BLAZE: The Rankings (Completed... At Last)

Man, one takes a break for a few days from the forums, and suddenly this thread starts updating again!

Way too many good songs out already. I'm absolutely baffled that "Smile Back at Death" didn't end up higher, not to mention "1633" and "Kill and Destroy".
On the other hand, I won't be missing "Human" and "Tearing Yourself to Pieces".

47. Prayers Of Light
Someone did give it a 10.

That was me.
 
A few thoughts after catching up with the latest batch of songs:

Apparently I only gave Kill and Destroy a 7. I'd give it a higher score If I were to re-vote right now.
8 songs are gone off of Redemption, but Already Won still has yet to show up. There's no way that's a top 3 song from that album.
I also agree that While You Were Gone is far too low. While it doesn't quite belong in the top 10, it definitely should be in at least the top 20.

Any guesses on which songs will make the Top 10
Here's my official prediction of the songs that will make up the top 10 based on whats left. In chronological order:

Ghost in the Machine
Silicon Messiah
Stare at the Sun
The Tenth Dimension
Meant to Be
Alive
Blood and Belief
Surrounded By Sadness
Together We Can Move the Sun
Eagle Spirit

Originally I thought TWCMTS might be on the outside looking in, but now I'm thinking that it'll just sneak in at #9 or #10.
 
Alright @Jer , I'll be keeping score here. :p The songs you guessed could make the Top 10:
  1. While You Were Gone
  2. Stare At The Sun
  3. Ghost In The Machine
  4. Samurai
  5. Meant To Be
  6. Together We Can Move The Sun
  7. Escape Velocity
  8. Human Eyes
  9. Smile Back At Death
  10. Life And Death
  11. Regret
  12. The Tenth Dimension
That's two down, ten to go. Let's see what happens!
He also mentioned Born as a Stranger. Correct your post(s) accordingly.

I think “While You Were Gone” will wind up somewhere around the #10 spot, though it deserves better.

I’m sure we’ll see stuff like “Stare At The Sun”, “Born As A Stranger”, and “Ghost In The Machine” in the top 10. “Samurai” seemed to be pretty popular. “Meant To Be” should be up there. “Together We Can Move The Sun” seemed to appeal a lot to some people. Maybe “Escape Velocity”, “Human Eyes”, and “Smile Back At Death”? Seems like “Life And Death”, “Regret”, and “The Tenth Dimension” should be in the ballpark too.

At any rate, I don’t think “Eagle Spirit” is going to find any oxygen to breathe up there.

EDIT: never mind @Diesel 11 . Number 6 gave his insane 3. And Jer his also hard to believe 6.
Therefore it impossible that it can reach the top 10. Too bad this song is kicked out too early.
 
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Here's my prediction of the top 10 of this survey, hosted by @Diesel 11:

01. Stare at the Sun
02. Eagle Spirit
03. Soundtrack of My Life
04. Ghost in the Machine
05. The Tenth Dimension
06. Escape Velocity
07. Together We Can Move the Sun
08. A Thousand Years
09. Surrounded by Sadness
10. Blood and Belief

11: Silicon Messiah

I worked several hours on this so I assume my prediction should come close. ;)
 
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My actual top 10
1: Stare At the Sun
2: Eagle Spirit
3: Together We Can Move The Sun
4: The Tenth Dimension
5: Ghost In The Machine
6: Born As A Stranger
7: Meant To be
8: Kill And Destroy
9: Solar Wind
10: Eating Lies

But there Are many others left out
 
I will post my top 10 now as well, in no order:

The Tenth Dimension
Meant to Be
Letting Go of the World
Together We Can Move the Sun
Ten Seconds
Born as a Stranger
Voices from the Past
Time to Dare
Ghost in the Machine
Stranger to the Light

Maybe I will make a full list once I hear the trilogy albums more and The King of Metal
 
My own current top 10 (without having heard the last two albums*), in chronological order (so it is not my prediction for how this survey's countdown would end):

Born as a Stranger
The Brave
Identity
Meant to Be
Speed of Light
Regret
Soundtrack of My Life
Samurai
Watching the Night Sky
Surrounded by Sadness



Others for top 20 and in some cases (very) close to (or even possibly in) top 10:
Stare at the Sun
The Tenth Dimension
Leap of Faith
The Truth Revealed
Ten Seconds
Blood and Belief
Life and Death
Will to Win
The Man Who Would Not Die
Smile Back at Death
Robot
Time to Dare


*Aaaand:
I admit that I did not take into account Infinite Entanglement. I did not take time to listen to it during this game, so I did note vote for any songs in the entire trilogy.
However, I do remember being positive about the album when it came out so I surely can see how some of the material might do well.
 
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These are separate tracks on the album, in the poll and in this game. Correct your top 10 accordingly!
Yes sir! Again, this would be my personal top 10 at the moment, and not my prediction for how the countdown would end.

1. While You Were Gone
2. Meant To Be
3. Life And Death
4. The Truth Revealed
5. Escape Velocity
6. Regret
7. The Tenth Dimension
8. Already Won
9. Human Eyes
10. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
 
Since others have gotten into the game with their guesses, I won’t terrorize poor Jer anymore. :p Keep track of your lists though, because some are on the money... and some not so much.
 
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
Average Score: 7.14/10
Endure And Survive 5/10


Funny you should mention this song @Shmoolikipod because it's the next one to make an exit. "The World Is Turning The Wrong Way" is the penultimate song on Endure And Survive (Infinite Entanglement Part II) and is a pretty solid affair, with all voters hovering right around 7. Not the best song ever, but far from being the worst.

Comments:
"The World is Turning the Wrong Way" in particular [is] amazing.
Another strong song, but not quite as outstanding as some others. A good plodding banger, though.
A simple Priest-like riff underpins a pretty good verse with some cheesy lyrics. I hear some of Dickinson's "Machine Men" in here. The chorus is OK. Pretty good guitar interlude. Nice softer bridge! Blaze sounds really good here. The chorus grows on you over the course of the song. Nice spacey outro.
A mid-tempo piece with some simple riffing, with verses that march on into another good chorus. It's pretty decent without being great until the bridge, where the music goes soft and Blaze is sounding especially good. I really like his singing here, definitely the highlight of the song.
Ehh... I could take it or leave it. Blaze does sound really good though.
Mediocre.

Votes:
10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 4
6 - 1
5 - 0
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win

46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger

54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633

57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black

65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind

78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head

89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black

91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate

96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:
Silicon Messiah 4/10
Tenth Dimension 6/12
Blood & Belief 4/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 9/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 5/10
The Redemption Of William Black 8/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)
 
41. Life Goes On
Average Score: 7.17/10
The Redemption Of William Black 9/11


TROWB's third-highest song finally hits the list. "Life Goes On" escapes the Top 40 by one spot, but beat out some fairly strong competition to get this far. Only two songs from the album remain - how far will "Already Won" and "Eagle Spirit" go?

Comments:
Another good song, the kind of thing which Blaze has done better before but still is a good listen.
Nice acoustic opening. Blaze is too loud and uncontrolled on the verse, missing lots of notes. The music steps it up a notch, but Blaze still has performance issues. The chorus started off OK, but gets worse as it goes on. Decent but repetitive extended interlude that's somewhere between Gamma Ray and Iron Maiden. The final chorus works better, but still fades off in quality as it goes. The outro is pretty good. The tail end of the song almost pulled it out of mediocrity. Almost.
I absolutely love the build-up in this song. A clean beginning leads into some midtempo heavy riffing, before all hell breaks loose with an uptempo guitar piece that's very Maiden-ish, and features some blinding playing by Chris Appleton. Phenomenal stuff! The break into the final verse is great, and the outro is cool.
A strong performance by Blaze and some interesting guitar parts. I can dig it.

Votes:
10 - 1
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 1
6 - 0
5 - 2
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win

46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger

54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633

57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black

65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind

78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head

89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black

91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate

96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:
Silicon Messiah 4/10
Tenth Dimension 6/12
Blood & Belief 4/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 9/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 5/10
The Redemption Of William Black 9/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)
 
40. Stranger To The Light
Average Score: 7.22/10
Tenth Dimension 7/12


The final track on Blaze's first concept album, Tenth Dimension, "Stranger To The Light" kinda does the same sort of thing that "The Alchemist" did on The Chemical Wedding. It brings the album to a good close and ends with a repeating of the title track's chorus. It's a pretty strong song, if not the most outstanding. Certainly a deserving song to enter the Top 40 with.

Comments:
The album's closer is pretty much Blaze's version of Bruce's solo song "The Alchemist", in that both are closers that work better within the context of the album than by themselves. But the difference is that "The Alchemist" is a masterpiece and "Stranger to the Light" just very good. I like the way it ends the album and the reuse of the "your freedom is here" line to reinforce the idea that this is a concept album.
This one is a bit like "The Hunger" from the previous album, but a little bit stronger in my opinion. I really enjoy the doomy feel, and the callback to the title track, kinda like Bruce's "The Alchemist", is a nice touch too. Great way to end the album.
A creepy clean intro breaks into a beefy midtempo riff with some nice harmonization. Blaze sounds good here. The chorus is unfortunately repetitive and underwhelming. Nice melodic solo. The variant chorus later on works better than the original. Hey, I like the "Tenth Dimension" reprise they snuck in there! I like this bluesier take on the main riff in the second half of the song, too.
A solid way to finish off the album.

Votes:
10 - 0
9 - 1
8 - 4
7 - 1
6 - 2
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:
40. Stranger To The Light
41. Life Goes On
42. The World Is Turning The Wrong Way
43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win

46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger

54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633

57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black

65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind

78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head

89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black

91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate

96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:
Silicon Messiah 4/10
Tenth Dimension 7/12
Blood & Belief 4/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 9/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 5/10
The Redemption Of William Black 9/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)
 
I thought that it belonged
It was part of the top...
But I was so wrong,
It got middle of the road...
The BS revealed...
 
The BS revealed...
Yeah, “Stranger To The Light” deserved better. There are a lot of songs still in play that can’t hold a candle to it. “Smile Back At Death” has grown on me a lot, too, and deserved a higher spot.
 
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