix.]

Likely because this doesn't sound like Touhou music to me at all. Seems like overly emotional final boss music from some RPG; we start with the sad music as the main character attempts to persuade the final antangonist to end things peacefully, remember their past, things don't have to end this way--blah blah blah.

Music intensifies as the actual battle starts. Alarm can work as whatever--the structure the final battle takes place in beginning to self-destruct as the final phase of the battle begins, some missile launch ("You're too late, generic main character! Even if you win, my plan can't be stopped!11!"), whatever.

And a final bit of SAD MUSIC after the antagonist's death so the protagonist can be all sad about the ending.



...Kinda generic, but it's not too bad of a fantasy sequence to imagine. Doesn't remind me of Touhou in the least though.

[POINTLESS TRIVIA: This song's original score was 6.1, making this the first song to break the 6 barrier...before I started inflating the values so that everything around here is a 6.7 anyway.]

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



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

#155 [#222]:

Name: I Turned into a Martian
Origin: Misfits
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AVP6vuMNjI" data-time="

Nominator: Snake (6/15)

(5.5, 4, 6.7)

[Kinda funny. Will likely go up my rankings in the future; its short and comical, so its something I could turn on once a month or so when I want to wax nostalgic for the variety of songs nominated here.]

I walk down city streets
On an unsuspecting human world
Inhuman in your midst

Well someone knows what type of subject matter I like. </.<

Not really into generic martians though, they don't tend to be fluffy or have long tails (seriously, what's the fun of being non-human if you don't have a tail to wag?). Why are there no songs about turning into a Kushiban?

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kushiban

Never been something with color changing fur before... but I suppose that's a topic for a different write-up.

As an 80s song dealing with martians, this song does bring to mind Rapture by Blondie... kinda. Very different songs (I prefer this one over Rapture, if it matters), but still martian related.

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#154 [#215]:

Name: VANE
Origin: Vanedra
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J-ItrvykWU" data-time="

Nominator: UF8 (13/15)

(*bark*, *bark bark*, heke?)

[I wasn't sure what to make of this, so I kinda wanted to just start barking at the screen.]

I knew I'd regret using that Krusty vid so early. Not seeing any good "Heke?" reaction videos (Heke being the confused sound made by characters in Hamtaro & once by Kagome in the English dub of InuYasha as a bit of a voice actor joke, since the actress was also on Hamtaro) either... if there was ever a time for an exlamation of heke, it would probably be in response to this video.

...Oh well, barking works too, I suppose. Woof.

[Final Thoughts: The confusing nature of the song is actually pretty wonderful on a first impression, but once you're acclimated to how weird it seems, it doesn't completely hold up. An unfortunate casualty of the way this topic requires multiple listens.]

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



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

#153 [#150]:

Name: Heart Beat
Origin: AZKi ReD
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZezL7jHGKCA" data-time="

Nominator: UF8 (12/15)

(5, 6, 6.7)

[Feels like a typical jpop song. Not bad.]

Good voice, nice video quality, I'm somewhat interested in hearing other songs and learning if there's any reason behind all the different AZKis (Red, Black, White). I just think the song is a bit too...standard to really stand out as much as I'd like.

On an unrelated note, I did try out a few different songs from the related videos, and I think I prefer Fake.Fake.Fake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGXgYHlR8ww" data-time="

Though I find myself wishing the beat was less...happy and energetic. And of course since the video shows Aqua, I had to go look at one of her videos since she was cuter and that video was a duet with someone even cuter. Not going to try to track them down though as I don't want to know how deep this rabbit hole goes...I've already listened to two Azki Black songs, one Azki White song, one Aqua song, if I don't stop somewhere then I'll never be able to move onto the next song.

[Final Thoughts: Fake.Fake.Fake is pretty great, at least a 9. I don't think it would have won, but if it were the song nominated, I think it'd hit somewhere in the top 30 easily enough.

This song is nice; not as great as Fake, obviously, but it's nice and I can appreciate it directly leading me to the other song.

====================
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I'm kinda tired, so I'm just going to get this out of the way now, so I don't have to worry about it:

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

#152 [#235]:

Name: Santa Fe
Origin: Reb Beach
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ1-VLLzph4" data-time="

Nominator: Mycro (11/15)

(3.5, 3.5, 6.7)

[Its not bad, but it doesnt immediately grab me or leave a lasting impression. Its not quite relaxing enough to get on one of my mellow playlists, nor exciting enough to get anywhere else.]

Reminds me of the old Weather Channel. I can just see this playing in the background of the five day forecast, followed by the radar map.

...That may be the new winner of "most boring fantasy sequence".

Something about it also kinda feels like an unused track for the CD-I version of Tetris. Like it was created for the game, but got axed for not being relaxing enough? I dunno why, that's just the feeling I get. I guess because Level 0 would also make good Weather Channel music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2oHKSZ12qw" data-time="

Or such is the impression I get.

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



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

#151 [#136]:

Name: Boogiewoman
Origin: He Is Legend
Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/3LKmawKQZq5UhmXwZPJXNQ?si=cdv1le6jTom-XpSHoxp5lQ

Nominator: Bane (12/15)

(6.5, 6.5, 6.7)

[Dunno. Most of the song feels monotonous and I greatly dislike the Post-Chorus, but the Bridge is really good and I think I like the concept. Very mixed reaction, but it averages out to generally positive.]

I still feel much the same way. Parts of it I really like, parts of it I strongly dislike, and a lot of it I don't get--there's this whole debate questioning if this is secretly China White 6 and I don't have the energy to try following that right now--bring it up after the ranking is finished, I may make a go at listening to those later.

[Final Thoughts: ...Wow, I do not want to cut this right at the limit between hitting the top 50% of songs.

Unfortunately, when I look at the upcoming songs... I really don't want to eliminate any of them either... and after quite a bit of deliberation, I'm faced with the conclusion that I'd rather eliminate Boogiewoman than any of the next 10. It's tempting to scan even further up the list, try to find something from further up to substitute in at the last minute... but... well, this has to fall eventually and if it's losing against ten different songs in head-to-head competition, then it's unlikely I'll find anything to replace it with. So... full apologies to this song; I love the general dark vibe it's got going and it's better than "mixed reaction" made it sound... but... well, it's posted and done.

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

Congratulations to the remaining half of songs!

...I have no update for you, as I didn't actually know what song was being eliminated until this second (you have no idea how many times I flip-flopped between Boogiewoman and [other song]). Rankings will resume on Wednesday.
---

Top half, alright.

I'm very happy at how well Your Reality is doing in particular, I know it's not an amazing song by any means but it left a huge impression on me.
---

oh boo, I very much disagree with it being this low but I guess it's not for everyone

Fun Fact: The fade out at 4 minutes 20 seconds is supposed to be solidarity for those wrongfully incarcerated for marijuana related charges.

And the China White thing is something stemming back from the first China White song on their debut album in 2004, very fun stuff
---

See You Later's genuinely one of my favorite songs, but I can understand. ^_^' Might partially be due to my fondness for SC and the ending in which it plays, and I have to admit it's one of those songs that hits a sweet spot I have that I don't fully understand, and I get... easily attached to characters. ^_^''
---

I could be wrong but I think Bane, UF8, and I are all hanging around tied for "first place" with 11/15 left.

I had a rough stretch for a little while there, so I'll definitely take that!
---

Oh hey , the halfway 150 ! Here are some unofficial visuals inspired by what Mycro was doing because I kinda like doing this sort of thing --
https://imgur.com/zoqHrXW

Also fun fact, I am now currently tied with Raka for longest period before/between songs. Will I break the tie when the upper half starts??? wow the suspense
---

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

Fun Fact: The fade out at 4 minutes 20 seconds is supposed to be solidarity for those wrongfully incarcerated for marijuana related charges.

That is pretty neat and something I hadn't heard. Good message, though it wouldn't have earned it any extra points.

And yeah, I'm still reasonably interested in trying to learn more about China White... it sounds intriguing enough, just likely requires more time and focus than I have to give it until the rankings are finished.



NBIceman posted...

I could be wrong but I think Bane, UF8, and I are all hanging around tied for "first place" with 11/15 left.

I had a rough stretch for a little while there, so I'll definitely take that!

Actually, by my count, Hannyabal stands in first at 12/15; his last song fell way back at 219th place. So that's, what, 68 eliminations since he last showed up? Can't blame you for not remembering him after that. </.<

(Actually, I couldn't recall how many he had left either or how long it had been...)
---

GameBopAdv posted...

Oh hey , the halfway 150 ! Here are some unofficial visuals inspired by what Mycro was doing because I kinda like doing this sort of thing --
https://imgur.com/zoqHrXW

Wow, that's really cool! Thanks!



MycroProcessor posted...

hahah the VERY reason I nominated that Reb Beach track was because I knew you liked Tetris CD-i music and I pegged it as similar. I'm glad that even if it wasn't super high placing that it made you think of that like I was hoping

(Also I'm a huge fan of a lot of that ~90s-era Weather Channel music, and anything similar sounding to it, and got the sense you had interest in music with that feeling as well so yeah)

Ohh, I am so glad the similarities were not entirely in my imagination.
---

Actually, by my count, Hannyabal stands in first at 12/15; his last song fell way back at 219th place. So that's, what, 68 eliminations since he last showed up? Can't blame you for not remembering him after that. </.<

(Actually, I couldn't recall how many he had left either or how long it had been...)

Well, damn. I was close!
---

Outlaw Lullaby is actually the regular battle theme for one of the two towns in Yakuza Kiwami 2. I'd often draw out fights as long as possible just to hear the song for longer. And it's 100% Cowboy Bebop inspired.

PA PA YA! is supposed to just be a fun summer song, I think. Fills the tradition that the group has a song about food on every album, in this case Thai papaya salad. I actually tried it last time I went to a Thai restaurant solely based on the song, it was pretty good. F. Hero, the guest rapper, is apparently a big name Thai rapper.

If the noms had started more recently I would have nominated their single that dropped a few days ago, I have no idea what the lyrics mean apart from shanti meaning peace in Hindi, but I love the Bollywood feel of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQnG_T7kbtY" data-time="

As for what I have left...ya go my Nekrogoblikon.
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Fluttershy_Pony posted...

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

Fun Fact: The fade out at 4 minutes 20 seconds is supposed to be solidarity for those wrongfully incarcerated for marijuana related charges.

That is pretty neat and something I hadn't heard. Good message, though it wouldn't have earned it any extra points.

And yeah, I'm still reasonably interested in trying to learn more about China White... it sounds intriguing enough, just likely requires more time and focus than I have to give it until the rankings are finished.

NBIceman posted...

I could be wrong but I think Bane, UF8, and I are all hanging around tied for "first place" with 11/15 left.

I had a rough stretch for a little while there, so I'll definitely take that!

Actually, by my count, Hannyabal stands in first at 12/15; his last song fell way back at 219th place. So that's, what, 68 eliminations since he last showed up? Can't blame you for not remembering him after that. </.<

(Actually, I couldn't recall how many he had left either or how long it had been...)

Hell yeah lets go!! Turns out listening to almost exclusively female pop artists is good for something after all.

@Hard to Say Goodbye: Well, it's the movie version instead of the musical (because I enjoy the movie arrangement a bit more) so it could've been not Madonna in that role.
I suppose it works better in context, but I still enjoy it as a general parting song. Makes me remember the times I've had to say goodbye to people.

@Happy Working Song: Yeah, I definitely get that sometimes we just don't fully enjoy songs we thought we'd enjoy more.
And yep, probably it's because Disney would have to pay Amy Adams for her likeness...it's a shame too because Giselle is one of my favorite Disney princesses.
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Fluttershy_Pony posted...

#160 [#227]:

Name: You & Me
Origin: Nemukawa Yumena

to think i nearly made it a hundred spaces untouched...

anyway, i was a little worried about this one in hindsight, and i guess that was well-founded

that voice is very deliberately unconventional, and this song, much as i love it, doesn't entirely complement it. Also the video. She usually does the art herself but not that much this time because it was a song produced for an album from different people (the same one the AZKi song I submitted was on).

for a better sense of context, this is the kind of stuff she tends to do (these both came out since nominations...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tElBFCOCBp4" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJwWTrg-vnY" data-time="

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYOG4hQyqiA" data-time="
Fluttershy_Pony posted...

#154 [#215]:

Name: VANE
Origin: Vanedra

i only ever found this person because they happened to do a playthrough of Eryi's Action. it really surprised me when i found out they did music, let alone videos like this.

that said it only barely made it onto my noms as an experimental gag so I'm pretty satisfied with how far it got. I will say though that I really like how it's a very geocities song with a very geocities video, and makes a self-aware gag out of that.
Fluttershy_Pony posted...

#153 [#150]:

Name: Heart Beat
Origin: AZKi ReD

I would also bring up other AZKi songs to check out but looks like you have that covered already. I just really like the 90s style the video for it specifically evokes, but yeah her other stuff is on point too. I only really became particularly aware of her about half a year ago when she was really pushing to collab with Kaf (who at the time hadn't blown up into the biggest virtual singer around). In fact, I think AZKi still tripled her subscriber count then)... It's a bit of a shame that never came to fruition, AZKi just got left in the dust without much of a say in the matter. As for the colour thing... not even i really know. I made the distinction of saying this one was red mainly because they reflect pretty different genres and all, so i was hoping you'd check the other ones out if you didn't like this one. Generally, I think Black's my least favourite music-wise but Fake Fake Fake is pretty cool. YuNi also sometimes does a colour thing, maybe that's where it came from...?

Oh yeah. Also, in case you're curious about the connection to Minato Aqua, they're in this one pretty major vtuber brand together: Hololive. It's... a thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-SXhtYjprc" data-time="

Murphiroth posted...

Outlaw Lullaby is actually the regular battle theme for one of the two towns in Yakuza Kiwami 2.

Huh.. Still feels like too intense a song for a normal fight, but alright then.

Murphiroth posted...

If the noms had started more recently I would have nominated their single that dropped a few days ago, I have no idea what the lyrics mean apart from shanti meaning peace in Hindi, but I love the Bollywood feel of the song.

It's interesting. I see what you mean about the feel of the song, it gives it a drastically different sound than any other jmetal I've been exposed to. I'm not sure exactly where it would have been likely to place, but it's unique enough to be well-worth a listen anyway.



UF8 posted...

[too much to copy]

I'm not entirely sure what to make of any of those three Nemukawa tracks.

The first seems interesting, but I don't have a guess at anything going on during the video. Four gudetama, or gudetama parodies/knock-offs show up; then they are X'd off; then she dances with some pandas? It's somehow even more confusing than Vane. I'm still not wild about her voice, but having a bewildering video probably helps a bit. (I t shouldn't, but as I've said, I have no interest in objectivity)

The second, Black & White (I presume is the name?), feels like cheating. That first part (White) makes me want to squeal so much! It's just so adorable that I probably couldn't give it less than an 8? I know I shouldn't, but COME ON! She has a pretty bow for her tail!! Something this cute cannot have less than 8. I forbid it!

The second section isn't as good, at least without a translation. Her artwork seems to be going for "sexy" rather than "cute"; I might prefer it with a translation though... one of the comments refers to that section as having "downer lyrics"... so there's a chance there's some 10/10 humor going on there that I'm missing. Either way, it's not enough to have a particularly negative effect on things--the opening is just so cute it kinda overwrites anything else that happens.

Merry Halloween...has the misfortune of being the song I listened to immediately after Black & White and was stuck with an initial impression of "not even half as cute". Which isn't fair, yeah yeah, I'll listen to it some other day.

...Reminds me, did I ever get around to commenting on Perennial (the song that was ill-fated to come right after Pisces)? That song had similar problems...



Kinda sad to hear that AZKi isn't doing so well...



...I don't know what I expected from Hololive, but it certainly wasn't that.



Also this isn't related to you, but I don't want to make another section just for him: I'd like to offer a small apology to GameBop for that surprise double update... trying to make that image was probably hard enough without me spontaneously doubling the workload without any warning.
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Well, I seem to have totally botched Glacier's number of remaining songs. It seems to go "10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 7".

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#150 [#155]

Name: Alternative Fuel
Origin: Jeroen Tel
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN7fa79i6uQ" data-time="

Nominator: Flamander/Glacier (4/15)

(5.5, 6, 6.7)

[Usually I like Tels work and classic computer music, but this seems too normal.]

Not his best work (that would be the C64 version of Wilderness from Golden Axe if we're counting covers & Robocop 3 Title if we're only including originals), but this has steadily grown on me with each listen.

It doesn't bring anything specific to mind, but it feels like a happy tune to use for background music when walking--not for anything very strenuous, but a short jog or a walk along an easy trail.

[Final Thoughts: Happy Walking Song is nice.]

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#149 [#74]:

Song: Endless nine
Origin: Umineko no naku koro ni
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qs9EiK_JJE" data-time="

Nominator: handsomeboy (10/15)

(8, 8, 6.7)

[Im neither the first nor last person to make an Endless Eight reference, but its hard to avoid making one. Ive never even seen the second season (series?) of Haruhi and endless [number] is still a dread inducing naming scheme.

The song was above-average, but that computerized voice that no one can understand? PERFECT.

FUN FACT: While you wont find the lyrics to this song, attempting to do so will likely direct you to Regaros Umineko Song Rankings! He gave this song a 9.25. Good taste!]

The song has lost a bit of its impact now that I'm expecting Microsoft Sam to appear, but it's still good.

[Final Thoughts: ...Okay, you were right, this was the next of your songs to drop.]

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#148 [#169]:

Name: Thermosphere
Origin: Kenichiro Fukui [Einhnder]
Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igci1XPiHns" data-time="

Nominator: Mycro (10/15)

(4, 6, 6.7)

[I really like the part starting at 2:16, but think the rest of the song is trying too hard.]

It's another good song that I don't have as much reaction to as I'd like. I know it's good (and a million times better than the remix from Kingdom Hearts 3), but I can find no other words I wish to use to describe it and don't have any bizarre dream sequences or interpretations. I think it's partly because I know Einhander too well (I was never good at the game or shmups in general so I probably never made it to this boss), but I've played the game before & know enough that when I see the name my reaction is "oh, it's that most popular song from Einhander".

[Final Thoughts: That brief stretch starting at 2:16 reminds me of Mega Man 8 for some reason, though I'll admit I can't fully place the memory.]

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Didn't know there was a Umineko song ranking, gotta check it out sometime soon. Very cool for you to mention it