Board 8 > I rank 57 albums [ranking]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hello There!
Its been almost four months to the day since I opened nominations for an ambitious ranking: I would listen to, write about, and rank nominations for albums (not video game music, as thats what Im primarily familiar with). 57 albums later, and we have our ranking!

All the writeups are done the hard part is over! All that needs to happen now is some copy-paste action and dealing with any hurt feelings. (I hope there wont be any of those! I tried to say something positive about every album, even last place.) Ill stagger the writeups at a rate of 3-5 per day, so you wont fall too far behind.

Bonus Ranking:
Thats right ranking 57 albums wasnt enough! Ive also compiled a separate ranking of my favorite song from each album. This ranking will be filled in as the albums drop. What fun! You might think the two rankings align. I can tell you with surety they do not, and thats part of the fun.

Each writeup will have a list of my top three songs, plus a link to my top song. I know you wont be able to listen to every single album as they drop, but you can listen to the top song for each to get a sense of what each album has to offer. Most of the time the top songs reflect the rest of the album. Although sometimes theyre the top because they dont reflect the rest of the album. For example, theres one album where I disliked the singer, so the top song is an instrumental. But generally youll get a good sense of the album if you listen to the top songs.

But First:
I have some housekeeping to attend to before I start pasting the writeups. Id like to post some overall thoughts on my experience with such a big undertaking, as well as fun little stats for you all to munch on. Ill try to get to those soon.

And the Nominations Are:
Here are your 57 albums! I love seeing predictions, so please feel free to predict what you think did (or didnt) do well. Thank you sincerely for nominating for me! As I said above, I found something to like in all of these. Some I liked right away. Some I found more challenging than others. Some Ive come back to repeatedly. I appreciated everyones effort. I love sharing music!

100 gecs - 10,000 gecs
Akufen - My Way
Alice Schach and the Magic Orchestra - SCHACH
Barenaked Ladies - Gordon
Billy Talent - Dead Silence
Binzokomegane Girls Union - Taiten Mythologia
Bjork - Vespertine
Black Country, New Road - Ants from Up There
Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
Cryptovolans - Passenger
Dave Matthews Band - Crash
Deep Forest - Deep Forest
Deniz Akbulut - CrossCode ~ The Ultimate Arrange
Electric Light Orchestra - Time
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Genesis - A Trick of the Tail
Green Day - American Idiot
Green Day - Dookie
HANABIE. - Reborn Superstar!
Jacob Collier - Djesse Vol. 3
Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B
Kelsea Ballerini - SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Lemm feat. lasah - Dead-End Apartment
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
Lights - The Listening
Made in Heights - Made in Heights
Matthew and the Atlas - Morning Dancer (Unplugged)
Meshell Ndegeocello - Peace Beyond Passion
Midnight Grand Orchestra - Overture
Miracle Musical - Hawaii: Part II
Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante
Murder By Death - Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?
Negativland - The World Will Decide
Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods
NEUPINK - DOPAMINE HELLDREAMS.
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Rise Against - Endgame
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Esperanto
Scatman John - Scatman's World
Shohei Amimori - PataMusic
Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods
Slothrust - Parallel Timeline
STAFFcirc - STAFFcirc vol. 8 - circle
Sunspot - The Strangest Frequency
Taylor Swift - Folklore
The Dear Hunter - Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise
They Might Be Giants - John Henry
Various Artists - Dr. Stone Original Soundtrack
Various Artists - Jesus Christ Superstar (1992 Australian Cast Recording)
William Shatner - Has Been
XoArK - P()~()..8
Yoko Kanno - Song to Fly
Younha - END THEORY : Final Edition

More soon!

tag, been looking forward to this!!

wow Various Artists has a lot of range

Oh hell yeah, let's go!

Go my Fuck Buttons and Jessie Ware

It feels like it's been longer.

Tag!

Tag

I'm only familiar with a handful of albums here, looking forward to this.

Woooooo tag

omg happening

Tag

Tag

57 Albums: A Postmortem
Ever since joining the community, Ive loved to run ranking topics. Most of mine have been musical. I ran a non-vgm song ranking in 2021 (Owen Palletts I Am Not Afraid won that). Part of me wanted to do something comparable again, but I genuinely dislike talking about music I always have. I dont know music terminology. I struggle to even identify instruments. I feel very insecure about expressing music opinions. But I love music, so the drive was still there.

Im an occasional participant in FoolFantastics Rank the Tracks weekly topic series. Every 25 albums, the participants can choose to rank the previous albums. I decided to give it a try. What I found was, paradoxically, giving thoughts on a whole album was much easier than giving thoughts on individual songs! So I said, you know, I could maybe do this with nominations.

There were two main problems with this ranking topic that I didnt foresee.

One was finding the time. I always listen to music, basically at all times; its a background process for my day. But I couldnt keep these nominations in the background. I needed to actively listen, because I wanted to write about them in the moment. So I couldnt throw on a nom and fold laundry, because I needed to be at my desk, taking notes. That was a bit of a drag.

The other problem wasokay, so I said I found something positive in every nom, and I mean that. But the problem was I guess, for me, its harder to get passionate about an album. Not like a song. Part of why I prefer listening to songs than albums is that too much similar-sounding music tends to tire me out. There was a lot to like, but it became something of a slog to say to myself, I need to devote at least 50 minutes to an experience where Im not even guaranteed to enjoy every song. That was also a bit of a drag.

In the end, I did find myself more able to speak about albums than songs. The actual quality of the writeups is up for debate. These are entirely stream-of-consciousness thoughts produced after one listen to each album I wanted to listen more than once, but it took me four months to get through one listen, so repeated listens werent feasible. You will see my brain in action. You will see my opinions change in real time, from song to song. There were so many times when I made a comment like halfway in and this album isnt holding my interest only to have the next song become a favorite. More than I count. Thats part of the fun for me. Because theres more to say with albums, there are more opportunities to go off-script.

As Im not versed in musical terminology, my writeups tend to focus more on emotional responses Im having to the album, in real time. I almost surely have gotten details about instruments or genres wrong. Thats not why Im here. If your song can reach me emotionally I dont care about that other stuff.

One thing I learned about myself through this ranking: there are some things I just cant get into. Some albums didnt click with me at all, despite being very acclaimed. Because the writeups arent written in list order, youll get to see my brain ping-pong around this idea throughout the ranking.

Finally, if youre what to expect in terms of writeup size, this might give you an indication:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/9/3/AAeDEnAAE2Zh.png

Next: Stats!

Hype. Your process for talking about music is very similar to mine - stream of consciousness with a heavy emphasis on emotion and feeling rather than the more technical terms.

I feel like theres a 50% chance my nomination is bottom 5.

57 Albums Stats and Discussion
I used Rate Your Music to look up genres for all albums. Three were apparently so obscure to not even be on the website (CrossCode ~ The Ultimate Arrange, Taiten Mythologia, and The Strangest Frequency). Everything else had at least one genre listed; I took the first one.

Three genres had three albums represented:
- Alternative Rock (10,000 Gecs, Dead Silence, John Henry). I feel like this is a limitation of genre because I dont think these albums have much in common!
- Art Pop (Dead-End Apartment, Song to Fly, Vespertine)
- Indie Rock (Neck of the Woods, Parallel Timeline, Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?)

An overwhelming number of the genres were variants of Pop or Rock, with a few electronic genres mixed in. Some outliers include Contemporary R&B, Mashup, Neo-Soul, Plunderphonics, Spoken Word, and the hilariously named Television Music.

Not a single hip-hop or jazz album was nominated. Several albums had rap influence (and I guess also there were a few saxophones lol).

One artist had two albums: Green Day (American Idiot and Dookie). Cryptovolans, who appears on The Ultimate Arrange, can be considered to have 1.5 albums.

American Idiot was the only album Id heard in its entirety before the ranking, due to the aforementioned Rank the Albums.

There were no fewer than four concept albums nominated, probably more. I had no idea this was such a big genre.

Finally, heres a chart about release dates:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/0/7/AAeDEnAAE2Zv.png

We can see that the 2020s were by far the most nominated period, followed by the preceding five years! Only two nominations are from earlier than the 80s (The Dark Side of the Moon and Time).

-

Okay, my navel-gazing is complete. First writeup soon!

Very excited!

I considered nominating some hip hop/rap but I was more in a Jessie mood at the time. Also could have gone in a heavier direction but I also wanted to be a bit nicer to you lol, do an album that has a more general appeal.

57. Billy Talent Dead Silence
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/1/9/AAeDEnAAE2Z7.jpg
@kamakazikila

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lxMM7iblCCkZIaZmvquK9ulaUsV0UEmcI

1. Show Me the Way
2. Man Alive!
3. Crooked Minds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DQcrwbAtBY

No idea what to expect. Ive never heard of Billy Talent but the name makes me think its going to be pop.

Lonely Road to Absolution has really lovely harmony.

Viking Death March seems like it has pointed lyrics about something or other but all I can really focus on is the repetitive guitar work. I guess the main point is the lyrics but I find the repetition distracting. It feels too normal, for whatever thats worth. Surprise Surprise is immediately more engaging with weird gibberish and endless drums, but I cant tell if thats even part of the song, since the link is a music video (which is why I hate listening to music videos when Im trying to find music). This song also has the basic guitar riffs. I get the sense that this is going to be a long seventy minutes.

Why are the drums so loud sometimes and other times theyre barely even there? In Love Was Still Around the drums are so prominent it distracts me from everything else.

Five songs in and Ive only picked up fragments of the lyrics but some of them seem political in a general sense: knocking down vaguely corrupt figures, pointing out social injustice. I guess thats kind of neat. Maybe there is extra Canadian resonance Im not picking up on. Some of the other songs involve themes of love and longing, like Stand Up and Run, which incidentally has some of the worst repetition on the album to me (which is saying a lot). Crooked Minds has some kind of fun parts (I like the long notes the singer holds in the chorus) so it takes the top spot for now, only to be superseded by Man Alive!, which has a catchy chorus. Show Me the Way is fun. Catchy, fun. These are words I use when I struggle to find ways to praise things. I enjoy Show Me the Way more than anything else on the album, Ill say that much.

I dont have a lot of specific comments. The entire album congeals into one blob for me. I dont necessarily mind music that plays it safe, whatever that even means, but this album is basically the same thing for fourteen tracks, and given that I dont enjoy its style, its not going to get a high score. I felt like I could predict, with almost unerring accuracy, what the next measure of each song was going to sound like: the singing, the drums, the guitars. Again, thats not inherently a bad thing, but when the entire album is like thatthis was very unpleasant for me to listen to. Man alive!

What is the genre for this one?

This was considered Alternative Rock, alongside 100 gecs and a They Might Be Giants album (hence why I said I don't think any of those three have much in common!). I think the band has history with the Emo genre as well.

I like me some Billy Talent but moreso their self-titled trilogy, though Dead Silence has some good tracks on it.

rwlh posted...

but I genuinely dislike talking about music I always have. I dont know music terminology. I struggle to even identify instruments.

rwlh posted...

As Im not versed in musical terminology, my writeups tend to focus more on emotional responses Im having to the album, in real time. I almost surely have gotten details about instruments or genres wrong.

Yup, this is me. I join a lot of music projects on B8 because I like them, and I like finding new stuff (suiting my tastes) because my overall scope is knowledge is so low. But when I'm participating in the topics, I can't really talk about any of it because I don't know what to say.

I do like rating and talking about music cuz music is a big passion of mine, and I like to share my tastes! But yeah, making actual write-ups and stuff is hard especially with my also limited actual music theory/etc knowledge. I just end up saying a lot of the same words for things. It happens. Think it helps just to get your base feelings and thoughts out without worrying too much about 'objective' correctness and hope people will be understanding enough.

I can say at least that this first writeup is perfectly fine to me, I can understand it and the comments perfectly well even if I don't dislike the music (on a cursory glance) as much! Said music does feel a bit generic, though, and if they're all like that I could probably also get sick of an entire album of it. Interesting about your musical taste that your least favourite album of all 57 is simply one that seemingly mostly bores you, and not something that you find directly unpleasant or offputting. I respect that honestly, somewhat wish I could be the same.

Gonna listen to rwlh's top track for each album on my own and briefly comment on each one.

Show Me the Way is definitely pretty standard punk rock, but it's honestly a lot of fun. Catchy melody with some solid guitar work. Vocals aren't my favorite, but they're not bad either. I probably wouldn't actively seek out this album, but I could see myself enjoying it if I were to listen to it.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement about talking about music! It's nice to hear others struggle with it as well.

MaxGalactica posted...

Gonna listen to rwlh's top track for each album on my own and briefly comment on each one.

Nice! This will be a lot of fun to follow along with. I was hoping folks would do it.

I plan on posting an updated list of the top songs ranking every few writeups or so.

Speaking of...

56. Taylor Swift Folklore
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/5/0/AAeDEnAAE2aa.jpg

@OrangeCrush980

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfiMjLyNWxeZl828zfvlnymKB2c9o3cKp

1. invisible string
2. august
3. exile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ_dWZG5RJU

Here is an artist whose discography I have largely ignored. I dont even really know what sort of music she makes apart from hits like Shake It Off. The first song, the 1, sounds like a post-relationship song, which I know is something Swift specializes in. This is a nice opener but I hope theyre not all like this I dont think listening to an hour of messy relationship songs appeals to me much.

Two songs in and Im not internalizing these lyrics at all, which tells me Im not enjoying the music very much. When Im invested in a song, its easier to pay attention to the lyrics. The songs have similar moody/piano-pop vibes, as does the third song, the last great american dynasty. Im trying not to be harsh when I say this but this sort of music feels very disposable to me: these songs have been entirely interchangeable to me, and theyre out of my head as soon as I hear them. I do like the moment in the last great american dynasty when she ups her voice an octave, that was nice.

I ranked exile 111/164 on my non-vgm ranking two years ago. I wrote that I didnt really like it until the countervocals, and that still holds true.

I am halfway through the album and holy jesus this is not for me. I dont internalize lyrics much (especially, as I said, when Im not into the rest of the song) so that appeal is lost on me. This album, the 26th Ive listened to for the project, is the first time Ive said Maybe this project was a mistake. That alone gets it bottom tier. We finally get the first song I can say I sort of like, eleven songs in: invisible string. I like the overall bounciness tinged with sadness.

I find her songs from the POV of a young person a bit disingenuous. Like she has to keep winking and going, its okay to be clueless when youre young, everybody is. When youre a teenager, would you really think Im only seventeen, I dont know anything? I suspect you would not.

I like that Folklore so far isnt overproduced, a complaint Ill make about at least one other album on this ranking. It feels intimate despite all the instruments and production flourishes. Swift does a good job at maintaining that level of connection with the listener all throughout. Despite the fact that shes, like, a gazillionaire, you get the sense that shes kind of normal, a normal person going through normal things.

Maybe thats why I dont connect with her.

Oooooo spicy

MaxGalactica posted...

Gonna listen to rwlh's top track for each album on my own and briefly comment on each one.

Hope i can manage to do the same ... Woe on my disorganized brain.

But regardless, I'm going to have a lot of fun reading along with this!

Also damn, seeing Tay Tay so low is wild.

Been a while since I listened to folklore, since I usually just go to evermore when I want my dose of Taylor's folk phase. invisible string is one of my favorites from this album along with august and exile (which happen to match rwlh's top 3 lol). The main guitar loop is very nice and Taylor's vocals are pleasant. This is also really well-produced. folklore is certainly better than Taylor's worst albums (i.e. reputation), but definitely not one of her best either.

My heart

55. 100 gecs 10,000 gecs
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/6/3/AAeDEnAAE2an.jpg

@changmas

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC80P4gsPr-acklxoGgujm7H5fES6wYFt

1. Frog on the Floor
2. Dumbest Girl Alive
3. The Most Wanted Person in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqm7wN8-KBc

The audience is now deaf.

You know, this is the 56th out of 57 albums Ive listened to. This whole time Ive been annoyed because nobody saw fit to give me any hip-hop. Lots of pop, electronic, and rock, but very little rap. Well, apparently I shouldnt have this for last, because 100 gecs opens with rapping! The overall effect on the first two songs feels pop adjacent, with rapid fire flow layered with vocal effects. The experience is certainlywell, lets just say I should be careful what I wish for.

This is very much not my thing. The vocals are too whiny for me. The production, while certainly varied, doesnt appeal to me. I have nothing inherently against autotune but I would prefer it to not be used every other measure of every song. I absolutely have nothing against atonal noise but the bands usage of atonal noise doesnt appeal to me at all.

However! I feel like every album I start shitting on an album, a song emerges that I like. So it is with Frog on the Floor, a goofy ass ditty about, well, a frog on the floor. Its devoid of the irritations of the first three songs so it takes top spot by default. Doritos & Fritos reminds me of <another band who hasnt shown up yet> in that cutesy winking sort of way (which basically means I dont like it).

Looking the album up so I can hopefully understand it better it seems intentionally silly and boundary pushing. I got the first part but not the second. This is surely a matter of not connecting in a subjective way, yes? Apparently this is a more accessible album than their prior work? Maybe Id enjoy their prior work.

okay I laughed at the random ass ska song near the end.

I cant really pinpoint why I find 10,000 gecs so irritating. Im sorry if this writeup does not satisfy you. Rest assured, between us, I am the least satisfied.

Yeah that is a SPICY take there. Having the only nominated offering from the Queen of Pop so low is controversial.

When we did folklore for Rank the Tracks, I pointed out my major problem with it: It's over an hour in length, and with all the songs having this somber mood (save for "Betty"), that's not good for an engaging listen. The album would've been better if it had been three or four tracks shorter - a more focused, yet still moody affair. I hate how people took from the success of folklore that they could make a melancholy album over an hour long, because really only the reigning Queen (or King) of Pop can get away with it. No, if you're anyone else, you can do an album like that but keep it to 45 minutes. Because stuff like this going on way too long makes me sleepy.

However, I am remiss that you didn't mention "this is me trying" - one of the best songs T-Swift has ever recorded, and a hidden gem in her discography.

(I haven't heard of the first album or artist so I can't comment there, nor do I have the time right now.)

Well I'm glad Dumbest Girl Alive was put as one of the top songs at least. And Frog on the Floor will save society.

Amazing album, all bangers on it.

Frog on the Floor is definitely not one of my favorites from 10,000 gecs, but my favorites from this album are the ones that rwlh hated (Hollywood Baby is my personal favorite). Regardless Frog on the Floor is pretty fun and amusing. But yeah, I definitely like the more heavily processed synths/guitars/vocals from this album more than anything.

One more for now, followed by an top song ranking.

-

54. Electric Light Orchestra Time
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/0/AAeDEnAAE2au.jpg

@Xeybozn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxBZhHE-R7M

1. Yours Truly, 2095
2. 21st Century Man
3. The Lights Go Down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtfjzmYZvTw

ELO is a band I only have cursory experience with. Twilight, the first song proper, is classic rock fused with bombastic production. I tend to dislike a lot of music that falls into the classic rock subgenre. (Though there are exceptions you probably noticed Fire on High in the playlist I linked in the OP.) I will try to approach this with an open mind.

I like Yours Truly, 2095 a bit better. It reminds me of Yes. Its got nice energy, really leaning into an outer space theme. It blends that classic rock guitar/drums style with some strings and overdubbed vocals. Pretty neat song.

Apparently this is a concept album about a man from the 1980s who is taken to the year 2095, where he is confronted by the dichotomy between technological advancement and a longing for past romance. I guess that explains all the space-type sounds. Thus far I havent really been able to focus on the lyrics, which is my cue that Im not all that into the songs themselves.

Up through side 1, with the song Another Heart Breaks, and Im not connecting with this at all, and outright disliking a good amount. This is weird because I tend to like 80s synthpop, but I just cant get into this. Its going to be a very boring writeup and I apologize for that. Theres just nothing for me to latch onto. I dont feel any sort of connection to any part of the music. Its likewhy am I here? To listen to concept rock about time travel? These are big questions Jeff Lynne does not have answers to. Maybe side 2 will prove more fruitful.

I think Ive identified my issue: the mixing sounds off. It sounds like everything is mixed at the same volume. The vocals, the keyboards, the drums to some extent. Its overwhelming (not in a good way). There are other albums in this ranking that I have had similar complaints about. (There is also at least one album thats like this that I enjoy for this reason! Go figure.) I dont know. Would I like this more with a different mix? Maybe? This album is so beloved, I have to feel like Im missing somethingright? Like theres literally only one song so far Ive liked. What am I missing?

Top Song Ranking!

1. ???
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36. Electric Light Orchestra - Yours Truly, 2095
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49. Taylor Swift - invisible string
50. ???
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53. 100 gecs - Frog on the Floor
54. ???
55. Billy Talent - Show Me the Way
56. ???
57. ???

I know I said the two lists didn't necessarily align and there's a lot of alignment here, but that will change soon! I like most of these songs, particularly the ones in the upper half (obviously lol). I'll keep posting updates every 4-5 albums.

I don't know a ton of ELO, but Yours Truly, 2095 is pretty good with the strings and drums. I do think it leans a bit too hard on the futuristic effects and Video Killed the Radio Star-esque vocals. The deceptive cadence at the end does make it feel like there's more to it, which is the case in the album's context, but doesn't work as well on its own. Solid song regardless. May listen to a full ELO album at some point, but not anytime soon.

rwlh posted...

55. 100 gecs 10,000 gecs
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/6/3/AAeDEnAAE2an.jpg

@changmas

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC80P4gsPr-acklxoGgujm7H5fES6wYFt

1. Frog on the Floor
2. Dumbest Girl Alive
3. The Most Wanted Person in the United States

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqm7wN8-KBc

The audience is now deaf.

You know, this is the 56th out of 57 albums Ive listened to. This whole time Ive been annoyed because nobody saw fit to give me any hip-hop. Lots of pop, electronic, and rock, but very little rap. Well, apparently I shouldnt have this for last, because 100 gecs opens with rapping! The overall effect on the first two songs feels pop adjacent, with rapid fire flow layered with vocal effects. The experience is certainlywell, lets just say I should be careful what I wish for.

This is very much not my thing. The vocals are too whiny for me. The production, while certainly varied, doesnt appeal to me. I have nothing inherently against autotune but I would prefer it to not be used every other measure of every song. I absolutely have nothing against atonal noise but the bands usage of atonal noise doesnt appeal to me at all.

However! I feel like every album I start shitting on an album, a song emerges that I like. So it is with Frog on the Floor, a goofy ass ditty about, well, a frog on the floor. Its devoid of the irritations of the first three songs so it takes top spot by default. Doritos & Fritos reminds me of <another band who hasnt shown up yet> in that cutesy winking sort of way (which basically means I dont like it).

Looking the album up so I can hopefully understand it better it seems intentionally silly and boundary pushing. I got the first part but not the second. This is surely a matter of not connecting in a subjective way, yes? Apparently this is a more accessible album than their prior work? Maybe Id enjoy their prior work.

okay I laughed at the random ass ska song near the end.

I cant really pinpoint why I find 10,000 gecs so irritating. Im sorry if this writeup does not satisfy you. Rest assured, between us, I am the least satisfied.

if anything, i'm surprised it ranked 55th and not 57th here. Very much a love it or hate it kind of album (and band) I think.

I'm also surprised it got called "alternative rock". The more appropriate genre is hyperpop but maybe that's just too niche for whatever website did that.

I think your song ranking makes sense for someone who didn't really like the album because those are probably three of the most "normal" songs on the album

I'm gonna try to follow along with the top songs to some extent too, but I won't have time to do any of that today so I'll just throw out some random thoughts in the meantime.

I believe I've only heard one Billy Talent song - "Afraid of Heights," thanks to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 - but I like it a good bit. Punk rock is hit or miss to me so I'll be curious to see what else I think about that album.

I don't get Taylor Swift. I understand why she's popular with a generation or two of women and girls, but I'm continually baffled by the amount of love she gets from, like, everyone else. And anytime I tell that to people, they just say, "Nah, you're just saying that because you've only heard the hits - listen to THIS SONG and tell me you don't love it." And then I don't love it. Just a little too far off my radar, I guess. Glad I'm not on a complete island on this board. And this is a nitpick, but I also find it very obnoxious when artists put their song names in lowercase.

Seeing ELO drop so early is a bummer, though. I love classic rock and I love Jeff Lynne, and I love concept albums from most genres! All that being said, I don't think Time is one of their best efforts. Yours Truly, 2095 is great and I also think Twilight is fantastic, but the rest is a little too "Tell, don't show" for me - something that sinks a lot of concept albums. I'm now very much in the mood to listen to some of the rest of their discography, though.

Enjoying the writeups so far! I'm not exactly a music theorist myself, so your style of talking about it works perfectly for me anyway.

changmas posted...

I'm also surprised it got called "alternative rock". The more appropriate genre is hyperpop but maybe that's just too niche for whatever website did that.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/0/0/AAbjkoAAE2bM.png

NBIceman posted...

I don't get Taylor Swift. I understand why she's popular with a generation or two of women and girls, but I'm continually baffled by the amount of love she gets from, like, everyone else. And anytime I tell that to people, they just say, "Nah, you're just saying that because you've only heard the hits - listen to THIS SONG and tell me you don't love it." And then I don't love it. Just a little too far off my radar, I guess. Glad I'm not on a complete island on this board. And this is a nitpick, but I also find it very obnoxious when artists put their song names in lowercase.

Depends on the era of Swift tbh. The earlier albums were much more appealing to me, before she became Queen of Pop. Since that time, her music has become overproduced, less bubbly, and less relatable. Speak Now is among my favorite albums ever for a reason: She wrote each song herself, recorded it at a vulnerable time of maturation when she was still processing youthful feelings as a young adult, and still experimented with different things - it works both as a whole and as a slew of individual tracks. It was at a time when she still felt like a "girl next door" and her music reflected that, just one who was going through a pivotal time in her life.

After that, she's sort of lost that glowing persona, and been tainted by jerks like John Mayer taking advantage of her (Mayer was before that album, but just him - he was the first of a few), by the negative press covfefe inserting itself too much into her personal life, by record execs, by Kanye, and by the fatigue of dealing with the celebrity culture. Red had some great tracks and some not-so-great tracks, and then...

Do agree about the lowercase names though. I call it "the ee cummings approach" since he's the one who really pushed the envelope with that.

Tag. Love the write ups so far.

NBIceman posted...

I don't get Taylor Swift. I understand why she's popular with a generation or two of women and girls, but I'm continually baffled by the amount of love she gets from, like, everyone else. And anytime I tell that to people, they just say, "Nah, you're just saying that because you've only heard the hits - listen to THIS SONG and tell me you don't love it." And then I don't love it. Just a little too far off my radar, I guess. Glad I'm not on a complete island on this board.

I agree with all of this. I do not vibe with T Swizzy at all, and I generally love pop music.

More writeups than I expected in one day. I'll have to put aside some time to go through this, because I want to listen to each song so I can understand what I'm reading.

this is going to be so hard to keep up with, good luck future me~

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Do agree about the lowercase names though. I call it "the ee cummings approach" since he's the one who really pushed the envelope with that.

Taylor should be more like Kelsea Ballerini coming in hot with the ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS instead.

Tag.

Kinda expected TMBG to me on the lowest of the low, so I'm already happy.

Really surprised at how low Folklore is - but at the same time I understand it.

Never heard of the others. But I may try some of these depending on your write ups

Tag

Good stuff so far including Swift being so low

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