Rate Up & Salute! (WINNER ANNOUNCED)

TheOnlyOne

TheOnlyOne

I forgot about the unplugged version for a second and was honestly ready to throw in the towel at the thought of DNA not even making Top 10.

Stereo Soldier is good, but #36 is about right for it. I loved it when it first came out but have liked it less and less since.
 
RainOnFire

RainOnFire

Staff member
Love Drunk, OMG, Lightning, A.D.I.D.A.S., and Weird People can evacuate now.

DNA (Unplugged) is so bad, I didn't even realize it was in till now. And over Case Closed, Going Nowhere, and Always Be Together? Bye.
 
Jacket

Jacket

Reboot said:
Pretend It's OK maybe?
Click to expand...
Ding. Ding.

latest



#35 Pretend It's OK

Average: 6.657

Highest Score: 9 x 4 (@JuanJose, @TheOnlyOne, @With The Bands, @CorgiCorgiCorgi,
Lowest Score: 1 x 1 (@Vixen)

NOOOOOOOOO. This is one of the easiest 10's in the whole rate. The constant melody change-ups, the melancholic production and their vocals are all phenomenal. Should have been top 10. I'm sad. You'll also see that no-one awarded a single 10 to Pretend It's OK. Almost every score was between 4 and 6. The track was, of course, produced by Xenomania, which explains the unusual structure.

Mr. Humes thought it was a "good song"but had a problem with the producers. "I can't get over the fact the this was the Xenomania contribution to their debut. Like, seriously, Brian Higgins? You can do better than that! Sprockrooster "loved the adlibs in the chorus" while First2Run said the song was poor but the girls' vocal performance elevated it. "In the end I can’t really get past the fact that I get bored really fast," they said. TheOnlyOne was very accurate, calling it "probably their most underrated song". They went on to say: "one of the few times they’ve strayed from the normal formula of giving each girl a separate verse. It’s like a more dramatic and vocally competent but less fun Girls Aloud ballad". I almost didn't include Vixen's commentary because it's just so blatantly wrong but I thought for the sake of balance I should. "Literally, what is this song? Does that even exist for real?" she grumbled. You're so wrong for this gorl.

Petty Mayonnaise thought there could be improvements made. I’d prefer a more unplugged sound on this one. I feel like it could be a better ballad if it weren’t so overproduced. It just doesn’t work in that “tears on the dance floor” kind of way. Instead, it’s distracting," they said. Blayke delivers the puns, saying "this song is nice, but I'm not going to pretend that it's anything other than OK. The chorus is great". A$AP Robbie thought Xenomania's involvement would guarantee a banger: "oh hey, Brian and Miranda are here, they'll put an end to this albums obsession with balla...oh. Oh". Remorque was complimentary ("a nice midtempo. The girls sound fantastic, especially during that chorus and it has a nice epic feel to it") and mat.overboard was also a fan: "I’m a sucker for girlband ballads. And this ain’t any different. The lyrics aren’t that well thought out, but it’s very relatable to basically everything. When my boyfriend farts when he’s with me, I’ve got to pretend it’s OK… This is the real meaning of the song, I guess."

JuanJose really liked this one. "I dig the whole 'we are doomed' vibe (SCREAMING), and the piano and strings in the instrumental are very fitting. Although it is not very Xenomania by the numbers, i.e. doesn't sound like 3-4 songs stitched together, it really shows some of their signature production style." ohnostalgia said Little Mix "deserve better" and DJHazey said it "goes for all of the standards I look for in one of their classic gems, but it always ends up being a peg or two below".

 
Humes

Humes

So far, so good! The End/The Beginning aside, this is going great. I hope These Four Walls will be the first Salute song to go, but first there's still Red Planet.
 
Robsolete

Robsolete

Aside from Always Be Together and Change Your Life being out far too early, everything is going pretty well so far really. Well, ADIDAS needs to fuck off asap but apart from that...
 
Jacket

Jacket

What if I had one more night for goodbye?....


































If you're not here to turn the lights off, I can't sleep...






















































These four walls and me.




little_mix___these_four_walls__cover_single__by_ladywitwicky-d73sznh.png



#34 These Four Walls

Average: 6.797

Highest Score: 11 x 2 (@Up Down Suite, @tylerc904)
Lowest Score: 0 x 1 (@Blayke)

Our first proper track from Salute makes its exit at a very undeserved #34. Up Down Suite and tylerc904 also lose their 11's in an unfortunate turn of events for them. According to their wikia, These Four Walls is piano-based and sees Little Mix deliver "fragile vocals". It also apparently verbalises our experiences during times of loss. The girls performed this on This Morning and Surprise Surprise for two fans and it made the top 50 on iTunes on the back of those performances. I'm very surprised this is out so early but y'all obviously hate Little Mix ballads so.

Munro kicks us off with an emotional tribute. "Absolutely STUNNING song", he tearfully praises. "It sounds genuinely heartfelt and it hits hard as a result. Those harmonies into that final chorus are absolutely everything I need from Little Mix." ohnostalgia wasn't feeling much nostalgia about this one, grumbling "I see we're back to lower quality ballads. They've done worse ones though, so points for that? And they sound good harmonizing." DJHazey thought it was "beautiful but blah" and called it the "'animated movie soundtrack' song of the album and it's certainly honest with each girl bringing their own emotions into it". Laura Vanderbooben succumbed to sleep during this and simply snored "ZZZZZZZZZ". You ain't right for this. Blayke revealed his cold heart, screaming "NO. Am I supposed to be touched by the falsetto vocals? RUBBISH". Oop. Remind me not to piss you off sis. JuanJose said it was the second slip-up on Salute after Towers: "I don't really care about this track to be honest. Perrie sounds great though"!

mat.overboard was equally shady, saying "lovely track, but it’s in the bottom of my list of ballads by them. There’s nothing really that stands out to me". Remorque summed up the way this rate is going so far. "Something about most of LM’s ballads just leaves me very whelmed, this one included. Like the vocals are obviously great, the melody is pretty enough, but the emotional impact just isn’t there. There are some lush harmonies here, though, and the full-on gospel moment at the end saves it." First2Run loved it though and said although it wasn't the "punchy bop" Little Mix are known for, "this song is a much needed break in their discography that provides something much more refined. An album needs some diversity and this song shows further talent. I wish more of their ballad songs were like this and less in your face". Some advice for album 4 me thinks? TheOnlyOne had me screaming with his mournful commentary: "I kind of love the devastating melodrama of it all. I can’t help but picture myself as a grieving widow – black veil and all – when singing along to this, though". Vixen thought other ballads on Salute were better. "I was saying in 'Towers' how most of their ballads didn't do much for me, but I got around to love some of them...Well, this isn't the case. I don't think it's really that good," she said.


Now to the 11's. Up Down Suite didn't provide commentary but the good sis tylerc94 did.

"I toyed with giving my 11 to Move or DNA, but this just felt right. I live for that last chorus. Those harmonies... my favorite Little Mix track hands down."

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