Pulse Rankdown: 2018 Year End Alternative Chart (WE'RE DONE)

[Taiga]

Might as well insert myself into the chaos. I'll start putting my list together.

[janinho]

1-20 good or even better
21-33 okay
34-68 meh
69-81 bad

82-100 Kill it. With Fire.

Seriously this list is not good. Most songs are just forgettable. This is really underwhelming after the last 90s rankdowns.

[Deleted]

I will do this. I hope I can complete it in time.

[singingrulebritannia]

As I am posting this, I have begun...The Trial. Now, if I'm still losing multiple top 10s in the bottom 50 this year, it will confirm you people are utterly insane.

[House Lannister]

Since I have been doing rankdowns of the classic years, I'll be down for this one.

Since some of my favs didn't show up, I predict there might be some chaos.

[maine]

Submitted. I hate to say that I actually don't hate all that much on this list, lol. There's just a lot of songs in the middle that blend together.

[Red]

This thread has been up less than 24 hours, and I already have enough submissions to do a second extra-large version of the 2018 Alternative rankdown B-B-B-B-BALLOT UPDATE! You guys are relentless. Stepping up to the plate this time are Alex1901, my co-host peacebone, astorknight, janinho, and maine. How did these five rankings shape this monster of a rankdown? I suppose we're going to find out anyway, right?

- The songs in the top two from the previous update are still the top two now, with #1 holding a 21 point lead over #2. The lead for #2 over #3 is more significant, as #2 holds a near 40 point lead over #3, and #3 holds a 34 point lead over #4. Again, it gets a lot more interesting and closer after that...
- From four top ten constants, we are already down to three...but those three are the current top three.
- I'm keeping my eye on one song in particular, a song that is currently in the bottom 30. I did not expect it to be this low, genuinely.
- The same six songs have continued to be in every bottom ten, and given that #90 is currently over 30 points ahead of #91, it's not exactly close right now, either. There's a fun little race brewing between the song that was at #100 in the last set and another song for last place, with #99 staving off #100 by five points.
- THRESHOLDS! AHH-AHH-AHHHHH-AHHHH! THRESHOLDS! The top two are the first songs in this rankdown to vault over the 1,000 point mark. An additional six songs have more than 900 points. At the bottom, only the bottom ten have yet to cross 200 points, and only the bottom two have yet to get over the 100 point hump.
- STANDARD DEVIATIONS ARE COMING TO GET YOU, PULSE! We have two new highest standard deviation songs, and those can be found at #57 and #42. Our new lowest standard deviation is the song that was the third-lowest SD last time. That song is at #100 again. The new second-lowest SD is just two spots above it at #98. The third-lowest SD is coniderably higher, in the top ten.
- And, of course, what would a ballot update be without the one and only Pulse's Favorite Part of the Ballot Update...


We were OH SO CLOSE to a top ten tie, but, instead, we'll have to settle for a #11 tie. There are also ties at #26, #29, #52, #57, #62, and #76, and there's a three-way tie at #81.

[singingrulebritannia]

Already halfway done. I'm pretty sure I didn't have this many songs 3.5 or above (10) at this point in my listening last year, but it's possible shuffle has front-loaded the list. Still hasn't been the...most enjoyable audial experience, but there you go.

[Deleted]

I thought I would make it in time before the second ballot update. :/ I've already listened to every song, I just have to do some major rearranging.

[singingrulebritannia]

Submitted

#1-4: 4/5
#5-21: 3.5/5
#22-53: 3/5
#54-73: 2.5/5
#74-88: 2/5
#89-95: 1.5/5
#96-98: 1/5
#99 & 100: 0.5/5

To put it lightly: I, uh, did not expect this. Did going into the listening process with a different mindset really help that much, or is this year really that underrated?
Well...can't wait to see how the rest of Pulse screws the list up in 2 weeks time.

[Deleted]

Submitted. This whole list was a C-. Now, there are a lot of great songs on here, enough to fill up 50. HOWEVER, the bottom 10 is the absolute worst I have ever had to listen to on an ALT YE. I'd rather listen to almost all of the songs I've tanked and even the #100s. These rank from sell-outs, to abortions, to noise, to just big nothing songs that have no reason to be this popular. 

[Taiga]

Sent. Unpopular opinion: this year wasn't that bad overall, it's just that the stinkers are worse than the usual (at least for me). Let's await for the reveals.

[Deleted]

Forgot to give out my thoughts on the songs, lmao. Overall they were all over the place, I liked my top 20 as much as I hated my bottom 20. I kinda feel like I'm going to do well in closeness for whatever reason, but I know for sure I won't get a chicken dinner or an epic victory royale.

[Walking Contradiction]

Submitted my list last night. I have to agree that this year doesn't look so bad when the songs are sorted from favorite to least favorite. Really the problem with this year was that most of the favorites weren't the biggest hits, along with the issue of said hits having ridiculously long chart runs which blocked the lower entries from doing that well.

[Red]

How on earth has this happened? We are only just a couple of days into the rankdown, and we have already had enough submissions to do not one, not two, but three (extra-large) installments of the 2018 Alternative rankdown B-B-B-B-BALLOT UPDATE! I can't imagine that this pace will continue, but if it does, we will almost assuredly shatter last year's submission total. We need some more controllers for the five players ready to enter the game: Walking Contradiction, @trilogy, singingrulebritannia, @crapkuki23, and Taiga. After they pressed start on their rankings, how many levels did they finish? Okay, maybe that last metaphor didn't work as well.

- Yes, the top two from the previous update are still the top two now, and the positions have not changed. #1 leads #2 by less than 30 points. The gap between the top two and the rest of the pack has grown exponentially, however, with #2 now leading #3 by almost a full ranking. #3-#10 are closer, for the most part, but there's a 30 point gap between #8 and #9.
- The same three songs have continued to be in every top ten, but one song did fall down a couple of spots, ending the top three run for the three constants.
- STRUGGLING SONG UPDATE: The song in question is now out of the bottom thirty...but not by much. Meanwhile, another song a couple of spots higher is also struggling way more than I expected...
- The same six songs have continued to be in every bottom ten, to my lack of surprise, and things are looking dire for all six of them. The highest song of the six is over 100 points behind #90. At the very bottom, we have a new #100, and that song is almost 30 points behind the current #99.
- OOH...THRESHOLD ME, REDADEUS! The top two are the first songs in this rankdown to move over the 1,400 point mark. Five more songs have eclipsed 1,300 points, and 33 songs have reached 1,000 points. On the other side of the spectrum, every song has, thankfully, crossed the 100 point mark, but six songs have yet to reach 200 points.
- NO, NOT THE STANDARD DEVIATIONS! NOT THE STANDARD DEVIATIONS! AHHHHHHHHH! We have new songs in the top two highest SD spots, with the two songs in question residing at #53 and #84. The song at #31, the third-highest SD, is surprising the hell out of me with its high SD. As for the lowest SDs, the song with the second-lowest SD last time has the lowest this time, sitting at #96. The next lowest SD is just one spot below it. The third-lowest SD remains the same as last time, still in the top ten.
- And, of course, what would a ballot update be without the one and only Pulse's Favorite Part of the Ballot Update...


Not a lot of ties this time, sadly, but we do have two ties. They can be found at #18 and #74.

[maine]

I wonder who's gonna get banned during this rankdown since we had two casualties last year. 👀

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Dec 24, 2018 14:15:54 GMT -5 maine said:

I wonder who's gonna get banned during this rankdown since we had two casualties last year. 👀

The big wigs who chose the songs for Alternative radio 2018 should be banned. 

[Az Paynter]

Hoping to make it into a ballot update for once; I've started my list early instead of being one the last minute sneak-ins lol.

[Mylo13 💜]

Definitely going to do this, but geeeeez that's a short deadline haha.

[Deleted]

I'm most likely going to submit right before the deadline so that I can make sure that I am satisfied with where everything is on my list.

[maine]

Dec 22, 2018 23:00:23 GMT -5 Red said:

99. The Wombats - Turn
99. The Driver Era - Preacher Man

oh ok

[Daryl the Beryl]

Dec 25, 2018 19:37:28 GMT -5 maine said:

Dec 22, 2018 23:00:23 GMT -5 Red said:

99. The Wombats - Turn
99. The Driver Era - Preacher Man

oh ok

Well, blame me since I came up with the list lol.

[maine]

Dec 25, 2018 19:47:36 GMT -5 Daryl the Beryl said:

Dec 25, 2018 19:37:28 GMT -5 maine said:

oh ok

Well, blame me since I came up with the list lol.

now Red is going to use this to add another reason to his list of reasons on why he hates me

[bbfan97]

Sent!

[Red]

It's Christmas time on Pulse, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the holidays than with the fourth (and first that isn't extra-large) installment of the 2018 Alternative rankdown B-B-B-B-BALLOT UPDATE! I expected the pace to slow down by now...and though it kind of has a bit, we've still had enough submissions to get to a fourth ballot update in just a couple of days. Oh, the participants this time: Leaf, @humanshazam, and...*checks notes again*...huh...bbfan97. How did these three posters shake up the standings? Let's see if someone has a rally in them...

- It's broken record time, as the top two from the previous update are still the top two, and the positions have, indeed, not changed. #1 leads #2 by over 40 points. Think that the gap between #2 and #3 was large before? HA! The gap between #2 and #3 is now nearing 150 points. Things are considerably closer in the rest of the top ten, with #3 and #8 separated by less than a full ranking, which is not insignificant at this stage.
- Ho hum, the same three songs have been in every top ten. If it wasn't for one song hanging out at #11 for a few rankings, there might be four top ten constants right about now...
- STRUGGLING SONG UPDATE: Welp, it's back in the bottom thirty, though not by too much. The other struggling song is in a similar position as last time.
- Oh, look, the same bottom ten constants (all six of them) continue to be in every bottom ten. The highest song of the six is still well over 100 points behind #90. The bottom two remains the same, but only seven points separates the two songs now.
- DON'T TURN AROUND, OH-OH-OH! THRESHOLD UPDATE'S IN TOWN, OH-OH-OH! The top two are the first songs in this rankdown to move over the 1,700 point mark. Songs #3 through #8 are now over the 1,500 point threshold, and a whopping 44 songs now have over 1,000 points. At the bottom, five songs have still yet to reach the 200 point plateau, and fourteen songs have yet to hit 500 points.
- WE'VE GOT THIS, MAN! WE'VE GOT STANDARD DEVIATIONS BY THE ASS! The same two songs as last time remain the songs with the two highest SDs, and those two songs are...at #53 and #84. Again. In the "surprising high SD" department, a song in the top 25 currently definitely lives up to that billing. As for the two lowest, we have a new lowest standard deviation...but it's just the song that had the second-lowest last time, moving up one spot to #96. The new second-lowest SD is the previously mentioned "song in the top ten", and it's a song in the top five. Our current #100 has a pretty low SD, too.
- And, of course, what would a ballot update be without the tried and true Pulse's Favorite Part of the Ballot Update...


Hey, we have one more tie than the last update! The ties can be found at #23, #28, and #65.

[zaclord 🌈]

yoooooo almost missed this! I'll get my list in this week

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Submitted. here's the breakdown

1-20
Love these songs. Keeps my faith in music at an all time high

21-40
Continuing the good vibes. I also missed out charting a few of these.

41-59
Salvageable songs. Not too too terrible. but nothing download able either.

60-83
filler stuff that really doesn't do much for me


84-100
Horrible music that feature sounds and effects that literally left me traumatized for life.  ???

[Daryl the Beryl]

Dec 28, 2018 0:51:17 GMT -5 Doc Indie Party Rock said:

84-100
Horrible music that feature sounds and effects that literally left me traumatized for life.  ???

Considering how much you've ranted on the current state of alternative, I'm surprised you only grouped 17 songs as such.

[Doc Indie Party Rock]

Dec 28, 2018 0:52:40 GMT -5 Daryl the Beryl said:

Dec 28, 2018 0:51:17 GMT -5 Doc Indie Party Rock said:

84-100
Horrible music that feature sounds and effects that literally left me traumatized for life. 

Considering how much you've ranted on the current state of alternative, I'm surprised you only grouped 17 songs as such.

If you read between the lines you'll figure I only really liked about 40 of the songs on this list. That's the real travesty here.  ;)

[Deleted]

I honestly kind of wish that this year was worse than it actually was because at least then the year would be memorable. Instead most of the bad songs are just aggressively boring and dull. A lot of the songs that will be in the top quarter of my list are carry overs from last year which really shows how lifeless 2018 was for this format. 2017 was memorable because the great songs were great and the bad songs were train wrecks but that's hardly even the case this year.