Grace Potter "Midnight RD" Due Feb 7

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#11 Daylight

Total: 90
Average: 8.18
Std Dev: 2.89

Kanenrá:ke - 3
castleoblivion26 - 4
tim - 5
Kris Kringle - 8
LBTrocks - 9
SHOOTER - 9
.indulgecountry - 9
bboat11 - 10
ClevelandRox - 11
🌺CountryLineDancer - 11
ccarter1023  - 11

The title track is leaving as the bottom of this RD. Kanenrá:ke lost his top 3, while ClevelandRox, ccarter1023, and myself got rid of the #11s. This song fell into the bottom place for the first time after the last submission from LBTrocks

CLD's Thought
This song was a little too intense for me. While the vocal of Grace is very strong, and  "I need the I need the daylight" part was especially very powerful, there were too many changes of moods in that song, which makes the song unique, but for me it was a little on the messier side.

[tim]

Wow! While I was certainly expecting the title track to be on the polarizing side, I wasn't at all thinking it would be the first song out. That said, my opinion of the song was drastically changed by having seen her perform it live last year and therefore I can understand why the studio version might be a bit too much for everyone.

[bboat11]

Oh good!!! I was THIS close to making the title track my last place, but then I got self conscious about the fact that it was the title track and everyone probably loves it, so I swapped my bottom 2 right before submitting

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#10 Repossession (ft. Lucius)

Total: 88
Average: 8
Std Dev: 2.53 (2nd Lowest)

LBTrocks - 3
Kris Kringle - 5
SHOOTER - 6
ClevelandRox - 7
bboat11 - 8
castleoblivion26 - 9
🌺CountryLineDancer - 9
ccarter1023 - 9
.indulgecountry - 10
Kanenrá:ke - 11
tim - 11

The first Lucius collab to leave is Repossession, as tim and ccarter1023 predicted. This song has been the last place contender throughout the RD until LBTrocks saved this song from #11.

CLD's Thought
I kinda underranked this song. I found the production of this song to have kinda elegant mood, including how the song starts with a cappella. As much as I like Grace's powerful vocal performance, this is a great song to enjoy her quieter side of vocal. 

[castleoblivion26]

the more I listened to "Daylight" the more I liked it. It was definitely jarring at first but definitely did not deserve to be first out

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#9 Shout It Out

Total: 81
Average: 7.36
Std Dev: 2.46 (Lowest)

🌺CountryLineDancer - 4
Kris Kringle - 4
Kanenrá:ke - 6
bboat11 - 6
tim - 7
LBTrocks - 7
.indulgecountry - 7
ccarter1023 - 8
ClevelandRox - 10
castleoblivion26 - 11
SHOOTER - 11

The least polarizing song is leaving, and castleoblivion26 and SHOOTER got rid of their #11s. This is the only song in the RD that does not have any top 3 rankers, with the highest being Kris Kringle and my #4s.

CLD's Thought
This song was definitely enjoyable to me, and a little disappointed to see it in the bottom 3. I like the overall ups and downs in the song, and Grace's vocal performance was very strong at the chorus, especially it was satisfying to hear her shouting out the chorus, as the lyrics suggest. I also found this song to have a little bit of Lindsay Ell vibe.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#8 Please (ft. Lucius)

Total: 77
Average: 7
Std Dev: 2.65

ClevelandRox - 3
SHOOTER - 4
bboat11 - 5
Kanenrá:ke - 5
Kris Kringle - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 7
.indulgecountry - 8
castleoblivion26 - 8
tim - 10
ccarter1023 - 10
LBTrocks - 11

Another Lucius collaboration is leaving, and ccarter1023 and tim predicted this correctly as well. ClevelandRox lost the #3 while LBTrocks got rid of his #11.

CLD's Thought
I kinda overranked this by a few spots. Grace is showing off her great vocal again in a different way; she does sound like she's really begging in the chorus, and as the song goes on, it becomes more and more powerful. I can hear her desperation in her voice, and it is being delivered well. At the same time, I would have enjoyed this more with her solo.

[LBTrocks]

Wow, “Repossession” is a total bop and you all did it extremely dirty! Thank God I was able to save this from last place.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#7 Everyday Love

Total: 70
Average: 6.36
Std Dev: 2.58

bboat11 - 3
🌺CountryLineDancer - 3
tim - 4
ccarter1023 - 4
.indulgecountry - 6
castleoblivion26 - 6
LBTrocks - 8
SHOOTER - 8
Kanenrá:ke - 9
ClevelandRox - 9
Kris Kringle - 10

Starting the second reveal day with two top 3 losses, myself and bboat11. This is the first song without #11 rankers.

CLD's Thought
Sad to see this going already. I understand that it's kinda safe song in this album, and might be forgettable for some of you, but the chorus melody and guitar production are earworm to me. I like the short but powerful bridge as well. Very smooth, listenable song. 

[SHOOTER]

Aside from feeling like she was literally shouting at me on Shout It Out, I loved the whole record. Only disappointed with the lack of appreciation for Please thus far.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#6 Desire (ft. Lucius)

Total: 67
Average: 6.09
Std Dev: 3.39 (2nd Highest!)

ClevelandRox - 1
castleoblivion26 - 2
LBTrocks - 2
.indulgecountry - 5
ccarter1023 - 5
bboat11 - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 7
🌺CountryLineDancer - 8
tim - 9
SHOOTER - 10
Kris Kringle - 11

And here is our first #1 loss. ClevelandRox unfortunately lost the #1, as well as #2 losses for LBTrocks and castleoblivion26, while Kris Kringle got rid of his #11. As tim and ccarter1023 predicted, this is the third Lucius collaboration to leave, and the only remaining collaboration is "Back To Me".

CLD's Thought
For Please, I mentioned that I would prefer the song as Grace's solo, but for this song, the supporting vocal by Lucius is definitely enhancing the quality of the song. The chorus melody is alright, but very powerful, backed up well by the background vocals, a good contrast with rather quiet verse.

[ClevelandRox]

A JAM!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#5 On My Way

Total: 64
Average: 5.82
Std Dev: 3.66 (Highest)

SHOOTER - 2
Kanenrá:ke - 2
castleoblivion26 - 3
tim - 3
ccarter1023 - 3
LBTrocks - 4
Kris Kringle - 7
ClevelandRox - 8
🌺CountryLineDancer - 10
.indulgecountry - 11
bboat11 - 11

The most polarizing song is leaving! On My Way received five top 3 rankings from SHOOTER , Kanenrá:ke , ccarter1023 , castleoblivion26 , and tim and three bottom 3 rankings from myself, bboat11 , and .indulgecountry . This was #1 briefly after the third list from Kanenrá:ke .

CLD's Thought
Alongside with Daylight, this song was a little too intense for me as well. I felt the energy, and there is a solid melody, unlike Daylight, but still, Grace's vocal was a little too strong to enjoy the song itself. Looking at who ranked this song high/low, this might be another grower song, and giving more listens might help me appreciate the song. Also, I could have predicted .indulgecountry would not like this song, while LBTrocks would enjoy this song (a bit surprised that it is outside of his top 3 here). 

Also, just saw SHOOTER 's post about Grace shouting too much in Shout It Out, but for me, this song was the one with too much shouting... 

[.indulgecountry]

"On My Way" was the only song I didn't like here.

[SHOOTER]

🌺CountryLineDancer .indulgecountry

[ClevelandRox]

Aug 4, 2021 20:43:09 GMT -5 SHOOTER said:

🌺CountryLineDancer .indulgecountry

bboat11 not getting any wrath! 😂

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#4 Every Heartbeat

Total: 54
Average: 4.91
Std Dev: 3.11

bboat11 - 1
Kanenrá:ke - 1
ClevelandRox - 2
SHOOTER - 3
.indulgecountry - 4
🌺CountryLineDancer - 5
LBTrocks - 5
ccarter1023 - 6
tim - 8
Kris Kringle - 9
castleoblivion26 - 10

The last song to miss the top 3 is Every Heartbeat. It received two #1 rankings from Kanenrá:ke and Kanenrá:ke while it was in the bottom 3 of Kris Kringle and castleoblivion26.

CLD's Thought
This is also a really good song. It is powerful with her vocal and guitar production, and yet, somewhat vulnerable. While the verse and bridge was not too memorable, the chorus melody is amazing. Also, her guitar is beautiful in the video. I kinda felt like i underranked this, but at the same time, I also enjoyed the songs I ranked above this, so hard to say,

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

This is our top 3!

Love Is Love
Back To Me (ft. Lucius)
Release

Remaining Rankings (LBTrocks's final list brought everything super close!)
44
45
46

Throw your thoughts/predictions! I could keep going as I have time now, but completing a RD in 2 days feels a little rushed, so I will try tomorrow afternoon before going to beach volleyball, unless y'all want the result now.

[tim]

I’m a bit surprised to see “Shout It Out” exit so early as I thought I underranked it a bit myself. This is definitely one of those songs that vocally at least probably works better from a live standpoint, so I can understand why it might be a bit grating on the ears to some.

Other than one of the Lucius collaborations, “Repossession”, “Please”, and “Desire” were my least favorite of the album and therefore also landed in my bottom 3. If I underranked any of those, I’d say it was “Please” as in revisiting it again I enjoyed it more than I remember. It might just be one of those songs where my mood at the time needs to match a song such as that one.

I kind of figured that “Everyday Love” would fall shy of the top 5, but I’m disappointed nonetheless because I think it has one of the best melodies on the album. I also think this is probably the most country sounding song as well.

What the heck y’all, “On My Way” is such a jam! Yet again though we’re met with a strong and polarizing vocal from Grace which shows in the rankings. This is another one though that I actually preferred in a live setting over the studio version.

While I can’t exactly pinpoint why I don’t like “Every Heartbeat” as much as some of the rest in the group do, I do agree that the addition of the acoustic guitar adds a nice touch to the song. I suppose I just don’t find this one to be memorable enough and therefore I tend to overlook it more than anything.

This is the perfect top 3 and I’m glad that I didn’t miss the reveal for that last night! I still think that “Love is Love” is the one to beat, so that leaves “Back to Me” and “Release” vying for that top 2 spot.

[castleoblivion26]

I am hoping to see my #1 be #1 but just hoping that "Release" is #3 as the other two are easily a lot stronger than that one.

[tim]

Aug 5, 2021 10:12:34 GMT -5 castleoblivion26 said:

I am hoping to see my #1 be #1 but just hoping that "Release" is #3 as the other two are easily a lot stronger than that one.

I'd beg to differ if only because she had me balling my eyes out after she sang this as her last song of the concert. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who had that same reaction at least lol.

[bboat11]

Aug 5, 2021 10:23:34 GMT -5 tim said:

Aug 5, 2021 10:12:34 GMT -5 castleoblivion26 said:

I am hoping to see my #1 be #1 but just hoping that "Release" is #3 as the other two are easily a lot stronger than that one.

I'd beg to differ if only because she had me balling my eyes out after she sang this as her last song of the concert. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who had that same reaction at least lol.

You're talking to the guy who thought that "Highway On The Water" was "trash", so...

[castleoblivion26]

Aug 5, 2021 11:58:18 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Aug 5, 2021 10:23:34 GMT -5 tim said:

I'd beg to differ if only because she had me balling my eyes out after she sang this as her last song of the concert. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who had that same reaction at least lol.

You're talking to the guy who thought that "Highway On The Water" was "trash", so...

it was...

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#3 Love Is Love

Total: 46
Average: 2.79
Std Dev: 4.18

ccarter1023 - 1
Kris Kringle - 1
🌺CountryLineDancer - 2
tim - 2
.indulgecountry - 3
bboat11 - 4
ClevelandRox - 5
castleoblivion26 - 5
LBTrocks - 6
SHOOTER - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 10

Against the prediction made by ccarter1023 and @contryboi, Love Is Love did not take the cake, and leaving at #3. As mentioned, top 3 rankings are 46, 45, and 44, so each ranking played a crucial role in determining the result. Love Is Love received two #1s from Kris Kringle and ccarter1023, while #10 from Kanenrá:ke.

CLD's Thought
This is the first song in the album, so I started spinning the album with this song, and the powerful but vulnerable vocal performance by Grace blew my mind instantly. The verse part left a bit weak impression, but the chorus melody is really strong and explosive, the key change at the end is well-done as well.

[tim]

Oh wow, I really thought that “Love Is Love” was a shoo-in for the win or top 2 at a minimum. I really have no idea what to expect now.

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

#2 Back To Me (ft. Lucius)

Total: 45
Average: 4.09
Std Dev: 2.55 (3rd Lowest)

castleoblivion26 - 1
LBTrocks - 1
ccarter1023 - 2
.indulgecountry - 2
Kris Kringle - 3
Kanenrá:ke - 4
SHOOTER - 5
🌺CountryLineDancer - 6
tim - 6
ClevelandRox - 6
bboat11 - 9

#1 Release

Total: 44
Average: 4
Std Dev: 3.38 (3rd Highest)

🌺CountryLineDancer - 1
tim - 1
.indulgecountry - 1
SHOOTER - 1
bboat11 - 2
Kris Kringle - 2
ClevelandRox - 4
ccarter1023 - 7
castleoblivion26 - 7
Kanenrá:ke - 8
LBTrocks - 10

This is it! Release is the winner of this RD by 1 point. LBTrocks 's final list brought these two songs very close, giving #10 to Release and #1 to Back To Me. He almost single-handedly turned the result around. In the end, the song with the most #1 rankers won the game. Also, .indulgecountry got the perfect top 4!

CLD's Thought
Back To Me is another song supported well by Lucius. It's one of the catchiest songs in the album, but I didn't really expect it to do well to this degree. Release has the best vocal performance of all the songs in the album, and I would gladly take my #1 being #1 on my birthday. As much as I like the other guitar produced songs in the album, this piano production enhanced the strength of Grace's vocal performance to its highest level. Also, compared with other songs in the album, this song has a strong verse melody as well, which effectively builds up the mood for the powerful chorus.

[tim]

Snap! What say you now castleoblivion26?!

[tim]

I honestly wasn’t expecting to see “Release” win at all! Going into this I’d say that I had set my expectations for it to be a top 3 contender at least, so to see it win (even if only by a point) is great. I actually thought I had underranked “Back to Me” by a spot or two, so in hindsight I’m glad I didn’t now hehe.

As I had mentioned above, “Release” was the final song Grace performed when I saw her live and it really moved me in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I know that I wasn’t alone as there were quite a few around me with a tear or two in their eyes. Grace also mentioned that she doesn't always perform this live as it’s a very personal song for her to sing, but that the moment just felt right for her to do so. I’m so glad that she did!

Thanks for hosting this 🌺CountryLineDancer and I’m glad to see so many others enjoyed this as well!

[🌺CountryLineDancer]

Final Comment
Thank you all for joining! This was my first non-country RD, and I had not listened to the whole album by non-country artist for a while until this RD. I myself was not familiar with this album, but Grace's vocal definitely blew my mind. I was not keen on my #11 and #10, but for the other songs, Grace was demonstrating outstanding vocal performance while each song having memorable and unique production, lyrics, and melody. Love Is Love is a great opening track that left a strong impression, Release had the best vocal performance with that beautiful production, and some Lucius collaborations supported Grace's powerful vocal performance well to enhance the quality of the songs. Since I have to deal with Ryan Hurd + my monthly country artist album RD is delayed by a lot, I am not opening the next one Midnight RD right now, but it will be coming soon, and hope to see your list again! Special thanks to tim !

Final Result
1. Release (44)
2. Back To Me (ft. Lucius) (45)
3. Love Is Love (46)
4. Every Heartbeat (54)
5. On My Way (64)
6. Desire (ft. Lucius) (67)
7. Everyday Love (70)
8. Please (ft. Lucius) (77)
9. Shout It Out (81)
10. Repossession (ft. Lucius) (88)
11. Daylight (90)

Perfect Rankings
.indulgecountry - 6
🌺CountryLineDancer - 2
ccarter1023 - 2
bboat11 - 1
SHOOTER - 1
tim - 1
castleoblivion26 - 1
ClevelandRox - 1
LBTrocks - 0
Kris Kringle - 0
Kanenrá:ke - 0

[.indulgecountry]

Oh my, the right song won!! This song was amazing!

ETA: Also oh wow I got a perfect ranking for the entire top 3! What a great finish!