Tai's Ranks:
http://pastebin.com/aEXCSxx4My Ranks:
Top Tier
-----------
1) Mrs. Pumpkin's Comical Dream
Yeah, so this is one of my all time favorites among vo****id culture, no way it's not topping this game. Cutting a couple verses hurts and completely changes the ending, but whatever. It's still a super sweet accordion+percussion jam about ghosts, pumpkin pie, and the individual's response towards mortality and change interspersed with tarot references and pumpkin pie bias. This is, as they say, my jam.
2) The Lost One's Weeping
Nails its tone and presentation. Comparing this to most of the cheerpop and striving-to-be-generic stuff on the list is like night and day. Great lyrics, great atmosphere, great mood, great wailing on the chorus. Shameless angstrock fanservice in a way, but does it so well.
3) Amazing Dolce
Hitoshizuku's energetic style can't be denied, even when it's not telling a coherent story and just babbling about cooking vaguely perverted magical sweets. Catches attention, gets me bouncing in my chair, etc. Just a fun romp, technically cheerpop, but the execution is on point.
4) Slow Motion
On the one hand this is worse than the standalone version of this song. On the other hand this is one of the best songs for making use of PDX's livestage thingy. Ah well, it's a good song, Pinocchio-P is strong as usual and hits the bittersweet anxieties and resignations of life and is in tune with my brain etc etc. it's good.
Good Tier
------------
5) Brain Revolution Girl
It's no Spinal Fluid Explosion Girl, but still gets a contrarian minor key vibe going, and does it better than SOlitary Envy. Very fun rhythms to tap and sing along to.
6) Sacred Spear Explosion Boy
I'm never quite sure what to think about this song, but at least on a technical level it's pretty darn good. PDX version cuts down the quality though, less intensity and more even dynamics in a song that is definitely not about even dynamics. And it is pretty funny.
7) Underhanded Rangers Urotander
I don't like sentai shows and the parody angle is somewhat lost on me... but I like this song anyway. Delivery's solid with just the right amount of understatement, and what I assume are the typical Diva cuts actually help here, any longer and it would wear out its welcome with me. I thought it would be lower but just have to keep bumping it up for being solid.
8) Cute Medley -Idol Sounds-
Ok. Fine. Mitchie M is good, and actually does work in medley form. Even though my black withered heart rejects the lyrics, it can't stand up to the sugar rush. Just to reiterate though, any of these songs, or News 39, or Snow Miku, would have been a better single for this game than Ai Dee...
9) Streaming Heart
Similar to Solitary Envy, aims for a unique tone, doesn't quite get there, but still delivers a solid song experience with some unusual rhythms and pauses.
10) Solitary Envy
Hits good atmospheric beats and plays at an interesting bratty sort of tone. Doesn't quite deliver fully, too many places it falls back through to its cheerpop roots, but I'll give a fair bit of credit here for at least going for style.
11) Patchwork Staccato
I like this song, it's cute and very nicely designed and accurate with its melody beats. Just a little ways off from being great - I'd like a little more of a climax and/or maybe another instrument or line, a little too minimal as is, but... it's still decent.
Legit Pleasant Tier
--------------------
12) LOL -Lots of Laugh-
I can never remember this one and the title makes me think it's going to be awful, but then it's actually pretty good? Retro synthpop > generic cheerpop, even if there is still not all that much going on.
13) Elegant Medley ~Glossy Mixture~
This is pretty all right when it's Electrocuta mixing up their own stuff, because the Intention series all sample each other anyway. Placement this high is 100% on those parts and loving Chaining Intention. The rest of it butchers Sweet Devil and the other songs. I don't really know how to rank a medley like that.
14) Sharing the World
Cheerpop but uses actual instruments. English is a gimmick but I can respect the effort, it's actually pretty good for full on Miku English.
15) Satisfaction
Props for putting a house breakdown in your cheerpop, it's still just general cheerpop with a twist though, and the two halves don't fit together all that well. GENRE BIAS AT WORK THOUGH!
16) Even a Kunoichi Needs Love
Cross between Gateninjapop and, uh, Elvis? And some other things. Weird song. I can't decide if the mixups work or not. None of them resonate much with me though.
17) Cool Medley -Cyber Rock Jam-
I don't know that I would call this cyber rock but whatever, it's okay, and generally good at taking good parts of its various songs. Squarely at the border of "Well it's ok I guess."
Eh Tier
---------------
Babylon
18) This is weird, and I usually like weird, but... it doesn't do it for me. The vocals are poor and the music shifts around too much without ever hitting satisfactory. The la la la part is ok. I want to like it, and it's clearly put together with thought, and I do like it more than cheerpop, but ehhhn.
19) Strangers
Nice beginning, courageous to keep a whole first minute with no singing in a PDF title. After that it just exists though.
20) Ai Dee
The Genius' ID theft scandal ruins this concept for me forever. Song's fine though, cheerpop with some rap segments. Not really Mitchie M's best - see also the ENTIRE MEDLEY OF MITCHIE M IN THIS VERY GAME - but production is fine. IDK why they would pick this out of all of his songs to be the full feature, though.
21) A Single Red Leaf
This is like a cut rate version of Magnet mostly? Vaguely japanese style is nice, but there's no real punch for me. The violin solo is nice but not enough to boost the whole package.
22) Chaotic Medley ~Giga Remix~
Poor medley. Lucky for it I've been really growing on Reol/Giga-P lately. Ugh I just want Childish War in as a full song, would that have been so hard? 12 Fan Club isn't bad either.
Cheerpop All Sound Same Tier (Subset of Eh)
--------------------------------------------
23) Raspberry*Monster
Generic cheerrock/pop/thingy. Goes above pure cheerpop due to genre bias.
24) Calc.
Generic cheerpop, but well produced. I like the X-Men outfit.
25) Hand in Hand
Cheerpop with some instruments. Like Sharing the World but not as good.
26) Love Song
Generic cheerpop, but catchy.
27) Love Trial
Generic romancepop. English "Oh, Jesus!" is funny. Nothing else stands out.
Not For Me Tier
-----------------
28) Name of the Sin
Like a super low budget Ar Tonelico kind of storysong? I don't really like the backing vocals though, and just... not very much into it.
29) Ending Medley ~Ultimate Exquisite Rampage~
Doesn't work for me at all. These songs don't really go together in any way other than fast tempos and hard rhythm game charts. Exact opposite of Tai's feelings, eh.
30) Beginning Medley -Primary Colors-
Mostly just makes me wish I was listening to better Oster Project stuff and/or that they picked one of these to be a full song in the game. What is even the point of a medley that's all the same artist?
31) The First Sound
More like the worst sound??? Nah, it's not terrible, just Kind of boring and very meh. "Miku sings about singing" is about as generic and overdone as it gets for vo****id concepts, and the music is similarly bland and low effort.
32) Tale of the Deep Sea Lily
I keep seeing this title and thinking it's a song I like (Deep Sea City Underground) but it's not. The staccato clipping of the vocals absolutely kills it for me, just really harsh on my ears.
