Spock's Beard Survivor 2013 - Results & Discussion

[The Letter M]

Hello and welcome to my 2nd Annual Spock's Beard Survivor, for the 2013 season! Here I will post the album results, and eventually, the finals!

To start off with, I'll post the track lists/options for each survivor, then as we finish each album, I'll update the track lists with the final results.

As usual, each album's 3rd place song will move to Consolation, with the exception of Snow, which will have it's 5th and 6th place songs move into Consolation, while it's top 4 songs will move to the Finals (as I have done with previous double albums in other Survivors).

Because of that, the Consolation Rounds will consist of 12 songs (2 from Snow, and 1 each from the other 10 albums) and the Finals will consist of 28 songs (4 from Snow, and 2 from each of the other 10 albums, plus the top 2 of the Consolation Rounds and the top 2 from the B-Sides/Bonus Tracks Survivor).

Spock's Beard Survivor 2013

The Light
1. The Light
2. The Water
3. Go The Way You Go
4. On The Edge

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Beware Of Darkness
1. The Doorway
2. Walking On The Wind
3. Thoughts
4. Time Has Come
5. Waste Away
6. Chatauqua
7. Beware Of Darkness

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The Kindness Of Strangers
1. Flow
2. The Good Don't Last
3. June
4. Cakewalk On Easy Street
    Harm's Way
6. In The Mouth Of Madness
7. Strange World

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Day For Night
1. Day For Night
2. The Healing Colors Of Sound
3. Crack The Big Sky
4. The Distance To The Sun
5. Gibberish
    The Gypsy
7. Skin
8. Can't Get It Wrong

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V
1. At The End Of The Day
2. Thoughts (Part 2)
3. Revelation
4. The Great Nothing
5. All On A Sunday
6. Goodbye To Yesterday

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Snow
1. Made Alive Again/Wind At My Back
2. Stranger In A Strange Land
3. Devil's Got My Throat
4. Wind At My Back
5. Made Alive/Overture
6. Long Time Suffering
7. Open Wide The Flood Gates
    Solitary Soul
9. Open The Gates Part 2
10. Welcome To NYC
11. The 39th Street Blues (I'm Sick)
12. I'm Dying
13. I Will Go
14. All Is Vanity
15. Love Beyond Words
      Second Overture
17. 4th Of July
      Reflection
      Freak Boy
20. I'm The Guy
      Carie
      Looking For Answers
      Devil's Got My Throat (Revisited)
24. Freak Boy Part 2
      Snow's Night Out
      Ladies and Gentlemen, Mister Ryo Okumoto...

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Feel Euphoria
1. A Guy Named Sid
2. Ghosts Of Autumn
3. East Of Eden, West Of Memphis
4. The Bottom Line
    Carry On
6. Shining Star
7. Onomatopoeia
8. Feel Euphoria

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Octane
1. A Flash Before My Eyes
2. There Was A Time
3. NWC
4. The Planet's Hum
5. As Long As We Ride
6. Watching The Tide

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Spock's Beard
1. On A Perfect Day
2. As Far As The Mind Can See
3. Skeletons At The Feast
4. All That's Left
5. With Your Kiss
6. Wherever You Stand
    Rearranged
8. Sometimes They Stay, Sometimes They Go
    Hereafter
10. Is This Love?
11. The Slow Crash Landing Man

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X
1. Jaws Of Heaven
2. From The Darkness
3. Edge Of The In-Between
4. The Quiet House
5. The Emperor's Clothes
6. The Man Behind The Curtain
7. Kamikaze

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Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep
1. Waiting For Me
2. A Treasure Abandoned
3. Something Very Strange
4. Hiding Out
5. Afterthoughts
6. I Know Your Secret
7. Submerged

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"Bonus Tracks/B-Sides" Survivor
1. Down A Burning Road
2. Their Names Escape Me
3. The Main You're Afraid You Are
4. Postcards From Perdition
5. Follow Me To Sleep
6. Into Fire
    Wish I Were Here
8. When She's Gone
9. The Truth
    Listening To The Sky
11. Broken Promise Land
12. Stratus
      Moth Of Many Flames
      From The Messenger
15. Hurt
      Game Face

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Consolation
1. Something Very Strange
2. Edge Of The In-Between
3. Thoughts
4. Go The Way You Go
    Long Time Suffering
6. June
7. Crack The Big Sky
8. Revelation
    Made Alive/Overture
10. Skeletons At The Feast
11. East Of Eden, West Of Memphis
      NWC

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Finals
1. The Doorway
2. The Light
3. At The End Of The Day
4. Flow
5. The Water
6. A Flash Before My Eyes
7. From The Darkness
8. Jaws Of Heaven
9. The Good Don't Last
10. Walking On The Wind
11. Thoughts (Part 2)
12. Something Very Strange
13. Waiting For Me
14. Edge Of The In-Between
15. On A Perfect Day
16. Day For Night
17. The Healing Colors Of Sound
18. Their Names Escape Me
19. A Treasure Abandoned
20. Down A Burning Road
21. Stranger In A Strange Land
22. A Guy Named Sid
23. As Far As The Mind Can See
24. Wind At My Back
25. Ghosts Of Autumn
26. There Was A Time
27. Made Alive Again/Wind At My Back
28. Devil's Got My Throat

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Postmortem Survivor - The Albums

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-Marc.

[The Letter M]

I won't star this until next week (probably on Monday), but I want to ask you guys a few questions first:

Last time, for the Nick-Era SB albums, I did a "Bonus Tracks" Survivor for those albums, which included the 2 from FE and 5 from Octane. This time around, I think I will be including them in their proper albums to provide a more 'complete' album survivor. With that in mind, I have 2 questions:

1) For BNADS, should I include the "Sanctified Remix" of "Something Very Strange", or exclude it seeing as it's just a remix/edit of a longer song already on the proper album?

2) For the Neal-Era albums, there are four 'bonus tracks'/B-sides ("Into Fire", "The Truth", "Stratus", and "Hurt", the latter two of which are covers)... would any one care if I include those for their respective albums/recording sessions? Or should I just exclude them? They are studio-recorded, released tracks, so I figure I would include them. I just want to see what you guys would say.

Also, all the multi-part epics/suites will be presented as single tracks/songs/options in their respective album survivors ("The Healing Colors Of Sound", "A Guy Named Sid", "A Flash Before My Eyes", and "As Far As The Mind Can See").

-Marc.

[Mladen]

I'd prefer the bonus tracks to have their own survivor. Including them in their proper albums would be a trouble for me when voting, being that I haven't heard most of them.

Aside from that, all of it looks great, and I'm looking forward to the survivor. Fingers crossed for more voters this time around.

[The Letter M]

I'd prefer the bonus tracks to have their own survivor. Including them in their proper albums would be a trouble for me when voting, being that I haven't heard most of them.

Aside from that, all of it looks great, and I'm looking forward to the survivor. Fingers crossed for more voters this time around.

With that option, then a "Bonus Tracks/B-Sides" Survivor list would like like this:
Stratus
Into Fire
Hurt
The Truth
Moth Of Many Flames
From The Messenger
When She's Gone
Follow Me To Sleep
Game Face
Broken Promise Land
Listening To The Sky
The Man You're Afraid You Are
Down A Burning Road
Wish I Were Here
Postcards From Perdition

15 songs, the bulk of which come from Octane's and BNADS's bonus discs. I struggle to figure out whether or not to include "Their Names Escape Me" in X's track list, since it was a limited edition bonus track, and the standard editions do not include that track. If I am going to only include standard editions in the normal album survivors (especially with Octane and BNADS), then I would be inclined to put "Their Names Escape Me" in with the other 15 "Bonus Tracks/B-Sides".

-Marc.

[Elite]

I agree that the bonus tracks should get their separate survivor, but I feel "Hurt", "Moth of Many Flames", "From the Messenger" and "Their Names Escape Me" should all go with their respective albums. Why? Because they were all included on the actual album at the release in whatever kind (Hurt was on the European edition, MoMF and FtM were on the special edition and so was TNEM). All the other songs you listed where either on a separate disc (Octane & BN&DS) or on a re-release  or a single.

Just my two cents. Actually, the only of these bonus tracks I KNOW are Hurt, Their Names Escape Me and the Octane & BN&DS discs..

(Also, where are "Someday I'll Be Found", "I Was Never Lost" and "Paint Me A Picture"? )

[The Letter M]

I agree that the bonus tracks should get their separate survivor, but I feel "Hurt", "Moth of Many Flames", "From the Messenger" and "Their Names Escape Me" should all go with their respective albums. Why? Because they were all included on the actual album at the release in whatever kind (Hurt was on the European edition, MoMF and FtM were on the special edition and so was TNEM). All the other songs you listed where either on a separate disc (Octane & BN&DS) or on a re-release  or a single.

Just my two cents. Actually, the only of these bonus tracks I KNOW are Hurt, Their Names Escape Me and the Octane & BN&DS discs..

I do kind of agree with you on FE and X, but they were also their Special Edition Tracks, meaning they weren't really intended as part of the original album as released by the band. I'll have to mull it over and see what others think over the weekend. By Monday, I'll have my decision on this matter.

(Also, where are "Someday I'll Be Found", "I Was Never Lost" and "Paint Me A Picture"? )

...you're funny!

"Outtakes" are outtakes for a reason.

-Marc.

[Pols Voice]

Well, I wouldn't include any bonus tracks with their respective albums.

[The Letter M]

"Bonus Tracks/B-Sides" Survivor
Stratus
Into Fire
Hurt
The Truth
Moth Of Many Flames
From The Messenger
When She's Gone
Follow Me To Sleep
Game Face
Broken Promise Land
Listening To The Sky
Their Names Escape Me
The Man You're Afraid You Are
Down A Burning Road
Wish I Were Here
Postcards From Perdition

If no one else has any objections or suggestions, I think I will shunt the above tracks into one Survivor, leaving the rest of the albums as they usually are, in standard edition form.

The top 2 songs from the above 16-song Survivor will advance to the Finals.

-Marc.

[Elite]

Where would Their Names Escape Me have more chance of reaching the finals? Stick it there.

Basically, leave it like that, it's fine 

[The Letter M]

Where would Their Names Escape Me have more chance of reaching the finals? Stick it there.

Basically, leave it like that, it's fine 

 

That's what I was thinking too...hehehe

I figured Standard Editions for the main album Survivors, and all B-Sides/Bonus Tracks/Limited Edition Tracks for the Bonus Survivor.

The 28-song Finals should provide a good pool of tracks! I was trying to think of a way to round it up to 30...like including the Top 3 Consolation and Top 3 Bonus tracks instead of the Top 2 from each. Thoughts?

-Marc.

[Mladen]

I figured Standard Editions for the main album Survivors, and all B-Sides/Bonus Tracks/Limited Edition Tracks for the Bonus Survivor.

Sounds great. 

[Lolzeez]

I figured Standard Editions for the main album Survivors, and all B-Sides/Bonus Tracks/Limited Edition Tracks for the Bonus Survivor.

Sounds great. 

Exactly.

[The Letter M]

Updated the OP with the results from the first album! These first few albums will be quick (that is, until we get to Snow).

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

Following.

[The Letter M]

Updated with the results for TKOS.

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Updated with the results for DFN. We're swiftly going through the Survivor, and we're more than halfway through the Neal-Era! Just V and the massive and expansive Snow, which will merit it's own unique Survivor system.

As a note, Snow will be run like my past 2-Disc/Concept Album Survivors, where I start the first round with multiple-vote/multiple-eliminations, but I haven't figured out how many to vote for at first, and how many to eliminate (which largely depends on if all 10-12 of us vote, and how many votes certain songs get).

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

Go with 2 votes, until the Top 10, then single elimination.

[The Letter M]

Go with 2 votes, until the Top 10, then single elimination.

Hmmm, that's an interesting take. I have usually gone with 5 or more votes to start, then with each round, diminish the number of votes by 1, til it goes down to 1 vote per round.

What does everyone think? Jingle.boy's idea, or mine?

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

Go with 2 votes, until the Top 10, then single elimination.

Hmmm, that's an interesting take. I have usually gone with 5 or more votes to start, then with each round, diminish the number of votes by 1, til it goes down to 1 vote per round.

What does everyone think? Jingle.boy's idea, or mine?

-Marc.

It's your survivor, so do it however you want. My only thought was to get a somewhat accurate ranking of the tracks from the entire album.

[The Letter M]

Added the results for the V Survivor. Moving onward to Snow, which will take a couple weeks, then we move on with the Nick-Era SB albums!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Added the results for Feel Euphoria. Octane shouldn't take much longer, and then we'll have 3 more studio albums, B-Sides, and Consolations to get through before the Finals! At this rate, we should be done the whole survivor by mid-to-late August!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Added the results for Octane and Spock's Beard. Now on to their 10th album!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Updated the OP with the results for BNADS. Two more groups of songs to go through before we get to the long-awaited FINALS! This has been fun so far, and I'd like to once again thank EVERYONE who has participated in this! Thanks for all your input and votes!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Because I forgot to, I just updated the OP with the results for both the B-Sides/Bonus and Consolation Survivors.

We're over half-way through the Finals and nearing the Final/Top 10!

As a reminder, after the main survivor is over, I'll be running an Album Survivor, pitting the band's 11 albums against each other!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Added the results for the FINALS in the OP! The top three Survivors are:
"The Doorway" in first!
"The Light" in second!
"At The End Of The Day" in third!

What a top three, folks! Definitely three of the band's best songs, and all worthy of their positions!

Rounding out this Survivor Series is an Albums survivor, just to see what you guys pick as the best album!

-Marc.