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Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 4:11 pm
by whuntva
Welcome to the Unacclaimed Group Stage. There will be two groups every week for the next eight weeks.

The rules are as follows. Rank the songs in each group 1-4, with four points to the top, one for the bottom.

The TWO songs with the most points go into the next round. Ties are broken by first-place votes. Though I don't know what to do if two songs also have the same first-place count, something that almost happened last year.

Comments strongly encouraged, but not required.

You are allowed to skip groups, but if you say you'll do another group at a later point, you have to come back to it before deadline.

Oh, by the way, the poll closes a week from today, October 9, at 11: 59 UTC.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
Salem-Oftentimes
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
Gentle Giant-On Reflection
Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
Prince-Moonbeam Levels
Eric Clapton-Let it Rain

Let's go!

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 4:18 pm
by Bang Jan
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
2. Salem-Oftentimes
3. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
4. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
2. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
3. Prince-Moonbeam Levels
4. Gentle Giant-On Reflection

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 4:30 pm
by whuntva
Beethoven Group

Nothing Really Ends
Letters from the Sky
Gumbo
Oftentimes

"Nothing Really Ends" knocked my socks off. I never heard of them before, so they delivered a good song.

I thought I'd vote "Letters from the Sky" easily, but it did lose some of its power against some really great tracks here. It's not really an AM-type song, and faced some stiff competition this group.

The others are a good jazz fusion track that could win and a track that gave me a migraine.

Mozart Group

Gerudo Valley
Moonbeam Levels
Let it Rain
On Reflection

Last year's miracle run by "Exile (Vilify)" added a few video game tracks to this year's game. The beautiful "Gerudo Valley", probably my favorite Zelda track, wins fairly handily.

"On Reflection" was fun, but couldn't hold its own against two Hall of Famers giving their all.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 5:01 pm
by luney6
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP

1. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends - Pretty good, but not great.
2. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo - Fun to listen to, but doesn't really go anywhere. It seems like a something of a remnant of Phallus Dei and Moon in June. Even the beat isn't that good, but it is tolerable. I somewhat liked the organ fills. There were brief moments when it sounded cheesy.
3. Salem-Oftentimes - The lyrics weren't bad, the music was ok.
4. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky - The lyrics weren't very original, and neither was the music. The song seemed to be lacking in purpose.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 5:23 pm
by Romain
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
2. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
3. Salem-Oftentimes
4. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
The four songs are not bad, and I'm very happy to see this so underated band (dEUS) here.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1. Prince-Moonbeam Levels
2. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
3. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
4. Gentle Giant-On Reflection
Only Prince is my cup of tea here (too bad the song of the link is so bad because this song is a masterpiece.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2015 7:37 pm
by ordinaryperson
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
2. Salem-Oftentimes
3. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
4. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1.Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
2. Prince-Moonbeam Levels
3. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
4. Gentle Giant-On Reflection

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 2:37 am
by notbrianeno
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
Salem-Oftentimes
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
Gentle Giant-On Reflection
Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
Prince-Moonbeam Levels
Eric Clapton-Let it Rain

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 6:30 pm
by jamieW
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
Salem-Oftentimes

I really like all of these.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
Prince-Moonbeam Levels
Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
Gentle Giant-On Reflection

It's funny, I'm not a gamer, but I used to play "The Legend of Zelda" all the time. Yet, I don't remember "Gerudo Valley," which struck me as strange, since I absolutely loved it. Could anyone tell me which year this was released? (Maybe it wasn't on the original Nintendo game that I was playing.)

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 6:57 pm
by spiritualized
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
2. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
3. Salem-Oftentimes
4. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo

Never heard Civil Twilight before and I must say this song, whilst nothing earth shattering has a great buildup, a nice melody and whiffs of early Radiohead & Muse
Good Song by dEUS - but when you know the rest of the repertoire (whuntva, I urge you to listen to "In a bar, under the sea" or "Instant Street", the latter being a bit more accessible.
The rest is meh.


WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
2. Gentle Giant-On Reflection
3. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
4. Prince-Moonbeam Levels

Discovered Gentle Giant here, but as I am not a big fan of prog rock, Eric wins it. Cannot stand Prince, never have.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:29 pm
by bonnielaurel
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. Cortijo and His Time Machine - Gumbo
2. Civil Twilight - Letters from the Sky
3. Salem - Oftentimes
4. dEUS - Nothing Really Ends

I hadn't heard of Rafael Cortijo, but it sounds like good Latin jazz, with experienced musicians who feel at ease with those rhythms and harmonies. Letters from the Sky is a sad rock ballad sung by someone who can't accept his partner died.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1. Eric Clapton - Let it Rain
2. Gentle Giant - On Reflection
3. Koji Kondo - Gerudo Valley
4. Prince - Moonbeam Levels

Eric Clapton's song has a great combination of instruments and a bluesy guitar solo. "On Reflection" starts like is a weird kind of fugue, an experimental combination of Baroque influences with folk and rock.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 5:28 am
by DaveC
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
Salem-Oftentimes
Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
Gentle Giant-On Reflection
Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
Prince-Moonbeam Levels
Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 5:28 pm
by luney6
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1. Gentle Giant-On Reflection - Sounds a bit like aspects of Frank Zappa crossed with aspects of the Beach Boys. I fin it to be pretty original, with great music and lyrics that don't sound cheesy at any time. It is at not point overbearing. I really like it.
2. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley - After on reflection, all the tracks are almost a tie for me, and they're all quite good. If this is the symphony version, as given in the link, only then it is in the 2nd place. The original is 4th.
3. Prince-Moonbeam Levels - I'm not much of a Prince fan, but quite frankly I rather like this song. However, Prince's vocals here annoy me.
4. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain - Good enough. Sounds a bit petty, but not bad.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 7:40 pm
by Rob
jamieW wrote: It's funny, I'm not a gamer, but I used to play "The Legend of Zelda" all the time. Yet, I don't remember "Gerudo Valley," which struck me as strange, since I absolutely loved it. Could anyone tell me which year this was released? (Maybe it wasn't on the original Nintendo game that I was playing.)
The track only featured in Ocarina of Time from 1998, not counting its appearance in the Super Smash Bros series. This live version is from 2011.

For the record: I specifically nominated this live version and not the original in-game track, however great it is. I know we want to keep nominators a secret, but that's impossible for me here if I want to clarify my choice.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 9:15 pm
by Sweepstakes Ron
BEETHOVEN:
1. Oftentimes - It's not very substantial, but it's aesthetically pleasing, and that's enough right now.
2. Gumbo - It's a very fun sound, but it's too all over the place to give it 1st.
3. Nothing Really Ends - It's not the type of thing I'm very into, but the sorta-relaxed-but-not-quite vibe keeps it away from last place.
4. Letters from the Sky - Not interesting to me, but if it keeps going, I'm not opposed to warming up to it.

MOZART:
1. Moonbeam Levels - Prince is a talented genius who has made some VERY questionable decisions. This is easily my favorite of the week.
2. Gerudo Valley - The truth is, I'm not big on the idea of considering video game music outside of the game itself. I actually know this song mostly from SSBB rather than OoT. In fact, I've never played a single Zelda game in my life, and Smash hasn't really made me want to, but I still enjoyed this song a lot. If this were the original (or the SSB4 version, which I think is too recent anyways), I may have put it in 1st, but the familiar melody still gives it an advantage over the rest.
3. Let It Rain - I don't really enjoy this brand of blues rock from this era, but it's still better than the remaining song.
4. On Reflection - I feel violated...

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 10:43 pm
by Henry
1. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
2. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
3. Gentle Giant-On Reflection
4. Prince-Moonbeam Levels

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 7:24 am
by phil
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
Salem-Oftentimes

Good group. Straight off the bat, I find two new songs which look to sit among my favourites.


WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
Prince-Moonbeam Levels
Gentle Giant-On Reflection
Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley

Can't believe Prince never released that song. It is the first time I've heard it.
Could have gone either way between On Reflection and Let It Rain.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 5:38 pm
by Honorio
Beethoven group:
1. dEUS - Nothing Really Ends (2001)
3. Cortijo and His Time Machine Games - Gumbo (1973)
6. Salem - Oftentimes (2007)
8. Civil Twilight - Letters from the Sky (2009)

Mozart group:
2. Prince - Moonbeam Levels (unreleased, recorded 1982)
4. Eric Clapton - Let It Rain (1970)
5. Gentle Giant - On Reflection (1975)
7. Koji Kondo - Gerudo Valley (2011)

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:49 am
by acroamor
Beethoven Group
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
Very cinematic in tone, the piano part reminds me a lot of Jon Brion's film score work.

Salem-Oftentimes
Very off-kilter, particularly in the girl's voice and in the synth tones. Enjoyable.

Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
Fun little jam session, but nothing too meaty to grab on.

dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
Nothing really stood out to me.


Mozart Group
Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
Ahh what a masterpiece. And a very good arrangement here, makes it so much more dramatic.

Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
It feels odd to see Clapton's (or Prince's name) alongside all of these other bands. But God has a good reason to be here, I've never heard this song but its crashing guitar lines really entice me.

Gentle Giant-On Reflection
Certainly the most unique of the four songs in here. Strong, but not as immediately appealing as the previous two.

Prince-Moonbeam Levels
Nice enough I suppose but really in a tougher bracket. Would have faired better in the previous group.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 2:13 pm
by Maschine_Man
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP

1. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky - I'm sure Coldplay are kicking themselves for not writing this song.
2. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo - What a fun track!
3. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends - Not really my cup of tea. I did enjoy reading up about them though.
4. Salem-Oftentimes - Interesting song from another interesting band.


WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP

1. Prince-Moonbeam Levels - Really enjoyed this one. Highlight of the week.
2. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley - I'm not one for VG music, but this one is fun.
3. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain - It's good, I guess. My 70's music knowledge is pretty awful, but I have been working on it.
4. Gentle Giant-On Reflection - I like the cover of the album Octopus, which is really my only opinion on Gentle Giant sadly.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 4:23 pm
by Barry
1. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
Simple, yet surprisingly effective and powerful. A great discovery for sure!

2. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
Frenetic and exciting, lacks principle though. Very good nevertheless.

3. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
I haven't listened to this dEUS album yet. The song is likeable but nothing that special.

4. Salem-Oftentimes
Not my cup of tea to be honest.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:44 pm
by BleuPanda
1. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
2. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
3. Civil Twilight-Letters From the Sky
4. Salem-Oftentimes

1. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
2. Prince-Moonbeam Levels
3. Eric Clapton-Let It Rain
4. Gentle Giant-On Reflection

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:41 am
by sonofsamiam
1. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
2. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
3. Salem-Oftentimes
4. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends

1. Prince-Moonbeam Levels
2. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
3. Gentle Giant-On Reflection
4. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:42 pm
by Krurze
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
Salem-Oftentimes
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
dEUS-Nothing Really Ends


WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
Prince-Moonbeam Levels
Gentle Giant-On Reflection
Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 12:29 pm
by Barry
Barry wrote:1. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
Simple, yet surprisingly effective and powerful. A great discovery for sure!

2. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
Frenetic and exciting, lacks principle though. Very good nevertheless.

3. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
I haven't listened to this dEUS album yet. The song is likeable but nothing that special.

4. Salem-Oftentimes
Not my cup of tea to be honest.
Actually, Nothing Really Ends really grew on me after listening to it repeatedly during the last few days, so that's my number 1 in this group. Sorry for the annoyance.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 1:44 pm
by Chilton
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. dEUS - Nothing Really Ends
4. Cortijo and His Time Machine - Gumbo
6. Salem - Oftentimes
7. Civil Twilight - Letters from the Sky

For those interested in dEUS, be sure to look up their AM Acclaimed Albums, which are quite different to this song from their later period.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
2. Eric Clapton - Let it Rain
3. Prince - Moonbeam Levels
5. Koji Kondo - Gerudo Valley
8. Gentle Giant - On Reflection

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 9:53 am
by Moonbeam
Hooray for the return of my favorite game!

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. Salem - Oftentimes: 8

Dreamy and delightfully off-kilter.

2. Cortijo and His Time Machine - Gumbo: 7.5

Not generally my cup of tea, but the funk rhythms charmed me in the end. Could be a real grower.

3. Civil Twilight - Letters from the Sky: 7

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would at first given the vocals. Not outstanding, but definitely worth a listen.

4. dEUS - Nothing Really Ends: 6

A little too low-key for me to really enjoy, but not bad by any means.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP

1. Prince - Moonbeam Levels: 10

The source of my username. One of my all-time favorite songs. A wonderful rock ballad with enough purple synthesized weirdness to keep me returning after all of these years. It would have been great on 1999, but was skipped in favor of "Free".

2. Koji Kondo - Gerudo Valley: 8

I'm very pleasantly surprised by this version, because the original version featured in the Video Game Poll was among my least favorite tracks there. The orchestration really brings the power of this song to light. Nice!

3. Gentle Giant - On Reflection: 7

It's certainly interesting, shifting gears like a good prog song should. Could grow on me with time.

4. Eric Clapton - Let It Rain: 5

Not for me.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 1:57 pm
by Brad
My picks:

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
2. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
3. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
4. Salem-Oftentimes

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
2. Gentle Giant-On Reflection
3. Prince-Moonbeam Levels
4. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley

Thanks!

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 2:56 pm
by Rob
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN GROUP
1. Cortijo and His Time Machine-Gumbo
2. Salem-Oftentimes
3. dEUS-Nothing Really Ends
4. Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky
A clear winner in Gumbo here. It just makes you wanna dance. I do like Oftentimes quite a bit too, mostly thanks to the vocals. The other two are pleasant, but do not particularly stand out to me, though Nothing Really Ends has a great start.


WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART GROUP
1. Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley
2. Gentle Giant-On Reflection
3. Eric Clapton-Let it Rain
4. Prince-Moonbeam Levels
I really like all four of these. This version of Gerudo Valley is sacred to me, so it is still an easy win, but the other 3 I would have put between my current 1 and 2 of the first match-up. On Reflection is one of those songs I could imagine someone finding annoying, but I can't resist it's wacky sounds. Let it Rain is Clapton at his finest and I actually thought it was among his most acclaimed songs. Moonbeam Levels is Prince doing Prince and loses perhaps because a lack of anything surprising, but it is still Prince at his finest so that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:36 pm
by whuntva
Last Call!

About five and a half hours left.

Mozart Group is separated by ONE point!

Re: Unacclaimed III Group Stage, Week 1

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:19 am
by whuntva
Poll is closed! Week 2 is up shortly.

BEETHOVEN GROUP

dEUS-Nothing Really Ends (68, 12)
Cortijo and his Time Machine-Gumbo (62, 5)
---
Civil Twilight-Letters from the Sky (51, 3)
Salem-Oftentimes (49, 2)

It was a two-horse race throughout. dEUS has established themselves as a morning line favorite with a convincing victory here and the most total points this week.

MOZART GROUP

Koji Kondo-Gerudo Valley (62, 7)
Prince-Moonbeam Levels (61, 7)
---
Eric Clapton-Let it Rain (59, 6)
Gentle Giant-On Reflection (49, 3)

Koji watched a large lead evaporate, but held on for the win. For the second year in a row, a video game song wins its group.

Prince and Clapton were in a showdown for second, but Prince pulled slightly ahead by the end.

Matchups for these songs will be determined in Week THREE. It's part of the two week rotation experiment this week.

Also, please check for errors! Remember, I do all this vote counting BY HAND, so I could be very prone to miscounts here and there.