Preliminary Match 7

Xenosaga song: Lots of buildup... Doesn't feel authentic to me though. Like, if I were playing the game, I wouldn't get much out of it. Who knows though. Definitely has a good shift after the first minute and a half.
=OO

PSO song: Has a liquidy stealth to it. Not much caught my attention really.
=OO

Project Sylpheed: Ah, this one has what the Xenosaga song was missing for me. Definite winner or the three.
=OOO

I liked "Chase" okay right up until the violin/drum sections. The violin wouldn't bother me in the slightest bit otherwise, but for some reason it really turned me off in this piece. Can't place my finger on it.

"Operation Nebula Blaze" isn't bad at all, but it's also just not interesting to me.

"Jungle -A Lush Load-" is quiet compared to the other two but I find it really beautiful and atmospheric. I've not played PSO before but I don't really need any context to enjoy this. It's really relaxing, I like the steady drum beat and the accompanying instruments. More my kind of music I suppose, it was looping for nearly an hour yesterday and I haven't gotten tired of it at all.

(8.5/10) Project Sylpheed - Operation Nebula Blaze
Ah yes, didn't everyone hate this song during SOTW? Well, I still like it, unfortunately for you =P.

(8/10) Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose - Chase
You've got me in a bind. This is another song that's stuck in the middle of my favorites playlist somewhere, and I do in fact like Kajiura a lot. I just find that the repetition in this song is a tad bit too immediate

(4.5/10) Phantasy Star Online Version 2 - Jungle -A lush load-
Same comment as orion_mk3 here. He's becoming a placeholder for "i'm too lazy to post another extra comment on a song" nowadays.

The beginning of "Chase" is quite retarded, the hardrock pieces in it are even more stupid. It's quite repetitive, too. Not a good song. The Jungle song almost made me fall asleep. Operation Nebula Blaze is a good song, though. I don't expect it to go very far in this contest, but it should at least win this match.

The best grouping in the Prelims. All quality tracks that might have taken other brackets. As it stands, another nebula track enchants me, this time with its soaring leads overcoming its typical backbeats.

Chase - I loved this ever since I first heard it in the game. Many unique sounds. The beats are quite well-handled, organic, not sticking in one place when they are present, and don't even overpower the piece at all. Those not familiar with her style of composing, I can see how they would be turned off by the strings. I have been turned off by those types in the past. But I find their highpitchedness complimentary.

Operation Nebula Blaze - First time hearing. Sounds like a mix between a million techno songs and 500 overused melodies (Grandia, FF7 airship music, Metal Gear Solid). I can find better songs with similar melodies (um, see last parentheses) kthxbye.

A Lush Load - First time hearing. The beginning is really good. Also unique sounds, and good soundscape. It does go on kind of long. It should have done more. And that "melody" at 1:08 that repeats a couple times has really gotten on my nerves in songs. Japanese seem to love to do it. I was hung up between Chase and this, but, while I still like Chase, it's not something I can listen to forever. Ah, well, good thing I can't vote anymore. It's probably a tie. They're almost complimentary; not Chase and Operation Nebula.

This poll has been closed for a couple weeks now.

See that tiny, yellow object moving away from you in the distance?

THAT'S THE FUCKING BUS. START WALKING, PAL.