Board 8 > Rank the Tracks 132: Rusted Root - When I Woke (+ Franz Ferdinand results)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Seanchan's week:
Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!
vs.
Cannons - Fever Dream
vs.
Tuxedo - Tuxedo

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, September 17th 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

Rusted Root - When I Woke track list:
1. Drum Trip
2. Ecstasy
3. Send Me on My Way
4. Cruel Sun
5. Cat Turned Blue
6. Beautiful People
7. Martyr
8. Rain
9. Food & Creative Love
10. Lost in a Crowd
11. Laugh at the Sun
12. Infinite Tamboura
13. Back to the Earth

Current cycle:
9/17: Sheep007's bonus (The Cure - Disintegration)
9/24: FoolFantastic (Sufjan Stevens - Illinois)
10/1: Seanchan
10/8: neonreaper/rwlh/darkx
10/15: Giggsalot
10/22: RyoCaliente
10/29: darkx
11/5: Steiner/Giggsalot/jcgamer107
11/12: neonreaper
11/19: Great_Paul
11/26: jcgamer107
12/3: Snake5555555555/RyoCaliente/BlueCrystalTear
12/10: ChichiriMuyo
12/17: BlueCrystalTear
12/24: rwlh
12/31: NFUN/Fluttershy_Pony/ChichiriMuyo
1/7: NFUN
1/14: StifledSilence
1/21: MaxGalactica
1/28: ZaziGuado/HBJDubs

Future Cycle:
2/4: HBJDubs
2/11: Fluttershy_Pony
2/18: Steiner
2/25: competitive week
3/3: Snake5555555555
3/10: ZaziGuado
3/17: firefdr
3/24: Johnbobb

Seanchan on the choices this week:

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good! - After getting beaten THREE times, I can't put up What's Your Pleasure? again, despite it arguably being the superior album. That! Feels Good! is more focused on dance club beats and I loved it the very first time I heard it. It's kind of tough to pick a single track to highlight the album, since there's a ton of great stuff, but I'm going with Begin Again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd3C69lVU5w

Cannons - Fever Dream - This is one of the rare albums recently that I stumbled across myself and it was another that I loved immediately. It's just got this great vibe to it that I think a bunch of Rankers might enjoy. It'll get you bobbing your head, but not in that same energetic "I want to get up and move" way that something like That! Feels Good! would. My only worry is that I'm not sure this is a great album for a track ranking because it has a pretty similar tone the entire album. Despite that, I think it's worthy of a nomination. Again, I wasn't sure which track to highlight, so I'm just going with the opener, Come Alive, which is pretty indicative of the style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIVHBdaZfbg

Tuxedo - Tuxedo - I'll admit, it's been a bit since I've listened to this album. But I think it'll fit in well as a third choice here as another upbeat album though one more more on the funky side of the equation. The highlight is Do It, which immediately grabbed me and made me want to hear the album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gcfQhR_9c

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good! > Cannons - Fever Dream > Tuxedo - Tuxedo

Jessie Ware's TFG is one of two albums I'm going back and forth on as my favorite of 2023 so far (along with Wednesday's Rat Saw God)

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good! > Cannons - Fever Dream > Tuxedo - Tuxedo

Obviously!

1. Ecstasy
2. Martyr
3. Send Me On My Way
4. Cruel Sun
5. Food and Creative Love
6. Laugh as the Sun
7. Drum Trip
- I like how every time this starts, no matter where in my playlist or how many times in a row I've listened to these, I always think Cowboy Bebop music is about to pop out.

8. Rain
9. Lost in a Crowd
10. Cat Turned Blue
11. Beautiful People
12. Back To The Earth
13. Infinite Tamboura

I am conflicted here.

Sorry been missing these - been on work travel should be done this weekend

1: Send Me On My Way
2: Food And Creative Love
3: Ecstasy
4: Beautiful People
5: Back To The Earth
6: Laugh As The Sun
7: Cruel Sun
8: Cat Turned Blue
9: Rain
10: Lost In A Crowd
11: Martyr
12: Drum Trip
13: Infinite Tamboura

This is the busiest week for me in months, so I can't devote as much time to this ranking as I probably should... but after two full listens, this should be accurate enough.

That! Feels Good! > Fever Dream > Tuxedo

It's Jessie's time to be in the spotlight.

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good! > Cannons - Fever Dream > Tuxedo - Tuxedo

I really would like to do Fever Dream, and I had planned on nominating What's Your Pleasure myself, but if we're going to build some momentum here I'm not taking it away.

1. Send Me On My Way
2. Martyr
3. Food And Creative Love
4. Cruel Sun
5. Beautiful People
6. Ecstasy
7. Back to the Earth
8. Drum Trip
9. Cat Turned Blue
10. Lost In a Crowd
11. Laugh as the Sun
12. Rain
13. Infinite Tamboura

I found it difficult to rank the four below Drum Trip; there's no bad songs here. A second listen didn't help so I'm gonna throw this in as is. Very few comments on the album as a whole, except that I enjoyed it and it's a pleasant listen.

Late start on my listens this week.

There is a literal percussive force to this album that I've enjoyed quite a bit. Send Me On My Way is totally not the song that sells me on this album.

There's this whole...fantasy jam band energy here? That's not really right but I'm lacking the words. Like a bunch of disparate musicians got together and just started playing and you're like "I don't know" and then suddenly it all clicks and something beautiful and weird and manic and wonderful happens and you're like "this is the best thing I've ever heard" and you know you're not being literal but at the same time it's an energy that shouldn't be captured and instead only exist in that moment.

...That's a very long run on sentence and I swear I don't do drugs.

One of my all time favorite albums, and one I went out of my way to listen to because Send Me On My Way had been one of my favorite songs for a long time. I don't really know any other music that quite compares, and I definitely don't think I could call any other mainstream album I've listened to quite so energetically upbeat and happy as this one. It's just overflowing with positivity. It's one of the very few albums where I have almost every individual song (not including Infinite Tamboura) in my regular playlist. The ranking of most of these aside from the very top and very bottom could easily all be shuffled depending on my mood.

1. Send Me on My Way
2. Cruel Sun
3. Ecstasy
4. Back to the Earth
5. Cat Turned Blue
6. Rain
7. Food & Creative Love
8. Laugh at the Sun
9. Drum Trip
10. Lost in a Crowd
11. Martyr
12. Beautiful People
13. Infinite Tamboura

1. Send Me On My Way
2. Back to the Earth
3. Ecstasy
4. Martyr
5. Laugh as the Sun
6. Cruel Sun
7. Drum Trip
8. Food and Creative Love
9. Lost in a Crowd
10. Cat Turned Blue
11. Rain
12. Beautiful People
13. Infinite Tamboura

I kinda figured Rusted Root was one of those one-hit wonder bands with Send Me On My Way, but this album was surprisingly impressive all the way through. I only found the bottom 3 to be a bit underwhelming. Back to the Earth and Ecstasy were especially good discoveries for me. Big fan of this style of folk rock, and I'll definitely be going back to it in the future.

MaxGalactica posted...

I kinda figured Rusted Root was one of those one-hit wonder bands with Send Me On My Way, but this album was surprisingly impressive all the way through. I only found the bottom 3 to be a bit underwhelming. Back to the Earth and Ecstasy were especially good discoveries for me. Big fan of this style of folk rock, and I'll definitely be going back to it in the future.

While I think this is Rusted Root's best album, I'd also highly recommend Remember

They also have a cover of You Can't Always Get What You Want that I honestly like more than the original

Johnbobb posted...

While I think this is Rusted Root's best album, I'd also highly recommend Remember

They also have a cover of You Can't Always Get What You Want that I honestly like more than the original

Ok, yeah, that You Can't Always Get What You Want cover is pretty sick. I'll have to add Remember to my album backlog.

1. Ecstasy
2. Drum Trip
3. Martyr
4. Food & Creative Love
5. Laugh at the Sun
6. Send Me on My Way
7. Lost in a Crowd
8. Rain
9. Cat Turned Blue
10. Back to the Earth
11. Cruel Sun
12. Beautiful People
13. Infinite Tamboura

This is a really cool album and one that I would have never crossed paths with if not for this project. Send Me on My Way is one of those songs you've heard all over the place in commercials or TV shows but only from that. Like I alluded to in my earlier thoughts, that's not a song that would make me seek out this album.

And so I came in no knowing much of what to expect but also with low expectations. Then Drum Trip starts and within 15 seconds it had grabbed my attention. It immediately flows right into Ecstasy and suddenly my expectations are through the roof because that's a hell of a way to open an album. Send Me... comes next, and while it's the "big hit", for me it's merely good and a come down from the high. The rest of the album is up and down after that but when it hits it's really something.

Perhaps I've just got the Rank the Albums results from Bob Marley on my mind, but I expect that this album might prove equally "divisive". I think people who like this will really like it but for some this might be a complete turn off.

Jessie Ware > Cannons > Tuxedo

Drum Trip
Cruel Sun
Cat Turned Blue
Food And Creative Love
Send Me On My Way
Lost In A Crowd
Back To The Earth
Infinite Tamboura
Beautiful People
Ecstasy
Martyr
Rain

Similar to Bob Marley, I wouldn't go out of the way to find this kind of music, but I'll definitely vibe to it. Drum Trip especially was really cool to listen to.

Also, sorry for missing last week, I had covid and didn't really have the energy to focus on much of anything

This album gave me various shades of Paul Simon, Talking Heads, and U2. Especially on the Paul Simon front, this struck me as a lesser Graceland. It never really rose above being just fine.

Send Me on My Way
Martyr
Beautiful People
Cruel Sun
Back to the Earth
Ecstasy
Drum Trip
Food & Creative Love
Lost in a Crowd
Cat Turned Blue
Laugh at the Sun
Rain
Infinite Tamboura