Board 8 > I rank VGM soundtracks (...sort of) [ranking]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ken Nakagawa disappearing from gust was a big loss i think, he's what /made/ ar tonelico and atelier music so distinct and cool when he was present. I absolutely love the newer gust composers like Kazuki Yanagawa and friends, but Nakagawa being mostly gone does leave a hole that can't be replaced by anyone but him imo. definitely a factor in why i like rorona/iris1-3 music a lot and other stuff of that era of gust
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I don't know Atelier composers all that well, but it seems like Ken Nakagawa composed a number of the tracks I like from the series. Shame he's not working with the sound team anymore.

5. Gitaroo Man
Nominated by @paulg235
Average rating: 7.7
Overall thoughts: Diverse collection of mostly guitar-centric songs.

36. Flyin' To Your Heart (English Ver.) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwKQj7Wx7PQ [8]
41. Born to be Bone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKhEt5WxCbM [8]
47. Tainted Lovers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjJyIdObjkE [7.5]
53. The Legendary Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W__p0gCBSZI [7.5]
57. Bee'Jam Blues - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKlZEYyWPY [7.5]

What a great surprise this set was! All five songs are very distinct from each other and, remarkably, I really liked all of them. Born to Be Bone is very Western-like with awesome bone rattlin and horses and whips and such. Tainted Lovers is an absolute shredder, BeeJam Blues is legit funk, and The Legendary Theme is a slow-paced, sad/wistful number that was perfect to close out the set. Really great.

Favorite song: Flyin to Your Heart, a song from a game about guitars that basically has no guitars in it. It sounds more like an IIDX song with fast tempo and drums. Great energy, very fun to dance to.

4. Tail of the Sun
Nominated by @Collen
Average rating: 8.1
Overall thoughts: Sometimes breakbeat with vocal samples, sometimes something totally different!

16. Primitive Life ~ Odottepon! (Arranged) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq5qCxl-4Mw [9]
27. Cool Jets (Arranged) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr9AYfGHy_E [8.5]
33. Junguu Kibao (Arranged) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WR755Zh7KM [8]
42. Tail of the Sun (Arranged) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTCDe2qHNKQ [8]
71. Wild Child & Manmos (Arranged) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oLjQltgDVM [7]

Boy, this set was an experience. These songs really run the gamut. Cool Jets is very chill, with distinctive big booming bass. I had such fun listening to Junguu Kibao, which includes breakbeat and vocal samples (ANYONE CAN DANCE THATS THE LAW). Tail of the Sun is deceptively normal at first but then segues into creative percussion and more vocal samples. Wild Child & Manmos sounds like something out of Turok, but more playful, with animal noises and an ominous melody line.

Favorite song: Primitive Life ~ Odottepon! (Arranged). There are portions of this that sounds like PS1 bootlegs, and there are portions that sound like Thumper, and there are portions that sound like nothing else.

3. Off-Peak
Nominated by @cakophon
Average rating: 8.3
Overall thoughts: SPACE JAZZ

7. Frogphone - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCF155YyQks [9]
17. Level Design - Sheet Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x738SAYvvoA [8.5]
29. Panopticon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKhrBMmPT4E [8.5]
37. Fick Your Mini - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mpEhbM452o [8]
48. Memos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBvKG4ldvWA [7.5]

I love this soundtrack and I was so bummed when cako nominated it because I thought I would have to give first place to something that wasnt a new discovery. Turns out I was wrong! But the Off-Peak soundtrack is amazing. Space jazz about sums it up. I honestly dont think I can describe it any other way!

I would give specific thoughts on each song, but honestly the set is so self-consistent that I can sum up my thoughts on all five with one writeup. (Also I have a hard time telling the songs apart from each other after I listen and rate them.)

Favorite song: Frogphone. From the almost ominous opening notes, we have a song that constantly tries out new ideas, and those ideas never get stale. The rest of the soundtrack is like: a feast for musical experimentation, a pipeline of creativity.

2. Mega Man ZX
Nominated by @tazzyboyishere
Average rating: 8.4
Overall thoughts: Excellent pop music!

6. Sky High - Grand Nuage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym4LLo5N9S4 [9]
8. Mountain Rider - https://youtu.be/dahezcGa7S8 [9]
14. Wonder Panorama - https://youtu.be/ZT5xehU9zkY [9]
39. Snake Eyes - https://youtu.be/SlfwSd-S8ks [8]
72. Green Grass Gradation - https://youtu.be/wSlCsSc5LyI [7]

Id heard some of these songs before, but not all. I certainly hadnt heard the top song before, so that was a great find. This set was so catchy and melodic, I found myself humming along to most of the songs! Wonder Panorama is a song you just want to snap your fingers to, Mountain Rider simulates the feeling of racing down a freeway, Snake Eyes feels like jazzing it up in a city late at night, and Green Grass Gradation is better than coffee.

Favorite song: Sky High - Grand Nuage. Dang, where has this song been all my life? A powerful anthem for holding your head up and saying, you know what, its okay if my head is in the clouds, because the clouds are an okay place to be.

1. The Gardens Between
Nominated by @kaonashi1
Average rating: 8.6
Overall thoughts: A powerful, meditative experience.

9. Between Friends - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd1MzDUSm5A [9]
70. Calm Before - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4wd3a8Jfyw [7]
1. The Storm - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPov_Ffz408 [9.5]
2. Are You The Same - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRSKSqqhNhE [9]
22. Weight of Air - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNf-3KdaWUE [8.5]

I am leaving the songs in playlist order, not ranked order, because they flow into each other. This was a bit of a challenge to rank because I feel like the intended way to experience the soundtrack is one continuous song, but I do feel like each track stood alone in addition to working as part of a greater whole.

So, The Gardens Between. This set felt very profound in ways Im still grasping. I wont use big metaphors or comparisons to other games or artists. Ill just simply say that its outstanding music to meditate to, or to have some sort of spiritual awakening to. (I mean, presumably.)

Favorite song: The Storm. Like I said, the set is meant to be taken as a whole, but The Storm stands out for its powerful horn. I gave it the top spot out of 175 songs, and the song that follows it, Are You the Same, got number 2. Not bad!

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And thats it for me! Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to nominate for this. I really enjoyed listening to everyones sets and finding some real gems. Maybe you found a keeper or two as well. Hope to see you all at the next ranking I run, whenever that will be!

Here's the playlist of every song in the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g76BQx3dWRg&list=PLW9O9mntH1RGXPIi5AwT07uaKFQOT6TQ7&index=1

Keeping this around in case anyone else wants to see it.

Hell yeah! Had a lot of nostalgia for the ZX soundtrack but it wasn't until they released the collection earlier this year where I realized just how loaded the game was with some of the best tracks in the franchise. There were a couple I wanted to include beyond what I nominated, which is pretty telling for how consistent it is. I doubt any of the songs are in my top favorites, but they're all a joy to listen to. Shame that Advent's only memorable track is an 8-bit remix of Green Grass Gradation.

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tazzyboyishere posted...

Hell yeah! Had a lot of nostalgia for the ZX soundtrack but it wasn't until they released the collection earlier this year where I realized just how loaded the game was with some of the best tracks in the franchise. There were a couple I wanted to include beyond what I nominated, which is pretty telling for how consistent it is. I doubt any of the songs are in my top favorites, but they're all a joy to listen to. Shame that Advent's only memorable track is an 8-bit remix of Green Grass Gradation.

I'd heard some of the songs, both original and from the arranged album, but I hadn't heard all of them. It was a delight to listen to the set and realize I liked everything in it!

Another bump.

opportune time to talk about this list, you know, a month after it's been posted

I enjoyed it a lot! Both the way the soundtracks were ranked in-game and across games, combined with the short-but-sweet writeups, gave a pretty clear picture of some of the things you enjoy (and don't enjoy) about VGM. I liked that you showcased your favourite track for each set and why, as well. The nominations were diverse and generally pretty interesting, too. Made for some good listening.

some other comments (as I'm re-listening to the first page of the topic):
-we're not super compatible according to vgmc voting, but I found myself agreeing with you on your selection for favourite track in each set pretty frequently!
-of the lowest-ranked sets, I actually very much liked Cultist Simulator's brooding melodies and vibe. June the 28th is a very pretty composition. This would have done decently well in my own hypothetical ranking!
-as you remarked, the diversity of FFXIV's soundtracks is really cool-- it's amazing how many different styles they hit. I briefly considered my own FFXIV setlist, but I'd have had to listen to a lot more FFXIV music to try to tailor a set I'd be really happy with.
-POP/STARS is totally catchy, yeah. I'm no big k-pop fan but I dig this quite a bit.
-that Playrooms track creeps me out-- the chainsaw sounds actually make me cringe. This will haunt me like 'I WILL EAT YOU' and it's all your fault
-Terminal Velocity kinda gave me Fighting EX Layer vibes, but it's actually by Kenichi Tokoi! (That's the guy that composed Endeavour.) Very fun track.

kaonashi1 posted...

-Terminal Velocity kinda gave me Fighting EX Layer vibes, but it's actually by Kenichi Tokoi! (That's the guy that composed Endeavour.) Very fun track.

Thinking about it, we actually had an all-Sega finals, didn't we? (Does Atlus own 13 Sentinels/Odin Sphere?)
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Hbthebattle posted...

Thinking about it, we actually had an all-Sega finals, didn't we? (Does Atlus own 13 Sentinels/Odin Sphere?)

atlus published 13 sentinels so yes i guess by extension it was all sega
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