[A] First Round #6 (White vs. Ruthless)

Listen to both songs and select the one you prefer.

Download Links:

Cave Story - White
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Ruthless

Streaming:

White: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Ruthless: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

Gech must've nominated this Cave Story track. Only someone who's never played the game would nominate this boring song.

It lucked out, though, this splinter cell track is the genre of "fuck it let's just fart on the keyboard" nonsense that I hate.

White is a bit boring to be honest, the melody wasn't especially catchy and the flow was underwhelming. I'd heard good things about Cave Story, disappointing.

Huh... I agree with buffet that this is nonsense musically. I'm all for interesting distortions and percussion but this is far too unsettling to get a vote, did it really need to be 5 minutes either.

White has charm I suppose.

What? A lackluster song? In my Cave Story? SAY IT AIN'T SO.

Holy God Ruthless is fantastic. So dark and moody and utterly heavy. The percussion in and of itself is worth the price of admission. Fantastic.




You people suck, seriously.

White is that song you get in the title screen if you beat Hell in less than 4 minutes, am I right? Pretty cute song. Also bittersweet for a King's theme.

My vote's for Ruthless though. I have been a fan of its mood and groovy DnB ever since I've heard it during percussion week in SotW. And I still think it should have done better than 3rd place.

This pairing is so unfortunate, because both are great and deserve to make it past the first round.

White-
A little bit funky but not a huge hook. It's decent and the chiptune sound gives it charm.

Ruthless-
kinda gross, IMO. The soundscape is tense, but it doesn't speak to me at all.

Originally Posted by Draconis

White is that song you get in the title screen if you beat Hell in less than 4 minutes, am I right?

Ah, no wonder I'd never have a chance of hearing it in-game. Nor would I bother, as my favourite track from Cave Story is the title. White has grace notes and not too much else going for it. Ruthless is another track in the vein of wvlfpvp's eclectic musical tastes, but I will sympathize with this dark and ringing song, if only for variety's sake.

Awww, I kinda liked White. It's cute and charming, like fluffy toilet paper.

Cave Story - White
Since the two Cave Story tracks I've heard have been superlative, it's inevitable that a clunker would come along to ruin things. This song seems awfully ordinary for being a reward; the melody and beat are on the low end of ordinary.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Ruthless
Was Chaos Theory the one that Lalo Schifrin wrote a theme for, or was it one of the other dozen or so SC games with odd two-word subtitles? Either way, I haven't heard much SC music or played any of the games, so it's all new to me. Unfortunately, it's also quite poor--mindless loops, techno beats, and industrial ambiance.

Despite being disappointing, White easily beats Splinter Cell: Peanut Butter Monkey.

You people are all terrible.

Even me?

: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Ruthless
: Cave Story - White

The crowd turns on Cave Story when a track that's under 150 BPM shows up, I see how it goes. Never mind that it actually has some soul to it.

Holy fuck, Ruthless is unstoppable, though. Best track from a fantastic soundtrack (interestingly this is how I'd describe White too), but then again I'm just an Amon Tobin slut. Why didn't this win percussion week fuuuuuuuuck i'm in love

Both of these are weak entrants for a "Best Song" contest.

'Ruthless' is awesome in terms of what awesome denotes in a conversation about electronica/drum 'n bass tracks, but I'm not hearing much in terms of a hook, with the exception of the repeating bass line. Sorry, but this is not a song in any way.

'White' is better, even if it's not the most memorable piece. The rhythm tracks are a bit buried under the borderline-annoying lead tracks. All quibbles aside, 'White' also features repetition and hookiness, which 'Ruthless' is obviously too hard-core to include.

Originally Posted by indutrial

'Ruthless' is awesome in terms of what awesome denotes in a conversation about electronica/drum 'n bass tracks, but I'm not hearing much in terms of a hook, with the exception of the repeating bass line. Sorry, but this is not a song in any way.

This isn't matching any of the definitions I have on record for the word "song." Can you elaborate so I can add an entry to the database?

EDIT: Actually, you could be using the piece-of-music-with-lyrics one, but then that criticism applies to White too so I don't even know why you'd bring it up. So the question stands.

To hell with Ruthless, this is just aweful noise, I couldn´t stand it through the whole duration of 5 minutes. Almost as bad as the former Descent (II) entries. White is like manna from heaven compared to this.

The drum programming in White is really good, especially the use of noise. Some of the best I've heard in a not-chiptune. The rest of the track is cool if a bit convoluted, but it all comes together nicely. Better than that other Grasslands tunes by a fair margin.

Unfortunately Ruthless wrote the book on awesome percussion. One of the most intense songs I've ever heard, I look back at the time it appeared in SotW and wish I could give it the 3 points it deserves, even over my own nomination. Just amazing from start to finish.

"White" is some more quality Cave Story stuff. The cute, touching melody develops really well and the melodic progressions are spot on. Somewhat insubstantial, but charming nonetheless.

'K so I had no idea Amon Tobin had composed any VGM. Consider me "omg-wtf" happy! "Ruthless" is seriously pure awesome, disregarding any potential composer-bias. Glitchy, messy, and very percussive; I can see why some (stupid) people wouldn't like it, but I myself love the sound produced. I'm definitely going to look more into this Chaos Theory soundtrack.

"White" - 8/10
"Ruthless" - 9.5/10 (props to the nominator)

The current vote standings perplex me immensely.

I can't stay with any of you on Cave Story. The previous tracks I've heard have all disappointed me, so when finally a track comes that I enjoy, you guys take a dump all over it. This one has be-boppy appeal and chiptune sound that doesn't feel very ancient.

Ruthless, I can't even support any of this.