Rants and Ranks

I was actually surprised when it finally dawned on me I hadn't done this for Nirvana yet.  It was actually quite simple at that.  Three albums, that's it.  No more will ever be added, this is it.  The order of the songs will probably change, but nothing else. If you happen to be unfamiliar with my process, essentially it's this: I ranked all my favorite songs of a band, in this case Nirvana, then gave out points to each song.  (My definition of "favorite" is simply how much I like it.  There is no special formula, it's just what makes me happy.)  Since there were 37 songs, I gave the number one ranked song 37 points, the number two 36 etc.  I then added the total points for each individual album and averaged them for the rank of each album.  (My rankings for other bands can be found by clicking here .) Also note that this applies to studio albums only.  As great as Unplugged is, it doesn't fit my criteria.  There are also millio...

The Dusty Tag Classic 2016: What Could Have Been vavel.com I have random wrestling thoughts pop into my head on almost a regular basis.   This is one that I haven’t written about before, and it is the 2016 edition of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.   And now with the announcement for this year’s tournament, now seems like a good time to talk about 2016’s.                    2015’s tournament was a really enjoyable affair.   It was the inaugural edition of the tournament that was a tribute to the recently passed American Dream.   It’s probably most remembered as the catalyst for Samoa Joe’s heel turn after winning the event with his partner Finn Balor.   It was also during this tournament that the American Alpha truly “got over” and would help start the NXT tag team revolution that went throughout 2016 and much of this year.   (RIP American Alpha)  ...

Our Lady Peace released their latest album "Somethingness" recently, and naturally I felt compelled to write about it.  It had been nearly six long years since their last release of "Curve," and fans had been been clamoring for this one.  Well I should say that some have.  There is still that divisive split on the sound of their music post-Mike Turner. I get it, I really truly do.  The last few years have seen bands that I adored for 10+ years have a shift in their sound that I just can't get into.  The Foo Fighters are a great example of this.  Their change of direction the last two albums is unlistenable from where I stand.  Bush, another of my favorites, took a long hiatus.  When they came back, their sound was a tad different, but I still liked it.  Their next release was passable, and their last one was utter trash.  No trace of Bush at all in that synth-pop sound.  Even Collective Soul who had been putting out great music s...

2016 WWE was filled with an abundance of great matches.  This mainly had to do with the inclusion of the Cruiserweight Classic, but seemingly every big PPV show had at least one memorable match.  2017 certainly isn't on the level of the previous year, but there were more than enough matches to rave about. This year, like all others, I made a mental list throughout the year of my favorites and at the end of the year I went back and watched them all.  A surprising number of them didn't hold up this year.  For example, I loved Nakamura vs. Cena from August 1st, but on re-watch it was nothing special. So here's a few things to remember when reading this list. Number one: this is WWE exclusively.  I don't watch enough NJPW or anything else to make a decisive list for those other promotions.  I would like to, but I don't see it happening any time in the near future.   Number two: these are listed chronologically.  I have a really hard time...

Here we are again with another one of my completely, utterly, insane breakdown of one of my favorite bands.  If you don't know my criteria you can check out one of my other  lists because I don't feel the need to re-post it again.  I will say that CS has the most extensive back catalog of any of the three that I've done this for.  Which made it more challenging, but also more fun.   Albums: Collective Soul 70.58 Dosage 66.5 Rabbit 64.08 Youth 62.09 Afterwards 60.92 Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid 49.69 Disciplined Breakdown 41.42 Blender 35.27 See What You Started... 28.36 (Click album cover for a more "disciplined" breakdown.) Songs: 1. Where the River Flows 2. The World I Know 3. Run 4. Satellite 5. Shine 6. Compliment  7. Bleed 8. Crown 9. She Does 10. Adored 11. December 12. No More, No Less 13. Why, Pt. 2 14. Heavy 15. Bearing Witness 16. How...

This past offseason may have been the busiest in NBA history.  Not just for sheer amount of movement, but for movement of key players all trying to maneuver themselves that much closer to the Warriors and the championship.  Will it work?  These teams are hoping so. Boston Celtics courtesy: cbs boston In the most shocking move of the summer Kyrie Irving requested a trade from a team that had been to three straight NBA Finals.  On the surface it’s quite baffling.  We can speculate all we want, but odds are we may never know the real truth.  What we do know is that Irving is now on the Celtics.  Joining him on the green team is Gordon Hayward.  Hayward is coming off his first all-star season, and is reunited with his old college coach.  (Something that had been rumored to be in the works for many years now.)  Hayward had been the man on the Jazz for a few seasons, so it will be interesting to see how he coexists with the pola...

Phobia 31.73 Much like what I did with  others   I'm ranking the songs of Breaking Benjamin to establish my favorite songs and then mathematically figuring out which is my favorite album in the process.    Just like last time, here's how it went down:  We Are Not Alone 29.36 So what was my criteria for ranking the songs?  Quite simply it was how much I liked them.  I didn't factor in intricate chord changes or anything that a musical "purist" would count as making a song great.  These are just a list of personal favorites; nothing more, nothing less.  Once I had all 56 listed, I assigned 56 points to the first place song.  55 to the second place, and so on.  I added up the total number of points for each song on each album and divided it by the number of songs on that album. Then PRESTO!  I had a total for each album that I could then rank it by.  Also remember this consists of only songs that appear on albums....