Board 8 > Rank the Tracks 119: Hisayoshi Ogura - G-Darius (+ Queen results)

(+) Yeah! (+)

StifledSilence's week:
Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder
vs.
The Pillows - Happy Bivouac
vs.
Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R

Previous results can be seen here:
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_2
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Rank_the_Tracks_Set_3

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, June 18 at 4:00 PM Central Time; the future week poll will close earlier, when I am putting up the next topic
7. You can sign up to be added to the user cycle (a new user will be added to the end of the current cycle as long as there are four weeks remaining) - 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. I have added a tiered vote structure - the least popular album will be removed and its backup votes distributed to the other two entrants.
8. Starting with the next cycle, every four weeks will be a competitive week where those listed choose a single album to face off against others.
9. Skits and tracks under 40 seconds will be excluded from the rankings unless argued otherwise

Hisayoshi Ogura - G-Darius Original Arcade Score track list:
1. B.T. DUTCH
2. NET WORK
3. EPISODE 0
4. G ZERO
5. PHAGE
6. biophoton
7. Dada
8. One Down
9. H.G. Virus
10. invivo
11. nonsensecondon
12. KIMERA II
13. A d a m
14. Duplication
15. Future Perfect from 7
16. Warning
Youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k13jmIilw9a9Pn-PjmyyeEyEOUwS4oA0o

Current cycle:
6/18: NFUN (Night Verses - From the Gallery of Sleep)
6/25: firefdr's bonus (The Who - Tommy)
7/2: StifledSilence
7/9: MaxGalactica

Future cycle:
7/16: MetalmindStats
7/23: HBJDubs
7/30: Raetsel_Lapin
8/6: competitive week
8/13: Steiner
8/20: Snake5555555555
8/27: Jesse_Custer
9/3: competitive week
9/10: ZaziGuado
9/17: firefdr
9/24: Johnbobb
10/1: competitive week
10/8: VeryInsane
10/15: FoolFantastic
10/22: Seanchan
10/29: competitive week
11/5: Giggsalot
11/12: RyoCaliente
11/19: darkx
11/26: competitive week
12/3: neonreaper
12/10: Great_Paul
12/17: jcgamer107
12/24: competitive week
12/31: ChichiriMuyo
1/7: BlueCrystalTear
1/14: rwlh

FYI, here's a link to the G-Darius album on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2d5GlferFQzrrzux0T11v7?si=g386ZcG9SZ6oatof0IRMGA

Bit of an odd choice of Incubus album? I would have thought S.C.I.E.N.C.E or Make Yourself to be the more obvious choice.

Also bit of an odd choice for QotSA? That's not a band I'm familiar with other than radio but I don't think that's their album that I've heard of.

Seanchan posted...

Also bit of an odd choice for QotSA? That's not a band I'm familiar with other than radio but I don't think that's their album that I've heard of.

Rated R is great! Songs for the Deaf is definitely their big one but Rated R also deserves attention, and I think would be held in similar regard if not for Songs for the Deaf being a cultural breakthrough album. It's more a case of less people hearing Rated R simple due to being released before they blew up.

Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R > The Pillows - Happy Bivouac > Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder

I thought the name sounded familiar, so it might be worth noting The Pillows did the music for FLCL

FoolFantastic posted...

Rated R is great! Songs for the Deaf is definitely their big one but Rated R also deserves attention, and I think would be held in similar regard if not for Songs for the Deaf being a cultural breakthrough album. It's more a case of less people hearing Rated R simple due to being released before they blew up.

I usually err on the side of picking the "iconic" album, especially as someone who doesn't have a huge history with most bands, because I'll end up listening and thinking "where's THAT song". I have no idea what The Pillows are, but I'm thinking Stifled might purposefully be picking less popular albums from all 3 bands.

Incubus is a band I'm more familiar with, where it's more obvious to me. Their big breakthrough was Make Yourself with the songs Drive and Pardon Me, so that would be the one I'd have expected. Light Grenades also had some radio hits on it. S.C.I.E.N.C.E has a little bit of a harder, weirder sound which might have more appeal to this group. Morning View...a nice chill album but maybe not good for this. Honestly, I kind of forgot about A Crow... until I looked up the song list. Been a while since I listened to it (or any Incubus really).

Anyway, I guess I'll vote for the first time in a while!

Incubus > Queen of the Stone Age > The Pillows

Seanchan posted...

I usually err on the side of picking the "iconic" album, especially as someone who doesn't have a huge history with most bands, because I'll end up listening and thinking "where's THAT song". I have no idea what The Pillows are, but I'm thinking Stifled might purposefully be picking less popular albums from all 3 bands.

QOTSA is a band that has multiple iconic albums, though; like, Rated R is big enough to also be listed in the top 1000 albums of all time on Acclaimed Music, and is just on the edge of the top 1000 on RYM. I don't think Stifled is picking 'less popular' albums, as there are plenty of QOTSA fans who legitimately think Rated R is their best album.

KIMERA II
BT Dutch
biophoton
Adam
Future Perfect from 7
PHAGE
Dada
nonsen secodon
NETWORK
invivo
G-ZERO
HG VIRUS
One Down
Duplication
EPISODE 0
WARNING

Absolutely one of the most unique and evocative albums of all time. It hits two very evocative and sublime moods that you don't get in many other places, often at the same time. You get to experience both the mystery and majesty of space, the wonder of the unknown and the promise of an exciting and unknowable future, and also a terrible sensation of reality falling apart and being corrupted. Both the fear and glory of the unknown are, in my opinion, some of the most powerful feelings there are, and I can't think of anything that exemplifies them better than this.

Kimera II is my favorite song of all time, and it's not particularly close. Everything I described about the album as a whole goes double here. It never fails to take me away to some ethereal, indescribable soundscape. It sounds like the future. It sounds like promise. The album art with its syzygy clearly takes inspiration from 2001, and the song does everything 2001 wanted to do and more--this feels like it's trying to communicate the next stage of intelligent life. I *do* see the creation of new lives. This song is the thesis to the album, to the bio-inorganic atmosphere OGR created that completely complements the aquatic enemy design. I highly recommend his interview, which does a great job explaining the mindspace he was in when making this album and this song. http://www.vgmonline.net/hisayoshiogurainterview/?msclkid=f90aa573bd1f11ecbdd35f2372e428bc

...speaking of new albums (again), Janelle Mone just released a new album 2 days ago! Did a quick listen and it didn't immediately grab me like Jessie Ware's new one did.

Seanchan posted...

I usually err on the side of picking the "iconic" album, especially as someone who doesn't have a huge history with most bands, because I'll end up listening and thinking "where's THAT song". I have no idea what The Pillows are, but I'm thinking Stifled might purposefully be picking less popular albums from all 3 bands.

Nah, its just me picking my three favorite albums lol. Crow probably isnt very popular as far as Incubus albums go, but it has been my favorite since high school, so thats why I picked it.

Im pretty sure Rated R and Happy Bivouac are among the most popular albums of their respective bands. Songs for the Deaf is easily QotSAs biggest one, but I hear Rated R brought up a lot by people too. As for The Pillows, a lot of FLCLs soundtrack came from Happy Bivouac, which went a long way in making The Pillows a lot more popular. Im actually not sure what their legitimate most popular album is, however. I think as far as Japanese charts are concerned, some of their other albums placed higher.

FoolFantastic posted...

QOTSA is a band that has multiple iconic albums, though; like, Rated R is big enough to also be listed in the top 1000 albums of all time on Acclaimed Music, and is just on the edge of the top 1000 on RYM. I don't think Stifled is picking 'less popular' albums, as there are plenty of QOTSA fans who legitimately think Rated R is their best album.

Nah, I kinda get the point. Rated R is great, but give someone the QOTSA discography for the first time and they'll probably play Songs for the Deaf the most; I think it's the easiest to listen to (together with maybe Era Vulgaris).

Hmmmmm....I really like QotSA's Era Vulgaris and Incubus's Morning View, but am not really familiar with either of their albums here. I'd be interested to hear any of these 3.

Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R > The Pillows - Happy Bivouac > Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder

I got 5 tracks into G-Darius without realizing the track changed. Sounds cool though

1: NET WORK
2: B.T. DUTCH
3: One Down
4: invivo
5: Future Perfect from 7
6: nonsensecondon
7: Duplication
8: A d a m
9: KIMERA II
10: Dada
11: H.G. Virus
12: biophoton
13: PHAGE
14: G ZERO
EPISODE 0
Warning

0 & Warning are both less than 40 seconds, so I'm guessing they won't be included. If they are, just consider them to be 15 & 16 on my list anyway.

I'm curious, how many of us have played G-Darius?

I was considering checking it out since I saw it apparently had a rerelease on modern consoles but didn't want to drop $30 on it.

FoolFantastic posted...

I'm curious, how many of us have played G-Darius?

I was considering checking it out since I saw it apparently had a rerelease on modern consoles but didn't want to drop $30 on it.

@Tked

also participate today it'd be funny

FoolFantastic posted...

I'm curious, how many of us have played G-Darius?

Never played this one, though I owned Darius Gaiden on the Saturn back in the day. ...Though it's been so long since I played that, all I recall are the branching paths & giant robot fish the series is known for.

I've not played it. All I know about it are giant fish.

I'd had the thought too that it would be nice to play it to gain some badly missing context (possibly...) but not for $30!

@FoolFantastic Would it be okay if I mentioned this topic in the vgm channel on the Discord server? You'd probably get a few extra participants.

rwlh posted...

@FoolFantastic Would it be okay if I mentioned this topic in the vgm channel on the Discord server? You'd probably get a few extra participants.

Go ahead

A Crow Left of the Murder > Happy Bivouac > Rated R

Queen - A Night at the Opera results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
FoolFantastic (14)
BlueCrystalTear (16)
MaxGalactica (18)
Johnbobb (24)
Seanchan (24)
firefdr (26)
Raetsel_Lapin (28)
HBJDubs (30)
NFUN (30)
SeabassDebeste (30)
RuneterranSnap (38)
MargaretAnnMid (52)

General Album Comments

HBJDubs: This is a bit of a weird album for me; lots of songs have both good and bad segments that tend to alternate back and forth throughout the track. The Prophet's Song was the most volatile...I can't tell you how many times it went to and from like top 2 to the bottom over the course of the song. Only the top 4 are consistently good the whole time, but those four are really great.

BlueCrystalTear: I nominated this because Queen was absolutely a band we needed to cover at some point, despite the unevenness of this album. There's some good shit on this album - the really good shit - but also some songs that feel more like filler than they should. Even so, the album weaves together nicely, through various styles without anything feeling jarring. And that's what makes it enjoyable. That and, well, Freddie Mercury was a demigod.

RuneterranSnap: One of my favorite albums of all time, with a LOT of nostalgia for me since it's my first Queen album.

SeabassDebeste: I love Queen's style - they're just so goddamn extra and melodramatic and campy and of course Freddie Mercury has one of the GOAT singing voices.

MaxGalactica: Kind of mixed feelings on this one. The top 4 on my list are all really, really good. But the rest range from decent to boring. Freddie Mercury's vocals are stellar as always though. Decent album.

Seanchan: An interesting album but not a favorite of mine. Obviously Bohemian Rhapsody is a stone cold classic. There's other good songs as well but it's not a consistently great album. More variety and weirdness than I expected, but that's probably mostly on me; I'd not heard a full Queen album before this, outside of some greatest hits compilations.

NFUN: Death on Two Legs was for a moment my favorite song, probably between Bohemian Rhapsody and an endless rotation of System of a Down songs. It's a neat trick hearing this angry and vengeful track in Queen's operatic style, especially as the intro is so cool and the next song is a complete tonal shift. Nobody else knows what to expect from it either; try playing it without context to somebody who hadn't heard it before

FoolFantastic: My general opinion on Queen is they make an excellent song here and there but were never able to make a consistently great album; A Night at the Opera has always felt to me more like the best of a big name band than a genuine classic in its own right. One of the rare major acts where I truly would prefer to just listen to their singles.

A Night at the Opera track ranking

12. God Save the Queen (Track #12)
Score: 27 (Average Rank: 10.75/12)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs (#5)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, firefdr, RuneterranSnap, MaxGalactica, Seanchan, NFUN, FoolFantastic (#12)

MargaretAnnMid: it makes me think of the pop art painting

BlueCrystalTear: Feels unnecessary to me, but it's a cool arrangement for the Brits regardless. Spoilers God didn't save the Queen.

RIP. RuneterranSnap: Never really cared for it

11. Good Company (Track #10)
Score: 58 (Average Rank: 8.17/12)
Biggest Fan(s): MargaretAnnMid, SeabassDebeste (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#12)

MargaretAnnMid: also catchy, but also sad

BlueCrystalTear: The weirdest thing is that this has no Freddie at all. It feels like the kind of thing you'd hear at a small-town bar, this everyone-knows-everyone vibe and the aging man passes on wisdom about life to the next generation. It's also catchy.

RuneterranSnap: Take care of those you call your own <3

SeabassDebeste: Fun AF.

10. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (Track #2)
Score: 61 (Average Rank: 7.92/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#4)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs, MaxGalactica (#11)

MargaretAnnMid: so many catchy songs

BlueCrystalTear: It's only a minute long. It feels like it should be twice that.

RuneterranSnap: It's alright, just never been my favorite

9. I'm in Love With My Car (Track #3)
Score: 64 (Average Rank: 8/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Raetsel_Lapin (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Johnbobb (#12)

MargaretAnnMid: meh

BlueCrystalTear: The album's Roger Taylor vocal, it's one of his signature pieces for the band. It's also obvious joke material even though it wasn't a joke.

RuneterranSnap: I used to not like this song but it grew on me

8. Sweet Lady (Track #6)
Score: 66 (Average Rank: 7.83/12)
Biggest Fan(s): RuneterranSnap (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): MargaretAnnMid, BlueCrystalTear (#12)

MargaretAnnMid: double meh

BlueCrystalTear: I'm with Margaret. "Double meh" is right.

RuneterranSnap: This is the song that made me fall in love with Brian May and guitar in general. It may not be the best but those chords at the start live in my heart.

7. The Prophet's Song (Track #8)
Score: 76 (Average Rank: 7.08/12)
Biggest Fan(s): MargaretAnnMid, RuneterranSnap (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): SeabassDebeste (#12)

MargaretAnnMid: cool experimental piece

BlueCrystalTear: It's great, but it goes on a little too long. The repetitive bits (that I presume Raetsel and HBJ hated) are the worst culprit as to why it's this low.

RuneterranSnap: Bare personal favorite over BoRh

6. Seaside Rendezvous (Track #7)
Score: 87 (Average Rank: 5.92/12)
Biggest Fan(s): MargaretAnnMid, firefdr (#3)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#9)

MargaretAnnMid: so catchy!

BlueCrystalTear: This is what a good, catchy album track sounds like.

RuneterranSnap: Such a good, catchy song, and unique to boot.

5. Love of My Life (Track #9)
Score: 100 (Average Rank: 5.25/12)
Biggest Fan(s): firefdr (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Raetsel_Lapin, RuneterranSnap (#9)

MargaretAnnMid: a nice ballad

BlueCrystalTear: Romantic AF. Just pouring his heart out when she's leaving (Freddie was with a woman at this time). Hits hard. Hits home. Good stuff.

RuneterranSnap: Find myself randomly singing this occasionally

SeabassDebeste: Similarly would've loved a higher ratio of vocals to instrumentals here - what's there is incredible.

4. You're My Best Friend (Track #4)
Score: 103 (Average Rank: 5.17/12)
Biggest Fan(s): BlueCrystalTear, firefdr, Seanchan (#2)
Biggest Detractor(s): RuneterranSnap (#11)

MargaretAnnMid: sweet message, but that's about all

BlueCrystalTear: An awesome ballad. Shows that you need to be friends first, lovers second.

RuneterranSnap: Ditto this, fun to sing but Queen has done it better

3. '39 (Track #5)
Score: 105 (Average Rank: 5/12)
Biggest Fan(s): MargaretAnnMid (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): HBJDubs (#10)

MargaretAnnMid: one of the best songs of all time

BlueCrystalTear: Weird science is awesome. It's quite the epic Brian May offering, and you don't need to be Einstein to realize it's about a glitch in the time-space continuum.

RuneterranSnap: A Brian May special and incredibly underrated

SeabassDebeste: Would probably be my #1 Queen song if it had a higher lyrics-to-instrumentals ratio. It's still pretty close to that.

2. Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to) (Track #1)
Score: 111 (Average Rank: 4.75/12)
Biggest Fan(s): Johnbobb (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): Seanchan (#10)

MargaretAnnMid: so much sass, but otherwise doesn't hit me

BlueCrystalTear: One of the biggest, baddest "fuck you" songs there is.

RuneterranSnap: I love me some truly hard Queen

1. Bohemian Rhapsody (Track #11)
Score: 162 (Average Rank: 2.17/12)
Biggest Fan(s): HBJDubs, BlueCrystalTear, SeabassDebeste, MaxGalactica, Seanchan, NFUN, FoolFantastic (#1)
Biggest Detractor(s): MargaretAnnMid (#6)

MargaretAnnMid: classic

BlueCrystalTear: It's Bohemian Fuckin' Rhapsody. Come on. Freddie's opus will be remembered forever.

RuneterranSnap: Don't think this needs any justification

SeabassDebeste: Rightfully one of the most famous songs of all time. Was expecting it to feel overplayed, but man it hits fucking hard.

My ranking:
KIMERA II
B.T. DUTCH
biophoton
A d a m
G ZERO
PHAGE
invivo
Future Perfect from 7
H.G. Virus
NET WORK
nonsensecondon
Dada
One Down
Duplication
EPISODE 0
Warning

It's good to see you in such high spirits, FF.

Also, on the first listen for me... I think if you like this you will like the Robot Carnival OST.

The Pillows > Incubus > QotSA

KIMERA II
Dada
Biophoton
A d a m
G ZERO
H.G. Virus
Duplication
PHAGE
Future Perfect From 7
Invivo
B.T. DUTCH
Nonsensecondon
NET WORK
One Down
EPISODE 0
WARNING

This is the kind of trippy stuff that I really like. It also makes me want to play the game but not for $30 like others have said! Good choice for the first VGM soundtrack, it definitely can stand on its own. Most of the songs are close in ranking, but KIMERA II is the clear-cut #1 here, fantastic song.

1. A d a m
2. HGVirus
3. KIMERA II
4. Future Perfect from7
5. biophoton
6. BTDUTCH
7. invivo
8. G ZERO
9. nonsensecondon
10. NET WORK
11. Dada
12. One Down
13. Duplication
14. PHAGE
15. EPISODE 0
16. WARNING

Very unique album. The words I'd use to describe it are "industrial", "futuristic", and "surreal". The top 4 on my list especially stood out to me production-wise. I'd been meaning to listen to this soundtrack for quite a while, but never got around to it until this week. Definitely an album that lived up to the hype (maybe not the NFUN levels of hype, but yeah).

3) KIMERA II
126) B.T. DUTCH
187) invivo
305) G ZERO
368) Future Perfect from 7
452) H.G. VIRUS
558) Adam
861) biophoton
nonsensecondon
Dada
PHAGE
NET WORK
One Down
EPISODE 0
Duplication
WARNING

Barely a dull moment here. Some of my favorite songs of all time are present on this album, particularly KIMERA II, ranked #3 on my big VGM spreadsheet. The top 7 are all 9/10, biophoton is 8.5, and the others are all still pretty good. This wasn't what I expected to win my poll, but I'm glad you all get to hear some of the finest game music out there.

1. KIMERA II
2. G ZERO
3. biophoton
4. A d a m
5. Future Perfect from 7
6. H.G. Virus
7. nonsensecondon
8. B.T. DUTCH
9. invivo
10. PHAGE
11. Duplication
12. NET WORK
13. One Down
14. Dada
15. Warning
16. EPISODE 0

I'm gonna be the downer here because I just didn't get this one. Trying to rank ambient, literal background music was annoying to me. Like...it's all fine or whatever but it all just blends together in a way that defies close listening.

Net Work
Biophoton
Dada
Phage
B T Dutch
Kimera II
Duplication
One down
Invivo
G zero
Future perfect From7
Nonsensecondone
Adam
H G virus
Episode 0
Warning

It turns out when I pay enough attention to differentiate the tracks, I wouldn't say I actually like any of them. Maybe Net Work. I *don't* see the creation of new lives. It was enjoyable as background music the first time through, though.