Foreshadowing?
Category 7: Fusion Collab
F Tier
50
ringtone (remix)
100 gecs ft. Charli XCX, Rico Nasty, Kero Kero Bonitostaypositivefriend
This needs to burn.
49
The Last Huzzah (Remix)
Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire ft. Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown, EL-PKane
What the fuck is this start??? I was really hoping that once the actual rap started, I would like it more, but unfortunately I decidedly do not. Both the “shouty rap” and the what I’ll call “Snoop Dogg-like rap” styles have never been my favorite, so the fact that this has both in full force is not helping. What I understand of the lyrical content also does nothing for me, and I’m not particularly tempted to look up the lyrics or listen for understanding. Decidedly not anything I’d ever listen to.
48
Starboy
The Weeknd ft. Daft PunkDatBird
Wow holy fuck do I hate this. Assuming this is you Dat, you shoulda just subbed literally anything off of Random Access Memories. I don’t care that I’ve listened to that album 20 thousand times, it’d still do WAY better than this.
E Tier
47
Roll Me Up
Willie Nelson, Snoop Doggshubaka17
I did not need to hear Snoop Dogg in a country song.
46
Elevate
DJ Khalil ft. Denzel Curry, YBN Cordae, SwaVay, Trevor RichElizaThePsycho
This is pretty bad. The intro is actively awful, as is what I suppose is the chorus, and even though I like, like, the first individual rapper well enough, pretty much the rest of the song just makes me want to turn it off. The lyrics being super cringe-worthy certainly doesn’t help.
45
Dial Tone
That Kid ft. Ayesha Erotica, SlayyyterMissAmerica
The fact this isn’t the very bottom of this tier is a testament to how much I hate the stuff below it. Unfortunately, some of the repeating vocal samples are kinda cool, and most of the song is bad but not painfully so - the male rapping and the lyrical content are both near that level, but they don’t quite cross the line.
44
No Flex Zone (Remix)
Karmin, WatskyKnightsofCydonia
The more a rap song sounds like modern pop, the less likely I am to like it, and this falls pretty hard into that category. Still better than Elevate, especially in the chorus, but it’s still bad.
43
Gaston (parody)
The Newfangled FourSquirrel2412
Squirrel really did get 2nd place and then throw it all away by subbing only this single barbershop quartet for the rest of the categories, didn’t he. This might be my least favorite yet. It’s moderately amusing to pronounce “Jackson” like “Gaston” and when they’re singing normally it’s not bad, but on the whole this is mostly just a bad comedy sketch. Oh god, I’m gonna get these guys next cat too aren’t I?
42
Enemy
Imagine Dragons & JIDCaspore K
WHO DID THIS. You’ve actually got to be shitting me. This is probably SC_Mirad, which is honestly just tragic. Imagine Dragons is already not good, and the rap here is also just not good. I seriously question who the hell subbed this.
41
Cell Block Tango
ChicagoDaeron
This is sure a thing. I literally don’t know what to say about it, except it’s not for me literally at all. I get why it would be well-regarded in the space, but from just the song, I just don’t really, like, like the stories, delivery, or choreography all that much. Objectively this is probably robbed, but it’s kinda where I land. Sorry.
D Tier
40
In Case I Lose Myself in the Crowd
Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey, Cavalier, Goose, Iman OmariLordQuas
Well this is definitely a rap track. It’s not abysmal, but it’s also not doing anything that I personally like from rap. The background instrumentation is kinda cool, but it’s not enough to make me ignore the very heavy vocal focus of the song, and that is just not doing much of anythng for me lyrically or in its flow.
39
Red Flags
tom cardy ft. MontaigneCaspore G
What an oddly specific song. It’s a goddamn miracle this made it as high as it did. Unfortunately, it also got stuck in my head way more than I like it.
38
Wishes
Grant ft. McCallSC_Mirad B
Oh, this song. Somebody’s been playing too much Rocket League. Wait, this might be SC_Mirad for that. Anyways, definitively not my style, pretty hard miss.
37
Hold Me Closer
Elton John, Britney Spearsmansnicks
I’ve heard this before, but I never once thought “man, this is so much better than the original Tiny Dancer” and that remains here. Literally just a downgrade.
36
West Coast Smoker
Fall Out Boy ft. Doborah HarryCaspore F
Yeah, I’ve never been a Fall Out Boy fan (and in fact it may be more accurate to say I actively dislike his work), and although I can tell this is a collaboration at least, I’m not convinced that changes my fundamental dislike of Fall Out Boy’s style. Mediocre at absolute best. The recroding quality on the provided YouTube link is also dogshit, but I’m not holding that against the song because it’s not its fault and there are better versions elsewhere.
35
Androgynous
Joan Jett, Miley Cyrus & Laura Jane GraceChloe
Joan Jett has honestly never been my favorite. Her well-known megahits are good enough, but beyond that I’ve never been at all tempted to listen to more from her. Adding in Miley Cyrus does NOT help. Whoever the third singer whose name I don’t recognize is might even by my favorite of the bunch in this one, lol. In all, this song does basically nothing for me.
34
Trepanation
millennium parade & Friday Night PlansMaxi
Okay, that drill at the beginning going into either channel was kinda cool. I know millennium parade is known for those kind of sound tricks, but still. Unfortunately, a lot of parts of the song are both kinda unhinged in a way I don’t particularly like and also have lyrical delivery that is decidedly not to my taste, a bad combo for me liking the song. The parts that are much more “normal” (which I believe are sung mainly by the millennium parade vocalist while the unhinged parts are mainly by the Friday Night Plans vocalist?) are actually kinda good, leading to this placing this high in D Tier, but I’d still just rather go listen to No Time to Cast Anchor if I was specifically seeking out millennium parade. Some kinda cool sounds, which net it points, and it’s possible it would grow on me if I kept listening to it for weeks on end, but at this moment I’d never put it on a playlist, and certainly not before No Time to Cast Anchor. Which, to your credit, I did in fact just add to my playlist, so at least I got that out of this.
33
C’mon
Panic! At The Dico ft. Fun.Keldi
Better than I would have expected given it’s by P!ATD and Fun. To be clear, that is not a high bar, it’s just not awful.
32
Preserved Roses
T.M.Revolution, Nana MizukiBLOODYRAIN10001
Have I seen Valrave The Liberator? No. Have I heard this song before? No. Am I familiar with Nana Mizuki? No. However, I am familiar with not only T.M. Revolution, but also this album, for ~obvious reasons. Ultimately, I find this falls into that low-tier-J-rock category of being just a lot of noise at once and hard to follow properly, which pulls me out of the experience pretty hard. I also don’t think the singers’ voices really blend together very well. Still better than everything below it though.
C Tier
31
Lilith In Starlight
Homestuckbeancat
Dammit person-who-is-probably-Keldi. I like the instrumentation at the start, particularly the ear-to-ear bouncing synths, even if the overall quality does feel a bit amateurish, but the accordion-like part after the change does very little for me. Not sure why that repeats for so long before the violin comes in. Same with the drum break that’s just a repeat of what the drum is doing anyways. Feels like wasted time, y’know? Anyways, this was fine.
30
Skies Forever Blue
Toby Fox, Itoki Hana, insaneintherainmusic, FamilyJulesInsanity
I was immediately off-put by the start of the song, where the digitized voice is really not something I like. I do think the digitization fading out is cool, and fundamentally the underlying instrumentation is good if not great, which helped keep me from immediately writing it off just for the intro. Although this strained english isn’t my favorite to listen to, it’s not actively bad at any point, and in spite of the fact I think the overall lyrics are pretty cheesy I couldn’t help but think the overall idea of the song is pretty clever, and I do think that some of the individual lines work well even if most don’t really do it for me. The mid-point breakdown is cool even if nothing fundamentally changes afterwards besides adding a few more instruments, notably the cymbols and horns, and I don’t like the ending going back to the style of the intro whatsoever. Mixed feelings, net ever-so-slightly positive.
29
Loved You A Little
The Maine ft. Taking Back Sunday, Charlotte SandsSC_Mirad A
This is definitely not my thing. Hard to explain why, but I guess mainly it comes down to the male vocal delivery being too pop-y for my taste. Whoever the woman is is better, but she’s really only accents and so can’t really save this. A bit Casey Lee Williams-ish.
28
Return
Brian Eno, Karl HydeMNIN
I struggle to come up with words for this song. It’s there, but I’ve listened to it three times and I still have nothing to say. Guess that means it’s C tier.
27
The Wolf (Remix/Cover)
CG5 ft. Cami-Cat, FamilyJulesMistyx
I’ve heard The Wolf, but the only Siamés song I’ve liked enough to add to my playlist was Mr. Fear, so I’m interested to see how this stacks up. Initial impression is pretty good instrumentally, but the lyrical delivery doesn’t seem to me to be an improvement over the original. Yeah, after listening to the rest with nothing else to add, I think I like the instrumentation here slightly more than the original, but the vocals slightly less, and considering I wouldn’t put the original on my playlist, that leaves this in an overall similar spot. Edit: Wait that was fucking Megalovania
26
Scorpion Queen
Ace of Hearts ft. Johnny Manchild and the Poor BastardsCaspore D
Huh, I knew Ace of Hearts existed but I have never once even attempted to listen to any of their music. Kinda jarring to hear Alpharad’s voice in a song. I don’t dislike his voice normally, but it’s definitely not my favorite for music. The other vocalist, presumably Johnny Manchild, definitely sounds a lot better to me personally. The chorus bit is fine, as far as chorus bits go, and the horns are a nice addition, but they don’t really do enough to make me actively like this. The instrumental outro isn’t bad, but the guitar parts do a lot more for me than the synth parts do. On the whole, not bad, but that’s about it.
25
Silk Chiffon
MUNA ft. Phoebe BridgersNerbins
Not really my style, but not offensive. Definitely falls into the “modern pop” zone I don’t like, but is still executed well enough to keep it in mid-C-tier.
24
Hidegen Fújnak A Szelek
The Ex + Tom CoraBloobird
This is a super unique sound, but I’m not really getting into it in spite of that. Like, it’s a cool set of sounds to hear, and I’m like “woah that’s interesting” - but I’m noticably not like “woah that’s good.”
23
Renegades
ONE OK ROCK, Ed SheeranCoffee Abuser
Hold up, this is the band from that one Sonic Frontiers song from Cat 5. Anyways, J-Rock isn’t really my thing in general, and this is mostly just a fine song rather than anything special to me.
22
What A Catch, Donnie
Fall Out BoyCaspore C
Still don’t like Fall Out Boy’s style or delivery, but I do like this a little bit more than West Coast Smoker, in spite of it being even more Fall-Out-Boy-ish. The guest appearances are a neat touch, even if I have zero emotional connection to the other Fall Out Boy songs they’re quoting from. All in all, I wouldn’t complain about this, which is above average for Fall Out Boy. Barely edges out Renegades, which is in and of itself pretty Fall-Out-Boy-sounding, mainly by being more authentically Fall Out Boy, funnily enough.
21
Strong Enough
Porridge Radio, PigletDobby
In what’s becoming a theme for this category, this vocal delivery is really not for me. That being said, it does blend in well enough to the rest of the harsh sounds on display here, and so I can’t say I walk away disliking the sum total experience of listening to it in a song. Do I like it? Not really. But I can appreciate how others might.
20
Kira Killer
ZUTOMAYO, Mori CalliopeCaspore M
I haven’t heard this yet, which is mainly because the longer she’s been producing music under the name, the less I’ve liked most of Mori’s stuff and the less effort I’ve made to seek it out. Despite that, her parts in this song are definitely my favorite - the other singer’s voice is annoyingly high-pitched at many times, and it’s kinda piercing to listen to. I much preferred her delivery in Cat 1’s Marine Blue Garden. Give me a version without ZUTOMAYO singing (or at least not singing that high-pitched) and this probably outperforms the entirety of Mori’s discography for the last year and a half.
19
The Jungle Line
Herbie Hancock, Leonard CohenSchiavetto A
This is certainly an… interesting song. I’m unsure if I feel comfortable calling it that, because tbh it’s kinda just a story with a piano solo, but if 4’33" counts I don’t see why this wouldn’t. Really, I think I’d probably prefer this if it were just the piano part, quite possibly significantly so. That would have definitely gotten B tier, possibly top 10 in this category in particular, if how much I like the ending after the story has stopped is any indication. Instead it lives here.
18
Bubble Tea
Rush Garciaclonedcheese
This is more like a cover than a collab, no? I haven’t ever heard the original song, but it feels like it must surely be some kinda electronic piece from this orchestrated version (in particular I’m getting massive snail’s house vibes), and I’m just walking away feeling like surely that must be better? This doesn’t really play to any of the strengths of orchestral music, making it really easy to see how the original could be better even though I’ve never even heard it. I do like the final third or so, where it starts with a loud, brassy part and then falls away into a longer, sweeping part with a heavy focus on the strings, which then falls away to a smooth jazz with focus on bass and piano, which then falls away to a flute melody, but the entire buildup to that is kinda not worth it.
Edit: Yeah, the snail’s house vibes were right. I’ve looked up the original, and I think I’ve heard this before - probably got fed to me on YouTube autoplay at some point. Don’t like the lyrics much, and the rest of the original isn’t my favorite, so maybe this did actually do a decent job, and I think I just might like it more. Still suffers from being an orchestral adaptation of an electronic song, but it did a better job than I initially gave it credit for.
17
Bloody Mary
KANKAN, FAKE TYPE.Caspore L
Kinda catchy. I’m aware that FAKE TYPE exists, but I’ve never been drawn to anything I’ve heard that they’ve done enough to want to seek them out more. This is similarly not making me want to go out of my way to check out more of their stuff, or more of KANKAN’s stuff, but it’s not bad at all, barring maybe that key change. Compared to Kira Killer in particular, I just find the singer less annoyingly-high-pitched, which helps even though without that knock against it I would definitely prefer Kira Killer.
16
COLOURS
Ichika Nito, THE TOYSignoramus
I like the intro here. Singing feels J-pop-y in a way I don’t like, and it’s a bit short outside of that, but the solos are cool enough that I still like it on the whole.
15
Dearest Friend
Matthew K. Heafy, Jonathan Youngbad bunny
This feels like it’s constantly riding on the edge of being something I would really like. It could go in so many different directions to get there, but instead it landed in the exact middle of like five things I probably would have liked more. Doesn’t help that the piano part is a bit unhinged, lol. Still, it’s overall solid enough to net top of C tier, kinda feeling like a more collected version of Hailing Frequencies from Cat 5. I have no idea why Magic: The Gathering has music, but this is honestly not bad.
B Tier
14
ice cold.
half·alive ft. KimbraCaspore H
This feels like something I shouldn’t like, but I can’t say I actually dislike it for whatever reason. Doesn’t make it my favorite ever, but it is definitely scoring better than I expect most things that sound similar to this would. The rap parts in particular don’t do much for me, but the more traditional singing and what I’ll call “choral” parts are cool, and the repeating vocal sample bits are quite nice-sounding. I also really like the attention to detail with the background instruments; I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song swap which channel the shaker is playing in halfway through, it’s just super unorthodox but cool that somebody took the time to be like “yo we should change this up” and then they just did it. Neat song, edges into B tier.
13
Mind Eraser, No Chaser
Them Crooked VulturesMarmot
I did not like this much on my first listen. On my second, I was wondering wtf I missed the first time around, because it’s really not bad at all. Supergroups are a bit borderline for this category, but they do end up meeting the criteria, so. The screech-y guitar sound is not my favorite, but the rest of this is pretty decent, and even though I think it’s low B tier, I do definitely think it’s B tier. Ending is still funny and kinda dumb tho.
12
Stranger In The North
Namewee ft. Wang Leehomeevee
Honestly, pretty good. Definitely the best rap song I got subbed, and WAY better than the last time I got a Chinese rap song (My New Swag from FoLrus). I don’t like the ending as much after the key change, but before that it’s just a pretty solid collab, with good contrast between the smoother background vocals and the rap.
11
Another Heart Calls
The All-American Rejects ft. The PiercesCaspore J
I really love the instrumental intro to this song, but most of the singing doesn’t move the needle for me very much. Ultimately, pretty standard-but-good piece that falls just short of top 10.
10
Anhedonia
Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundlec4e5g3d5
I really like the two voices kinda whispering into each ear, and the reverb on the lyrics really adds a lot of depth to the song, which would otherwise be very simple. Cool sounds abound, even if this isn’t right up my alley it’s still interesting and good.
9
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Joni MitchellSchiavetto B
Have never heard this cover, and woah it has lyrics! Lots of cool elements, particularly the bass trill, and it’s just good smooth listening all around. I don’t tend to fall in love with these kinds of songs, but I do tend to enjoy them well enough, and that’s true here as well.
8
Mr. Frosty
μ-Ziq & Aphex TwinVisorslash
I like the sounds here. Cool mix. I do think it could stand to be, like, half the length and not really lose anything of much value, but I still think it’s got enough evolution where I don’t think the runtime hamstrings it or anything.
7
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
George Michael, Aretha Franklinthepigeonnyc’s family
I actually don’t think I’ve heard this one? Solid old pop song, but doesn’t jump out to me as anything exceptional, despite the talent involved. Still, all-around well-executed and entirely devoid of any elements I dislike, so gets a solid high-B-tier rating.
6
Somebody’s Watching Me
Rockwell, Michael JacksonCaspore I
I always feel like, Gabe Newell’s watching me. Tell me is it just on Steam? This song is a classic, and for good reason, but at least it is a collab and a good song. I actually didn’t know this was Michael Jackson before this was subbed here, but in hindsight that makes perfect sense. Catchy synths across the board, Jackson’s vocals really add to the chorus, and in all it’s just a fun song. It’s hard to judge something like this, because it’s such a recognizable classic, but that’s not without reason, I didn’t know it was a collab, I overlooked this in my massive playlist of everything so it wasn’t really on my radar, and I do still enjoy it enough to put it at the top of B tier. If that makes you upset, you should have subbed something better.
A Tier
5
When the Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Shoji Meguro, Yumi Kawamuralendunistus
OKAY ACTUALLY WHO DID THIS. Not gonna lie, you stood a really good chance at podium if you had just subbed the Hideki Naganuma remix of this song. I haven’t heard that very much, and it certainly fits the category better than just subbing this does. I also literally used another P3 soundtrack piece as an example song, so I’m afraid I can’t give this full points in general. Still confused who subbed this, but after playing somewhere over 300 hours of Persona 3, my favorite video game ever, how could I not love this song? It simply must go bottom of A tier. If that makes you upset, you should have subbed something better.
4
Bury The Light
Casey Edwards ft. Victor BorbaDragonclaude
Who did this. This song is obviously fantastic, but uh, also lol for subbing it? Especially compared to the acapella intro edit version? (Which I’ll probably play at the reveal anyways lol.) Well, so long as I get to nitpick it anyways, this song would have been better at 6 minutes than at 10 to be entirely honest (and don’t tell me about the game edit version, I know it exists and is 6 minutes long but it’s worse). I cannot not put it in A tier, but I also cannot put it in podium, so it goes here. If that makes you upset, you should have subbed something better.
3
If System of a Down Were From India
Nooran Sisters x SOADWindwardAway
Lmao. This is way better than it should be, considering it appears to just be two Indian women singing for some local TV program layered over a metal track. The original singing is done very very well, and the metal instrumentation is also not bad on its own, but it’s the way they combine that really makes this cool and unique. Definitely a great example of things from two very different cultues that fuse together well, and honestly I like that interpretation of the category even if this is definitely more of a mashup than a collaboration. If that makes you upset, you should have subbed something better.
2
Electric Masada
John Zornshanethedigital
The start to this is very promising. I am a bit cautious at calling it a “collaboration” since Masada is technically a single entity, but since the entire schtick is that the people in it are always rotating in and out, I’ll call it close enough. This is a really cool blend of jazz elements with rock elements, and not in the traditional jazz-rock way - it’s really cool how the jazz remains laid-back while the guitar starts in a similar place and ends in a similar place but in the middle just goes absolutely ham. I don’t much like the sort of “breakdown” part around the three-quarter mark, but it’s not enough of a detriment to pull this down by much when the rest of it is just so cool.
1
Attaboy
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thilenutella
Finally, some good fucking music. This is such a cool blend of classical and folk-type instrumentals. I’m not as big of a fan of the transition into more of a jig near the middle, but once the other instruments add back in I’m with it again. Imagine this with some pipes or pan flute or maybe some singing, could be really incredible. Even without those elements to push it over the top into S tier, this is still a very solid sub to an overall disappointing category.
no s tier lol
1 Like
You hate music
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I hate bad music
hey orangeandblack5 can you add the ability to dislike posts on the forum
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