Board 8 > Rank the Tracks Week 21: Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters (+Strokes 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
4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results
5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic
6. The deadline to vote is Sunday, August 1 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 a user cycle for after we finish the queue; once we get through the last planned album, the next person on the list will choose 3 albums which the other users will vote on for the next topic.
7a. To ensure people are being given an actual choice, the three nominated albums must be by different artists. You can otherwise stick to a similar sound or era.
7b. The tiebreaker for these polls will be whichever is listed first in the poll options - make sure to deliver the results in order of your own preference (which will hopefully have the added benefit of influencing people toward your first choice if they can't decide).
7c. The order of the user cycle will be randomly determined, but users will first be sorted into tiers by how many of their nominations have been covered during the early nominations period.

Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters track list:
1. I Want You to Love Me
2. Shameika
3. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
4. Under the Table
5. Relay
6. Rack of His
7. Newspaper
8. Ladies
9. Heavy Balloon
10. Cosmonauts
11. For Her
12. Drumset
13. On I Go

Schedule:
8/1: Massive Attack - Mezzanine (Giggsalot)
8/8: The Killers - Hot Fuss (Seanchan)
8/15: Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five (jcgamer107)
8/22: Air - Moon Safari (ZaziGuado)
8/29: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced (Johnbobb)
9/5: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (Steiner)
9/12: The Knife - Silent Shout (CasanovaZelos)
9/19: Billy Joel - The Stranger (Seanchan)
9/26: Spice Girls - Spice (SpikeSetsFire)
10/3: Iron Maiden - Powerslave (TheArkOfTurus)
10/10: Rancid - ...And Out Come the Wolves (Snake5555555555)
10/17: OutKast - Aquemini (Giggsalot)
10/24: Of Monsters and Men - Beneath the Skin (Jesse_Custer)
10/31: Taylor Swift - Speak Now (Snake5555555555)
11/7: The Avalanches - Since I Left You (SpikeSetsFire)
11/14: Moby - Play (SpikeSetsFire)
11/21: Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill (Seginustemple)

User Cycle sign-ups:
11/28: MetalmindStats
12/5: TheArkOfTurus
12/12: Snake5555555555
12/19: Jesse_Custer
12/26: ZaziGuado
1/2: SpikeSetsFire
1/9: Johnbobb
1/16: VeryInsane
1/23: CasanovaZelos
1/30: Seanchan
2/6: Giggsalot
2/13: RyoCaliente
2/20: darkx
2/27: neonreaper

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The Strokes - Is This It results

The participants sorted by deviance from final results:
VeryInsane (16)
neonreaper (22)
Raetsel_Lapin (22)
CasanovaZelos (22)
ZaziGuado (22)
Johnbobb (28)
ChainLTTP (30)
SpikeSetsFire (34)
Ryo Caliente (36)
Seanchan (36)
Snake5555555555 (40)
HBJDubs (40)

General Album Comments

Snake5555555555: This album is good but the songs kind of blend in to one another to be perfectly honest.

Seanchan: Did a "first" listen today. But kinda not really since I'd already heard like half the songs on this album before. It's a good album though I can't say I felt too strongly about it. Definitely get some of the "same-y-ness" comment but it's a short album so that helps.

RyoCaliente: I was definitely part of this scene back in the day, but I never really got into the Strokes that much. There's some songs in their discography I really like, but as a whole it never really clicked. This listen was probably the most I enjoyed my experience listening to a full Strokes album! I guess that's the difference between attentive listening and background noise.

ChainLTTP: This album was so overhyped when it came out that I actually think it's underrated now. Nonstop bangers.

CasanovaZelos: Acclaimed Music has this listed as the second most critically acclaimed album of the 2000s, beaten out only by Arcade Fire's Funeral. I've always found this kind of funny, as I was too young to experience this at the time, and I've never met anyone as wild about this as there are people who obsess over Radiohead's Kid A/In Rainbows, Sufjan Stevens' Illinois, and really so many others. Though I think it lacks a sound that evokes a strong emotional attachment, this is one of the more consistent albums I know. Even the weakest song on this album is pretty strong; there's not a weak link here. If you like plain ol' rock and roll, the only real competition that decade was The White Stripes. I put this in the same league as Ramones' debut, a band who essentially does variations of the same sound exceptionally well - the difference here being that The Strokes build each song around a distinct hook. I don't think it's 'samey' as much as it is unusually consistent. If nothing else, Is This It signaled the garage rock revival era, which just might be rock's swan song as a mainstream entity.

ZaziGuado: I listened to this album twice. The first time was in the background and the second was a more active listening. This is definitely an "in the background" album for me. Every song has a natural toe tapping beat, but the sound started to wear on me towards the end of the album during my second listen. Going it, I had heard what I assume were three singles in Someday, Last Nite, and Hard To Explain. Those three songs were easily the top ones with the addition of the opening track. Everything else kind of just jumbled together a bit. That said, I will again reiterate that this is an excellent album for putting on and going about your business because it's easy to be taken over by the rhythm.

Johnbobb: Was surprised to find I really didn't care for this album. Aside from the big singles and maybe another song or two being generous it all just sounds the same and gives me a headache, like the tone its hitting in literally every song just twings on a bad nerve or something. The Strokes are definitely a solid band as far as their singles but this kinda killed my desire to hear more by them.

Seanchan: This is such a weird album for me. It's perfectly okay as an album but I didn't have a lot of fun doing the ranking. In many ways it just reinforced my thoughts that I already had about their singles; I kinda enjoy them in the moment but I also have almost no desire to actively seek them out. There's just something about the way the lead singer sounds (or maybe it's just the mix?) that just doesn't hit the mark for me.

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Is This It track ranking

12. When It Started (Track #9 (U.S.))
Score: 46 (Average Rank: 9.17/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555 (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper, Johnbobb (#12)

11. Trying Your Luck (Track #10)
Score: 51 (Average Rank: 8.83/12)
Biggest Fan(s): SpikeSetsFire (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): RyoCaliente, CasanovaZelos, ZaziGuado, VeryInsane (#12)

10. Barely Legal (Track #4)
Score: 56 (Average Rank: 8.33/12)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper, Seanchan, HBJDubs (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#12)

9. Alone, Together (Track #6)
Score: 62 (Average Rank: 7.83/12)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChainLTTP, Seanchan (#11)

8. New York City Cops (Track #9 (Original))
Score: 71 (Average Rank: 7.42/12)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente, Johnbobb (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChainLTTP, HBJDubs (#12)

7. The Modern Age (Track #2)
Score: 71 (Average Rank: 7.08/12)
Biggest Fan(s): CasanovaZelos (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): SpikeSetsFire (#12)

6. Take It or Leave It (Track #11)
Score: 78 (Average Rank: 6.83/12)
Biggest Fan(s): ChainLTTP (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): neonreaper (#10)

5. Soma (Track #3)
Score: 82 (Average Rank: 6.58/12)
Biggest Fan(s): ChainLTTP, HBJDubs (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): CasanovaZelos (#11)

4. Is This It (Track #1)
Score: 85 (Average Rank: 6.58/12)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Snake5555555555, Seanchan (#12)

3. Hard to Explain (Track #8)
Score: 122 (Average Rank: 4.08/12)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente, VeryInsane (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#10)

2. Last Nite (Track #7)
Score: 145 (Average Rank: 2.75/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Snake5555555555, Raetsel_Lapin, CasanovaZelos, Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): RyoCaliente (#7)

1. Someday (Track #5)
Score: 151 (Average Rank: 2.5/12)
Biggest Fan(s): neonreaper, SpikeSetsFire, ZaziGuado, Seanchan (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#7)

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My favorite album of 2020 and #11 of all-time. Hit me like nothing else the first time through and has only solidified its status as an instant classic with every listen. It starts with a typical yet strong Fiona Apple song in "I Want You to Love Me," but the ending of that song descends into a chaos that rarely lets up for the rest of the album. "Shameika" hits with a force I've rarely seen before. The percussion throughout is absolutely magnificent. Who knew piano rock could be so aggressive? My only issue is that the final two tracks kind of trail off, while "For Her" feels like it could have been a perfect closer - not the best track by any means, but the declaration that kicks off the bridge there is so chilling that I can't believe she didn't end with it.

My ranking:
1. Heavy Balloon (#275 all-time)
2. Cosmonauts (#760 all-time)
3. Shameika (#782 all-time)
4. I Want You to Love Me (#2964 all-time)
5. Newspaper
6. Under the Table
7. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
8. Ladies
9. For Her
10. Relay
11. Rack of His
12. Drumset
13. On I Go

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Bump

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gonna relisten of course but this album blew me away last year

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also should we do an album ranking so far now that we're at an even 20 finished?


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Johnbobb posted...

also should we do an album ranking so far now that we're at an even 20 finished?

I was planning for 25

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CasanovaZelos posted...

I was planning for 25

I guess Ill start giving some albums another listen in preparation. Will it be ok to participate in that ranking if Ive skipped submitting rankings some weeks? Ive been listening to all of the albums, but lately Ive been too busy or havent felt inspired to do a track by track ranking for several of them.

Jesse_Custer posted...

I guess Ill start giving some albums another listen in preparation. Will it be ok to participate in that ranking if Ive skipped submitting rankings some weeks? Ive been listening to all of the albums, but lately Ive been too busy or havent felt inspired to do a track by track ranking for several of them.

I will expect people to rank all 25 albums but anyone can participate as long as they do so (very few of us have actually participated every week)

I will also probably have that open in a separate topic for a month.

I'm also considering doing a tournament of sorts when we hit 32, if people would be interested? I would take the top two songs from each album so far and put them in a bracket. That would also be run separate from the main topics and anyone can participate as long as they know both entrants in a match. I would probably do 8 songs per topic and have those open for 3 days each or something.

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CasanovaZelos posted...

I will expect people to rank all 25 albums but anyone can participate as long as they do so (very few of us have actually participated every week)

I will also probably have that open in a separate topic for a month.

I'm also considering doing a tournament of sorts when we hit 32, if people would be interested? I would take the top two songs from each album so far and put them in a bracket. That would also be run separate from the main topics and anyone can participate as long as they know both entrants in a match. I would probably do 8 songs per topic and have those open for 3 days each or something.

I'd be down for that

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CasanovaZelos posted...

I will expect people to rank all 25 albums but anyone can participate as long as they do so (very few of us have actually participated every week)

I will also probably have that open in a separate topic for a month.

I'm also considering doing a tournament of sorts when we hit 32, if people would be interested? I would take the top two songs from each album so far and put them in a bracket. That would also be run separate from the main topics and anyone can participate as long as they know both entrants in a match. I would probably do 8 songs per topic and have those open for 3 days each or something.

That all sounds interesting.

I've already been ranking the albums as we've gone along since I knew that was coming at some point.

A tourney for the top songs sounds like a fun idea too; better than just having people rank the top tracks.

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bump

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up

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I'm also down for the tournament.

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Man...well...they can't all be winners...

First listen and I didn't connect to this album at all. Always a bad sign when I'm 5-6 tracks in and counting how many are left.

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Seanchan posted...

Man...well...they can't all be winners...

First listen and I didn't connect to this album at all. Always a bad sign when I'm 5-6 tracks in and counting how many are left.

And to think, this is the highest rated album of all time on Metacritic (with a reasonable number of reviews, at least). As much as I love it, I'm surprised how universal the response was there.

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Criminal is the only song I'd heard from Apple before this. And that's a pretty okay song; it's got a catchy chorus.

There was nothing here that really smacked me in the face and take notice in a good way. Certainly nothing that I would say could be a hit single. But I kinda knew that going in just based on what I'd heard. Also figured that this one probably wasn't going to be in my wheelhouse.

We'll see what another listen or two brings though.

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bump

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Hmm

I thought it would be fun to do this before people actually settle on what the definitive Fetch the Bolt Cutters songs are (critics seemed to settle on the first two tracks, which they tend to do when they can't decide), but I will also accept people finding it so off-putting that practically no one participates.

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I think the album is incredible just trying to find the time listen intently all the way through again. If I can't so be it but I'll do a ranking eventually either way.

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Snake5555555555 posted...

I think the album is incredible just trying to find the time listen intently all the way through again. If I can't so be it but I'll do a ranking eventually either way.

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bump

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I Want You to Love Me
Heavy Balloon
Shameika
Under the Table
Cosmonauts
Drumset
Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Ladies
For Her
On I Go
Rack of His
Newspaper
Relay

I feel like half of the album doesn't really do much for me but the other half is pretty good. On my list, anything below Drumset I don't feel like I'd really need to listen to again. Some of the good parts remind me of a cross between Eternal Sonata and I Am Setsuna, but that could be just "PIANO" and I'm a simple person.

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up

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1: Rack of His
2: Fetch The Bolt Cutters
3: Ladies
4: Heavy Balloon
5: Shameika
6: I Want You To Love Me
7: Cosmonauts
8: For Her
9: Under The Table
10: Newspaper
11: Relay
12: Drumset
13: On I Go

I tend to have a low tolerance for repeated lyrics & Fiona Apple's style relies heavily on repetition, so this album is really not for me. I'm still glad I supported it though--it offers a style unlike anything else we've ranked, I value the opportunity to listen to things I have an aversion to, and I can at least acknowledge that she's talented.

And I'd do my best to participate in a song tournament.
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bump

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Shameika
Rack of His
Cosmonauts
Heavy Balloon
I Want You To Love Me
Relay
Newspaper
Under The Table
Fetch the Bolt Cutters
For Her
On I Go
Ladies
Drumset


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1. Shameika
2. For Her
3. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
4. Under the Table
5. Newspaper
6. Cosmonauts
7. I Want You To Love Me
8. Relay
9. Drumset
10. On I Go
11. Rack of His
12. Ladies
13. Heavy Balloon

A simply incredible album front to back. Fiona Apple experiments gleefully with a lush soundscape of some of the most varied instrumentation you will ever hear on a mainstream album. It rocks, it soothes the soul, it makes you laugh and cry in equal measure as Fiona weaves stories based unashamedly from her own life experiences, from the powerful and emotionally resonant piano rocker "Shameika" to more jazzy numbers like "Ladies", to even the punk-adjacent "For Her". There's a certain sense of shared vulnerability between Fiona and the listener, as she works as both entertainer and excavator, drudging up memories and past experiences you forgot you even had yourself. Much in the spirit of a song like "Hey Ya", Fiona's bouncy and upbeat tempos belay intense drama and it truly forces the listener to pay attention to every note and every lyric being sung. I'm personally a little surprised by the "off-putting" criticism. Despite its experimentation and deeper meanings, it's definitely quite the fun album to just listen to and take in the catchy instrumentation, appreciate its fun quirks (come on, dogs actually being credited on the album is CUTE), and vibe along to Apple's infectious flows.

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Up

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Last dayyyyyy

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1. Newspaper
2. Heavy Balloon
3. Rack Of His
4. Ladies
5. Relay
6. Cosmonauts
7. On I Go
8. Drumset
9. Under The Table
10. I Want You To Love Me
11. For Her
12. Shameika
13. Fetch The Bolt Cutters

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1. For Her
2. Shameika
3. I Want You to Love Me
4. Heavy Balloon
5. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
6. Relay
7. Ladies
8. Cosmonauts
9. Under the Table
10. On I Go
11. Rack of His
12. Newspaper
13. Drumset

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1. Newspaper
2. Under the Table
3. Cosmonauts
4. Heavy Balloon
5. I Want You to Love Me
6. Drumset
7. On I Go
8. Shameika
9. Relay
10. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
11. Ladies
12. For Her
13. Rack of His

So, I have to say, this album grew on me some with repeated listenings. Still not something I'm likely to come back to but I've gained a certain appreciation.

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Last call before tomorrow morning

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Getting this one in at the last minute. I feel like this is one of those albums Id probably like more if I had time to listen a few times.

Cosmonauts
I Want You to Love Me
Under the Table
Relay
Heavy Balloon
Shameika
Newspaper
Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Drumset
Ladies
Rack of His
For Her
On I Go

Calculating results now

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