Board 8 > Rank the Tracks Week 48: Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia (+ Fleet Foxes results)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Previous results can be seen here:
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks

The rules:
1. Listen to the album in full
2. Rank every track on the album
3. For the results, there will be a curve at the top of each list; two additional points between #1 and #2, and one additional point for the next two ranks. This way, the songs that really stick out to someone get an edge that is not immediately negated by someone else putting it lower. In the case of Demon Days, someone's 15th track will get 1 point, 14th 2 points, 4th 12 points, 3rd 14 points, 2nd 16 points, and 1st 19 points. For albums with greater than 15 tracks, everything ranked below #15 will be given 0 points and the scale for the top 15 will be the same as a 15-track album. For albums with more than 20 tracks, you only have to list your top 15 (with 16-20, I still like having the average rank listed)
4. If you want to include comments for individual songs, I will compile them in the results
5. The results will be posted at the beginning of the next topic
6. The deadline to vote is Sunday, February 6 at 8:00 AM EST - though if you are for whatever reason listening to the album around that time, just say so in the topic and I can delay a bit
7. You can sign up to be added to the user cycle - the next person on the list will choose 3 albums which the other users will vote on for the next topic.
7a. To ensure people are being given an actual choice, the three nominated albums must be by different artists. You can otherwise stick to a similar sound or era.
7b. The tiebreaker for these polls will be whichever is listed first in the poll options - make sure to deliver the results in order of your own preference (which will hopefully have the added benefit of influencing people toward your first choice if they can't decide).

Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia track list:
1. Future Nostalgia
2. Don't Start Now
3. Cool
4. Physical
5. Levitating
6. Pretty Please
7. Hallucinate
8. Love Again
9. Break My Heart
10. Good in Bed
11. Boys Will Be Boys

User Cycle:
2/6: Giggsalot (Tom Waits - Rain Dogs)
2/13: RyoCaliente (Bloc Party - Silent Alarm)
2/20: darkx
2/27: neonreaper
3/6: Great_Paul
3/13: jcgamer107
3/20: ChichiriMuyo
3/27: ChainLTTP
4/3: BlueCrystalTear
4/10: MetalmindStats
4/17: HBJDubs
4/24: TheArkOfTurus
5/1: Snake5555555555
5/8: Jesse_Custer
5/15: ZaziGuado
5/22: firefdr
5/29: SpikeSetsFire
6/5: Johnbobb
6/12: VeryInsane
6/19: CasanovaZelos
6/26: Seanchan

Fleet Foxes' self-titled results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
Seanchan (14)
Johnbobb (18)
ChichiriMuyo (18)
BlueCrystalTear (18)
HBJDubs (20)
Mr Lasastryke (28)
MetalmindStats (30)
RyoCaliente (32)
CasanovaZelos (34)
Raetsel_Lapin (40)

General Album Comments

ChichiriMuyo: This album is probably going to take a few re-listens before I can really rank the tracks. In my first listen I've just liked each track more than the last, which can't be true. I think I've just hit love at first listen with this one. You're absolutely right Zelos, this album is almost as pleasing to listen to as an album can be.

Seanchan: Did a first listen today. Certainly a different sound than last week, that's for sure!

Got some strong Lumineers vibes from some songs. (Excuse my lack of other reference points as I bring them up again...) There's a bit of a choir/church-y kind of vibe going on here as well that I'm not sure I'm super big on?

Definitely going to take a few more listens to get my thoughts sorted out.

CasanovaZelos: As their career went on, Fleet Foxes started making a sound best described as 'atmospheric folk.' Their debut feels comparatively tangible but still, well, fleeting. It's the type of album I can turn on and feel safe in, pure comfort. Time passes faster with an album like this, but that is not to say it leaves no impact - Fleet Foxes shifts effortlessly between pastoral and mountainous, like an all-encompassing portrait of America sometime during the great expansion. Fleet Foxes really carved a niche of their own while remaining completely accessible, as if they captured the sound of some forgotten era.

Seanchan: Did a 2nd listen today. This is going to be one of those tough to rank albums, despite there being only 11 songs. I'm pretty sure I've got the #1 locked, and maybe a general idea of the other top 3-4 but after that, who knows. (Unfortunately but not really) There's no bad, easy to shove to the bottom, songs here.

RyoCaliente: I didn't think this album was bad, but it also struggled to leave an impact on me. I found most of the songs very easily and quickly forgettable, even though they were all enjoyable to listen too. It just never felt like a song was going to do something special or unique.

Seanchan (responding to RyoCaliente): I have to echo much of this sentiment, though I think on the whole I'm slightly more positive about it. As I said previously, there's no bad songs here but there's also nothing that really grabbed me. I have a feeling this is more of a slow burn album that probably grows on you over a time frame longer than a week.

Mr Lasastryke: This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I think the entire top 9 is fantastic. The bottom 2 songs are not as strong, but they're still good indie folk songs.

ChichiriMuyo: This album is all moods. While listening I felt like I was on a cross-country trip to relive a memory I never had. It oscillates between warm and comfortable to cold and lonely, but it is in the end a wonderous journey. This is an album from which I doubt I'd ever listen to a single. It must be experienced as a whole to really get the most out of it. This was a difficult album to rank the tracks, and if I did it again in a week I'm sure everything but number 1 and number 11 would probably be different (like my initial ranking a week ago), but to me that just says how good it is throughout.

BlueCrystalTear: I found each song pleasant to listen to in the moment, but found it hard to remember or distinguish most of them. It's a very even record and thus works well as an album, even if it suffers due to a lack of clear singles. In short, the songs are all good on their own but, when put together, fail to stand out from one another. I'd never heard of Fleet Foxes before, or at least didn't remember them, but I'd certainly say this is impressive but still very hard to rank.

Fleet Foxes track ranking

11. Meadowlarks (Track #9)
Score: 26 (Average Rank: 9.4/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs, Seanchan, Johnbobb, BlueCrystalTear (#11)

10. Oliver James (Track #11)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 7.7/11)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente, MetalmindStats (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Mr Lasastryke (#11)

9. Sun It Rises (Track #1)
Score: 45 (Average Rank: 7.5/11)
Biggest Fan(s): MetalmindStats (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChichiriMuyo (#11)

8. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Track #4)
Score: 51 (Average Rank: 7/11)
Biggest Fan(s): CasanovaZelos (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan, Mr Lasastryke, MetalmindStats (#10)

7. He Doesn't Know Why (Track #6)
Score: 62 (Average Rank: 6.1/11)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin, Mr Lasastryke, BlueCrystalTear (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): RyoCaliente (#11)

6. Heard Them Stirring (Track #7)
Score: 63 (Average Rank: 6.5/11)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, ChichiriMuyo (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): CasanovaZelos, Raetsel_Lapin, MetalmindStats (#11)

5. Quiet Houses (Track #5)
Score: 70 (Average Rank: 5.7/11)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente, Mr Lasastryke, Johnbobb (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): CasanovaZelos, Raetsel_Lapin (#10)

4. Blue Ridge Mountains (Track #10)
Score: 79 (Average Rank: 4.7/11)
Biggest Fan(s): CasanovaZelos, Raetsel_Lapin, Seanchan (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): RyoCaliente, Johnbobb (#8)

3. Your Protector (Track #8)
Score: 84 (Average Rank: 4.4/11)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, MetalmindStats, BlueCrystalTear (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): CasanovaZelos (#8)

2. Ragged Wood (Track #3)
Score: 92 (Average Rank: 4.1/11)
Biggest Fan(s): RyoCaliente, Raetsel_Lapin, Mr Lasastryke (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): ChichiriMuyo (#8)

1. White Winter Hymnal (Track #2)
Score: 113 (Average Rank: 2.9/11)
Biggest Fan(s): CasanovaZelos, Seanchan, Johnbobb, MetalmindStats, BlueCrystalTear (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#9)

darkx's blurbs for the album choices:

The Beatles - Rubber Soul
The Fab Four's sixth album is generally seen as a transitional album between the rock & roll influence of their early albums and the psychedelic sound of their later years. Despite none of its tracks ever reaching #1, this record nevertheless houses some very well-known tunes, including "Michelle," "Nowhere Man," "Drive My Car," and "In My Life."

Billy Joel - An Innocent Man
Billy Joel's ninth album is an intentional throwback, with each track performed in the style of an artist or sub-genre that inspired the piano man. It produced the second of only three #1 hits for Joel ("Tell Her About It"), as well as several more of his most popular songs, such as "Uptown Girl" and "The Longest Time."

AC/DC - Back in Black
The second-best selling album on all time, AC/DC's seventh album is often considered the greatest comeback in music history, written, recorded and released in the span of 5 months following the death of the band's original lead singer, Bon Scott. Brian Johnson proved he was a worthy frontman with powerful vocals on songs such as "Hells Bells" and "You Shook Me All Night Long," as well as the title track, which has become one of the most famous in all of classic rock.

Very interested to see the reaction to Future Nostalgia. It's so damn pop I think it's going to be pretty mixed, a few who love it, a few who hate it because it's not their style, and a few who think it's just "fine" but that it's been overplayed.

Figured I'd get everyone in the mood with a single Dua Lipa did with Kylie Minogue a little while back. It fits with the whole Future Nostalgia vibe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFYLeTJEvWY

A really tough choice in the nominations this week. I've not actually heard the full albums of An Innocent Man or Back in Black but I've heard their big hits a million times. And then there's The Beatles, who it's really hard for me to say no to.

Future Nostalgia is probably my favorite mainstream pop album ever. 4 songs in my all-time top 1000 (even my #1 album only has 3!) and another not too far outside it. The remaining songs are all fairly good except for one obvious dud. The pacing is fairly strong outside of petering out at the end, largely alternating between the mega hits and the backing tracks to never lose steam. A pure pop album hasn't been this good since Thriller.

Track ranking:
1. Levitating
2. Don't Start Now
3. Physical
4. Hallucinate
5. Break My Heart
6. Love Again
7. Cool
8. Pretty Please
9. Future Nostalgia
10. Boys Will Be Boys
11. Good in Bed

I should probably point out that I will be doing another 'Rank the Albums' project once we get through album #50, which will be Bloc Party's Silent Alarm. So, if you missed any of the weeks from Are You Experienced on, you might want to go back and listen to those albums.

CasanovaZelos posted...

I should probably point out that I will be doing another 'Rank the Albums' project once we get through album #50, which will be Bloc Party's Silent Alarm. So, if you missed any of the weeks from Are You Experienced on, you might want to go back and listen to those albums.

By any chance, did you happen to keep track of who nominated each of the 50 albums we've covered so far? I'm interested to know who's noms I've enjoyed the most.

Seanchan posted...

By any chance, did you happen to keep track of who nominated each of the 50 albums we've covered so far? I'm interested to know who's noms I've enjoyed the most.

Unfortunately not - we can probably figure out the recent ones by matching them to the user cycle (skipping the few who were added to it after the cycle started), but I did not keep track of the earlier info.

Tag.

We'll see how much I like this. Not usually into modern mainstream pop, but the Kylie song you posted above is pretty groovy so I might be pleasantly surprised.

CasanovaZelos posted...

Unfortunately not - we can probably figure out the recent ones by matching them to the user cycle (skipping the few who were added to it after the cycle started), but I did not keep track of the earlier info.

Aren't these on the Lost Old Games Site?

bump

up

Ill get to this and send my three soon

A lot of people would probably sleep on this album, but as far as dance-pop goes it shows a lot of range and intellect. You can hear bits and pieces of decades worth of inspiration that went into this work scattered throughout. The most stand out to me was the moment when a sample best known from 1997's "Your Woman" (White Town) plays, though it is itself a slightly altered sample from 1932's "My Woman" (Lew Stone & his Monseigneur Band). Generations on generations of collected knowledge. Is it perfect? Certainly not. Is it art? Absolutely. If there's one thing Andy Warhol got right it's this - something can be both art and a product meant for mass consumption.

1. Break My Heart
2. Love Again
3. Don't Start Now
4. Physical
5. Levitating
6. Cool
7. Pretty Please
8. Hallucinate
9. Boys Will Be Boys
10. Good in Bed
11. Future Nostalgia

bump

up

?

Levitating
This sounds like a song that plays in trailers for kids movies

Future Nostalgia
Physical
Love again
Hallucinate
Break my heart
Cool
Pretty please
Don't Start Now
Good in bed
Boys Will Be Boys

neonreaper posted...

Levitating
This sounds like a song that plays in trailers for kids movies

I'm pretty sure it's in the trailer for Sing 2...

It's the final day!

1. Don't Start Now
2. Levitating
3. Physical
4. Love Again
5. Break My Heart
6. Pretty Please
7. Hallucinate
8. Good in Bed
9. Future Nostalgia
10. Cool
11. Boys Will Be Boys

No surprise, since this is my nomination, but I think this album is fucking great! I've probably listened to it a dozen times in the last 6-8 months and it hasn't gotten old. It's just an album I can turn on and enjoy, front to back. It's poppy, it's upbeat, it's got some cool beats. It's exactly the type of thing I enjoy listening to.

I'm not going to break down each song, but I will say there's a distinctive gap in my mind between the top 3, the middle 4, and the "bottom" 4. And even though I have Boys Will Be Boys ranked last, I "enjoy" the message of that song. Its lyrics resonate because they're sadly still relevant. I know it's a movie about older times but I couldn't help but think of that song when I watched the movie The Last Duel.

Dua Lipa's debut was good but Future Nostalgia is a huge improvement. This is an album filled with instant classics and it justly won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. There are no bad songs to be found here.

I absolutely adore "Levitating", it might be my favorite song of 2020. I love the chord changes and spacey feel of the song. "Cool" perhaps best exemplifies the retro '80s synthpop sound of this album. "Pretty Please" is so funky, it could have been a lost Prince track. "Good in Bed" doesn't make my top 3, but I still think it is a fantastic pop song and I'm not sure why people seem to be really down on it? I hope it's not because we're offended by a young woman singing about sex in 2022 >_>

The only two songs that keep this album from being perfect are "Love Again" and "Boys Will Be Boys". "Love Again" is fine but it doesn't leave much of an impression on me; I thought White Town utilized this sample better. The baroque pop of "Boys Will Be Boys" is uh... kind of a weird choice to end the album on, after all the pop-disco-funk music, and unfortunately, it's not a particularly great baroque pop song. Still, amazing album!

1. Levitating
2. Cool
3. Pretty Please
4. Good in Bed
5. Physical
6. Future Nostalgia
7. Don't Start Now
8. Hallucinate
9. Break My Heart
10. Love Again
11. Boys Will Be Boys

1: Cool
2: Physical
3: Love Again
4: Break My Heart
5: Future Nostalgia
6: Don't Start Now
7: Pretty Please
8: Levitating
9: Boys Will Be Boys
10: Hallucinate
11: Good in Bed

Mr Lasastryke posted...

I hope it's not because we're offended by a young woman singing about sex in 2022 >_>

To be clear, I personally am offended by anyone, young or not, woman or otherwise, singing about sex! /s

In all due seriousness, there's not a single song here I don't like (with my top seven being outright great IMO), and something has to be last. Also, that something was never going to be Boys Will Be Boys; for me, its placement and deviation from the rest of Future Nostalgia only enhances its impact.

1. Levitating
2. Dont Start Now
3. Boys Will Be Boys
4. Cool
5. Break My Heart
6. Love Again
7. Future Nostalgia
8. Physical
9. Hallucinate
10. Pretty Please
11. Good in Bed

Levitating
Physical
Break My Heart
Dont Start Now
Hallucinate
Love Again
Cool
Pretty Please
Future Nostalgia
Good in Bed
Boys Will Be Boys

Kinda forgot how strong this album was

1. Break My Heart
2. Don't Start Now
3. Cool
4. Future Nostalgia
5. Levitating
6. Boys Will Be Boys
7. Love Again
8. Physical
9. Hallucinate
10. Pretty Please
11. Good in Bed

Dua Lipa really isn't the type of music I normally go for but something about her voice is just so addicting

I went into this with doubts since I'd only ever heard "Levitating" before this, but found this ripe with catchy hooks and fun, lively beats. The ones toward the bottom for me were simply less memorable; my top 7 were all ones I can recall after listening, and it's a mighty big feat for an album to pull that off after two listens. The others aren't bad, just dwarfed.

01. Levitating
02. Don't Start Now
03. Physical
04. Break My Heart
05. Love Again
06. Cool
07. Boys Will Be Boys
08. Hallucinate
09. Future Nostalgia
10. Pretty Please
11. Good in Bed